kyber cup 6

Kyber Elimination League, saison 6, ronde 6 ! Et donc la dernière ronde de ce tournoi pour lequel il n’y avait pas de cut...

Cette saison était très différente de la précédente. Cette ligue avait en effet une règle spéciale : certaines cartes, pilotes comme améliorations, étaient bannies, sur la base d’un vote des joueurs. Une liste de dix cartes interdites avait été publiée ainsi avant le début du tournoi, puis deux cartes supplémentaires étaient bannies à chaque nouvelle ronde.

Les joueurs, du coup, n’avaient pas à s’engager pour une seule liste destinée à être utilisée durant l’ensemble du tournoi, ils pouvaient changer de liste à chaque ronde, dès l’instant qu’elle ne comprenait pas de cartes interdites.

Et il y a eu une petite spécificité pour cette dernière ronde : les joueurs ont en outre pu voter pour rendre à nouveau jouable une carte qui figurait dans la liste des interdictions.

Voici la liste des pilotes bannis pour cette sixième ronde (les nouveaux étant en italiques) :

• Hera Syndulla (A-Wing RZ-1, Alliance Rebelle).
• Wullffwarro (Canonnière Auzituck, Alliance Rebelle).
• Baron de l’Empire (TIE Advanced v1, Empire Galactique).
• Inquisiteur (TIE Advanced v1, Empire Galactique).
• Kanan Jarrus (Cargo léger HWK-290, Racailles et Scélérats).
• Torkil Mux (Cargo léger HWK-290, Racailles et Scélérats).
• Astropilote du Cartel (Intercepteur M3-A, Racailles et Scélérats).
• Rey (YT-1300 récupéré, Résistance).
• Kylo Ren (TIE/vn Silencer, Premier Ordre).
• Jango Fett (Patrouilleur de classe Firespray, Séparatistes).
• Zam Wesell (Patrouilleur de classe Firespray, Séparatistes).

Et voici la liste des améliorations bannies pour cette sixième ronde... en notant que c’est l’équipage Zam Wesell qui est redevenu légal !

• Amiral Sloane (équipage, Empire Galactique).
• Discipliné (talent, Empire Galactique).
• Comte Dooku (équipage, Séparatistes).
• Roquettes à protons (missiles)
• Traceurs XX-23 S (missiles).
• Détonateurs thermiques (engins).
• Codes de transpondeur falsifiés (illégal).
• Clairvoyance (pouvoir de la Force).

Bon, pour cette dernière ronde, les principales « menaces » ayant été éliminées de longue date, les interdictions n’avaient pas la même saveur – mais Kylo Ren et Torkil Mux étaient des choix cohérents. La surprise, c’est plutôt le retour de l’équipage Zam Wesell, une des cartes les plus prisées/honnies à l’heure actuelle ! Mais, dans un sens comme dans l’autre, ça me convenait (et honnêtement je ne me souviens même plus de ce pourquoi j’avais voté, mais une chose de sûre est qu’il n’y avait rien de tout ça).

Pour cette sixième et dernière ronde... eh bien, c’est le compatriote Skymyj que je devais affronter. Soit exactement ce qui s’était produit pour la sixième ronde de la cinquième édition de la Kyber Cup ! Ceci étant, il ne pouvait pas jouer la même liste (puisque Wullffwarro aussi bien que les Roquettes à protons étaient interdits). En lieu et place, il a joué la liste séparatiste suivante, une bonne vieille nuée de Vultures, mais avec DGS-047 en guise de patron :

Canonnière droïde PML – •DGS-047 – 57

•DGS-047 – Intelligence adaptative (35)

Stabilisateurs de répulseurs (3)

•Général Grievous (3)

•Kraken (11)

•Missiles Diamant-Bore (5)

Chasseur droïde de classe Vulture – Drone de la Fédération du Commerce – 25

Drone de la Fédération du Commerce (20)

Obus énergétiques (5)

Chasseur droïde de classe Vulture – Drone de la Fédération du Commerce – 25

Drone de la Fédération du Commerce (20)

Obus énergétiques (5)

Chasseur droïde de classe Vulture – Drone de la Fédération du Commerce – 25

Drone de la Fédération du Commerce (20)

Obus énergétiques (5)

Chasseur droïde de classe Vulture – Drone de la Fédération du Commerce – 24

Drone de la Fédération du Commerce (20)

•••Missiles Discorde (4)

Chasseur droïde de classe Vulture – Drone de la Fédération du Commerce – 24

Drone de la Fédération du Commerce (20)

•••Missiles Discorde (4)

Chasseur droïde de classe Vulture – Drone de la Fédération du Commerce – 20

Drone de la Fédération du Commerce (20)

Total : 200/200

Quant à moi... eh bien, oui, en revanche, j’ai joué la même liste que lors de notre partie de la Kyber Cup 5, qui était aussi celle que j’ai jouée à chaque ronde de cette Kyber Elimination League, soit ma nuée Malarus (ce qui ferait beaucoup de vaisseaux sur le tapis de jeu : treize !) :

Navette légère de classe Xi – •Commandant Malarus – 58

•Commander Malarus – Maître d’œuvre vindicatif (45)

•Agent Terex (7)

•Hondo Ohnaka (6)

Chasseur TIE/fo – « Scorch » – 33

•« Scorch » – Leader Zeta (33)

Chasseur TIE/fo – « Longshot » – 31

•« Longshot » – As Zeta (31)

Chasseur TIE/fo – Cadet de l’Escadron Epsilon – 26

Cadet de l’Escadron Epsilon (25)

Ciblage prioritaire automatisé (1)

Chasseur TIE/fo – Cadet de l’Escadron Epsilon – 26

Cadet de l’Escadron Epsilon (25)

Ciblage prioritaire automatisé (1)

Chasseur TIE/fo – Cadet de l’Escadron Epsilon – 26

Cadet de l’Escadron Epsilon (25)

Ciblage prioritaire automatisé (1)

Total : 200/200

Place au jeu !

ATTENTION : APRÈS L’IMAGE QUI SUIT, JE RÉVÈLE LA CONCLUSION DE LA PARTIE (ET FAIS LE BILAN DU TOURNOI). ALORS SI VOUS PRÉFÉREZ NE PAS VOUS SPOILER TOUT ÇA, N’EN LISEZ PAS DAVANTAGE ET REGARDEZ D’ABORD LA VIDÉO !

Défaite pour le Premier Ordre, 145-119... Bien joué Skymyj, félicitations et merci pour la partie !

Que fallait-il penser du matchup ? Honnêtement, je crois qu’il m’était plutôt favorable, en fait : ma nuée avait une meilleure agilité globale et aussi, en fait, une résilience supérieure (sauf pour le vaisseau de commandement de part et d’autre). Niveau fiabilisation, je pense qu’on se trouvait à peu près au même niveau. En revanche, Skymyj avait une légère supériorité numérique pour lui, et des options de dégâts automatiques avec les Missiles Discorde, plus les Missiles Diamant-Bore qui pouvaient faire mal à ma nuée.

Nous avons tiré au sort pour déterminer qui serait le premier joueur, et le choix m’est revenu. J’ai décidé que Skymyj jouerait en premier, un choix très discutable... De fait, il n’avait que des VP 1 dans sa liste, là où je n’en avais que trois dans la mienne – dans ces conditions, je n’espérais pas plus que ça obtenir des bumps utiles, ou l'en priver... En outre, je préférais tirer après Skymyj pour qu’il ne puisse pas profiter des éventuels marqueurs de contrainte suscités par les relances de Malarus. Peut-être était-ce une erreur de ma part – ou pas. Qu’en pensez-vous ?

Quoi qu’il en soit, mon positionnement n’était pas idéal. Un nuage de gaz m’a pas mal embêté, à plusieurs reprises, même si à pas grand-chose le plus souvent. Bon, ça n’était pas catastrophique non plus...

