Zions Finest - A Star Wars: Shatterpoint Podcast (Zions Finest)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! (To those of you celebrating in the United States or celebrating outside these states. For everyone else, eat a turkey sandwich in my honor or something.)

We gathered round the board after playing multiple games to do some list breakdowns and talk about what we most enjoyed about Shatterpoint at this stage in the game's evolution. It's an excellent episode for you to listen to as you journey to your folks' house to enjoy a sumptuous feast, or for simple commuting.

We love you all and hope you have a joyous time with your family and friends this week.

If you're in the Reno, Nevada area on December 16, Cody is hosting a Showdown event that promises to be tons of fun. It's at the Game Kastle. GO AND HAVE FUN!

Join the Slack! Rate and review the podcast! If you're listening on Spotify, make sure to respond to the poll question!

WE. LOVE. YOU!!!

Hello and welcome to Episode 7 of Zion's Finest! In this episode, Matt and JK discuss Jango Fett and how he highlights important issues to think about with terrain. They discuss terrain and its importance to a dynamic and challenging game as well as the importance of building a list that can be flexible when facing different arrangements of terrain. They also inaugurate the first POINT / SHATTER-POINT by discussing how many ladders are appropriate for a competitive game. JK says NONE (just kidding he says a few) and Matt tries to offer some sanity. Thank you for listening! Join the Slack!!! We love you all!

Welcome to Episode 19! In this episode, Kenny and Matt discuss results from a recent premier tournament and break down different approaches to building a premier list. Their discussion is wide-ranging, but there is a lot of good stuff here to mull over as we start participating in premier events.

Join the Slack! Fill out the Google Form so you can get a promo (which requires you to be a member of the Slack)! Be good to each other! Have fun! That's all!

This is the Salt Lake Open prep episode! The SLO post-op will be releasing tomorrow. In this episode, Kenny and Matt talk through their preparations for the SLO, with Sam serving as Adam Smith's impartial spectator to opine on improvements and things for them to think about.

This episode was recorded the Thursday before SLO, which has since transpired, and so they benefit from a lack of knowledge concerning subsequent events. It makes for a fun conversation.

Thank you to everyone who came to the SLO!!! It was a blast of an event and we love you all!

Join the Slack!

Hello and welcome to Episode 24! In this episode, Kenny, Scott, Matt, and Curtis discuss conditions and strategize about assessing their potential value and when you should go for conditions vs. damage. It's more strategy focused and generally muses upon coordinated fire, leveraging conditions for maximum value, and other such things.

If you're in Reno or thereabouts, you should attend Cody's Shatterpoint tournament on December 16. Dice roll at 11:30 AM. $20 buy-in.

If you're ... in the EU? Northern Europe? I honestly don't know people's appetite for travel, you should go to DefCon, which is happening on January 6-7. They will have TWO showdown events--one on January 6, and the second on January 7. It promises to be a ton of fun.

Thank you! We love you all

Playing Shatterpoint well is hard. Painting Shatterpoint figures well is even harder. In this episode, Scott and JK rank by ease-of-pop the figures currently released in Shatterpoint.

Thee ranking is not based on which figures are the "best," or most dynamic models, but rather the intersection of ease of painting with quality of model. Even if you're not as interested in the hobby aspect, you will gain valuable insights in terms of thinking about how to approach the figures that you have not yet painted.

A bunch of announcements (mostly for tournaments):

• THIS WEEK! DECEMBER 9TH!!! Jon M. is hosting a tournament in Louisville, KY. It's free, it's a showdown, and it's in Louisville. What more do you need to know?! Also, Scott is offering up a free commission painting for a random player at the tournament. Scott is also a professional painter, so I am half-tempted to fly to Louisville to bribe Jon to let me take home the prize. My wife is probably giving birth the day before, though, so I guess I'm out.
• Cody is hosting a tournament on December 16 in Reno, NV at the Game Kastle. Dice roll at 11:30 Pacific and it's a $20 buy-in.
• DefCon is happening in Linkoping, Sweden and Christofer wants you there! It's two separate showdown tournaments happening on January 6-7.
• For our listeners in Australia, Tobias is helping organize a tournament on January 26-28, 2024 in Canberra. It's happening at Exhibition Park in Canberra, Flemington Road Mitchell ACT 2911, Australia. It's part of the Star Wars World Open Qualifier and looks freaking amazing.

WE LOVE YOU ALL! JOIN THE SLACK!!!

Hello and welcome to Episode 38 of Zion's Finest! In this episode, Kenny, JK, and Scott discuss recent games with Luke and Vader-2 and talk about the spoilers for Moff Gideon and the strengths of his card. (Spoiler, we think he's gonna be real good.)

Rate and review the podcast! Join the Slack! We love you all!

IT HAPPENED! Sam was able to record an episode with Vince and we suffered no technical mishaps!!! Vince drops a serious knowledge bomb regarding thinking about "dead draws" and how to build and play around optimizing for the cards in your deck and assessing whether or not units should be brought in the first place. It is excellent.

JOIN THE SLACK! RATE AND REVIEW THE PODCAST! COME TO THE ZIFI INVITATIONAL ON MAY 18!!!!!!

Welcome to Episode 74! We will have our LVO episodes start releasing on Monday, January 27, but this episode was recorded right after LVO and was an opportunity for Ken and Dan to ask and answer rapid-fire questions from the community.

This is just a straight-up fun episode. We talk about the competitive meta, surviving cons, etc., with a series of community-generated questions.

Best of luck to those playing at CanCon and Torchlight this weekend. Another round of amazingly competitive tournaments.

JOIN THE SLACK!

Hello and welcome to Episode 13 of Zions Finest! This one is a doozy and I apologize for the length but it was genuinely difficult to get Matt to shut up when he started going. Mattistyping, more like Mattistalkingandwontshutup amirite?!

Just kidding. Matt did awesome laying out what we think is a solid framework for parsing how to attack Struggles Two and Three when you fail to take the first struggle--or how you can slow the tempo down so that maybe you can actually take Struggle One against a more aggressive list.

Thank you for listening!

If you speak German (or if you want to learn German!) make sure to check out the Boshuda Podcast!

