Who wants to play an oppressively strong list that just chokes the life out of the opposition? Who wants to play a list that has the best offense, solid durability, incredible control, and awesome mobility?

Well, here's the list:

Vader / Obi-2 / Magnas

Grievous / Jango / Flex (5th Brother/Super Commandos, but lots of options)

Scott and I discuss why we think this list is doing so strong right now, if it has any weak points, and discuss how it fared into other archetypes at a recent event at a local store.

Please join the Slack! Help us figure out how to beat Vader Grievous! Get a promo!

Here's the Facebook link to the event on September 16 at Black Dragon Games in Twin Falls.

Make sure to put October 14 on your calendar for a ZiFi Tournament! Go to LVO! There will be a Shatterpoint event!

Hello and welcome to Episode 10 of Zion's Finest!

In this episode, JK and I give our hot takes on Momma Talzin and Mace after sparring with those boxes, as well as discussing the power level of active abilities on combat trees for all the extant figures. Spoiler alert: Momma is good. Mace is also good--but in a very straightforward way (at least on first play).

Join the Slack and get our promo when it releases! Help us list-build!

We love you all!

Shatterpoint takes the traditional maxim that you should never bring a knife to a gun fight and turns it on its head. You best not bring a gun to this knife fight, as the current meta and spread of objectives heavily favors units that are able to scrum, get on objectives, push people off of objectives, and swing at those poor suckers dumb enough to get close.

Sam and I discuss why it is that the current meta favors melee figures, if we expect that to change, and how competitive players should be approaching list-building and matchups.

Join the Slack! Bring your lists! Get a promo!!!

Why is Maul an incredible primary unit despite being the only figure I have really seen get removed in a game? Because he does what he does for free! (Kind of, not really, but kind of.)

In this episode, Sam leads a discussion as to the strategy of economy, and we all discuss how to leverage the resources you have in the game (force points, health and durability, actions, etc.) to gain the kind of incremental advantages that will help you to win games.

Economy in Shatterpoint, really, asks the players similar questions to those posed in other competitive games. Namely, how do you leverage the resources you are given to gain advantages over your opponent to preserve your opportunity to win assuming the variance does not break against you. We have a ton of fun discussing this (despite my saltiness) and it is an area that I am really working to improve as a player.

Please join the Slack! We are designing a promo card that will be sent out to everyone on the Slack for Shatterpoint, and would love to have you join our conversations and help me figure out what list is best to beat Magnaguards!

Hello and welcome to Episode 7 of Zion's Finest!

Hello everyone and welcome to Episode 6! With the game out for almost two months, the TTS league long underway, and the store tournament season kicking off, Sam and I discuss the shape of the meta, whether Grievous is too good, whether the Seps are too good, and whether Anakin is too bad (he's not, but we don't think he's found his place).

It's a fun, less strategic episode (though Sam has many strategic thoughts) and more general survey as to how everything seems to be doing. I love this kind of stuff and hope you do too.

Join the Slack and have a ton of fun discussing the game and list-building!

I enjoy random walks as much as any econ PhD out of the University of Chicago, but how am I supposed to handle the inability to control my Shatterpoint deck and dice variance?!?!?! (Like many of you, I am also still reeling from Fama sharing the Nobel Prize with Hansen and Shiller. What a wild world we live in.)

In this episode, Matt leads a discussion as to how to think about randomness in Shatterpoint, how luck and skill are not mutually exclusive (thanks Richard Garfield), and how to leverage and enjoy both in your gaming. We focus on how Obi-Wan is an exemplary piece in smoothing out randomness in crucial aspects of your matches, but also how randomness can be skill-testing in a way that is extremely satisfying. You will enjoy this discussion.

Here's a link to Richard Garfield's lecture on Skill vs. Luck in games.

Join the Slack!!!

Welcome to Episode 4 of Zion's Finest!

In this episode, Samuel Sweeten leads a discussion as to how you should be thinking about combat trees and what the units in your list are trying to do. He discusses raw damage, control, consistency, and tempo with incredible insight and I hope it helps you reassess how you are piloting your lists. Kenny Brown, Matthew Richards, and JK Moore try to keep up with varying degrees of success.

Join the Slack! It is awesome and you will make it better!

https://join.slack.com/t/zionsfinest/shared_invite/zt-1x1ho0sxg-CqFgEeSASNb4db0TBS59vA

Hello and welcome to Episode 3 of Zion's Finest!

In this episode, Kenny Brown, Sam Sweeten, and Scott Nielsen provide some general breakdowns and analysis of three figures with whom they have been getting the most reps. Kenny discusses Ahsoka (Jedi No More), Sam discusses Kalani, and Scott discusses Anakin.

They also discuss the economy of Shatterpoint compared to MCP and provide some general commentary on games that they have played recently.

You will enjoy their banter and hopefully gain some insight as to how you can leverage these pieces in your games (Sam's discussion of Kalani is especially awesome).

Please join the Slack! We are having so much fun discussing list-building, strategy, and the game generally.

https://join.slack.com/t/zionsfinest/shared_invite/zt-1x1ho0sxg-CqFgEeSASNb4db0TBS59vA

Hello and welcome Episode 2 of the Zions Finest podcast! We are thrilled to have you join us!

In this episode, Sam Sweeten and Matthew Richards discuss positioning and how to leverage movement and repositioning for maximum advantage in your Shatterpoint games. They also discuss the strategy and tempo of movement in offense and defense generally, and provide context concerning the tradeoffs you will face in dealing damage as opposed to moving units on the board--and how that can be used to maximum effect.

Please join us on the Slack. We have so much fun discussing Star Wars, Shatterpoint, and everything else that touches our fancy. We would love to have you participate with us. Join by accessing this link:

https://join.slack.com/t/zionsfinest/shared_invite/zt-1x1ho0sxg-CqFgEeSASNb4db0TBS59vA

Read Sam's article here:

https://gglogan.com/blogs/weekly-articles/begun-the-clone-wars-has-part-1-primary-characters

Thank you for listening!