Le vrai problème, la véritable erreur de ma part, ç’a été de concentrer mes tirs sur DGS-047. J’avais l’impression d’avoir une fenêtre idéale sur lui, et me disais qu’il pourrait être pas mal de lui faire bien mal avant qu’il ait l’occasion de recharger le Général Grievous. Mais c’était évidemment une erreur : il aurait bien davantage été pertinent de m’en prendre aux Vultures, pour essayer d’amoindrir la supériorité numérique de Skymyj... Et ce mauvais choix s’est vite avéré fatal : clairement, il m’a coûté la partie. Et on le voit bien au score final : 26 points d’écart, c’est un TIE/fo chez moi, ou à un point près un Drone de la Fédération du Commerce avec Obus énergétiques...

Il y a eu d’autres décisions malheureuses de ma part, hélas – comme de dépenser un marqueur de concentration pour éviter un dégât simple quand DGS-047 pouvait encore tirer un Missile Diamant-Bore, avec l’effet anti-nuée, qui m'a fait très mal...

J’au perdu cette partie en raison de mes mauvais choix, clairement, il n’y a pas d’excuse à chercher ailleurs. Même si je crois que l’on peut dire que mes dés verts ont été passablement dégueulasses la majeure partie du temps (je crois que j’étais à - 6 ?). Ce qui ne m’a pas aidé. Mais ça, ça vient après les mauvaises décisions, en plus des mauvaises décisions.

Et donc, défaite, 145-119. Bien joué Skymyj !

J’ai donc fini à 4-2... Encore une fois... Je commence à croire que je ne ferai jamais mieux !

Ceci dit, ma marge de victoire était plus qu’honnête, j’avais donc bon espoir de finir parmi les premiers des 4-2, et il y avait de bonnes chances pour que je fasse donc partie du top 64 – or, même s’il n’y avait pas de cut dans ce tournoi, les joueurs ayant intégré le top 64 recevraient un lot.

Et c’était bien le cas. Plus précisément, quatrième des 4-2, j’ai fini en tout à la 38^e place (sur 312 inscrits – mais ce dernier nombre est à pondérer, car une douzaine de participants ont en fait drop avant le début du tournoi ou après une seule partie, et ça s’est reproduit plusieurs fois à chaque ronde, sans surprise).

Mais il faut aussi noter que les joueurs français, globalement, s’en sont pas mal tirés lors de ce tournoi, voire mieux que ça !

Déjà, l’éléphant dans la roume, félicitations à FuTiL, qui a remporté le tournoi, invaincu !

Alaedar, qui a fait le suivi et réalisé ce tableau, merci à lui, a fini à la 9^e place, mais il a en outre longtemps été en tête du classement provisoire, de même que Maxx avant lui (qui a fini 34^e).

Parmi les 5-1, on compte aussi OveR2 (10^e), et, donc, Skymyj (28^e).

Ma 38^e place fait de moi le sixième joueur français dans le classement (sur quatorze) – et le dernier à figurer dans le top 64.

Félicitations également à tous les autres !

Et c’est donc la fin de ce tournoi... Mais d’autres prendront la relève, bien sûr ! Alors, à bientôt pour de nouveaux rapports de batailles...

Random Academy Pilot est désormais en partenariat avec la boutique Maxi Rêves, sise à Abbeville (et que vous pouvez aussi retrouver sur sa page Facebook ici) !

Cela signifie que, si vous créez un compte chez Maxi Rêves, vous pouvez contacter le gérant pour l’informer de ce que vous venez de ma part. Cela vous permettra d’obtenir une remise globale de 10 % sur toute la boutique !

Merci à Maxi Rêves pour son soutien !

Et à bientôt...

Kyber Elimination League, season 6, round 5! And a new battle report in English. Of course, I’m French, so I’m genetically designed to speak and write an awful English… Please be kind!

This season is very different from the previous one. The Elimination League has a special rule: some cards, pilots as well as upgrades, are banned, based on surveys of the players. A list of ten banned cards was published at first, but after each round two more cards are banned as well. Players therefore don’t have to choose a single list for the whole tournament, and can change their list each round, as long as it doesn’t feature banned cards.

Here is the list of banned pilots for round 5 (the new one being in italics):

• Wullffwarro (Auzituck Gunship, Rebel Alliance).
• Hera Syndulla (RZ-1 A-Wing, Rebel Alliance).
• Baron of the Empire (TIE Advanced v1, Galactic Empire).
• Inquisitor (TIE Advanced v1, Galactic Empire).
• Kanan Jarrus (HWK-290 Light Freighter, Scum and Villainy).
• Cartel Spacer (M3-A Interceptor, Scum and Villainy).
• Rey (Scavenged YT-1300, Resistance).
• Jango Fett (Firespray-class Patrol Craft, Separatists).
• Zam Wesell (Firespray­-class Patrol Craft, Separatists).

And here is the list of banned upgrades for round 5 (the new one being in italics):

• Admiral Sloane (Crew, Galactic Empire).
• Disciplined (Talent, Galactic Empire).
• Count Dooku (Crew, Separatists).
• Zam Wesell (Crew, Scum and Villainy/Separatists).
• Foresight (Force).
• False Transponder Codes (Illicit).
• Proton Rockets (Missile)
• XX-23 S-Thread Tracers (Missile).
• Thermal Detonators (Payload).

No more Disciplined, then. I must say I feel about the same regarding this ban as I did for Hera Syndulla and Kanan Jarrus the previous rounds: it’s a bit sad that new cards, barely available, get banned this early. As for Wullffwarro, I must say I don’t regret him; not because he would be too strong, but because I’ve faced the Big Hairy Wookiee quite a lot in tournament for some months now (at least three recorded games, plus some other); I didn’t vote for him, though.

It must be noted that, for the final round of swiss, two more cards will be banned the usual way… but one of the actual banned cards will be playable again, based on a second survey of the players. We’ll see what makes its comeback…

For this fifth round, I have been paired with KennyT, a very nice player from the USA, who brought the following Scum and Villainy list, Brobots with a little friend:

Aggressor Assault Fighter – •IG-88B – 82

•IG-88B – Brutal Battledroid (62)

IG-2000 (1)

Autoblasters (3)

Advanced Sensors (10)

Contraband Cybernetics (3)

Elusive (3)

Aggressor Assault Fighter – •IG-88D – 82

•IG-88D – Deadly Device (62)

IG-2000 (1)

Autoblasters (3)

Advanced Sensors (10)

Contraband Cybernetics (3)

Elusive (3)

Quadrijet Transfer Spacetug – •Constable Zuvio – 36

•Constable Zuvio – Missing Sheriff of Niima Outpost (29)

•Protectorate Gleb (2)

•Cloaking Device (4)

Composure (1)

Total: 200/200

As for myself, well, I brought my Malarus TIE/fo swarm once again… Yup, still legal!

Xi-class Light Shuttle – •Commander Malarus – 58

•Commander Malarus – Vindictive Taskmaster (45)

•Agent Terex (7)

•Hondo Ohnaka (6)

TIE/fo Fighter – “Scorch” – 33

•“Scorch” – Zeta Leader (33)

TIE/fo Fighter – “Longshot” – 31

•“Longshot” – Zeta Ace (31)

TIE/fo Fighter – Epsilon Squadron Cadet – 26

Epsilon Squadron Cadet (25)

Automated Target Priority (1)

TIE/fo Fighter – Epsilon Squadron Cadet – 26

Epsilon Squadron Cadet (25)

Automated Target Priority (1)

TIE/fo Fighter – Epsilon Squadron Cadet – 26

Epsilon Squadron Cadet (25)

Automated Target Priority (1)

Total: 200/200

Now to the game.

BEWARE: RIGHT AFTER THIS OMINOUS DARTH VADER PICTURE, I WILL REVEAL HOW THE GAME TURNED OUT. IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS, WATCH THE VIDEO BEFORE READING FURTHER!

