Games The First (Only?) SWC Triple Threat Mini Draft

Yep. Nothing to argue about, SithO gets it for exactly why KK said.

Jordan defeats clonecombo 3-1
SithO defeats Rx in Teams

Standings:

Jordan 2-0 (6-2)
SithO 2-0 (6-2)
Rx 0-2 (3-5)
clonecombo 0-2 (1-7)

FINAL MATCHES / JORDAN'S VICTORY TOUR

@Jordan1Kenobi vs @SithOverlord101
@clone commander bossk vs. @RX_Sith

Can SithO prevent the clean sweep?
Will anyone do anything crazy?
Did I mention these will be fought in the skies above Exegol?

 

Other storyline: Can @clone commander bossk beat RX and avoid going 0-9 in this draft?

May Poe run into my best Trump, my Prep run into Jordan's weaker trump, and Soontir run into Jordan's other individual.

 

Sorry, how many preps do I have left?

 

I believe you have one left

 

MATCHES!

Location: Exegol

Call Order: 4, 3, 1, 2

@Jordan1Kenobi vs. @SithOverlord101

Poe Dameron vs. Gavin Darkligher WITH WINGMATE Corran Horn (!!!)
Tycho Celchu WITH WINGMATE Wes Janson vs. Jagged Fell WITH WINGMATE Maarek Stele (!!!)
Iden Versio (PREPARED) vs. Baron Soontir Fel (!!!)
Saesee Tiin WITH WINGMATE Adi Gallia vs. Kyp Durron (PREPARED in a StealthX) (!!!)

@clone commander bossk vs. @RX_Sith

Hera Syndulla (Prepared in the Ghost) vs. Pash Cracken WITH WINGMATE Hobbie Yastrzemski (!!!)
The Lando System vs. Keyan Farlander (!!!)
Fen Rau WITH WINGMATE Baby Yoda's Dad vs. Wedge Antilles (!!!)
Oddball WITH WINGMATE Warthog vs. Saba Sebatyne WITH WINGMATE Mara Jade Skywalker (!!!)

@Point Given @KenKenobi [at]Ahsoka's Tano @TraeYoungSubwayAccident

I'm not even joking - that's eight amazing matches, all of them could be argued and I could maybe be swayed on all of them with the right argument.

 

I'll throw up an argument for the one matchup which I think is the most likely to go to Jordan: Tycho/Janson vs. Jag/Stele

The one advantage which I have in this matchup is Stele's force-sensitivity -- the Rogue duo has a large experience edge. That said, I hit a few problems in this matchup:
Problem 1: Jag's simulator training during the Vong War contained only two losses -- unfortunately for me, one of those losses was to Tycho Celchu -- who is thus the best pilot in this matchup.
Problem 2: Rogue duo actually flew together in many missions -- better chemistry.
Problem 3: Wes Janson is a monster.

In the best case scenario, I can see Stele's FS distracting the Rogue duo enough for Jag to snip down Janson from behind and then team up on Celchu. That said, I still think that the Rogue Duo wins this fight convincingly 8.5/10 times. The other matchups are MUCH closer imo.

 

Wow, this is crazy. Also sorry I forgot to specify what vehicle Iden gets with prep. Her specialised TIE: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Iden_Versio's_TIE/ln_space_superiority_starfighter

 

Sweet Yun-Yuuzhan, uh...anyone else wanna weigh in here?

That's a bonkers round that I'm down to hear bonkers things about.

 

Time to discuss the THIRD closest match of this set: Iden Versio (Prepped in her TIE Interceptor) vs. Soontir Fel

Versio's good. But even with the prep helping her, she's not Soontir Fel good. Keep in mind that Soontir Fel was considered the Empire's best TIE pilot and that HAN SOLO said that Fel was the best pilot that he ever met (and considering the caliber of ace pilots that Solo knew -- Luke, Wedge, Han himself, maybe Vader? -- that's a pretty impressive accolade). He's got excellent combat experience at Brentaal V, Endor, and in the Unknown Regions. He survived SIX years piloting combat missions in a TIE fighter -- a normal pilot would be lucky to survive even a single year in such craft. The modified TIE Interceptor makes this close, but I think that Soontir pulls it out 7/10 times.

 

Hera Syndulla (Prepared in the Ghost) vs. Pash Cracken WITH WINGMATE Hobbie Yastrzemski (!!!)

Two great pilots who should be able to take out Hera pretty well and the Ghost isn't exactly a great ship.

The Lando System vs. Keyan Farlander (!!!)

