So I've been trying to make the advanced work since before proton rockets (now to be referred to as 'prockets'). I've always felt the Dark Lord of the Sith should have amazing board presence, even though the ship he is carried in is statistically not that great. I've also always looked highly upon Maarek Steele's ability, even though it doesn't trigger often. That being said, once prockets came up with a three advance build, using both uniques and a generic with the things. It's alright until I fly against a turret that always runs away.

Tonight however, I subbed out the generic for 24 points of Kir Kanos to great effect in an amazing match at my flgs. My opponent was running ACD Whisper, tooled out Carnor Jax, and Dark Curse. I set up with Kanos off on his own in the corner and my two advanceds near the middle, allowing Kanos to slow play behind them while they dashed in. Both forces converged in a tight asteroid field and Kanos knocked 3 of Dark Curse's 4 hp (hull upgrade) in round 1 of combat, but both prockets netted me only 2 shields of damage on whisper due to Jax's intervention.

Her return fire put Steele down to 2 hull and a few rounds later he was off the board, and Vader's shields were down. Finally Vader gets a range one, unanswered shot on the phantom and dusts her, and Kanos cleans up Dark Curse after taking a hit. It's now down to an injured Kanos and Vader against a fresh Carnor Jax, with my ships in a pincer but not in firing arc of Jax. We danced around each other for a few turns and I trade Kanos for Jax's shield and hull upgrades, and now its 3 hull Vader against 2 hull Jax.

At this point, the match is decided. We play it out, but there's no chance for Jax to get Vader in arc. Even when I'm surprised by Jax pulling maneuvres that keep a PTL's stress in exchange for an opportune shot, boost+barrel roll gets me clear every time and I maintain range two when I do return fire, letting me TL+focus to eventually punch a hit crit through for the game.

All in all it was an amazing game and I can't wait for the Raider to make Vader the true terror of the 3'X3'

What was your build besides the Procks.. I'm curious as I love flying Vader and have a couple lists where he is the star player. I have also been testing out the new cards and have a decent win record with him and his other 2 amigos.. Turr and Fel

Great report. Been playing with and against the proxied Vader/Maarek. They are BEASTS when the fix is out.

My Build was

Darth Vader

-Outmaneuvre

-Engine Upgrade

-Procket

Maarek Steele

-Push The Limits

-Engine Upgrade

-Procket

Kir Kanos

The idea is rush in for a 1-2 punch on a priority target with Vader/Steele, hopefully pulling a couple crits with Steele after dropping shields with Vader. All the while Kanos hangs back and snipes with his amazing ability for hunting aces.

Interesting... nice and neat.. might fiddle around with it and see what I can do with it..

I've had a bit of experience with advanceds and they're good little ships.

I was never sold on Maarek with Push The Limit. For using any other missile, yes, but with Proton Rockets all you really need is the Focus Token - and shedding stress is a slog. I've been considering Veteran Instincts, instead, to give me two PS9 pilots, and the ability to chop and change Vader and Stele's movement order.

Kir Kanos is nice to see. I like him as a character and I'm glad to see him get some play.

Ptl's there for the boost/barrel roll combo or boost/focus and such so he can keep up with Vader. TL+focus is just icing on the cake when it happens

Maarek with Marksmanship+Enhanced Interface + Homing Missile. Give it a try, it is really fun.