So, I really like the Scyk when they first discussed it. Yeah, everyone likes to bag it or they go overboard and put an HLC on it. I've played them and they can die so easy. Not usually, but it has happened and will happen again. I can't see putting an HLC on something that can be one-shot. So, I've always thought about putting Mangler Cannons on them.

So far, I've only used some one or two in a list that way, but I have dreams of running 5 Cartel Spacers w/ Mangler Cannons. I want to see how it will do.

My opponent last night used Kath Scarlet w/ Calculations and Engine Upgrade w/ 3 Mango Scyks. It was really effective! It was hard to handle both when the Scyk would slow roll forward while Kath would rush into it and boost for booty shots. Go for one and the other usually got you. Mess up and they both got you.

We talked and felt that the Scyk was best when used at a distance with the Mangler Cannons. Their movements were good and their K-turns were also good with both 3 and 5. You can also BR and even TL. There were turns when you didn't have a shot and you could TL. It made it nastier when you did get that good shot.

His list was great as Kath would zip in fast and force you deal with her and soon she was zipping past and shooting at you from behind. The Scyks would cover her rear. It was quite effective. I'm thinking that some sort of mini-swarm might be great for the Mango Scyks. You just need something not to cost too many points. There aren't too many at the moment that can cover that, but I'm sure there will be more ships. I think the Firespray is the only one that fits in, unless you go with only 2 Mango Scyks.

Has anyone else used them much? Fought against them much? Find good techniques to using them? Found weaknesses to be exploited? Found good synergy with lists? I'm especially interested to hear about 5 Mango Scyks....something I'd probably call "Seek the Mango". Oh, yeah. It's pronounced "SEEK"....not "SCIK".

In my experience, Scyks are best naked.

5 mangler syck's murdered my wife's fat han list. The free crit never sounded that great to me until you realize that any damage that gets through on any of your attacks will have at least one crit among them. It's amazing because every one of those 5 shots is as deadly as the last.

Honestly, I prefer them with flachette cannons. Less of a target, can really mess with builds and still gives them a three dice range three secondey weapon. Pair well with an arc dodger and a ion support ship

So far i've only faced Syck characters without upguns. Hard to hit little buggers due to high evade + evade tokens. But they don't seal any deals either.

I've ran 2 of them with manglers in 2 games. My very first shot with one 1 shotted fel! After that I've only done 2 more damage between those 2 games. They just die so fast and are easy points. Granted I'm still figuring out how I want to fly them and there role but they look so cool!!!

Played against a pair of Mangler Scyks with STD's last week. Seriously underestimated them, they were a right pain in the backside.

Going to be test running a mangler, hull upgrade cartel (23 points) with Guri and a pair of auto-blaster thugs today

looking forward to it

imo, they fill in a niche that other scum ships ******* suck at: range 3 firepower.

Z-95s --> 2 dice versus 3+ greens is bad, feedback and deadman's (only way to threat high agility) are range 1 only

Y-wings --> turrets are range 1-2 max, otherwise its the same 2 dice as Zs for 150% of the cost

HWK --> ...lul

Firesprays & Starvipers & Aggressors --> expensive

which leaves us with the cannon bearing Scyks

If you have a more scary threat on the board they can last long enough to do their work.

20pt Spengler (Spacer w/ Mangler, don't cross the streams bro) is very spammable. I plan on running them with a loaded up Guri to take the heat off them in the early exchanges. Guri strips some shields, the Mangler cannons go to work. A slightly more expensive option is the Lone Wolf Tansarii Veteran with a cannon and Hull/Stealth/Shield for some more legs. He's not bad for under 30. Won't get the Lone Wolf bonus every turn once you get stuck in combat, but when he's flying solo as a flanker he's a tough choice. He's surprisingly hard to hit for a little guy and you don't want to ignore him either. Might force the enemy to pull several ships from their main force, allowing your 70pt portion of the fleet an early advantage in their engagement.

Overall I think they make good garnish on a list, but I'm not sure if they are able to be the meat and potatoes. Load up on them and you have an incredibly fragile list.

Kath + Calculation + Engine = 43 pts

3 x Cartel + HSI + Mangler = 60 pts

Total = 103 pts

Seems like he won with an illegal squad! I'd totally run that squad if it were under 100 pts. But alas, Kath ends up with less upgrades.

