So FFG has just published the dates for the 2019 - 2020 Prime championships for North America. Winner get a Worlds invite. Top pair get a box.

After that, Top 4 Rebels get a Leia card, top 4 Imperials get a Grand Inquisitor card, and top 4 Mercenary get a Bossk card (as if we didn't get like 15 of them a while back), but they are the new red design,m which means they will be X-wing sized 63.5mm cards, not IA 58.5mm cards.

Top 8 get a new plastic Spectre Cell with errata, and top 32 get a Gamorrean Guard card.

Full page here. Prime Championship News Article

only 14 locations. 12 US and 2 Canada.

Only 1 Prime in the entire Pacific NW and yet somehow Louisville KY gets 2. I've sent a message to FFGOP to see if this can be fixed.

Apparently KY is the center of the IA universe? Lol

HECK YEAH KENTUCKY IS THE CENTER OF IA! YEE-HAW! *calmly sips on bourbon* *shoots basketball* *bets on horse race*

I was working with Heroes and one of our local FFG Tournament Organizers to get a PC. I didn't know that another local TO was working with Bluegrass Magic to get one, too. Glad FFG gave both stores the PCs.

Edit: I honestly think the only stores that applied to get Primes this year were stores who had a player base asking them to do so. The store owners were told by distributors months ago that IA was likely finished, and the stores started pulling IA off the shelves after that. I don't know about Bluegrass Magic but I'm pretty sure there is no IA stock on shelves in Heroes; I was there in late September and looked.

If anyone has logistical questions about either PC day (where to stay, what to do in Louisville if you come in early or stay late, etc.) just let me know.

So I dunno how this works, I have some questions for those veterans who have attended Regional Championships in the past, What were the formats? How was your experience? Are there any lists I should look out for? Any high skill players I will be going up against in Springfield, Ohio? Is there a Unit that's especially amazing right now?

-Arctic

Just be glad you got one. Louisville is as close as it comes to the southeast. And don’t get me started on how these are being held during blizzard season.

5 hours ago, ArcticJedi said:

So I dunno how this works, I have some questions for those veterans who have attended Regional Championships in the past, What were the formats? How was your experience? Are there any lists I should look out for? Any high skill players I will be going up against in Springfield, Ohio? Is there a Unit that's especially amazing right now?

-Arctic

There's been a bunch of interviews on the Zion's Finest podcast of players who have done well in high-level competitions. That's a good starting place.

Thanks Cnemmick! I will look at it

What do you guys think of these lists

http://tabletopadmiral.com/imperialassault/3c263b453e0b0b8000000000000000334f4fa3d61b7791c2d91a1c2b2f79

http://tabletopadmiral.com/imperialassault/8ea4a58c573e63a97a0000000000009d4b4f4f1b1b7791c1c3d7c8d88779

http://tabletopadmiral.com/imperialassault/023ba545053e0b0b5e9500000000009d4c639ebfd60777d9d2a13935342b

3 hours ago, ArcticJedi said:

What do you guys think of these lists

http://tabletopadmiral.com/imperialassault/3c263b453e0b0b8000000000000000334f4fa3d61b7791c2d91a1c2b2f79

http://tabletopadmiral.com/imperialassault/8ea4a58c573e63a97a0000000000009d4b4f4f1b1b7791c1c3d7c8d88779

http://tabletopadmiral.com/imperialassault/023ba545053e0b0b5e9500000000009d4c639ebfd60777d9d2a13935342b

The second one is not legal because it has Maul in it.

The third one is probably the best.

8 hours ago, Wintermute0 said:

The second one is not legal because it has Maul in it.

The third one is probably the best.

The 2nd one is fine because of Saska

For anyone interested, since it's not listed:

Prime championships Vancouver Canada: Sat/Sun January 11/12 2020, at Craving for a Game in Surrey. ; )

More details as they get finalized.

8 hours ago, ricope said:

The 2nd one is fine because of Saska

Ooops, I may have a slight case of Saska Blindness.

25 minutes ago, Wintermute0 said:

Ooops, I may have a slight case of Saska Blindness.

Eh, I literally only dropped her in there so I could have maul on that list, I made it based off the season finale in rebels were Ahsoka is MIA, Kanan is Blinded, and Ezra Starts to fall to the dark-side because of Maul. I thought it'd be cool to make a(mostly) thematic team that will probably never be used.

Apparently we have a Prime Championship happening in UK this weekend, however it is being run as a IACP event.

Whilst I am happy that fans have been working hard to try and keep the game going after FFG gave up on it, I can't be the only person that believes that the Prime / Regionals should not be run with a custom home-brew system, and should only be run with the official rules. Especially as the winner of a Prime Championship will earn a ticket to the Worlds, which will definitely be official rules only.

Am I wrong?

