People are confusing two separate issues.
 
Issue #1 "Advanced proton not appearing in the regionals lists means it sucks" — Issue 1 is debatable. There's a lot of good stuff that isn't used.
  Issue #2 "The regionals lists are too small a sample size to be useful" — This is crazy talk.
 
The problem is people are discussing this without stating whether they are talking about #1 or #2.

People are confusing two separate issues.
 
Issue #1 "Advanced proton not appearing in the regionals lists means it sucks" — Issue 1 is debatable. There's a lot of good stuff that isn't used.
  Issue #2 "The regionals lists are too small a sample size to be useful" — This is crazy talk.
 
The problem is people are discussing this without stating whether they are talking about #1 or #2.

Ironically, coins are cheaper than washers and should work just as well if not too fat.

@iPeregrine: Most x-wing players don't know the dice odds. Autoblaster range 1 or target-locked & focused HLC range 2: which does more damage to a Tie fighter with an evade action?
 
Can you correctly answer this in the short time you get in a game to decide? If you can correctly answer it fast enough that people still play you at face-to-face X-wing (No, you cannot run dice sims in a face-to-face game, we would not allow it. I am playing you, not Siri), then you know how involved the calculation is, or how long you had to spend memorising results, and you know why that puts you in an elite minority. Most people simply can't do, or ignore, anything beyond very basic game maths. Of course in a tournament you'd expect players to be better at it, but no-one can do it perfectly.
 
As for the other point, all human vs human activiies involve a psychological meta-game, even games said to be "pure strategy" like chess, and even activies said to be "pure physical" like athletics. This doesn't mean you can win by only playing that and ignoring the action on the board, but it does mean that you can gain an advantage on the board by using it.
 
One example in X-Wing is that I frequently play the A-Wing, and when I do a boost maneuver that might or might not take a plane out of arc depending on which direction I go, we have a conversation that goes something like "See I don't know which way you went but if you went right like I assume you did, a boost to the right should take me out of arc..." then watching the opponent's facial reaction to the boost I know exactly which way to bank the plane ...  Yea, some people have a good poker face. Most people don't.
 
Yes I know your specific claim is slightly different but it's a very literal minded interpretation of a single point. Basically what I am saying is that it's naive to assume x-wing is only played by emotionless robots with savant-like mathematical skills. It's very clear to me that the majority of players can't do dice maths, and are greatly affected by psychological issues. Where the fear aspect comes from is that the autoblaster takes Tie-players out of their comfort zone by removing their primary defence.

Has anyone managed to laminate (protect in plastic) the dials?
 
Does anyone make blank plastic dials?
 
Where's the hobby section where questions like this should go, along with the custom repainted ships photos and game boards?

Why does pilot quality matter in a modern jet? It's all beyond visual range now. Press 1 button and the computer runs the show. The only thing stopping air-to-air being pilotless is that the lawyers won't let a drone pull its own trigger.
 
But back on topic, how would YOU recommend the Phantom is used or flown?

What happens if I take 4 Shuttles with upgrades (no cannons)?
 
I clearly beat two Falcons and most lists with two Firesprays as core. How do I do against 4 rebels, tie swarm and 3 firespray?