The Farlander Papers will defeat Lando.

Fen Rau WITH WINGMATE Baby Yoda's Dad vs. Wedge Antilles (!!!)

Wedge should have no problems with either of these two.

Oddball WITH WINGMATE Warthog vs. Saba Sebatyne WITH WINGMATE Mara Jade Skywalker (!!!)

Force powers of Saba and Mara Jade should win this match.

 

Iden Versio (PREPARED in her TIE Interceptor) vs. Baron Soontir Fel
I’ll echo what SithO said about Fel for Iden actually. They’re reputations are quite similar. They were both considered the best pilots in the Empire (after Vader), one in legends and one in canon, however Iden has actually outperformed Vader before. She had a piloting career of around 40 years, participating in the most important battles of the Imperial era, such as the Battle of Yavin, Endor, Scarif, Naboo, and Jakku. And as far as I’m aware, every single piloting mission she ever took was a success. Plus her starfighter kill count is definitely a contender for #1 best in the entire Star Wars history. Her reputation is actually nuts. Someone who participated in that many battles and missions over that many years should not have come out unscathed, but she somehow managed. Her eventual defeat came outside of a cockpit.

So when their reputations and achievements are this similar, it’s going to make a difference that Iden is prepared in a more powerful and personal craft. That should get her the win in a very close fight.

 

Saesee Tiin/Adi Gallia vs. Kyp Durron (Prepped in a StealthX)

Both of Jordan's pilots have good feats, but neither flew together at the two major battles during their time (Gallia flew alone at Genosis, while Tiin had the only starfighter combat experience at Coruscant). One should also keep in mind that neither has much experience dealing with a FS pilot like Durron is. Kyp arguably has the experience edge over the two, having served in the cockpit during three major wars (including the Vong War) and survived some epic engagements such as Yuuzhan'tar. And here is where the StealthX comes into play -- Kyp's got a massive tech edge with his starfighter and can rely on his personal astromech droid for combat assistance. Finally, Vong pilots are tougher opponents than Vulture Droids, so surviving the Vong War is slightly more impressive than Saesee surviving the CW (which Adi dies in). I'd argue that Kyp wins this fight around 7/10 times.

 

Now, for the match of the round: Poe Dameron vs. Gavin Darklighter WINGMATE Corran Horn

This duo is far superior to the Hobbie/Mara duo which lost a 2-1 decision to Poe. Also, unlike my previous Kyp/Corran duo, Gavin and Corran actually have decent chemistry. Both fought at Yuuzhan'tar (and throughout the Vong War), so they have experience in epic battles.

 

I’ll get something up for my other 3 this week.

 

Okay, time to finish up the Duo vs. Poe argument:

Poe's great -- I already said that he's a top-five pick in my books in the previous SFD. Unfortunately for him, my trump's better. Horn and Darklighter served together in the rebuilt Rogue Squadron for over seven years, so they have excellent chemistry. Horn's force-sensitivity gives an additional advantage over Poe, who if I remember correctly didn't face any force-sensitive pilots. I don't think that there are ANY pilots who can beat this duo (at least unprepped -- I can maybe see a prepped Luke or Vader taking the duo). Great matchup, but I see my duo winning around 7/10 times.

Oh, @Jordan1Kenobi don't even bother arguing the Duo vs. Duo matchup -- you will probably win that one outright.

 

@clone commander bossk at the very minimum you need to rebut this slander and make an argument in this match if nothing else.

 

Let's put a bow on this draft

@KenKenobi @Point Given @wheredidthisversionofblakegriffincomefrom

 

The Ghost is an awesome ship.

 

The ghost rivals the Falcon has multiple weapons. Just look at rebels, it does some cool and impressive stuff.

 

For the Tycho / Janson match - SithO is right, my guys have the experience edge and they have unbeatable cohesion on the battlefield. It's going to take a stronger duo to tear them apart.

As for Kyp Durron, yes he's in a better, fancier ship. But personally I don't see him being that much better than Tiin or Gallia individually. So putting the 2nd AND 3rd best pilots of the Republic together is going to eventually overwhelm him. The StealthX makes it a closer battle, but can it really change the outcome that drastically? He’s going to need to be on the defence and offence simultaneously, and possibly have to split Tiin and Galia apart. But with their perfect cohesion, that’s not going to be easy at all.

