All Kott Up: 2017 Star Trek Attack Wing World Championships

I've been following this game for four years now--almost as long as it's been in existence. In that time, I've seen it go through a few ages and shifts: cloaked Klingons, Cloaked Mines, the Borg menace and nerf; the Regionals and first Worlds, and Peter repeating the year after--all the way to the present day. I don't know this, but I feel in my bones that another shift is coming on. I think that, in years to come, we'll look back at Origins 2017--specifically Friday and Saturday, Nationals and Worlds--as the pivot point of a new era of Attack Wing... in the best possible way.

It started with the terrifyingly strong field at Nationals. It reached its peak with the announcements of new costs and new templating at the fan appreciation event. And it finished the only way it could: with the final match at Worlds. But in order to get there, we had to have the rest of the tournament first!

General Observations

Ng Convenient: One of the top 14 Nationals players who qualified for today was Chris Oberst--but he wasn't able to make it. Fortunately, the 15th-ranked player from yesterday, Howard Ng, happened to be on hand with a fleet! He was happy to join in the fun, and we were happy to have him--he's a great guy and a lot of fun to watch!

Nemeses: There were a variety of ships on display--mostly Federation, but bioships and one Borg geometry build also--but there were swarms of Reman warbirds and fighters everywhere. Of course, that's not terribly surprising: both boast extreme firepower and strong durability (assuming the Reman has the requisite Interphase Generator). Of course, one build towered above the rest...

Deep Space Mine: Last year, Dustin Gross barely missed the Worlds cut at Nationals with a DS9 build predicated around hiding behind a wall of mines. This idea has worked for others--Albert Hsia made Top 8 at the 2016 Modesto Regional with a similar concept--and Dustin was insistent that the build had legs. Unfortunately, he once again missed making the cut with it here... but almost every Origins attendee walking by turned their head to look at it!

One and Done? Not Quite: The idea of the quickplays was to have a quick one-round tournament and award some good prizes--a nice little filler while we waited for the big tournaments. They were so popular, though, that two quickplays happened during Worlds, and when I left today people were excitedly planning for tomorrow's rounds! I've been really thrilled with the enthusiasm that's been shown about STAW over the last few days--it left us all feeling like next year is going to be even bigger!

Gee WizKids!: Last year, if you asked any of the WizKids staffers involved with STAW about the game their faces took on what could only be described as a pained expression. This year, though? Their enthusiasm was so strong as to be contagious. They're happy about what's coming up--and in my opinion? You should be too! 

The Swiss

Four on the Floor: After four rounds of play yesterday--five or six for some--four more rounds quickly took their toll on the assembled playerbase. Richard and Ben, lending their considerable judging expertise once again, were sitting more than standing; Ben especially could hardly keep his eyes open and might even have been nodding off between rounds. As for myself? I spent as much time as I could sitting down, and I still feel like I've been in a high-speed shuttle crash. After I finish this off, I am going to go sleep forever!

Just Dance: If yesterday was about jousting, then today was about piloting. Perhaps it was fatigue setting, but the pace of play was far slower, more deliberate, and more maneuvering-focused. The fourteen best players in the world put on a wonderful clinic in how to play the game. A small recommendation: if you're not planning on coming out to Origins because it's just too competitive? Come anyway. These folks are a joy to watch.

Photon Finish: Here's how close the field was. Going into the final round of Swiss, Caley Roark was first in the standings at 3-0 and quite a lot of fleet points. There were still situations where he wouldn't have made the cut. Only four were going to advance, but it can't be stressed hard enough that these players were all fantastic and I can't think of a name I'd have been surprised to hear made it in.

ROUND FOUR FINAL STANDINGS, TOP 4 CUT:

1. Peter Smith, 4-0

2. Jordan Kott, 3-1

3. Caley Roark, 3-1

4. James Mendez, 3-1

Top Four: The Builds

PETER SMITH

Prior to today, there had been two Star Trek Attack Wing World Championships. Peter won them both. He also entered the Top 4 as the only undefeated player--in fact, he'd never lost a single ship at all! He's part of the Guelph, Ontario crew that also includes perennial winner of pretty much everything Joseph van der Jagt and Worlds contender Matt Dobson, as well as a high number of other highly skilled players.

