Here’s the data after day one, before the top 16 elimination rounds. Want to know the exact squads? Go list list juggler. As with all the other charts, this represents the strength of squads with winning records.

We will not be taking questions at this time.

Yes, another chart with some squads in code names. Those will be spoiled during the second day of the X-Wing qualifiers, though you can probably figure some of them out on your own. There are 43 squads in the meta with winning records right now (in 8 tournaments since the release of Wave 9), and of those only 7 are in the Worlds Prep Black Box. The remaining 34 have been disclosed (and note that some codenamed squads may overlap with disclosed squads if flown by multiple people).What’s the takeaway? If you’re prepping to go against just a couple big meta squads or obsessing over what the Howard Bros are flying, you’re probably going to have a bad time. The weird stuff far outweighs the squads that have been getting the most attention, and I don’t just mean the “Other Squads” category. I don’t think I’ve seen people mention the Wedge/Nora/Biggs combo, and most people can’t even remember what Kaa’to even does, but combined those two squads are dead even with the dreaded Billy Evans Classic. At the Curio Cavern Fall Championship this Sunday, in 8 rounds I only faced popular meta squads twice (Paul Heaver, both times). All the other matches required a lot of on-the-fly threat analysis and planning.

The reason those weird squads do so well (despite getting labeled non-viable) is because their owners have flown them probably dozens of times while it’s your first time seeing it in action. When you finally figure it out 25 minutes into a match, it’s often too late.

So, with that said, here’s the remainder:

We’re back with an expanded set of Wave 9/Worlds Prep meta data. Before going to the charts, a few quick things you should know (and be prepared to be told it’s on the syllabus if you ask a question that’s already been answered):

1. This is based on what actually has winning records in Nova region tournaments. It’s not an opinion of what should win. There’s also a formula behind it. That formula is explained here.

2. If you want to know the exact makeup of the squads that were listed, dig up the sheets on List Juggler. They’re all recent, and all from the Nova region. No, I will not type out each squad again in the comments.

3. Some squads have been given nicknames. These are squads being tested or practiced by folks headed to Worlds. In the previous meta post I said that they were all distinct from the other squads. I am no longer making that assertion. Some nicknamed squads may be the same as squads listed elsewhere.

4. No, I will not tell you what the nicknamed squads are. And no, the names are not clues; they’re just names. Except for the one you think is a clue, that one is definitely a clue.

5. Why your favorite squad isn’t in there is because (a) no one in the region was running it recently, (b) they were running it but not doing well, (c) it is in there and you just need to read more closely, (d) it’s in the Black Box.

6. The squads in the Worlds Prep Black Box will be disclosed during Flight B of Worlds.

7. Again, this is based on actual tournament results since the release of Wave 7. Not everyone headed to Worlds goes to any or all of these events. Not everyone at these events is headed to Worlds. Not all of the Worlds prep happens at tournaments, and not everyone headed to Worlds takes their top list to tournaments.

Okay, everyone ready? Good, here we go. The following was collected from 4 events at 3 stores since the release of Wave 9. There were 87 total participants playing in approximately 140 games.

Now I know some of you don’t see the point in having data when many of the squads (especially top squads) aren’t listed. So, Part II of this post will be a little bit of what you can still do with this data:

1. Throw a fit.

2. Get a sense of how diverse the meta is.

2a. This is actually useful for deciding what squad to take to Worlds, even without knowing exactly what will show up. Some squads have hard counters, while others are more even no matter what they’re facing — diversity really skews how those two types of squads can perform.

3. There’s still 18 squads that didn’t go into the Worlds Prep Black Box. In fact, the majority of the meta isn’t in the black box.

3a. Knowing the 18 squads not in the Black Box tells you a lot about what we think other people might be taking, and what we prep against.

4. You can see how the meta develops over time. A lot of stuff is still in flux, and many of us are still undecided on what to bring, or tweaking existing ideas.

