Every game that grows experiences power creep. It's pretty natural, because there is something about making new things different and better that's exciting and challenging.

When people "lose" what they love in a game because of new things, it's also natural to have some negative backlash. Some "nerfing" can be a good thing, or the game cannot grow because of the restrictions of old material. As the game grows, we grow with it.

But are there some things we can do to combat power creep besides banning cards, changing text, or chopping up rules for competitive tournaments?

One of the non-destructive solutions to a high-power ceiling is simple: lower the floor .

Well, how do we lower the floor on xwing ?

Well, the original starter comes with 2 Imperial TIEs and 1 t65 X-wing. This translates into 8 academy TIEs vs 4 Rookie Pilots with proton torpedos ... That is the original base xwing game.

If you've ever played this battle, you'd find it fairly balanced.

But X-wing has grown the past four or five years, and maybe what we started with doesn't quite fit-in as nice and clean as it once did.

So, what are some options that could adapt this original "floor" of X-wing to fit with where the game has gone?

What if the original TIEs could be reduced to 10 points each instead of 12? Well, we could put 10 TIE fighters on the table. How would that change the options for Imperials?

What about the original Xwings? Could the original 4 with Proton Torps be able to take on 10 TIEs?

In addition to the exciting titles in the upcoming release, "Guns for Hire", the following two titles are, according to many gamers at my local store, a potential great step towards "lowering the floor" in Xwing:

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"Rogue Squadron Pilot"
Title, Xwing only
Cost 2 points
Your action bar gains the Barrel Roll action icon.
After you execute a 2 bank maneuver, if you are not stressed, you may rotate your ship 180 degrees, then, receive 1 stress token.
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"New Recruit"
Title. TIEs only.
This card has negative point cost. (-2)
Non-unique pilots only.
Must be pilot skill 2 and lower.
This ship may not have any other upgrades or modifications assigned to it.
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Could something like these titles lower the floor for generic pilots in Xwing?

It would certainly change the Imperial faction on a foundational level. What about the t65 X-wings? I think it would put 4 rookie t-65s on the table in a new and really interesting way.

Would that push out Red Squadron t-65s for good? Should the title cost 1 point and have a pilot skill cap so Rookies couldn't use it? Such a cap would prevent abuse on the side of blue novice t-70s putting 4 in a squad.

Would two titles like this create a "hardware spam" meta where the named pilots couldn't compete?

Let's talk about it, but let's not be negative.

Edited August 15, 2017 by Bucknife
Misspelling and idea clarification.

This would bump up the max on imperial swarms by a long shot.
10 TIEs instead of 8. You could field 5 recruit TIE Advanced instead of 4 (with no other titles or mods). You could field 6 recruit TIE Interceptors instead of 5. You could field 7 recruit TIE/fo instead of 6. And you could field 7 recruit TIE Bombers instead of 6.

This would set up a clear, swarm meta for the Imperial faction that sets it apart from the scum and rebels (who would still max out at 8 z95s or 8 M3 "Light" Syck Interceptors).

This would also lower the cost of base TIE punishers and TIE Strikers if a player wants one on their squad just for hardware. It doesn't break the Defenders, since you couldn't stack the titles, and it isn't usable by TIE/SF because of the "PS2 or lower" limit.

The real test would be, "can 4 Rogue Sqdrn title rookie Xwings with Integrated Astromech take on 6 New Recruit Interceptors?"

What about 5 TIE Advanced?

Edited August 4, 2017 by Bucknife
Misspelling and idea clarification.