As stated numerous times above, Rebels take up more points and favor quality over quantity, so if "cheapest" is the only parameter then for around $30 at a local store or $20 on ebay you can add either a Falcon, or any 2 of the rebel ships.

Rebel builds with 3 quality pilots can sometimes be respectable.

Right now I'm flying X-wing Wedge + 2 HWKs (Kyle Katarn & Jan Ors). But if you show up at a tournament with that you'll get a lot of weird looks.

Plus it requires the purchase of 3 ships... and at that point you might as well run an XXBB list or something more generic.

Plus it requires the purchase of 3 ships... and at that point you might as well run an XXBB list or something more generic.

Yes yes... sorry I was not advocating (2) HWKs for the OP, I was just saying I sometimes use 3 pilots.

I'd recommend core + B +X.

I guess you can get to 100 points with Core + Firespray although it pretty much requires filling up every slot to the max. Guess it isn't much different than adding a Falcon to the Core. When it comes to price 1 large = 2 small is pretty accurate.

When only using the Core you can get its two T/F up to 36 points (Dark Curse, Mauler + Marksmanship) and the Rebel X-Wing up to 39 points (Luke + R2D2 + Torp + Marksmanship).

Unless you are purchasing a 2nd core I would stay away from a 3 X-Wing build for now because in the long run it makes no sense to get 2 X-Wing expansions if you plan on getting deeper into the game.

You will want a 2nd core eventually and you may even go for a Transport at which point you will get another.

Easiest way (and most competitive) is probably a Falcon and 1 X-Wing expansion.

Since you already have the core set, you could always get two b-wings and run a variation of a list that got me second in a tournament a month ago.

99 points

Luke (28)+R2-D2(4)+DTF(1) (33)

Ten Nunb (31)+ FCS (2)+ Marksmanship (3) (36)

Ibtisam (28)+ FCS (2) (30)

You would need to borrow Draw Their Fire (DTF) from a friend, but by only buying two expansions you get six attack dice, ten shields and six hull on hard hitting rebels who can barrel roll and maintain TLs for high kill probability.

Good luck on your tournament.

Owning a Core already means leveraging the X-Wing

XXBB is the best bet since it is instantly competitive. Bonus is that you don't need extra upgrades cards beyond what you get.

Trying for a 3-small ship rebel build means you'll have to play perfectly, so spring for the extra ship.

Any build involving an HLC means buying a Slave 1 or Lambda. Not cheap.