Last reminder for the event on September 16 at Black Dragon Games in Twin Falls.

Please join the Slack! Let me know if you can bring terrain to LVO!

(Sorry the poll question didn't work this week. Spotify was being temperamental.)

It's Episode 48. It's the week before the ZiFi Invi., and that means that it's time for sweaty tryhard episodes talking about meta archetypes and where they fit for competitive tournaments.

In this episode, Matt is joined by none other than Jesse Eakin from Hello There to talk about their mutual masochism: their love of the Republic. Jesse is bona fide with respect to the Republic. He has taking them through competitive tournaments and done well, and he shares his insights with Matt as to approaches with the Republic--especially in light of the new stuff that has come out recently.

You dadgum better be listening to Hello There.

Join the Slack! See you this weekend!!!

Welcome to Episode 79!

We are releasing this episode on both audio platforms and Youtube. Feel free to enjoy it in whatever way you see fit but know that JK prepared some beautiful slides for you should you choose to consume content with your eyeballs.

This is a bonus episode that we are releasing to discuss Ahsoka Fulcrum and Vader-3. We meant for this to be shorter, but of course we couldn't shut our yaps. Forgive the incongruities; we meant to record and release this baby quickly for your enjoyment. We love you all! Come talk about the recent spoilers on the Slack!

SCHOOL IS IN SESSION NERDS! In this episode, Matt and Sam give another great discussion about thinking about damage vs. repositioning vs. a blend of the two in list-building and play style. They talk about understanding your win condition, your opponent's win condition, and how that should affect your strategic decisions in the game. This one is a real gem folks.

JOIN THE FREAKING SLACK! THE ZIFI INVI IS FULL! THERE'S ALWAYS OCTOBER!

Welcome to Episode 78!

Everyone once in a while, we record and release something really special on ZiFi, and it generally involves Sammy Sweets talking about something that has been stuck in his brain. This is one for the ages. Sammy and Matt get together to talk about design, agency, and a myriad other aspects of gaming that you will find interesting on both abstract and instantiated levels. They talk about how and why certain Shatterpoint units feel strong, what comes up short, and offer different frames for analyzing and thinking through units and lists. You will love it.

Fill out the Google Form if you want to get a copy of the Kanan Iden promo (which is the best we have done so far, you will love it). All you gotta do is be on the Slack. Link to join is here.

We love you!

Hello and welcome to Episode 30 of Zions Finest! In this episode, Scott, Sam, and Kenny discuss recent games and lists that they have been playing, talk about Leia (Boushh), Stormtroopers, and General Leia, and then give thoughts on running a successful tournament. Thank you for listening! Rate and review the podcast and join the Slack!

Hello and welcome to Episode 20 of the Zion's Finest!

In this episode, we complete our tier-list and discuss the currently-released supporting units. There is a general consensus around most things, but some interesting fights and discussions regarding units' strengths and weaknesses.

I would highly encourage you to watch it on Youtube so that you can follow our ranking as we go.

Join the Slack! We love you! Have a great Halloween!

In Episode 23, Kenny, Sam, and Scott give a brief overview of a recent tournament and discuss results and what we think it (might) mean for the meta.

They then pivot to an overview of Sabotage Showdown and how it plays differently from Shifting Priorities.

JOIN THE SLACK! Have a great week.

Vader GG is good. Some would say too good. (Me. I say it's too good.) But let's say you are wanting to square off against it, or prepare for it at a premier event. What can you do? What can men do against such hate?!

NEVER FEAR! Sam and I have played with and against Vader GG and have thoughts on how you can approach listbuilding into Vader GG and playing against it in your games.

Thank you for listening! Join the Slack and get a promo!

Welcome to Episode 47! In this episode, Scott, Matt, and Kenny talk about preparing for the ZiFi Invi, with some thoughts on the meta, they're lists that they're prepping with to prepare for the sweaty try-hards (who are, spoiler, themselves), and how they think matchups play out.

They close with a discussion of tournament etiquette, with a specific focus on rules and norms that will be in force at the invitational, but also general takes on how players should behave in various settings.

Join the Slack! We love you and will see you in TWO WEEKS!!!

Hopefully not the dystopian future of Huxley amirite. In this shorter episode (we'll tell you why when we start), Kenny and Sam give quick thoughts on minimal plays of Luke and Plo, and then give more substantial thoughts on revisiting Barriss, Sabe, and Snips in the context of the new units that have dropped.

Thank you for listening! Join the Slack!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Join us at your leisure for a fireside chat hosted by JK in which he queries Scott and Kenny on the future of Shatterpoint in 2024. WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?! WILL SPECTRE CELL BREAK THE GAME?! HEAVEN HELP US!!!

We love you all. Join the Slack.

DON'T SAY WE NEVER GAVE YOU NOTHIN.

In this episode, Kenny is joined by his brother Aman who drops some serious knowledge with respect to the Mama Dooku list, with a particular focus at breaking down the fundamentals and talking about piloting the list in a thickening meta. Aman, as always, has excellent insights and you will love his commentary here. We wanted to drop it so soon after our last release (and as part of a flurry of recent episodes) for those prepping for the ZiFi Invi.

Listen to Hello There and subscribe to their Patreon.

Join the Slack!

THE ZIFI INVI. IS IN DAYS, PEOPLE. DAYS!!!

Hello and welcome to a mid-week bonus episode of Zions Finest! In this episode, Kenny is joined by Dan (RedWolf) to talk about the Batch, listbuilding, play patterns, and matchups. Dan has been running the Batch a ton recently (and went 4-0 at a well-attended local tournament) and has some great insights.

We will have two episodes releasing next week in preparation for the ZiFi Invi., and maybe a third. Who knows?! We're nuts. We love you all.

JOIN THE SLACK!!!

But not today! Join us for part two of our tier-making session. This time we discuss Secondaries. There's some movement, and a bit of fighting (again, an acceptable amount).

Here's the link for DION'S FINEST! A showdown tournament happening in Minnesota (at FFG's (old?) headquarters)!

Here's the link for the UKGE Grand Tournament. It was a great event capped at twenty-four players. Many thanks to the Gaos for doing such a great job running it.

