I love all the writeups for the store championships, so I thought it was only appropriate to add my own experiences.
We had a showing of 25 players mixing from local players to some travelers. As usual, it's pretty stiff competition around here, and this weekends was no exception! After having been frustrated playtesting my Dash & Miranda list lone wolf list for months, I decided ultimately to bench Dash due to that punishing "Dash Donut" that always seems to get him killed. It looked like a lot of players were going to be trying out the Scurgg and Bombmaster 5000's, but this is the list I ended up flying:
Rey (45)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Kanan Jarrus (3)
Finn (5)
Millennium Falcon (TFA) (1)
Miranda Doni (29)
Twin Laser Turret (6)
Extra Munitions (2)
Plasma Torpedoes (3)
Sabine Wren (2)
Bomblet Generator (3)
Guidance Chips (0)
Total: 100
Round 1
Alex, flying Dash with Lone Wolf, HLC, Outrider and Smuggling Compartment and Burnout Slam, with Miranda flying TLT, bomblet generator, Sabine, and Conner Net with Advanced Slam.
Having flown this list for three months, it was pretty familiar the strengths and weaknesses of this list. I knew that Miranda would cause a lot of trouble with those bombs, so I decided to gun for her first. Having munitions versus his bomber meant I'd have the advantage on the initial approach, but as soon as he could get within range 2, I knew I'd be flying right into his bombs. He set up on opposite corners and I set up ready to joust Miranda. I knew if I could drop her before Dash could come around, then I'd be in good shape. First round of combat Rey was able to take some shield offs at range 3, and I was able to get a pretty explosive plasma torp to get her down to 1 hull. Next round she took a TLT shot at Rey, but that one shield regen wasn't enough to save her from another primary attack from Rey.
Dash sweeped in wide around in the next round and was able to HLC Rey to take some good shots off. I was able to drop a few bomblets while flying in his range 1 donut, while Rey and Dash slugged it out. His dice turned out to be better than mine, and Rey went down winning him 55 points. Miranda was able to hard 2 twice around while his focus was on Rey, and fired off her last remaining plasma torp to finish Dash off.
100-55, 1-0
Round 2
Kevin, flying 3 TIE Aggressors with TLT and Lightweight Frames and Captain Jonus with Lightweight Frame.
Jankiest of the jank. The irony here is that Kevin and I playtest often - I even talked him into flying this list. Three TLT's however,are nothing to shake a stick at. He sets up on his left corner in formation. Three Aggressors in front, Jonus behind. I set up directly across, fully expecting to joust with his thousand-papercuts list. He even joked mid-match that his list is called the "Jonus Brothers". Turn 1, he hard 2's to his right, and I move aggressively forward to take his list on. Turn 2 he executes a bank 1 in to his left, and I get set up a range 3 shot onto Jonus. Rey starts off the round by shooting at range 3, taking him down to 4 hull. Miranda fires off her plasma torps and takes Jonus down.
His three Aggressors swing around the rocks and open fire on Miranda. As much damage as she could put out, getting 6 hits a turn from TLT's melted her down pretty quickly. Staying in formation, Rey tried swatting at the annoying little buggers but she couldn't cut them down quick enough. It came down to Rey with 2 hull left, and two Aggressors in pretty rough shape, but they managed to bleed her dry. Adding insult to injury, he was borrowing one of my Aggressors... and proceeded to kill me with it.
49-100, 1-1
Round 3
Connor, flying Quickdraw with Swarm Tactics, FCS, Special Ops title, and Lightweight Frame, an Aggressor with TLT and Lightweight Frame, and Vessery with TIE/D, tractor beam, and expertise
This matchup worried me a little bit, as I knew that tractor beam and TLT are pretty much the Achilles Heel for my list. Low agil ships are like a shooting gallery when tractored, and my last round matchup reminded me how detrimental TLT's can be unchecked. He set up in his right corner. I set up on my right, furthest from him, to try and swing in midfield for the joust. Obstacles were placed around the outsides, so the center of the map was pretty open for some Rey sloop shenanigans. He flew his Aggressor out front in hopes that he could swarm it to a PS9. I lit it up with an alpha strike from both Rey's primary and Miranda's plasma torps taking it off the board in the first round of combat. Next he proceeded to fly Quickdraw towards the middle of the map, and Vessery close to the edge to swing in wide. Figuring Vessery was the bigger threat I went after him while making sure I was staying behind Quickdraw (only taking shots from his rear arc to deny the bonus die from his title). Miranda was able to chase Vessery into the corner so he was forced to pull two hard turns to come around, and he never had arc either time. Quickdraw got Rey down to half points with her fire control system always granting that reroll. Miranda stayed pretty much untouched, but she didn't provoke Quickdraw with TLT shots if she could avoid it. Vessery went down with a second plasma torp, and Rey slooped back to try and catch Quickdraw from behind again. Connor anticipated this and slooped Quickdraw so that we were facing each other full forward. We traded shots, but Quickdraw's ability got two more shots in than Rey and sent her home. Miranda was able to TLT and cut in with a last minute bomblet to finish off Quickdraw's remaining 3 hull.
