I participated in the Dreamers Minneapolis Hyperspace Trial Saturday 3/16, we had a turnout of 49 players so a biggy!! I have never played in an X-wing tourney that went more than 3 rounds, so was excited for a big one. The wave championship at my local game store a while back had went well for me (3-0 1 st place woohoo! Took down Trip Ups for a perfect record against them (before the nerf haha) with my 3 ship rebel list, so after debating for a bit whether I needed to scale up to 4 ship rebel or not, decided to go for it. Here is my list –
T-65 X-wing - •Wedge Antilles - 77
•Wedge Antilles -
Red Two
(52)
Swarm Tactics (3)
Proton Torpedoes (12)
R2 Astromech (4)
Shield Upgrade (6)
Servomotor S-foils (Open) (0)
BTL-A4 Y-wing - •“Dutch” Vander - 62
•“Dutch” Vander -
Gold Leader
(39)
Ion Cannon Turret (4)
Proton Torpedoes (12)
R3 Astromech (3)
Shield Upgrade (4)
UT-60D U-wing - •Benthic Two Tubes - 61
•Benthic Two Tubes -
Cavern Angels Marksman
(47)
Perceptive Copilot (8)
•Leia Organa (2)
Rigged Cargo Chute (4)
Pivot Wing (Open) (0)
Total: 200/200
View in the X-Wing Squad Builder
I did not write notes or final scores of each game anywhere, so sorry for somewhat foggy details, but here is what I remember-
RD 1. Vs Brad from Iowa - Right off the bat I got to face almost an exact copy of the list I had thought of switching up to! He had Wedge, Biggs, Uwing/Leia & Dutch w torps. First engagement I took out Biggs at the cost of losing Wedge – NOT a good start or trade! I was able to catch his Wedge a few turns later with a Dutch torp to take him off the board, and the rest of the game became a duel btwn the Us & Dutches!! Tubes was able to dump cargo & catch his U – a number of turns following they bumped each other in a corner. The end game came down to the ion turret on my Dutch being MVP and taking out his Dutch. Final score was me in the 170s to him getting 130s, so 1-0 !
RD 2. I was paired with local player ‘Big Vic’ who was 1-0 after a Rd 1 auto bye earned from a 2018 store championship. He was running Poe, Lulo, Tali & another T70, I think the bullseye ability one? we did a lap around the board - I won capture the flag in his corner then reversed to face. I was able to get all 3 ships firing on the non-Poe T70 first engagement & knocked him off the board, in trade for most of Wedge. Next few turns I traded Wedge for Lulo, then it came down to the U & Y vs. Poe & Tali. Leia was MVP here, along with Dutch & tubes trading focus / TLs. Game came down to last turn – he turned Tali in for a parting shot and I was able to get a Dutch torp to knock him off the board for a 160s to 150s 6 point win – 2 & 0 woohoo!! Vic went on to win out in the round of 6 & was in first place at the time of cut to 8, so he recovered nicely!!
RD 3. I was paired with another local player Randy flying ‘The Resistance 5s’ 2 T70s & 2 Awings all PS 5. We set up for a straight joust, I slow rolled first few turns, 2 nd turn he slid the Awings out a bit and appeared to be moving for a flank. I bit on the flank move & next turn I dialed it up to go try to catch a T70 before the Awings got back into it, but he bluffed & we ended in full joust. Now I have played enough games to know you cant blame game results on ‘good dice rolls’- but this game they went cold on me. Torp shots from Dutch & Wedge w TLs & focuses ended in 2 total damage on Nien, which doesn’t cut it! He was able to crack shot 4 shots into Tubes & knock him off the board. Next few turns I was able to get each of his ships to half, had Ello ioned on one health but then blanked on a R1 ion the next turn to take him off. The maneuverability of his list & nasty back shots of the awings plinked away & took down both Dutch & Wedge. Only game of the day where I got tabled. Final score was 200- 80s & 2-1. Randy was in second place overall at the time of cut to 8.
So 3 super intense matches – after the lunch break was hoping to dial it back a bit for game 4, but nope not in the cards!
