What to Play?

This weeks letter comes from Chris: 

Is it better to play competitively all the time in DCI 
or is it better to mix it up and play some fun squads? 
Like say instead of brings B&B or super stealth you 
bring a CS jedi squad or a palpy sith lord and clone squad?

thanks for the time.

Sincerely,

Chris

Thanks for the letter, Chris.  There really isn’t a right or wrong answer to this question.  However, there can be consequences for your choice.  Anyone can bring any type of squad they want to a tournament.  What you bring should be only based on what you want.  Fun squads can be a lot of fun to play, but taking it to an environment where tier 1 squads run rampant may not be very fun.  If you don’t mind losing consistently to squads like that then go right ahead, but not everyone can have fun consistently losing.

I think that the other side of the coin can be more damaging, though.  If you bring top squads week in and week out, it can actually hurt your play environment.  If a player can constantly rotate through different squads and still not get beat, then there really isn’t much you can do.  The player is just that good.  Players that always bring the same heavy hitting squads, like a B&B, can actually hurt the local environment.  The same gatekeeper squad showing up every single week really limits what can be played and still expect to win.  As I said, people do not like to lose to the same squad in and out every single week.  When people know they cannot beat something, it defeats the whole purpose to going to tournaments, and can dry up participation.

In the end you have to play what suits you best.  The important thing is to go out and have fun.  I, personally, enjoy rotating through different squads.  While I almost always play Jedi, whom I use rotates fairly heavily.  I rarely run the same squad twice within a few months, but not all players enjoy this or have the pieces to do this.  Top players are the ones that need to be careful what they play because I have seen and heard about venues drying up because the same abusive squad was run week in and week out.  If you play different squads, it can be fun to bring a tier 1 squad for a week or two, but then switch it up and bring something for the fun of it.  Those that are conscience of what they run as it pertains to their local gaming environment tend to have better playing venues that will grow and prosper even through these long lags between sets.

Thanks for the letter, Chris.  I hope this answers your email.  Anyone with a question or subject they would like me to tackle, feel free to email me at Sithdragon13@yahoo.com.  See you next week!

SD13