Weeks wrote:
Which warmaster was in the 5-0 vong squad?
Tsavong Lah - he probably hasn't been run much in 200 for ages! But he works well in that squad. His big drawback is he can only make one attack on the move, unless he gets a Cleave.
This is my report too:
I was playing the trendy low activation squad (I had 8) with the new Mace, GOWK, Ferus Olin, Captain Rex, R2, Rodian Diplomat, and two Ugnaughts. I liked Ferus Olin in there for games like the mirror matches, or against Vong, to help keep Mace alive for longer. In my first round game, Foul Moudama would have been more useful, but Ferus was very, very helpful in my last two crucial games.
Obviously, people have been seeing the results from tournaments in the States, where Mace/GOWK have been winning, and the top 5 squads were all either Mace/GOWK or melee Vong squads to counter Mace/GOWK. There weren't many shooter squads at all - I think someone could have done well with, say, a battery of TBSVs, since noone was running Yobuck or Lancer either.
Round 1 - vs Dave (Bastila, Atton, Carth, JBM, Lobot, OR Senators * 2) on Jabba's Palace
I got outplayed by Dave here. He bought in an R4 with Lobot, and between that and Bastila, Mace's defence went down to a much more hittable level. I underestimated his attackers' range with the Senators giving extra shots, so Carth got to R2 and Rex early, without R2, and with him having three diplomats, he was able to shepherd me - I had to use GOWK's force push just to get Mace through to the Dave's side of the map - and Atton and Carth got lots of shots in at Mace, Ferus, and GOWK. Mace killed the JBM easily then went after Carth, but he failed to get the crit he needed to kill him in one round, and Carth knocked him over pretty easily, since he effectively had a defence of 18. GOWK barely survived to the end of the game; he managed to take down Atton just before the end, but still had two OR Senators giving Carth lots of shots. Dave did very well at predicting the meta and coming up with a counter squad - I was surprised he only came in at 7th. 0 points.
Round 2 - vs Danny (Marka Ragnos, Darth Revan SL, Darth Bandon, Exar Kun DFS) on Ruined Base
It was a tough matchup for Danny here - an all melee squad against a riposting Mace, body-guarded by Ferus, is always going to be a tough match to win. The main thing I remember about this game was how badly Rex was rolling - I think he went 3,1,3,6 in one set of four attacks. 3 points.
Round 3 - vs Robin (General Skywalker, Dash, JWM*2, Jarael) on Ruined Base
One trophy we compete for is the Save11 Shield(s) - you win it if you beat the previous holder in an official game. I was the holder going into the tournament, so Dave won it from me in the first round, then Robin took it off Dave in the second round, then I had the chance to take it right back off Robin again in the third round. Robin played this well, towing Dash in to put some hurt on Mace early, then towing him out again, and tying Mace up with Jarael, but a Ferus-bodyguarded Mace and GOWK took too long to take down, and Rex was putting out some good damage behind them as well. I won without losing anything except the Rodian, but Mace, GOWK, and Ferus were all on their last legs. 6 points.
Round 4 - vs Alan (Luke Skywalker FS, Ganner, Vergere, Corran Horn JM, Jacen Solo, General Dodonna, Wedge) on Rhen Var
It's not fun playing against a parrying, evading Jacen with Crab Armor, mettle, and a healer. I sent Mace after Ganner early, and I didn't crit, but still managed to take him down at the start of round 3, before he could levitate Corran in for 3 attacks or levitate Vergere in for a Sever Force. Ferus ended up chasing down Wedge this game, as I needed Rex to be able to shot at Jacen without him parrying if I ever wanted Jacen to die. Mace got Corran, Jacen got Mace, then the game ended with a 20 HP Rex critting on Jacen and a force-severed GOWK finishing Vergere. 9 points.
Round 5 - vs Bev (GOWK, Mace, Foul Moudama, Rex) on Jabba's Palace
I was expecting a mirror matchup somewhere along the way, which is why I packed Ferus Olin. This was perhaps the craziest game I've ever played. I drew first blood by towing GOWK up for a Force Push 3, taking out R2 and an Ugnaught, and putting 30 on his GOWK, Mace, and Foul. It also had the additional effect of separating Foul from Rex and Mace so he couldn't retaliate immediately. Next round, he ran in Foul, copied me and Force Pushed my Obi, taking out my R2 and putting 30 on Ferus as well. I sent Mace to kill Moudama, but neglected to bring in Ferus in the same phase, and he spent two force points to run his Mace nine squares and start beating on my Mace. They both got a couple of crits on each other and both ended up dead that phase. His Rex then rolled consecutive crits on my GOWK - he had to spend two force points to avoid the first crit, then took the second, so he was already down to 50 HP. After some hot shooting from both Rexs, the game ended with my just-holding on GOWK absorbing enough shots to let my Rex finish his Rex. It was a tense game - lots of crits, lots of bad Soresu saves, tied initiatives.... 12 points, which was enough to make the final.
Final - vs Aaron (Warmaster, 2*Jedi Hunter, Fanatic, Nen Yim, Yammosk, Workers * 4) on Jabba's Palace
Because I lost my first game, I ended up working my way through the lower part of the table to start with, and missed out on playing the two Vong squads that were topping Swiss for most of the tournament. The Vong squads had been dealing to Mace and GOWK all day, so everyone assumed, quite reasonably, that Aaron would win, and went off to play epic duos.
It felt like a scene from a movie where the characters are struggling against insurmountable odds, then suddenly something snaps and the tide turns. This game was so fast it's hard to remember, but everything just fell into place - R2 towed Mace to take out one Jedi Hunter, then Mace got back into gambit without taking a scratch. Ferus and GOWK joined him in gambit, while Rex hid in a room just behind. Ferus was awesome, smashing a fanatic for 80 damage with a Dark Temptation after he'd already bodyguarded 80 damage for Mace. Mace put a lot of damage on the Warmaster (although I think he only got one crit in 6 rolls on the Warmaster), Rex stayed safe out the back landing lots of shots, GOWK survived nicely and took out the Workers, and the game somehow ended with a full health Rex and GOWK still with 90 HP left.