5. The meta analyses have always taken a “looking out” rather than “looking in” approach. What that means is they’re not here to tell us what the best squads are, or what we should be flying. It’s here to tell us what we need to be prepared to face. If you just want to see what’s doing well and run it, that’s fine — these just aren’t the stats for you.

If you were looking for a detailed breakdown and analysis of Paul and Duncan’s squads for Worlds, you’ve come to the wrong place. With the World Championship fast approaching, the meta analysis will be sending the squads of our Worlds-bound players into a black box. Nova hive-mind conspiracy confirmed.

But really, it’s a compromise so y’all aren’t left entirely in the dark. You won’t get to see many of the squads, which have been given code names (indicated by the parenthesis), but you will get to see how much the local meta is or isn’t gravitating to one or two squads. So without further ado, here’s the breakdown of squad archetypes. Discussion to follow.

This is based on only 2 tournaments so far (since Wave 9 came out) with 56 total players and a little over 90 matches. As always, this is based on what’s winning, not just what shows up.

This is the only chart for now. I was going to add the Pilot Skill and Initiative Bid chart, but the data was a little too telling. That will come out later as the haystack gets bigger.

As far as the code named lists go, all I will say is that they are each different enough from the other things listed that they would be listed as their own archetype even without the code names.

So now what does all this tell us? I don’t know. But I do know what I will be telling you.

I routinely see on the various X-Wing forums complaints about how there’s only a couple viable squads, and each faction only really has 1-2 options. Palp Aces and Dengaroo are the only viable things out there, or something to that effect. That’s all bologna.

Between the release of Imperial Veterans and Nova Open, there were 55 different squad archetypes in the local meta that had winning tournament records. If you asked people what the most viable squads were, no one would have said Lothal and Warden, or Kanan with an Ion Turret and Biggs, or Miranda and Esege. Dengaroo was the only meta squad to make it into the top 4 at one of the biggest tournaments of the year (107 players — just a bit bigger than US Nationals if I recall correctly). They probably wouldn’t have named Mishary’s TIE swarm either, and it placed #1 in Swiss. I went to top 4 of US Nationals with a Bossk and Tel list that had never done better than 2-1 in the local scene. Last year, if you asked people to name the viable squads going into Worlds, you’d have heard about Fel/Vader/Palpatine, Brobots, Thugs and Drugs, Triple Aces, and 4 TLT Y-Wings. No one would have said Rebels, and you wouldn’t have guessed the whole thing would have been won by Poe, Stresshog, TLT Y, and a Bandit. It didn’t win tournaments before Worlds, and I don’t recall it winning any local events after. So if you asked the geniuses on the internet, the World championship squad wasn’t viable.

We’re just 2 events in to the new wave, and already there’s 15 different squad archetypes that are producing winning records and even a bit of variation among squads in the same type.

What’s viable now? A lot of stuff. But, only if you’re willing to put in the time to carefully craft a squad, understand how it works, and figure out the dynamics of various matchups. Odds are the next world championship squad hasn’t even made it to the mats yet. But, if by “viable” you mean “viable as a plug’n’play netdeck squad,” then I don’t know what to tell you. Except, maybe, go play Hearthstone instead.

It’s been a while, but we’re back with even more analysis. In a bit of a hurry this afternoon, so if you have any questions, it’s probably on the syllabus.

This latest data is based on 15 events from the last 2 months since Imperial Veterans was released. It draws from the wining squads in over 400 matches.

As always, this doesn’t necessarily reflect how many people are playing certain squads, just what’s showing up with checks in the W column. It also reflects what was actually played, not what theoretically will do well.

For squad archetypes, Oicunn/Inq/Wampa is separated from Palp Aces, despite having Palpatine. It is included in the Palp Aces chart later on though.

Now that we’re another week in to the age of Imperial Veterans, we’re beginning to see a lot more variety in squads. The data below is based on 5 tournaments at 4 stores in the NoVa region. There were 86 participants and 132 matches. Two events were excluded from this data due to insufficient turnout.

