Hey everybody! I'd like to start by saying I had a blast at the Ohio Regional yesterday. Players were great, all of my Opponents were professional and fun to play against. I know that some people had less that great dice or made poor moves and cost them important games but overall I think the event went well.
 
Shoutout to our TO who was more or less doing the entire tournament by himself (had some help at times) and we were only minutes behind schedule.
 
So here is what I ran.
 
Rear Admiral Chirppy
-VI
-Rebel Captive
-Gunner
-Yssane
-Engine Upgrade
 
Soontir Fel
-Push
-RGP
-Autothrusters
-Shield Upgrade
 
99 Points for Init bid
 
I want to declare why I ran this before I start what happened. My entire X-wing span can be traced back to a fat(ish) han in wave 2 to Bounty Hunters and High mobile ships for the empire. I eventually ran the Decimator and Phantom during store championships this last season and did great (2 wins and top 4 rest of the events didn't need more wins)
 
I ran what I knew, and had a build I felt countered a lot of issues I knew I would see. I prepared for Thruster IG's by having VI and Engine upgrade on RAC, Shield is much more reliable on Fel than a stealth device. One PS 10 Mangler Ten and I'm going to have a bad day.
 
Rebel Captive helps further shut down Push opponents and Fel (limiting his actions to a single evade focus or double stress)
 
While I won't give a writeup of the entire time here is a brief summary of what I went up against
 
Round 1 Bye 200-0
Round 2 Dual IG's: Win 200-0
Round 3 Fat Han with 3 Ship support Win 200-0
Round 4 Tie Swarm Win 200-0
Round 5 Fat Lando Blout Tala Win 136-63
 
With a 936 MOV and perfect record going into the top 8 cut i was in a great seat. Not only had I won my matches I had won them efficiently.
 
Elim Round 1 Played my Round 3 opponent won only loosing Soontir (but rac was down to two health and it was a great game)
Elim Round 2 Played my Round 5 Opponent and lost. At this point I was going up against 4 fat ships in a row if I had continued. I was exhausted, and a little disheartened that I wasn't going up against anything different. I didn't have the mental strength to hold in and made a series of bad moves that ultimately cost me the game. I can't complain about dice simply because I know I didn't play that game to the best of my ability. I congratulate my opponent on his win and await to hear of the results of the final match.
 
Here is where I actually started to feel bad about what I had run.
 
The Top 8 consisted of 7/8 Fat turrets
Only ONE player running Dual IG's made the cut and a great shoutout to him for performing so well against such a hard lineup. 
 
Top 4 Consisted of all Falcons and My lone Decimator against a swarm of fat Rebel Turrets.
 
Looking back I could see the frustration of my opponents, their losses and what they had to go up against as their records were broken going up against the top players of this event. In their defense there should have been another round. By the end of round 5 we had two undefeateds (myself and another turret) so there should have been one more round of Swiss since two 4-1s didn't make it.
 
Turrets are clearly dominating the meta right now and in the hands of a skilled player become near indestructible. The inclusion of VI and the Pilot Skill war haven't gone away. It becomes apparent how important having a a turret ship that can boost can be when starring down the barrels of two IG's with Focus/Lock and heavy laser cannons. The use of Fat turrets is where a lot of people are having issues and I sympathize with them. It took a great deal of skill and maneuvering to fly my build as effectively as I did however the end results were the effect the death star had on Aldeeran.
 
The thing is, on my way home my friend that made top 8 with the dual IG's and myself were trying to figure out ways to best counter any fat list (we used mine as reference) but we couldn't think of anything available that did that without the use of another turret!
 
We debated about different swarm builds but I pointed out that multiple times my Engine upgrade limited shots from swarms to half or none in some situations. Builds we did think about didn't have the damage output to get through the fatness of rebel builds or suffered too much against any form of RAC. Could get one shot from a double tap of Corran Horn or could compete with other good builds (like BBBBZ)
 
Gunner/Luke was heavily apparent in all (most maybe) of the top 8 builds. Meaning that they were almost always getting damage through of some kind and negating a lot of damage themselves.
 
I want to open the floor to anyone that would like to blow steam off about a fat turret heavy meta and anyone having success with other builds in countering turrets. New ideas are welcome and think outside the box. I think it will be a tough shell to crack but when it does break I think it will come tumbling down.
 
