I'm curious about my local meta and whether it mirrors the world or does its own thing. The Intermountain Cup tournament was our most recent large tournament, which invited players from Utah, Idaho, and surrounding areas and had 41 participants. The Top 4 consisted of 3 RAC fleets and my Triple Auzitucks. Here is the list of fleets at the tournament (list juggler).

We saw a lot of bombs and Nym of course, as well as Dengar, Quickdraw, TIE Defenders, Asajj, and those are expected. The Decimators were bomb-resistant and the RAC builds were brutal (kylo + palp, or rebel captive, gunner, etc); I didn't expect that many Decimators but it looks like they proved their worth.

I've always gotten the impression that we were a bit west of normal, so to speak. But looking at the fleets that did well, these are probably not all that far off from what's doing well in other places.... maybe. In truth, I don't know what flies in other places, and since I'm an admin on the X-Wing site of wikia, that's sometimes embarrassing. Hopefully I don't give bad advice based on my local meta.

What's the meta like in other places right now? Is it kinda normal where I live, or completely crazy, or somewhere in-between?

I really can't speak for my meta. Our rule is to fly never-used pilots and cards and try to make them work. Unlocking hidden combos, that sort of thing. So for the two players (out of about 8 of us) who actually go in to win, they usually fly Nym and various escorts.

At first glance....

Wookie Wagons!!!!!

Our meta is a strange one. You'll find HWK-290s and Scyks quite often, and Palp made an appearance tonight alongside 3 TIE Aggressors. We have a handful of players that do run things like Nym/Dengar, but most are showing up to tournaments & casual nights with all sorts of zany stuff! Had a guy flying Red Ace the other day that was nigh unkillable.

1 minute ago, Innese said:

Had a guy flying Red Ace the other day that was nigh unkillable.

That brings back some Wave 7 nostalgia. Comms Relay + Artoo?

Hah, I used to be the primary source of HWKs in our meta. I tried out a lot of fleets that used Jan to boost shots to 6-8 dice, either for fun or to overwhelm the absurd agility on some targets. I'd typically give her Squad Leader & TLT.

Several of those fleets relied on Biggs though, and Biggs has been feeling discouraged lately for a number of (perhaps local) reasons. It's been nice seeing less and less of him; even though I used to fly him and I loved the fleets that used him, I like variety. Especially with Fair Ship Rebels and related crap in vogue, a couple members of our local community kinda declared war on Biggs and started fielding fleets to discourage formation flying. Perhaps that explains his muted showing. I'm betting Harpoon Missiles will make him nearly disappear, at least for a while.

4 minutes ago, DR4CO said:

That brings back some Wave 7 nostalgia. Comms Relay + Artoo?

Yup! He was keeping track and it was taking something like 20+ damage in some matches.

2 minutes ago, Wazat said:

Hah, I used to be the primary source of HWKs in our meta. I tried out a lot of fleets that used Jan to boost shots to 6-8 dice, either for fun or to overwhelm the absurd agility on some targets. I'd typically give her Squad Leader & TLT.

Several of those fleets relied on Biggs though, and Biggs has been feeling discouraged lately for a number of (perhaps local) reasons. It's been nice seeing less and less of him; even though I used to fly him and I loved the fleets that used him, I like variety. Especially with Fair Ship Rebels and related crap in vogue, a couple members of our local community kinda declared war on Biggs and started fielding fleets to discourage formation flying. Perhaps that explains his muted showing. I'm betting Harpoon Missiles will make him nearly disappear, at least for a while.

I'm the one usually up to the HWK shenanigans haha! Usually running both Palob & Torkil alongside either Kavil or Quinn Jast & Sunny Bounder. So much jank!

4 minutes ago, Innese said:

Yup! He was keeping track and it was taking something like 20+ damage in some matches.

Sounds about right. I used to run him alongside Poe & an Ion Stresshog back in the day. Struggled to bring down just about anything, but drove more than a few opponents to distraction with how much effort it took to kill either T-70.

Good times. Simpler times.

8 minutes ago, DR4CO said:

Sounds about right. I used to run him alongside Poe & an Ion Stresshog back in the day. Struggled to bring down just about anything, but drove more than a few opponents to distraction with how much effort it took to kill either T-70.

Good times. Simpler times.

He had him paired alongside Rey, who was providing a fair bit of a punch that a single T-70 lacks.

Are Auzitucks other than Lowhhrick seeing much use out there? It was surprising that my triple wookiee liberators took the tournament by storm, and I'm wondering if they're making much of a splash in the larger meta. Or are they mostly only used in Fair Ship Rebels and related fleets?

