X-Wing: Second Edition is on the way!

Feeling fresh.

Oh man, I'm excited.  I haven't played X-Wing in a while because the competitive meta was just so stagnant with all the health regen, turrets,and bombs.  Now that they rebooted the entire game, I'm really pumped to get back into it.

The official announcement is here:
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2018/5/1/x-wing-second-edition/

There's a thread on the FFG forums that has all the consolidated info:
https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/274813-consolidated-x-wing-20-changes-thread/

Here's a quick run-down of what changed and what didn't..

These things have not changed in 2.0:

• Models carry over (some models may be re-released with new sculpts/paint/features)
• Dice are the same
• Range ruler is the same
• Range bonuses and obstructions work the same (except turrets)
• Templates are the same size -- but have a line down the center for alignment on nubless bases
• Basic game flow (but phases are renamed; some new phases)
• Maneuver driven by hidden dials plus actions
• Actions include: Focus, Target lock, evade, boost, barrel roll, cloak, reinforce, jam, coordinate, rotate arc (specific action mechanics may change)
• Upgrade slots: EPT, modification, title, torpedo, astromech, bombs, missiles, crew, system, turret
• Some upgrades will still take two slots
• Tokens (some art changes, shape): focus, evade, target lock, cloak, stress, tractor beam, jam, shield, ion
• Conditions are still a thing (Director Krennic)
• Setup Phase is largely the same

These things have changed in 2.0:

• New phases/phase names ("Strategy Phase")
• Medium ship bases (confirmed: U-wing, ARC-170, K-wing, G1A, Kimogila, Scurrg, Firespray, TIE Punisher, TIE Reaper, TBD)
• The new templates have a centerline that aligns to hash marks on the base and assists with bumping.
• Green maneuvers become blue 
• Red actions which gain a stress after taking
• Push the Limit is gone; some ships may "link" a first action into a second and gain a stress (example: focus into target lock linked action)
• New tokens: Force, charge
• Force tokens which power force abilities for some pilots; they may also be used to change one Focus result
• Charge/surge tokens which power some pilot abilities and ordnance
• Token shape now indicates when removed: "End of Round" tokens are round; square tokens have other triggers to remove (e.g. ion, stress) 
• Evade tokens to not add evade results; they just change green dice to evades.
• No costs on pilot cards or upgrades; these are in the squad builder app. Baseline is now 200 points.
• Each ship base has a bullseye arc and quadrants marked
• Turrets adopt mobile arc mechanics
• Turrets also get ranged bonuses and penalties, Ordnance does not.
• New upgrade cards are full sized, landscape
• New upgrade slots: Force Abilities ("Instinctive Aim"), Configuration ("S-foils")
• Resistance and First Order will now be separate factions
• Firespray-31 is no longer Imperial; Scum only
• New pilots
• No upgrade bar; either use ship build cards from the core set or the squad builder app
• Pilot skill is now called Initiative and goes from 1 to 6 [Wedge Antilles: 6]; no Veteran's Instincts or ability to change
• Damage deck - new. Repairing damage is now a thing. New cards ("Fuel Leak", "Panicked Pilot", "Wounded Pilot"); only 5 Direct Hits in the deck now.
• Regen exists, but is powered by charge tokens and nets a weapons disabled (R2 astromech)
• Decimator gets Reinforce and a red Coordinate
• Some ships have built-in abilities: Phantom (Stygium); TIE Advanced (Advanced Targeting Computer)
• Ordnance appears not to spend target locks (e.g. Proton torps); 
• Ion tokens: 1 for small ship, 2 for medium ship, 3 for large ship
• Bombs can blow up obstacles (and do damage in the process)
• New abilities will affect the Setup Phase
• They will introduce new obstacle types
• Shield levels have been reduced on many ships
• Barrel roll is not adjustable; they use the hash marks on the bases for alignment.Barrel Roll now only has 3 positions per side (6 total) – makes Barrel Roll more inline with Boost as you only have 6 total positions.If you declare and action and you can’t do it (ie Barrel Roll would land you on a rock), you just lose the action now
• There is a "range 0" for own ship abilities.
• Target Lock is now just Lock – and you can Lock on to objects as well as ships (friendly and enemy).
• Certain ships have different attack values for different arcs now.

Took inventory last night.  Looks like I'm going to have to do some massive trading when the game comes out.

Rebels:
3 A-Wing (2 Aces)
4 B-Wing (2 Aces)
4 T-65 X-Wing (Core)
2 Z-Wing
1 HWK-290
1 Y-Wing
1 E-Wing
1 K-Wing
1 YT-1300 (Heroes)
1 YT-1300
1 YT-2400
1 Sabine's TIE Fighter

Imps:
3 TIE Interceptors
2 TIE Advanced
1 TIE Phantom
7 TIE Fighters (Core)
4 TIE Interceptors (Royal Guard)
4 TIE Interceptors (181st)
3 TIE Defender (Veterans)
3 TIE Bomber (Veterans)
1 TIE Advanced (Raider)
1 TIE Advanced Proto
1 TIE Aggressor
1 VT-49 Decimator
1 Lambda Shuttle

Scum:
2 BroBots
1 Slave I
1 H-6 Bomber

Resistance:
4 T-70 X-Wing (Core)
1 T-70 X-Wing (Heroes)

First Order:
7 TIE F/O (Core)
1 TIE Silencer

X-Wing: Leaning towards Brobots

Does not compute.

After thinking about taking Boba Fett with the IG-88, I've decided to just roll with Brobots in the upcoming tournament season.  The reason why is really quite simple:  3 agility and Autothrusters.  Even with 6 hull and 4 shields, I don't think the Firespray is in a really strong position right now in the meta.  He's basically a larger X-Wing in terms of defenses, and concentrated fire will bring him down in no time.  With the IG-2000, you have a larger assortment of different manueverbility options and plenty of ways to clear off inflicted stress while staying outside of danger.  The Firespray?  Not so much.  I've played a couple of Vassal games to warm up for the season so far with both Broba and Brobots, and I think I'm convinced that in the current meta, Brobots will be stronger.  When you examine the world's results as well, I think it pretty much speaks for itself.

This basically brings me to two potential lists.  The first one being..

100 - Tricky Crabs

IG-88B — Aggressor 36
Crack Shot 1
Advanced Sensors 3
Heavy Laser Cannon 7
Inertial Dampeners 1
Autothrusters 2
Ship Total: 50
 
IG-88C — Aggressor 36
Crack Shot 1
Advanced Sensors 3
Heavy Laser Cannon 7
Inertial Dampeners 1
Autothrusters 2
Ship Total: 50
 
Keep a sharp eye on this list right here because it has Advanced Sensors and Inertial Dampeners.  I personally have a hard on for Advanced Sensors because I think its the best System Upgrade in the game.  There's just so much you can do with it.

The next list is this..

