My son and I are taking the leap and going to our first System Open in Philadelphia in a week or so. I've been reviewing the Tournament regs and various boards about past tournaments, but I just had a few questions:

1. We don't have to bring battle mats to an official tournament of this size, right?

2. The first day is six swiss rounds, needing five wins to advance. Since you're effectively eliminated after two losses, do you stop playing at this point?

3. Are there any breaks between matches or pretty much six games straight? (We're bringing food, water, etc.)

4. Since we'll be using the standard 2.0 cardboard, do you suggest marking anything but the obstacles? For example, my list uses Palob, who steals tokens. I'm very careful about not stealing other players tokens, but would it be better to mark my tokens so there's no confusion?

Any other tips or suggestions are appreciated. We've both got solid, competitive lists, but we've still got low expectations and are just looking for the experience and to meet players. We're around two hours north of Philly, so this is the closest one of these will ever come to our neck of the woods.

Thanks!

Congrats on going to the System Open. It will be a thrilling experience!
I've only been to one myself. It has been in spring and it has been in Europe. So I guess not everything will run the same way. But here's what I expect:

1. No, there will be playmats for sure.

2. There might be side events for the dropouts, probably Hangar Bay pods for 8 people. So you might want to take a second list with you. But you should get some info from the organizer about that. If there are no side events (or you just don't feel like playing Hangar Bay) you can just continue playing the main event. You're just playing for the fun of it after all! And I think I've read somewhere that you will get some prize tickets if you play (1 for loosing, 2 for winning) that you can spend to get some nice prizes. So it totally makes sense to stay in the main event.

3. There will definitely be some smaller breaks. It takes some time between rounds for the organizers to enter results etc. I would guess you get some 15-20 minute breaks and 1 longer break for lunch. But that depends totally on your organizer. I would recommend to have plenty of water and some snacks ready.

4. Marking your stuff is not a bad idea but usually everybody has enough of the cardboard tokens (the maneuver templates are another matter). It's really not a problem if you loose one or get an extra along the way. But anyway, I would recommend to have a small amount of everything on the table (just what your squad really needs) and quickly check after each match before leaving the table. But be careful about the damage deck. Missing a card can get you disqualified! Quickly count them after each match.

Other tips: Have fun, enjoy the game, be friendly to everybody (shake hands, wish them good luck and so on), and drink plenty of water to have a clear head.

So, enjoy the System Open!

1. No mats should be provided by the TO staff.

2. Depends on you. You can lose every game but still play all 6. You paid the money so might as well get tournament reps.

3. Typically with a 6 match day there is a lunch break of an hour after round 2 or 3.

4. I mark all my stuff but that is just personal preference. Bring extra tokens and things though because it’s easy to lose some throughout the day.

have fun! System Opens are competitive but there are a lot of great people in the community so make sure you take the time to enjoy yourselves and not focus to much on results.

1. Mats are provided, though you can pick up one of the new mats if you like the theme.

2. There is a prize wall with (at least) new alt arts and target locks. You exchange tickets for prizes. You get two tickets for a win and one for a loss. So even playing out your games can net you stuff.

3. As I recall from last year, there was a lunch break after round 2.

4. Many people will have custom tokens and people probably won't care if you end up swapping your standard cardboard tokens for theirs.

My other tip is to take a deep breath and have fun. Check out the rest of the convention. Also the indoor market a block away from the convention center has great food.

We're bringing extra tokens and have a pretty good system with the setup of our materials to get it on the table and back in the case. It looks like there are Hyperspace events and Hangar Bay tournaments (some in the Yavin format). Not sure if we'll bring extra stuff to play in those. I think there's an additional cost (like $10), but you do get extra prize tickets for playing in them. We've been very focused on our Extended lists, but maybe we'll throw together a few in the other formats to be able to play. We are meeting (non-X-wing) friends to check out the rest of the con and I'm pretty excited since this is my first large tabletop convention as well. I'll probably be broke by the end of it!

10 minutes ago, dadocollin said:

We're bringing extra tokens and have a pretty good system with the setup of our materials to get it on the table and back in the case. It looks like there are Hyperspace events and Hangar Bay tournaments (some in the Yavin format). Not sure if we'll bring extra stuff to play in those. I think there's an additional cost (like $10), but you do get extra prize tickets for playing in them. We've been very focused on our Extended lists, but maybe we'll throw together a few in the other formats to be able to play. We are meeting (non-X-wing) friends to check out the rest of the con and I'm pretty excited since this is my first large tabletop convention as well. I'll probably be broke by the end of it!

There is also another 6 round tournament on Saturday that will be extended. What I would do is look at the prize wall, see what you want (and the costs of tickets) and play as much as you want to get those prizes. You can also probably sell your excess tickets to people looking for more.

Looks like there are a few team Hangar Bay events where a pair of people put together 150pt lists and play another team. Since it'll be my son and I and I think both of our lists can be broken down from 3 to 2 ships fairly easily to fit 150pt lists, I think we'll check those out. That actually sounds like a lot of fun.

Pack light if you can. We've found that silverware organizing trays (couple dollars at Walmart, etc) make great trays to take your list between tables. Dice rolling boxes work well too if you can find one that holds everything, plus they work great for rolling dice! Make sure and unpack it all at home to double check that you have everything your list needs. I usually mark my obstacles with colored sharpie around the edges, but I've also seen stickers. Same with your maneuver templates (and tokens like target locks) if you're using the cardboard ones. Triple check your damage deck has all 33 cards.

Bring 2 copies of your printed out list from the FFG app. Trace your obstacles on the back of the page (one page if possible!) Give one copy to the organizer and keep one for easy MOV calculations at the end of a game.

And definitely play in that team game! Those are the most fun

1 minute ago, Jyico said:

And definitely play in that team game! Those are the most fun

Can teams be cross faction? I'll be bringing scum and my son rebels. Can we still be on the same team, or do we both have to have 150pt lists from the same faction?

Just now, dadocollin said:

Can teams be cross faction? I'll be bringing scum and my son rebels. Can we still be on the same team, or do we both have to have 150pt lists from the same faction?

Unless there's special rules its usually same faction. You sign up as a team!

I looked on Cascade Games' site for the xwing, looks like its team 150 point hangar bay tournaments on demand. So you need 2x 150 point lists (I'm guessing your team selects one of them to play since its listed as hangar bay?) and it looks like you play one game as a team.

"Hangar bay" usually means two lists, and at the beginning of the game you look at your opponents' lists and select the one you think could do well against both of theirs. Or you pick the one you think would do best against the one you think they will pick. The On-demand hangar bays are 4-8 people, 3 rounds of play. You should really try and make time for one of those as well. Hangar bays are a lot of fun and 8 people can usually play 3 rounds much faster than the usual 3 rounds of tournament play. I've even see people grab a couple cards (or one z-95) as their 2nd list for hangar bays and never fly it. But doing that gives your opponent the edge in that they know what you're flying.

Good luck and fly well!