I'm Playing an Escalation Tourney, and it's my first. The only trick with this one is that EVERY card is unique. you can have multiple of the same ship, but everything from missiles, to academy pilots are limited to 1. With that in mind, I'm bringing to you an escalation build I've been looking at and want your opinion.

Round one 60/60

40 pts Whisper-32 Adv Cloak (4), VI (1), Collision Detector (0), Kylo Ren (3).

20 pts Countdown-20 Adaptive Ailerons (0)

Using Kylo. Whisper at PS 9, should be a pain and a blind Pilot would be a pain.

Round two (add the troll) 83/90

40 pts Whisper-32 Adv Cloak (4), VI (1), Collision Detector (0), Kylo Ren (3).

20 pts Countdown-20 Adaptive Ailerons (0)

23 pts LT Colzet-23 Tie/x1 (0), FCS (0)

Using Colzet sparingly, but once a Blind Pilot gets through, Colzet's only job is to stay in range 3 of that person and place the target lock to repeatedly use his ability to flip blind pilot again and again. He has FCS in case that person can Shake TL's.

Round three (expand the troll) 120/120

40 pts Whisper-32 Adv Cloak (4), VI (1), Collision Detector (0), Kylo Ren (3).

20 pts Countdown-20 Adaptive Ailerons (0)

23 pts LT Colzet-23 Tie/x1 (0), FCS (0)

37 pts Col Jendon-26 Palp (8), ST-321 (3)

Now we have Palp to add some additional Crits to Kylo even sooner, Col Jendon with ST-321 can target lock anywhere on the board and pass it to Whisper to get the first Kylo through, Colzet afterwards. Still dealing heavies with Phantom and Countdown as Aces, and keeping some distance and trolling with Colzet/Jendon while taking the Palp advantage.

Last Round 150/150

40 pts Whisper-32 Adv Cloak (4), VI (1), Collision Detector (0), Kylo Ren (3).

20 pts Countdown-20 Adaptive Ailerons (0)

23 pts LT Colzet-23 Tie/x1 (0), FCS (0)

37 pts Col Jendon-26 Palp (8), ST-321 (3)

30 pts Inquisitor-25 Juke (2), AutoThrusters (2), Tie/V1 (1)

Adding another much needed Ace to the mix. Inky.

Now the whole time I'm watching to make sure that Blinded pilot would be the best, but for some of them killing their PS is my most effective move, especially with the extra mobile striker.

I'm nervous about the fairly fragile synergy of Kylo/Colzet. I feel like it'd be easy to have that chain broken, and then you're just left with sub-optimal lists.

Other than that, I don't dislike the general plan. Whisper in Escalation has the potential to just body lists in the first round or two, but I think I'd rather have something like FCS and Agent Callus than Kylo Ren. I tend to think Phantoms need their actions for their own survival a lot of the time. On top of that, the list doesn't have a way to force crits for a pretty long while, so Kylo is a bit of a crapshoot.

I think I'd do the following (and either Round 2/3 could be flipped):

Round 1: Countdown (AA), Whisper (VI, ACD,FCS) [59 points]

Round 2: Here, I'd add Agent Callus to Whisper, and possibly just a plain Omicron Group Pilot with Emperor Palpatine/Collision Detector. I think it has the potential to be a solid ship. I just don't know if I'd add it in round 2 or round 3. When I flew Countess, 3x Delta, and a Palp Shuttle in an Escalation tournament (4-0!), I added my shuttle in Round 3, but I needed the point from a cheaper Delta to get my Elite for Countess (Intensity). I can see benefits to either order, however. I think there'd be something really strong to getting Palp to protect Whisper's green dice as soon as possible. Heck, it'd be interesting to bring Palp Shuttle and PTL Inquisitor in Round 1, but that's another list entirely.

Round 3: I'd add either a Defender (Delta with TIE/x7) or a Gunboat (Rho with Deadeye/Harpoon/Guidance chips). If going with the Gunboat, I think I'd either add Lightweight Frame to Countdown, or maybe toss Flechette Torpedos onto the Rho for some spot stress control, and a backup Missile if you really want to shoot before you've got a chance to reload. Either way, this floats a point or two, which is nice for next round. A Gunboat is a potent little puncher. If your opponent ignores it, tries to chase down Whisper, you might get a reload or two, and that's sweet. A Defender is a fairly hard hitting little tank, much like Countdown.

Round 4: Inquisitor with PTL/Autothrusters/Title. If you went Rho and floated all 4 points, I think you'd also be able to fit Cruise Missiles or Proton Rockets on The Inq.

Basically, I think running a stronger ship like a Gunboat or Defender instead of Lt. Colzet would be worth more in the long run than running the blinded pilot combo. Whisper is probably individually stronger with a different crew/system; Jendon isn't really worth the extra cost over a OGP; Inquisitor with PTL > Juke; and you've got an actual ship in place of Colzet. You can't lock down an opponent's blinded ship, but the kind of ships that trick is really devastating against (something like a Fat Han or Dash) is less likely to be around in an Escalation format. Maybe there'll be Fat Mirandas to perma-blind. I'd go with ships which are better on their own, rather than trying to work a synergy combo like this.

