For 4 points I could debate that.

For 4 points I could debate that.

That's a cost issue, it's up to you to see if the forcing of choice is worth the printed cost. But in and of itself, it's good to force him to choose.

It doesn't cost you anything after the initial equipping costs but he will have to consider his actions. Spend the focus? Keep it for defense? Take a focus action in the first place? Look for a different target to take out first?

The more choices someone has to make, the more opportunities for making the wrong one.

And for you, it's all good. Either he doesn't spend focus, you just cancelled a hit, or he does and he can't use it on defense anymore.

Another trick you can do with advanced Sensor and Barrel roll is Barrel rolling two times in a row without moving, just like doing a 3 lenght move on the side. Turn 1, you move and barrel roll left. Second turn, you barrel roll left again then move.

The problem with using Sensor Jammer on a B-wing, is you could have taken Advanced Sensors instead.

Edit: The 2nd problem is that Sensor Jammer is only mediocre at best.

So to me isn't advanced sensors only useful if you plan on stressing? So on a bwing it means you want to k turn or do a hard turn and still get an action but the next turn your vulnerable because now you need to clear the stress and that card is useless while stressed. That's how I see it, is there something I'm missing that makes it better?

Being able to barrel roll before revealing your maneuver is a HUGE benefit. Being able to take an action even if you ram a ship or pass through an asteroid. Man I wish Interceptors could take advanced sensors!

Isn't there an upcoming card that adds EPT to ships for 1 point if their PS is above 2 or 4?

That means Ints can have AdvS soon, yes?

Isn't there an upcoming card that adds EPT to ships for 1 point if their PS is above 2 or 4?

That means Ints can have AdvS soon, yes?

There's an astromech coming, so that is Y-Wing, X-Wing and E-Wing only.

And it adds EPT's, the AdvS is a system upgrade, B-Wing, E-Wing, Lambda & TIE Phantom only.

The problem with using Sensor Jammer on a B-wing, is you could have taken Advanced Sensors instead.

Edit: The 2nd problem is that Sensor Jammer is only mediocre at best.

So to me isn't advanced sensors only useful if you plan on stressing? So on a bwing it means you want to k turn or do a hard turn and still get an action but the next turn your vulnerable because now you need to clear the stress and that card is useless while stressed. That's how I see it, is there something I'm missing that makes it better?

Being able to barrel roll before revealing your maneuver is a HUGE benefit. Being able to take an action even if you ram a ship or pass through an asteroid. Man I wish Interceptors could take advanced sensors!

Isn't there an upcoming card that adds EPT to ships for 1 point if their PS is above 2 or 4?

That means Ints can have AdvS soon, yes?

That card is for A-Wing only and Advanced Sensor is a system upgrade, not an EPT. So I can only live in a dream... I would settle for a second EPT though.... Push the Limit+Outmaneuver on a Squint... hmmmm

The problem with using Sensor Jammer on a B-wing, is you could have taken Advanced Sensors instead.

Edit: The 2nd problem is that Sensor Jammer is only mediocre at best.

So to me isn't advanced sensors only useful if you plan on stressing? So on a bwing it means you want to k turn or do a hard turn and still get an action but the next turn your vulnerable because now you need to clear the stress and that card is useless while stressed. That's how I see it, is there something I'm missing that makes it better?

Being able to barrel roll before revealing your maneuver is a HUGE benefit. Being able to take an action even if you ram a ship or pass through an asteroid. Man I wish Interceptors could take advanced sensors!

Isn't there an upcoming card that adds EPT to ships for 1 point if their PS is above 2 or 4?

That means Ints can have AdvS soon, yes?

That card is for A-Wing only and Advanced Sensor is a system upgrade, not an EPT. So I can only live in a dream... I would settle for a second EPT though.... Push the Limit+Outmaneuver on a Squint... hmmmm

Ahh crap, I forgot it's a system upgrade.

Well, it was cool in my head for a minute.

So how does the sensor jammer work exactly? I thought the attacker modified all his dice first by spending focus/target locks/abilities/etc and then the defender got to modify dice by spending focus/evade/abilities. Is SJ changing hits to focus when I modify the dice when defending or does it change them the attacker's die to a focus right as he fires at the defending ship?

So how does the sensor jammer work exactly? I thought the attacker modified all his dice first by spending focus/target locks/abilities/etc and then the defender got to modify dice by spending focus/evade/abilities. Is SJ changing hits to focus when I modify the dice when defending or does it change them the attacker's die to a focus right as he fires at the defending ship?

Attacker rolls red dice.

Defender has chance to modify attack dice. (This is where Sensor Jammer would be used to change a hit to an eyeball,)

Attacker has chance to modify attack dice. (Can't re-roll the modified die because of Sensor Jammer, but this is where a focus token used for attack would change the eyeball back to a hit.)

Defender rolls green dice.

Attacker has chance to modify defense dice.

Defender has chance to modify defense dice.

Determine what hits are evaded and take damage, if any.

Well that changes my outlook on SJ entirely, not so sure I care for it as much now.

An interesting couple of synergies with sensor jammer:

Wes Janson will shoot early enough to remove focus from a ship that could shoot a Jammer equipped b-wing.

Carnor Jax hoses focus, so shuttles can really benefit from him being parked next to ships that are going to shoot the lambda.