100 - Shooty Crabs

IG-88B — Aggressor 36
Crack Shot 1
Fire-Control System 2
Heavy Laser Cannon 7
Glitterstim 2
Autothrusters 2
Ship Total: 50
 
IG-88C — Aggressor 36
Crack Shot 1
Fire-Control System 2
Heavy Laser Cannon 7
Glitterstim 2
Autothrusters 2
Ship Total: 50

Look familiar?  That's because you also saw the list in Worlds.  It's not the first time I've seen it played, but it's definitely got a lot more popular since then.  This list sports the same upgrades and layout with double Crack Shot, HLCs and ATs, but it comes with FCS and Glitterstim.

Now that the cat's out of the bag, let's talk about the similarities first.  Both lists have B and C as their IG-88 variant because B offers a free Gunner to each ship for fire consistency, and C offers the free Evade action off the boost.  I've decided against the D variant for the breakneck 3-hard S-loop, mainly because I found myself doing standard S-loops and 4-Ks instead in most of my matches.  ATs are pretty much a no-brainer and is arguably the best upgrade in the game for the points.  It just negates so much damage and offers an insane amount of value for such a cheap upgrade.  Crack Shot is the upgrade that everyone is excited about these days and for good reason:  It offers you burst potential, and gives you a sure way to push damage.  This can mean the difference between a dead ship, or a ship that can get away next turn and/or put damage onto you.  It also allows you to pick off Stealth Devices from the likes of Fel and other aces.  If there's anything minis games have taught me over the years is that a sure kill is the best kind of kill.  Then there's HLCs, but we don't really need to go into that.

Here comes the fun part:  Advanced Sensors + Inertial Dampeners vs. Fire-Control System and Glitterstim.  Let's check out the pros and cons really quick:

Adv. Sensors + Inertial Dampeners
Greater movement potential (boost + evade, then move)
Greater defensive potential (being able to move out of arc and being able to action before being blocked)
Weaker vs. stress elements (action before movement is still an action)
2x Inertial Dampeners (for area denial or being able to stay at range 3)

FCS + Glitterstim
More consistent damage (big damage boost)
Have no defensive benefits
Ignores stress elements (since the target lock requires no actions)
2x Glitterstim (huge burst in damage and defenses, for one round)

So pretty much:  FCS offers big damage and burst potential at the expense of defense and movement, but Adv. Sensors + ID gives you greater control on how you move on the battlefield.  Both give you block immunity because one can Focus before move while the other just rips into targets in front of them with re-rolls on re-rolls.  Focus can obviously be used defensively, while FCS and no actions, so that basically means the IG-88 is stuck there shooting at whatever he can get his crabby hands on.

Before we go any further, let's look at the meta really quick:
Dash + Bs/Ys
4 YTLTs
Poe - Heaver's list
R3-A2 Stress Hog
Imperial Aces + Palpshuttle
Chirpy + Whisper/Fel
Howl + Crackswarm
Howl + regular Swarm
Other Brobots
..etc

Out of all of these lists, only the stress induced ones give the Adv. Sensors a lot of problems.  Not being able to take actions will mess you up regardless, and will pretty much negate your 3 point upgrade.  That's also one of the reasons I decided against PTL, and that's because it's better 3 points be negated than 6 points.  Anyways, damage is almost always welcome, and that's probably why you saw the FCS variant in Worlds.  However, the movement opportunities offered by Adv. Sensors and being able to Focus or move out of arc can be seriously good against almost all the lists here.  For example, if you can boost + evade (through IG-88C) and then do a 3-sloop, you can get some serious HLC time on target while taking almost no damage in exchange.  The FCS variant will be forced to K-turn if S-loop options are blocked, or just 3-straight because it's the furthest they can go.  However, against the likes of Crackswarm, Glitterstim is pretty amazing when they want to go hard on that one good turn and you just say no.

I don't know, I'm in a pickle.  Both setups are really good and they have their pluses and minuses, so I'm going to do some more research and analyze the lists in respect to the meta a little harder.  This is a pretty difficult decision to make for sure.

X-Wing: Spring 2016 Tournament Prep

Traitor!  Not playing Imperials in a tournament?

Now that tournament season is right around the corner, what are you guys doing to prep for your lists?  Are you planning to play different lists at each event or do you plan on taking the same list to each one?  In most of my tournament play, I like taking the same list to all the events with very minor changes.  The reason for this is because I like to gather data by exposing my list to as many competitive lists as possible.  I already do a good amount of playtesting by playing on Vassal and in my weekly game nights, but playing against a larger variety of opponents in real life is always welcome.

For this Spring, I think I'm going to deviate from my regular Imperial play to something more outlandish.  I'm not entirely sure which one I'm going to take to my first event, but it's either going to be my T-70 Poe list, Brobots or Broba Fett.  The super tough part here is that there's always a couple of components that I'm unsure of so I definitely need some help before deciding.

T-70 POE

Poe Dameron — T-70 X-Wing 31
Veteran Instincts 1
R2-D2 4
Autothrusters 2
Ship Total: 38
 
Blue Squadron Novice — T-70 X-Wing 24
R2 Astromech 1
Integrated Astromech 0
Ship Total: 25
 
Blue Squadron Novice — T-70 X-Wing 24
R2 Astromech 1
Integrated Astromech 0
Ship Total: 25
 
Bandit Squadron Pilot — Z-95 Headhunter 12
Ship Total: 12

Difficult Choices:

• Should I take BB-8 over R2-D2?  BB-8 allows for more flexible movement opportunities while R2-D2 gives me more sustain at the expense of predictable movement.  The extra 2 points can also buy AT one one of the Blues.
• Should I go with double R2/Integrated (R2 is staying, I love the greens) or should I go with BB-8 on Poe and double ATs on the Blues but no Astromechs?  We're looking at long-term sustain with possibly multiple hull saved vs. reactive sustain offered by the Integrated Astromech that you can control more readily.

BROBA FETT

IG-88B — Aggressor 36
Veteran Instincts 1
Advanced Sensors 3
Heavy Laser Cannon 7
Inertial Dampeners 1
Autothrusters 2
Ship Total: 50
 
Boba Fett (Scum) — Firespray-31 39
Veteran Instincts 1
Ion Bombs 2
Tactician 2
Inertial Dampeners 1
Engine Upgrade 4
Ship Total: 49

Difficult Choices:

• Flechette cannon or Ion Bombs?  Flechette Cannon gives me the ability to double-stress Poe, while Ion Bombs allows me to control movement better for IG-88 who likes to play at longer ranges after the initial exchange.
• VI, Predator or PTL on the IG-88?  Predator gives me more damage consistency on all of my psuedo-gunner attacks, but VI allows me to outrun other Brobots and Dash Rendar.  PTL gives me the ability to Focus/Evade and clear with a green on the joust.  If I go with Predator or PTL, I will lose out on the Ion Bombs option entirely.

