If you are flying a PS 9 and want to have a good shot at winning the initiative bid, how low do you figure you have to go in your own meta at the moment?
What is the initiative bid in your meta?
I am aiming always for 100p...
97-98 will probably net it for you. Most folks I know are playing to 100 or maybe 99. The only low ones to watch out for are the Old Fenaroo lists that take 96-97 point lists. But I don't know how to be that low on points without doing that list itself.
I've never seen a list run locally that was below 97.
97. There is a "Whisper plus one" at 98, and a "Dengar plus one" at the same.
2 hours ago, Sixter said:If you are flying a PS 9 and want to have a good shot at winning the initiative bid, how low do you figure you have to go in your own meta at the moment?
"Initiative Bid" That's a term I haven't heard since the great palp nerfing, at least in my area people have more or less dropped the concept
99 is a probably victory, 98 is almost assured. My local meta is 1 person though, so...
There's a guy here (Orange County, Southern California) that goes as low as 96 running Fenn, Old T. and a Contracted Scout(?)--might be Manaroo though. Mainly it's been because he's been disorganized and couldn't find his Autothrusters, so... otherwise most have been 98+.
I recently played in a store championship (32 people, bay area CA) and in all but 1 game I was the only person below 100. Was at 99 because I was flying Quickdraw.
My rule of thumb generally is to drop 1 point in initiative bid for each pilot in the list that is PS 8 or 9 because you don't want to waste those points invested into PS. TIE Phantoms and pilots whose abilities really rely on high PS knowledge (like Hera) will also merit a point or two in initiative bid.
Having been to two SC's recently, almost every list was at 99/100 except the 95 pt Dengar/Fenn, so there you go.
In my local group we have agreed to roll the dice, so initiative is always random. We all get to play 100 point squads this way.
98 points will get you it 90% of the time, and is usually what I run. 97 is pretty much a certainty.
I brought Poe/Miranda at 96 before and was well below everyone else. I think some Fenn lists might get as low as 97. Aces aren't all too common right now. I know in considering my list I had to have Poe moving after other PS 9.
I've seen bids down as far as 96 previously (Old Man Fenn has a LOT of flex in it) but usually, 3 points is enough to get you the choice at PS8 and PS9, and 2 points will usually be enough to at least get you a roll-off. At other PS counts, it's probably not worth bidding much.
99, sometimes.
Our meta is different every month - and is heavily influenced by new releases... the HOTR week saw a ton of falcons. We have one guy who insists on trying to fortress with bossk and triple quadjumpers - but he rarely gets more than 1 win. He had a few the first time he pulled it. Still, he's getting more efficient at building the list. Personally, I rotate between factions each monthly tournament. I've only run across another player at 99 once or twice.
P.S. 9 is not a big thing here, p.s. 6 7 and 8 are more common.
On Vassal, where I'm playing these days, the bid if someone takes it is usually 99 it seems.
76........... 0.0
Just kidding lol. 99 usually
98 should be fine in our area. But if I'm running Vader or Soontir, I'm running it at 96-97 to make sure. Especially with 3 squads with 96 points made Top 16, so I'm sure people will start running those squads.
It's not an issue with lists other than Scum. In those cases your really needing your Finn or JK5s to move after their mirrored counter parts and shoot first. I've heard that Duncan is trying to go below 96 to insure this need is fulfilled.
Who knows, maybe the post FAQ 4.3.3 will render initiative bids less required....or more so. Hummmmmmm?
High PSes needing reposition actions to stay alive, and cheap ships make bids necessary.
At the point where it's possible to leave 4 or more points unspent and have that be the right decision, it really feels like there's something up with the pricings of the ships concerned.
Which, you know, there is.
We have a guy who is always crazy low in the 90s. I think last time I played him he was at 92...
Pretty much 97 is the safe zone with 96 being almost a certainty. I think most matchups 98 is plenty and 99 getting just over half.
7 hours ago, Pretty Green said:In my local group we have agreed to roll the dice, so initiative is always random. We all get to play 100 point squads this way.
Gee ... this sounds like the group flies casual and has a lot of fun ...
We could possibly want to play with you folks?
I believe the Dengar/Tel list that won worlds is 98 points. I would shoot for 97 if your flying aces and don't want to get torpedoed.
96 is my strongest bid, but usually 98 is sufficient. Myself, I keep it at 100 or let a die roll decide.
6 hours ago, thespaceinvader said:High PSes needing reposition actions to stay alive, and cheap ships make bids necessary.
At the point where it's possible to leave 4 or more points unspent and have that be the right decision, it really feels like there's something up with the pricings of the ships concerned.
Which, you know, there is.
Or the ships in question have a big difference depending on initiative. Whisper, for example, may not be that great in absolute terms but a few points on initiative bid in case you run into other PS9's is well worth it because losing initiative against a PS9 ship is really detrimental to your health.