Hi guys,

Been out of the loop since around Christmas now, and am looking to get back into things. Can anyone give me a brief overview on the state of the game right now? Last I played was just after the Decimator and Outrider came out, and two ship builds were making a come back. But what are the main offenders today? I am a competitive player so would like to know the facts of things when apparent, and not everybody's "I like this ship s it must be good", if we can avoid it.

Thanks in advance all.

Everyone plays Scum now. M3A Scyks with Heavy Laser Cannons and Binarye Pirates dominate.

-Fat Han/C-3PO Falcon lists are still around, but much less dominant because...

-Autothrusters has made Soontir Fel playable again. In fact, he's played much more often than Phantoms because...

-Phantoms got nerfed in the FAQ, decloaking now happens before the activation phase, rather than before activating your ship, which leads to...

-Scum lists such as Dual IGs and Feedback Arrays become competitive, Dual IGs being the most competitive Scum list, however...

-Because two-ship meta is still around in the form of YT + Corran, Chiraneu + Soontir and Dual IGs, and the Phantom was nerfed in the FAQ, formation flying and rebel four-ship lists have made a comeback in the form of BBBBZ, Biggs Strikes Back, and Rebel Control with Y-Wings + Ion Title + R3-A2 and B-Wing + Tacticians.

However, the most competitive and expected opponents are:

Soontir Fel + Admiral Chiraneu

IG-88B + C

BBBBZ

Fat Han + Z-95s

Wave 6 gave the scene an injection in the bum in terms of variety

post Wave 5 we had nothing but fat turret + small ship, and the few brave rebels the stood against them with Panic Attack (3 tactician bs, 1 r3-a2 Y) and BBBBZ

now all that's still 100% viable, though mainly whisper's beeen replaced with soontir due to errata and auto-thrusters, and we got some new kids on the block

S&V's firesprays (especially kath) and aggressors (almost always HLC aggressors) make for a lot of potent 2 ship build combinations. The ever reliable Z-95 makes a mean mini-swarm and starvipers are very potent but very underrated. Ys are pretty beastly now between the title, ICT, and r4 aggros. The Scyk is generally overpriced and squishy.

Soontir + 6 tie mini-swarm is coming back fierce with the phantom errata and addition of auto-thrusters

we're all waiting with baited breath for the raider to turn vader into the dark side incarnate

Fel with PTL, RGP, SD, AT

5x Obsidian squadron pilots

I've found this to be a nice counter to a lot of current builds

The thing that boggles my mind is people's aversion to "Whisper". Yes, Phantoms aren't quite as godly now... but she's still one of the single best pilots in the game. Having seen her in action post-nerf, the necessity for the nerf seems even more apparent because holy crap, she used to be even better than what I'm seeing?!I

The Phantom is still incredibly viable, and I'd say Whisper is still comparable to Soontir in terms of effectiveness. Dual Phantoms may not see a lot of table time anymore, but you still need to keep an eye out for Whisper or she'll wreck your day. She's a pretty common combination with Rear Admiral Chirp-Chirp for those who prefer her to the good Baron.

Personally, this is what I've been seeing:

Feedback Array Z-95 Swarms (though not that frequently)

Dash and Corran

RAC with Soontir or Whisper

Dual IGs

Fat Chewie w/ Outrider or other escorts

Two ship lists seem to be the "it" thing in the meta right now. Which is why you should learn to fly a swarm and eat Decimators alive.

The aversion to "Whisper" is that she's no longer easy mode

as is typical of most nerfs, people react with an initial ABANDON SHIP!!!!!!!!!!!! mentality

though this time it might be punctuated also by a sigh of "oh thank christ we can play something different now"

The aversion to "Whisper" is that she's no longer easy mode

as is typical of most nerfs, people react with an initial ABANDON SHIP!!!!!!!!!!!! mentality

though this time it might be punctuated also by a sigh of "oh thank christ we can play something different now"

Pretty much this. Phantoms, imo, still have hope. Just no one has taken the time to crack the code on it yet because it appears to be that Soontir Fel is better.

Aye I believe it's mostly psychological

Soontir, objectively on the basis if game mechanics, is NOT better but he now brings enough to warrant considering over whisper

Soonts is:

*significantly cheaper even fully kit out (you can 5 tie mini rather than 4)

*has "always on" defenses (no need to PS bid for four agility.

*has thrusters (which are infinetly better than flipflopping between "best profile in game" and "42 point headhunter")

On the other hand:

*whispy has four dice and access to FCS (and gunner if you're paranoid)

*whispy has 2 shields (stupid relevant v Vader) and can cap out same as soontir with 4 ago + focus + evade

*only whispy STILL doesn't give two ***** about being blocked if she gets a shot. Soonts probably has the single most drastic reaction to being blocked (like kryptonite level reactions)

*and now, whisper can block YOU

Its freaking bizarro world out there

Thanks for the replies so far. It sounds like the meta is a lot healthier if there are that many top builds. Will have to start getting some of the new stuff to catch up.

