The PTL (prototype Toronto league) is a casually competitive league that emphasizes creativity because no named pilot may be used twice in a season. It offers a unique experience to try out different off Meta ideas against challenging opponents. The community is one of the best and the diversity of the lists flown help to keep matches fresh and interesting while reinforcing important skills like adapting strategy on the fly and positioning.

While designing my list for the finals, I knew my opponent Kelvin was an Imperial ace flier and had been consistently in the top cut of the league. Sometimes it’s best to play the person across from you, so I designed a balanced list based around killing aces. Being an ace flier myself, I had used most of my favorites pilots to reach the finals. After some theory crafting with a good friend, Nick Roland, I decided to use all 100 points in a variation of a list he flew with success into the top 16 at Toronto regionals. I felt confident in my ability to block high pilot skill aces so I proceeded with the idea.

List – “Nick Roland Special” – 100pts

Fenn Rau – Attani mindlink, autothrusters, concord dawn protector

Kavil – Attani mindlink, tlt, vectored thrusters, unhinged astromech

Contracted Scout – Attani mindlink, proton torpedoes, extra munitions, guidance chips, intelligence agent, rigged cargo chute

Kelvins list – 97pts

Dengar – Attani mindlink, k4 security droid, Punishing one, Inertial Dampeners, Unhinged astromech

Fenn Rau – Attani mindlink, autothrusters, concord dawn protector

Inaldra – Attani mindlink, Light Scyk title

My opponent came with an aggressive initiative bid and passed it on to me. Even though this list caught me by surprise I felt glad I got to have an ace battle with a challenging opponent.

We deployed in separate corners to start the match, I moved my scout forward and turned Kavil and Fenn in behind the Jumpmaster but some early game jitters led to a turn one bump. Inaldra banked to the right and generated a focus for Kelvin’s team, Kelvin’s Fenn shot forward and used its boost to position aggressively as Dengar performed a four forward and barrel rolled ahead. My scout banked behind an asteroid. Inaldra moved forward fueling his two hard-hitting ships with a focus. My Kavil turned on the other side of the asteroid and my Fenn turned in front of him. Kelvins Fenn shot forward and boosted again to close to range three of my ships. Dengar banked in and barrel rolled to re-position. Our Fenns traded shots for no damage.

After a fair amount of consideration, my scout turned in and target locked Fenn as Inaldra turned from combat and continued her focus generation. Kavil banked away from Dengar to use his pilot ability and my Fenn closed hoping to bump the enemy Jumpmaster. Kelvin’s Fenn shot forward and target locked Kavil at range one. My block payed off as Dengar bumped but k4 allowed him to target Kavil. After some lucky dice results, Kavil only took two damage but the scout torpedo did its job landing a damaged engine crit.

The contracted scout turned in front of Dengar and deployed the rigged cargo chute; it hits its mark which stressed Kelvin’s team. Inaldra dialed in a white bank and was unable to clear the stress. Kavil turned into combat keeping all enemies out of arc as my Fenn turned left to come about and re-position. Dengar turned left receiving another stress and rolled a critical for his trouble. Kelvin’s Fenn had a talon roll dialed in and had to perform a white two forward and was left defenseless and stressed. Dengar landed some shots, chewing through Kavil’s shields and landing a damaged engine critical.

The combined firepower of my ships could only land one damage onto Fenn. My scout shot forward as my Fenn and Kavil came around behind the wounded protectorate. The damaged engine crit on Fenn was his undoing, as the bank he preformed didn’t clear the board edge. Dengar missed his shot against Kavil and my ships were able to land six damage on the vulnerable jumpmaster.

My scout turned into Dengar using Intel agent to ensure the block. As Kavil and Fenn flanked Dengar from either side, the jumpmaster was unable to destroy the Y-Wing as Fenn finished off the bounty hunter. Inaldra turned and joined the battle landing a heroic range-three kill on Kavil finally finishing off the Y-Wing but the damage was done and Fenn ended the match.

The cargo chute gave me the advantage in this match-up. The ability to control your opponent is such a powerful tool to have in your back pocket. The low pilot skill of the contracted scout paired with intelligence agent, helps ensure that the debris will hit its mark. I was able to use positioning to deploy my cargo chute for maximum effect.

This league allows players to develop their skills by flying lists outside of their comfort zone. I encourage other players to do this as its not only a fun way to fly casually but it increases a pilot’s ability by expanding their understanding of other ships’ movements and limitations.

I want to thank Kelvin for the great match and wish him good luck in the following season. If anyone wants to watch the recorded match, Victor from VTTV live has posted the video to docking bay 416. Last but certainly not least, I want to thank all the guys and girls in the PTL for cultivating such a positive atmosphere in which we all play and learn.