Please keep this positive because I think as a community we can find new ways of approaching upcoming tournaments.

Anytime your ship takes damage, demand your safe space and require that your ship isn't allowed to get damage because it'll hurt your feelings. Then demand your opponent cannot do the same because they would be infringing on your own safe space and playing a mockery of yourself. 

"Fire at Will" treat all your ships as PS 12 during the combat phase

Oicunn
Intimidation
Emperor Palpatine
Mara Jade
Dauntless
Ion projector
Its a one trick pony, but when the trap is spring they become stressed, ioned,continually take ram damage. Palp helps trigger ion projector. Fill to taste

So I just won an event 4 rounds with
 
Oicunn, Determination, Gunner, Vader, Rebel Captive, Engine Upgrade
Wampa
Black Squadron Pilot with Draw their fire
Obisidan squadron
 
100 points.
 
I went up against Kryyzak fighters, and guri. for the first round.
Some good shots, vader crits, and EU kept oicunn alive all match while ramming and finishing off fighters one by one.
 
Second match was against 2 TLT ywings and Boba. I got infront of boba and behind the ywings which allowed me to stay at range 1 of both, putting massive damage accross the board. The TIES finished the match killing the last ywing.
 
Third match was against imperial aces and oicunn just vadered them to death. Wampa got a kill with his crit cancel on turr.
 
Final match was a soontir/Rac and while it was close I had more HP than he did which led to two ships being alive to his 1 rac with Damaged Engine. This let me take a death and deal the finishing blow with the survivor.
 
I faced all sorts of lists and was pleased with the results. All of the players in our area are competitive and no list was an auto win. I have found Oicunn to be better than rac since he still sits aboves basic TLT's and with EU he can get into range to avoid the shots. His bump with gunner/vader allow for extra or expected damage to come from the shots he takes even without the dauntless title. Against rac/vader and vader advanced he wins by being able to get rid of crits with determination. Sure he will still take ship ones but if he avoids 2, that's an extra vader and most likely a dead ship.

If you are making moves you aren't sure of you can do a few things
 
1) lay out a mat or even just throw some rocks on a table and do a few moves, test to see how close you can get then place the other templates on top to see if you would have been right.
 
2) Start thinking about where your opponent expects you to go and do the opposite.
 
3)When you are playing with friends, talk aloud about your strategies. Where you might move, what is the best option ect. Both you and your friend will benefit from the experience and you will become much more confident in your decision making.
 
Unfortunately it's still a dice game. Today Rhymer got only 1 hit on 6 dice when he used cluster missiles with predator and guidance chip. Of course my opponent rolled 3 evades anyway. For whatever reason the dice gods like to punish us at our best and encourage us at our worst. keep going you will only get better.

Look for someone getting out of the game, usually 100$ will get you much more in a lot than it would individual (even vs online prices). Also people getting out will tend to take a decent offer close to their original price. Especially if they need the $$

^ unless a link directs you to another FFG page, assume everything are just player ideas.

Been using this combo to a very powerful effect.
 
Boba, VI, EU, Tact, Glitter
Palob, VI, Blaster turret, Recon specialist, EU, Moldy Crow
Leechos, Bodyguard
 
If you can get boba up front of a swarm or joust list he becomes unkillable in the first round of combat. 3 Agi from bodyguard, rerolls, and glitter. He ate 15 Dice from a z swarm not taking a single point of damage. 
 
I'm also thinking about a new combo with proton rockets, recon specialist on boba and leechos with bodyguard. It's way more effective than the one time countermeasures card, and allows me to pop glitter for the defense half of the engagement.
 
Palob has been more than a star in the matches, allowing me to force opponents to target lock leaving them vunerable to boba's attacks.

Been using this combo to a very powerful effect.
 
Boba, VI, EU, Tact, Glitter
Palob, VI, Blaster turret, Recon specialist, EU, Moldy Crow
Leechos, Bodyguard
 
If you can get boba up front of a swarm or joust list he becomes unkillable in the first round of combat. 3 Agi from bodyguard, rerolls, and glitter. He ate 15 Dice from a z swarm not taking a single point of damage. 
 
I'm also thinking about a new combo with proton rockets, recon specialist on boba and leechos with bodyguard. It's way more effective than the one time countermeasures card, and allows me to pop glitter for the defense half of the engagement.
 