2 ship lists are still around. Dash still gets an HLC turret and the ability to move wherever the ****** he wants to without consequence, RAC with Predator is never going to not have 3/3 or 4/4 hits on his attack rolls, large turret ship boost shenanigans, super Corran is still invincible, etc.

Phantom isn't as prevalent, although it's still very powerful post nerf.

Scum has essentially added nothing significant to the meta except dual IG's.

Soontir is very prevalent. He doesn't dominate the meta as hard as the pre-nerf Phantom though. He only has one attack of three that can only be modified with focus if he's taken autothrusters instead of a targeting computer.

Triple interceptor lists are viable now too.

Spam lists full of B wings and Interceptors are about the only normal ships that have a chance in the hyper action economy meta.

Swarms seem nice on paper but they have problems with MoV, getting dragged through asteroids non-stop, and hyper action economy ships that can just remove a TIE Fighter from the board with every shot. They're not as bad of a play as they were pre-Phantom nerf though.

Meta is still annoying and limiting, but not as super limiting as before the Phantom nerf and wave 6. It's a little healthier.

I still think it bears saying:

Dash is almost literally infinetly less of a soul-numbing, life draining, enthusiasm killing, faith in humanity destroying, utter waste of your time than fat han

I actually like him a lot. Ptl and the limits imposed by outrider hlc gives him a LOT of potential counterplay (and he's got no guaranteed damage reduction). Han has one counterplay option: throw dice at him.

So yes, dash is very prevalent and very powerful. But if a turret has to be +and apparently they all do) I'd rather it be the yt2400

I just think the most dominant setup in the meta right now is:

Chiraneau + VI + Rebel Captive + Engine Upgrade

Here, you get a hypermobile, 16HP turret ship with a semi-built Marksmanship ability that moves after you and shoots before you most of the time and stresses your ships out when they shoot at it. Extremely annoying, resilient and powerful, all backed by Soontir or Whisper.

I'm not complaining about it in anyway, I'm just putting my $0.02 in that I think this is going to be the list to beat. Some will vary and be kitted with Jerrjerod, Ysanne Ysard, Vader or Gunner, but VI + Captive + Engine Upgrade will be your most powerful and most common enemy.

2 ship meta... nuff said

The meta is up in the air right now... and this thread proves it. Wave 6 did a great job of breathing new life into this game. It's a great time to get back into the game because you'll be where we are... Flying new lists and seeing what works.

My regional opponents:

4BZ

Xizor + 5Z's

double droid engine predator Han with 2 tala's and a bandit

IG88B mangler + IG88D HLC

Kath, Mandalorian merc, z-95

Buzzsaw Whisper/gunner Vader VI Chiraneau

Looking at nearby tables the diversity was really good. I would just make sure you know how the new Fel and brobots lists work.

2 Ship meta is still the norm, in our regionals i faced 3 out of 4 lists which where 2 ship builds and the finals where a Fat Han + Fringer against super Dash+ 2 rookies, and for the 2nd year in a row out Regionals was won by a Fat Han, so large based Turrets are still the Meta, and will continue to be.

Large ship fat turrets recieved NO nerf. Only autothrusters soft counters them: It still can be mitigated by good flying by the turret to keep them in the forward arc. 3 Interceptors are still squishy, so you won't see the triple soft counter either.

It stands to reason fat turrets are still doing very well.

Warthogs are harder on most turrets than Fel is.

Obligatory:

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/174268-2015-regionals-results/

jesus christ with these turrets

well, at least that's a reason to be glad I can't make it to regionals

hopefully we'll get an errata. Not that I'd say they're too powerful, but honestly **** em for turning this game into an m.o.v exploiting dice fest

jesus christ with these turrets

well, at least that's a reason to be glad I can't make it to regionals

hopefully we'll get an errata. Not that I'd say they're too powerful, but honestly **** em for turning this game into an m.o.v exploiting dice fest

About 50% of Top 8 lists are turret heavy. About 2 out of 3 have at least 1 Fat Ship.

If you look at just the 13 winners, it is even more heavily skewed: 11/13 are turret heavy, and 12/13 have at least one Fat Ship.

should've written "not that it matters that they're too powerful, **** them for turning this game into an m.o.v exploiting dice fest"

honestly, the problem should've been obvious in wave 2 when Q.A was apparently asleep at the wheel letting the primary turret advantage launch, but I'll take a fix for the game whenever I can get it

It's not really how powerful they are or that they strip what makes this game fun right out of it, it's when they're both combined and you're rewarded for flying a list that nullifies the whole point of playing this game that it's obnoxious.

At least when swarms dominated maneuvering mattered.

So if this doesn't cancel the Fat ships do you think the cloaking nerf will be reversed?