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If you really want to stick with the Kylo tricks, I think I'd go with an Omicron Pilot over Lt. Colzet in Round two. Get Palp as early as possible, and force crits immediately. Taking Colzet first, but never triggering the ISYTDS crit, would be a heartbreaker. Add Colzet in Round 3; he won't have the ease of a Jendon shuttle, but I think that's fine. Round 4, I might still add Inquisitor (PTL and a missile), but you'd also have access to someone like Quickdraw if you save the points from Jendon. Since you won't be able to go FCS, perhaps Accuracy Corrector. It'll allow QD to switch targets as needed, spend focus defensively to maintain the shield balance, and be freer to barrel roll and pull red moves without losing offense. Ship count might be high enough to make use of the front/rear double shots, too. If there's spare points, throw Reinforced Deflectors or Sensor Jammer onto the shuttle, or maybe Ion Projector.

So I've played a couple imitation first rounds, and here's what I'm liking right now.

Round 1 60pts

RAC-

Wampa-

Basic, nothing special, but Wampa has to be paid attention too because he can push hull damage around shields from the get go if he rolls a crit. He'll always TL and re-roll if there are no crits unless there is other benefit. with 19 hull points, it's hard to match with a 360 arc, RAC's focus change and the Wampa distraction. works well at 60.

Round 2 90pts.

RAC- VI, KYLO, PALP

Wampa-

Youngster- Markmanship

Now you have a PALP adjusting for extra crits to get the Kylo through, Blind Pilots, PS attacks, whatever needed, and at PS 10 it's hard to argue with the nice Firepower. Youngster gave Wampa Markmanship, so both of them walking around bumping focuses to hits, which allowed some more bypassing for Wampa, and Youngster being a nice filler. Palp could use to help if the attack needed it, or hang on for a defense so it was a nice flexibility there. Well spent fully even 90 points.

Round 3 120 pts.

RAC- VI, KYLO, PALP, Dauntless

Wampa-

Youngster- Markmanship

LT Colzet- TIE/x1, Cruise Missiles, Guidance Chips, FCS

Now we have a little more firepower with Colzet's Cruise Missiles, He also becomes the ultimate Troll since he flips damage cards at the end of the turn, and FCS ensures that it will still work even on TL shakers. Now with Wampa and RACLO both dealing bypass damage that can be flipped with Colzet there are a variety of where to attack first in this and priorities all go crazy. Basically Colzet keeps 1 ship out of the game after he's 1st rounded blind pilot by RAClo, and Colzet continues to flip it. With 118 points that leaves a couple points for the initiative bid,

Round 4 150 pts.

RAC- VI, KYLO, PALP, Dauntless

Wampa-

Youngster- Markmanship

LT Colzet- TIE/x1, Cruise Missiles, Guidance Chips, FCS

Rho Boat- PTL, Harps, OS-1 title, adv SLAM

We've now rounded the full 150 to add one of my favorite's, the Rho Boat. With repeating harps that trigger on Crits, Palp triggering Kylo's on Crits, and Wampa turning crits into raw damage, things just have gone insane. One Combo changes to another, to another. adjusting the ISYTDS as most to advantage. I could easily see stunned pilots being useful to add some need to avoid people instead of bumping, blind pilots, and killing PS with damaged Cockpits so adjusting accordingly.

I promise I won't bother you all with this crazy escalation guy again since my tourney is this weekend, but I wanted to give 2 lists and see which people would choose.

On 2/12/2018 at 11:09 AM, SkyCooper said:

Round 1 60pts 1. RAC- 2. Wampa-

Round 2 90pts. 1. RAC- VI, KYLO, PALP 2. Wampa- 3. Youngster- Markmanship

Round 3 120 pts. 1. RAC- VI, KYLO, PALP, Dauntless 2. Wampa- 3. Youngster- Markmanship 4. LT Colzet- TIE/x1, Cruise Missiles, Guidance Chips, FCS

Round 4 150 pts. 1. RAC- VI, KYLO, PALP, Dauntless 2. Wampa- 3. Youngster- Markmanship 4. LT Colzet- TIE/x1, Cruise Missiles, Guidance Chips, FCS 5. Rho Boat- PTL, Harps, OS-1 title, adv SLAM

or my other

Round 1 60 pts. 1. Major Vynder. PTL, OS-1, Harps, ADV SLAM. 2. Pure Sabacc, adaptability, adaptive Ailerons

Round 2 90 pts. 1. Major Vynder. PTL, OS-1, Harps, ADV SLAM. 2. Pure Sabacc, adaptability, adaptive Ailerons 3. Inquisitor, Juke, Title, and autothrusters

Round 3 120 pts. 1. Major Vynder. PTL, OS-1, Harps, ADV SLAM. 2. Pure Sabacc, adaptability, adaptive Ailerons 3. Inquisitor, Juke, Title, and autothrusters 4. Vader, Tie x1, advance target comp, score to settle.