BROBOTS

IG-88B — Aggressor 36
Veteran Instincts 1
Advanced Sensors 3
Heavy Laser Cannon 7
Inertial Dampeners 1
Autothrusters 2
Ship Total: 50
 
IG-88D — Aggressor 36
Veteran Instincts 1
Advanced Sensors 3
Heavy Laser Cannon 7
Inertial Dampeners 1
Autothrusters 2
Ship Total: 50

Difficult Choices:

• IG-88B and D or the tried and true B and C?  Right now, I think D is the more effective option because I'm running Advanced Sensors.  That is not going to change and so I think D will give me greater control of the movement phase and allow me to enter combat scenarios that are rarely seen.  The breakneck S-Loop on a 3-hard is probably one of the best things ever.
• Advanced Sensors for greater reliability vs. blockers or the insane damage boost offered by FCS?  I feel that both of these options have great merits, but Advanced Sensors gives me options.  I like my options so I think I'm set on sensors until someone convinces me otherwise.

I'll probably make a post detailing each individual component of the lists here and explain the gameplan, meta-impact and strategies going forward, but I just wanted to showcase the lists so we can jumpstart the discussion.  Let me know what you guys think!

Don't worry Armada fans, I got another article coming up to talk about the 2016 Spring season.

X-Wing: Let's try out Bobabots

Broba is coming out to play!

Happy New Year everyone, and welcome back.  This year, I want to do something different.  I've decided to set aside two days of the week where I can play some minis and I think I'll do X-Wing one day and Armada the other.  I just got back from vacation and I didn't get a chance to try out my Poe list yet, but I know it's going to be just fine.  Over the break, I played a bunch of Empire at War and I honestly miss playing the CIS.  That got me thinking..

What if I tried a list that looks something like this?

99 Bobabots

IG-88B — Aggressor 36
Veteran Instincts 1
Advanced Sensors 3
Heavy Laser Cannon 7
Inertial Dampeners 1
Autothrusters 2
Ship Total: 50
 
Boba Fett (Scum) — Firespray-31 39
Veteran Instincts 1
Flechette Cannon 2
Tactician 2
Inertial Dampeners 1
Engine Upgrade 4
Ship Total: 49

Like the name?  I just thought of it and it kinda sounds like one of those asian drinks.  Or should we go with Broba?  That's just ridiculous.

As for the list, let's talk about Advanced Sensors.  I would take it on every ship if I can and I had enough points, but the fact that that IG-2000s have the ability to take them is freaking amazing.  I know that most players put FCS on them so they can shoot multiple accurate shots with the HLC, but the flexibility of being able to Focus and then S-Loop or K-Turn is really amazing.  I just love being able to have Focus no matter what, especially when the ship has 3s in both offense and defense.  Since the IG-88B already has a pseudo gunner, I decided to just roll with VI to beat out other bots and Dash as a meta choice.  However, this still has me questioning: Is PS6 fine enough at it is?  Is it worth replacing VI with something like PTL?  PTL with Advanced Sensors is out of control, being able to double stack Focus/Evade while clearing greens is deity-level good.

Next to join the party is Boba Fett in his Firespray.  I put VI on him because PS10 is all the rage these days, being a meta-pick primarily to crap on PS9 aces.  The Tactician and Flechette Cannon allows me to pile on some easy stress tokens while Engine Upgrade is pretty standard these days on almost all Firesprays.  PS10 Tactician is a very nice thing to have and being able to inflict multiple stress tokens for almost free can be insanely good against the action-reliant pilots out there like Poe and Fel.

So what do you guys think?  What should I change if anything?  I'm eager to try the list and I already ordered a pair of bots to play around but I need to get my hands on one of these Flechette Cannons.

X-Wing: T-70 hype with Poe

Remember when I killed 9 TIEs without trying?

This is not Armada!  Yes, I know, but I also play a good amount of X-Wing in the tournament scene.  I know most of you guys have seen The Force Awakens already and are pretty pumped to play with Poe and the T-70s, so I figured I'll make some lists.  This is what I came up with and I think it's pretty good, well-rounded and competitive.  X-Wings haven't seen play in the competitive meta for a long time, but hopefully with R2 and Integrated Astromech, they will be somewhat better B-Wings.  If you really think about it, Integrated Astromech pretty much gives them all an extra HP as a pseudo, one-time use shield, but the best thing about it is that it's reactionary and can potentially block a Direct Hit.  That in itself is tremendous.. too bad FFG only decided to pack one of these into each T-70 expansion pack.

OK, the first list:

POE (100)

Poe Dameron — T-70 X-Wing 31
Veteran Instincts 1
R2-D2 4
Autothrusters 2
Ship Total: 38
 
Blue Squadron Novice — T-70 X-Wing 24
R2 Astromech 1
Integrated Astromech 0
Ship Total: 25
 
Blue Squadron Novice — T-70 X-Wing 24
R2 Astromech 1
Integrated Astromech 0
Ship Total: 25
 
Bandit Squadron Pilot — Z-95 Headhunter 12
Ship Total: 12

This basically goes for a purely defensive build with Poe + 2 Blues with Integrated Astromech and R2.  I decided to go with R2 over something like R5 because I want the extra greens after a Tallon Roll.  Being able to recover with all greens on speed-1 and 2 is amazing.  The extra Bandit there just flies around being jelly that everyone else is in the T-70s.

HELLO (99)

Poe Dameron — T-70 X-Wing 31
Veteran Instincts 1
R2-D2 4
Autothrusters 2
Ship Total: 38
 
Ello Asty — T-70 X-Wing 30
Veteran Instincts 1
BB-8 2
Autothrusters 2
Ship Total: 35
 
Tala Squadron Pilot — Z-95 Headhunter 13
Ship Total: 13
 
Tala Squadron Pilot — Z-95 Headhunter 13
Ship Total: 13

In this next list, I take both T-70 aces and bump Ello up to PS9 for the extra pilot skill.  Poe still sits comfortably at PS10 and I give BB-8 over to Ello and R2D2 for Poe.  Both come with ATs but Ello takes that to another level with his white Tallons.  With the extra points, I bump both Talas up to PS3 to outbid those pesky PS2 TLTs and call it a day.

Alright readers, I'm going to be traveling for the next couple of days to spend time with family, so expect some downtime.  Have a great holiday season!

X-Wing: Two Poe lists at the finals

This is what PS10's O-face looks like.

The finals of the X-Wing World Championship was just played and both lists had Poe Dameron.  Even though both players brought Poe to the party, they did so following different strategies. Let's examine them a little more closely shall we?