Join the Slack!

Welcome to Episode 75! In this episode, Scott and Kenny discuss the LVO tournament, with a particular focus on more high-level analysis of the matchups from their run through the tournament. There is less of a focus on play-by-play analysis (as in, we tried to avoid it entirely), and more a discussion on how their lists (Iden Moff and Kanan Hera) played into the respective field. They close with a discussion on matchups generally, and why Iden feels so strong right now.

Scott and Kenny took first and second respectively at the tournament, so at least you know you are not getting the worst advice from ZiFi ... we normally give pretty bad advice.

We love you all! Join the Slack!

In this episode, Kenny and Sam talk about the Mama Dooku list. Why is it so strong? What is it trying to do? This is (probably) part one of this discussion, because we did not really talk about meaningful tech against the list (we're working on that), but you will enjoy the discussion.

JOIN THE SLACK!

Whew boy, sorry for that super long title but it was not possible to shorten it. In this episode, Kenny, Scott, and JK talk about different approaches to list-building, with Kenny taking a particular emphasis on how he thinks about list-building around a single unit (Luke, and now Mando).

Join the Slack!

Welcome to Episode 70! In this episode, Kenny and Dyz break down the Mando list. This is the first of a series of pseudo LVO-prep episodes where we discuss list construction, piloting, and strategy with an eye towards preparing to fight with or against this list. You will enjoy Dyz's scorching hot takes here.

Listen to the Rogue Support podcast! They are awesome!

Rate and review the podcast! Join the Slack! Have a Merry Christmas and a happy holidays!!!

Hello everyone and welcome to Episode 6! With the game out for almost two months, the TTS league long underway, and the store tournament season kicking off, Sam and I discuss the shape of the meta, whether Grievous is too good, whether the Seps are too good, and whether Anakin is too bad (he's not, but we don't think he's found his place).

It's a fun, less strategic episode (though Sam has many strategic thoughts) and more general survey as to how everything seems to be doing. I love this kind of stuff and hope you do too.

Join the Slack and have a ton of fun discussing the game and list-building!

Hello and welcome to Episode 27 of Zion's Finest! This episode is a list-building and play strategy episode for the Separatist Alliance. It is especially geared toward newer players, but there is absolutely deeper discussions for those of you that are more experienced with the faction.

Announcements:

• We are set up for LVO. There will be a night of official play there, and I am confident that people will be looking for games. Let us know if you will be there so we can schedule a meetup and some games.
• ⁠⁠DefCon is happening in Linkoping, Sweden⁠⁠ and Christofer wants you there! It's two separate showdown tournaments happening on January 6-7.
• For our listeners in Australia, Tobias is helping organize ⁠⁠a tournament on January 26-28, 2024 in Canberra⁠⁠. It's happening at Exhibition Park in Canberra, Flemington Road Mitchell ACT 2911, Australia. It's part of the Star Wars World Open Qualifier and looks freaking amazing.

WE LOVE YOU ALL! ⁠⁠JOIN THE SLACK⁠⁠ AND YOU WILL GET AN AWESOME PROMO!!!

Welcome to Episode 42! The Adepticon Episode (or the first of the Adepticon episodes!)!

In this episode, Kenny and Scott are joined by the brothers from Chatterpoint, an excellent Star Wars: Shatterpoint podcast, to discuss the results from Adepticon and give a snapshot of the meta, what did well, what made the cut, creative lists, and general matchups. If you're looking for more competitive grist, this is the episode for you.

Listen to Chatterpoint! Join the Slack! We love you! One spot left for the ZiFi Invi!

I apologize! Curtis and I recorded an episode discussing the Batch (which it turns out is the Good Batch), but there was something weird with his audio file and it was too late to rerecord. So accept this short apology and interregnum while we wait for the next episode and the RELEASE OF THE MANDO!!!

We love you! Join the Slack!

Hello and welcome to Episode 3 of Zion's Finest!

In this episode, Kenny Brown, Sam Sweeten, and Scott Nielsen provide some general breakdowns and analysis of three figures with whom they have been getting the most reps. Kenny discusses Ahsoka (Jedi No More), Sam discusses Kalani, and Scott discusses Anakin.

They also discuss the economy of Shatterpoint compared to MCP and provide some general commentary on games that they have played recently.

You will enjoy their banter and hopefully gain some insight as to how you can leverage these pieces in your games (Sam's discussion of Kalani is especially awesome).

Please join the Slack! We are having so much fun discussing list-building, strategy, and the game generally.

https://join.slack.com/t/zionsfinest/shared_invite/zt-1x1ho0sxg-CqFgEeSASNb4db0TBS59vA

Hello and welcome Episode 2 of the Zions Finest podcast! We are thrilled to have you join us!

In this episode, Sam Sweeten and Matthew Richards discuss positioning and how to leverage movement and repositioning for maximum advantage in your Shatterpoint games. They also discuss the strategy and tempo of movement in offense and defense generally, and provide context concerning the tradeoffs you will face in dealing damage as opposed to moving units on the board--and how that can be used to maximum effect.

Please join us on the Slack. We have so much fun discussing Star Wars, Shatterpoint, and everything else that touches our fancy. We would love to have you participate with us. Join by accessing this link:

https://join.slack.com/t/zionsfinest/shared_invite/zt-1x1ho0sxg-CqFgEeSASNb4db0TBS59vA

Read Sam's article here:

https://gglogan.com/blogs/weekly-articles/begun-the-clone-wars-has-part-1-primary-characters

Thank you for listening!

What do you do when all the cool kids are going to Adepticon and you can't go? You make believe that you too are cool and discuss what Star Wars: Shatterpoint (TM) plastic toys you would bring of course!

In this episode, Kenny, Sam, and Scott discuss the premier lists that they would have brought to Adepticon and give meta and other analysis and predictions.

Everyone who is going, don't forget about us! Tell us everything that is happening!!!

Join the Slack and get a promo!

In this episode, Kenny and Scott discuss their first and second place finishes at the Salt Lake Open. They discuss the meta of the tournament, their swiss matchups (it was a straight swiss event with five rounds), and their thoughts on the power levels and points of observation from the tournament.

