Our final elimination round preview article features the Worlds 2017 winner and defending World Cup champion, JJs Juggernaut against thecactusman17.
JJs Juggernaut
386 points
MC75 Ordnance Cruiser
- Ordnance Experts
- Electronic Countermeasures
- External Racks
- Assault Concussion Missiles
- Profundity
Total = (128 points)
Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette
- Ordnance Experts
- External Racks
Total = (43 points)
MC30c Torpedo Frigate
- Admiral Raddus
- Ordnance Experts
- Assault Concussion Missiles
- H9 Turbolasers
- Admonition
Total = (116)
GR-75 Medium Transports (18)
GR-75 Medium Transports (18)
Shara Bey A-wing Squadron (17)
Tycho Celchu A-wing Squadron (16)
VCX-100 Freighter (15)
VCX-100 Freighter (15)
VCX-100 Freighter (15)
Squadron Total = (63 points)
thecactusman17
358 points
Gladiator-1 Star Destroyer - 56
-Admiral Motti - 24
-Intel Officer - 7
-Ordnance Experts - 4
-Assault Proton Torpedoes - 5
-Demolisher - 10
Total = 106
Kuat Star Destroyer - 112
-Intel Officer - 7
-Boarding Troopers - 3
-Advanced Projectors - 6
-Leading Shots - 4
-Assault Proton Torpedoes - 5
-Avenger - 5
Total = 142
Gozanti Cruisers - 23
-Slicer Tools - 7
Total = 30
Gozanti Cruisers - 23
-Slicer Tools - 7
Total = 30
Gozanti Cruisers - 23
-Comms Net - 2
Total = 25
Gozanti Cruisers - 23
-Comms Net - 2
Total = 25
The Match-up
JJ is the sole surviving Raddus player for the elimination rounds. It's not hard to see why. He brings a decent balance of tools to the game. Shara, Tycho, and the VCXs can mitigate all but the worst squadron wings, while keeping strategic objectives in play. He's not afraid of things like Fire Lanes or Sensor Net because he is more than capable of snatching the tokens as first player. It also wouldn't be a JJ Rebel list if he didn't bring his pet Admo. The defining part of his list, however, is the Russian doll Profundity. He bids well for first player in an attempt to jump in Profundity with Raddus, and the drop out the Hammerhead with the Profundity title. It's a gimmick, but one that packs a good punch. The Hammerhead gets around the Raddus restriction, so it combines perfectly with first player.
Unfortunately for JJ, he's not going to get first player in this game. Cactus brings an absolutely ridiculous bid to the table. I'm told he was supposed to have Engine Techs that somehow got edited out of the final list by accident. That still means he meant to bring only 364 points. He doesn't even attempt to play the squadron game. He makes no qualms about what he's trying to do. The Gozantis are little more than activation padding for Demolisher and, most of all, Avenger. I'm not convinced a Kuat Avenger is really an upgrade over the ISD I version. Against another ISD or an MC80, you really want to be able to lock down 3 tokens. In this game against JJ, however, he only really need 2: the brace and the redirect on Profundity and the two redirects on Admo.
This is probably the worst matchup JJ could have asked for coming out of Pod #7. He really wants to be first player. Instead, he has to contend with a last/first Avenger, which will get to deploy after Admonition. Still, I consider JJ to have the activation advantage because of how Raddus and Profundity will toss the usual paradigm out the window. JJ has the squadron advantage, which is going to be less about the bombing capabilities, and more about JJ's free reign with strategic. Look for JJ to play a conservative game based around his objectives. The game will essentially boil down to if he can snipe Demo without losing Admo to Avenger. Even if they trade, JJ could rack up the objective points depending on what objective Cactus selects.
Truthiness' Bet
I've made it a rule to never bet against JJ unless he's at a massive disadvantage. He doesn't have the best match-up here, but I think he's going to find one of his oh-so-frustrating ways to squeak it out and move on to the quarterfinals.
JJ played a smart game by not engaging at all against a superior combat list. In fact, the game was decided almost immediately during objective deployment because Intel Sweep allowed him to get a nearly immediate score advantage and escape without worry for his remaining ships or squadrons leaving with points to recuperate. Without Engine Techs to turn Demolisher back to the fight, there simply wasn't sufficient solace or turns to recover.
ReplyDeleteI do politely want to disagree with the statement that my flotillas were only "activating padding." If they were I wouldn't have equipped them with nearly 20 points in upgrades and instead fielded another low risk flotilla. Unlike some other flotilla builds, mine are intended to be directly working with my Fleet or interfering with my opponent's fleet repeatedly over the course of the game.
- thecactusman17