USS ENTERPRISE-A

Jean-Luc Picard 9

Faked Messages

William T. Riker (Pegasus)

Sakonna

Upgraded Phasers

Type 8 Phaser Array

USS HATHAWAY

Khan Singh 6

Admiral Matt Decker

Ibix Dynasty

Lure

Warp Jump

Quark (Warp Jump)

Upgraded Phasers

Type 8 Phaser Array

SAKHAROV

Styles

Warp Jump

Second of Five

Cloaked Mines

Cloaked Mines

David Montgomery flew this build--designed by State of the Federation's own Robert Fletcher--in Nationals yesterday, and it frustrated Peter so badly that I literally saw him pulling at his hair. Naturally, his response was to run it the next day. This build is designed to hit you hard and make sure you never land a blow due to the powerful movement manipulation and effective attack cancellation that is Warp Jump... and Peter was carrying four. The one downside of all these Warp Jumps? No room for a resource--which Peter definitely felt the need for at least once!

JORDAN KOTT

Last year, I said that Jordan was a guy to watch. Not to blow my own horn, but boy was I ever right. Hailing from Seattle, WA, Jordan has emerged as one of the top fleet-builders in the game to the point where I now have to completely redo my list of playables just because of the three different builds he ran over the course of this past week. Prior to today his highest finish was a T4 in last year's Nationals, but he was well-equipped to improve on that here. He's always finding innovative new ways to combine cards--just like he does in the list below:

USS ENTERPRISE

Kor 8

Ibix Dynasty

Sakonna

Worf (Rotarran)

Deana Troi

Li Nalas

Tactical Station

Upgraded Phasers

Photonic Torpedoes

Charging Weapons

USS DEFIANT NCC-1764

Khan Singh 6

Admiral Q

Think Fast

Conditional Surrender

Jennifer Sisko

Miles O'Brien (Starter)

Cloaked Mines

Upgraded Phasers

Type 8 Phaser Array

QUARK'S TREASURE

Zek

Diplomacy

Second of Five

Quark (Projected Stasis Field)

Agony Booth

Resource: Co-Pilot

It's about 15 hours after I first saw this list, and I think I'm just now starting to get it. There's just way too much synergy to describe here, but I'm going to try anyway. Start with the obviously good chassis of the 3-attack Fed ships with the typical weapon upgrades. Sakonna and Worf on the Enterprise retain their traditional roles, and Li Nalas lets you Troi twice--but Li Nalas also serves as Madred insurance and all four help Kor with his rerolls. 

Meanwhile on the Defiant, Admiral Q and Think Fast are cards that are usually reserved for filling out an extra point... but here they effectively give a ship that needs maneuverability a red 1 Come-About and an extra die for a Tactical Station-infused alpha strike. Jen Sisko does double duty (seeing a theme yet?) as turn one disruption but is also the perfect choice for Think Fast--which only disables her, meaning that he can still O'Brien and have her around for Conditional Surrender. In other words, every Crew on this ship is serving two or even three purposes all at once... and the shuttle provides two attack cancels and a nasty PSF-Booth-Second of Five routine that will leave opposing fleets crippled to boot!

CALEY ROARK

Coming to us from Lancaster, PA, Caley came in 5th yesterday... which was his first Regionals+ event ever! He missed the Nats cut but made this one, and was in fact the only other 3-0 going into his round four match against Peter. Caley's a solid guy with a sound tactical mind for maneuvers--which is funny, considering his fleet:

USS DEFIANT

Ronald Moore

William T. Riker (Hood)

Systems Upgrade

Sakonna

Upgraded Phasers

Type 8 Phaser Array

Aft Phase Cannon

BIOSHIP BETA

Worf 5

Biological Technology

SCIMITAR

Gul Evek

Interphase Generator

Resource: Co-Pilot

This build is designed to do one thing: survive. Don't be fooled by the lack of upgrades on the big ships; they roll a ton of defense dice (and get blanks rerolled, in the Scim's case), and can get the Battlestations conversion with a quick Co-Pilot. Plus, with Biological technology in the mix, Caley was frequently rolling 4 defense dice while still keeping the Beta's hit cancel available. The Defiant rounds it all out by providing some offensive firepower at a bargain cost!

