There's a number of effects that deal with focus tokens that happen at the start of the combat phase. In the past the order that these effects were processed didn't really matter. Now that Palob is around the order will matter. I'm guessing that the player with initiative applies his effects in any order he likes and them the player without initiative does the same.

Off the top of my head, the effects that deal with focus tokens at the start of combat are:

Palob - Steals a token from an enemy.

Guri - Gets a token from being within range one of an enemy.

Kyle Katarn - Gives a focus token to an ally.

Kaa'to Leeachos - Steals a token

from an ally.

Bodyguard - Spends a token to give an ally extra agility.

Things added in the thread:

Ysane Isard - Grants an Evade action at the start of combat (Palob can swipe those too), and can trigger PTL which could be used to take a focus action or EI which could trigger Squad Leader allowing an allowed ship to take either a Focus or Evade action.

Kyle Katarn crew + Wingman - Wingman clears a stress from an ally at the start of combat. A ship with Kyle Katarn recieves a Focus token whenever they clear a stress.

Jake Farrel + Kyle Katarn - Kyle is already on the list but I think Jake deserves a special mention since receiving the token can trigger movement and that movement can trigger PTL which could add another Focus or an Evade token to Jake. The movement might bring him in or out of range as well.

I just noticed that before Scum, Kyle was the only one with this sort of trick.

Right. So. Does palob steal a focus from guri?

Having it on initiative seems very unusual. Though possible. Or by pilot skill order? Then initiative? Or initiative only?

Soooooo many rulessass

I think Palob only steals a token from Guri if Guri has initiative. I don't think PS matters for anything that has a particular timing trigger (start of combat phase, end of activation phase, etc.). I'm pretty sure that VI Corran double-taps after PTL Corran if PTL Corran has initiative and that's a similar situation.

There has existed this sort of thing with Swarm Tactics and/or Roark already. I might not want to blow my boost to 8 PS off of Howlrunner or whatever if my opponent is just going to boost the ship I'd be shooting at to 12 anyways, so it becomes relevant who resolves their roark/swarm tactics first.

Ysanne does the same with evade.

And let's not forget Garven

And let's not forget Garven

Garven never was start of combat, though--he applies after firing.

And let's not forget Garven

Garven doesn't really fit in here. He grants a token when he spends one so there aren't any timing issues to deal with. If he could take Bodyguard there could be, since he would spend the token at the start of the combat phase.

Kyle Katarn crew, if someone with Wingman is around to remove stress.

I think Palob only steals a token from Guri if Guri has initiative. I don't think PS matters for anything that has a particular timing trigger (start of combat phase, end of activation phase, etc.). I'm pretty sure that VI Corran double-taps after PTL Corran if PTL Corran has initiative and that's a similar situation.

From Page 9 of the FAQ under the "Competitive Play" section:

"Simultaneous abilities (such as when both players must trigger Swarm Tactics at the start of the combat phase) are resolved in initiative order."

What I mentioned about Corran is covered under his entry in the FAQ on Page 11:

"If both players field Corran Horn, the player with initiative chooses first whether or not to resolve his ability and attack. If the second Corran Horn is destroyed by this attack, do not remove him from the play area. He still has the opportunity to resolve his ability this round before he is removed."

And Page 17 of the FAQ clarifies even further:

"Q: If a player has multiple effects that resolve at the same time, can he resolve them in any order?

A: Yes.

Q: If both players have effects that resolve at the same time (or from the same trigger), which player resolves their abilities first?

A: The player with initiative resolves all abilities he would like to resolve, then the other player resolves all abilities he would like to resolve as described on page 16 in the core rulebook."

nice digging. I'll accept that as an answer. So weird lol.

nice digging. I'll accept that as an answer. So weird lol.

This whole thing started because I was wondering what would happen when Blaster Turret Palob was fighting another Blaster Turret Palob and kind of went from there. Assuming no Moldy Crow or Recon specialist whoever has initiative needs to take a focus action and steal a token from someone else if they want to make sure that they have a shot. The guy that doesn't have initiative should Target Lock as his action to keep the other Palob from stealing his focus and then steal a token to fuel his shot.

As I started putting the list together that became the start of this thread I realized that losing initiative might end up being pretty important to Palob. Not only does it affect the order of effects resolving it also comes into play when you've got ships with the same PS. When ships are closing in the ones that move first usually need to take a Focus instead of a Target Lock as their action, which will make it harder to keep from feeding Palobs hunger for green tokens.

Looks like I forgot Jake Farrell flying with Kyle Katarn. There's all sorts of action craziness that results in green tokens that could trigger off that, especially if Jake has PTL.

So yet another reason to not want initiative.

So yet another reason to not want initiative.

This. Was about to type it but Tvboy beat me to it! This really adds a new layer of depth to initiative other than things that don't usually matter since this issue transcends pilot skill. Should make matchups for or against Palob very interesting. He's slowly becoming one of my favorite Scum pilots (Boba and Kath are just great, and it's hard to beat N'Dru), but this layer of depth makes him all the more fun!

What is the most interesting is that now all those weird PS 5 - 7 scum lists might actually have a reason to bid on initiative.

So yet another reason to not want initiative.

At a Store Championship this past weekend, an Imperial player in the top 8 declined initiative so he could go 2nd. After the last round of shooting, he had two Academies and a Bomber with Seismic Charges against Etahn with PTL, R2D2 and Advanced Sensors.

With both players tied at 58 points destroyed, Etahn advanced because his player was given the initiative.

Initiative can really matter.

I love the fight for the focus, it's a fun thing, and I want to play it, greettings.

This whole thing started because I was wondering what would happen when Blaster Turret Palob was fighting another Blaster Turret Palob...

And here we thought the Clone War was over...