The Road to Worlds – Part IX – From the Ashes

Hello fellow Legion Gamers!

The last time we spoke on this topic was on July 25th of 2020. Between now and then we’ve seen the Covid Crisis continue to waylay our game and the declaration from Asmodee to move it’s Star Wars games from FFG to AMG. This has had significant and uncertain repercussions for Worlds 2020 that was originally postponed.

Last Week, we finally received an update regarding what to expect moving forward from Atomic Mass Games’ live stream.

You can find their update here: https://www.atomicmassgames.com/star-wars-op-message

What does this say?

• 2020 Worlds/2021 Worlds have been postponed until 2022 (at a minimum)
• Those with current invites to Worlds 2020 will be invited to the Worlds 2022 Tournament, whenever that may happen
• It is likely we do not see any OP resulting in Worlds invites until late 2021 or early 2022.

What does this mean?

It means we’re still on the Road to Worlds! So lock your X-Foils in attack position and let’s get down to business for getting ready to duke it out, even if it’s a year from now.

Now, there’s no real way of knowing what the Meta is going to look like a year from now – though hopefully we have a slew of new releases that FFG had ready to go prior to the AMG transition. What we can do – is talk about practice and identifying what is good right now.

The best place to start is taking a look at Invader League and the lists that are showing up there. Let’s outline a few of the lists cropping up there:

1. Situational Kenobi

I’m not going to claim that this list is the best version of it – but this is the new Republic trend taking Invader League by storm. This list maintains the key components of Republic lists while integrating the most recent additions (Clone Commander, Situational Awareness, Vigilance, Force Barrier). One fairly large deviation from the standard Republic meta is the inclusion of Obi-Wan Kenobi, whom while playing on the fringes of the meta before has potentially broken into the top tier due to the ability to almost completely prevent damage from any source. This list focuses on spamming and keeping dodge tokens, which are then used en masse to stop incoming damage, while Kenobi’s Barrier allows you to snag any other things that get through. It should be noted that this list is just one of many variants – some run Kenobi, some run Anakin, and some run double clone commander and turn the activation count literally up to 11. The common trend between all of them is that Situational Awareness is on 90% of the units in the list and that Vigilance is used to maintain it’s dodge tokens.

2. The Double AAT

This list has been on the outskirts for some time and has come storming in with a vengeance in this seasons Invader League. One of the main enablers here is the new T-Series Tactical Droid that not only gives you a cheap activation but a source of constant orders to it’s droid line. It is my belief that while this list was likely okay in the previous metas we have encountered, it is uniquely suited to devastate the Situational Awareness/Vigilance meta that is taking the Republic and Rebel Worlds by storm.

3. Rebel Gunline Re-born

This is a version of the new Rebel Gunline list’s that have been popping up (this particular one was used by Kyle “Orkimedes” Dornbos in Invader League Round Robin). A good all around list with several tools in it’s arsenal – infiltrate, incognito, situational awareness, vigilance, bodyguard, etc. – This list has a high degree of flexibility to respond to the current diversity of the meta. The addition of Rebel Trooper Captains waylays most of the past deficiencies of rebel trooper units in the past – allowing you to ignore suppression and use your nimble dodge tokens against crits due to their training slot.

4. Barrier Palpatine

The Empire has been in a weird place the last few months. Often outclassed and outgunned by Republic gunlines – they have struggled to compete at what they are best at, shooting at range. Lately many players have been turning to Force Barrier and the cheaper snowtroopers in order to re-orient the faction. The list above is from Ed “Drawde” Martinez, who has gone 4-0 with it in Invader League so far. I think this is a good example of using units that were previously on the fringe and brining them center after the points update. Hopefully lists similar to this can continue to make waves in the Empire faction moving forward.

I myself have been relying on old faithful so far in Invader League – bringing Rex back out in an effort to make single eliminations again. Currently I’m 3-0.

5. Rexstar – ReLoaded

We’ve talked about Rexstar at length in the past (See previous Road to Worlds articles for more) – but its clear that while we are in a new meta with tons of different lists that are capable, the old meta is still standing strong and firm.

Over the next few weeks we’ll see the culmination of Invader League Season 6 and how the meta shakes out. The Clone Wars factions look to potentially take the world by storm again.

What do you think? Will Rex again rise to the top? Or will a new Hero(or Villain) be crowned?

Until next time – May the Dark Side be with you, always,

Michael “Dashz” Barry