Basically a whole lot of playtesting and cutting any of the maps that are too abusive. The last few versions of the Restricted list were decided on primarily by The_Celestial_Warrior (with lots of playtesting that he did personally as well as information from anyone else that helped to test them). He was just inducted into the Hall of Fame for all the support he's given to the game, not the least of which has been curating the restricted list in recent years.

Personally, I think this is probably both the most important and easiest change to make. If I'm in a 500pt tourney to win it, and I'm playing OR, then I'm gonna choose Hall of Judgment every time, as long as it's available. It's just TOO good for accurate-furious-assault shooters not to take. At first I was strongly considering Throne Room (because it's also excellent for the OR), but then I saw Hall of Judgment and I knew it probably made for an auto-win vs so many of the squads I'd encounter. And it wouldn't matter if I set up first or second, since I had multiple devastating attack options from either side. The only time I wouldn't want that map would be in the mirror-match, where I wouldn't want to set up second.

The Throne Room at least makes for a more fair game...but it's still quite shooter-friendly. I remember when Timmer won a regional tourney a few years ago with Arica's Blaster Barrage (using the same tactic as OR Hoth squads), he chose the Throne Room and referred to the large rooms on either side as "the killing rooms."

So I do think that, even if no other changes are made at this point, these 2 maps have to go. They might be enough to make things less one-sided, even if they don't solve the problem of OR dominance.


However, I have said it before (on swmgamers) and I'll say it here too: something must be done about Bastilla in 500pt epic play. Boardwide disruptive is just too powerful.

CEs increase in power as the point total increases; correspondingly, ABM is nearly usesless in 100pts, hardly used in 150, and powerful in 200pts. At 500, it's insane. Think about it: with any other CE-disruption, you have to put a piece in harm's way: Han GH, Kyle, Juno, etc...and those pieces only neuter the CEs within 6 (or adjacent, in the case of Distraction pieces)...but Bastilla nerfs every CE on the entire board and she can safely sit in a closet on the other side of the board while she does it.

My suggestions for changes to Bastilla at 500pts:
--Let ABM cancel ONE enemy CE at a time. Each time she uses ABM, she declares which single CE to disrupt. ABM is still useful, but it's no longer like a kick to the groin. Her +10dmg bonus still holds. If she chooses to cancel Thrawn's swap CE, then the Imps still have his Opportunist and Veers' Accurate Shot and Weir-Shields, for example.
--Let ABM simply add the +10dmg boost, with no CE cancellation happening at all. ABM is already powerful with twin-attack-furious-assaulters. Thrawn gives Opportunist, Vong get all kinds of dmg boosts, so Bastilla giving a +10dmg boost is in line, and still very much worth 33pts.

With the power of ABM toned down at this point level, I think OR will still be plenty powerful, because Hoth's CE is so strong...but at least you'd be able to fight back.



And FWIW, I do not think that a 3-CE limit will really hurt the OR, and I don't think it will hinder the Vong either. For example, I didn't finally use Mira in my FrostyCon squad, but I almost did because she'd be doing 60dmg to everything in sight; I would've used her as my first-strike piece, and then saved Boba to be my finisher. I ended up dropping her for Malak, but it was a hard decision. So if the CE limit was 3, my Commanders would be Hoth, Revan, and Bastilla (if she was considered a Commander). The squad would hardly lose any of its effectiveness at all. The factions most-hindered by the 3-CE limit will be the other factions, and I don't think we want that.

Banning Hall of Judgement and Throne Room? Toning down ABM? Heck, those sound like good ideas to me at EVERY point level. Doubly so for 500 points.

It sounds like the simplest answer to ABM in Epic games would be just to restrict the ability to 6 squares as well with the damage full board. After all, the common quote about Disruptive is that it must come out to be effective where Bastilla may sit back and watch. She has defensive capabilities so she could warrant a restriction on her range.

As I said, OR isn't hurt much at all by the 3-CE-limit. I could very easily field a devastating OR squad with Bastilla and 2 other CEs (Revan and Hoth). Malak isn't necessary for the squad...change him for Mira who can serve as a first-strike throw-away piece (similar to a lancer) which can do just as much damage as Boba but isn't nearly as important for the squad's success; she would actually help some matchups more than Malak would, because Boba would still be there for follow-up.

Either way, I think we're starting to build consensus that the 2 maps (Jedi Temple and Throne Room) need to go at 500 epic. And I still think some kind of errata needs to be made to ABM for epic 500 play (only), similar to how Disintegration is ignored in Duos. Personally, I'm not sure that a 3-CE-limit is necessary, because it wouldn't do much at all to hinder Vong and OR, who are currently tops in this format.