Quick Hitter I: Know the Meta

(Note: Quick Hitter articles are posts that are my short reflections on X-Wing concepts and ideas. These posts are meant to be concise and somewhat incisive.)

Whether you're starting out in X-Wing or have a few chronological years of experience (but not a lot of competitive experience), one of the key pieces of advice I can give is to know which squads are popular in the different tournament types out there. In other words, beyond the rules of the game, you have to familiar with the "metagame," or meta, which is the game above the game. This specifically refers to understanding the squads and upgrades that are prevalent in current tournament play.

For the X-Wing player, you only have to concern yourself with two types of tournaments: Extended and Hyperspace. The primary difference between the two types is that Extended allows for ALL ships and upgrades to be used in the creation of your squad, while Hyperspace limits the pool of available ships, pilots, and upgrades to ones that both coincide with the waves of released ships and with whatever ships and upgrades Fantasy Flights Games (i.e. the maker of the game) have deemed permissible so that any one faction is balanced with the others. In other words, if you own one or more Conversion Kits, and you want to pick from the full panoply of options, then Extended is the way to go; however, if you have been buying Second Edition X-Wing ships in retail blister packs, then consider Hyperspace format.

Now, once you have selected a tournament type, check out this site: https://meta.listfortress.com/, which is also known as MetaWing 2.0. Through this website, you can select the tournament type and research which ships, upgrades, and "archetypes" (i.e. templates of squads) are prevalent at tournaments. From here, you can either select your ships and kit them out with the upgrades that are used by high performers, or select an archetype that has been successful and emulate it. After that, I strongly recommend planning, preparing, and practicing with that squad archetype to learn its tendencies and strengths. After that, try out a local tournament, observe what others are playing, and do your best to fly your squad well.

One more thing: realize that what people play at tournaments depends on the importance of the event. During X-Wing casual night at your local game store, count on other players (particularly the competitive ones) playing with wacky "fun" squads or with squad concepts that they are testing for future tournaments; this is not a reflection of the meta. During the monthly tournaments that your local store may run, you may find meta-prevalent squads, depending on what prizes are at stake. At Hyperspace Trials, store championships, and other large-scale tournaments, you can expect to find meta squads in full force. Whatever squad you bring should be driven by your goals for any tournament, whether your goal is to test an idea, learn a meta squad, or to just have fun. Of course, winning is always a goal!

Step on Snek is Online!

Hello, everyone. This is RetroBeliever. If you were not aware, I already run a blog called RetroBeliever, which is where I discuss board games, retro video games, and Christian topics.  I also had a blog on the side called Boardgameness, which was where I dumped my book ideas. However,  I have recently been focusing a lot on the X-Wing Miniatures Game, so I've decided to accomplish two things simultaneously: refresh the Boardgameness site AND start a blog that focuses on X-Wing. That's why the Step on Snek Squadron was born.

Where did we get the name of the squadron, you ask? Well, several months back, my youngest son was perusing airsoft gear online and happened upon velcro patches that players use to adorn their airsoft gear and MOLLE pouches. He found a No Step on Snek patch, which (of course) is a lampoon of/homage to Don't Tread on Me. Immediately taken by the patch, my son asked me to order several of them to give to friends. After I purchased the patches, I made sure to retain one for myself.

Fast-forward to June 2019. My two sons and I participated in a local X-Wing Hyperspace Trial tournament, which is basically a qualifier tournament for X-Wing players who want to earn an invitation to the World Championships. During registration for the event, I told the event marshal that our squadron's name was "No Step on Snek Squadron," which prevented my boys and me from being paired up at least for the opening rounds.

Of course, considering how busy we are and how many other board games I play, we all did poorly at the tournament. In fact, I was 1-5 with my only victory coming at the expense of a very young player... and that was because time expired. My two sons didn't fare much better, and after an exhausting 10-hour-day at a rather cerebrally taxing event, we returned home.

The next day, my youngest son and I were standing in our kitchen and I quipped how we weren't the "No Step on Snek Squadron," but we were actually the "Step on Snek Squadron," especially considering our collective performance. He laughed unexpected and mused that that name would have been more appropriate. Thus, the No Step on Snek Squadron emerged from the ashes of our tournament debacle.

The intent of this blog is simple: in a landscape where there are numerous enthusiast groups (squadrons) that play multiple times per week and eat, drink, and breathe X-Wing, I wanted to start a blog for the parents, kids, and other players who are a bit more than casual (at least in our minds), but a lot less than competitive. This is the perspective from which these blog entries shall be written, and I hope that you will find value, whether it's informative or humorous, in these postings.

Now, if you happen to be one of those enthusiasts who actually places highly in tournaments AND wants to lend your expertise (or get a good laugh), please feel free to comment! We can all learn from you. Personally, I am a big fan of the Mynock Squadron podcast and I also enjoy the Birmingham Barons  and Back to Dials podcasts, so I strongly recommend those groups if you want insight into competitive X-Wing. However, if you want to commiserate or gain a bit more insight to elevate yourself beyond casual player, stick around -- you are welcome to Step on the Snek!