Well, Lt. Blount can auto-kill a Stealth Device with an Assault Missile and some of the upcoming releases will bring stuff that really punishes stressed ships.

Keeping Interceptors alive rely on Stealth Device (that usually lasts better than equipping Hull or Shield upgrades) and PTL. Now both are easily countered. I fear that an already unpopular ship will become totally extinct at tournaments. I have been at two store champs. and I was the only one fielding Interceptors so they weren't exactly popular to begin with.

I love Interceptors but I don't think they have much future for competitive play. Imperial Aces changes little in that sense.

Interceptors have never been popular at Tournaments. I don't think anything is going to change. But I do think people are going to need to rethink how to play them.

SD and PtL are going to be less effective, so the tactics will need to change. Towards that end, I'm starting to play them without PtL or SD, and see what I can do.

With some lucky roles I was able to beat my friends XXYY list the other day using Jax and other Interceptors. The fact that he had ion's on them made me really consider how to fly but in the end I managed to take them out.

No. The high PS Interceptors should easily be able to avoid an attack from Blount. Yes, the upcoming Stress inducers are dangerous for Interceptors. It just means you have to be a little bit more judicious in you usage of Push the Limit.

No, the Interceptor is not dead.

(This has been another edition of "Short Answers to Simple Questions". Tune in again next week...)

No. The high PS Interceptors should easily be able to avoid an attack from Blount. Yes, the upcoming Stress inducers are dangerous for Interceptors. It just means you have to be a little bit more judicious in you usage of Push the Limit.

True - but this also forces you away from low PS Interceptors. Blount is PS6, so that is a lot of them really.

I've been saying for awhile now that HU > SD in a pure mathematical sense. But no one listens. And everyone has always said that turrets are the biggest problem for interceptors because they can arc dodge everything else. This should be no different for Blount. So even if you want to continue running SD against the greater wisdom of math, Blount shouldn't factor into your decision.

As for the stress, as others have repeatedly said, you'll have to manage how to deal with it better. But Wingman just introduced an entirely new way to deal with said stress. Soontir w/ PTL comes in at 30 points. Saber w/ Wingman is 23 points. This puts you at 53 points for those two. Then fill out your remaining 47 points with TIE/ln, TIE/sa, FS-31, or Lambdas (or the mythical prototype that is only a mere rumor as I've never seen it in person =P).

I dunno, Blount isn't that high of a PS, he can take 4 damage and has 2 agility? Yeah 2 or 3 ships can take him down before he even gets a shot. Doesn't sound that strong to me.

Just because a new ability comes out doesn't mean a ship is "dead". It just means you need to change the way to play that ship. Currently, SD is almost a gimme on any interceptor. With the Z-95, it will just change the way you need to equip an interceptor. Try Hull Upgrade or Shield Upgrade instead...

With Blount I figure the best tactic would be to send one ship at him and force him to either fire the missile at it or risk letting it get behind him. Swarms might just have to start playing a little more defensive during the opening turns.

New reports indicate that it is still doing better than yo' mama.

I do not think they are anywhere near dead. I hardly ever fly mine with PtL anymore anyway and look more to synergies. I am still not convinced by the Stealth Device (except on Soontir) and will almost certainly be taking Hull Upgrades instead once they become legal at tournaments.

I like the possibilities wingman brings as it will allow you to shed stress and use the whole dial after K-Turns and I use those a great deal.

Wingman will allow you to do back to back K-Turns and 4 x Royal Guard or Sabres with that card will be a highly evasive squad.

far from being dead, I think Ints get a boast from this release. You can't shoot me if I am not in arc and Wingman helps me stay out of your arc. Lorrir and Cowell both benefit highly from wingman.

In fact, these two guys with a named Defender could be a real nasty squad K-Turning all the time at various angles.

Well, Lt. Blount can auto-kill a Stealth Device with an Assault Missile and some of the upcoming releases will bring stuff that really punishes stressed ships.

Keeping Interceptors alive rely on Stealth Device (that usually lasts better than equipping Hull or Shield upgrades) and PTL. Now both are easily countered. I fear that an already unpopular ship will become totally extinct at tournaments. I have been at two store champs. and I was the only one fielding Interceptors so they weren't exactly popular to begin with.

I love Interceptors but I don't think they have much future for competitive play. Imperial Aces changes little in that sense.

No it its now better than ever but will only be used successfully by few that are able to use Fel/jax/turr well. By that I mean being able to think multiple turns ahead and be able to flank competently. If I see my appt using the LT I will see an instant win, while decent I don't think he brings enough to the table. Sure I loose my device big deal I still have two actions and its my fault if I stay in your firing arc.i played a game the other day where I tried to just stay out of my opponents firing, didn't care about damage. Lets just say he wasn't happy.