Kenny was able to win with Kanan/Sabine/Chopper, P. Leia/Kallus/Rangers, Dooku Box, Grievous Box. Scott lost in the final round and his list was Iden Box, Moff Box, Dooku Box, and Vader/Obi-2/Bar-2.

Enjoy it! Join the Slack!!!

First off, rest in peace James Earl Jones. That good man with the greatest voice has gone home. We added as appropriate of a tribute as we could on short notice. That is why the format for the episode is slightly beatified, as we included some of the iconic moments of Darth Vader from the original trilogy in tribute to the master.

Second off, JK had an awesome idea to do box reviews, but with a twist. We looked at each of the upcoming boxes with the specific question of: where will this fit? Will it hit with a splash, a ripple, or an ignominious belly flop that somehow goes not with a bang but with a whimper and slinks to the bottom of the pool and someone should probably send in a lifeguard. Are we wrong? Most undoubtedly. Listen and come tell us why.

Go listen to Episodes 1 and 2 of the Clan of Two. Those guys are awesome and we are thrilled to have them joining the field.

Here is the Longshanks link for the Grand Tournament happening in Montreal at the end of October. It's in Montreal! That alone is reason to go! If you are in eastern Canada or the northeastern United States you should put this on your calendar. It will be glorious.

The ZiFi Invi. has one spot left, and the swag will be legendary.

JK's title, not mine. How I wish I could take credit for it.

Do you want to run Ewoks? And by Ewoks, we mean the best two Ewoks, which are Leia FF and Logray? Well, look no further, because Dean has been absolutely crushing into all non-Iden Empire lists with this incredible concatenation. In this episode, Dean breaks down his list, why it works, how it plays, what to look for and watch out for, and its matchups. He has incredible insights from an off-meta perspective as to where Ewoks are at, why this list works like it does, and additional thoughts on the Ewoks as a sub-faction.

Enjoy it. Take the last spot available for the ZiFi Invi.

Join the Slack! It's better than Microsoft Teams (that's for you Winter).

I enjoy random walks as much as any econ PhD out of the University of Chicago, but how am I supposed to handle the inability to control my Shatterpoint deck and dice variance?!?!?! (Like many of you, I am also still reeling from Fama sharing the Nobel Prize with Hansen and Shiller. What a wild world we live in.)

In this episode, Matt leads a discussion as to how to think about randomness in Shatterpoint, how luck and skill are not mutually exclusive (thanks Richard Garfield), and how to leverage and enjoy both in your gaming. We focus on how Obi-Wan is an exemplary piece in smoothing out randomness in crucial aspects of your matches, but also how randomness can be skill-testing in a way that is extremely satisfying. You will enjoy this discussion.

Here's a link to Richard Garfield's lecture on Skill vs. Luck in games.

Join the Slack!!!

In Episode 33, Kenny, Matt, and Scott talk about reassessments to various units, including Lumi, Anakin, Bo, GI, and Barriss. We talk about what we got wrong about the unit in our initial takes, where we think they fit, and try to give additional context for listbuilding in the face of a soon-to-be widening meta-game.

Join the Slack!

Check out Full Tilt! And their freaking awesome Etsy shop!

Results from Black Dragon (14 person in Idaho), Magic Stronghold (18 person in Vancouver, B.C.), and CANCON!!!!! (28! peron in Capital Territory, Australia). Congratulations to Luke Thompson on taking home a 5-0. That's awesome.

Hello and welcome to Episode 26 of Zion's Finest!

In this episode, Matt and Kenny discuss what they undervalued, overvalued, and simply got wrong about the game when they first started playing. They also (briefly) discuss nerfs, buffs, etc. that they think necessary to ensure the long-term health of the game.

Announcements:

• Cody is hosting ⁠a tournament on December 16 in Reno, NV at the Game Kastle⁠. Dice roll at 11:30 Pacific and it's a $20 buy-in.
• ⁠DefCon is happening in Linkoping, Sweden⁠ and Christofer wants you there! It's two separate showdown tournaments happening on January 6-7.
• For our listeners in Australia, Tobias is helping organize ⁠a tournament on January 26-28, 2024 in Canberra⁠. It's happening at Exhibition Park in Canberra, Flemington Road Mitchell ACT 2911, Australia. It's part of the Star Wars World Open Qualifier and looks freaking amazing.
• I will be confirming LVO terrain sets this week!

WE LOVE YOU ALL! ⁠JOIN THE SLACK⁠!!!

Hello and welcome to Episode 77! In this episode, Sean and Kyle talk about their 4-1 runs at the Torchlight GT that happened in Ontario, Canada last month. Rather than giving play-by-plays, they focus on matchups and thoughts regarding how lists performed against each other. It's a part of our drive to move away from minute descriptions of games to talk more about how lists are and should be performing. It's a great discussion and Sean and Kyle are as always full of incredible insights.

Check out Kyle's tablebound.ca. The website and products offered are absolutely phenomenal and you could not be supporting a better business.

Check out the Tablebound Open, which will be an absolutely amazing event with tons of swag and prize support. It happens over May 3-4.

Also check out the Battle for the Breath, a great charity tournament happening in June.

For people wanting the dual-sided Kanan / Iden promo, make sure to join the Slack and then fill out the Google Form.

Welcome to Episode 73! This is a continuation of our LVO prep series and is focused on the Rebel faction. Specifically, we are looking at constructing and piloting Rebels at a competitive tournament.

Sammy Kaye and Jesse are experts at rebelling, and they have incredible insights in terms of thinking about running Rebels as one part or all of your premier list. This is an awesome discussion, and we think you will enjoy it.

Join the Slack! Good luck to everyone going to LVO this week! Unless you're playing Kenny! In which case may your dice fail miserably!

Huge shoutout to Todd and Aubrey at Momentous Struggle for making LVO happen for Shatterpoint, and for all the work they have put in. We love those brothers and they have done an excellent job.

Who wants to play an oppressively strong list that just chokes the life out of the opposition? Who wants to play a list that has the best offense, solid durability, incredible control, and awesome mobility?

