The Midwest Scrubcast

With COVID-19 preventing a lot of table time (not to mention in-person recording - sorry about any quality issues!) the scrubs are focusing more on the list-building end of things for this episode. Join us as we delve into the Astromech slot. Will we come up with a reason to use any of these faction-specific named droids that don't see meta table time? 

Timestamps: [00:05:30] Ships with Astromech slots | [00:13:00] Rebel Astromechs | [00:20:00] Republic Astromechs | [00:33:00] Resistance Astromechs | [00:50:00] Scum Astromechs | [00:58:00] Generic Astromechs

Since Adepticon is on all of our scrub minds, we decided to take this episode to focus on tournament prep and etiquette for big events: an especially important subject given the recent spread of COVID-19. 

Emily did some math trying to compare base ship stats across all 7 factions, and she made her dubious co-hosts talk about it with her! But don't worry, we didn't spend the whole hour rattling off numbers and discussing the relative merits of the factions - there's some Boba talk and a roundtable on "how many times do you test a list before you decide if it works" in here too. The stat sheet we were referencing during the math part is here if you’re curious: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1nG2ZJn2_N6Euu6wupL2Yn3nPul5KJbrm

Timestamps: [00:02:00] Average base stats comparison by faction  | [00:42:00] Boba and Slave 1  | [00:49:00] How long to test a list

Let loose without a responsible adult in the room, the guys have some conversations about...things. Something about the TIE/ba, something about Hyperspace...I'm not even going to timestamp this, have fun!

Special guest Mark Sandford of Arch Alliance joins the cast to talk about recruitment and community growth as we break down the results of our recent "Why Do You Play X-Wing" poll. A visual representation of the results is available here on the blog: https://midwestscrub.wordpress.com/2020/01/29/poll-results!-why-do-you-play-x-wing?/

Timestamps: [00:02:00] Poll Results: Why did you start playing X-Wing? | [00:16:00] Mark talks advocating for X-Wing and resources for new players | [00:41:00] What keeps people in the game? 

The cast reminisce about the previous year, and air their joys and grievances about the recent rules update. Gas clouds have consequences for players! Nantex have consequences for rules references!

Timestamps: [00:04:00] 2019 Retrospective - Bests and Worsts of the Year | [00:44:00] Some opinions on the Jan 2020 rules changes

Special guest Mark Myers returns to help us ramble around the topic of two-ship lists. Second Edition hasn't exactly encouraged low ship counts, but several of our cast members have spent a lot of time trying to succeed with only two ships on the table. Is it really nothing but pain? Is there a place for it in Second Edition? Does double-repositional ace play constitute an NPE? The answers to these questions may or may not lie ahead!

The cast ventures deep into the darkest depths of metawing to talk about some ships that have been chronically under-performing throughout Second Edition. Why do they suck? And what if anything might revive them? Timestamps: [00:03:00] General Impressions | [00:04:30] Bottom 5 Countdown to the Worst! | [00:54:30] Worst Performers per Faction | [01:07:00] Honorable Mentions of Terribleness

To see the metawing ship type ranking as we referenced it while recording, go here: https://meta.listfortress.com/ships?ranking_start=2018-09-13&ranking_end=2019-12-14&large_tournament_multiplier=true&widespread_use_multiplier=true&use_ranking_data=all&tournament_type=&format_id=&

Special guest and fellow Arch Alliance member Mark Myers joins the cast to take on some topics that hit close to home for him and (most of) the rest of us. Where do you find the balance between fun and winning, especially as a competitive player? 

Timestamps - Self-imposed restrictions: Mark [00:01:45], Matt [00:12:50], Dan [00:22:15], Clint [00:30:10], Emily [00:45:00]. Flying what you love [00:50:30]. Rey/Poe and the tribulations of two-ship lists [01:04:00]

The cast visits a few more hot topics in X-Wing game mechanics, and then joins the rest of the world in giddy fangirling over Aces High (which, it turns out, is a really enjoyable format for local casual tournaments). SPOILER WARNING: stop at the hour mark if you don't want to hear about the Mandalorian. Timestamps: [00:01:00] Sense and Perfect Information | [00:29:00] Bidding | [00:41:00] Final Salvo | [00:51:30] Aces High | [01:05:00] Mandalorian Talk (SPOILERS)