Does anyone honestly think Lt. Blount is the end-all, be-all of anything? Nice ability, but it's one ship that you can outmaneuver. If he can't shoot you, he can't pop your stealth device. Then he's just a 4 HP, 2 AG target. Here's the thing, when I read all these doom scenarios about Interceptors: if you're jousting with them, you're doing it wrong. Interceptors only really make hay when they keep to the edges, boost/barrel roll out of arcs, get you to split your fire, snipe at R3, and try to get into the late game, 1-on-1 scenario against a less agile ship. If you lose one Stealth device because your opponent flew Blount well, it's not an autoloss. The things go away all the time, but the price of that shot will probably be to lose Blount just as fast. So... you lost a 3 pt upgrade (and maybe not even any actual damage) and he lost a 19+ pt ship.

As I say, I have just decided at 3 points, Stealth Devices are not worth it, I'm having a Hull Upgrade. If Blount turns up with his ability and an Assault Missile, I won't fly at range one of each other in my Ints, then I'll shoot his sorry rebel bottom of the board anyway.

Trust me when I say wave 4 gives Ints far more than it takes away......

No, the Interceptor is not dead.

(This has been another edition of "Short Answers to Simple Questions". Tune in again next week...)

You can't kill what you can't hit. Interceptors are going to be more alive than ever thanks to the Aces. There is a reason your Aces came with two Saber and Royal Guard pilot cards. Get ready to see two of one of these in a lot of future lists!

Wait, only a few days ago didn't Farlander completely negate everything? And before that wasn't it the new Astromechs? And before that wasn't it Jax's Focus cancelling ability? Holy crap, it's like nothing at all works with anything else, at all!

Paging Chicken Little... Chicken Little to the courtesy phone please.

And way, way, way before that it was the Assault Missiles killing the Swarm. It all works out. There have been a few bumps, but at the moment, the game is amazingly balanced, and so far, it doesn't look like things are going to get unbalanced, as there are counters to counters to counters...

No, the Interceptor is not dead.

(This has been another edition of "Short Answers to Simple Questions". Tune in again next week...)

You can't kill what you can't hit. Interceptors are going to be more alive than ever thanks to the Aces. There is a reason your Aces came with two Saber and Royal Guard pilot cards. Get ready to see two of one of these in a lot of future lists!

Exactly, if your flying an Int anticipate your opponents moves and stay out of the firing arcs with your boost and barrel roll.if you get shot its because you made a mistake. Jax alone is a huge break for the Int.You have to plan ahead and maneuver well but the end result is awesome.

Jax alone is a huge break for the Int.

I have to say in the 2 games I used him in, he's an amazingly disruptive unit. Get him in the middle of a furball, and now the other guy can't use focus to help kill Jax, but can't use focus to help kill anyone else. Also can't use focus for defense meaning he's more likely to take damage.

Jax alone is a huge break for the Int.

I have to say in the 2 games I used him in, he's an amazingly disruptive unit. Get him in the middle of a furball, and now the other guy can't use focus to help kill Jax, but can't use focus to help kill anyone else. Also can't use focus for defense meaning he's more likely to take damage.

I love those long headache games of cat and mouse.

Jax alone is a huge break for the Int.

I have to say in the 2 games I used him in, he's an amazingly disruptive unit. Get him in the middle of a furball, and now the other guy can't use focus to help kill Jax, but can't use focus to help kill anyone else. Also can't use focus for defense meaning he's more likely to take damage.

I love those long headache games of cat and mouse.

Getting Off Topic here...

I watched an untimed 150pt mirror match of two TIE Swarms trying to take on each other. It went on close to four hours before the last TIE finally bit the dust...

Back to lamenting how everything is broken now.

with the new Z-95's I think that playing Imperials is basically dead, no point in playing when you have such a distinct disadvantage vs rebels. The B Wings were bad enough, now we have to deal with Z-95s

with the new Z-95's I think that playing Imperials is basically dead, no point in playing when you have such a distinct disadvantage vs rebels. The B Wings were bad enough, now we have to deal with Z-95s

You're kidding, right? Have you not seen the new ships the Empire is getting?!?! The Defender is encroaching on the Rebel's ability to joust and come away the better for it, and the Phantom is just sick. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee! I think Wave 4 is going to bring about the popularity of 3 ship builds.

The interceptors still have their greatest defense besides stealth devices; staying out of arcs in the first place.

"I am a leaf on the wind..."