Well, here's the list:

Vader / Obi-2 / Magnas

Grievous / Jango / Flex (5th Brother/Super Commandos, but lots of options)

Scott and I discuss why we think this list is doing so strong right now, if it has any weak points, and discuss how it fared into other archetypes at a recent event at a local store.

Please join the Slack! Help us figure out how to beat Vader Grievous! Get a promo!

Here's the Facebook link to the event on September 16 at Black Dragon Games in Twin Falls.

Make sure to put October 14 on your calendar for a ZiFi Tournament! Go to LVO! There will be a Shatterpoint event!

** UPDATE - If you downloaded this Sunday night or Monday morning redownload it. We were missing 30 seconds of Sam’s audio but that has been fixed. **

I drafted a long description for this episode twice. Spotify ate it. Twice. This episode is Sammy Kaye and Kenny discussing the meta like try-hards. Enjoy it.

The Shattered Mirrors event is happening Sept. 20–22 in Lansing, MI. Message Paul on the Slack with any questions. It will be an awesome format and an awesome event. There is also a standard premier tournament.

Dion's Finest September Tournament is happening on Sept. 28. We sent up some Vader-2/Luke and Obi-1/Dooku alt-arts. You should go. Dion is awesome.

The ZiFi Invi. Open with WiFi is happening on October 19. We're at 19 of 24 players. Prize support will be awesome, including a custom range 2 ruler and x1 offense and x1 defense dice from the AMG GT Packet ... and more! Come have fun with us. Message me if you are coming from out of town and need a place to stay.

Welcome to Episode FIFTY! In this episode, Kenny and Scott discuss the Top 8 cuts from the five largest premier events in the last six months: Polish Nationals, CanCon, Adepticon, Galactic Conquest, and the ZiFi Invi. (Longshanks links included). These are all the standard premier listbuilding tournaments with sixteen or more players in that time period.

They discuss how the meta has shifted over the last six months, what lists are consistently rising to the top, what could form a stable core for premier lists going forward, and give some preliminary thoughts on the summer's releases and how they impact things.

Utah is having a Shatterpoint Grand Tournament! It's happening at the Salt Lake Open (a large wargaming convention in Utah) which supports a local veterans group. Abi is TO'ing the event and it will be awesome. Tickets have gone on sale and we would love to see you there! August 2nd and 3rd (Friday and Saturday). More details are in the #shatterpoint-op channel on the Slack.

WE LOVE YOU ALL! JOIN THE SLACK!

Hello and welcome to Episode 12 of Zion's Finest! In this episode, Sam and Scott discuss Momentum and how to conceptualize it for purposes of control and tempo. Anakin serves as the unit highlight for this principal, and they do an excellent job talking about how to think through what you should be doing on your turn to give you a competitive advantage. It's a great episode.

Here's the Facebook link to the event on September 16 at Black Dragon Games in Twin Falls.

Please join the Slack! Let me know if you can bring terrain to LVO!

We love you all!

Welcome to Episode 65! Matt headlined this episode, wanting to talk about how to help potential players to know (1) if they would like Shatterpoint and (2) how to approach buying for Shatterpoint.

While this is mostly for new players, I think everyone would enjoy this episode and we would really love feedback with respect to our buyer's guide as we discuss the factions.

Join the Slack!!!

Yes that is a reference to this song from Frank Sinatra. You're welcome.

In this episode, Scott and Kenny briefly discuss the highs and the lows from LVO, what went well and what didn't, and what to expect in the future.

Check out Chatterpoint! A new Star Wars Shatterpoint podcast from some dudes in B.C.! Even if they're wrong about their support tiers! These guys are awesome.

Join the Slack!

That's right I said it.

Merry Christmas everyone!!! We hope that everyone has a safe and warm holiday and more importantly than spending time with their family is able to get a few games of Shatterpoint in! (I kid, I kid.)

In this episode, Matt, Sammy Kaye, and Kenny talk about the Ki-Adi-Mundi box and give their thoughts on the patent strengths and weaknesses and talk about where they think it lands. They close with a short wishlist for Christmas from AMG.

THANK YOU ALL FOR LISTENING! HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY!!! SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!!!

Shatterpoint takes the traditional maxim that you should never bring a knife to a gun fight and turns it on its head. You best not bring a gun to this knife fight, as the current meta and spread of objectives heavily favors units that are able to scrum, get on objectives, push people off of objectives, and swing at those poor suckers dumb enough to get close.

Sam and I discuss why it is that the current meta favors melee figures, if we expect that to change, and how competitive players should be approaching list-building and matchups.

Join the Slack! Bring your lists! Get a promo!!!

Hello and welcome to Episode 14 of Zion's Finest!

In this episode, Sam and Ben Varnum (new to the cast) discuss a recent tournament in which Ben participated and how Ben was able to win struggles two and three in matches and how to negotiate the sharing of time in a tournament setting. Ben also discusses how he plotted his distribution of lists to account for terrain and matchups.

They both offer excellent insights into the use and management of time and spend a good amount of time discussing its mutual management with your opponent, a tournament organization for it, etc.

Join the Slack and discuss the Ministravaganza with us!

Upload your games to the Google Form!

Come to the tournament at Demolition Games on October 14!!! SWWWAAAAAAGGGGGGGGG!

MERRY CHRISTMAS YA FILTHY ANIMALS!!!

In this episode, Kenny discusses the problem and possibilities of building communities for Shatterpoint. This is an episode for you to enjoy while sipping your hot chocolate next to your hearth in this holiday season.

If you listen all the way to the end, (starting around the 56:00 minute mark) you will be treated to Kenny reading his favorite Christmas poem--Eliot's Journey of the Magi. THAT'S RIGHT I SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST!!!

I love you all and hope you have the most glorious Christmas with your friends and family.

Space Slugs Youtube (they have a podcast now?!)

Shatterpoint Container Thingy

It's short, but sweet. In this episode, Sammy Kay and Kenny discuss the Bo update and, specifically, how they think the all Mando list now works. What does Bo and CK add to the Mando + Armorer Box package? Does it take it to the next level? What should you be thinking about when playing this list? How does it match up into the opposition?