The Mangler Syck's are pretty good. I think I prefer HLC in some lists though where I think a 4 dice gun is needed to help punch through 3 and 4 agility ships. A 3 dice gun is still a 3 dice gun after all, though it is quite good that you get help when exchanging shots at Range 3.

I had a list I played at my last league night. S&V Kath, Guri and a Cartel Spacer w/Mangler.

I thought it was worth the points, but you have to be careful with them. They can die pretty quick if someone focuses on them. I tried to use it as a long range sniper, since the defender doesn't get an extra defense die but they do, it gives them a favorable exchange of fire at range 3.

I have 4 of them, but after it was pointed out you could run 5, I'm considering picking up a 5th because that could be fun.

Only had one chance to fly a Mangler Scyk list, and I'd like to try it again. Those guaranteed crits can make a pretty serious difference - serious enough that I think that anti-crit mechanics may start becoming more common in the tournament meta.

When I played, I used two, both Tainsari Point Veterans with Shield upgrade and push the limit. I think Shield upgrade was valuable, since it basically turned them into little crit dealing A Wings, but I'm not sure about PtL. Obviously, it's always good, buit I think that saving the points by dropping down to a lower PS and cutting the EPT altogether would be better. Mangler Scyks are there for a good time, not a long time - you want to apply some damage that will limit the performance of an enemy ship early on, but even with another shield and an evade action every turn, they're fairly fragile.

That's also why I'd be nervous doing an entire list with Mangler Scyks - sure, they'd be devastating against a fat Han or (better yet) a Decimator, but if you're facing down a list with any more than two or three ships, they can focus fire on you, strip your evade token and end each individual ship fairly quickly.

I think that they'll ultimately find their place as escorts around a larger ship. A HLC Kath with a pair of Mangler Cartel Spacers would be a pretty powerful list - Kath fires her 4 dice attack first, knocks down as many shields as she can, then in come the Scyks, delivering their crits to the hull. That might be fun.

"Mangler Scyks are there for a good time, not a long time."

Now that's one hell of a quote, right there.

I've run 3 lately, two named with Manglers & Stealth Device & one lesser with Stealth device + a distraction ship.

Rolling 5 green dice at range three with a reroll from Serissu (if within Range 1) has been quite effective.

Against shieldless imperial ships the Crit really starts to make itself felt. Throw in a Predator or Veteran Instincts & your popularity with your opponent will plummet.

Pricey & crazy fragile, but while the stealth device holds up they earn their points.

The manger is probably best suited for low PS ships. By the time they fire, tokens should be gone. I love the idea of two Cartel's with Manglers hanging back at range 3 while two Starvipers engage the target.

My second round opponent from my "Cool Side of the Donut" store championship report ran 5 scyks. He posted his own report over the X-Wing Subreddit. You may find it illuminating.

For my part, I am now a firm believer in the effectiveness of the 5 Scyk Mangler swarm, at least in the hands of a good player.

In a game system where people are willing to pay upwards of 60 points for a 0 agility ship like a decimator, I struggle to understand why 3 agility 3 fighters packing mangler cannons (also sixty points) are seen as some kind of unacceptable glass cannon.

There is of course the MoV problem. I think if there is knock of the 5-Scyk mango swarm, it's that you will usually lose at least two of your fighters in any given battle.

I've never played the 5 mangler swarm but I have done a 4 with Serissu once.

It did well, despite forgetting about Serissu's ability until the 3rd round of shooting.

If you can set up a range 3 engagement, they're very effective. The store closed before we could finish, but at the end of the game I had 2 manglers left (one had lost his shield) and Serissu was undamaged. I had killed Guri and a Binayre pirate, and stripped the shields from Boba. He was on the run and I was resetting the formation and feeling pretty confident.

Scyks with manglers are super effective in my experience. I love the scyk and scum A-4 Y-wing combo. The Y-wings joust very effectively, but also control the enemy. The control lets the Scyks stay out of arc against non-turret ships, and then they start dropping crits.

The more I play the M3-A the more I like it. Unfortunately I only ordered two, but my other two will be in this week. I really like the mangler on them but they are very fragile, very reminiscent of Tie Interceptors. Next weekend I will be running a list with a variety of cannon upgrades to see which I like best. In my opinion they are too fragile to justify loading up on heavy laser cannons though.