In my view, you are not wrong. I feel that the deployment of IACP cardset/erratas as an official tournament standard before the end of life of IA is wrong. It is a bit like playing one game to qualify for worlds of another game.

But transition periods are always hard. From a more meta view, I feel it is great that IACP and other initiatives strive to keep the game alive. Good with the bad and all that.

I am of the opinion that Primes should be standard FFG format, BUT it is ultimately the TOs choice, and I also believe that the TO should do whatever it takes to maximize attendance, especially when each Prime kit costs the organizer >$100, so maybe this TO knows that their community would rather have IACP.

As for qualifying for Worlds, many X-Wing players qualified for their Worlds by winning Hyperspace events and Worlds was extended, so it doesn't seem like a huge issue to me. SFFG (standard FFG) and IACP are different formats but they are still the same game with the same rules and the same play skills.

5 hours ago, Tvboy said:

I am of the opinion that Primes should be standard FFG format, BUT it is ultimately the TOs choice, and I also believe that the TO should do whatever it takes to maximize attendance, especially when each Prime kit costs the organizer >$100, so maybe this TO knows that their community would rather have IACP.

On a principal level, I really have to disagree with this. Doesn't that reasoning mean that the TO can change rules, make erratas, ban cards etc. at will?

On 11/15/2019 at 1:09 AM, Ram said:

On a principal level, I really have to disagree with this. Doesn't that reasoning mean that the TO can change rules, make erratas, ban cards etc. at will?

Pretty much. From page 8 of the FFG Funamdental Event Document:

Quote

• By default, the Tournament Organizer holds the Head Judge responsibilities. The Tournament Organizer has the option of adding a leader to the event as a Head Judge and delegating those responsibilities to them.
• A Head Judge should be very knowledgeable in the game rules and event regulations. These leaders act as a final authority for the interpretation and application in those matters.

And from the IA Tourney Regs

Quote

• If the organizer does not assign a marshal for the event, the organizer must perform the responsibilities of the marshal role.
• A marshal is an expert on the game’s rules and regulations and the final authority on their application during a tournament.
  

A TO that is acting as a marshal or head judge is the final authority in the application of game rules and regulations, which includes army building rules and components. Final authority means the buck stops with them, their word and decision stands final, not even Todd himself can override that TO's decision. If the TO wants to apply certain rules and not others, that's a right that they've been imbued with by FFG. It's a system that FFG has used for a long time to encourage and empower their TOs and it works.

Again, TOs should be doing what is best for their local community. If running IACP means they get 12 players instead of 4, then that is a win/win for the players and the organizer. If the reverse is true, than obviously they should just run it as standard. And if players see that the Prime is one format or another and don't like it, they should contact that TO or LGS and let them know. Again I'm of the opinion that Primes should default to Standard, especially since IACP has already announced and distributed their own Regionals kits to run along side Primes, but it's not my call how other TOs run their events.

That is the widest interpretation of TO the rules that I ever heard. If a TO pulled that kind of BS on me in any other game for a qualifying event, I would be very pissed. I have been playing MtG for 25 years and have nerver ever sen a serious TO pull something like that.

However, IA is in a special state right now so I can for sure respect that these kinds of desicions are taken. IA tournament scene at this time is largly irrelevant. I feel sorry for players caught in the shift and I am glad that the continuety project exist. So it is more a matter of deciding if it something you want to play or not.

Aren't special tournament rules are posted before the event, so you know what you are entering or choose to not enter?

1 hour ago, a1bert said:

Aren't special tournament rules are posted before the event, so you know what you are entering or choose to not enter?

The thing here is that this is a qualifying event. There is a spot at worlds at stake here. A player not ”sung up” on the changes is at an actual disadvantage even if (s)he may be a better player in the standard game, especially with things like the changes to On the lam etc.

4 hours ago, Ram said:

The thing here is that this is a qualifying event.

Which is why the rules for the Tournament should be posted prior to registration.

Any player who registers for the event should do so fully aware of the rules for the Tournament.

It's up to them to makes themselves "sung up" right?

10 hours ago, Majushi said:

Which is why the rules for the Tournament should be posted prior to registration.

Any player who registers for the event should do so fully aware of the rules for the Tournament.

It's up to them to makes themselves "sung up" right?

This is one of the first sections of the IA tournament regulations:
"Tournaments are played using the rules provided in the most recent Star Wars: Imperial Assault Skirmish Guide, Rules Reference, and FAQ, all of which may be downloaded from the Star Wars: Imperial Assault website. Additional rules for playing games in a tournament are detailed in this document."

Now, I will not really argue this any further. I will only state that I on a formal level agree with @onyersix that the expectation to have a Prime championship run using the official rules are not unreasonable. A Regionals is a pretty high level event and a seat at worlds is at stake. No shadow over the IACP, but there is no conceptual difference between running the IACP and deciding that all pieces costing 9 and over are banned. Both are meta altering home brews (one "professional" and not really so).