I've been flying casual but I'm looking to start competitive play. I've checked out some of the high level play videos and noticed tight formation flying is a must.

I did not see any lone wolf flankers being used in any of the videos, but rather strict formation flying. Just wondering, is this the nature of all successful high level completive play? Or can I get away with using PTL Soontir or PTL Tycho away from my formation?

I love using Fel and a mini swarm, especially when they ignore Fel and he comes in to tear ships up from behind

The only problem with Fel are YTs and you'll face few of them.

Imo, keep him light (PTL only) and instead of a mini swarm bring heavy shielded ships as lambda/Firespray to the table.

I've won a tourney with a Howl-led mini swarm, flanked by Turr with PTL.

The nice thing about this game is that there is no "one true strategy"

In fact, flying something outside the norm (if flown well) can often throw off other players,

If the meta in your area is a few heavy ships, then everyone is used to flying against that. If you bring a swarm, they'll have to rethink their tactics on the fly.

A lone wolf can be effective. It can also mean you've divided your forces and allowed yourself to be defeated in detail. Give it a try and learn from it.

Formation flying is not a must. Focus fire is. Formation flying is a good way to ensure that all your ships engage on the same turn. It is not the only way. Flankers can be amazing tools. You just need to be careful how you use them.

What helps with Interceptors against turrets is being in range 3. The bonus defense helps the high agility ship more, especially if you have a lottle tie that might be a more desirable target

One of the problems with having a preconceived strategy in a tournament setting: it may not always work. Your opponents aren't robots that are going to stick to your plan.

And I think it's problematic to have a 'reserve'/flanking group in 100pt play (I advocate it for 300pts though) unless you can perfectly time the first round of shooting to involve everyone. If your flank is significant enough (30+pts for Soontir for instance), and he misses the first round of shooting - you're at a significant disadvantage. A good opponent will recognize this and try to engage one of your groups separately. (this is also inherently the problem with the 3 BH/Shuttle lists - you can't engage in a single formation)

Indeed, it is a fine strategy if you can MAKE sure your ships are all pointing at the same target.

Some notes on this:

1. Don't start your ships too far apart, such as opposite corners. This makes it quite easy for your opponent to engage on 1 group while the other tries to catch up. I prefer my main force sort of in the middle, and my flanker off to one side, sometimes in the corner, sometimes not.

2. Have a plan for when your opponent turns towards the flanker. This can be something like an alternate escape route with boost, asteroid placement to make it a bad decision, or ensuring your main force is on your opponent's tail.

3. Take flanking ships that have boost. Anything else might put your ship out of a shot for a turn. A shuttle with boost is a good flanker. Interceptors and A wings are good to. I might consider flanking with an Engine Upgrades X Wing as well. Anything that can turn up the speed of needed.

I'd say the only reason staying in formation is so popular is the ease of focus firing. However, staying in formation has weaknesses too. Action denial, blocking in general, and being forced to K turn all of your ships instead of having 1 on the flank that always has actions for offense.

My question always is, what do I do when my opponent sets up a flanker as well? Can't assume your opponent will always formation fly, which is why you would bring the flanker in the first place.

I use an a wing in a similar role, but keep him flying in formation until the formation engages, at which point he zooms off to get behind them instead. Trouble is both a wings and interceptors are easily 1 shot, and if you're not protecting them early on they can just end up getting shot down before you engage the rest of your squad, at which point you're just playing a game with less points.

I run a 5 ship rebel build and rebel ships actually can stand being lone wolves. given their HP values. I never fly my squad in formation. i have a group that's a rookie pilot and 2 prototypes that hang together at the start. then one of the A-wings either sticks with the group or decides to go off and flank the back side. essentially to form a horse shoe around thier formation. they stay close to back each other up, but if someone in my squad dies to focus fire, there isn't a 2nd target for them to start working on.

My goal in building a squad and flying it is to give my opponent as many options as possible. That way they can't stay focused on something. If i give them a clear target it's easier for them to focus and less chances for mistakes on their end.

I run a 5 ship rebel build and rebel ships actually can stand being lone wolves. given their HP values. I never fly my squad in formation. i have a group that's a rookie pilot and 2 prototypes that hang together at the start. then one of the A-wings either sticks with the group or decides to go off and flank the back side. essentially to form a horse shoe around thier formation. they stay close to back each other up, but if someone in my squad dies to focus fire, there isn't a 2nd target for them to start working on.

My goal in building a squad and flying it is to give my opponent as many options as possible. That way they can't stay focused on something. If i give them a clear target it's easier for them to focus and less chances for mistakes on their end.

oh and this style of play got me 15'th at regional, lost to the guy who took first place, and misjudged a 5k turn on the last turn, making me lose a match because i couldn't net the last damage.