FFG introduced the Hyperspace format as the premier competitive format going into 2019. It features a limited list of legal ships and upgrades, currently limited to 2.0 releases. Overall, I think the Hyperspace format is the right way to go, but the format is risky and can potentially produce worse metas. If you're strongly against Hyperspace, I think there are some strong reasons to support it. If you're strongly in favor of Hyperspace, I think there are some reasons to be cautious.
The restricted Hyperspace format is needed to make the game accessible to new players. Asking new players to buy out-of-print ships at some ridiculous mark-up on Ebay or shell out hundreds of dollars at one time for an exiting player's collection is not a reasonable way to build a competitive game. It's disappointing to not be able to use my full collection more often (I think there will continue to be some Extended events), but that's a price I'm willing to pay to make sure the game continues to grow and attract new players.
Some people seem to be hyping Hyperspace up as the answer for all the meta woes. I want to caution against these expectations. It's certainly easier to balance a smaller list of pilots and upgrades. FFG seems to have severe headcount limitations, so focusing their limited resources on a smaller card pool could be what's needed to create a balanced and open meta. However, a restricted format doesn't automatically create more balanced metas. Anyone who's played Magic: the Gathering or any other game with rotating formats knows this from experience. In fact, without a points adjustment, Hyperspace would probably be dominated by Marauder-Han Boba, Luke and Wedge, maybe TIE swarms, and perhaps some Resistance or First Order options. FFG will have to put in the work to keep this format balanced, especially with new releases (which isn't confirmed but will likely be Hyperspace-legal).
A smaller card pool could actually make the competitive play experience much worse. For example, suppose 10% of pilots are overpowered. For a format with 300 pilots, that means 30 pilots are viable at the top levels of competition. You can probably find at least one list you enjoy playing that has reasonable matchups against the best tournament lists (this has been my experience for most of 1.0 and the extended 2.0 format). For a format with 100 pilots, that means only 10 pilots are tournament-viable, and these don't have to be evenly-distributed across factions or archetypes. Your favorite faction might not have enough strong pilots to fill out even one tournament list. Your favorite archetype might not have any strong pilots in it. Your favorite archetype might only have a couple strong pilots which you don't like. You're less likely to find a list you enjoy playing that has reasonable matchups against the best tournament lists.
The solution would be to balance the game so more pilots are tournament-viable. If the top 30% of pilots are strong in the 100-pilot format, then we're back to the same number of viable tournament lists as the 300-pilot format with fewer traps. Even better, the gap between a strong pilot and an average one could be smaller. But again, this won't happen naturally; FFG will have to do the work to broaden the field of competitively-viable ships.
Part of the risk is the long 6-month time frame between rotations and point cost adjustments. On one hand, stability is good for creativity. I'm not motivated to list-build when I know the point costs will all change in a month. On the other hand, if there's a bad meta, it could take a long time for it things to change. These risks could be reduced if FFG committed more frequent reviews (maybe bi-monthly) for emergency point adjustments and/or bans. These reviews should be extremely limited and changes should only be made to the most egregious offenders. Most of these reviews shouldn't produce any changes, but having that safety net would go a long way to reducing the concerns of having a lopsided meta.
Overall, I think Hyperspace is the way to go simply to keep the game accessible. I just hope FFG puts in the work to keep an open meta with a restricted card pool.
Nice article. My initial thoughts are that ffg are marginalising original trilogy ships to help sales of the new factions. Balance is a side effect. They could easily balance extended if they tried with 3 or 4 month intervals of points adjustments. In v3 they will open it up again so people can use their full collection of ships and people will lap it up. Easy money.
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