Palob has been more than a star in the matches, allowing me to force opponents to target lock leaving them vunerable to boba's attacks.

So as the game continues to head towards tricks and impressive combinations. Few pilots begin to stand out as obvious hard and soft counters.
First, however, let's go over the dangers facing squad building and important pieces to remember.
 
Poe and any combination of upgrades (Namely lone wolf and shield regen with autothrusters). Requires a focus for his ability and probably the droid ability as well.
Omega Leader, dangerous foe with the native ability to shut down modifications to die rolls. Combined with comm relay and juke he is practically able to hit anyone he gets that lock on.
 
Juke in and of itself seems to fit on a few other ships as well, it pairs well with any EPT Tie F/O. It would also go well on Green squadron pilots as their second EPT. 
 
Dual IG's rely on boost for that free evade action since they are such good shooters.
 
Pretty much every ship in the game on a competitive standpoint has become a combo group for those tokens and locks to keep them effective and not just a generic fighter.
 
 
So my first thought was the demi-god Palob. Those tokens are ripe for the taking and not only are you stealing the required token, you are effectively turning their elite fighters into overcosted, high pilot skill, generics. Outfitting is a little more difficult with a hwk. Do you go for the blaster turret setup? or play it defensive and go with the TLT. Being scum his options for crew are limited but he can take that great illict upgrade Glitterstim. If you have an idea on a Palob setup please let me know I would love to hear it!
 
Captain Kagi also has peaked my interest. Forcing target locks on him can really hurt those alpha bombers on the horizon, and make any of the ATC Advances have to focus on a target they would rather not. Kagi pairs well with Rebel captive, gunner, advanced sensors, and EU in this setup. While expensive it does make him a dangerous and mobile first target for your opponent.
 
Carnor Jax is hard to ignore, even though we are seeing less of the interceptors, a defensive Jax can really shut down those combos. However jax suffers more now due to comm relay. Since they can turn 1 evade and there isn't anything you can do to stop the juke.
 
Wes Janson. a ship almost completely forgot amongst new and shinier ships. With VI at ps10 he is probably the only ship that can wreck anyone for any reason. Being able to shut down target locks, focus, and evade tokens makes him a must include with the new lineup.  In my eyes if Wes had been swapped out for Poe, he probably would have won the world event. 
 
Hope this opens some eyes to anyone feeling overpowered by some of the new abilities!

So as the game continues to head towards tricks and impressive combinations. Few pilots begin to stand out as obvious hard and soft counters.
First, however, let's go over the dangers facing squad building and important pieces to remember.
 
Poe and any combination of upgrades (Namely lone wolf and shield regen with autothrusters). Requires a focus for his ability and probably the droid ability as well.
Omega Leader, dangerous foe with the native ability to shut down modifications to die rolls. Combined with comm relay and juke he is practically able to hit anyone he gets that lock on.
 
Juke in and of itself seems to fit on a few other ships as well, it pairs well with any EPT Tie F/O. It would also go well on Green squadron pilots as their second EPT. 
 
Dual IG's rely on boost for that free evade action since they are such good shooters.
 
Pretty much every ship in the game on a competitive standpoint has become a combo group for those tokens and locks to keep them effective and not just a generic fighter.
 
 
So my first thought was the demi-god Palob. Those tokens are ripe for the taking and not only are you stealing the required token, you are effectively turning their elite fighters into overcosted, high pilot skill, generics. Outfitting is a little more difficult with a hwk. Do you go for the blaster turret setup? or play it defensive and go with the TLT. Being scum his options for crew are limited but he can take that great illict upgrade Glitterstim. If you have an idea on a Palob setup please let me know I would love to hear it!
 
Captain Kagi also has peaked my interest. Forcing target locks on him can really hurt those alpha bombers on the horizon, and make any of the ATC Advances have to focus on a target they would rather not. Kagi pairs well with Rebel captive, gunner, advanced sensors, and EU in this setup. While expensive it does make him a dangerous and mobile first target for your opponent.
 
Carnor Jax is hard to ignore, even though we are seeing less of the interceptors, a defensive Jax can really shut down those combos. However jax suffers more now due to comm relay. Since they can turn 1 evade and there isn't anything you can do to stop the juke.
 