JAMES MENDEZ

Out of Indianapolis, IN, James's biggest claim to fame is finishing second at the 2016 Chicago Regional. If I had to pin him down, I'd say he's a fundamentals player: the kind of guy who can build a rock-solid win streak by keeping his eye on the ball and mastering the most basic elements over riskier flourishes. His build definitely reflected that mentality:

USS HATHAWAY

Gul Madred

Admiral Shanthi

William T. Riker (Pegasus)

Sakonna

Upgraded Phasers

Type 8 Phaser Array

Lure

VOR'CHA CLASS

Khan Singh 6

Detonation Codes

Cloaked Mines

Quark (?)

FEDERATION ATTACK SQUADRON

FEDERATION ATTACK SQUADRON

Resource: Co-Pilot

I'm not sure how much more digital ink can be spilled on two-fighter builds; they're strong, and so is this. After ganking, Madred gives way to Shanthi--who can reroll against cloaks (and pick up that sweet, sweet Co-Pilot conversion) at skill 7 thanks to Riker. I'm not sure what was under Quark--I think it was a second set of Cloaked Mines. This is a bread-and-butter fleet that pretty well represents the archetype by which all others are judged.

Top 4: The Matches

Peter Smith vs. James Mendez: This game starts out very slowly, with 1 and 2 forwards pretty much all around. Peter drops his mines then docks his shuttle; James turns around and starts dancing. It looks like he's anticipating a Warp Jump-fueled flank attack--or is moving to flank himself. Peter does nothing of the sort, content to move up slowly and bring Second of Five across from the shuttle. Slowly, cautiously, the two fleets dance towards and around each other... until Peter has the Vor'cha in range and rolls 7 hits! Unfortunately for him, however, James also has hot dice and rolls 4 evades--and, by spending a Co-Pilot token, ensures that only two hits get through.

Despite needing to get his fighters into the engagement, James moves them up slowly--he does not seem to want to fly them into Peter's mines. A bank by his Hathaway brings Peter's into range; the Vor'cha slams into the back of its own fighters. Peter elects to stick around for this engagement, and it pays off: the Hathaway and Enterprise-A combine for five damage, leaving James's Hathaway at a scant 2 hull. James only has a shot on Peter's Hathaway, and can only manage one damage in reply.

James finally drops his own mines and also has Madred tell Picard just how many lights there are--leaving Riker in charge. There's an awkward moment here where it's pointed out that Peter missed a mine trigger and James missed a Hathaway free action; everyone is starting to get pretty tired. The judges elect to have the players continue as is, though. James decides to have Projected Stasis Field hit the Enterprise-A, but that's more than enough motivation for Peter to Warp Jump both ships out of there and he immediately does so. James's fleet is now clustered in the middle of the map, pointed in all directions; Peter splits his ships on opposite sides of the map.

James flips his fighters around but loses tokens to a ton of damage from a debris field and Peter's mines, while the Vor'cha moves to bracket the Enterprise-A. That's cause for a second Warp Jump. Peter then takes out James's Hathaway; one fighter can shoot at his own, but Peter spends the Ibix Dynasty. The Enterprise-A reappears on Peter's side of the board, meaning that Peter's mines are once again between it and James's fleet. James expects more tricky maneuvering, but the Enterprise-A charges straight in--drawing a startled "Oh!" from James as it does so. Clearly not having expected that, James has had the fighters turned away... leaving them helpless under the Enterprise-A's guns. James's fighters turn towards the Hathaway, but it blows straight by them on the way to target the Vor'cha--which turns around to face it at range 3. That's the situation as the ten-minute mark is announced.