Nathan's Poe

Poe Dameron — T-70 X-Wing 31

Veteran Instincts 1

R5-P9 3

Autothrusters 2

Ship Total: 37

Paul's Poe

Poe Dameron — T-70 X-Wing 31

Veteran Instincts 1

R2-D2 4

Autothrusters 2

Ship Total: 38

Both of these ship and pilot configurations run similar qualities:  Shield regen and PS10.  The Autothrusters basically speak for itself as its pretty much a staple buy on any ship with a built-in Boost action.  What really sticks out here is the PS10 on Poe.  A lot of people have been running around with Imperial Aces these days and Soontir, Vader, Carnor and Whisper are pretty much commonplace.  You don't tend to see as many Rebel aces, but when you do, they're normally hanging around PS9 as well because Han, VI Dash or PTL/VI Jake do not typically take these specific pilot skill configurations and thus, are less commonplace in the meta.  That pretty much narrows it down to the Imps having the bulk of the aces in the meta and PS10 is there to make them sweat.

Let's see what PS10 does vs. the most common PS9 aces in the meta:

• Shooting at Whisper first is brutal because she'll be stuck without Advanced Cloaking Device triggering.  The Phantom is already a pretty squishy ship, and with 2 evade dice to throw, things get really hairy if something outpaces you out of stealth.
• Shooting at Vader means that his squishier ship will have to spend Focus to deny damage, and thus hitting his damage potential even further.  The TIE/x1 is a ship that really sacrifices damage for durability and vice versa.
• Poe Dameron doesn't care about Carnor Jax's ability and being PS10 means that he's shooting a much softer platform than Fel.
• Fel is arguably the bulkiest of the bunch with a solid balance of both maneuverability, durability and offense.  However, he's still in an Interceptor and every action counts.  Denying Fel a Focus or Evade token because Poe rolls well before him means he's under greater threat from the rest of the list.

The other thing about both versions of Poe is that they both regen shields.  R2D2 does it on a green and R5-P9 does it after spending a focus.  Personally, I like the surety that R2D2 provides.  Sure, the green is a bit limiting, but at least you can still regen if you bump or get denied.

When you examine the rest of Paul Heaver's list, namely the stressbot/hog/panic Y-Wing, it seems like a list that's really strong against the Imperial Aces list, while still being to hold its own vs. other lists in the meta.  Seriously though, if there's a single ship out there that poses a threat to Imp aces more than anything in the game, it has to be the stresswing.

Stresswing

Gold Squadron Pilot — Y-Wing 18

Twin Laser Turret 6

R3-A2 2

BTL-A4 Y-Wing 0

Ship Total: 26

 

Like I said many, many times.  A stressed Interceptor is as good as dead.  This little ship right here is probably the best buy you can have for 26 points IMO.  If you drop this down to a 25 point Ion Cannon, it can offer greater amounts of control but less damage output overall.  I can't tell you how much fear this ship strikes in elite imperial lists.  Combine this little guy and a PS10 Poe and you will be a good place to fight against the meta.

Congrats again to both players for making it this far!

X-Wing: Tournament lists for this weekend

Damn boy, look at that move.

Hey everyone!  Just a quick update on the tournament that I'm going to this weekend.  I think right now I've settled on two lists that I narrowed it down to after playtesting fiercely in the last couple of days.  The first list is the Rebels list with Poe leading Bs with Advanced Sensors and the naked Bandit.  I think I'll call that list DBZ-X or something.

Poe Dameron as Son Goku.

DBZ-X (100)

Poe Dameron — T-70 X-Wing 31
Push the Limit 3
BB-8 2
Autothrusters 2
Ship Total: 38

Blue Squadron Pilot — B-Wing 22
Advanced Sensors 3
Ship Total: 25

Blue Squadron Pilot — B-Wing 22
Advanced Sensors 3
Ship Total: 25

Bandit Squadron Pilot — Z-95 Headhunter 12
Ship Total: 12

The second list that I'll be running is he Palpmobile with Soontir Fel and Darth Vader:

PS11 might be a little too much.

Space Pope (99)

Darth Vader — TIE Advanced 29
Veteran Instincts 1
Advanced Targeting Computer 1
Engine Upgrade 4
TIE/x1 0
Ship Total: 35

Soontir Fel — TIE Interceptor 27
Push the Limit 3
Autothrusters 2
Stealth Device 3
Royal Guard TIE 0
Ship Total: 35

Omicron Group Pilot — Lambda-Class Shuttle 21
Emperor Palpatine 8
Ship Total: 29

Looking at the local, national and worldy meta, I would argue that these lists run into good and bad matchups as expected in a pretty balanced game.  Let's examine this a little bit further by looking at some of the really popular builds out there.  Using statistical analysis and metagame threads on the official X-Wing forum (local, regional and national reports), you can form a pretty good idea of what to expect when going into a tournament.

Here are some of the popular lists floating around:

• BBBBZ and other similar variants
• Fat Dash + Corran or 2 B-Wings
• Fat Chirpy + Fel
• Fat Han variants with either Zs or Jake
• BroBots B+C variants
• Unhinged TLT Thugs
• Obsidian Swarm or Fel + Obs mini-swarm
• Palpmobile with Vader and Fel

I think my DBZX list will do pretty decent against BBBBZ and most 2-ship variants because of the good balance between quality, bulk and firepower.  I think it will draw pretty hard matchups vs. TLT, Fel + Mini-swarm or Howl + Obsidian Swarm, and Palpmobile with Vader and Fel.  The problem with TLT is because of the B-Wings, which become a pretty hefty liability vs. sustained firepower of throwing out 8 rounds of dice per turn that burn 1 on average.  It's almost numerically not possible to roll that many evade dice so you're essentially looking at possibly ~6-8 damage per turn on a single B, which is enough to burn one down a turn if you're unlucky, or he gets lucky.  This is a 4th of your lists firepower and things only go downhill from there because both Poe and the Z do not have that much durability either.  Against this particular matchup, I think Poe will be sitting in the back with as much AT bonus and Focus as he can get.

I look at the heftier 2-ship builds as positive matchups because as long as I have the lower PS, I can potentially disrupt a lot of movement while being able to throw out dice.  Both Fel/Howl + Swarm will give me problems because PS3 will outbid everything I have except for Poe and will generally move better than me.  This is also why the elite Imperial build will cause problems for this list because of their superior maneuverability, dice manipulation and high PS.  When you have high PS ships that can arc dodge really well, those shields on Bs really wear out fast and with Vader/ATC/Emperor, you will take crits up the wazoo.

On the Imperial side, I think TLT will also pose a problem because of Vader.  He can stack Focus/Evade all he wants, but sooner or later he's going to eat it because of the lack of Autothrusters. Even Fel with AT will eventually lose his SD, so the main task will be to find a Y at Range 3 and take him down as soon as possible.  The Space Cow will probably hide in the corner and advance slowly as a faster advance will just present him as an easy target for the laser turrets.  I'm fairly confident against the other featured here as well, except for lists that will fly in tight formation, present low PS bids to block and disrupt your movement, while being able to throw a lot of dice at you.  If you really think about, almost everything will have a chance to block your ships so its almost best to just run away and take time to setup.  Getting blocked with Soontir or Vader is going to be bad times.  Since the Emperor can only help you once a turn, 90% of the time you will be saving that for defensive reasons while Vader and Fel can hopefully focus down one ship at a time.  The challenge there will be exactly how long they can stay alive with so many bodies looking to cockblock good firing opportunities every turn.

