In Ricky's play report he writes.....(I always wanted to outactivate). now it may not be the general idea for it but it was the idea that won gencon.

WEll, I am sorry for my part in the exchange. But the last thing I will say on this is that I was not trying to say anyone was slow playing or stalling. My problem is with the low scores in general, and the decline of the importance of the 3 point win.

Even if someone went 4-1, they would not have made the top 8 without at least one 3-point win.

The guys who went 3-2 in the top 8 had all of their wins at 3 points. Many others went 3-2 and sat on the sidelines because they had a 2pt win.

Jason K (multiple top 8 finishes in the past) missed the top 8 because he had the 2pt win against Hinkbert wrapped up, but needed a 3pt win to get in, and lost the game in the attempt to get the 3-pointer.


The 3-point wins loomed large in this years championship.

Here's the link to my squad (above).

--NPE EXTREME!!!--
36 Darth Sidious
30 IG Lancer Droid
27 Lobot
13 Kel Dor Bounty Hunter
12 Gha Nachkt
12 Klatooinian Assassin
10 San Hill
9 Poggle the Lesser
8 Battle Droid Officer
14 R7 Astromech Droid x2
28 Geonosian Drone x14

(199pts. 25 activations)

Amen, AMEN!!!!



Yup. It didn't happen - but if someone went undefeated in Swiss with all 2pt wins - they deserve to make the finals.

There has NEVER been anyone that has gone undefeated in swiss and ended up winning.
NEVER!
There has only been like 3 or 4 undefeated at the end of Swiss ever. It is VERY HARD TO DO.

Heck - only having one loss is hard enough to do. If you went 4-1 and had at least 1 3 point win, you're in. And rightfully so. This is also VERY HARD TO DO. Only a few dozen people in the history of our game have had only 1 loss in Swiss in the championship.

Adding anymore restrictions will only narrow the meta.

For those who want every game to finish by definition and no way to not engage - I suggest TILE WARS. This format is tailor made for you. Double loss if every character is not defeated on one team in time. No locking doors, no diplomats. Seriously - you should play it.

As for the official game - it doesn't work that way.

OK - back directly on topic.

My squad - Tim Ballard - Lancer and Poggle bombs ( http://www.bloomilk.com/Squad/124670/npe-extreme--- )
vs
each of these others:

2. Bryan Hole - Old Republic Master Thon ( http://www.bloomilk.com/Squad/128393/the-thon-song )
Beat it in round 4, full 3pt win. It's a bad matchup for Bryan. He avoided defeat with Atton 3 or 4 times, otherwise it would have ended sooner. I say my squad wins 90%

3. Ricky Heck - NR: Luke/Jarael/Marn ( http://www.bloomilk.com/Squad/126639/professor-lukes-art-class )
Clearly - he won. He gets my vote. Deceptively strong. He ran it flawlessly. I might have a shot in a rematch, but I'd say he wins 60/40.

4. Gerry Russell - Republic Naboo ( http://www.bloomilk.com/Squad/122651/r-n-a-f- )
Beat him in round 5. He conceded with 20 min to go - awarded 3pt win. Would have been a different game in the top 8 had we played. I still think I have the advantage. He wins if I roll a crit on one of his pilots, but otherwise it's a tight one. I give 20 to all the pilots/troopers with the lancer, and then I bomb them one at a time to kill them. If he gets more aggressive - I bomb more of them. I have a 24 square reach when pawning a bomb, and MTB auto kills one too. So it's a tedious, brain-drainer of a game, but I say I win 60/40.

5. Deri Morgan - Rebel Ackbar ( http://www.bloomilk.com/Squad/131935/just-the-spot--of-ackbar- )
Beat him in round 2 and in the semis, as well as in playtesting. Each game was close - but ultimately controlled by me. A 1 rolled on init at the wrong time could spell doom, and each game Deri cerainly had a chance to edge me out on points. Also a brain-drainer chess maych of a game. I'd say my squad wins 60/40.

6. Daniel Stephens - NR Kyle/Jan Ors ( http://www.bloomilk.com/Squad/126362/lukes-heroes )
The only squad in the top 8 I was not paired up with. Still have yet to face Daniel ever (outside of Royal Rumble). I think his assessment was pretty accurate. All that disruptive and distraction is annoying for my bombs, but nothing stops the lancer. If he brings a kel-dor or something, I trade mine to take his out (pawn, MTB). If I get sloppy and lose the lancer - he wins. Otherwise, I win. Likely a 2pt game either way. With nasty accurate it is harder to keep the lancer safe. None-the-less, outactivate and MTB vs a squad with no build in counter to strafe is usually a safe bet for me to win. 65/35 me.

