Star Wars X-Wing: World Championship Lists
This past week Fantasy Flight Games hosted the World Championships for Star Wars: X-Wing. Here are the two lists that made it all the way!
Hey BoLS Readers, AdamHarry back with more exciting X-Wing info! This time I wanted to take a look at the new-meta that will be hitting X-Wing tables near YOU. But first a little setup…
Every year Fantasy Flight Games Hosts the World Championships for their organized play game systems. It’s 5 full days of gaming at the highest level -and MORE. While many of the players in the events are National Champions from around the Globe, the event itself is a celebration of the world-wide community that plays these games.
I would also like to say congratulations all the participants, but specifically Major Congratulations to the top 16 players. You survived ~270 players and fought you way to the top. That is no small feat. But at the end of the day when you’re playing in the World Championships for X-Wing only two players will make it to the end.
Major Props to X-Wing World Champion Paul Heaver and the Runner-up Nathan Eide!
Now for their lists:
Champion: Paul Heaver
Poe Dameron + R2‑D2 + Veteran Instincts + Autothrusters
Gold Squadron Pilot + R3‑A2 + BTL‑A4 Y‑wing + Twin Laser Turret
Gold Squadron Pilot + Twin Laser Turret
Bandit Squadron Pilot
The Combo of running R2-D2 and Poe can lead to one tough cookie to crack! Throw in Autothrusters and you have an durable X-Wing that can shoot-n-scoot and shut-down turrets with the best of them.
This Gold Squadron setup not only adds consistent damage it also piles on the stress! When you’re playing at that high of a level the stress is REAL – but also it’s smart play. When you cause stress to a target you’re limiting their movement options for the following turn. You’re removing those Red maneuvers and pushing them toward using the safer Green maneuvers. This helps you to better estimate your opponents next move. The ability to accurately guess your opponents maneuver is what separates the casual player from the pros. When you know where your opponents is likely to move you can counter-move to line up those shots.
The seconds Gold Squadron Pilot with the TLT is great addition for the cheap, consistent damage and also doubles as a beefy blocker in a pinch.
I know many players out there might be puzzled by this choice. Why would you take a cheap, Z-95? It’s almost like it’s a throw away that’s just there to add a ship and 4 extra hit points to chew through…and yes, it’s a cheap, effective blocker! Not only is it an additional ship it’s also two more attack dice and when/if this ship gets in the way it sets up the Y-wing stress-bot combo train. Again, when you’re at that level of play, it’s all about accurately assuming your opponents next maneuver. If you have a ship that is bumping another ship and stressed your movement options are limited.
Runner-Up: Nathan Eide
Corran Horn + R2-D2 + Engine Upgrade + Push The Limit + Fire Control Systems;
Poe Dameron + Veteran Instincts + Autothrusters + R5-P9
Prototype Pilot + Chardaan Refit
Corran Horn with Fire-Control System is a scary sight. Couple that with the boost/barrel-roll/push the limit shenanigans and the extra durablity of having R2-D2 and you’ve another tough cookie to pin down and finish off!
Poe is also in this list – so I guess the top players in the world think he’s worth taking or something. I’m not saying I called it – in fact I was pretty far off. Aside from Autothrusters, my Poe load outs were very different. Then again, I was looking at theme lists that are fun to run, not tournament level list building.
Anyhow this load out is very similar to the one that the World Champ used. It’s very squirrelly version of Poe/Autothrusters and a way to get back shields. They are in the same vein, just two different takes. The regenerating shields were a recurring theme in many of the Rebel lists in the top 16. R2-D2 was the most common way for players to do that. That R2 unit sure does get around!
This is another common blocker load out. It’s cheap, fast and agile. Nothing wrong with that!
Comparing the two top lists you can easily see the similarities. You’ve got a tough Poe to kill along with a cheap blocker. The major difference is how they spent the other points – it comes down Corran Horn’s insane burst damage vs the tough, durable and consistent damage from those Y-Wings. I think the combination of having the extra Shields/Hull in the Y-Wings and the stress bot are what tipped the odds in Paul Heaver’s direction.
It takes more than just rolling handfuls of dice to be successful at X-Wing. If you caught the stream on twitch you know that both these players flew their lists with a ton of skill and both deserve major props for getting to the top!
If you’d like to take a look at the rest of the top 16 you can check out the FFG Forums for a very good run down of the event.
I’d also like to call out Travis Foss #8 and Travis Cooper #12 for both running Dash Rendar in their lists and making it to the top 8 and top 16 respectively. Way to keep the dream alive!
What do you think X-Wing Aces? Do you think these ships/lists will show-up in your local meta? What about the rest of the top lists? Anything shock you? Let us know in the comments below!