Also is Ruthlessness making any sort of comeback where you live? At least one person here has been using it a lot to break up FSR and other Biggs formations, really formations in general. Especially paired with TIE/D and Tractor Beam, it's brutal.

I don't field B-Wings anymore. Nera used to be viable with Biggs protecting her, but that's no longer the case.

30 minutes ago, Wazat said:

Are Auzitucks other than Lowhhrick seeing much use out there? It was surprising that my triple wookiee liberators took the tournament by storm, and I'm wondering if they're making much of a splash in the larger meta. Or are they mostly only used in Fair Ship Rebels and related fleets?

Also is Ruthlessness making any sort of comeback where you live? At least one person here has been using it a lot to break up FSR and other Biggs formations, really formations in general. Especially paired with TIE/D and Tractor Beam, it's brutal.

I don't field B-Wings anymore. Nera used to be viable with Biggs protecting her, but that's no longer the case.

I haven't seen an Auzituck down here since about the first week or two after they dropped when people were trying out FSR.

I haven't seen Ruthlessness either as well since those first few weeks, with people likewise trying to break up FSR. With a lot of lists going back to 2-3 ships that don't need to be in close proximity to one another, Ruthlessness is practically dead again.

There is no such thing as a 'normal meta'.

The top players near me (UK, northern and eastern quarter of the country) seem to be flying triple jumpmasters or Low, Biggs, and Miranda, or (less often) triple PS11 Imperial alphas.

The next tier down seems to have a lot of Nym, Dash, Miranda, Dengar, or Poe. Plus a smattering of Shadowcasters and a few still with Mindlink.

I play jank and fly against a very wide variety of silly stuff. It's fun and I try to find themed tournaments - I even won one using Porkins. A whopping 4 players entered that one...

My local group (to which I'm rather new) appears to be pretty casual. The store runs a league, but players tend to just play their favorite ships or whatever sounds fun that evening rather than whatever's necessarily the strongest.

(Please note that I'm not saying that the strongest ships can't also be fun. Rather, I am just saying that the reason for choosing those ships isn't for their strength alone.)

3 hours ago, Stay On The Leader said:

There is no such thing as a 'normal meta'.

I mean, this is probably the best answer, one of the best players where I play plays almost nothing but four T-65s, then I do two different lists, Han-Luke, and ARCituckY, there a rebel alpha strike player, person that swears by dash rendar, another with triple scurrgs that the first combat is the most important, a player that swears by expose/swarm leader, among other things

3 hours ago, Stay On The Leader said:

There is no such thing as a 'normal meta'.

Maybe, but it has to be said that the fleets that do well in a combined environment like Regionals or Worlds do define a meta; eschewing those locally moves you away from that more global meta. Dengar & Nym are powerful wherever they go right now, so I'd happily call them part of said meta; someplace where it isn't so is off that meta for not including them.

True, it's useful to note the variation and the fact that no one necessarily sits directly on the average, but that ignores the idea that there is, in fact, an average, a typical range that's overall quite common. We're not talking about body issues or Asperger syndrome, there's no need to fight back against the idea of a 'normal' range. I'm just wondering where my location and others fit relative to that global meta, particularly because I frequently give advice to people across the world (and what does well here may be a disaster most other places), and because in a more global meta, local differences could be an advantage or disadvantage. For example, the fact that Triple Tucks aren't seen much makes me kinda happy... maybe I'll do very well with them. Or, maybe I've only excelled so far because my local meta makes them more powerful than they should be outside that locality. These sorts of questions matter.

Saying there is not such thing as a 'normal meta' feels a bit disingenuous, batting the question away as though there were nothing to it. That's not fair to my question. I think it's great that every local area is different, but if my local area is pretty far off from the more global meta, I might just get wrecked when I meet that meta. And I might be giving absurd advice to people on the wiki.

8 minutes ago, Wazat said:

Maybe, but it has to be said that the fleets that do well in a combined environment like Regionals or Worlds do define a meta; eschewing those locally moves you away from that more global meta. Dengar & Nym are powerful wherever they go right now, so I'd happily call them part of said meta; someplace where it isn't so is off that meta for not including them.

True, it's useful to note the variation and the fact that no one necessarily sits directly on the average, but that ignores the idea that there is, in fact, an average, a typical range that's overall quite common. We're not talking about body issues or Asperger syndrome, there's no need to fight back against the idea of a 'normal' range. I'm just wondering where my location and others fit relative to that global meta, particularly because I frequently give advice to people across the world (and what does well here may be a disaster most other places), and because in a more global meta, local differences could be an advantage or disadvantage. For example, the fact that Triple Tucks aren't seen much makes me kinda happy... maybe I'll do very well with them. Or, maybe I've only excelled so far because my local meta makes them more powerful than they should be outside that locality. These sorts of questions matter.

