EU Masters - Day 1 Summary
Meta Diversity at a Glance
Faction Spread
The Swiss rounds displayed a clear dominance of the classic factions:
Rebels (37.7%) and Empire (36.07%) accounted for nearly three quarters of all fleets,
While GAR (14.75%) and CIS (11.48%) filled the remainder with a smaller but dedicated group of Clone Wars specialists.
Commander Choices
Sloane (9) led the field in sheer presence, followed by
Jerjerrod (7), Ackbar (6), and Raddus (5). The rest of the field was a diverse spread of single- or dual-entry commanders, showing that players were willing to experiment and lean into niche strategies.
Objectives: Preferences and Trends
Across all three color categories, the distribution of objectives revealed how players attempted to shape the battles on their terms.
Yellow Objectives
Planetary Ion Cannon (22.22%) and Asteroid Tactics (18.52%) led the category,
followed closely by Fighter Ambush and Capture the VIP at nearly 15% each. A very balanced spread with no extreme outliers—showing how yellow objectives remain one of the most flexible sections in the game.
Red Objectives
In contrast, the red category showed a strong favoritism toward two cards:
Most Wanted (31.48%),
Advanced Gunnery (22.22%), together making up more than half of all red objective selections. Surprise Attack (18.52%) and Precision Strike (14.81%) formed a solid mid-tier cluster.
Blue Objectives
Blue objectives were the least balanced, with one clear king:
Superior Position (33.33%) — the single most-selected objective across all categories. Infested Fields (27.78%) was also extremely popular, with the remainder (Hyperspace Migration, Solar Corona, Intel Sweep, Sensor Net, etc.) appearing far less frequently.
Taken together, these trends highlight that many fleets on Day 1 leaned heavily toward flexible scoring and scenario pressure—particularly through positioning and board control.
Bids, Squadrons, and ARC Upgrades
Bid Dynamics
Bid distribution turned out surprisingly even:
High bids: 26.23%
Low bids: 32.79%
No bid: 27.87%
This indicates a meta where first/second player flexibility was more important than locking in a guaranteed choice—players seemed comfortable playing either side of the objective card depending on matchup.
Squadron Investment
The squadron charts revealed one of the strongest patterns of the entire Swiss:
50.82% of fleets brought heavy squadron wings (often full 134 points).
Only 11.48% brought no squads at all.
Armada in 2025 clearly remains a squadron-driven meta, especially with the rise of Sloane and Raddus lists leveraging fighter control or breakthrough potential.
ARC Extension Usage (ARC 01)
One particularly interesting insight:
78.69% of fleets did not use any ARC extension upgrade,
while only 21.31% incorporated ARC-related content.
This confirms that ARC remains relevant mainly to specific command archetypes and is far from universally adopted.
Day 1 Results – Top of the Table
The final Day 1 standings showed a mix of factions and commanders at the top. The leading positions were taken by:
James McCartney (Rebel) – 31 TP
Matous Belohoubek (Republic) – 31 TP
Zdenek Rajtr (Empire) – 31 TP
These three undefeated or near-undefeated players demonstrated distinct approaches: heavy squadron play, disciplined activation control, and objective mastery. The rest of the Top 12 similarly reflected the diversity of the tournament, with representation across multiple factions and commander styles.
The Day 1 T4 for the event is here.