Mickey wrote:
Bill, I don't want to sound harsh but your whole reply reeks of "it is all about winning". As I said in another post, if I do get lucky and make it to GenCon next year, I won't be playing championship minis because that is not my style. It's too competitive and your post just proves it.
But that's what a 'Championship' is all about. Two teams don't show up to the Superbowl and play their 2nd string guys because "having fun" is their top priority. Is a Championship event "all about winning"? Of course it is! Honestly, otherwise, there wouldn't be much sense in calling it a Championship event.
If that's not your cup of tea, than that's fine. But it doesn't invalidate the rest of the conversation.
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However, I think there are many different squad types out there that can be competitive at that championship level. Sure the rebels have some nice synergy going for it, but I do think other squads can compete. I really disagree rebels are dominating the field. I think the real story is rebels are dominating the squad builds.
Responses like this show to me a lack of experience in the truly, high-end competitive game. Which is perfectly OK! Not everyone likes that style, or enjoys it, and we don't expect everyone to be experienced in it. But if you disagree that Rebels are the top dogs right now, then it really is because you don't have enough experience with top squads against other top level players in order to get a better picture of it all.
Yes, there are other squads that
can compete. There's been plenty of other discussion in this thread and others about that. But there are a LOT of factors that go into which squads dominate, and the most prevalent of those are map choice. I really DIDN'T want to play GOWK at the Regionals, or Rebels w/ Snowspeeder at Gencon. Neither of those appeal to my 'fun' side all that much. But after a lot of play testing, practicing, looking at other options and such, and knowing that I was entering a
Championship event, I ultimately had to go with what I felt would give me the best chance to win. I desperately wanted to play San Hill in the Chamipionships. The squad I've been playing with lately (Aurra JH, Dash RS, TBSV, Jarael, Lobot, San, Ugo) is a lot of fun for me. But the main problem was that if I lost map, and had to play against the Snowspeeder on Teth or Taris, it was nearly an auto-loss for me. Same thing with the New Republic build that I was leaning heavily towards (Mara Jedi, Vong Ossus Guardian, Dash RS, Lobot, Jag Fel, Dodonna, Ugo). Both of those ARE solid squads, and many top players could run those and probably do well. Sure, if EVERYONE in the top 16 or so ran squads like that, they would end up at the top instead of the Snowspeeder. But all it would've taken was 2-3 map roll wins to go in favor of the Snowspeeder squads, and those other factions would've dropped out of the top. Even if the San/NR squads won map roll, the Snowspeeder squads could still have a decent chance of winning.
THAT's the problem with Rebels right now. The maps like Teth and Taris cater to the Snowspeeder so much so, that the few squad builds that can really compete against the SS on other maps, have a REALLY tough time on Teth/Taris. Without those maps in the competitive field, I would have absolutely run one of the other factions.
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I saw GOWK banned and I sure don't want to see Rieekan following. I'm not saying that is going to happen, but I am saying I don't want to see this trend. I'm hoping it ends with GOWK myself. Instead of talking about what needs to be changed with the rebels why not start talking about new squad builds that can compete at the national level.
Have you seen ANYONE who wanted GOWK to get banned call for Rieekan or any other Rebels to be banned since GenCon? No. Heck, we knew the Rieekan/Snowspeeder combo would be annoying back when Rieekan came out in IE, but nobody pushed the issue for a ban then. If anything, a couple maps may disappear from the DCI Legal list, but if Bill's other suggestions take hold, they will just disappear from the 'Championship' format, and still be legal for the more casual 'Open' formats.
Honestly, there's not a whole lot of point in talking about squad builds that can compete at the national level. We don't spend tons of time discussing them, because most of the top level players have already figured them out. They were figured out before GenCon. There won't be much need to discuss national level squad building until another new set comes out.