Wes Janson. a ship almost completely forgot amongst new and shinier ships. With VI at ps10 he is probably the only ship that can wreck anyone for any reason. Being able to shut down target locks, focus, and evade tokens makes him a must include with the new lineup.  In my eyes if Wes had been swapped out for Poe, he probably would have won the world event. 
 
Hope this opens some eyes to anyone feeling overpowered by some of the new abilities!

So as the game continues to head towards tricks and impressive combinations. Few pilots begin to stand out as obvious hard and soft counters.
First, however, let's go over the dangers facing squad building and important pieces to remember.
 
Poe and any combination of upgrades (Namely lone wolf and shield regen with autothrusters). Requires a focus for his ability and probably the droid ability as well.
Omega Leader, dangerous foe with the native ability to shut down modifications to die rolls. Combined with comm relay and juke he is practically able to hit anyone he gets that lock on.
 
Juke in and of itself seems to fit on a few other ships as well, it pairs well with any EPT Tie F/O. It would also go well on Green squadron pilots as their second EPT. 
 
Dual IG's rely on boost for that free evade action since they are such good shooters.
 
Pretty much every ship in the game on a competitive standpoint has become a combo group for those tokens and locks to keep them effective and not just a generic fighter.
 
 
So my first thought was the demi-god Palob. Those tokens are ripe for the taking and not only are you stealing the required token, you are effectively turning their elite fighters into overcosted, high pilot skill, generics. Outfitting is a little more difficult with a hwk. Do you go for the blaster turret setup? or play it defensive and go with the TLT. Being scum his options for crew are limited but he can take that great illict upgrade Glitterstim. If you have an idea on a Palob setup please let me know I would love to hear it!
 
Captain Kagi also has peaked my interest. Forcing target locks on him can really hurt those alpha bombers on the horizon, and make any of the ATC Advances have to focus on a target they would rather not. Kagi pairs well with Rebel captive, gunner, advanced sensors, and EU in this setup. While expensive it does make him a dangerous and mobile first target for your opponent.
 
Carnor Jax is hard to ignore, even though we are seeing less of the interceptors, a defensive Jax can really shut down those combos. However jax suffers more now due to comm relay. Since they can turn 1 evade and there isn't anything you can do to stop the juke.
 
Wes Janson. a ship almost completely forgot amongst new and shinier ships. With VI at ps10 he is probably the only ship that can wreck anyone for any reason. Being able to shut down target locks, focus, and evade tokens makes him a must include with the new lineup.  In my eyes if Wes had been swapped out for Poe, he probably would have won the world event. 
 
Hope this opens some eyes to anyone feeling overpowered by some of the new abilities!

So as the game continues to head towards tricks and impressive combinations. Few pilots begin to stand out as obvious hard and soft counters.
First, however, let's go over the dangers facing squad building and important pieces to remember.
 
Poe and any combination of upgrades (Namely lone wolf and shield regen with autothrusters). Requires a focus for his ability and probably the droid ability as well.
Omega Leader, dangerous foe with the native ability to shut down modifications to die rolls. Combined with comm relay and juke he is practically able to hit anyone he gets that lock on.
 
Juke in and of itself seems to fit on a few other ships as well, it pairs well with any EPT Tie F/O. It would also go well on Green squadron pilots as their second EPT. 
 
Dual IG's rely on boost for that free evade action since they are such good shooters.
 
Pretty much every ship in the game on a competitive standpoint has become a combo group for those tokens and locks to keep them effective and not just a generic fighter.
 
 
So my first thought was the demi-god Palob. Those tokens are ripe for the taking and not only are you stealing the required token, you are effectively turning their elite fighters into overcosted, high pilot skill, generics. Outfitting is a little more difficult with a hwk. Do you go for the blaster turret setup? or play it defensive and go with the TLT. Being scum his options for crew are limited but he can take that great illict upgrade Glitterstim. If you have an idea on a Palob setup please let me know I would love to hear it!
 
Captain Kagi also has peaked my interest. Forcing target locks on him can really hurt those alpha bombers on the horizon, and make any of the ATC Advances have to focus on a target they would rather not. Kagi pairs well with Rebel captive, gunner, advanced sensors, and EU in this setup. While expensive it does make him a dangerous and mobile first target for your opponent.
 
