Australian X-Wing national champion and now World’s runner up Morgan Reid agreed to write a little about his experience for 3++. Some of you may know him from the 3++ Clash of the Titans 40k event, but it’s in X-Wing that he has really made a name for himself – even being flown around the globe by FFG in order to play in their world championship tournament.

“G’day guys – quick intro – Morgan Reid, I live in Sydney and have been playing X-Wing for about 8-9 months.

First up – I know this site is primarily dedicated to 40k so I think it’s worth mentioning that I came to X-Wing through 40k. I played 40k for just under a year but in the end I found the preparation (hobby), setup, deployment, game time and pack up were taking a long time and I wanted something a little less intense, more relaxed and quicker. A real beer and pretzels game. So I was introduced to X-Wing, initially I wasn’t a big fan but I persisted through a few games and then I started to realise and appreciate the incredible balance and depth, yet clever simplicity of the game. Easy to learn but hard to master!



I picked up the game in around March/April this year, just after the 3++ Clash of the Titans 40k event. In the short space of time I managed to get reasonably competent at it and I was lucky enough to win the Australian 2014 X-Wing National Championships down in Canberra in August. From memory it was a 58 player turn out, this was an awesome event which is backed by a really good community of players who play a solid game but enjoy some relaxed banter at the same time.

After winning our Nationals I found out that the game company (FFG) were funding the flights and accommodation of all the National Champions worldwide to attend the 2014 X-Wing World Championships in the US. Awesome!

So I booked my flights and crossed my fingers I wasn’t going to lose every game against the top players from around the planet! At a rough estimation there would have been close to 1,000 people in attendance all up (FFG run multiple game systems) and X-Wing was fully booked at 256 players.

The X-Wing tournament was going to be run over 3 days which consisted of 2 days qualifying (128 per day) taking the Top 16 each day, followed by a final day Top 32 single elimination to determine the 2014 X-Wing World Champion. Not only does the World Champ win a whole lot of loot, including his one-of-a kind acrylic World Champion movement templates, but he (or she) also gets to design a card to be included in a future release of the game.

I was pretty apprehensive about my chances against the big names of the game and even if I would have anyone to talk to considering I was a complete stranger to these guys and they all know each other through various forums and events. What followed was the most enjoyable few days of my gaming life. Everyone I met was really friendly, welcoming and hospitable and I ended up drinking beers, eating burgers and talking X-Wing with a different bunch of guys every night.

I got some cards signed by the 2012 and 2013 World Champs (cards they designed after winning) and managed to meet and talk to the game designers about the future of the game.

Social aspect aside, I suppose I should talk about the actual games.. Without boring you all with the details I had an incredible run and found myself not only in the Top 32 after going undefeated in the qualifying rounds but I continued my winning streak and made it to the final table and World Championship match to be filmed live on twitch and streamed around the world! One of those moments you have to double check it’s actually happening. Sitting opposite me on the final table was none other than the defending World Champion, Paul Heaver.

Now you can watch the video FFG has just released but Paul played beautifully and beat me soundly – He is the dual World Champ for a reason. That guy is good. So after an amazing run I finished up as number 2 in 2014! If you had asked me the chances of that occurring before the tournament I genuinely would have said close to zero and I am still surprised I did so well.

See the video here: Xwing Final Match

Overall an incredible experience and I was humbled to be able to be part of it all. If you have any interest in X-Wing, are just starting out or are even just considering getting into the game – I highly recommend it. If I managed to go from new player to the final table at the World Championships in 9 months I am sure one of you can go one better in 2015!”

Cheers,

Morgan