Only fair that you might thought otherwise as I've hardly been overly active on here over the past couple of months. As I've mentioned recently X-Wing has found a natural dip for me since Yavin. Infact gaming as a whole has, for various reasons.
Going back to Nationals the point of reporting by photo was to try and concentrate on the whole weekend as an experience rather than on the X-Wing Nationals. Which such an event the road-trip, early morning fry ups, nights out and your gaming buddies are all a big part of it.
For the weekend the drive up was hard work and then I realised that there was no trade show, my misunderstanding. We then discovered that the side events that looked so good on paper had tiered prizes, making the good stuff very difficult to win.
For Nationals I was running my triple Imp Ace list, that I had a dozen games with. I was flying competitively casual as usual;
Round 1: was a dual ordnance K-Wing hard counter that I'd not seen before. Just lost this one but a great opponent who I chatted with all weekend.
Round 2: was triple X-Wing that I flew to beat despite mediocre dice. My opponent was less than fun.
Round 3: was dual ordnance K-Wing again. I lost hard inside 30 minutes. Nice guy though.
Round 4: was Ryad / Crack Swarm. Fantastic guy. I flew poorly for most of the game but somehow got away with it.
Round 5: was against guy I'd played previously and has been my worst opponent ever. He plays mind games, I wasn't in the mood and the dice finished me off.
Round 6: was against an 11 year old with dual Decimators. Neither of us had any fun.
I got a bit grumpy after round 3, got it back together for round 4, lost it for 5 and got perspective back to finish 3-3. It was a weird event with 120 odd players and a top 32. I got, unusually, grumpy knowing that I'd missed the cut by round 3. I was wondering why I was staying two nights in Birmingham for a regional sized event that could easily be on my doorstep. What brought the weekend back for me was my friends within the X-Wing community and the determination to make the most of the weekend.
In honesty I wasn't alone in such thoughts as many players I know well voiced familiar feelings. Jumpmasters and Palp Aces dominated proceedings once again. I've waxed on about how it's hard to find a "casual" event these days. One guy I know well has declared that he may no longer attend major events. Hyperbole and first world problems I know but it's still an issue and its not gking away.
For me I've realised that I've struggled to enjoy my gaming recently. X-Wing has become very competitive and I've been falling out of love with Infinity. It's been pick up games as and when recently without too much purpose, which explains my lack of activity on here.
The solution is simple, make the change;
1. Trade Infinity in for Armada. It's a move I've been contemplating for a while. Playing a game and a half over the weekend simply triggered a decision already made. Facebook buy & sell groups have done the necessary.
2. Prioritise Netrunner. Make Wednesday nights at Secret Weapon a regular thing and play as much as possible. Enjoy regaining ground on the learning curve.
3. Fly Casual. X-Wing still maintains it's place but fly some different stuff, plenty of Scum. Maybe right off the competitive scene for the rest of the year or until the appetite returns.
Right now it's Armada to re-spark the figures, on and off the paint station, with Netrunner to compliment and X-Wing to fill in the gaps. A different perspective and something new to blog about :)
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