Victory for the First Order, 200-33! That Brobot flying out of the board was a big blow for sure… Well played nonetheless, Kenny, and thank you for the game!

That’s Kyber Elimination League, so we don’t know what the opponent will play until the very last moment. Brobots, then! I haven’t got much experience facing them, but I was not reassured: with an agility value of 3, calculate tokens everywhere, maybe some evade tokens through Zuvio’s coordinate action with Protectorate Gleb (and that was more or less the first time I was opposed this quite popular new upgrade), and Elusive just in case, plus eight health points anyway, I feared it might be difficult for my attack value 2 ships to inflict much damage on them. The possibility of some kind of double tap was also a concern, and, maybe even more, the weird advanced maneuvers allowed by IG-88D (on both bros, thanks to the IG-2000 title).

As was to be expected, both Aggressor Assault Fighters went in separate ways to catch my swarm in a pincer movement. I couldn’t do much about that, I had to commit somewhere, and IG-88D seemed the most reasonable choice, as IG-88B was already a bit far to counter its maneuvers.

And then the incredible happened: even considering IG-88D’s maneuver shenanigans on IG-88B, Kenny maybe was a bit greedy… and a full Brobot leaved the board! That was unexpected… and a big blow for Kenny as well as a huge relief for me: I didn’t have to worry anymore about being flanked by this Aggressor… and as a bonus IG-88D could no more use IG-88B’s double tap special rule! And although there had not really been any engagement at this point, I nonetheless took the lead, 82-0... I felt really sorry for Kenny, there; but it couldn’t be seen as a misclick, I’m afraid, precisely because of IG-88D’s ability to change the planned maneuver whatever, and we had to do with it…

That was big. But it might have been premature to call that game. I had a huge advantage for sure, but IG-88D and Zuvio could still score some points, it wasn’t over yet. But the game was kinda weird even after that: IG-88D was locked on the board of the map, and it would take him several turns to be able to leave in a safer place. My maneuvers were quite poor, actually, especially with “Scorch” (how could I forget he was stressed! He is on purpose almost always stressed!), and only some of my ships were able to shoot at the droid each turn. But I had another advantage: jamming abilities, through Malarus, Hondo Ohnaka and later Agent Terex (Cyborg). They proved essential, as I had to go through a lot of green tokens to inflict damage on IG-88D. So it was more important for my command ship to complete its maneuvers and perform those actions rather than being able to shoot and/or providing rerolls to my whole swarm, and I played her accordingly. And my TIE/fo Fighters took one shield and then one hull at a time, until the remaining Aggressor Assault Fighter died.

There was still Zuvio, though. And he surprised me at least twice, when tractoring “Longshot” on a rock (I always forget those can do that), and later when he performed a reverse maneuver (yes, I always forget that as well, how can I...). But I had my whole swarm with me, and he was alone, with only five hull points… In the end I killed him as well (my dices were very good, as a final nail in the coffin...), and Kenny had only managed to take two halves on my ships.

And so, victory, 200-33. Good game, Kenny! And I wish you the best of luck for the remainder of the tournament!

So I’m 4-1 now… And next round is the last (no cut in this tournament). See you soon!

Et encore une chose pour les lecteurs français : Random Academy Pilot est désormais en partenariat avec la boutique Maxi Rêves, sise à Abbeville (et que vous pouvez aussi retrouver sur sa page Facebook ici) !

Cela signifie que, si vous créez un compte chez Maxi Rêves, vous pouvez contacter le gérant pour l’informer de ce que vous venez de ma part. Cela vous permettra d’obtenir une remise globale de 10 % sur toute la boutique !

Merci à Maxi Rêves pour son soutien !

Kyber Elimination League, season 6, round 4! And a new battle report in English. Of course, I’m French, so I’m genetically designed to speak and write an awful English… Please be kind!

This season is very different from the previous one, of which I have published all my games a few months ago. This Elimination League has a special rule: some cards, pilots as well as upgrades, are banned, based on surveys of the players. A list of ten banned cards was published at first, but after each round two more cards will be banished. Players therefore don’t have to choose a single list for the whole tournament, and can change their list each round, as long as it doesn’t feature banned cards.

Here is the list of banned pilots for round 4 (the new ones being in italics):

• Hera Syndulla (RZ-1 A-Wing, Rebel Alliance).
• Baron of the Empire (TIE Advanced v1, Galactic Empire).
• Inquisitor (TIE Advanced v1, Galactic Empire).
• Cartel Spacer (M3-A Interceptor, Scum and Villainy).
• Kanan Jarrus (HWK-290 Light Freighter, Scum and Villainy).
• Rey (Scavenged YT-1300, Resistance).
• Jango Fett (Firespray-class Patrol Craft, Separatists).
• Zam Wesell (Firespray­-class Patrol Craft, Separatists).

And here is the list of banned upgrades for round 4:

• Admiral Sloane (Crew, Galactic Empire).
• Count Dooku (Crew, Separatists).
• Zam Wesell (Crew, Scum and Villainy/Separatists).
• Foresight (Force).
• False Transponder Codes (Illicit).
• Proton Rockets (Missile)
• XX-23 S-Thread Tracers (Missile).
• Thermal Detonators (Payload).

So Kanan Jarrus on the HWK shares the same fate as poor Hera Syndulla one week prior: just appeared, already disappeared. That’s a bit sad if you ask me… Then Rey as well, which is a bit surprising to me I must say. As rounds go by, top meta cards being almost all banned, the survey produces some weird results. I personally had voted for neither of those, but, whatever…

For this fourth round, I have been paired with Totem, a very nice player from Hungary, who brought the following Separatists list, a lot of beefy murdery droids:

HMP Droid Gunship – •DGS-047 – 43

•DGS-047 – Adaptive Intelligence (35)

Repulsorlift Stabilizers (3)

•K2-B4 (5)

HMP Droid Gunship – Baktoid Drone – 42

Baktoid Drone (34)

Repulsorlift Stabilizers (3)

•DRK-1 Probe Droids (5)

HMP Droid Gunship – Baktoid Drone – 39

Baktoid Drone (34)

Repulsorlift Stabilizers (3)

Ion Missiles (2)

HMP Droid Gunship – Baktoid Drone – 39

Baktoid Drone (34)

Repulsorlift Stabilizers (3)

Ion Missiles (2)

HMP Droid Gunship – Baktoid Drone – 37

Baktoid Drone (34)

Repulsorlift Stabilizers (3)

Total: 200/200

As for myself, well, I brought my Malarus TIE/fo swarm… It’s still legal after all!

Xi-class Light Shuttle – •Commander Malarus – 58

•Commander Malarus – Vindictive Taskmaster (45)

•Agent Terex (7)

•Hondo Ohnaka (6)

TIE/fo Fighter – “Scorch” – 33

•“Scorch” – Zeta Leader (33)

TIE/fo Fighter – “Longshot” – 31

•“Longshot” – Zeta Ace (31)

TIE/fo Fighter – Epsilon Squadron Cadet – 26

Epsilon Squadron Cadet (25)

Automated Target Priority (1)

TIE/fo Fighter – Epsilon Squadron Cadet – 26

Epsilon Squadron Cadet (25)

Automated Target Priority (1)

TIE/fo Fighter – Epsilon Squadron Cadet – 26

Epsilon Squadron Cadet (25)

Automated Target Priority (1)

Total: 200/200

Now to the game.

BEWARE: RIGHT AFTER THIS OMINOUS DARTH VADER PICTURE, I WILL REVEAL HOW THE GAME TURNED OUT. IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS, WATCH THE VIDEO BEFORE READING FURTHER!

Victory for the First Order, 200-55! Although the game ended prematurely when Totem chose to concede, which is always a bit sad… Well played anyway, Totem, and thank you for the game!

