I like 100/6 .

I don't do well at it.

I was going into my third day of crying in my cereal bowl over yet another ship show of a tournament.suddenly it occurs to me... 2-3 would have been 4-1 if I had run away with my last ship.

But....I mean...

Should I have done that?

Am I losing because I'm too greedy for the fight?

Should I swallow the bile of cowardice and run out the clock at the end?

Maybe I don't want the win as much as I think I do.

Well....I think I can put the losing record behind me now. All the matches were really close.all my opponents were great.

Now...with salt properly dabbed out of my eyes...maybe I can see clearly.

Maybe I didn't want to win. Maybe I wanted to play x wing.

19 minutes ago, Velvetelvis said:

I was going into my third day of crying in my cereal bowl over yet another ship show of a tournament.suddenly it occurs to me... 2-3 would have been 4-1 if I had run away with my last ship.

I feel your pain. Twice at Yavin and twice at my last Store Championship this came up.

My full health Dengar vs a full health Norra. 15 minutes left on the clock. All I have to do is run away. Nope.

My limping Fenn and a torpedo-less, shield-less Tel vs a full health Carnor Jax. Again, all I have to do is split up and run away. Nope.

Part of winning is knowing when you've already won. But my natural instincts say keep on fighting to the (bitter) end.

To me this is all about your intentions. If you are out to win something you have your heart and mind set on; play the tournament game. Preserving MOV is a part of it and totally valid. If you're there just for fun; I say do whats fun! Which to me is usually turn in and fight! Probably loose as a result but it's about the fun in those instances...

12 minutes ago, Smutpedler said:

Preserving MOV is a part of it and totally valid. If you're there just for fun; I say do whats fun!

I agree completely, do what you think you should do. If you're really there to win or just do well at a tournament then play the game, which includes saving as much MoV as you can. There's no dishonor in not engaging when doing so won't help you at all.

But if you're there to play a few games of X-Wing with people you don't know, or don't get to play often, and placing well in the tournament doesn't matter then do what you think will make for the most fun. If that means losing a game or not placing as well then so be it.

When playing to win at a Tournament you have to play the whole game, which includes the rules for how the tournament runs and not just how X-Wing is played normally.

I played in this one tournament where everyone had to take an intel agent, and the winner of the match was the one who killed the ship the agent was on first. One of the guys playing put the intel agent on the Phantom which was docked on the Ghost, and had Biggs flying next to it. Needless to say it was very hard to get though Biggs, and the Ghost to get to the Phantom and kill it, so he won the tournament handley. Some people may think this was cheap but I think it was a brilliant plan based on the rules we were playing under.

I think there is a respectable balance.

I mean, when you look at the NFL, a team that is ahead and on offense will take a knee to run out the last minute on the clock instead of risking losing control of the ball and the opponent scoring or injury to key players. Its not flashy, or fun, but it makes sense.

At the same time, if someone blows up one TIE then runs around evading and regenerating for the next 65 minutes out of 75, they are just being a **** unsportsmanlike player.

44 minutes ago, Velvetelvis said:

Maybe I didn't want to win. Maybe I wanted to play x wing.

I totally get that. I like to play X-Wing more than I like to win X-Wing, if that makes sense. But, if you are playing a tourney to win, you may need to adjust your playstyle.

23 minutes ago, kris40k said:

I think there is a respectable balance.

I mean, when you look at the NFL, a team that is ahead and on offense will take a knee to run out the last minute on the clock instead of risking losing control of the ball and the opponent scoring or injury to key players. Its not flashy, or fun, but it makes sense.

At the same time, if someone blows up one TIE then runs around evading and regenerating for the next 65 minutes out of 75, they are just being a **** unsportsmanlike player.

I totally get that. I like to play X-Wing more than I like to win X-Wing, if that makes sense. But, if you are playing a tourney to win, you may need to adjust your playstyle.

If they're running a TIE swarm, run-&-regen is a good strategy, because in a straight fight the TIEs come out ahead.

29 minutes ago, VanorDM said:

I played in this one tournament where everyone had to take an intel agent, and the winner of the match was the one who killed the ship the agent was on first. One of the guys playing put the intel agent on the Phantom which was docked on the Ghost, and had Biggs flying next to it. Needless to say it was very hard to get though Biggs, and the Ghost to get to the Phantom and kill it, so he won the tournament handley. Some people may think this was cheap but I think it was a brilliant plan based on the rules we were playing under.

Hmmm. I do believe those kind of scenarios are what the "Is that your dice on the floor?" gambit was made for.

OK, so it was a very effective build for the format, neatly protecting the victory conditions in nigh-impenetrable layers of bubblewrap. But come on . That tournament sounds like a hell of a lot of fun. Right up until you encounter the Ghost player.

I think execution factors in too. If you slow play and run... that's poor show. If you make them chase you and play out the turns... that's no different than running with a King in chess to try and force a draw or stalling in a professional sport (as said above).

Certainly opening up some range to regen or get a better shot with less reprisal risk is well within the spirit of the game... and there's no problem with that at all.

17 minutes ago, FTS Gecko said:

That tournament sounds like a hell of a lot of fun.

It was fun, and made for some fairly quick games since you only had to destroy one ship.

17 minutes ago, FTS Gecko said:

Right up until you encounter the Ghost player.

He was playing by the rules fair and square. Was it cheesy? Sure a bit, and he fully admitted that he wasn't sure if he should of done it or not, but even he didn't expect it to be as effective as it proved. The guy who did it is very good at games in general, beast me 3 out of 4 games typically, but is also a good guy and normally plays lists he thinks will be fun.

