Yes, its another UK System Open Post!
Last Weekend was, as any good X-Winger will know, the UK System Open in Milton Keynes, with 560+ players fighting it out over two days. A event of cut-throat, do-or-die competitiveness, with no holds barred, where only the strong survive and weak perish. No, wait, the other thing.
As I've said before, if this blog has any value (other than cat pics) it's as an aid to my thought processes in getting better at the game. So no blow-by-blow, more just sort of learning points. So lets set the scene. We went last year, when i took a "damn the torpedos" list build around Heff Tobber (U Wing 1.0) and flew it to an unexpected 4-2 result. The Teenager took an Upsilon/Defender list, and did the same. Both of us were well practiced walking through the door with our off-meta nonesense. This year was different, for different ways.
I've been flying the Resistance 5s for a couple of months now, which are more in line with where 2.0 sits, and with a couple of decent hyperspace performances was feeling a touch of pressure to do well. The Teenager has a bit of a meltdown on the Thursday, with no idea what to fly, nothing that seemed to be working, but settled on a Twin Silencer (Kylo/Blackout) list at the last minute he'd used before. Its fair to say he was feeling a different sort of pressure; that fear that it'll be a long, miserable day.
Thankfully this ends well - i lost my first game, and then my next 4, so was still in contention before the last game of the day. Sadly two Phantoms on the table was just too much for my brain at 9pm ! The Teenager meanwhile went 3-3, way better than he feared and garnered much kudos from fellow players for bringing a "ballsy" list to the event. All that, and the System Open was a highlight of the year; a celebration of the hobby and just flat out great environment to hang out in for two days.
But what did we learn? Mostly reinforcement of things I sort of knew, but always worth repeating:
- I probably lost one game I didn't deserve to, and probably won a game I didn't deserve to, just from dice variances at key moment in tight matches. I mention this because when I'm trying to analyse games, I don't want to discount errors just because I lucked out of the consequences.
- Practice Helps! I know this is obvious but with a 4 ship list I was able to handle the Bandwidth a lot better just because many of my actions/maneuvers were becoming routine. It carried me a lot, and small edges make big differences in big games
- Hang in There! I've had problems "closing games out" in the last couple of events but I was better at the weekend; coming back twice from behind. I say to the Teenager a lot that he'd win more games if he didn't give up when he goes behind and wait for the opening, and its true. Shame he doesn't listen to me!
- Finally, we are a great community, not a super competitive one. With two Yorkshire-base teams we had about a dozen local players and we appear across the full spread of the table. We all had a great time, and in part that's because we spend as much time lifting up players that struggled, as celebrating those that were winning.
That last one, for me, is what keeps me playing the competitive scene. Obviously I'm really pleased with a 4-2 finish, but that finish in a stressful environment is no goddamn fun at all. I remain confident that I could have scrubbed out 0-6 and still have had a great day, and we should always strive to keep that true.
Last Weekend was, as any good X-Winger will know, the UK System Open in Milton Keynes, with 560+ players fighting it out over two days. A event of cut-throat, do-or-die competitiveness, with no holds barred, where only the strong survive and weak perish. No, wait, the other thing.
 |
| FUNS?! |
As I've said before, if this blog has any value (other than cat pics) it's as an aid to my thought processes in getting better at the game. So no blow-by-blow, more just sort of learning points. So lets set the scene. We went last year, when i took a "damn the torpedos" list build around Heff Tobber (U Wing 1.0) and flew it to an unexpected 4-2 result. The Teenager took an Upsilon/Defender list, and did the same. Both of us were well practiced walking through the door with our off-meta nonesense. This year was different, for different ways.
I've been flying the Resistance 5s for a couple of months now, which are more in line with where 2.0 sits, and with a couple of decent hyperspace performances was feeling a touch of pressure to do well. The Teenager has a bit of a meltdown on the Thursday, with no idea what to fly, nothing that seemed to be working, but settled on a Twin Silencer (Kylo/Blackout) list at the last minute he'd used before. Its fair to say he was feeling a different sort of pressure; that fear that it'll be a long, miserable day.
 |
| Droids look really fun. Need to try them! |
But what did we learn? Mostly reinforcement of things I sort of knew, but always worth repeating:
- I probably lost one game I didn't deserve to, and probably won a game I didn't deserve to, just from dice variances at key moment in tight matches. I mention this because when I'm trying to analyse games, I don't want to discount errors just because I lucked out of the consequences.
- Practice Helps! I know this is obvious but with a 4 ship list I was able to handle the Bandwidth a lot better just because many of my actions/maneuvers were becoming routine. It carried me a lot, and small edges make big differences in big games
- Hang in There! I've had problems "closing games out" in the last couple of events but I was better at the weekend; coming back twice from behind. I say to the Teenager a lot that he'd win more games if he didn't give up when he goes behind and wait for the opening, and its true. Shame he doesn't listen to me!
- Finally, we are a great community, not a super competitive one. With two Yorkshire-base teams we had about a dozen local players and we appear across the full spread of the table. We all had a great time, and in part that's because we spend as much time lifting up players that struggled, as celebrating those that were winning.
That last one, for me, is what keeps me playing the competitive scene. Obviously I'm really pleased with a 4-2 finish, but that finish in a stressful environment is no goddamn fun at all. I remain confident that I could have scrubbed out 0-6 and still have had a great day, and we should always strive to keep that true.
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