Overall, I would say that the elite Imperials list draws better matchups in the grand scheme of things, but is a lot less forgiving to bumps and grinds due to having to roll evade dice and being so action dependent.  This is one of the reasons why Bs with FCS see so much play still:  You can literally push them forward and let them roll dice.  Let me know what you guys think and what you guys have experienced in your local scene.

Oh! One more thing before I forget.  Check out this awesome trailer I put together last night.  My wife did the editing while I did the overall direction.  I'm probably going to use something like this in my Battlefront series as the intro.  Did you guys see who it was posted by?  It's real.  Really really real.

X-Wing: Some Rebel lists with Poe

I can be your hero baby.

Having seen what the new T-70 X-Wing can do, I'm really excited to try the newest Rebel Ace to join the meta.  When you think about how much better the T-70 is over the stock X-Wing, I don't know if you can ever go back to the old thing even with the droid discard for a pseudo shield.  It's really hard to say right now.  The T-70 comes with a better dial, the Tallon Roll, the Boost action, and an extra shield, I can't even begin to describe just how good this is over the 21 point Rookie Pilot in the T-65.  The Boost and Shield alone is a +8 point upgrade on the stock fighter, and the better maneuverability just puts this way over the top compared the upgrades to the TIE/fo.  By now, I'm not even surprised that FFG has a hard on for those poor poor Rebels, who with all their Fat Han/Dash builds, 3CPO and 22 point B-Wings, still desperately need the help.

Anyways, let's take a closer look at Poe.  Poe Dameron is a PS8 pilot with a pretty ridiculous pilot ability that reads: While attacking or defending, if you have a focus token, you may change 1 of your Focus results to a Hit or Evade result.  This ability looks like Luke's ability on the defensive and a watered down version of Chiraneau.  With the Focus token requirement, there's simply no better Elite Pilot slot than Push the Limit for action efficiency.  You will almost always want a Focus in there at all times, even after boosting or triggering off of BB-8's barrel roll.  Speaking of which, it's important that you pay close attention to the wording on BB-8 and how it interacts with PTL.  BB-8 says that when you reveal a green maneuver, you may perform a free barrel roll action.  On this free action, you can then PTL off of it for say a Boost action, acquire the stress token, and then shed the stress once you actually execute the green maneuver.  Once that's done, you're free to take another action in your action phase, so you can Focus on top of it, potentially giving you 3 actions a turn, stress free.  Of course this is vulnerable to stuff like debris and what not, but that's why having both the ability to free barrel roll and boost is amazing.  Just keep in mind that you cannot use BB-8 if you're stressed at the beginning of your movement.  The ability triggers immediately upon reveal and you clear stress after you complete the green.

I don't know about you guys, but that is absolutely ridiculous.  The fact that you can have so much maneuverability and action efficiency on a 6 effective HP ship with 3 attack dice shooting at PS8 is beyond me.  Poe might be the best thing the Rebels have received in a long, long time in the small ship department.  At least for me and how I like to fly Rebels.

Let's examine some of the lists:

The new Rebel Aces.

678 (100)

Poe Dameron — T-70 X-Wing 31
Push the Limit 3
BB-8 2
Autothrusters 2
Ship Total: 38
 
Jake Farrell — A-Wing 24
Push the Limit 3
Chardaan Refit -2
Wired 1
Autothrusters 2
A-Wing Test Pilot 0
Ship Total: 28
 
Ibtisam — B-Wing 28
Push the Limit 3
Advanced Sensors 3
Ship Total: 34

The first list here is a play on my Imperial 789 (Turr, Juno, Fel) with the Rebel Aces 678.  Sure, the PS skill might be lower across the board, but you're flying with some pretty mean ships and some very capable pilots.  All of the pilots here have quite a few tricks up their sleeves when dealing with stress mechanics.  As touched upon earlier in the article, Poe has crazy maneuverability and action efficiency due to BB-8, PTL and having Boost on the T-70.  Just having a Focus on him also makes him an incredible damage dealer and he can always choose to spend it for burst damage or evades.  Jake Farrell is just super good for 28 points IMO.  He's also another pilot that can pull off crazy moves because of the A-Wings ridiculous dial, and his pilot ability allows him to really min-max his actions as well.  Autothrusters go on him for free while Wired allows him to keep on ticking since he should be stressed every round.  Lastly, we have Ibtisam.  She works best when she's stressed as it's almost like having a Lone Wolf that ignores range restrictions.  In addition, PTL with Advanced Sensors allows you to do some of the most ridiculous combos in the game.  Such examples include: Focus + TL before you move and 1 green to clear the stress, Barrel Roll + Focus before you move and hard 2 to keep the stress and power up Ibtisam, or even a simple Focus + 2 K-turn to activate Ibtisam's ability while flying green 1 next turn to PTL like normal.  There's a reason why people think B-Wings are ridiculous, and being able to pre-action due to Advanced Sensors before movement makes them one of the most unpredictable ships in the game.

This list I'm exceptionally proud of, for probably no good reason:

I don't think you're ready for this.

XBBZ (100)

Poe Dameron — T-70 X-Wing 31
Push the Limit 3
BB-8 2
Autothrusters 2
Ship Total: 38
 
Blue Squadron Pilot — B-Wing 22
Advanced Sensors 3
Ship Total: 25
 
Blue Squadron Pilot — B-Wing 22
Advanced Sensors 3
Ship Total: 25
 
Bandit Squadron Pilot — Z-95 Headhunter 12
Ship Total: 12

What can I say?  It just has a ton of staying power and strong elements all around.  The pilot skills are not very high at all, but you have 6+8+8+4 for 26 effective HP and 11 dice on the alpha, all of them on ships that can move like UFOs minus the poor Bandit.  Let's be quite honest here:  The Bandit is a great chump blocker and if ignored, can just tail someone and throw dice at them until some damage sneaks in.  The primary damage dealers here are the T-70 and the dual B-Wings, especially when you consider that they can move really well and still deliver results.  This list is also exceptional at jousting because you can always Focus + 2 K-turn on the initial turn while Poe himself dances around with the Tallon Roll.  The list delivers a lot of firepower, a lot of staying power and can very well be a tournament-winning list.  Is Poe better than two Bs from the popular BBBBZ list?  I think it all depends on how well you can fly him in this case.

Let me know what you think of the lists.  I think they'll work out great!

X-Wing: There has been an awakening

Back in the saddle.