Saying there is not such thing as a 'normal meta' feels a bit disingenuous, batting the question away as though there were nothing to it. That's not fair to my question. I think it's great that every local area is different, but if my local area is pretty far off from the more global meta, I might just get wrecked when I meet that meta. And I might be giving absurd advice to people on the wiki.

I did a bit more than 'bat it away'... http://stayontheleader.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/a-powerful-ally-understanding-metagame.html

The article is a much more complete response. It's also only half-dismissive of my question and actually seeks to address it, while I thought you were just saying it was wrong to ask (the article has some of that angle too, but it at least takes time to address the issue). The meta may not exist, but it also... does exist. The amorphous global meta is something to keep an eye on to see if the local meta is preparing you for it (e.g. for Worlds or an average of other local metas), but the local meta still matters a lot too. I'm just trying to figure out if, for example, my triple tucks fleet would be total garbage if taken to a more global meta like worlds. I'm also curious if the decimator fleets were mostly a product of our local meta, or if they'd do decently in worlds. And, I'm wondering whether recommending RAC + Kylo + Palp is a disservice to players in other metas (global or local), or if it would actually do reasonably well in a lot of common environments.

I get that you're telling me to not ask these questions because you believe there's no useful answer (or that the answer is misleading), but I think there is value there. And I think it's still useful to talk about the global meta even if your local meta is currently B-Wings and TIE Swarms; it's worth knowing that Dengar-Nym is out there, even if you don't see it while playing at your favorite game store or kitchen table. And if you like to keep things casual, it's worth knowing that Miranda is really strong at a global level, and that's a big reason why it more easily outpaces the local meta and throws things out of whack. Miranda-Nym is making life hard for your friend's B-Wing and A-Wing fleet for good reason, and maybe you need to establish a power level you're avoiding to keep it casual. Very amorphous, but they're still questions worth investigating.

The meta is what you make it. By you, I mean your local area. So yes, it is a "normal" meta.

My meta is ALL about Dengar,Nym, Poe, Dash, Miranda. As the last store champs, I battled Poe/Miranda, Poe/Dash, Dengar/Nym.

There is very little RAC + Ace around here, but the few who fly it are really good and it has won a store champs and placed high in another this season. With the Parattanni craze, we never really got behind it. A few flew it, but it wasn't EVERYWHERE. Nym on the other hand, I think I have played against Nym in every scum list I have faced (casual or tourney) since his release. We love Nym here. Aces generally are popular here, as OldManFenn caught on more than Parattanni ever did, and now Nym and Poetensity are more popular than say FSR. I havent seen anyone fly an Auzituck outside of FSR in a tournament here. Dash is widely popular here too. Tons of Dash on tourney tables and casual tables. He is generally easy to fly, and wrecks stuff when mastered, so makes sense in both casual and tourney play.

RAC I dont see too much of, even casually. It picked up a little steam with Kylo crew release, but like I said above, few at the tourney level. Kanan/Biggs is almost never seen around here. Not sure why. Just not this area's cup'o tea.

Im anxious to fly triple auzitucks and blow everyones minds.

Cool, thanks for the info!

Yea, I suspected the Decimator is kinda rare or niche still, as I don't hear other people talk about it here or elsewhere. But it was terrifying at the last tournament and a few of the local games I've played/watched since, so it's definitely a big player here.

Triple Auzitucks are great. Once you're good with them, you'll be able to shake up the meta where you live a lot . The Triple Tucks I flew kinda trivialized Nym and a lot of the other meta staples. However, Rebel Captive was very dangerous to me, and Asajj should be too; now that I've made a splash with my tucks, I expect to see Rebel Captive and other stress sources become a lot more popular in response... but if those things were to not be prevalent more globally, such a tucks fleet may do really well in Regionals or Worlds.

We are playing HotAC exclusively at the moment! So you can't be weirder than us!
A lot of players have left the game due to non OT ships being more powerful than the originals. Hopefully GUNBOAT will bring some back, but I think most players won't be satisfied till T-65's face TIE Fighters.

29 is an amazing list, I wish he would have won it all.

On 10/17/2017 at 7:01 PM, Wazat said:

I'm curious about my local meta and whether it mirrors the world or does its own thing.

From what I’ve noticed over the past few years, the Utah meta is very much its own thing. Y’all seem to have something against playing meta lists, which I appreciate.