Round 4 150 pts. 1. Major Vynder. PTL, OS-1, Harps, ADV SLAM. 2. Pure Sabacc, adaptability, adaptive Ailerons 3. Inquisitor, Juke, Title, and autothrusters 4. Vader, Tie x1, advance target comp, score to settle. 5. Tomax Bren, adrenaline rush, cluster mines, extra munitions.

the top list was explained above, and the lower list is pretty self explanatory with aces all across except Tomax. Tomax uses adrenaline rush to do a 5 K turn on the initial approach, use adrenaline rush to turn it white drop cluster mines. if he survives into round 2, you can play several routes, but a hard 2 with clusters could put someone that chooses to go straight through all cluster mines, and hash up all sorts of people going in the same direction.

Which would you take? and in the second list most of them are 30 pts builds, would you switch any of them to be in sooner. the round 1 has to be pretty set due to them not being exactly 60 though.

If I'm flying Vader, I'm not taking A Score to Settle, it'll be Adaptability, too.

Tomax, I guess. Just not really my style. That could be an /x7 Defender, or a Starwing of some sort. Cheaper one and add Engines to Vader? Or start Vader without an Elite upgrade, and add VI and a missile?

I guess I'd also probably take a lower-PS Starwing, in order to take PTL on Inquisitor.

Just now, theBitterFig said:

If I'm flying Vader, I'm not taking A Score to Settle, it'll be Adaptability, too.

Tomax, I guess. Just not really my style. That could be an /x7 Defender, or a Starwing of some sort. Cheaper one and add Engines to Vader? Or start Vader without an Elite upgrade, and add VI and a missile?

I guess I'd also probably take a lower-PS Starwing, in order to take PTL on Inquisitor.

the trick with this escalation is every card is unique. so I can't take adaptability twice. PTL is already on Major Vynder so he can throw fully modded harps every turn. Tomax is a bit to throw a bit of extra distraction. when points hit 150 it should be pretty easy to get most of those clusters eaten up by my opponent.

Forgot about that twist/rule.

Still, when playing Vader, I think I might save the Elite upgrade, add VI later. Or put Trick Shot on Pure Sabacc. Have you played much with Major Vynder? I just look at his price point and would love to save points. Agility is nice, but those points are nice, too. Getting missiles on aces seems wise. Proton Rockets (PRockets don't make sense without PTL...) Homing Missile? on Inquisitor, Cruise on Vader. Likewise, perhaps Deathfire is a cheaper alternative to Tomax Bren.

Deathfire and a Rho instead of Vynder/Bren saves 7 and 5 points respectively. That could add a fair number of missiles onto other ships, perhaps LWF onto Pure Sabacc, perhaps also a missile on the TIE Bomber (or at least Unguided Rockets). 4 gets VI/Cruise/GC on Vader. That'd leave 8. If you went LWF on Pure Sabacc that'd be 6 points. Getting Homing on a Deathfire also makes sense, with the Extra Munitions already there. Then last point into a XX-23 S-Thread Tracers on Inquisitor. He'll want to TL most of the time, but sometimes he won't have range and will need to just focus. This can help there.

In terms of order, I'd start with PS and either Vader or the Gunboat, add the other of those two next, then Inquisitor, then Deathfire. There's probably a way to do it, leaving off a few upgrades (like LWF on Pure Sabacc) here or there until the last round.

Reporting back to those interested. It was a VERY fun tournament. making every card unique was quite the challenge, and created all sorts of fun. 6th out of a dozen or so players.

round 1. I lost but barely. I ended up making an aggressive move that I knew I shouldn't have which killed me. had I played conservatively like I should have I would have won. long story short, it ended up Wampa chasing a more than half finished Bossk. tried to push for the easy range one, rather than position solidly behind bossk at range 2 and ended up barely in range. Lost but should have won.

round 2. I won. I faced an ace type list. They tried to focus/evade strip which basically was pointless since mine was markmanship and kylo/emp based at this point. strong win.

round 3. I lost. 3 auzituks. lost fairly handily. it pretty much strong countered the list. unfortunately, this tournament went for something that the Auzituck Meta handled very well.

Round 4. I won. played Asajj/Kavil/old Teroch and some other bits I don't remember. It took a while, but trolling Colzet and repeated blind pilots bought time. I ended up winning fairly handily and left only Kavil on the table, having only lost 1 of my cheap ties, and some half damage on RAC when time was called.

Only just saw this, sorry. I think I would have gone RAC/Wampa to begin with, but then not been quite so gimmicky in future rounds and left Youngster/Colzet out to just bring more good stuff.

My escalation tournament I took a TIE Swarm, so the uniques rule would have made me changes things up a bit. I could probably have still done it,though, and just brought a bunch of random named TIEs instead of a swarm of Blacks.
http://stayontheleader.blogspot.com/2017/10/are-we-blind-deploy-garrison-escalating.html