After a tense match, Ricky Heck is the 2013 GenCon SWM Champion! Congrats to Ricky and everyone else in the top 8, as well as everyone who participated in one of the most exciting and unpredictable championships in recent memory!

Wow, congrats Ricky! That's the first NR Championship win, so great job!

That's a lot of door control without even touching Lobot's reserves or Marn's bribery. That means he could tailor his squad to his opponent for 30 points every single match.

I'm guessing Marn gave him some bombs to use against Tim. Pretty handy.

Eh, wait, don't think it works that way...

It does. He brought in a Felucian and an Ugnaught and gave both of them (plus Marn and Jarael) Self Destruct 20. It was very, very significant in his win.

Looking at the finalists, they're both built largely around pre v-set pieces.

I'm assuming the Separatist squad had Darth Sidious and San Hill along with the Lancer, and maybe some IG-86s and Whorm too?

The New Republic squad, like most New Republic squads, is built around Ganner and Dodonna, and the only v-set pieces are Marn Hieroglyph and Luke Galactic Hero.

Obviously the OR squad in the top 4 is almost entirely v-set, but that's because the Old Republic were terrible before the v-sets. While the Rebel squad in the top 4 is similar to the Rebel commando/Han cannon squads that won in 2009 and 2010, just with the addition of one v-set piece (Ackbar).

It's three and a half years since Wizards ended, and it really looks like the good Wizards pieces haven't been superseded - just augmented with a lot more good options. Seven different factions in the top eight is great. Looks like you can turn up with something you really like, and do well, as long as you have an efficient squad that you know how to run.

Going in I was thinking that while Marn and Jarael could con artist the self destruct that it may not have a significant impact. I completrly forgot that Marn's bribery additions would get it as well. That starts to be a much bigger deal.

Too tired to post much but I will simply say for now....

Sharing a room with Weeks, Graham, that other guy (sorry Daniel), Hinkbert and of course my bunkmate and new crowned champ Ricky made my trip! Guys you are the best, I thank you all for a great time and the comradeship but most of all congrats to Ricky on the victory, as his was the most clever squad by far in the tourney.

Oh and one more thing....

CHICKEN LIMO!!!

I probably exaggerated somewhat, but I get reactionary against perspectives that the v-sets have altered the game negatively and I jump on any piece of evidence that shows power creep hasn't been too significant. That's just my perspective - I see both squads as following patterns that were established before the v-sets. I think a lot of the most powerful abilities in the game came in through Wizards - both squads had tempo control, both had mass killers, and both had a lot of movement - all of those things come from the Wizards pieces in the squads, and are still very powerful. The v-set pieces do bring in some extra dimensions to both squads in the final, but a lot of what makes those squads strong was already there from the Wizards pieces.

Without having seen the Sep squad, I assume that you're talking about Poggle as the key v-set piece? He obviously does change up things significantly - if nothing else, the ability to turn off San Hill and the MTB is very helpful, and the direct damage from the bombs and the cheap activations are both significant. But the Lancer/Sidious/San Hill was successful before Poggle - having Poggle in there just makes them more well rounded.

The two v-sets pieces in the NR squad are significant, but it still feels like the squad follows the basic template of NR squads established before the v-sets - a bunch of unique heroes, primarily force users, with Ganner and Dodonna as the ubiquitous tech choices. It's great that there are a more squad building choices for NR now - but at the same time it feels like a continuation of what was there already, rather than a complete reinvention.

I played this squad and placed 6th: http://www.bloomilk.com/Squad/126362/luke-gh

--Luke's Heroes--
48 Luke Skywalker, Galactic Hero
31 Kyle Katarn
29 Ganner Rhysode
27 Lobot
22 R2-D2 and C-3PO, Galactic Heroes
18 Jan Ors
10 Jagged Fel
9 General Dodonna
6 Ugnaught Demolitionist x2

(200pts. 10 activations)

It's the same thing I played at the Atlanta regional. I liked it a lot, and it's very much my playstyle.