100-55, 2-1
Round 4
Tyler, flying Dash with Lone Wolf, HLC, Outrider, Countermeasures, and Miranda with bomblet generator, Sabine, Cluster Mines, advanced slam, and extra munitions.
This matchup was intimidating on multiple levels. I've never been able to hold my own against Tyler in games past. In our store, we call him "The Dice Whisperer". He's a great guy, and he's a beast of an opponent. He set up on the corners, but this game he set up Dash pointing towards Miranda instead of towards the center. I set up again across Miranda, hoping to take her out in a shot or two like my round 1 game. Tyler flew Dash in much faster and much more aggressively and slammed Miranda so they were able to move in together. I cut in early seeing Dash heading towards the center, and we had all four ships engaged. This round we were all facing each other, so there were no bomb shenanigans. Turn 2 however, I lucked out beyond all imagining. Miranda turned 2 in towards both Rey and my Miranda, and advanced slammed to try and get in past to drop the bomb. His slam movement had the corner of his Miranda's base balancing on the nub of mine. That tiny piece of plastic was the godsend that I needed to prevent that cluster mine from dropping and detonating on Rey and Miranda that turn. After he backed up, I was able to throw a primary shot from Rey into Miranda and take her off the board. He played defensively the rest of the game with Dash, and as expected, Dash trading shots with Rey took her down past half. Miranda was able to swing about in the last round of combat and fire a plasma torp to finish Dash off.
100-27, 3-1
Round 5
Nathan, flying Dengar with all the usual BS that Dengar has (I don't fly scum, and I have a hatred for Dengar that is borderline unhealthy, so I preemptively apologize if this particular write-up is a lot more biased than the previous) plus Cad Bane and a bomb (I can't remember which), and Captain Nym with Veteran Instincts, bomblet generator, Havoc title, Autoblaster Turret, Accuracy Corrector, and Genius. Nathan and I also playtest regularly, and wanted to ensure that this match was as personal as it could be.
After examining his list, it seemed apparent that Nym wasn't really the threat here, since Dengar himself has the capability to solo lists. So following that, I set an all out kill-order for Dengar. Knowing how most toilet-seat players love setting up on their right corner, I decided I'd set up my three obstacles all on my left side of the map at range 1 of each other, to hopefully slow Dengar's approach in. Nathan set up both ships on his right corner as expected, so I set up in the center and slow-rolled to intercept when he did turn in to the center. We traded shots, but Nathan's dice ran cold. There was a round of combat where Dengar caught Miranda in arc at range 1, took the shot, and blanked out. Miranda fired back with a primary while losing a die to regen, and Dengar took two hits from it. Dengar invoked his broken-**** power to fire back at poor, innocently bystanding Miranda and blanked out. Rey was able to expertly outmaneuver Dengar like the force prodigy she is, and to manage to stay out of his arc while handing him back the broken pieces of his miserable ship. Nym took a few range 1 pot shots with autoblaster turret and accuracy corrector, but Rey's large and lucious... hull value... was able to weather the storm. Dengar and Nym both closed in to try and take range 1 shots at Rey, but Miranda dropped a bomb where Dengar and Nym would end up, causing a detonation that would kill both Dengar and Nym.
100-27, 4-1
At this point, it was announced that I was to make it into the top 4 cut. We broke for dinner and then got right back to it.
Semi-Finals
Zach, flying two JumpMasters with Attani Mindlink, 4-Lom, R4 Agromech, Extra Munitions and Plasma Torps, and the other with Attani Mindlink, Boba Fett, R4 Agromech, Extra Munitions, Plasma Torps, and Fenn Rau with Attani Mindlink, Concord Dawn Protector title, and Autothrusters.