All this and more in this episode!

⁠Come hop on the Slack⁠ and tell us what lists you're cooking up and let us know if you have any events you want us to shout out.

Adepticon was bereft of our bubbly personalities, but that didn't stop us from having fun at the second best Shatterpoint tournament hosted this last weekend.

In this episode, Kenny and Curtis talk about the tournament and the lists they ran, with a particular focus on analyzing the matchups, play patterns, and key points of the games (don't worry, no play-by-plays here).

Join the Slack! Come to ZiFi! Register! We love you!

Hello and welcome to Episode 15!

This is a bit of a new spin for us. Instead of approaching a particular topic or strategy in the game, we decided to yell at each other about the tiers (S-D) to which each of the currently-released primaries belongs.

For those of you listening to us before, we will not have too many surprises here, but we try to think through why each unit belongs where it does.

We are also releasing this on Youtube, and we encourage you to watch it there so that you can see the building of the tier list in real time. It's super old school, because I am a Luddite, but we will improve the formatting and do more refined content in the future.

We are posting the image with the final tier rankings on the Slack in case you want to see where we ended and then listen along to figure out how we got there.

Thank you for listening!

Please log your games on the Google Form so that we can continue to get information on what people are playing, how units are doing, and make sure to win the winners of the particular struggles.

Please join the Slack! The promos are off to the printer and we will be sending them out once they arrive.

Mark your calendars for October 14 if you live in Utah (or want to travel for a small SP tournament). We will be playing at Demolition Games!

Welcome to Episode 58! In this episode, Kenny is joined by Dan (RedWolf) and Abi (ElabranGal) to get their insights and input on running events. They break down pre-event, event, and post-event things to think about and manage. For players looking to organize local events, this is a great resource.

Make sure to check out the shoutouts for all the GTs that are happening in the next few months.

Here is a link to Abi's rules packet that she provided to players at the Salt Lake Open. It is a phenomenal example of what to provide to your players.

Kanan Jarrus is one of the best primaries in terms of his kit in a hot minute, and he's worth building Rebel teams around. In this episode, Sam and Kenny talk about Kanan, his strengths (many) his weaknesses (few), and different playstyles and listbuilding ideas to use as you're diving into Rebels.

The ZiFi Invi. Fall 2024 is scheduled for October 19, 2024! Register on Longshanks. It will be four or five rounds of Swiss and is capped at 24 players. We will have great swag and an amazing time. If you're coming from out-of-town, let us know so we can figure out where you will stay! Good luck to everyone at the Lone Star Open! Register for the NA TTS League! It will be a great way to get consistent games in with a friendly and supportive community. If you are in the Minnesota area, you should absolutely go play at Dion Erbes' tournament at the Gamezenter.

Dang straight it happened in Monterey!

In this episode, Scott and Kenny gather to summarize a wonderful small tournament they attended in Monterey, California, in the basement of Ulysses (an excellent and well-known player in the MCP and SP scene).

Their discussion glances over the tournament, but is mostly focused on Mandos, the Batch, and some recent thoughts on matchups resulting from their recent games.

Please rate and review the podcast and give it five stars! Please also join the Slack!!!

Hello and welcome to Episode 17 of Zion's Finest! In this episode, we rank the currently-released Secondaries from Jango (spoiler alert) to opposite-of-Jango. It's a lot of fun and I think largely uncontroversial (except for you Cody bros for whom there is no help).

We love you all. Thanks for listening! Argue with us on the Slack!

Watch this on Youtube!

Phil Hastings took second at the Lone Star Open. He lost to Aman from Hello There in the final after going 4-0 in swiss and winning his Top 4 matchup. His premier list is, by far, the most creative approach to the current meta (to also do well) and I love that he did as well as he did at a very competitive event. You will love this episode.

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE COMING TO SALT LAKE FOR THE SLO! The event is full up at 32 players and it promises to be so much fun. We cannot wait for the event and know that it will be a blast for all involved. Many thanks to Abi for TO'ing what promises to be an absolutely incredible tournament.

Join the Slack! We have so much fun discussing lists, the meta, tournaments, and why JK is such a jerk!

I'm not sure where you fit in here ... unless you are Sean Peconi or Kyle Russell! Sean and Kyle took first and second place at the Tablebound Open, the largest Canadian event to date (capped at twenty-four players with twenty-two in Swiss). They give an overview of the tournament, talk about Kyle's amazing website Tablebound--which is an incredible gaming resource for Canadians--and then we all hash and rehash why Empire feels so good right now.

Also, Kyle took second at this event with Hondo. So, guess what, he's good.

Please remember to rate and review the podcast! Join the Slack! We love you!

Longshanks Links:

• I'm Board (Wisconsin)
• Drugi (Poland)
• X Torneo (Spain)
• Magic Stronghold (B.C., Canada)

IT'S A BONUS EPISODE! JUST ONE THOUGH! DON'T GET ANY IDEAS! Matt, Sam, and I went on a bit of a tangent (Matt's fault [okay it was mine]) and while it was ultimately cut from the masterpiece that was Episode 16, Matt suggested that we release it as a bonus episode.

You're welcome! Have a good week! Rate and review the podcast! Do it!

Join the Slack!

Watch on Youtube!

T.S. Eliot I aint.

In this episode, Scott and Kenny discuss the ZiFi Invi. Scott went 5-0 on the day running Iden-Moff and Kanan-Hera. We discuss matchups, how lists felt into each other, and then close with (preliminary) thoughts on the new stuff that has released over the past few weeks.

Check out the results from the Battle for the Breath, a 22-person tournament in Ontario, Canada, which was won by Kyle Russell running MANDOS!!!! and Obi-1 Mace!

Also check out the results from Rise from the Ashes, the last GT of the 2024 year which happened in Queensland, Australia and was won by Jason Brown running all Empire (Iden, Moff, V2, Thrawn).

Join the Slack! Rate and review the podcast! We love you all!

... maybe that's not the comparison to make. Anyways! Here's the concluding discussion of our tier-making conversation. We have a bit more fighting on this one, mostly because there are some pretty serious thoughts with figures being too high ... or too low. Enjoy it!

