My Euros Journey (Changing a Netlist: Part Two)
The road to the European Championship (EC).
Back in Changing a Netlist, I discussed my experience with the popular Paratanni, and my slight change to it post Manaroo nerf.
Since then I’ve taken it to a 28 person event at ibuywargames, and also a 51 person Store Championship at Warboar. Both events saw me go undefeated in swiss (winning Ibuy) but losing my first game in the knockout at Warboar :(
All in all I’d lost about four games with this list out of 25+ games, so you could say I was feeling quietly confident in the run up to the EC, hoping to at least get to the second day and end up with a positive win/loss ratio.
So the EC starts and there is around 350 people there, a decent showing. I get matched up against a rather interesting list.
Round One
Felizram Stockinger flying Captain Yorr and Countess, Pure Sabacc and Countdown.
Yorr proved troublesome, however my opponent made a few mistakes with the strikers and led to Pure Sabacc pointing the wrong way during the first engagement, letting me shut off his ability before he shot. I managed to kill Yorr a few turns later and then it was just mopping up, though I lost half points on Asajj.
100–21
Round Two
Kyle Turley flying three mindlink scouts with torps.
Thanks to Asajj I feel confident dealing with mindlink scouts, as long as the approach is right. In this game I ended up stressing him out while Fenn does what he does best and started murdering them. My dice were pretty hot while Kyle’s were pretty cold, and by the time they evened out it was too late. He did manage to reduce the scout and Asajj to half points however.
100–34
Round Three
Marton Kenessey flying three mindlink scouts with torps.
Based on my previous game vs Kyle, I was feeling confident here, however due to delays between round one and two I was starting to flag (really should have had some caffeine). I screwed up the approach and ended up getting Asajj trapped onto a rock for three turns, during which my scout died. I then completely misjudged a bank near the edge and flew a shieldless Asajj off the board. I had only managed to reduce one scout to half points :(
17–100
Round Four
Mark Allan flying Miranda, Biggs and Stress Breylan.
Once again my approach wasn’t great, feigning a move using gyros to then go the other way and swing the arc round, however my opponent saw this coming and managed to reduce Asajj to PS0 and then kill Fenn the next turn. Miranda got reduced to PS0 a few turns later, leading to a rather adjustment to the moving and shooting order. I managed to kill Biggs and almost got Miranda, but the stress from the Arc was too much to deal with and I lost.
26–100
Thanks to the delay, there were only 4 games on day one. Due to this, everyone who didn’t drop automatically made day two.
In order to make top 16 I would need to end up in the top 8 of the 7–2s, so my aim settled on ending with a positive score at least.
Round Five
Benjamin Taylor flying Dengar Asajj.
Dengar was rocking expertise, and I had a perfect tool for dealing with this in Asajj. I managed to use gyros to convince my opponent I was heading one way, but instead I switched and pinned down Dengar with Fenn and Asajj. Stressed, Dengar was less threatening and I managed to kill him without suffering too much damage. I then tag teamed the enemy Asajj and took her down pretty quickly.
100–0
Round Six
Justin Choy flying Quickdraw and Rear Admiral Chiraneau.
With VI on RAC, as well as Rebel Captive, Hotshot Co-Pilot and Kylo Ren, I was rather wary of that Decimator. Justin tried to kill the scout, but he ran away, letting Asajj and Fenn get behind them. I blocked Quickdraw and stressed him (shutting down Expertise) then one shot him with Fenn. RAC died next turn thanks to a block from the scout, hanging in with one hull left and zero agility…
100–13
Round Seven
Edward Holmes flying mindlink Fenn, Asajj and Sarco Plank.
Edward started moving pretty slowly, while I sent my Fenn at top speed towards Sarco. I eventually managed to kill him after three rounds, while the rest of our fleets were engaging through the asteroid field. We ended up trading Fenns, however I had numerical superiority. He managed to reduce Asajj to half health before finally biting the dust.
100–53
Round Eight
Duncan Callander flying Dengar Tel torp boats.
This is the Worlds winning list, and I’d never flown against it before, however I once again had the perfect tool to deal with Expertise, thanks to Asajj. Duncan made one mistake which cost him the game, and that is barrel rolling to try and escape Asajj’s ability. He ends up within range and to close to the board to be able to remove the stress, letting me destroy Dengar with Fenn and Asajj while keeping Tel out of the fight with repeated bumping from Asajj. Duncan concedes to me once a torpless Tel receives weapon malfunction.
100–0
Round Nine
Harrison Sharp flying Vader, Backdraft and Vessery.
This list had quite some bite, With Vessery rocking Tie/D, tractor beam and decoy, alongside PS10 Vader and PS9 Backdraft. I foolishly took initiative (I was tired and very shocked to be 4–0 on day two). I should have given it away, so I could react to backdraft with Fenn. I really didn’t think about my approach and only some insane dice rolling from Fenn stopped him from ending up on a roid, only for him to end up on the roid next turn! I managed to slowly destroy Vessery while the scout tangled with Vader and Backdraft. I eventually killed vader, only to lose Fenn to a major explosion into direct hit! My scout limped out of the fight on 1 hull while Asajj managed to destroy Backdraft while on 6 hull, one more damage and i’d have given up half points.
100–43
So I had managed to go 5–0 on Day Two, meaning I had gone 7–2 in total. While waiting for the standings I was pretty sure I had just missed out, but I then found out that I made top 16 in 13th place, with my fellow squadron mate Oliver Pocknell making 7th place.
Top 16 knock out.
Round one, Paul Westwood flying Kanan Biggs.
I had a plan, and that plan was to block Kanan while killing Biggs. I failed. Fenn died to a direct hit while Biggs limped around with one hull left, but refused to die. Some great blocking from my opponent limited my shots on Biggs, while ensuring that even without Kanan’s ability Asajj couldnt break through Bigg’s natural dice.
0–100
So ends my EC journey, and what a ride it was. Despite feeling slightly peeved at my performance at the end of Day Two, both Marton and Mark made the top 16, meaning my only losses were to top 16 finishers.
I’m rather happy with the list, Mindlink is still pretty strong. Stress control still isn’t that bad as long as I plan ahead with the scout. Gyros is still rather great and I’m happy with how they complement my play style.
George “Rasta” Dellapina of the Weekend Warlords managed to win the knockout, become the first ever X-wing European Champion. A top bloke who really sums up all the good parts about the competitive scene.
