Star Wars Monday: X-Wing ep. 3

This week, we’ll be talking briefly about Current Events, prize support for U.S. National Championships, my recent Acquisitions, and a Tournament Report.

Also, a reminder that we are doing another GIVEAWAY. Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter, Subscribe to us on YouTube, follow us on Twitch, and/or share the original Facebook post for a chance to win a full set of the Spirit of Rebellion prerelease promos. The more things you do, the more chances you will have to win! We will draw one lucky winner on June 5th. Sorry, continental U.S. only this time.

Also, as a tip to reading my or other’s articles, don’t forget to install the X-Wing Companion Card Viewer. No affiliation. Just a sweet Chrome extension that makes reading stuff online a breeze.

I also just found out about SirWilli’s Workship, which looks like a great way to safely store your X-Wing minis.

Current Events

For the second article in a row, my question to Radio TCX was taken on the air. This time, at 37:03, I asked a player who made T16 at Worlds, Kyle Lehmbecker, what upcoming expansion he was most excited about. He is most excited about the Auzituck Gunship and whether wonky auxiliary arc ships will return to the meta.

U.S. National Championships

Photo credit: /u/Isop & /u/Pardy420

As an Imperial player, those Top 64 Howlrunner promos are sexy. Same goes for those weirdly-shaped Top 16 Target Locks. To obtain these, you’ll have to place well at the NoVA Open in Washington, D.C. Spot-glossed Black Squadron Pilots and maneuver templates round out the Top 8 and Top 4.

Acquisitions

Over the past two weeks, I did a dirty, naughty, bad thing. I picked up some Scum second-hand. I now own the Hound’s Tooth, Mist Hunter, and M3-A Scyk Interceptor expansions. I am now able to build a variety of squads using the following squads:

Classic Red Core Set

New Blue Core Set

Imperial Veterans

TIE/fo

TIE Advanced

Lambda Shuttle

TIE Adv. Prototype

TIE Defender

Starviper

Hound’s Tooth

Mist Hunter

M3-A Scyk Interceptor

Prep

If you had followed my past two articles, you would know that over the past two weeks I had made two small changes to “Target Lock City.” First and foremost, the name needed to change. I cannot believe that it took me two weeks to realize it should be called “Detroit Lock City.” As both a bassist and a dad-joke extraordinare, I should’ve noticed the pun much earlier. Substantively, I replaced Concussion Missles on The ‘Quiz with Homing Missles.

The updated list, which I brought last Thursday, is here.

Tournament Report

Round One vs. Quickdraw, Backdraft, & 2x Academy Pilots piloted by a player who went 6-3 at Worlds 2017:

I, uh, didn’t destroy a single opposing ship. My opponent set up his Academy Pilots on each side of the map. I set up my squad on one side. And then he set up Quickdraw and Backdraft on the side of which my squad was set up.

I sent Vessery for the lone Academy Pilot while the other two inched forward, hoping to give Vessery enough time to destroy and left-most Academy Pilot and then pincer maneuver in to the right on the opposing squad. Welp, Vessery couldn’t roll a hit and the Push the Limit Boost action that I had made put The ‘Quiz in range of his entire squad, causing me to lose him before he could even fire a shot. The remainder of the match was me trying to make evasive maneuvers while my opponent called every. single. one. and used his Academy Pilots to bump my ships. I was completely outmatched. I started making ridiculous maneuvers, like flying 5 straight through an asteroid, and he still called me out on it.

L 0-100

After the match, my opponent showed me his Worlds Day 2 Target Lock prizes. They shimmer more than you could ever imagine.

Round Two vs. Marek Steele, Howlrunner, and 3 Academy Pilots:

Let’s just say The ‘Quiz was out for revenge after Round 1. My dude was spitting straight fire: Hit, Hit, Crit on almost every roll.

We both went straight ahead as our initial moves, but I elected to turn slight left through the asteroids and take on Marek with my entire squad. Marek barely survived the initial Alpha Strike while my entire squad gave chase through the opposing swarm without giving a single F*ck. After Marek went down, it was target practice on the shieldless TIEs.

W 100-35

Round Three vs. Dengar & Tel Truvela (Justin Phua’s Worlds 2017 winning list) piloted by a player who ended up winning a Store Championship three days later:

Apparently I had done something wrong earlier this week and angered the X-Wing Gods (who would that be? Paul Heaver? Emporer Palpatine? Manaroo?), because despite having no idea WTF I’m doing I managed to get matched up against top-tier players all day!

I was only able to half-kill Tel, earning myself a whopping 20 or so points.

L ~20-100

1-2 put me at 23/28 for the night but 20/39 overall. My two losses on the night were to the #6 and #7 players.

Takeaways

So, I’ve noticed a pattern. In both of my losses, The ‘Quiz died to PS9 ships without firing a shot. However, when he gets his Alpha Strike off, I’m at a 100% win rate. I need to fly him a bit more cautiously, especially since he is over 1/3rd of my total squad points.

The list continues to evolve and find success, but let’s hope I have more positive news to report on in the next article.

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Photo credit: Someone who should be ashamed of themselves

(probably Dank X-Wing Memes)