G’ evening X-wing fans, it is that time of the week!
This week we look at a current meta classic, a mini-swarm backed by the elite and specialized. In this episode we discuss Howlrunner and Obsidian Squadron with some support from Echo. This build, and it’s variants, have been very popular in the competitive scene. Let me know what you think in the comments and try to fly or fly against this build yourself!

It’s been a hectic week for me, but I’m glad I managed to squeeze in a video. I broke 1500 subscribers a few days ago, which is amazing. I had 1500 subs down for the spring somewhere.. but the end of January? Who would have thought! Thanks again for all the support!

See you next week and as always: fly casual!

Great video as always!

I've been flying an almost identical list to great success for several months (I won two store tournaments with it) and actually retired it a month ago because my regular opponents were tired of facing it. My variant was:

Howlrunner with determination + hull upgrade

Academy Pilot x3

Echo with VI, RS, ACD and SJ

It might be partially because of superstition, but I always take Echo with sensor jammer because one of the first times I tried out the card I had her survive a range 1 encounter with fat Han (with gunner, not Luke) when she was uncloaked (but with two focus tokens) and with 1 hull left. IMO that card is underrated, and in this list it can shine very brightly if you manage to block your opponent with the APs. It's extremely satisfying when your opponent decides not to fire on Echo even if she's in Wedge's arc because s/he knows that 1 unmodified hit will always go to waste.

For a time I toyed with the idea of putting swarm tactics on Howlrunner, but I've had so many games where she kept tutting along for one or two more turns thanks to that one extra hull that I can't bring myself to take it out. I added determination to her because I had a point to spare and it becomes (slightly) more likely to come into play with that extra hull.

As for strategy, when using a phantom I always try to have the same maneuver be compatible with at least two decloak options (though personally I find that coming up with more than two can be mind-numbing) when close to the enemy because blocking will always be a strong tactic against phantoms.

The main pilots that counter Echo are obviously the PS 9 pilots, so whenever they're on the table I try to make sure that the mini-swarm is between them and Echo while she does zig-zag decloaks + hard 1s to keep at range 3 where that extra focus token becomes a little bit more useful when defending. If you can get directly behind the enemy then it's even better because a k-turn means that they probably won't shoot at you thanks to sensor jammer (unless your name is Farlander).

The other main phantom counter is stress, and while it's difficult to avoid Wes with VI, R3-A2 and EU, rebel captives can always be avoided by having Howlrunner shoot at it first to allow Echo to recloak with ACD. In fact, if there's a ship in my list that I really don't want getting stressed (i.e. a phantom with ACD) then I always try to make sure that there's another ship with the same PS (or higher) to shoot at the RC and get stressed first.

One additional benefit on taking Obsidians that you forgot to mention is that Predator equipped pilots only reroll 1 attack dices against them.

One additional benefit on taking Obsidians that you forgot to mention is that Predator equipped pilots only reroll 1 attack dices against them.

Great catch, thanks!