A Scrub’s Dictionary of List Archetypes and X-Wing Slang

Have you ever been following an X-Wing meta discussion on your friendly local podcast or Reddit post only to find yourself lost in a wilderness of poorly defined and/or inexplicably food-themed terminology? We’re here to lead you out with an overview of X-Wing list archetypes and a comprehensive X-Wing slang dictionary.

(Disclaimer: The following definitions are based on the opinions of the Midwest Scrub blog team and should not considered absolute. Please see comments on Reddit or the FFG forums for a detailed discussion of all the ways in which terms have been inaccurately defined.)

List Archetypes 

Aces
A 2 to 4 ship list dominated by initiative 5 and 6 pilots, usually pilots who rely on high initiative re-positioning, arc dodging, and/or high agility values to cause damage without receiving any in return.

Chassis typically used: This category is more determine by Initiative level than ship type alone. Though, the chassis used must have repositional options.

Alpha-strike
A list with 3 to 4 ships and some amount of high damage potential, hitherto often with torpedoes, whose goal is to output a large amount of damage as early as possible to gain momentum. Classically, Alpha-strike lists had both high initial damage and high pilot initiative, but the definition is becoming looser. 

Chassis typically used: X-Wing, Y-Wing, TIE Punisher, and theoretically anything with a torpedo slot that has enough hull or agility to have a chance at surviving to fire one or two torpedo shots.

Beef
A list with 4 to 5 ships that typically have an average of at least 6 hit points per ship or higher, whose primary goal is to outlast the opponent by surviving multiple rounds of incoming shots, and sometimes by spreading the damage from them.

Chassis typically used: X-Wing, B-Wing, U-Wing, Y-Wing, ARC-170

Jank
The most loosely defined list archetype, Jank is anything that defies any attempt to pigeonhole it in a particular category. These lists often put a good deal of effort into chasing odd synergies, and feature rarely seen ships and pilots.

Chassis typically used: Anything

Salad
A list comprised of ships and/or pilots that are pulled from a group of options that are all commonly accepted as being good choices. Typically has one or two elements that remain consistent throughout the various renditions within a particular faction. You pick and choose what “fixings” you want, but the look is similar to others.

Chassis typically used: Much like Jank, anything, but made up of established decent pilots or chassis

Swarm
A list with 5 to 8 ships, the majority of which are individually weak in offense, relying on numbers, strategic blocking, and typically some passive mods to push through damage.

Chassis typically used: TIE Fighter, Vulture Droid, Resistance A-Wing, V-19 Torrent

List Building Terminology

The X-Wing community often refers to a list having a floor and a ceiling, but both of those limits can have differing meanings depending on the context. Below, we delineate what can be meant by a floor or ceiling in X-Wing.

Floor – refers to a minimum, either in terms of list performance or player skill required

Performance floor – the minimum expected performance of a list or pilot. A high floor means that regardless of player skill, a list can be expected to perform decently. A low floor means that if not flown with skill, a list can easily be screwed up and can perform very poorly.

Skill floor – the minimum level of player skill necessary to execute a list. A low skill floor is an easy list or pilot to fly, and a high skill floor means a list requires a high level of skill to execute correctly.

Ceiling – refers to a peak or maximum, either in terms of list performance or player skill required

Performance ceiling – the maximum performance that can be gained from a list or pilot. A high ceiling means a list that can peak at very strong performance, and a low ceiling is a list that only performs average at best.

Skill ceiling – the maximum increase in performance that can be gained through player skill. A high skill ceiling indicates that a list can perform much better with a more skilled player. A low ceiling indicates that player skill can only take the list so far, and its success is less dependent on player skill.

X-Wing Slang Terms

In X-Wing, we often use terminology that may fly over the heads of newer players to the game. Many of these are legacy terms from the First Edition of the game that are still in the minds of veterans from that game. Below are many of those terms and their definitions to help the new and uninitiated.  