Having spaced out for a couple of months on minis has actually given me a fresh perspective on the meta.  The big dog running around right now are Unhinged Y-Wings with Twin Laser Turrets apparently.  Nasty?  No doubt.  However, I'm not so worried when it comes to flying against the majority of the lists out there because I'm so used to Fat turret lists running up and down the field since Han Solo came out so many years ago.  No matter what changes really, I'm always flying the same thing.  The only difference comes in knowing when to strike and how to move; something that experienced Elite Interceptor pilots do very well.

Alright, let's talk about lists.  What do I want to throw out on the battlefield that seems like it'll bring some enjoyment into my life?  The classic 789 list that I used to fly was Turr, Jax and Fel.  Now that the Imperial Raider is out and the TIE/x1's gotten a new lease on life, I figure its time to change things up a bit.

The new 789 looks something like this:

The dream team is back!

789 (100)

Soontir Fel — TIE Interceptor 27

Push the Limit 3

Autothrusters 2

Stealth Device 3

Royal Guard TIE 0

Ship Total: 35

 

Turr Phennir — TIE Interceptor 25

Push the Limit 3

Autothrusters 2

Stealth Device 3

Royal Guard TIE 0

Ship Total: 33

 

Juno Eclipse — TIE Advanced 28

Push the Limit 3

Advanced Targeting Computer 1

TIE/x1 0

Ship Total: 32

What you have here are two tried and true ships that always deliver with one new addition.  Juno Eclipse just has what it takes to make back her points.  Her dial makes it so that she's a great candidate for Push the Limit because of all the additional greens that she has to play with.  Sure, they're not the same hard turns as the Interceptor, but the adjustments to speed on the fly according to battlefield conditions, in addition to PTL'ing a barrel roll into something operational is exactly what you should be looking for.  When it comes to Imperial ships, the more action economy you have the better.  What I mean by this is really quite simple guys:  The more actions you have, the more you want to maximize on using as many of them per turn as possible.  The ATC already delivers consistent results on a Target Locked ship, so having the ability to PTL Focus/TL/Evade/barrel beats all other combinations IMO.  What you want is consistency, and so far to date, nothing delivers consistency to Imperial ships as much as the vaulted PTL.  Just remember guys:  The Elite 789 list is about being able to dance and manuver around the battlefield while setting up the winning scenario.  The winning scenario for an elite list means that you're putting out damage while receiving none in return.  If this means that you have to adjust speeds and just get out of firing arc with Juno, that's exactly what you do.  Getting out of arc and re-acquiring TL on a new target is a perfectly good strategy.  The same applies to the Interceptors here.  Never forget that the 5-straight and 4-green is there for you to re-position and re-engage in an more opportune fashion.

Bonus Round: You can also sub out Juno with Tetran Cowall with PTL, AT, RGT and SD for a perfect switch if you want to rock the 101st theme.  Having played around with Tetran some more, I'm really warming up to him; especially since his ability plays really nicely with Autothrusters.

Next on the list is another 3 ship list, but it plays completely different than the one above:

I have you now.

Vader (100)

Darth Vader — TIE Advanced 29

Lone Wolf 2

Advanced Targeting Computer 1

Engine Upgrade 4

TIE/x1 0

Ship Total: 36

 

Soontir Fel — TIE Interceptor 27

Push the Limit 3

Autothrusters 2

Stealth Device 3

Royal Guard TIE 0

Ship Total: 35

 

Omicron Group Pilot — Lambda-Class Shuttle 21

Emperor Palpatine 8

Ship Total: 29

With the Imperial Raider coming into the meta, two things have improved greatly:  The firepower expressed by the TIE/x1, and the Emperor riding in the stock Lambda; also known as the Palpmobile.  I've seen builds where Vader would switch out Lone Wolf for Calculation and that's a perfectly viable strategy as well, considering the fact that it can potentially deliver 4 criticals to someone in Range 1 is absurd.  The Emperor is there to fly slow and away from the rest of your party while acting as a giant magnet to draw in the flies.  That's when your tigers can use their superior maneuverability and speed to setup the kill shots while constantly using the Emperor's ability to turn engagements in your favor.  When you read the Emperor's ability, you should probably just replace the text with:  Turn 1 dice into a Crit or Evade in each one of your turns.  He's the Fateweaver of the Star Wars universe and that means his fat space cow shuttle should be dropping 1s all over the place just so he can squeeze out a few shots.  Depending on deployment, you might want to tuck him into a corner and just hard stop first turn while your other ships setup a wider flank.

Lastly, we have something a little less conventional:

No pain, no gain.

Turr (100)

Turr Phennir — TIE Interceptor 25

Push the Limit 3

Autothrusters 2

Stealth Device 3

Royal Guard TIE 0

Ship Total: 33

 

"Zeta Ace" — TIE/fo Fighter 18

Push the Limit 3

Ship Total: 21

 

Zeta Squadron Pilot — TIE/fo Fighter 16

Ship Total: 16

 

Epsilon Squadron Pilot — TIE/fo Fighter 15

Ship Total: 15

 

Epsilon Squadron Pilot — TIE/fo Fighter 15

Ship Total: 15

You can tell I'm really creative with the list names.  Seriously though, I'm saving points just so I can run PTL on Zeta and having Turr lead the pack instead of Fel.  TIE/fos are actually really good when you think about just how much they've gained for 3 points over your old TIE Fighter.  They gained a better dial, the ability to Segnor's Loop on left and right 2s, Target Lock, and gained a Shield upgrade (which costs 4 points by itself normally).  The Rebel counterpart gained similar traits, but since they're Rebel scum we'll skip them for this article and talk to them in the next.  Either way, I'm just excited to try out some of these new TIE/fos and see how they perform on the battlefield.  I could run the standard Fel-led Howlrunner + 3x TIE/fos, but I figure this is more exciting because you won't be tempted to stay together but rather use your extra maneuverability to hopefully outfly your opponents.  I swear, Zeta Ace has to be one of the best ships in the new set.  For 21 points with PTL, the ship can do some pretty crazy stuff considering he can choose to use either the 2 or the 1 when performing a barrel roll.  Compare that to Echo or Phantoms in general where you MUST use a certain template and you have all kinds of movement shenanigans for a bargain price.  The firepower is a little lower than most people would like with 2 dice each, but if they're not shooting at you while you're rolling more dice, it's only a matter of time.

Next article will feature a list that I've been working on for Rebels featuring Poe Dameron.  Stay tuned!

X-Wing: Autothrusters have arrived!

Alright boys, we're back in business.

When it comes to X-Wing, one of my favorite things to do is to fly my elite Interceptor list.  I've done very well with the list over the last couple of years, but the one hard counter it has are turrets.  Thankfully, that all changed yesterday and players will have to pay close attention to how they're playing their game instead of just flying around randomly and rolling dice.  That's one of the reasons why I despise lists like Fat Han with Gunner and all that crap.  What skill is there in flying something that re-rolls after re-rolls and doesn't need to worry about actions, damage negation or positioning?  No matter, times has changed and Interceptors are now back in style.