That’s Kyber Elimination League, so we don’t know what the opponent will play until the very last minute. When I discovered Totem’s list, I was kinda thrilled actually, not even considering for the moment the actual matchup: although I’ve never had a real opportunity to fly them myself, I love HMP Droid Gunships, this is really my kind of ships, and if I were to play Separatists again (which will happen at some time), I think I’d go for a full list of them, just as Totem did. But that was a frightening prospect as well, mainly for three reasons:

• 1) Not being used to fly or fight them, I was more than a bit concerned by all those sideslips, because I simply didn’t realize very well where they would be able to move (which is basically everywhere).
• 2) All those full frontal arcs would mean I would almost never be able to arc-dodge those droids, and even if blocking the gunships would prove useful to prevent them from locking my ships, they would still get attacks on my swarm anyway.
• 3) That was a lot of health points to chew through: 8 for each ship, and a grand total of 40 for the entire list!

But the matchup wasn’t that bad, I think:

• 1) My swarm is after all supposed to perform pretty well against a number of beefy lists: yeah, that’s a lot of health points, and my ships all have only two dice attacks base (although “Scorch” can almost always roll one more dice, and “Longshot” not that often but regularly anyway), yet with many attacks each turn, Malarus’ rerolls, and other mods everywhere, I could certainly take some of those ships (or play with half points at least) by focusing fire, and their low agility value of only 1 would certainly help. As long as I retained numerical superiority, even with one ship only (which is where we started after all), I could hope to do well. But each TIE/fo down would hurt, and the loss of Malarus even more, so I shouldn’t be too reckless in this regard…
• 2) My TIE/fo Fighters had only half of each Gunship’s health points, yes, but they had a far, far better agility value; and all those gas clouds, I thought, would benefit me more than Totem.
• 3) I certainly knew HMP Droid Gunships rely heavily on target locks, and I could, theoretically at least, do some things about that: blocking some of them with my Cadets, so they wouldn’t be able to take the target lock action; blasting DRK-1 Probe Droids if able; finally, and that was probably the main thing, although I wasn’t sure about that when we started the game, jamming those damn’ locks whenever I could, through the Xi­-class Light Shuttle’s action, more often through the great Hondo Ohnaka, and maybe in the later game thanks to Agent Terex (Cyborg). And that would indeed prove to be crucial: Hondo especially was infinitely valuable during the whole game (I really love this card…).

Both our lists being 200 points, we rolled to determine who would be first player. I won the roll, and chose to go first, which seems to have surprised Totem quite a bit. And for good reasons: that meant my Epsilon Squadron Cadets would fire before all the gunships, and therefore would quite often suffer strain tokens because of Malarus’ compulsory rerolls. I was aware of that, but the thinking was that I could hope to block some of Totem’s ships; they would always or so be able to shoot at me, but, if I could forbid at least some of them to perform actions, and especially target lock actions, that could turn in my favour, even if I exposed my Cadets to a lot of fire doing so. Well, they are supposed to be expendable… That was the thinking, at least. I don’t know (I almost never do) if it was the good one, but as the game went on, I didn’t have to regret having taken this early decision.

As both of us brought gas clouds, there were many of them in the center of the board, where I thought the engagement would happen, as we deployed in the opposite corners. I tended to think that it could go in my favour, as explained earlier, but to be honest I really wasn’t sure about that…

Anyway, I flew my ships so that it would happen there… and I certainly was concerned by that literal wall of beefy murdery droids. At first, I couldn’t hope to do much damage to Totem’s ships, but in the meantime, I thought my green Cadet, even with all those target locks, could sustain a long distance first engagement, and he did perfectly. More crucial was the opportunity for me to blast the first DRK-1 Probe Droid, which indeed happened.

However, I supposed that now would be the time when at least some of Totem’s ships would perform sideslips, and I really wasn’t sure of where they would go. In the end I decided to bank to the left with most of my ships, while the others would go straight; I hoped this way I could have in arc the gunships which sideslipped to the left as well as those which didn’t sideslip at all (my concern was that some of them would sideslip to the right, but I had to commit somewhere…). Yet I did a mistake there: “Longshot” bumped… But “Scorch” as well as Malarus didn’t, and that was more important: the Xi coordinated a focus action on “Longshot”, the fact he had bumped wasn’t that bothering anymore. But as it happened, none of Totem’s ships performed a sideslip this turn: they all went straight, hiding behind a gas cloud. But I was ok with that: all of my ships would be able to shoot, and I was protected as well by the gas cloud. Yet my green Cadet would take a lot of fire, and he had three target locks on him, so I used Agent Terex to grant him a calculate token even if he already had a focus token. I divided my shots a little bit, but the point was not only to score points, but also to get rid of some calculate tokens. The blue gunship wasn’t shielded anymore in the end, but I didn’t score any points. However, Totem didn’t do that much neither: actually, he fired at my green Epsilon Squadron Cadet with all his ships, but only took one shield! Those green tokens proved useful…

Now there would be sideslips. And I really wasn’t sure where all those gunships would go. Two of my Cadets (including green with all his target locks) would 4K, I was pretty sure about that (I could hope to block some droids, and to have shots at them wherever they chose to go), but as for the others? My pink Cadet banked to the right, meaning he went through a gas cloud, but I hoped he could get at a gunship if it sideslipped to the left. The blue Baktoid Drone sideslipped but bumped on “Scorch”… yet that meant he would get a good shot at him, even if unmodified. He was followed by the yellow one, who did lock “Scorch”. The pink one sideslipped right in front of my pink Cadet, and chose to barrel roll so as to evade his arc. Then DGS-047 turned right, and I was really happy with that, since it would be at range one of both my Cadets who did 4K! And then the green Drone bumped on him… Both “Longshot” and “Scorch” then went straight, but the latter bumped on my pink Cadet; he bumped before moving through the gas cloud, though, and that was something, but he had two Baktoid Drones very close, right behind him… Only one had locked him, though, and Malarus jammed it with the help of Hondo Ohnaka (the pink Drone was coordinated, but he was stressed, obviously; Totem expressed regret for this barrel roll), and, just in case, I gave a calculate token to “Scorch” thanks to Agent Terex. Malarus and “Scorch” immediately took half points on DGS-047, and my green Cadet inflicted a Direct Hit!, but my blue Cadet only scored one more hit: it would survive with one hull left… “Longshot” in the meantime disabled all three shields on the pink Drone, while my pink Cadet only took one shield on the green gunship. All Drones but one (which did nothing on my strained blue Cadet) chose to go after Malarus and took half points on my command ship, which was bad...

All ships or so were packed in the center. Maneuvering would be difficult for both players. My pink Cadet did a 4K (he had started a collection of strain tokens!), while blue turned to the left, and green went straight (not bumping nor moving through a gas cloud, that was cool). Three out of four Baktoid Drones performed a stationary move, meaning they would all be stressed (and couldn’t lock!) while the pink one went straight to lose its own stress token. As was to be expected, DGS-047 fled. Then “Longshot” did a Segnor loop just behind the pink Drone. “Scorch” however bumped on my green Cadet after moving through a gas cloud (but he suffered no strain): he wouldn’t be able to shoot at anybody. Malarus managed not to bump (which I wasn’t expecting actually), and that meant Hondo Ohnaka would perform his magic once again, jamming the pink gunship’s lock on my command ship and coordinating a stressed Drone! After what Agent Terex gave his last calculate token to Malarus herself: Terex was now a Cyborg. She immediately took half points on the pink droid, and “Longshot” terminated it thanks to a Fuel Leak: first casualty of the game! My pink Cadet did nothing except for gaining a third strain token, and my green one failed to take half points on the yellow gunship (blue Cadet had nobody in arc). Two unmodified range one attacks on Malarus did nothing, and that was lucky, but the last Drone finally got half points on my green Cadet (inflicting him Blinded Pilot: no more dice modifications, including Malarus’ rerolls, for him…).

