First steps (into Store Championship season)

On Sunday was the first Store Championship of the season in Belgium. It was in De Hermelijn in Aalst and had (a rather disappointing) turnout of only 6 people. I feel it was a combination of things. Several other tournaments were on the same day and the amazingly beautiful weather of the last few days might have cause some last-minute cancellations. But, as the saying goes, those absent were wrong.

So with 6 people we went 3 rounds. No cut. Before the tournament started a lot of people were asking me which list I brought. So time to spoil list number 1. It's 4 TLT y-wings. I realize it's a controversial list and honestly occasionally I felt a bit dirty playing it. But I'll let the games speak for themselves.

Round 1 - Thomas - Rey/Jan

Rey with Expertise, Finn, Kanan, new Millennium Falcon title, Smuggling Compartment, Countermeasures and Scavenger Crane. Jan was wielding Twin Laser Turret, Wired, Lando Calrissian and Vectored Thrusters.

The game started with us setting up on the right side of the map. We slow-rolled at each other and after Rey and Jan banked in I split up the formation in an attempt to block some of his moves. This worked but forced me to split fire between Rey and Jan. Jan was quickly traded for one of the Y-wings. In an attempt of being cute I took a target-lock with one of the y-wings which weren't in a position to shoot, which next turn he promptly removed with Countermeasures. Another Y-wing died, giving him back his Countermeasures with Scavenger Crane. Following turn Countermeasures was triggered again, but wasted as he ended up being 1 millimeter outside of range 3. A turn later the Y-wings moved in again and took out Rey.

Win 100-50

Round 2 - Jimmy - Dengar/Asajj Ventress

Dengar with Expertise, Plasma Torpedoes, Extra Munitions, K4 Security Droid, Unhinged Astromech, Punishing One and Guidance Chips. Asajj with Push the Limit and Latts Razzi

Unhinged Astromech on my Y-wings really helped this game as I was able to easily clear stress he didn't need to remove with Latts. The game consisted of 2 big rounds of combat separated by a long sweeping movement. (You can see the sweeping movement below)

In the first bout of combat we traded 50 points (half his ships) for 50 points (2 Y-wings). Dengar lived with 2 health and Asajj survived with about 4 hull. Honestly though, we both had the feeling Jimmy's green dice were really hot. He was able to get 2 unmodified evades several times. It turns out that initial engagement is really important when flying this list. It's the only time you have all 4 TLT's available. So if you can't push through damage that first round, you're pretty much done.

So we fought and then split up. After a few rounds of movement we engaged again and in the second bout of combat I couldn't find a good shot and was a bit too afraid of Dengar's return shot. He ended up taking out both remaining Y-wings without taking too much damage himself.

LOSS 50-100

Round 3 - Nand - Imperial Graveyard

A whole new list by (former) world-champion Nand Torfs. Patrol Leader, Starkiller Base Pilot with Fire Control Systems and Pattern Analyzer and Omega Leader with Juke and Comm Relay (Lockdown)

At this point in the tournament there was one 2-0 player (Nand), 4 1-1 players and 1 0-2 player. So if I win there won't be anyone with a perfect record and the final result will depend on MoV. If I lose Nand goes on to win the tournament. Not a fun spot to be in.

In the first round of combat the Y-wings proved their worth and ate through half the Patrol Leader's health. Second round same thing except for that one Y-wing that bumped the Patrol Leader and took a pot shot at Omega Leader, taking of a shield. Round 3 Patrol Leader dies and the SBP starts taking all the TLT shots (except for the occasional pot shot at Omega Leader). Repeatedly having the SBP bump one of my Y-wings helped too. Though I admit Nand's dice were cold on him too. He managed one shot where he rolled three red blanks, reroll with target lock into another 2 blanks and a focus. I believe that's a chance of 0.18%. So it was Omega Leader vs 3 Y-wings. I flew away the most hurt Y-wing (1 hull remaining) and kill Omega Leader with the other 2.

WIN 100-25

Back row: Thomas, Tom, Jimmy, Niek (me)
Front row: Didier, Steve, Nand

So I ended up with 375 MoV. Turns out to be enough for second place. First place winner Tom got 391 MoV and Jimmy in third place ended up with 350 MoV. Which means that I should have tried harder to kill either Dengar or Asajj which would have netted me enough MoV for first place. Or if I would have lost another Y-wing in the game against Nand or Thomas I would have tied with Jimmy.

Second place got me the really cool Kallus token. all range rulers and some pretty cool alt arts. Including a Colonel Jendon which I did not yet have. Thanks Didier for organizing this tournament and I hope next year you will have plenty more people attending. You deserve that!

What's next?

So people asked me 3 questions.

Why aren't you playing list xxxxxx?
What Store Championships are you attending?
What list will you play where?

So for the first question: Thanks for all your suggestions, they might come in handy. Most likely I didn't pick that list because I don't have experience in it or because I plain and simple didn't think of it.

Question 2 is a good one. Let's advertise these upcoming tournaments.

25/6 Hermelijn Aalst *
1/7 Bédébile Mons *
1/7 Sheep Games Sint-Niklaas
16/7 City Break Namur *
23/7 Outpost Gent *
29/7 Albion Kortrijk * (No T3 information available)
30/7 Outpost Brussel *
5/8 Spelfanaat Sint-Niklaas *
13/8 Ludotrotter Charleroi *

So.... If you can count. That's another 2 additional Store Championships announced since my last blog post. So I need to find another 2 lists to play. More on that later, but one of them will probably be voted on by you guys.

And concerning what list I will play next weekend in Mons. Not knowing is part of the fun right?

Any comments? Leave them below!

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