First, let's examine the card:

A mainstay for all Interceptors.

Elite Interceptor pilots like Soontir Fel and Turr Phennir were already incredibly slippery when flown correctly, but now this makes them even harder to take down.  Let's look at the first part of this card:  When defending, if you are beyond Range 2.. you may change 1 of your blank results into a evade result.

Playing in Range 3 is one of the Interceptor's chief abilities due to their speed and Boost/Barrel Roll actions.  You can easily take shots from Range 3 by giving yourself a slow approach, or getting in close and then using your 4K, 4-green or 5-straight to get yourself out of enemy fire.  Since you have outrageous speed, you easily change a bad engagement by just bailing yourself out of it.  If you boost, you can add even greater distance between you and your opponent.  Remember that when you boost left or right, you add greater distance between you and your opponent compared to a single 1-straight.

The second part of this card: ..or outside the attacker's firing arc.. is just something that every Interceptor pilot knows instinctively.  Why?  Because for a ship that's relatively high in price and sporting only 3 hull points base, you need to be avoiding damage completely in order to be successful.  This is the one reason why turreted ships gave Interceptors such a difficult time.  It negated their greatest strength on the battlefield:  Which is being able to do damage while negating damage in return.  With the introduction of this card, this forces the opposing player to think about their positioning or risk a free Evade.  For the Interceptor player, this helps reinforce two principles they lived and died from for years:  Speed and negation.

Personally, I'm very happy about the pricing of the card as well.  At 2 points and not 3, this makes the player think hard if he wants a guaranteed +1 HP from Hull Upgrade, a Shield for 4, or a chance at negating damage completely with Stealth Device.

Now you finally have a use.

One of the major problems with the Imperial Aces release was that all the upgrades available to the elite Interceptors were pricey.  When you factor in price of the ship, price of the pilot, one viable upgrade at 3-4 points, you don't really want another one if you have to pay for it.  Now, with Autothrusters being priced lower than Hull Upgrade, it looks to be quite an attractive option.  For me, I always take Stealth Device on my Interceptors because I see damage negation as stronger than taking damage.  Sure, dice will fail you sometimes, and God knows I've lost Fel more than Range 3 throwing 5 evades than I have at Range 1 taking 4 to the dome.  I plan on running him with SD and Autos for sure now.

So what will my list look like now for my Elite 3?  Here's what I plan on doing for my first run through:

789
Soontir Fel — TIE Interceptor
Push the Limit
Stealth Device
Autothrusters
Royal Guard TIE
 
Carnor Jax — TIE Interceptor
Push the Limit
Stealth Device
 
Turr Phennir — TIE Interceptor
Push the Limit
Stealth Device
Autothrusters
Royal Guard TIE

My other 789 variation (or rather 998) will have the same thing at 100 points, but Turr will be running Veteran Instincts so Jax can take Autothrusters as well.

You see, I can only put Autothrusters on either Jax or Turr, but I think Turr is a better candidate because of his extreme maneuverability.  His elite pilot skill allows him to play with both of the Autothruster's demands much more than Carnor Jax's ability to shut down Focus and Evade.  Sounds about right.

X-Wing: Crying about the Phantom

Seems appropriate.

I don't usually browse the forums, but when I do its to look for one thing:  Discussions centralizing around game imbalance.  Call it a hobby of mine, but I really like reading what others have to say and the arguments they put forth when talking about specific game features.  I find it highly entertaining because most of the time; the arguments are poor, the assumptions are premature and the theorycrafting is astronomical.  For example, there's this article on the official FFG forums talking about the Phantom being the best ship.  You can find the ridiculous 9-pager right here.

One of the first things to keep in mind when reading stuff like this is that most of the time, it's coming from an inexperienced player.  Experienced, tournament-faring players with lots of games in a diversified meta do not outright claim game imbalance when they get beaten.  They first analyze their play, see what went wrong and try to adjust their plan of action for next time.  That's what I did when I played pro (in other games), that's what my colleagues did and that's what every competitive player I ever knew did.  They analyze their mistakes and rectify it first thing.  What do they do next?  Play it again, and again, and again until it's clearly in both players' minds that there's nothing more can be done.

Most of the time, competitive players have played the game a lot.  They played it enough that they know what's in their meta, but also in the national and global meta as well.  If a competitive player starts to present anecdotal evidence through several playtests against equally competitive players who are also pitching in their feedback, and no one agrees that the ship in question is answerable, then there might be an issue.  This is a natural form of check and balances to make sure there's no weak link, and that the argument for the eventual problem is clear, concise and accurate.

This is one of those times where people misunderstand the concepts of game imbalance and things that change the metagame.  Like I said in that thread, this is Wave 4, a major release that throws 4 different ships into the meta with all different kinds of upgrades and options.  Just before that, we got the Rebel Transport that had a good amount of Rogue Squadron upgrades.  Shortly before that, we got Imperial Aces and now in the next couple of weeks, we'll get Rebel Aces.  What this means to the game is that everything will change:  Not just a little, but a lot because of all the different player options coming into the mix together.

When you look at what has been released before this, you'll find a common thread of meta-changers out there.  The Falcon and Han Solo changed how the game was played because of 360 firing arcs, solid damage output as well as fire consistency.  Not to mention the Falcon has a crap ton of health.  Then you look at the Imperial equivalent in the form of the Slave, the release of the TIE Bomber, named Interceptors like Soontir Fel and Turr Phennir, turret-based Rebel ships like the Y-Wing, Ion Cannons, Heavy Laser Cannons, Carnor Jax.. the list goes on and on.  The point is:  Whenever something new is introduced into the fray that people are not comfortable with yet, the most common reaction on the internet is to panic and post shitty threads crying imbalance.  Most of the people who post this shit are inexperienced players who haven't seen enough game time.  Even fewer are players who think they know what they're talking, but end up talking out of their ass because they play in a meta where the competition is weak, thus destroying the check and balances anomaly I talked about earlier.  I think I read in that thread somewhere where some dude proclaims that the Phantom single-handily destroyed 100 points worth of enemy ships.  That just smells like scrub-bashing.

I personally can't wait to get my Phantom and fly it around in a few games.  While I think it's a powerful ship, it's the epitome of a glass cannon and there's a huge number of counters out there.  Specifically, I'll target "Echo" for the purposes of listing out some counters:

• Higher PS pilots who shoots before him at his 2 defense dice before ACD triggers.
• Ships who ignore his maneuverability e.g. 360 turrets, Falcons.
• Player-induced stress tokens e.g. Flechette Torpedoes, R3A2.
• Ion Cannons are seriously bad news if they hit the ship.
• Bad luck, because it happens and I've lost Fel with full health off 5 evade dice before.