Two of my Cadets did 4K the next turn, while the pink one went straight, losing one stress and one strain (she still had two others). DGS-047 continued to flee, repairing its Damaged Sensor Array. All three surviving Baktoid Drones bumped, however: still no mods for them! “Longshot” then bumped on Malarus, having no other choice, while “Scorch” performed a Segnor loop so as to go back in the fight. A big thing for me: Malarus managed to escape, although she had to move through a gas cloud and strained herself (no Hondo this time); she wouldn’t shoot at anybody, but she had increased the range of the Baktoid Drones’ attacks, and that was something. “Longshot” scored half points on the blue gunship, and my pink Cadet managed to kill him thanks to a Direct Hit!, but it would still be able to shoot back, being the same initiative value, and he killed my green Cadet, first casualty on my side. Nevertheless, that was the second Drone I had killed, and DGS-047 wasn’t in the best of shape…

My remaining Cadets closed on the Baktoid Drones, but they both went after Malarus, although doing this they both moved over a gas cloud: still no mods for them. DGS-047 finally went back in the fight… but I was hoping that, and had sent “Scorch” right in front of it, although that meant he as well moved over a gas cloud and got a strain token. I wasn’t sure “Longshot”’s 4K would allow him to shoot this turn, and Malarus turning left wouldn’t allow her to escape the Drones. But she could use Hondo Ohnaka once again, this time earning “Scorch” a focus token while jamming a stressed “Longshot”. Malarus shot at DGS-047, but I chose not to spend her calculate token: she might need it to resist the Baktoid Drones. “Scorch” anyway was supposed to get rid of the droid, he had only one hit to score to achieve that, and he did; so well actually that he didn’t have to spend his focus token, just in case. Third casualty for Totem, and initiative kill! And as it happened, “Longshot” did have the Baktoid Drones in arc, even better, the yellow one was at range 3! Half points once again… and soon my Cadets killed it. Second casualty of the round for Totem, although he could still attack with it… but the Baktoid Drones did nothing to Malarus.

The score was 161-55 in my favour, but Totem had only one gunship left, against five of my six ships, and he chose to concede. Which is understandable, but always a bit sad… He could have scored some more points, at least taking half on one of my ships, although that would not be that easy, and I understand his decision. The concession meant that I scored all points for his list, which is certainly useful for MoV, so thanks for that as well, Totem.

And so, victory, 200-55. Good game, Totem! I hope you still had a fun game, and I wish you the best of luck for the remainder of the tournament!

So I’m 3-1 now… We’ll see next week what happens in round 5. See you soon!

Kyber Elimination League, season 6, round 3! And a new battle report in English. Of course, I’m French, so I’m genetically designed to speak and write an awful English… Please be kind!

This season is very different from the previous one, of which I have published all my games a few months ago. This Elimination League has a special rule: some cards, pilots as well as upgrades, are banned, based on surveys of the players. A first list of ten banned cards was published at first, but after each round two more cards will be banished. Players therefore don’t have to choose a single list for the whole tournament, and can change their list each round, as long as it doesn’t feature banned cards.

Here is the list of banned pilots for round 3 (the new one being in italics):

• Hera Syndulla (RZ-1 A-Wing, Rebel Alliance)
• Baron of the Empire (TIE Advanced v1, Galactic Empire).
• Inquisitor (TIE Advanced v1, Galactic Empire).
• Cartel Spacer (M3-A Interceptor, Scum and Villainy).
• Jango Fett (Firespray-class Patrol Craft, Separatists).
• Zam Wesell (Firespray­-class Patrol Craft, Separatists).

And here is the list of banned upgrades for round 3 (the new one being in italics):

• Admiral Sloane (Crew, Galactic Empire).
• Count Dooku (Crew, Separatists).
• Zam Wesell (Crew, Scum and Villainy/Separatists).
• Foresight (Force).
• False Transponder Codes (Illicit).
• Proton Rockets (Missile)
• XX-23 S-Thread Tracers (Missile).
• Thermal Detonators (Payload).

Hera Syndulla, then. Just appeared, already disappeared. She’s good for sure, but… Yeah. That’s a bit sad. I’m glad Proton Rockets have been banned, though.

For this third round, I have been paired with Tim King, a very nice player from the UK, and member of the Sith Takers Podcast, who brought the following Galactic Empire list, a good ol’ TIE swarm:

TIE/ln Fighter – •”Howlrunner” – 44

•”Howlrunner” – Obsidian Leader (44)

TIE/ln Fighter – •Iden Versio – 41

•Iden Versio – Inferno Leader (40)

Deadeye Shot (1)

TIE/ln Fighter – •Del Meeko – 30

•Del Meeko – Inferno Three (29)

Deadeye Shot (1)

TIE/ln Fighter – •Gideon Hask – 30

•Gideon Hask – Inferno Two (29)

Deadeye Shot (1)

TIE/ln Fighter – •Seyn Marana – 30

•Seyn Marana – Inferno Four (29)

Marksmanship (1)

TIE/ln Fighter – •”Night Beast” – 25

•”Night Beast” – Obsidian Two (25)

Total: 200/200

As for myself, well, I brought my Malarus TIE/fo swarm…

Xi-class Light Shuttle – •Commander Malarus – 58

•Commander Malarus – Vindictive Taskmaster (45)

•Agent Terex (7)

•Hondo Ohnaka (6)

TIE/fo Fighter – “Scorch” – 33

•“Scorch” – Zeta Leader (33)

TIE/fo Fighter – “Longshot” – 31

•“Longshot” – Zeta Ace (31)

TIE/fo Fighter – Epsilon Squadron Cadet – 26

Epsilon Squadron Cadet (25)

Automated Target Priority (1)

TIE/fo Fighter – Epsilon Squadron Cadet – 26

Epsilon Squadron Cadet (25)

Automated Target Priority (1)

TIE/fo Fighter – Epsilon Squadron Cadet – 26

Epsilon Squadron Cadet (25)

Automated Target Priority (1)

Total: 200/200

Now to the game.

BEWARE: RIGHT AFTER THIS OMINOUS DARTH VADER PICTURE, I WILL REVEAL HOW THE GAME TURNED OUT. IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS, WATCH THE VIDEO BEFORE READING FURTHER!

Victory for the First Order, 200-99! Well played, Tim, and thank you for the game!

Neither of us knew what the other would play right before the game started. I must say I was quite surprised when I discovered that Tim had brought a good ol’ “Howlrunner”/Inferno swarm. And I thought that was super cool! After all, I used to fly such swarms quite regularly, although that was before drastic points changes and Deadeye Shot. I knew those ships anyway, and was fully aware of the danger of all those “Howlrunner”’ rerolls.  Actually, if range is an issue, “Howlrunner” is far better at giving rerolls than Malarus: every dice can be rerolled, no obligation, no strain… But she’s fragile, and this is why Iden Versio was there, as her personal bodyguard. The three other members of the Inferno Squad were there too, Seyn Marana obviously having the Marksmanship talent, and I knew she could be an issue, triggering prematurely Gideon Hask’ and Del Meeko’s abilities. And finally there was “Night Beast”, because of course.

Now, as much as I like this kind of swarm, with synergy everywhere, I thought mine might have the upper hand. Yes, Malarus’ rerolls could be an issue for “Scorch” (and maybe Malarus herself), but my new generation of TIE Fighters were in many regards better ships than the old ones: more resilient, with one shied each, which could make a real difference; a better dial; the target lock action; finally the technology slot that would be occupied by Automated Target Priority on my Epsilon Squadron Cadets. “Scorch” and “Longshot” could hit harder than all opposing TIE/ln Fighters but maybe for Gideon Hask (yet Seyn Marana was to be dreaded for another reason). Finally, Agent Terex and Hondo Ohnaka would allow me to perform weird support reactive actions.