• Aimbot – Automated Targeting Priority
• AOE – Area Of Effect
• APT – Advanced Proton Torpedoes
• AS – Advanced Sensors
• ATC – Advanced Targeting Computer, the TIE/x1 ship ability
• Autothrusters – First Edition upgrade that could turn a blank into an evade under certain circumstances; now it most often refers to gas clouds as they provide a similar effect
• Bat-Wing (or Space Bat) – An Upsilon Shuttle
• Big Deal – Finn in the Resistance Transport Pod
• BR- Barrel Roll
• Brobots – A list with two or three IG-88s
• BSF Bomber – First Edition name for the StarFortress
• Bob – Old nickname for Finch Dallow, the I4 StarFortress pilot
• Bulbasaur – nickname for the Belbullab-22 Starfighter; also, Bellyrub or Beelzebub
• CLT – Calibrated Laser Targeting
• Couch (or Sectional) – The Resistance Transport
• Crash – turning your list (or most of your list) in a direction to focus on one particular lane of engagement
• Death Rey – nickname for YT-1300 Rey with Finn Gunner and Rose Tico Crew
• Donut hole – The range 1 area around a YT-2400 where it rolls one less die 
• EC – Escape Craft
• EPT – Elite Pilot Talent, First Edition name for the Talent slot
• ESC – Energy Shell Charges
• Fat Han – Han with a ton of upgrades: usually R2-D2, Engine Upgrade, and Luke Skywalker gunner. Other ships that are loaded with upgrades can also be referred to as Fat, Chunky, or Thick.
• FCS- Fire-Control System
• Fettigator – Boba Fett with Slave I title. The name is a portmanteau of Fett and Navigator, a early popular build for Boba Fett in First Edition.
• FFG – Fantasy Flight Games, the company that produces/creates X-Wing 
• FLGS – Friendly Local Game Store
• Fortressing – A strategy of positioning ships to self bump to keep them stationary indefinitely. It is also called castling, and it is now against the rules.
• FTC – Fine-Tuned Controls, the Delta-7 Aethersprite ship ability
• Furball –  A cluster of ships that have created a clogged lane, usually involves a lot of bumping ships
• Handbrake Han – a version of Rebel Han with R2-D2 crew and Inertial Dampeners, now unfieldable because the illicit slot has been removed.
• Hatchetman – Major Vynder with Os-1 Arsenal Loadout and typically Proton Torpedoes, Advanced Proton Torpedoes, and Advanced SLAM
• Heragator – Hera Syndulla with Navigator crew
• Heroic! – a phrase often shouted for a blank out on dice referencing the Resistance talent, can be shouted in earnest or can be sarcastic in a player is not flying a Resistance list 
• HLC – Heavy Laser Cannon
• ID – Inertial Dampeners
• Initiative Kill – Killing a ship before it engages at its initiative level
• JM5K – a JumpMaster 5000
• K-Fighter – a Kihraxz Fighter
• K-Turn – A Koiogran turn, the turnaround maneuver that uses a straight template
• Kimo – a M12-L Kimogila Fighter
• Meta – Short for the metagame. The metagame is what lists or particular builds of ships are currently popular.
• MOV – Margin of Victory. MOV is the difference between how many points you destroyed and how many points your opponents have destroyed. Points for the winner are calculated by adding 200 points for the win, plus the points they destroyed, minus the points they lost. Points for the loser are calculated by adding the points they kept on the table and the points they destroyed. A perfect score is 400 points.
• Naked – Any ship flown with no upgrades
• Natties (or Natural Roll) – Common dice lingo for getting a dice result without modification, usually means rolling all of the same result in X-Wing
• Nerf – a depowering change from FFG to an upgrade or ship
• NPE – Negative Play Experience 
• OGP – Omicron Group Pilot, the I1 Lambda Shuttle pilot
• Omega Leader – Midnight, the I6 TIE/fo pilot
• OP – Over Powered, meaning some gameplay element is too strong; alternatively, Organized Play, denoting league matches or tournaments, often supported by FFG
• PA – Pattern Analyzer
• PalpShuttle – A Lambda shuttle with Emperor Palpatine crew
• Pancake – Any large-based, turreted ship, but more typically refers a YT-1300 than any other ship
• Party Bus – a YV666 with crew and gunner slots filled
• Points Fortress – A ship worth a decent amount of points that can disengage for the remainder of a game to preserve points
• Prockets – Proton Rockets
• Protorps – Proton Torpedoes
• PS – Pilot Skill, the First Edition term for Initiative
• PS Kill – the First Edition term for Initiative Kill
• PTL – Push The Limit, a First Edition upgrade that allowed a ship to perform two actions in exchange for stress. It is typically referenced when someone performs a linked action: they will “push” for second action.
• QD – Quickdraw, the I6 TIE/sf pilot
• Quadjumper – First Edition name for the Spacetug
• RAC – Rear Admiral Chiraneau (also referred to as Chirpy), the I5 Decimator
• RAI – Rules As Intended
• RAW – Rules As Written
• Rebel Standard – a one forward maneuver
• Ricky Bobby – Ric Olie, the I5 N1 Starfighter
• Rocks – Generally refers to obstacles, but more specifically asteroids
• Sloop or S-loop – A Segnor’s Loop, the turnaround maneuver that uses a bank template   
• Self Bumping – Deliberately bumping your own ship into another of your other ships
• Scyk – a M3-A Interceptor
• S.O.S. can refer to either: Strength Of Schedule or System Open Series. Strength of Schedule is a secondary tie breaking mechanic that is based on how well the person’s opponents did in the tournament. A higher SOS indicates opponents who did well. System Open Series refers to a type of Competitive tier event that is outside the typical tournament pyramid.
• Spamtex – 6 Petranaki Arena Aces with Crack Shot
• Space Cow – A Lambda Shuttle
• T-Roll – A Tallon Roll, the turnaround maneuver that uses the hard turn template
• Tabled – A defeat where the winner took all the opposing ships off the table while simultaneously losing no points.
• TAP – TIE Advanced Prototype, the First Edition name for the TIE/v1
• Token Up (Turtle Up) – Acquiring multiple tokens to mod defense, such as evade and focus on a TIE Defender or N1 Starfighter
• Tragedy Stimulator – Trajectory Simulator
• TL – Target Lock
• TLT – Twin Laser Turret, a First Edition upgrade that provided a Negative Play Experience
• VTG – Veteran Turret Gunner or Veteran Tail Gunner, but more typically the former as turrets are more common
• WAAC – Win at all costs. The attitude of someone who will try to win even if that means being unsportsmanlike. Usually they do annoying, inconsiderate things that aren’t explicitly against the tournament or game rules; though, sometimes they do break little rules and hope not to get called out on it. Please, don’t be this person.
• Yion – An Ion Cannon Turret Y-Wing

If you think of any commonly used terms, nicknames, or abbreviations that are used in X-Wing, please comment so we can add them to the list for posterity’s sake.

---

If you are in the St. Louis area or coming to visit, reach out to Arch Alliance X-Wing on Facebook to find out where we are playing on any given night.

For more Arch Alliance content check out:

Our YouTube channel, Facebook page, and Biophysical’s Starfighter Mafia blog.