I always take the time to talk to the people I play about the game I just played. Whether I win or lose, you can learn something either way. That and repetition on the table is the only advice I can give. I acknowledge that I do not get enough of the second point which is why I have hit a plateau.

2 hours ago, direweasel said:

I'm nowhere near this point with X-Wing, still have plenty of the basics to learn. However, I am at and past this point in another game, Blood Bowl, so I can comment from that perspective and try to draw comparisons.

For those who don't know, Blood Bowl is a miniatures board game that is equal parts American football, rugby, D&D, and chess. You play a very violent football-ish game with fantasy race miniatures. So dwarves are going to be short and slow, but stout and good hitters. Elves are going to be faster and better at passing, but don't take a hit very well. Goblins aren't good at either, but have chainsaws and generally cause mayhem. And so on.

You originally "get good" at Blood Bowl by mastering a single race, learning the best setups and strategies with them. What skills to give the players as they get experience. And so on. You plateau when you more or less master a race. You get beyond it by playing and mastering the opposite type of race. It's the old "know thy enemy" thing - by learning the problems a dwarf coach faces, you learn better how to exploit them as an elf coach, and vice-versa. Well I've been playing Blood Bowl for 25 years now, competitively for almost 20, so I pretty well have them all figured out.

So how does this all relate back to X-Wing. I don't think it breaks down perfectly along faction lines the same way Blood Bowl does with races. After all, a rebel squadron of 2 falcons is not remotely the same as a squadron of 5 A-wings. But I think you can talk about different types of squadrons between factions. If you're most comfortable doing big formations of cheap ships, make it a point to fly some lone wolves and some big ships. If you're the small squadron of elite pilots then try the fragile swarms. Try some weird EPS combos. Force yourself to approach the game from directions you aren't accustomed to. Play some Epic to deal with big fleets and big ships. Play some weird scenarios that make you think about things differently.

tl;dr - force yourself to think differently about the game and your approach, in every conceivable way. Don't let yourself get lazy and get stuck in a rut where you're flying on auto-pilot.

I've played BB since 1st ed (with the odd 20 years break now and then) and I'm just diving into Blood Bowl 2 on PS4. I'm used to being quite 'bashy', decided to to give a different team a try so went for the Skaven/Goblin mixed Underworld team. Approximately 1 game and 2 turns in I reset and made a Chaos team.

BASH! BASH!

I still need to find the plateau with one thing, going to the bottom rung of the other ladder just made me sad.