But first player status was also to be considered. Both our lists being 200 points, we rolled for initiative, Tim won and chose I would go first. That meant “Scorch” would move and shoot before all of the Inferno TIE Fighters, therefore not having the best information and maybe getting strained through Malarus’ rerolls before the enemy shot; same thing for Malarus regarding “Howlrunner”, but that wasn’t the same threat level, purely because of numbers.

I deployed my Cadets in the right corner, but as it appeared Tim would joust. I was not enjoying the idea after what happened in round 2, but I didn’t really have a choice. Both our swarms were deployed in packs, the only thing is that I deployed my Xi­-class Light Shuttle towards the center of my side instead of in the corner: if Tim would want to attack my command ship, he would have to bank right and therefore expose himself to my TIE/fo Fighters, while Malarus remained close enough to grant rerolls to most of my ships and was a bit less susceptible to bump.

Now the main thing at the beginning was to set our swarms so as to restrain the enemy’s maneuvers. I hoped I had chosen the right speed to make most of Tim’s ships bump in the following turns. I sent my Cadets ahead, and then decreased speed for “Scorch”, and once again for “Longshot”, so that my ships would not make a perfect line and would block Tim’s ones if he tried to pass behind my Initiative 1 fighters, and/or have attack opportunities on them, while Malarus banked to give rerolls to everybody and coordinate “Scorch”. And that worked: while all my ships had green tokens, most of Tim’s ships bumped but for Seyn Marana; however, she didn’t have anyone in her bullseye. Malarus, with the help of Agent Terex, immediately got half points on “Night Beast”, which was lucky. Then “Scorch” shot at Iden Versio, my main target due to her bodyguard ability… and got half of her! However “Longshot” did absolutely nothing on “Howlrunner”… My green Cadet then should have destroyed “Night Beast”, but Tim used Iden Versio to cancel all damage inflicted; I was fine with that, since she couldn’t protect “Howlrunner” anymore. So my two other Cadets went after “Howlrunner” herself, and got half points, but she stayed on the board. In the meantime, Tim concentrated fire on my pink Cadet, and got half points on him, but didn’t manage to remove him from the board! There were some epic dices, when Gideon Hask scored four hits but my Cadet rolled three evades… No ships were destroyed, but that first engagement clearly went in my favour.

Now we had a cluster that wouldn’t continue. Most of my TIE/fo Fighters made either Koiogran turns (all three Cadets) or a Segnor loop (“Longshot”, and I really wasn’t sure he would manage to perform his maneuver but he did), except the stressed “Scorch” who turned right to get rid od his stress and hope a shot or a block at “Howlrunner” if possible, otherwise probably at Gideon Hask. In the meantime, Malarus would do a blue bank to keep granting rerolls while getting rid of her own stress and being able to use Hondo Ohnaka, which was more important than being able to shoot. Although I didn’t use him perfectly: jamming “Longshot” was a mistake, since he could still get a calculate token from Agent Terex, and “Scorch” locked Gideon instead of “Howlrunner”, because I really wasn’t sure he could shoot at her. As a matter of fact, he could… and he destroyed her; but she would stay on the board during all the initiative 4 step of the engagement phase, therefore allowing all Inferno Squad pilots to benefit from her rerolls; three of them had bumped, the exception being Seyn Marana. But she and Iden Versio managed to initiative kill “Longshot”, first casualty on my side. Then my Cadets concentrated fire on Del Meeko (because of Automated Target Priority) and killed him. A brutal round once again, I had lost one ship, Tim had lost two… but among those was “Howlrunner”, which changed everything.

Most of my ships were stressed, so the idea was to make as much blue maneuvers as possible; only one of my Cadets bumped, which was a good surprise, but “Scorch” would have to keep his stress and turn right in order not to go out of the board. Malarus could not hope to go back in the fight herself, but her job was to support my TIE/fo Fighters; still, she would be targeted hard by “Night Beast” and maybe Gideon Hask, who she jammed through Hondo Ohnaka, while Seyn Marana finally killed the pink Cadet with her special ability, and Iden Versio did a 3K, which meant “Scorch” would be able to shoot at her, benefitting from the last calculate token on Agent Terex, who therefore turned into a Cyborg. He indeed killed her, but she would be able to fight back; however she chose to go after the green Cadet and did nothing. Gideon Hask then went after the same target instead of Malarus, and took half points, while “Night Beast” scored three hits on my shuttle! After what my two remaining Cadets won half points on Gideon, but didn’t manage to kill him. Once again quite a brutal round, with one less ship on each side.

Now the main question for me was: “Where would Malarus go?” And the answer I gave was that she stayed where she was, hoping for at least one of Tim’s ships to go just in front of me, and the others to bump. As it turned out, “Night Beast” did land right in Malarus’ arc, and Gideon bumped on her, but Seyn Marana didn’t and had my shuttle in arc. My Cadets did a K turn and a Segnor loop, while “Scorch” bumped but finally lost his stress token (he wouldn’t shoot at anybody this time). Malarus killed “Night Beast”, but then Seyn won half points on my command ship; finally, my blue Cadet unexpectedly killed Gideon, therefore my green Cadet couldn’t shoot at Seyn who was too far away, but he attacked the dead Gideon anyway to see if he could earn a calculate token on Automated Target Priority by failing… and he did!

Now it was Seyn Marana alone against four of my ships. I won’t go into details: Tim couldn’t realistically hope to win the game at this point, but he certainly could get more points for a better margin of victory; he very nearly did, chasing a panicked Malarus, but failed in the end and was ultimately destroyed by my TIE/fo Fighters.

And so, victory, 200-99! Good game, Tim! And I wish you the best of luck for the remainder of the tournament!

So I’m 2-1 now… We’ll see next week what happens in round 4. See you soon!

Kyber Elimination League, season 6, round 2! And a new battle report in English. Of course, I’m French, so I’m genetically designed to speak and write an awful English… Please be kind!

This season is very different from the previous one, of which I have published all my games a few months ago. This Elimination League has a special rule: some cards, pilots as well as upgrades, are banned, based on surveys of the players. A first list of ten banned cards was published at first, but after each round two more cards will be banished. Players therefore don’t have to choose a single list for the whole tournament, and can change their list each round, as long as it doesn’t feature banned cards.

Here is the list of banned pilots for round 2:

• Baron of the Empire (TIE Advanced v1, Galactic Empire).
• Inquisitor (TIE Advanced v1, Galactic Empire).
• Cartel Spacer (M3-A Interceptor, Scum and Villainy).
• Jango Fett (Firespray-class Patrol Craft, Separatists).
• Zam Wesell (Firespray­-class Patrol Craft, Separatists).

And here is the list of banned upgrades for round 2 (the new ones being in italics):

• Admiral Sloane (Crew, Galactic Empire).
• Count Dooku (Crew, Separatists).
• Zam Wesell (Crew, Scum and Villainy/Separatists).
• Foresight (Force).
• False Transponder Codes (Illicit).
• XX-23 S-Thread Tracers (Missile).
• Thermal Detonators (Payload).

We knew this tournament’s players were not very fond of Zam and double Firespray. And 3 Agility generic ships with tracers or Force. Not very surprising? Both new banned cards were not a surprise neither; actually, I would have thought False Transponder Codes would be in the first list.

There will be six rounds of swiss, and that’s it.

For this second round, I have been paired with Christopher Daniel, a very nice player from New York, USA, who brought the following First Order list… and as it happened, it was a Malarus swarm!