In this case he decided to cheese it a bit, but what he did was completely within the rules and was a brilliant bit of list building based on the objectives for the event... Which was itself really just done for fun, first place simply got first choice from the prize box.

Btw: The Maverick is always right. Just say'n.

No running!

DEATH OR GLORY!!!

My favorite loss was my Fenn vs. his Teroc.

Five or six rounds of crazy furball in what felt like maybe two or three minutes of slapping down t rolls and hard twos.

At the time all I heard was " hiiiighwaayyy to the....danger....ZOOOONE!!!!"

But now I'm hearing .." know when to walk away.....know when to run."

Epiphany side note....

It's Kenny Loggins vs. Kenny Rogers

Mind blown.

46 minutes ago, ThalanirIII said:

If they're running a TIE swarm, run-&-regen is a good strategy, because in a straight fight the TIEs come out ahead.

Good strategy and unsportsmanlike conduct are not mutually exclusive.

I don't mind someone peeling off to regen and re-engaging to kill again. Someone sniping one ship then playing keep away for an hour is a shitheel.

8 minutes ago, Velvetelvis said:

Epiphany side note....

It's Kenny Loggins vs. Kenny Rogers

Mind blown.

I had to run twice to win my store champ.
In my first match I was fighting the Dengar/Tel worlds winning list (I had an anti meta Ryad/Vessery/Omega Leader build). Came down to Ryad vs Dengar in the end. After I got him to half health I ran and won by 5 points.
In the finals vs Rey/Norra. It was my Omega Leader with 1 hull and Ryad with no shields vs his Rey with no shields. I think I could have won it if the game wen't on forever (because OL is awesome), but I ran and blocked him to prevent shots. I won by 3 points.

Winning by points is a part of the game. If it were not a tournament I would probably fight on till the end, but I wanted those range rulers and that shiny plaque!
Don't be ashamed of it! Sometimes its best to live and fight another day! Tactical Retreat and all that!

3 hours ago, Velvetelvis said:

Maybe I didn't want to win. Maybe I wanted to play x wing.

Get you a list that can do both.

28 minutes ago, AngryAlbatross said:

If it were not a tournament I would probably fight on till the end, but I wanted those range rulers and that shiny plaque!

@Velvetelvis Maybe you felt conflicted because your agenda wasn't set from the beginning. Not saying you did it wrong, but if you had a clearer idea of what you wanted from the tournament then it would've helped making your decisions about running or fighting.

When you're at a tournament of whatever size, what you do depends on what you're trying to get out of the experience:

Are you trying to see if your home brewed list can go toe to toe with the meta? Then fight the good fight.
Are you pining to make the top cut? Then be prudent and keep MOV in mind; play smart.
Are you there to chum it up with your Star Wars buddies? Fly however the H you want!

In the end I hope you're there trying to have a good time. Just don't be a jerk, people.

My guideline for tournaments would be a simple 2 part question.

1) is it explicitly legal under the rules such that I don't need to bend things to do it

2) does it fit within my own ethical purview

If I can answer both questions yes then I can't say I care about other's opinions of my actions. As long as you're not breaking (or bending) the rules and you can stomach what you're doing go for it. Why does it matter what random internet people think of you? If you're uncomfortable with it just don't do it.

I had one match in my last SC where it came down to my Backdraft and Omega Leader, with one hull, against his VI Cracken. I could have run out the clock and tried to preserve the win. However, I was flying Imperials.

Here's the thing about Imperial gray. You can put it in the laundry, but THOSE COLORS DON'T RUN.

EDIT: not judging you. Just wanted to make that joke.

2 hours ago, kris40k said:

Good strategy and unsportsmanlike conduct are not mutually exclusive.

I don't mind someone peeling off to regen and re-engaging to kill again. Someone sniping one ship then playing keep away for an hour is a shitheel.

They're playing the game (the tournament game). Until it's ruled as unsportsmanlike/whatever, it's legal. By not killing more stuff they open themselves up to get caught accidentally, so it's not entirely without danger, just like fortressing.

If you run away and you play fast and keep going, that's a-ok with me. Actually slow playing is tantamount to cheating.

In my experience it's generally harder to run away than you might think to successfully run away. Unless there's a truly massive differential in the speed of the ships, you can often corner the other ship sooner or later. Quarter final of a regional last year was a memorable game where I was left with a M3A vs Ketsu but Ketsu was under half. I ran and ran and ran as fast as my little Scyk could go but it ended in a tense showdown when Ketsu finally got me with nowhere to run. The little Scyk that could made it out by the skin of her teeth but it was far from as simple as "run away".

13 minutes ago, ThalanirIII said:

They're playing the game (the tournament game). Until it's ruled as unsportsmanlike/whatever, it's legal. By not killing more stuff they open themselves up to get caught accidentally, so it's not entirely without danger, just like fortressing.

I agree that it comes to a competent TO and their interpretation of the unsportsmanlike conduct rule.

Like Boxing; you can, and often, win boxing matches by scoring points and having the most points at the end of the match. Sometimes its a knockout, but often points, just like X-Wing. If someone were to score two or three punches in the first round and then just start running around the ring to prevent his opponent from getting any points, the referee would put a stop to that very quickly. X-Wing is a battle as well, and players should be expected to fight with some wiggle room for strategic withdrawls.

2 hours ago, Velvetelvis said:

Epiphany side note....

It's Kenny Loggins vs. Kenny Rogers

Mind blown.

Team Kenny for the win.

(knock at the door... "I'm sorry Mr. G, we were told not to let you in.")

You never count your shield tokens when you're sitting at the table?