I want to start this article off with something I meant to put in the end of last week’s. I’m going to end this series now. I figure there’s only so many times you guys want to read “I lost a ton and it was close every game.” I’m planning to do a wrap-up of the entire league in a podcast bite. That should come in about two weeks.
Week 4 matches
This week was worse than the last. I played five or six games, most of them being league games, contrary to what I decided during week three. I lost every single game, even games where I had an early lead. Every time I’d have a good round, it would be followed by two terrible ones where I make no actual progress. I just sat there and lost tempo the whole time. One game against Vader/Raider, my opponent didn’t even play any upgrades. I didn’t take notes so I don’t have any in depth recaps. Because I was just so sick of losing, I ended up leaving early. I figured I could use those extra two hours to watch some shows with my wife or something. It was a rough night of Star Wars: Destiny, and I wasn’t sure what to do to change that. I have a bit of insight now and would like to go over that.
Back to Basics
Halfway through my games last week, I ended up dropping eKylo/eJango for good. I just don’t have the cards for it right now. Kylo Ren (AW11) also isn’t great, and is really just a placeholder for whatever Blue villain comes out in Spirit of Rebellion with roughly the same points cost. I really enjoy the deck though, and I believe, with the right replacement for Kylo, that a Blue/Yellow mid-range deck is going to be a big part of the next meta. With the latest production announcements, I won’t be able to expand my collection until May. This means I need to back to basics.
I spoke a little bit about returning to the basics, back in my week two article. You can read that here if you’d like to go over what I said, or if you somehow missed it. I can wait. Done? Good. So what are the basics for me? Well, if we discuss playstyle, it’s aggro. I’m an aggressive player at heart. I haven’t always been, I was very much a defensive player when I was younger. Being more timid, I was scared of losing or screwing up, so I’d either do the same things over and over again in video games, or play something easy. In Real-Time Strategy games, I’d usually turtle while waiting to lose, since I couldn’t figure out how to get better. This changed about six years ago when I decided to change that, when I started playing Magic.
Playing Magic is how I discovered my love for aggro decks and strategies. They’re easy to pick and play, but have a subtle nuance to them that you can’t see unless you play it for yourself. I’ll go deeper into what I did to change my overall playstyle another time, you’re probably wondering what this has to do with Star Wars: Destiny. Besides the change in mindset that lead me to eventually joining The Chance Cube Family, it also means that I’ve switched back to my favorite version of the top aggro deck right now. Good ‘ol eJango/Trooper/Trooper. I played this in our league kick-off tournament, and ended up in 5th place out eighteen people. The list has change a little, but looks pretty much the same as what you’d expect. Lots of guns, and powerful events. I won’t post a decklist, because you’ve probably already seen it a thousand times. Though I am considering trying eBala/Jango/Trooper.
Mindset Takes Time
I ended up playing about half my games with eJango/Trooper/Trooper this week. I was already super tilted by the time I put the deck together, and probably had no chance at winning any more games. It was already in my head that I was just a free win to anyone I play, and it killed my play. Even though I talked about how much mindset affects play, last week, I still haven’t even mastered it myself. “If you can’t do it, why should I even trust your advice?” you ask. Well, just because I haven’t mastered it, doesn’t mean I’m wrong. I understand and practice a ton of gaming theory concepts, but I’m far from a pro. Why? I just haven’t done it yet, it takes a ton of time to get things down. I can actually draw from a new hobby of mine for this. I’ve started playing Disc Golf as a way to get some exercise, and there’s a ton of courses to play here in Kansas City. I’ve been practicing my form and have been able to hit 180 feet for my longest throw so far, which is awesome for me. If you compare me to the pros though, I’ve got wimpy little noodle arms, since they can regularly throw well over 300 feet. It’s insane how far people can get these things to fly. The must all have huge muscle arms then right? Wrong. Throwing in Disc Golf is all about form, and being able to do it smoothly. You need to spend dozens if not hundreds of hours practicing and fixing your form to be able to throw far and accurately. The same goes for having a healthy mindset, or playing super well. You need to be aware of which issues you have and work on fixing them, little by little.
What does this all mean? Well, I’m not too worried about my next games for one. I just need some practice games with a fresh mind, and I should be back in the swing of things. I’m really excited to test this deck again. Which is great because I’m actually writing this a few hours before week five starts! Which is another reason I’m ending the written portion of this league series, it’s been a week behind this whole time, and it makes things a little awkward when writing it.
Where to go from here
As I said at the beginning, I’ll recap the entire league in about two weeks with a podcast bite, so I won’t leave it on a cliff hanger. The other news I have is that next week I’ll start a new series on Game Theory and how to apply it to Star Wars: Destiny. I love Game Theory and can’t wait to get started. I’ll leave the exact subject a surprise though. That way you HAVE to come back next week!
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