TIE/ba Interceptor – •”Holo” – 55

•”Holo” – Trick of the Light (54)

Proud Tradition (2)

Xi-class Light Shuttle – •Commander Malarus – 45

•Commander Malarus – Vindictive Taskmaster (45)

TIE/fo Fighter – Epsilon Squadron Cadet – 25

Epsilon Squadron Cadet (25)

TIE/fo Fighter – Epsilon Squadron Cadet – 25

Epsilon Squadron Cadet (25)

TIE/fo Fighter – Epsilon Squadron Cadet – 25

Epsilon Squadron Cadet (25)

TIE/fo Fighter – Epsilon Squadron Cadet – 25

Epsilon Squadron Cadet (25)

Total: 200/200

As for myself, well, I brought my own Malarus TIE/fo swarm…

Xi-class Light Shuttle – •Commander Malarus – 58

•Commander Malarus – Vindictive Taskmaster (45)

•Agent Terex (7)

•Hondo Ohnaka (6)

TIE/fo Fighter – “Scorch” – 33

•“Scorch” – Zeta Leader (33)

TIE/fo Fighter – “Longshot” – 31

•“Longshot” – Zeta Ace (31)

TIE/fo Fighter – Epsilon Squadron Cadet – 26

Epsilon Squadron Cadet (25)

Automated Target Priority (1)

TIE/fo Fighter – Epsilon Squadron Cadet – 26

Epsilon Squadron Cadet (25)

Automated Target Priority (1)

TIE/fo Fighter – Epsilon Squadron Cadet – 26

Epsilon Squadron Cadet (25)

Automated Target Priority (1)

Total: 200/200

Now to the game.

BEWARE: RIGHT AFTER THIS OMINOUS DARTH VADER PICTURE, I WILL REVEAL HOW THE GAME TURNED OUT. IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS, WATCH THE VIDEO BEFORE READING FURTHER!

Defeat for the First Order… I mean the Malarus swarm… I mean my Malarus swarm: 135-58… Well played, Chris, and thank you for the game!

Of course, neither of us knew what the other would play right before the game started. And Chris laughed when he saw my list, already prepared, and told me he would play a Malarus TIE/fo swarm as well. Although quite not the same, this wasn’t absolutely a mirror game. His swarm was more straightforward to some regards, with four Epsilon Squadron Cadets with no upgrades, and a naked Malarus, but he had a better ship (and far better than all mine) to complete the list: the dreadful “Holo” on her TIE/ba Interceptor, with Proud Tradition (the only upgrade of the list) because of course, it’s “Holo”! None of my ships could compete with her. But my list was more diverse regarding TIE/fo, with “Scorch” and “Longshot” in middle initiative range, with abilities to roll one more dice when attacking, and there were many more upgrades in my swarm, supposed to make it more reliable: Automated Target Priority on my Cadets was a thing, but Agent Terex and Hondo Ohnaka were the real difference. Not a perfect mirror game, then, but, let’s face it, it was really close of a perfect mirror game.

And here I made a big mistake: I chose to be first player. And that was a very bad move. The thing is, I flew that list quite some time, between Kyber Cup 5 and the Ligue Millennium Condor, but almost never against swarms of I1. And even when that happened, the ability to block enemy ships seemed priceless to me. Therefore, Malarus’ strain tokens were almost never an issue. But this time it would be different. My Malarus shooting first meant that Chris’ Malarus and especially “Holo” would be able to capitalize on her own strain tokens. Then, Chris’ Cadets would do the same against my Cadets… and he had one more. Actually, that mistake on my part would not produce that much effects in the game (but for Malarus), yet still. Finally, as Chris engaged faster than I thought he would, I wasn’t even in a good position to block him, which was supposed to be the point being first player! Actually, he was maybe in a better position to do so himself…

And we jousted at first. You know the drill: when both players joust, that means that one of them is wrong. Seems I was wrong… But on paper, or statistically, I still think that I should have had the upper hand there: I committed one more ship than Chris, since “Holo” started far away in order to flank me, although she was actually fast enough to join the fight; “Scorch” would get a three dice attack whatever the case, and probably “Longshot” as well; finally, through Terex and Hondo, my swarm should have been more reliable than Chris’, whose ships were all naked.

But I had terrible dices during that first engagement. To be perfectly clear: I lost the game because of my bad decisions, not only, and maybe not first and foremost actually, regarding first player status, but also, more immediately, through target priority, I guess, and Hondo in the first engagement was not ideal, to give another example. That was the main reason. But terrible dice rolls, in attack as well as in defence, certainly didn’t help, especially during the first two engagements. And that had the side effect of forcing many Malarus rerolls, and therefore gaining more strain tokens… when those rerolls, most often than not, didn’t strengthen my attacks.

“Holo” immediately took half points on “Longshot”. “Scorch” took only one shield on Chris' Malarus but strained himself. “Longshot” however was just a bit too far from her, and strained himself doing nothing on a TIE. My Cadets then did absolutely nothing on Chris’, even if that allowed all of them to store a calculate token on Automated Target Priority. Chris’ Cadets however already killed “Scorch”, the closest thing I had of a heavy hitter (first player status was not an issue there), and took my Malarus’ shields…

I wasn’t in a good position to get the block I hoped after that, and not very confident after the premature death of “Scorch”. I did my best, though; two ships on both side bumped in the end, and, as it seemed, both Xi-class Light Shuttles would suffer during this round… My Malarus took one shield on a TIE/fo but strained herself, and “Holo” capitalized on that immediately, taking half points on her, while Chris’ Malarus took half points on my pink Cadet… Payback time? “Longshot” strained himself but took half on Chris’ Malarus, and my Cadets destroyed her; however, since we were at initiative 1, she would stay until the end to provide Chris’ TIE/fo her rerolls… and the last of them killed my Malarus: both Xi­ shuttles destroyed! No more straining rerolls for neither of us… but that was worse for me: no more Agent Terex and Hondo Ohnaka neither!

I had only TIE/fo then, four of them out of five, two being at half points. Chris had all of his Cadets, plus “Holo”, and that’s a plus, only one of his TIE/fo having lost a shield. We saw clearly where this was going… All my TIE/fo amade Koiogran turns or Segnor Loops, most of Chris’ did the same, and “Holo” as well, who was able to focus through Proud Tradition to pass her token to the endangered blue TIE (as “Holo” was too far away for me to shoot at her, there was no way I could flip Proud Tradition on False Tradition side, that was well played indeed). Of course “Longshot” did nothing, neither did any of my Cadets. None of Chris’ TIE/fo could shoot at me though. Blank turn.

Then I managed to make two of Chris’ Cadets bump, but “Holo” scored Wounded Pilot on “Longshot”, who once again did absolutely nothing shooting back at the TIE/ba Interceptor. One of my Cadets got half points on Chris’ blue TIE/fo, and inflicted a Fuel Leak on it, but I wouldn’t score any more points during the game, while Chris finally destroyed “Longshot”, and that was it.

And so, defeat, 135-58… Good game, Chris! And I wish you the best of luck for the remainder of the tournament!

So I’m 1-1 now… We’ll see next week what happens in round 3. See you soon!

Kyber Elimination League, season 6, round 1! And a new battle report in English. Of course, I’m French, so I’m genetically designed to speak and write an awful English… Please be kind!

This season is very different from the previous one, of which I have published all my games a few months before. This Elimination League has a special rule: some cards, pilots as well as upgrades, are banned, based on surveys of the players. A first list of ten banned cards was published at first, but after each round two more cards will be banished. Players therefore don’t have to choose a single list for the whole tournament, and can change their list each round, as long as it doesn’t feature banned cards.

Here is the list of banned pilots for round 1:

• Baron of the Empire (TIE Advanced v1, Galactic Empire).
• Inquisitor (TIE Advanced v1, Galactic Empire).
• Cartel Spacer (M3-A Interceptor, Scum and Villainy).
• Jango Fett (Firespray-class Patrol Craft, Separatists).
• Zam Wesell (Firespray­-class Patrol Craft, Separatists).

And here is the list of banned upgrades for round 1:

• Admiral Sloane (crew, Galactic Empire).
• Count Dooku (crew, Separatists).
• Zam Wesell (crew, Scum and Villainy/Separatists).
• Foresight (Force).
• XX-23 S-Thread Tracers (missiles).