Zach started off with his two Jumpmasters on his right corner, while starting Fenn on the left corner facing right.. He started flying both jump masters side-by-side with an aggressive 3 bank and hard turn to their left to try and engage in the center of the map. I set up Rey and Miranda together on the right corner across from Fenn. Zach and I also playtest regularly, and he's exceedingly talented at knowing exactly what I'd do, so I tried to fly differently this time. In games past, I've chased his Fenn down to little or no avail, while his Jumpmasters tear me apart, so this time I decided to try with a feint. I pulled an aggressive forward maneuver towards Fenn on the first round of maneuvers, but turned in hard left on the second round to engage the Jumpmasters. Zach flew Fenn fast to his right, and swung wide around to avoid the possible range 3 shot. I believe he was attempting to try and bait me again into chasing Fenn, but by then I had a range 3 shot on his Jumpmaster carrying Boba. He took a focus action to set up a plasma torp for the next round (using R4 agromech) and got both jumpmasters target locked on Rey. The next turn she was able to sloop left to get into range 1 (out of arc though, but at she wasn't taking two plasma torps that turn) while Miranda pulled a 1 forward and took a target lock to set up a plasma torp of her own. Rey took the out of arc shot and landed 3 hits on Boba's jumpmaster, and Miranda scored 4 hits with her plasma torp. Next round Miranda was able to TLT to finish off Boba. 4-Lom's jumpmaster turned left towards the center of the map, while Fenn cut in to try and get his range 1 shot on Rey. He boosted and barrel rolled to take his shot, which stripped most of the shields off of Rey. Miranda took her range 2 second plasma torp shot and scored 5 hits on Fenn. Fenn's dice failed him and he blanked out. By this time it was only the 4-Lom jumpmaster, and both Rey and Miranda chasing him down to the finish.
100-0, 1-0
Finals
Brett, flying Captain Nym with Veteran Instincts, and bomblet generator, and Lok Revenant with Extra Munitions, and Cluster Mines, and a Contracted Scout with Extra Munitions, Cad Bane, R4-E1, and Cluster Mines.
Brett had been undefeated all night, so naturally this matchup was intimidating. After reviewing with some of his previous opponents about how he flew, it was suggested that the Jumpmaster was the best first target, as once Cad Bane was out of the picture, his power limits the effectiveness of the other's bombs substantially. We rolled for initiative and Brett gave it to me. I set out to gun for the jumpmaster first. Brett set his ships up in his right corner, and I set up my ships in my right corner. We both set to engage near the center of the map, and banked in accordingly. I hadn't run with the R4-E1 astromech before, so I was unfamiliar of it's ability. On the initial approach, his jumpmaster pulled a masterfully executed 4 koigran and dropped his cluster mines right in front of Rey. He ended up flying slow with his two scurggs to avoid Rey's arc. Miranda flew a hard 2 around the cluster mine, but into the jumpmaster causing a bump. I had dialed in a 3 bank to my right for Rey in hopes to sloop around the killbox and attempt to be outside of his arcs. My template went right through the center cluster mine and I rolled a hit and a blank. Cad instructed me to reroll the blank, and of course it rolled into another hit. Rey opened fire on the jumpmaster but even after Finn's rerolls, only caused minimal damage. Miranda couldn't fire on the jumpmaster, and the bump prevented the much needed target lock to fire off a plasma at Nym. Since that wasn't an option, I opted for a primary at Nym, which relieved him of a shield. The next round both of his scurggs dialed in a talon roll, which allowed them to get behind Miranda and the Jumpmaster turned in to get in range of Miranda and out of arc of Rey. Rey chased it down but managed to get the Jumpmaster out of arc. She rolled a paltry 3 dice on attack scoring two hits, but was easily evaded. All three ships opened fire at Miranda, but she was unable to withstand all three ships and was promptly removed from the board. The last few turns had me chasing after the Jumpmaster, but it survived one, maybe two too many turns and was able to get another cluster mine off. By the time the Jumpmaster died, Nym was still only missing one shield, and Lok was untouched. They set up another gauntlet of cluster mines, which forced Rey into a corridor of bomb tokens and the edge of the board. Rey attempted to sloop away from the mess, but that turned out to be a mistake as Nym and Lok both inched forward to take range 1 shots at Rey to bring her an untimely demise.
I'm humbled to have been among these great players and to stand among them as one of the top 8 of our store championships. This was my first time making the top cut, and my first time ever making it to the final round in a tournament. Although it was a long day of competition, I couldn't have been more proud of my performance, and the day I had. In the matchups where I played my best, it brought me success. In the matchups I played against clearly better players, luck saw fit to shore up the difference. I had a great opportunity and am immensely grateful to everyone who showed up to be a part of this experience.