7. Jim McNaney - Imperial Desann ( http://www.bloomilk.com/Squad/129241/barney-and-friends )
Beat it in round 3. As Jim indicated, a rematch would probably have benefitted me more. It is a tough squad, and I think I could get a full 3 point win against it in a rematch. The Nightsister mother is the issue - it slows my lancer down incredibly. As it was, if we had another round or 2 I would have had it - but the score was closer than the game. He even had a brilliant move at the end to swap an uggie and attack my lancer with a shot at killing it. He didn't get the high roll he needed, lucky for me. I wouldn't allow that to happen in a second game, and I would have known I needed to dispose of his nightsister mother quickly - so I think I win 70/30 on this one. MTB loves giving Thrawn the finger. It was a fun game, and you should have seen the look on my face after I realized that I might have lost if that uggie hit. Lol. Always great to play Jim.

8. Ben Guins - Sith Revan/Krayt
Ben conceded to me before the game. He's a great player, but he was just outta juice. It wasn't a game he wanted to play - most likely a slow death for him. I think I'd win 80/20. Just gotta count the squares to keep the lancer safe. Overextension on his part means death by bombs.

9. Stealth N' Blue ( http://www.bloomilk.com/Squad/106178/stealth-n-blue--and-pellaeon-too-- )
(Note this is the real Stealth N Blue - with Arica)
This squad would be a challenge. I might call it a straight 50/50. Arica can decimate my bombs very quickly. one bad placement and Cad kills my lancer.

Corde N Blue ( http://www.bloomilk.com/Squad/126993/strike-the-right-corde )
Didn't fear this nearly as much. It's better vs rock squads. I win 80/20

10. Mandalorian (Vindicated + Kelborn)
Annoying 2pt win without Fenn Shysa 65/35
Annoying loss 30/70 with Mando the Vin and Fenn Shysa

11. Malgus/Caedus ( http://www.bloomilk.com/Squad/126457/come--as-you-are )
Such an annoying game. I strafe, you save the damage away. I bomb, you save the damage away. Caedus is the real threat - both to the lancer and the bombs (SBMing them into a group and boom!). But he has nothing to stop the bombs. If he advances, quick bomb death. If not - strafe city. Once it's down to just Malgus vs everything else (playtested several times, and it always came down to this) - then it's just - will he fail enough saves. It takes forever. Malgus is so lame. My squad wins 70/30

12. Caedus/Zannah ( http://www.bloomilk.com/Squad/131822/zz-caedus )
See above. Except Zannah can't take as many bombs. I win 80/20

Still think Bad G.A.S. is the best Caedus squad. http://www.bloomilk.com/Squad/128694/bad-g-a-s-
I win 60/40 on that one

*shrug*

If Black & Blue is Vader & Thrawn, I'd think Stealth & Blue is Cad Bane & Thrawn. Arica/Morrigan (or Corso or Sugi or any other decent 30ish shooter) seem to me to be variants. In any case, I just went with the one that won a major tournament in NZ. But I did update the name in the original post.

I do disagree about this - I don't see why anyone would bother building WOTC-only squads anymore, unless they're restricted by collection/special rules, and can't make the established best squads. Maybe there's a little bit of scope for 150 point squads using the last couple of sets, since Regionals and Championships moved to 200 points in 2010. But generally, I side with this billiv15 quote from a couple of years ago:
"The top squads of the game 2 years ago are already well established, and nearly every conceivable version has been listed, used, and recognized already. You or anyone else are not going to miraculously discover some super secret squad from the past that no one knew about."

I'd agree, with a qualification that an established build could reappear in the meta mix if the game worked its way back to it. Case in point: Ruben's Uggernaught squad that took the 200pt tournament by storm in the Jedi Challenge in '09. No one had an answer for it...one unfortunate person got to activate 1 character the entire game before going down in flames. Then, it was gone just as quickly. All it takes is someone who understands the squad AND how it interacts with the meta.

Yup. Map has a considerable impact on the meta, more so than most figures designed. A LOT of the past top squads would not work with today's restricted map list.