Peter doesn't want to face the Vor'cha on these terms, so the Hathaway spends its last Warp Jump. The Enterprise-A only manages one hit against the shieldless fighters it sees, but one still beats zero as James whiffs. Upgraded Phasers shoot again and take those fighters down to their last token. The Hathaway reappears facing them dead on; the fighters gamely bank toward it and take an evade, but the other set is nowhere near here and certainly won't arrive in time. Neither will the Vor'cha, which speeds back even with the APT--the Hathaway kills the fighters with one shot. At this point, Peter has taken out half of James's fleet while only taking one damage the entire game.

The Enterprise-A finally turns to face the Vor'cha, as does the Hathaway; James's last set of fighters only make it to range 3 and lose a shield to mines for their trouble. The Vor'cha, still carrying that APT, does a 3 bank into close engagement range; the Hathaway shoots down its shields and time is called. The Vor'cha finally does some damage by taking off the Hathaway's shields; the Enterprise-A's return fire can't quite seal the deal, but it's academic--Peter's ahead on points and has already won.

Jordan Kott vs. Caley Roark: In contrast to the other match going on, Caley sends in his big ships right away; his Defiant is more cautious, though, as are both of Jordan's ships. The Teenyprise picks up the shuttle and Cloaked Mines go down. After some closing maneuvers, Jordan relaunches the shuttle to hit the Scimitar with Diplomacy; it blows right past the shuttle and into the mines--where a hit and a crit turn into three hits thanks to Direct Hit. That's almost half its hull, and Jordan hasn't even shot yet! The 1764 turns to face the Scimitar, but also just barely has an unobstructed shot on the Beta; the Teenyprise does as well once it moves up. Troi disables Evek, but the shots are going to the Bioship; a Think Fast from Jordan and a whiff from Caley take off 5 of the Beta's 6 shields; that's enough to let the Tennyprise deal three crits to its hull--Communications Failure, Injured Captain, and Jostled Navigator! Worf might as well be blank now.

Caley scans on the Beta to dodge some mine damage, but Peter whiffs anyway; Quark's Treasure runs, but the Defiant has a shot. It takes an Evade, just in case. After some deliberation, the 1764 shoots at the Scimitar instead of the bioship, as it's not cloaked right now--and won't ever be again, as it shoots off all of the Scimitar's shields! The Teenyprise can't quite get the job done and leaves the Scimitar with 1 hull left; the Scimitar's reply leaves it with only 2 of its own. On the next round of shots, Jordan happily trades the Teenyprise for the Beta while the 1764 finishes off the Scimitar. That leaves the old Defiant pointed right at the new one and vice-versa, but the mines in the middle are Jordan's. The Defiant has already taken one mine damage and now takes two more--but the shuttle PSFs it anyway while Second of Five ganks Hood Riker. That leaves the Defiant with only 3 hull to its name, and Jordan's attack is a modified five hits and one crit. Caley only rolls one evade--Co-Pilot isn't enough to save the ship and that's the ballgame.

SEMIFINALS RESULTS:

Peter Smith defeats James Mendez

Jordan Kott defeats Casey Roark

FINALS: PETER SMITH VERSUS JORDAN KOTT

He bested Joseph van der Jagt's skill and swagger. He outflew Ben Cheung's machine-like precision. Will Peter Smith break rising star Jordan Kott's iron will and defend the championship that has only ever borne his name? 

Peter starts out by immediately losing... initiative, that is. He's fine with it, as both he and Jordan have movement tricks that work better when moving after their opponent. Obstacles go down in a sort of home-plate style pentagon pointed at Jordan and one his right; Jordan sets up on the clear match, but Peter puts himself on the Obstacle side. Jennifer Sisko hits the shuttle's Warp Jump and Second of Five and the game is on! ...Sort of: both fleets just inch forward, with the Teenyprise picking up Quark's Treasure and the Sakharov renabling Warp Jump. The Hathaway rocks backward--is Peter inviting Jordan to come to him? He drops one mine... and then the other, saying that he's tired of wasting time. That's a bad sign: if Peter's fatigued enough to not have his usual patience, this could go poorly for him.