If you have a more scary threat on the board they can last long enough to do their work.

Overall I think they make good garnish on a list, but I'm not sure if they are able to be the meat and potatoes. Load up on them and you have an incredibly fragile list.

Yep. I do think that this is a very effective way to use these. Have something to occupy their attention and 1-3 Scyks with Manglers on the flanks firing. That's why part of me likes Laetin if you are going to go with just one. Yeah, it's a few more points, but the ability is quite cool.

Kath + Calculation + Engine = 43 pts

3 x Cartel + HSI + Mangler = 60 pts

Total = 103 pts

Seems like he won with an illegal squad! I'd totally run that squad if it were under 100 pts. But alas, Kath ends up with less upgrades.

The Mangler Syck's are pretty good. I think I prefer HLC in some lists though where I think a 4 dice gun is needed to help punch through 3 and 4 agility ships. A 3 dice gun is still a 3 dice gun after all, though it is quite good that you get help when exchanging shots at Range 3.

OK....it was really just 2 Scyks with Mangos and 1 naked. It was just easier to say 3 total and not bother getting into the weeds. I just hoped no one would bother to count it up.

My second round opponent from my "Cool Side of the Donut" store championship report ran 5 scyks. He posted his own report over the X-Wing Subreddit. You may find it illuminating.

For my part, I am now a firm believer in the effectiveness of the 5 Scyk Mangler swarm, at least in the hands of a good player.

In a game system where people are willing to pay upwards of 60 points for a 0 agility ship like a decimator, I struggle to understand why 3 agility 3 fighters packing mangler cannons (also sixty points) are seen as some kind of unacceptable glass cannon.

There is of course the MoV problem. I think if there is knock of the 5-Scyk mango swarm, it's that you will usually lose at least two of your fighters in any given battle.

Yes, I read your thread and enjoyed it. I had originally thought that 5 Scyks would be great. I played a small number of games and saw them die easy. I started to have second thoughts. I read your report and it gave me hope again. I didn't know he had his own report, but I'm definitely zipping over there now to read it. Thanks!

My opponent was able to use Kath Scarlet with Engine Upgrade too well. I was constantly surprised by his moves and how far he would get. I am not used to Kath wanting to shoot from the rear and from how far she can move with EU. So, I would think I could handle Kath and would end up getting caught in the middle by both. Yes, it is something I can learn to overcome, but until I become smart about it, I think having some sniping Mango Scyks with some heavy hitters is a real thing. I'll have to try out the Mango Scyk swarm.

The more I play the M3-A the more I like it. Unfortunately I only ordered two, but my other two will be in this week. I really like the mangler on them but they are very fragile, very reminiscent of Tie Interceptors. Next weekend I will be running a list with a variety of cannon upgrades to see which I like best. In my opinion they are too fragile to justify loading up on heavy laser cannons though.

I definitely agree with this. HLC is too much.

I did order 3 of them with the idea that I can borrow some from my friends, but we are all playing with them at the moment, so I can't!

I'm going to try HLC on one of my scyks this week. I'm going to run Laetin with HLC and stealth device, cartel spacer with mangler, and then 2 A4 Y-wings with R4 and ion turrets. I'll see if that works. If I can keep Laetin at range 3, he'll be rolling 5 green dice, and any attacks which miss add that evade token.

Leatin with HLC/stealth might benefit from naked Serrissu. I found those two close together to be a pain.

I wonder if formation flying is the best method with a 5 Scyk list? Or maybe lose formation?

I flew scyks in a bunch of games both in a 5 swarm and as escorts for Kath with different cannon loadouts. My experience is that one goes down fast and the rest survive surprisingly long.

So I tried four manglers plus Serissu. The theory is that if Serissu goes down, I still have four manglers. Otherwise he keeps the others alive and can still do decent damage at range 1.

This list worked really well against Xizor/Guri/cluster Ndru. Guri ended up going through an asteroid due to a stress crit disabling his advanced sensors. Xizor got knocked down to PS 0 and could no longer arc dodge. Only lost Serissu.

The only problem with this list is no phantom counter. It's pretty bad when you have 4 scyks left against whisper and she just takes them down one by one and you can't get a hit. My opponent suggested taking target locks on the Phantom.

I tried a solo game today and the Phantom did go down to target locks. One successful ion attack and the Phantom is dead.