Yeah, it seems this tournament’s players are not very fond of Zam and double Firespray. And 3 Agility generics with tracers or Force. Not very surprising?

There will be six rounds of swiss, and that’s it.

For this first round, I have been paired with Stevie B, a very nice player from Bristol, England, who brought the following Rebel Alliance list:

T-65 X-Wing – •Wedge Antilles – 62

•Wedge Antilles – Red Two (54)

Servomotor S-Foils (0)

Hopeful (1)

Plasma Torpedoes (7)

BTL-A4 Y-Wing – •“Dutch” Vander – 49

•“Dutch” Vander – Gold Leader (40)

R3 Astromech (3)

Ion Torpedoes (4)

Dorsal Turret (2)

RZ-1 A-Wing – •Hera Syndulla – 48

•Hera Syndulla – Phoenix Leader (42)

Hopeful (1)

Proton Rockets (5)

RZ-1 A-Wing – •Jake Farrell – 40

•Jake Farrell – Sage Instructor (34)

Hopeful (1)

Proton Rockets (5)

Total: 199/200

As for myself, actually, I brought back the First Order list I played for Kyber Cup 5 (not very creative I guess, sorry…), my take on a Malarus TIE/fo swarm:

Xi-class Light Shuttle – •Commander Malarus – 58

•Commander Malarus – Vindictive Taskmaster (45)

•Agent Terex (7)

•Hondo Ohnaka (6)

TIE/fo Fighter – “Scorch” – 33

•“Scorch” – Zeta Leader (33)

TIE/fo Fighter – “Longshot” – 31

•“Longshot” – Zeta Ace (31)

TIE/fo Fighter – Epsilon Squadron Cadet – 26

Epsilon Squadron Cadet (25)

Automated Target Priority (1)

TIE/fo Fighter – Epsilon Squadron Cadet – 26

Epsilon Squadron Cadet (25)

Automated Target Priority (1)

TIE/fo Fighter – Epsilon Squadron Cadet – 26

Epsilon Squadron Cadet (25)

Automated Target Priority (1)

Total: 200/200

Now to the game.

BEWARE: RIGHT AFTER THIS OMINOUS DARTH VADER PICTURE, I WILL REVEAL HOW THE GAME TURNED OUT. IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS, WATCH THE VIDEO BEFORE READING FURTHER!

Victory for the First Order, 200-88! Well played, Stevie, thank you for the game!

Of course, I had no idea what Stevie would play. When I discovered his list, I thought the matchup was balanced. His list included new material, which was cool, and was mostly based on the very Rebel trend of sharing or exchanging tokens, through “Dutch”’s, Hera’s and Jake’s abilities. I’ve had many occasions to face “Dutch” and Jake, and know what they can do with target locks for the former and focus tokens for the latter. Hera on the A-Wing, it’s even another level: basically, she can give what she wants to whom she wants and when she wants, which is very powerful. In the meantime, both A-Wing could be kind of heavy hitters, as they were both equipped with Proton Rockets. And there was one more heavy hitter in the legendary Wedge Antilles on his traditional T-65 X-Wing; his dreadful special ability could overcome my superior agility and, with Plasma Torpedoes, he could technically one shot any of my ships but Malarus. “Dutch” was less frightening to me, though: his ability was the issue, combined with R3 Astromech, but he wouldn’t hit as hard as his friends, with Ion Torpedoes (I would be ionized during the game here and there, but this was not a perspective I really dreaded), and his Dorsal Turret, always useful though; anyway, I had to take care of him, mainly because he would give Wedge especially some crucial target locks. Finally, there were two jokers in this list, both I6 pilots having the new Rebel talent Hopeful.

Yet my list could provide a strong counter: I had two more ships, better agility overall, good maneuverability especially for a swarm (not as good as A-Wing, but, hey!), rerolls and green tokens for days with Malarus, Terex, and Automated Target Priority, and that cheeky Hondo Ohnaka with his weird coordinate/jam tricks (Terex also being able to jam at long range when turned into a cyborg).

Stevie could choose the first player and gave me that token (it would matter only for “Scorch” on my side and Jake Farrell and “Dutch Vander on his’). Obstacles might be an issue for my swarm, although I took care to give me room in both of my corners for setup. As we were deployed, however, it seemed I would have to turn left, and the middle of the board was quite crowded; there was kind of tunnel I could take, though, but I was not very happy with it: my swarm would be in line when it’s always better to present a more solid front, and some of my TIE would probably be too far away to benefit from Malarus’ rerolls, which could be an issue. Plus, if I knew approximatively where Wedge and “Dutch” would attack, and they were my primary targets (easier to kill with their lower agility, also the ones that would grand me the more victory points), both A-Wing could easily flank me, and I dreaded what those Proton Rockets could do to my command ship especially… However, Stevie mostly chose not to flank with them, in order I guess to benefit from their sharing tokens abilities on the other ships. Which made sense, sure, but I thought nonetheless it was kind of a relief to me.

What also was a relief was that, as Stevie’s ships were set for the first engagements, especially since my green Cadet had well sustained the first one (well, he gave half points, but was still there!), I had good chances to block at least some of them with my front TIE Fighters, therefore… well, seriously damaging their sharing tokens’ abilities. Actually, my green Cadet was ionized… but really didn’t care: he would have done a 2 straight maneuver and focus action anyway! The blue one, on the other hand, could bank and hope to block both Jake and “Dutch”… and he did! “Scorch” wasn’t ideally placed, having to go through a gas cloud, but that was worth the risk, and Hondo did his thing, granting a focus token to my heavy hitter. And Hera bumped in my pink TIE just in front of “Scorch”! No Proton Rockets, therefore… Only Wedge didn’t bump, as was to be expected, but he didn’t manage to destroy my green Cadet, and Hera didn’t do anything on my strained “Scorch”, luckily. Malarus took half of Hera, and “Scorch” killed her! Stevie B could have used Hopeful on Wedge there but forgot, as I did… Jake took half points on the pink Cadet, but that was ok. Especially since, right after that, “Longshot” scored a hit on Wedge, and an interesting one: Loose Stabilizer! As my green Cadet did two more damage after that, Wedge would have no choice but to do a straight maneuver or be destroyed! That turn was really great for me, far better than I hoped…

After that, “Dutch” did a Koiogran turn that would make Malarus bump on him, and that was the good move, but Jake bumped; Wedge didn’t, so he could do one last attack on Malarus, and actually took half of her, ouch, and Direct Hit! as well, ouch again! (A mistake on my part, there: Malarus being strained and attacked by Wedge, I should have rolled no defence dice at all; luckily, since I rolled a blank, it didn’t change anything; sorry anyway, Stevie!) But after that she managed to kill the X-Wing, as was to be expected: an ok trade, I guess? An unmodified “Scorch” did nothing on Jake, though, and lost only one shield… but my Cadets managed to take half on the remaining A-Wing. Malarus took a beating, for sure, but this turn was quite good for me again: I had taken two Rebel ships out of four, and the two I6 with that, and still had all my ships, although two at least were badly damaged!

The following turn, “Dutch” was surrounded by my ships, although Jake managed to escape; I was fine with that, since none of those ships would therefore be able to shoot at Malarus, who was starting a strain tokens’ collection (she had three at some point!). Having performed a stationary maneuver, she was able to take half on “Dutch”, but the Y-Wing then destroyed “Scorch”, my first casualty of the game: a big one, for sure… but the only one, as it went. And the pink Cadet then killed “Dutch” with a shot from outer space! That was Jake with no more shields against everybody…

The only sensible thing to do for both Jake and Malarus was to flee; the A-Wing did… but Malarus bumped. Luckily she wouldn’t get shot at… but my TIE could maneuver and hope to take down Jake before the bell rang, which ultimately happened.

And so, victory! Good game, Stevie! I wish you the best of luck for the remainder of the tournament!

So I’m 1-0 now. We’ll see next week what happens in round 2… See you soon!