Next week will be the one-year of Shatterpoint, which shall be glorious.

Join the Slack!

(No not THAT Joseph!)

Welcome to Episode 71! In this episode, General Josef discusses his list that he took to PAX Unplugged (Lumi, GG, Ahsoka, and Mando), and talks about how his off-meta assemblage performed and his assessment of the various matchups. We get into the weeds with respect to list construction and how we think this list fares into the wider meta. It's a great conversation.

I close with a reading of my favorite Christmas carol, but that is at the end so never fear I won't entrap you! Feel free to sign off once the conversation with General Josef is over. Enjoy your Christmas and Hanukkah week, be safe, and thank you for being a part of our community. We love you all!

Kind of. Mostly we just love you all and Thanksgiving.

In this episode, Sammy Kay and Kenny discuss the current meta (briefly, I promise it's brief) and then transition to talking about why Shatterpoint is their number one game. This conversation was inspired by a post on the Slack from Ace, and it led to a really good chat there and here.

We hope everyone has a safe and glorious Thanksgiving if you're in the states, and if you're outside the states, we hope you eat a sumptuous meal on Thursday in honor of your multitudinous blessings.

We love you all!

Sorry I tried to make that work. And sorry it's so long. What is wild is that we only got through about half of what we wanted to discuss. We will talk more about the logistics of the tournament in the future.

In this episode, Kenny, Matt, and Scott talk about the lists and the meta of the ZiFi Invi. They talk through their lists, why they built them like they did, and what they were hoping to accomplish with their matchups. They then summarize (as quickly as possible I swear) how their swiss and top-cut matches went, and then give some general thoughts on what did well (Gideon), what didn't do so well (Mama and Dooku what the heck) and if the Republic has arrived with the Batch.

Some notes!

The Tablebound Open is happening in Courtice, Ontario on June 22, 2024. Check the link. It's going to be a 1K (!!!) Shatterpoint tournament, which is wild.

The Boise Boys are running the Boise Shatterpoint Premier Cup on June 29, 2024. It's starting at 10 AM at ABU Games in Boise, Idaho. Check the link, and here's the Longshanks link. We are incredibly grateful to them driving down to the ZiFi Invi. and are sure that this tournament will be excellent.

Join the Slack!

Hello and welcome to Episode 10 of Zion's Finest!

In this episode, JK and I give our hot takes on Momma Talzin and Mace after sparring with those boxes, as well as discussing the power level of active abilities on combat trees for all the extant figures. Spoiler alert: Momma is good. Mace is also good--but in a very straightforward way (at least on first play).

Join the Slack and get our promo when it releases! Help us list-build!

We love you all!

Welcome to Episode 63! In this episode, Kenny and Sam are joined (again) by Sean Peconi and Kyle Russell to talk about the Canadian GT, as well as the two other GTs that happened this weekend. There is a major discussion as to the diversity of units at these events and generally, as well as tournament formats and everyone's thoughts. It's a great discussion. We love being joined by our friends to the north.

Check out tablebound.ca, which is Kyle Russell's absolutely phenomenal site for purchasing swag, including amazing playmats, sleeves, and more!

Take the last spot for ZiFi!!! One left!!!

Here is the link for the three-mier event happening in VA on October 19.

And here is the link for the SoCal Open!

Lies. Tell me the odds. Right now. In this episode, Matt Bronson joins the brothers to discuss math in Shatterpoint and to provide some useful heuristics for calculating the odds of the majority of attacks that you will make in Shatterpoint.

Check out his article on Math in Shatterpoint. From there, you can find links to his other excellent articles. Also subscribe to his Youtube channel. It is excellent.

Join the Slack! Upload your games to the Google Form!

Come to Utah on May 18, 2023 for the ZiFi Invitational! Prize support will be off the chain!!!

Hello and welcome to Episode 18 of Zion's Finest!

In this episode, the brothers take a break from the competitive grind (prior to immediately getting back on the grind) to discuss the hobby aspect of this game that we all love.

Specifically, Scott leads a discussion as to how to develop and maximize your skill and time with respect to painting miniatures in Shatterpoint, and what to look for in terms of getting started but also improving and leveling up your skills.

This episode is probably best consumed on Youtube, and we highly encourage you to watch it there. (I had to reupload the Youtube video, so check back if it's not there when you pull it up.)

Join the Slack!

Report your results on the Google Doc! Go play Shatterpoint!!!

Welcome to Episode 35! In this episode, Sam and Scott discuss different ways to categorize units (tanks, supports, snipers, etc.). They talk about how this informs your listbuilding, why you should always include certain classes of units (control), and how they think various units do and don't measure up to what they're intended to do.

Thank you for listening!

Join the Slack!!!

Welcome to Episode 76! In this episode, Kenny and Sammy talk about the recent CanCon tournament that happened in Australia and give some meta observations. They talk about the seeming mismatch between Iden's swiss WR and her power level.

Listen to Luke and Tobias on the Red Mandos episode give a summary of the event. In classic Red Mando style, it takes them four days to get through the discussion.

Join the Slack and tell us how wrong we are about the meta! We love being told we are wrong!!!

You're welcome! Some wholesome goodness for Sam's awesome win at the CSWGO Grand Tournament in Ontario, Canada. The Canadians put on an awesome tournament and Sam took a trip across the border to go 6-0 and bring the tournament home.

This episode is (almost) all about Spectre, and specifically why Hera is so strong in that list. Sam has the reps and the results and walks through his logic on why she is so consistently strong. Enjoy his regaling of the event!

John Cole put me wise to some upcoming tournaments. First, there is a store champ coming up for those in the East Coast region--the Battlegrounds Store Champ in Virginia.

Second, the YHP Three-Mier Tournament is happening on October 19--ZiFi Day! But if you're in the VA area and don't want to fly out to Utah, I suppose this is an adequate substitute.

Third, check out the Red Mandos Draft tournament. As seems to be the case with the Red Mandos generally, something is cooking here.

We love you all! Join the Slack!!!

Welcome to Episode 4 of Zion's Finest!