As always, specific lists can be found on List Juggler by searching for tournaments in Maryland and Virginia. Click on the charts for a larger version. More information about the data can be found in the FAQ.

First up are the Squad Archetypes. Even after just 5 events, we already have 17 different squad archetypes with winning records. Imperial lists are still dominating, with aces clearly taking the lead, but quirky bomber squadrons (with both support shuttles and true bombers) are also making a big impact on the meta. Crackswarms are also getting a lot of play.

Next up, the real main event for the stat nerds, the PS+Bid data. Lots of action in the PS 9 range.

Now we’re going to get into something new. Some of you have been grumbling about the “Ace” designations. We took those complaints, through them right in the ol’ circular file, and came up with our own criticisms. The point of the Aces breakdown was to provide more granular data about Palp Aces and Triple Aces builds, since the Imperial Aces are so diverse and each ones require a little different strategy to handle.

So, we’ve just cut out the middle man, and now there’s going to be two charts, one showing Palp Ace builds and one showing Triple Ace builds. You can put that salt on your margaritas now, we don’t need it any more. The Howards build is the US National Champion list (OGP w/Jammer, Inq, Fel). Unless otherwise specified, the shuttle is an OGP without Sensor Jammer.

These charts show that while Imp Ace builds are more than a third of the meta, there’s still a ton of variety going on.

Moving on, the ol’ Control and Denial Wheel. While squads lacking C&D mechanics are still very popular, the Connor Net (which was absent in the last data set) has made a big impact. Makes sense with all the aces out there, along with its ability to criple x7 Defenders and general utility against almost all squads.

Again, very few squads offering their opponents any sort of forgiveness. And like the surge in Connor Nets, this makes sense given how popular Imperial Aces are. Data in this chart is weighted based on number of times upgrades appeared within a squad (so a squad with 4 Crackshots would count 4 times, not once).

With the arrival of Imperial Veterans, we are resetting the NoVa meta statistics. That means this first edition of Volume 2 of the FAHS analysis is based on a particularly small sample set. Data comes from 2 tournaments held at 2 stores, with a total of 38 participants and 63 matches. Expect more diversity and less domination by single players in future editions. As always, these charts reflect squads that are winning and not just squad appearances. For details about specific squad builds, see List Juggler.

The proprietary data blend has also been modified to give slightly greater weight to larger events (the real effect being that Curio Cavern tournaments will have a little bit less impact on the numbers).

And now, onto the data, starting with Squad Archetypes. (Click the image for a larger, easier to read version.)

The “Triple Aces” and “Palp Aces” categories has been expanded a bit to include squads with Colonel Vessery (who is not otherwise considered an ace). The “Ace” status for these analyses is based on a combination of pilot skill, arc dodging, agility, and dice modifications. Poe still doesn’t make the cut, but we do see a new ace on the scene in the Countess Ryad build with both Push the Limit and TIE/x7 title.

Moving on, we’ve got the Pilot Skill and Initiative Bid chart. With the arrival of Imperial Veterans, we should be seeing a lot more PS8 ships, as well as PS5 and 6. Note that this chart is only for the highest pilot skill ship in the squad and does not reflect all of its ships.

Next, the Control and Denial wheel got a big shakeup. Expect Tractor Beam to become even more dominant in the coming weeks, now appearing on both Zuckuss and TIE/Ds.

And finally, a brand new chart showing what we’re calling the “No Forgiveness” factor. This category is meant to reflect attacks that are particularly difficult to escape, and 4 guaranteed hit results doesn’t quite cut it. It includes damage that cannot be evaded (like Painbot, Feedback Array, and bombs), ships that can perform multiple attacks (but not including TLT except on a Ghost), and other particularly nasty tricks. (Results are weighted based on number of ships — rather than squads — with that upgrade.)