RD4. I was paired with a local player Alex, who was 3-0 with a Vader / Vermeil / Pure Sabaac / Gideon list. I setup far left he set up on his middle / left. Sabaac/ Gideon slow rolled in from middle, Vermeil turned in & came across the board & vader tried to flank. I ran straight up the board again and captured the flag on his end, then Leia’d back into the fight. I was able to torp Gideon & Sabaac (took two w/ Sabaacs ability haha) then use the stopping power of Leia / Uwing to have tubes cause troubles for Vermeil while the others picked him apart. Ultimately I traded Tubes for Vermeil & it came down to Vader vs Wedge & Dutch. Here is where my tourney inexperience / fatigue set in & I got complacent combined with aggressive in the wrong moments with vader, when I should have checked score & realized I had the win already. I ended up getting half on vader, but gave up half on Dutch when I didn’t need to, which could have costed me in the end results of the whole tourney. BUT I took down a 3-0 & was now at 3-1! Alex was able to recover and finished the tourney in 12th place.
So 4 super intense battles in a row, do I get ‘a break’ for round 5 & play someone at my 3-1 level?? Nope. Announcements for pairings are made and the Judge (my local player friend) smiles at me & says – you got table 1 Video table… to which I say, me?!? I am not undefeated you sure you got the right player?!?
RD 5. I get to play another undefeated player Shane- local who is well known on the MN tourney scene. Shane is running 3 generic Xs with 2Ys / ion cannons- so the dreaded 5 ship match up – on camera. Deep breath – no time to be tired now! He setup on his far right with the 3 Xs & center / right with the Ys. I setup to my right mid right, so my ships are slight off center from the Ys. Turn 1 I slow rolled, he ran out fast & boosted in with the Xs, and slow rolled the Ys. I right away changed my game and decided to go for it vs the 3 xs while the ys were still out of range, and it paid off. I banked in fast next turn & was able to catch all ships at R3 w/ him not being able to triple up shots on anyone. Dice came back to at least avg for me here & I was able to fire all three ships at one X before it shot, taking it off the board. Return was loss of shields on Wedge. Turn 2 was rinse & repeat, all 3 of my ships took a 2 nd X off the board. I lost Wedge few turns later at the cost of half of two of his ships. Rest of the game Leia became MVP, and one turn in particular I was able to barrel roll out of arc w Dutch of all his ships, getting R1 shots w both mine & he got two ion cannon shots on Tubes, which didn’t ion. Endgame he got Wedge & half Tubes, I got everything but one Y for a 160s to 130s victory. 4-1 WOW! I surprised myself! Shane was great fun to play against - we had fun w the big tokens used for being on Camera. He actually went on to win out and take first place for the day!! So I was the only one to get a win against the winner?!?
At this point I have a shot of making the top 8 if I can squeak out one more win! A few people tell me that a 4-2 record should be good enough for top 16, so excited about some awesome dice. For the first time in the tourney, I DON’T get paired with an undefeated opponent!!
RD 6. I am matched with Kyle, one of the top local MN players who is running Vader / Vermeil / Duchess / Academy. Setup is nearly identical to my previous Imperial match, this time I don’t run to the other end of the board but bank in just past halfway point. After slow rolling I was able to boost in at the right moment & Wedge caught the AP with his pants down @ R1. Leia did her thing a few turns later and a Wedge torp took Duchess down. At this point I was looking good, everyone was close to half health but I had 3 v 2. I was able to catch vader R1 w Dutch’s ion turret and ionized him – should have been game over! But…my wheels fell off. Fatigue of the day & so many intense games set in & instead of next turn getting 3 fully modded shots on Vader, I bumped and only got 2 R1s with no mods – still good shots, but alas only took 1 shield off vader. Lost Wedge shortly after and stress crit on Dutch made him ineffective for 3 turns. Vermeil & the 1 sloops did their number on stressed Dutch & that was the end. Lost 170s to 130s. Kyle went on to make final table and take 2 nd place vs. Shane.
So overall I ended up 4-2. If you count the first game, I played against 5 undefeated opponents. 4 opponents made the cut of top 8, 5 opponents made top 16. I won against first place after 6 rounds AND won against the overall winner!! So I should be happy, right?
Final results were announced and I finished… 17 th ☹ ☹ Just out of the cut for the cool dice, which was my goal for the day. Should I be frustrated that SoS means nothing, and the MoV ruined it for me? Or should I be happy that I played well against such strong opponents? I am proud of the way I played (except botching the last one) and should be happy about the finish – but missing the top 16 cut & cool prizes is certainly disappointing.
All in all it was intense, exhausting and fun day of gaming. Not sure if I will be up for it again anytime soon after the letdown of 17th though. Unless I just bring boring 5 Ys next time? They made top 16 cut lol! Curious if other players have experienced this sort of disappointment with the SoS / MoV scoring system - where you play well and score wins against very tough opponents, but do not place very high at the end? Seems to come down to the luck of the draw of who you get paired against, and lady luck was NOT with me for this one!!
Edited by cubsfan4lifemisspell