In this episode, Samuel Sweeten leads a discussion as to how you should be thinking about combat trees and what the units in your list are trying to do. He discusses raw damage, control, consistency, and tempo with incredible insight and I hope it helps you reassess how you are piloting your lists. Kenny Brown, Matthew Richards, and JK Moore try to keep up with varying degrees of success.

Join the Slack! It is awesome and you will make it better!

https://join.slack.com/t/zionsfinest/shared_invite/zt-1x1ho0sxg-CqFgEeSASNb4db0TBS59vA

OR WHATEVER WE WILL TAKE WHATEVER KIND OF TOURNAMENT!

The boys are heading to LVO, and this episode is a discussion of the premier list that they would take if it was (and maybe is?) a premier event. Matt runs an Anakin core Republic list, Scott runs a Vader core good stuff list, and Kenny runs a Dooku core tech-stuff list.

We had some mic issues this episode. I apologize in advance and will ensure that Scott and Matt are fired onto the surface of the sun.

JOIN THE SLACK!

Link to the Longshanks tournament for LVO.

Hello and welcome to the Zions Finest podcast! We are a group of best friends dedicated to Star Wars: Shatterpoint and are hoping to grow our local community as well as the general community in support of this game. We were previously heavily involved in the Star Wars: Imperial Assault community and are thrilled to be back to rolling dice in a Star Wars skirmish game.

In this episode, Kenny Brown, Sam Sweeten, and Matthew Richards give a quick introduction followed by brief thoughts on the currently-available primary units and then share some thoughts following their first tournament held on June 11, 2023 at Game Grid in Logan, Utah. Between the three of them, all six primary units were in the field, and they share comments as to their strengths and weaknesses--as well as highlighting their lists.

Please join us on the Slack. We have so much fun discussing Star Wars, Shatterpoint, and everything else that touches our fancy. We would love to have you participate with us. Join by accessing this link:

https://join.slack.com/t/zionsfinest/shared_invite/zt-1x1ho0sxg-CqFgEeSASNb4db0TBS59vA

Read Sam's article here:

https://gglogan.com/blogs/weekly-articles/begun-the-clone-wars-has-part-1-primary-characters

Thank you for listening. Welcome aboard!!!

Why is Maul an incredible primary unit despite being the only figure I have really seen get removed in a game? Because he does what he does for free! (Kind of, not really, but kind of.)

In this episode, Sam leads a discussion as to the strategy of economy, and we all discuss how to leverage the resources you have in the game (force points, health and durability, actions, etc.) to gain the kind of incremental advantages that will help you to win games.

Economy in Shatterpoint, really, asks the players similar questions to those posed in other competitive games. Namely, how do you leverage the resources you are given to gain advantages over your opponent to preserve your opportunity to win assuming the variance does not break against you. We have a ton of fun discussing this (despite my saltiness) and it is an area that I am really working to improve as a player.

Please join the Slack! We are designing a promo card that will be sent out to everyone on the Slack for Shatterpoint, and would love to have you join our conversations and help me figure out what list is best to beat Magnaguards!

Episode 52! One year! What a wild ride it's been. We love Shatterpoint with the fire of ten thousand suns and cannot wait to see how AMG steers the game for the next year (or seven). In this episode, JK and Kenny talk about their favorite units, what has most surprised them, and why they love Shatterpoint so much. Enjoy it as you are walking in the cool of the day. We love you all!

Please rate and review the podcast! Join the Slack!

Hello and welcome to Episode 16 of Zion's Finest!

In this episode, we do the deepest dive possible in these preliminary times on Jedi Knight Luke and Plo Koon. We talk about their strengths and where we think they will fit--especially Plo Koon, who's faction is more of a known commodity at this point.

We are also releasing this episode on Youtube and we encourage you to check that out in case you want to see our beaming faces and follow Luke and Plo's cards as we discuss them.

For those of you in Utah, don't forget about the upcoming Premier Shatterpoint Tournament happening at Demolition Games on October 14! Promos will be present!

Thank you all for listening! Rate and review the podcast! Join the Slack!

Also, log your games on the Google Form. It's great to get more data.

WE LOVE YOU ALL! Keep playing Shatterpoint!

We made a huge mistake. We foolishly thought we could do a tiering of the entire set of released material for Shatterpoint, and to do it in a reasonable time. People wouldn't shut up, so we had to break it up. We are going to be releasing Part One now, which is our visiting and revisiting of support tier rankings, and we will be releasing Parts Two and Three this week. There is an acceptable amount of fighting in this episode--mostly because people besides Kenny and JK are constantly wrong.

Sorry for the weird pause at 51:30. Scott was too quiet and got cut off by the noise gate. Just skip ahead 30 seconds.

Hop onto the Slack to tell us why we're wrong. We would love to hear why the Weequays are not hot garbage. I will also post the tier list for quick consumption in a thread.

Please rate and review the podcast!

We love you all! Have an amazing week! Come to Utah for the Salt Lake Open and the Shatterpoint Grand Tournament on August 3!

Why, you ask? Because this outing also ends in an episode of patricide?!?!?! Why don't you listen and find out!

In this episode, Kenny is joined by Ryan Munsell and his son Donovan to discuss their stellar performance at the Evergreen Open. They made it to the cut running Spectre/Batch (Ryan) and Dooku Mando/Empire (Donovan). Ryan has some excellent excellent excellent thoughts on Spectre and its matchups. Enjoy! (Here's a link to Dylan's commentary of the final with the winner, Geoff.)

The Shattered Mirrors event⁠ is happening Sept. 20–22 in Lansing, MI. Message Paul on the Slack with any questions. It will be an awesome format and an awesome event. There is also a standard premier tournament.

⁠Dion's Finest September Tournament⁠ is happening on Sept. 28. We sent up some Vader-2/Luke and Obi-1/Dooku alt-arts. You should go. Dion is awesome.

⁠The ZiFi Invi. Open with WiFi⁠ is happening on October 19. We're at 22 of 24 players. Prize support will be awesome, including a custom range 2 ruler and x1 offense and x1 defense dice from the AMG GT Packet ... and more! Come have fun with us. Message me if you are coming from out of town and need a place to stay.