So the moral of the story is this:  Before you cry imbalance about a near 40 point ship with 4 hull points, at least have the common courtesy to know the difference between changing the meta and a balance concern.  Once you figure that out, at least try to defeat the problem instead of complaining about it on the forums like a giant bitch.  Maybe if you think about the issue long enough, it'll suddenly dawn upon you that there is no spoon [problem] in the first place.

X-Wing: Echo, echo

Ooo, new toys!

Yes, I'm making a pun off that Disney movie that's about a cute little robot alien.  You know what game I haven't played in a long time because of overtime?  X-Wing.  You know what game I need to play immediately?  X-Wing.  It's a shame I wasn't able to find a game tonight, but then again I'm not too upset because I didn't get my TIE Phantom yet.

Just so you guys know, I plan on fielding a TIE Phantom in my next list just so I can do all the outrageous things with it that you think it can.  I'm planning to field "Echo" along side two of my favorite Saber Squadron pilots, Soontir Fel and Turr Phennir.  Combined with the new TIE Phantom, I plan on making quite an impact on the battlefield as all the ships I have are ridiculously maneuverable.

First, let's take a look at Echo:

Seems good.

The greatest thing about this guy (or girl?) is the ability to go anywhere I want on the battlefield with his ability.  As you can see from this article on the FFG website, Echo can fly anywhere he wants as long as there's enough room to move around.  While this is great and all, I'm quite worried about how the presence of asteroids will limit his ability.  When you think about competitive play, players have the opportunity to place asteroids one after another, in alternating fashion.  A lot of the better players know exactly how these asteroids can affect how the battle plays out:  Tightly clustered asteroids gives TIE Swarm players a fit while more sporadic placement of rocks gives Interceptors and flankers an edge.

Regardless, I think the sheer number of movement tricks will make Echo worth his points.  So what will the layout be do you ask?  Well, I'm thinking about taking Veteran Instincts, Recon Specialist and Advanced Cloaking Device.  This will bring his price up to a whopping 38 points, but hopefully the Recon Specialist and ADC will be worth it.  The reason I chose these abilities is pretty well-reasoned I feel:  Veteran Instincts gives me PS8 so I can move later and shoot quicker.  Recon Specialist gives him double Focus tokens so I can choose to Decloak, Focus x2, Attack and trigger Advanced Cloaking Device.  I will then either have a focus to make my attacks more powerful and keep a another with 4 dice on defense.  If I hit with everything and I'm satisfied with my result, I can hold back both focus for two rounds of enemy shooting.  This greatly prolongs the life of a relatively lightly-armored ship.

Again, just like the motto of the TIE Interceptors, the idea here is to not get dead.  It's a lot harder than it looks when you're playing against skilled opponents, and even harder when they're well-versed in fighting against Interceptors.  To make matters worse, what hurts Echo is the same thing that hurts Interceptors and that's good ol' Stress.  If you get stressed in a Phantom, you're going to feel it as soon as your opponents start opening up.  Since Cloak/Decloak itself is an action, and ADC is a free action, if you can't take actions you're not going to be well-off on defense.  In fact, you're probably going to lose your 38 point ship.  I guess it's also important to point out that ADC only triggers after you attack with Echo.  This means that PS9 pilots or anything that outspeeds you (including pilots shooting first) is going to have the advantage offensively vs. your ship.  Hence why I chose to go with a 99 point list.

This is the other 789 list I have.

As for the rest of my dudes, Soontir and Turr will be flying escort for Echo.  The list itself looks like this:

99 points

"Echo" — TIE Phantom
Veteran Instincts
Recon Specialist
Advanced Cloaking Device
 
Soontir Fel — TIE Interceptor
Push the Limit
Hull Upgrade
 
Turr Phennir — TIE Interceptor
Push the Limit

Let me know what you guys think about the list.  I'm pretty confident it'll do well.  I'm used to flying elite lists by now and this one is no different.

X-Wing: The finality of Interceptors

Pre-calling it right now.

Alright guys, Imperial Aces is officially upon us and I'm very happy with my set of 4 of each ship.  I'm going to be pretty blunt here, the only thing that I'm happy about is the fact I got better painted ships.  When you look at what the actual set offers you from a competitive standpoint, it's actually quite lackluster.  Out of everything that they give you, you have one viable named pilot in the form of Carnor Jax and the other unnamed being the Royal Guard Tie.  Everything else in the box is loaded with upgrades and that does nothing but increase the cost of a ship that's already considered overpriced.

There, I said it.  I think the Imperial Aces box is a wash compared to what the Rebels got this time around.  When you look at the Rebel Convoy, you'll notice that Rebels got a ton of new tools to play with.  Not only are there more options to field for the X-Wings, but new Droids and missiles that inflict stress as well.  I pointed this out a couple of posts before, but why do I feel that the stress-inducers is a direct counter to Interceptors with Push the Limit.  To make things even more laughable, FFG kindly decided to provide 2x copies of PTL to every box of Imperial Aces.  I think they know deep in their hearts that Interceptors live and die by their actions.  An Interceptor under stress that he cannot shake is as good as dead.  When shooting at said target, you're basically nothing more than a 12 point Academy Pilot, but wait, you're actually a 30+ point elite pilot ship, 1/3 of your list's total firepower and durability.

To make matters slightly worse, when you check out the Rebel Aces box, you can't help but feel jealous. Where the Imperial Aces box is filled with stuff you wouldn't realistically take in a competitive game, you have a box that not only expand your options on A-Wings but B-Wings, but make them better.  A-Wings can get cheaper and you can load them up with double EPTs.  B-Wings get a few options and a new sensor that allows them to move at PS0, making sure they can always take their actions and not get blocked, not even by PS1 Academy Ties.  I just hope that the Imperials get some better upgrades and fast, because Enhanced Scopes, Advanced Sensors, A-Wing Test Pilot and Chardaan Refit was something I hoped Interceptors would get.

Then, you have the people.  Man, some people on the FFG forums and other places on the net seem to have difficulty understanding what we're seeing here.  One of the most popular arguments for these players is: "we'll see how it plays out."  I'm sorry, but when someone uses that argument on me, it's basically telling me you're incapable of logical thought and/or lack the experience to make an accurate projection.  Any experienced player will be able to judge scale, power, weigh the pros and cons, understand cause and effect, just by reading cards and letting their superior experience, game knowledge and skill guide them.  Saying "we'll see how it plays out" is quite simply a pillowfort for lesser players who lack the tools to decipher what's in front of them.

I know that sounds harsh, but it's the truth.  It exists in this game, other games, competitive sports, in business and in other aspects of the real world.  No great leader or successful person ever said "let's wait and see how it plays out".  They analyze, develop theory, critique, and learn all they can from what they have in front of them before they put their actions into motion.  This is what this blog is for and the reason I've built it up is so we can discuss higher-level gaming.

Now let's discuss!