Melbourne PQ Winner 26th Oct

This is the list I took to win the Melbourne PQ in Australia. It's Linque's Boba1 Tarkintown list with a couple Sneak Attacks for some personal flavour.

The meta I was expecting

Going into the PQ I was expecting lots of Sabine, Boba1, and Rey Tarkintown from my knowledge of the local meta. I was also expecting some Bossk ECL, Qi'ra ECL, Kylo, and only a little hard control.

Shoutouts

Before going into the breakdown I wanted to thank Linque for creating the original list, the others in the Discord chat who helped me better understand the list and sideboard, and my local friends who helped me test the list and supported me on the day.

Round 1: 2-0 Sabine Yellow 30hp

SB: -2 TIE Advanced -1 Lurking TIE Phantom +3 Outmaneuver

This matchup is favourable to us, but it's still not easy. I find it harder than the Sabine ECL matchup because they have 5 more health on their base and more unexpected explosiveness like Surprise Strike and Millennium Falcon. The reason for taking out the TIE Advanced is that they're simply not great into decks that have Waylay, and removing a Lurking TIE Phantom because they're squishy and Sabine Yellow decks run Millennium Falcon. You always want to add in Outmaneuver against aggro decks, shutting them down for a turn gains you lots of tempo and wins games.

Round 2: 2-0 Sabine ECL

SB: -3 Lurking TIE Phantom +3 Outmaneuver

A simple matchup and one I've practiced a hundred times over. You remove the Lurking TIE Phantoms because they're too squishy, especially with the opponent being able to ECL into it and their unit still lives. Outmaneuver added again because aggro. One key thing to watch out for against Sabine ECL is their Bright Hope, so you either need to hold up Tarkintown, Surprise Strike, or even a Triple Dark Raid for the Ruthless Raider if you're feeling risky.

Round 3: 2-1: Rey Tarkintown

SB: -3 Mercenary Gunship +3 Wolffe

This is another favourable matchup for us, you just have to be cautious regarding their Rey and Luke. If they get enough restore on the board they'll start healing more than you can output and take the game. Holding a Wolffe and NGTMD are great ways to put a damper on this and get that extra 1-2 turns you need to close out the game.

Round 4: 2-0 Sabine ECL

SB: -3 Lurking TIE Phantom +3 Outmaneuver

Another Sabine ECL, pretty standard matchup. Pop T1 play, a get lead on the aggro, use NGTMD, Waylay, and Outmaneuver to keep them at bay while beating down in the space arena. I am a little annoyed that in both of these games I didn't get a 2 drop ship in my mulligan but oh well, such is life. Have to play these games.

Round 5: 2-0 Boba1 Yellow 30hp

SB: -3 Lurking TIE Phantom -2 TIE Advanced +3 Outmaneuver +2 Look The Other Way

This is our hardest matchup, with Cunning, Bodhi, and Cantina Bouncer they can disrupt your turns and get ahead on tempo and damage. However, luckily my opponent had never played against a Boba1 Tarkintown deck before and didn't know what was coming. In the end I had the upper hand in knowing the matchup. Afterwards I walked him through my deck and showed him some of my combos, how he needs to play into it, etc. which almost bit me in the ass in the top cut.

Round 6: 2-0 Han2 Blue 30hp

SB: -3 Mercenary Gunship +3 Wolffe

This is also a pretty good matchup for us. Holding up the Tarkintown makes them nervous and hesitant to use their Han2 ability which already puts them behind the curve for their deck. You just need to hold up Force Choke for their Yoda or Kaanan and NGTMD for their Luke to shut down their healing and smash them in base. The only space unit to be worried about is Concord, so hold up Tarkintown or Surprise Strike for that.

Round 7: 2-1 Boba1 Green 30hp

SB: -2 TIE Advanced +2 Change of Heart

At this point both my opponent and I were undefeated and guaranteed top cut, so we were just chilling and having fun. Although it's not a great matchup for us, it's definitely beatable, however my opponent is part of my local testing group so he was very familiar with my deck already which made it 50/50 at best. Again take out TIE Advanced because Waylay, and add in Change of Heart because Boba1 green has a few big units like Maul, Vader, and I knew my opponent was running Xanadu Blood and Devastator too. If you can ping off their small units, let them play Maul, then take it the turn after, it wins games.

Top 8: 2-0 Rey Tarkintown

SB: -3 Mercenary Gunship +3 Wolffe

I was feeling confident into this, especially because I saw on their decklist and they weren't running Pillage. This means I didn't have to hold up excessive amounts of cards to work around it (but still think about Force Throw). In the end it just came down to me having NGTMD for Luke and a well timed Wolffe.

Top 4: 2-1 Boba1 Yellow

SB: -2 TIE Advanced -1 Lurking TIE Phantom +3 Outmaneuver

This game was against the same player as round 5 of swiss. I'd already beaten him with the element of surprise, but now he knows the matchup better. This time I sideboarded differently, I opted out of siding in Look The Other Way and left some Lurking TIE Phantoms in the main board. The reason is because I had a little more experience playing against him, saw his list, and realised he's playing a more defensive and controlling deck, different to the aggro Boba Yellow decks I've versed in the past. So to get the upper hand on the aggro I wanted to leave a couple Lurking TIE Phantoms in. He managed to take one game which he credited to the help I gave him after round 5 of swiss, glad I was able to help him better understand my deck.

Top 2: 2-1 Sabine ECL

SB: -3 Lurking TIE Phantom +3 Outmaneuver

Going into the final round was the first time this entire PQ I felt I actually had a chance of winning it. I dodged the Boba1 decks early, managed to fight through the ones I did get paired against, and now my last round was a good matchup for me. Of course sideboard is throwing in Outmaneuver, and funnily enough my opponent didn't have a sideboard, but he's a very strong player with an extremely sturdy list. I did notice no Bright Hope, which for me means I can ram them down on space and they can't top deck something that will stop me. First game I just blew them out of the water. Ping + TT, Waylay, NGTMD, I had all the answers. Second game was very close, I was one action or a Surprise Strike away from the win. They managed to get a Poe and Wrecker on field and I couldn't keep the damage off. Third game was extremely close. I got the Seventh Fleet Defender + TIE Advanced off, and from there it was just hold them down with Outmaneuver and a well timed Cartel Spacer to put the damage in. I managed to win the final game on deployment turn.

Afterthoughts

I was concerned running this deck into a meta with a lot of Boba1 decks because it can be a tough matchup, but I managed to dodge them early and had a good run into the ones I did verse. I don't think there's anything I'd change about this list, it's very well tuned and ran like clockwork. Even when you don't get the draws you want there are still ways to put insane amounts of damage on base.

I don't believe this is the best deck in the meta, but it's still extremely strong. I won this through my advantage of my opponents' inexperience in the matchup and the many hours of research and testing I did, which is more important than just playing what's best.

Shoutouts again

Overall it was a fun day. 12 hours of SWU and I somehow managed to take the win. I just wanted to give a final shoutout to Linque who built the original list and really helped me understand the deck and sideboard better, my friends online and in person who have helped me test and refine the list, as well as support me through the PQ. And of course the LGS's I attend regularly to play.

If anyone wants a full write up on individual card choices and how the sideboard works, I'd be happy to do one, however Linque is the original creator of the list and has far more games, a much deeper understanding, and can provide a more in-depth analysis of the deck as a whole.