Over the weekend I attended a casual X-Wing tournament at my friendly local game store. They run these tournaments usually twice a month and they’re sort of aimed at getting new players in the game. You’re entrance fee of $5 is waived if you’re a new player, or if you bring a new player.

It’s a good environment for getting into the game.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to make it so I came up with my squad list in a bout 5 minutes before I headed out to the store.

My List: 

My idea was I wanted to try run some stuff that people don’t usually run. I like coming up with funky unique squads, especially when there isn’t really much at stake prize-wise.

There were 6 people in the tournament and we played 3 rounds. Here’s a breakdown of how that went for me.

Round 1

My first round was a fantastic match.

My opponent was running:

Corran Horn with R2-D2, Fire Control System, and Push the Limit

Jake Farrel with… something or other and a Blue Squadron Pilot with… some stuff.

It was such a close match. I tore apart his B-Wing pretty quickly and Jake was sucking vacuum after a few rounds as well. But his ships didn’t go down before taking mine down with him.

Jonus got his homing missiles off in the first round to great effect against the B-Wing, but he got torn apart and died in the first round of combat.

Corran’s double tap is BRUTAL.

After only about 20 minutes of play at most, it was down to Vader and Corran. Everyone else was dead and forgotten.

For the rest of the match, about 35 minutes, it was a one on one duel between Vader and Corran. Vader only had 3 hull remaining, having lost his shields to the A-Wing early on.

Corran was at full health. I would chip away at him only to have him regain those shields from R2.

It was a matter of outflying him, and that’s what I did. I would get shots in but to no avail.

Eventually that match went to time. He had destroyed 65 points. I destroyed 66 points. What a game.

Round 2

I went up against Captain Jonus and two Delta Squadron defenders, each wielding a heavy laser canon.

This match went fast. Very fast.

Jonus’ homing missiles landed and so did the Scimitar’s Assault missiles.

Then Vader swooped in and did 5 hits on one of the wounded defenders with his proton rockets. He rolled all blanks. BOOM.

The other defender ended up with one hull left as well and K-Turned rather predictably onto my scimitar’s seismic charge. BOOM.

Then it was a matter of mopping up Jonus. I whittled him down to one hull and my opponent conceded. He killed my Jonus and my other pilots were pretty much unharmed.

Then we played Star Realms while the other players finished up their matches. We had about 40 minutes to kill.

Round 3

In my last round I went up against a “Fat Han” list. If you’re not familiar with “Fat Han” it refers to a squad running Han Solo pimped out with lots of upgrades, most notably C-3PO.

My opponent ran the exact same list that Paul Heaver used this year to win at Worlds.

Han + R2D2 + C3P0  + Predator + Falcon + Engine Upgrade, Tala x3

I might remind you at this point that this is a very casual tournament. Top prize got a $15 gift card.

Needless to say I got utterly stomped. I took out two of his Z-95s and brought the third down to 1 hull. I think I did about 2 damage to Han. 2.

To be fair, my opponent said he was only running the list to see just how much of a problem it was and gain some perspective on it, but that’s something you do at home with friends, not at a casual tournament.

It was not a fun list to fly against. It was absurdly difficult to even touch the falcon.

It’s just not for me. I like trying out thematic, quirky, or interesting lists. “Fat Han” lists seem to be for that kind of player who is more interested in winning than having fun or creating a fun environment.

I can see why it won the world championship, and in that sort of competitive setting, go for it, but keep it out of casual games.

UPDATE:

Since posting this, I’ve discovered that my opinions on this topic are very unpopular. Let me elaborate.

This tournament is called X-Wing Academy and is put on twice a month by my friendly local game store. The intent of these tournaments is to get new players into the game and create an atmosphere where new players can learn the game and have fun.

I feel that if I were a player new to the game going up against that particular list and against someone taking it so seriously, I would have been put off organized play. Essentially the opposite of X-Wing Academy’s purpose.

X-Wing Academy should be casual. Any other tournament you should give it your all, bring your best, play to win etc, but this particular tournament I feel should be treated a little differently. It should be a little more lighthearted in order to be more welcoming and accommodating to brand new players.

That’s just how i feel.

That’s all.