In the end, the criticism of Sensor Jammer comes down to "Your opponent can always just spend a focus token to negate it." Which is fine, except that;

1 - Your opponent will NOT always have a focus token available. In fact, it is a very strange game (played very badly by you) where your opponent will have a focus available more than 2/3 of the time. K-Turns, Barrel-Rolls, Asteroids, and bumps all conspire to deprive your opponent of their all-important Focus token.

2 - The cost of a focus token is not trivial. Each and every ship that fires at you must have a focus token available each and every time, or see its damage output drop dramatically. Forcing every ship to expend their focus offensively on every shot is NOT a minor effect.

When facing TIE fighters, Sensor Jammer can be a lifesaver. Barrel-Rolls become a quick way to drop their firepower by nearly 2/3, bumping is the same. You make Howlrunner next to useless in a melee/K-Turn, which is the place where her ability is usually MOST needed. Also, when facing focused TIEs it is VERY common to force them to spend their focus just to survive long enough to fire. With Howlrunner support, that is usually a pretty minor inconvenience for them because they can use her reroll to avoid losing firepower. With SJ, every one of those spent focus translates to reduced damage, on a nearly 1 for 1 basis. Finally, saving "only" 1 damage gives you the same cost/benefit of a Shield Upgrade, and saving 2 puts it on par with Chewbacca. 3 or more and you have easily, easily gotten far more than your 4 points back in value.

To understand what I am saying, ideally you should just try playing a few games using them. Failing that, watch the 2013 X-Wing final between Paul Heaver and Dallas Parker. Paul is using Advanced Sensors, and does a great job of leveraging them to win the game. However, you can watch it and imagine how it would have gone differently with Sensor Jammer. You can see that SJ would have saved an enormous number of hits over the course of the game. Would it have been better than AS, enough to justify the extra point for each Jammer? Maybe, maybe not. It is difficult to say because Pauls play was predicated on the use of AS. But would they have been good? Certainly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQvcrdDZ2Oo

In the end, Advanced Sensors are an excellent upgrade that should always be considered. But SJ is also an excellent upgrade. It serves a different purpose, but it is certainly not the dead weight that so many people have theorized it would be. Combined with action denial, it can be a monster upgrade the likes of which really needs to be seen to be believed. As I stated earlier, I have saved as much as 6 hits in one turn , no other upgrade can even come close to that level of effectiveness.

As I stated earlier, I have saved as much as 6 hits in one turn , no other upgrade can even come close to that level of effectiveness.

I think the Flight Instructor crew has this potential; but it is just as unlikely to happen as it is with sensor jammers.

The "This one time in this one game I..." philosophy isn't really the best way to judge an upgrade's overall worth.

That said, I think sensor jammers can be useful but I think you need to build your list to work with it rather than just hoping your opponent won't have focus when he shoots at a ship equipped with it.

Yes, you are correct that a single outlying anecdote is not evidence. However, I used that particular anecdote because it is not really an outlier. The circumstances required are not only likely, they are VERY likely. All it takes is to have the swarm K-Turn or bump, which is not an uncommon occurrence. In fact, those circumstances occur every single game when you play a swarm, multiple times each game.

I do agree that simply spending 4 points on SJ then hoping for the best is not the way to get value out of it. Neither is spending 3 points on Advanced Sensors, as evidenced by the dubious advantage of putting AS on Blues.

I also feel the need to point out that Flight Instructor is also an under appreciated upgrade, although I wouldn't rate it as highly as Sensor Jammers. It also competes with the very efficient Chewbacca for a 4 point defensive crew upgrade.

As I stated earlier, I have saved as much as 6 hits in one turn , no other upgrade can even come close to that level of effectiveness.

I think the Flight Instructor crew has this potential; but it is just as unlikely to happen as it is with sensor jammers.

The "This one time in this one game I..." philosophy isn't really the best way to judge an upgrade's overall worth.

That said, I think sensor jammers can be useful but I think you need to build your list to work with it rather than just hoping your opponent won't have focus when he shoots at a ship equipped with it.

This is where I'm seeing the potential for a TIE/Phantom with Sensor Jammer and Flight Instructor as a viable, although not cheap, option. In an Epic match it may be more beneficial as a strike fighter.

Take "Whisper" TIE/Ph, and then get a free focus token after the attack hits too. Add Predator and you've got the free baby TL too...

Sensor jammer is one of the best cards in the game and it is extremely underrated because the current meta favors advanced sensors. Sensor jammer will shine in wave four. It also is starting to shine now against the Aces because it forces one of your opponents actions to be a focus.

In my meta, Soontir Fel is on almost every table. Sensor Jammers don't shine against him at all because he always has focus but it doesn't cost him an action. I like the card, but not for 4 points.

I'm thinking it'll work best on ships with higher agility values, especially the cloaked Phantom and the E-Wing. Is it bad on the B-Wing or Shuttle? No, not at all. However, given the more favorited use of FCS and Adv. Sensors for specific fleet and ship builds you can see why it's often maligned and underutilized. One of my earlier Blue-Blue, Green-Green Squadrons was one of my B-Wings with Fire Control System and the other with Sensor Jammer. Although Sensor Jammer did help to negate some damage, I didn't feel it was enough to justify the loss of free target locks on the shuttles I was fighting. Now that's only one list, so naturally there are times when it's just that much more useful, and others when it is not, just like every other upgrade in this game.