The Defiant 1 banks in and comes-about with Q; the Enterprise-A finally pick up Peter's shuttle. The nearby derelict ship removes the APT it got for doing so, then it's back to maneuvers. Peter Lures the Teenyprise into banking towards him; the Defiant inches ahead to remove the APT it picked up from Q. Both of Peter's ships are in range of the Teenyprise; the first hit strips its shields but the second gets Ibixed. The Teenyprise returns fire with a Tactical Station-fueled alpha strike; the Enterprise-A takes an Injured Captian (which Riker immediately flips) a Warp Core Breach! As that's all for combat, Peter rolls for the beach and gets... a hit. Lord, that crit is nerve-wracking in play. Peter then attempts to drop his mines.

This results in a series of events that required a quite long judge ruling discussion that really isn't worth discussing--basically, the rules were clear but no one could find them on WORF. Long story short, Quark's Treasure winds up losing its shields and taking a crit after it moves and can't use Diplomacy. It can, however, Second of Five Riker. The Teenyprise takes a Minor Hull Breach off mines after it scans, and the Enterprise-A rams into Quark's Treasure--which deals it a lethal damage per the shuttle rules. The Hathaway barely misses the mines, but takes two obstacle damage. Peter has to make a decision now: does he Warp Jump away, or stay try and kill the Teenyprise?

He stays, but he makes a crucial mistake in doing so--he's forgotten that, without Riker around, the Teenyprise shoots first. It does so, and kills the Enterprise-A outright. The Hathaway alone can't get the job done against it, leaving the Teenyprise at one hull with an Engine Room Fire. It'll have to enter the minefield next turn, though and that might do it. Jordan thinks the same way, electing to risk a red reverse--and rolls a hit for Engine Room Fire, blowing up the Teenyprise! It's now all down to the Hathaway versus the Defiant. Peter Warp Jumps to the other side of the board; that's one of two. The Hathaway moves into Jordan's mines afterward, but they whiff. There can't be too much time left now before the ten minute mark; everyone can feel it, especially the players. Right now, Peter and Jordan have both scored 80 points--they're in a dead tie.

The Hathaway hits more mines, but they whiff again. Peter's in arc but doesn't have a shot on Jordan; he elects to remain instead of Warp Jumping and cancel the attack with Ibix Dynasty instead. The ten minute warning comes down--time is definitely running short, and the pressure is on. The Defiant 3 banks to bear on the Hathaway, safely out of mine distance; Peter can't get out of range and burns his last Warp Jump to go to the other side of the board. With the help of Q, Jordan does a 1 come-about and Peter inches forward; he's trying to force Jordan to fly through the mines again. They finally come through for him and strip two shields off of the Defiant--both ships are at five durability now, but the Defiant still has an attack cancel in its pocket. The Hathaway target locks, but takes a Console Fire from mines as Peter backs back out of range. He can't avoid the engagement forever, though, and Jordan has him scanned and locked now. Console Fire blanks, Jordan finally activates Think Fast by disabling Jen Sisko... and, after quality, rolls 3H3C. That's enough to kill Peter, and the Stunned Helmsman and Jordan's still-active Conditional Surrender seal the deal.

Jordan Kott defeats Peter Smith and is the new Star Trek Attack Wing World Champion.

Final Thoughts

It's somehow fitting that what feels like the end of an era would close with Peter Smith's reign as World Champion coming to an end. Star Trek Attack Wing is about to move into a new phase of its existence, and it's going to do so with a whole new set of players in the mix. The previews we saw this week show that it's going to be an almost totally different game in just a few months; while the old guard will still remain--Jordan, Peter, and Nationals Champion Joseph van der Jagt aren't going anywhere--I'm excited to see who else next year's Worlds will see crowned.

I ended my Nationals write-up last year by saying that I'd never been more optimistic about the future of Star Trek Attack Wing. I'm going to end my Worlds write-up this year on the same note. The future of this game is in good hands--both creators' and players'--and I, for one, can't wait to see what lies just beyond that second star on the right.