I can’t really add much to Poe’s argument that hasn’t been covered in the past two rounds. We’ve already covered his list of insane feats, that of which you’d expect from a Jedi. Sadly my knowledge of Horn and Darklighter is lacking, so I don’t know if they’ve performed feats as crazy as Poe. If this becomes the deciding match I’ll do a bit more research and get an actual argument up. But I’m pretty confident in my other three matches.

 

@Jordan1Kenobi the two key matches in our set are the two matches with Prep (I feel that the other two matches are split 1-1.

@clone commander bossk I'd write up an argument for Lando against Farlander (I see your match going to teams IMO).

 

@KenKenobi @Point Given

wanna wrap this up?

 

Why Poe over the duo?

 

@Jordan1Kenobi vs. @SithOverlord101

Gavin/Corran over Poe-- This is a better trump than one I voted over Poe earlier, and while I don't think Poe is Wedge, I do think even Wedge would have a rough go with these two.

Tycho/Janson over Jag/Stele-- Like SithO said, I think Tycho's the best in this match, and they just have real flight time together which is a major advantage when talent levels are this high.

Adi/Saesee over Kyp (prepped in a StealthX)-- I think the StealthX is probably the best craft outside of things like the Falcon/Ghost in terms of prep. Unfortunately this trump is...Jedi, who rely much less on visuals & sensors and could probably sense Kyp's monster Force signature from several parsecs away. I like what Jordan said too about Kyp needing to play offense & defense together, which is not the kind of pilot he is-- he's all guns blazing like an Anakin-lite. But unlike Anakin I think he'd get tripped up here more often that not, even if he'd bust the hell outta them in the Jedi Draft.


Iden Version (prepped in her TIE) vs. Soontir Fel

Went back and forth on this a lot. I love Iden and don't think it's ridiculous to think she could put up a fight against someone like Soontir. To peek at my thought process:

--Classic case of more rep vs. more showings, and most peeps know where I lean on that. Iden benefits from being in a video game, but they are mostly no-namers (what's the SFD term for Pooka Jedi?). That's not to say her xp is junk, it's not-- just that Fel's beaten some of the monsters in this draft in simulators, and went toe-to-toe with Wedge.

--...but when he went toe-to-toe with Wedge, while he was on his ass the entire time, it ended with Wedge seeing the pattern of how he wanted to direct the fight and that's how Salm nailed him. With prep, Iden can be aware of that kind of tactic, even if she won't conveniently have an excellent Y-wing pilot to jump in.

--On the flip side of the StealthX choice though, choosing Iden's TIE was a curious choice when she's flown X-wings before and you could've put her in something like a Defender. That TIE isn't an interceptor, so it doesn't have shields, and while it's personalized to her and has better weaponry, it still trades maneuverability for vulnerability, and gives Soontir more breathing room.

--Meanwhile, Fel wrote the book on TIES. Like...literally he flew a bunch of the prototypes and is the in-universe author of that Imperial Handbook on them (like how the Jedi vs. Sith sourcebook is an "in-universe" document compiled by Tionne). That in addition to all his service time.

--...but those are Legends TIES, which might be slightly different than Iden's personalized NuCanon TIE. Is that nuance really that big of a deal? Why am I still typing things?


Ultimately I can't shake (no starfighter lingo pun intended) what Fel was able to do against a dude like Wedge who had shields and an outside surprise, neither of which Iden has here. Put her in a Defender? I'd prob change my vote. Make me play BF2 again and ask me tomorrow? I might change my vote. Remind me that this draft could be over if I just agreed with Pointy? Could change my vote.

But for now it's

Spoiler

Soontir Fel

@clone commander bossk vs. @RX_Sith

Pash/Hobbie over Hera (prepped in the Ghost)-- Hera being in the Ghost actually makes this interesting to me, but it's a lot to ask of her to both pilot the thing and operate the turrets remotely, especially against these two. There's an episode early in Rebels where she's begging peeps to take to the stations while the Grand Inquisitor attacks with a squadron. Pash/Hobbie as a duo are more formidable than that to me, so without like Chopper or Zeb to join in I think her attention will be too split.

Keyan over Lando-- The Farlander papers indeed.

Wedge over Fenn/Mando-- What Fenn is able to do against Hera means this isn't a boom, but it'd require a hell of an arg (and prob prep) to overcome a beast like Wedge.

Mara/Saba over Odd Ball/Warthog-- Mind Meld helps counter, and I'm just NJO > Clone Wars for the most part.

*looks at Adi/Saesee vs. Kyp judgment* ...for the most part.


@DarthIntegral I'm sorry I'm like this, but given your Poe love...