Carnor Jax is hard to ignore, even though we are seeing less of the interceptors, a defensive Jax can really shut down those combos. However jax suffers more now due to comm relay. Since they can turn 1 evade and there isn't anything you can do to stop the juke.
 
Wes Janson. a ship almost completely forgot amongst new and shinier ships. With VI at ps10 he is probably the only ship that can wreck anyone for any reason. Being able to shut down target locks, focus, and evade tokens makes him a must include with the new lineup.  In my eyes if Wes had been swapped out for Poe, he probably would have won the world event. 
 
Hope this opens some eyes to anyone feeling overpowered by some of the new abilities!

So as the game continues to head towards tricks and impressive combinations. Few pilots begin to stand out as obvious hard and soft counters.
First, however, let's go over the dangers facing squad building and important pieces to remember.
 
Poe and any combination of upgrades (Namely lone wolf and shield regen with autothrusters). Requires a focus for his ability and probably the droid ability as well.
Omega Leader, dangerous foe with the native ability to shut down modifications to die rolls. Combined with comm relay and juke he is practically able to hit anyone he gets that lock on.
 
Juke in and of itself seems to fit on a few other ships as well, it pairs well with any EPT Tie F/O. It would also go well on Green squadron pilots as their second EPT. 
 
Dual IG's rely on boost for that free evade action since they are such good shooters.
 
Pretty much every ship in the game on a competitive standpoint has become a combo group for those tokens and locks to keep them effective and not just a generic fighter.
 
 
So my first thought was the demi-god Palob. Those tokens are ripe for the taking and not only are you stealing the required token, you are effectively turning their elite fighters into overcosted, high pilot skill, generics. Outfitting is a little more difficult with a hwk. Do you go for the blaster turret setup? or play it defensive and go with the TLT. Being scum his options for crew are limited but he can take that great illict upgrade Glitterstim. If you have an idea on a Palob setup please let me know I would love to hear it!
 
Captain Kagi also has peaked my interest. Forcing target locks on him can really hurt those alpha bombers on the horizon, and make any of the ATC Advances have to focus on a target they would rather not. Kagi pairs well with Rebel captive, gunner, advanced sensors, and EU in this setup. While expensive it does make him a dangerous and mobile first target for your opponent.
 
Carnor Jax is hard to ignore, even though we are seeing less of the interceptors, a defensive Jax can really shut down those combos. However jax suffers more now due to comm relay. Since they can turn 1 evade and there isn't anything you can do to stop the juke.
 
Wes Janson. a ship almost completely forgot amongst new and shinier ships. With VI at ps10 he is probably the only ship that can wreck anyone for any reason. Being able to shut down target locks, focus, and evade tokens makes him a must include with the new lineup.  In my eyes if Wes had been swapped out for Poe, he probably would have won the world event. 
 
Hope this opens some eyes to anyone feeling overpowered by some of the new abilities!

They should make cards in aurebesh
 

So been reading, and I don't think anyone has hit on this point yet.
 
 
I don't particularly fly TIE fighters, and I haven't flown an x-wing in over 2 years.
 
you had to buy the core set to get into this game even if you didn't want the x-wing and ties. 
 
So i don't understand what your gripe is. Honestly get over it, you aren't thinking about the game you are thinking about yourself "i want this but i don't want that"
 
As mentioned before you don't have to buy the new core until at least january, and i doubt any tournaments start till feburary given the holiday season.
 
To put an even bigger dent in your argument the yv-666 really isn't that great of a ship, it's a shuttle that is more expensive and dies just as easily. so I wouldn't expect you mr top tier to win worlds with a yv-666. 

They should make cards in aurebesh
 

They should make cards in aurebesh
 

SoroSub Luxury Yaht. Because if you have one of those you are rich.
 
http://swg.wikia.com/wiki/Sorosuub_Luxury_Yacht
 
One of the best ships in the trade. Comes with a full Bar, service droid, multi deck view, hyperdrive, and sleeping quarters (if outfitted).
 
Take sail and cruise the galaxy today!
 
would you like to know more?

Clickbait

I imagine all those x2 and x3 cards are for standard play. Which is great, but you'd have to buy two Imperial Assault Carriers to get 6 copies, and 3 carriers to get enough for a full swarm...