So the Star Viper has been slow to gain serious traction competitively but lately Xizor and a swarm of Binayre Pirates have started to gain some success.

I know the popular idea is to give Xizor a nice loadout but wouldn't an upgrade to 5 Black Sun Soldiers with a modestly upgraded Xizor be better?

5X Black Sun Z-95 = 65 points.

Xizor = 30 points.

You have 5 points left to season Xizor to taste. There are a bunch of combos that work well such as Autothrusters (2) + Virago (1) + FCS (2).

Or maybe you would be willing to lose Autothrusters so you can equip Advanced Sensors (3) via the Virago (1) and round it out with some VI (1).

You could also go a straight Autothrusters (2) + PTL (3). Or you could think outside the box and throw Lone Wolf on Xizor for when his minions have been slaughtered and/or scattered to the winds.

Perhaps this list is getting some play already and it's just not in my awareness but I haven't seen mention of this version.

In a head to head showdown with Xizor and 5 Pirates this list takes a decided advantage due to the PS of your Headhunters. Against the inevitable BBBBZ list you will see in a tourney your PS advantage again shines as you eliminate one of your opponents B-Wings before it ever gets a chance to shoot.

I haven't had a chance to try this out yet but clearly some people are having some success with the PS1 Pirates. I know it's fun to kit out an elite pilot like Xizor with a bunch of really fun stuff but doesn't Xizor's Soldiers make a lot more sense competitively than Xizor's Pirates?

really do not recommend PTL on vipers. Their greens are not extensive and they have a beautiful mostly white dial to take advantage of.

The go-to variant is VI + Virago + FCS with 3 points of wiggle room for bids or the illcit upgrade or stuff for the Zs

Imo, the most fun variant is Predator + Virago + Sensors aka the "Z-zor doesn't give a ****" variant.

As for Z-zor's soldiers, you're running up an extra 5 points for a very marginal advantage. Sure you get the jump on BBBBZ, but the real thing to beat are still two-ship builds (which is why BBBBZ exists at all) and they don't like range 3 Zs or arc-dodging Z-zor.

If running Z-zor at all seriously, you'll need at least Predator or FCS + auto-thrusters. Anything less and he's not enough of a threat (esp in the late game) for 31+ points. This means the cheapest possible variant is Predator + thrusters (36) which will net you 4 soldiers, one pirate.

Geez. Totally whiffed on the fact that Xizor is 31 not 35...

So what about Lone Wolf? You wouldn't get it until your meatshields are gone but Xizor plus a normal focus/target lock action in the early rounds is still fine, right?

I ran a similar list a couple of nights ago:

Xizor - Virago, Predator, Adv Sensors, AT (40)

5x - Binarye Pirate Z - 95s (60)

Interestingly, my opponent went after my Z-95s first which caused Xizor's ability to never trigger. My opponent ran a TIE swarm and in the end I lost albeit it was close.

Today I ran another Xizor list (Xizor, Guri and Torkil Mux) against Oicunn (w/ Vader, Gunner) and Kath Scarlett. It got ugly as Xizor would evade the first attack due to AT, suffer a critical via Vader (transferred when possible) and then Gunner would activate followed by another Vader critical damage. Tactically, I should have suffered the initial attack damage so that Gunner and second round of Vader wouldn't have triggered....ah well lesson learned.

Geez. Totally whiffed on the fact that Xizor is 31 not 35...

So what about Lone Wolf? You wouldn't get it until your meatshields are gone but Xizor plus a normal focus/target lock action in the early rounds is still fine, right?

wouldn't recommend it

Xizor does most of his work while his Zs are up, because his ability lets him act with almost absolute impunity. Using LW instead of FCS or Predator means you're going to get far less accomplished throughout most of the game because you're missing out on so many fully modified attacks.

LW Vipers are nice, but that's definitely more Guri's schtik

I ran a similar list a couple of nights ago:

Xizor - Virago, Predator, Adv Sensors, AT (40)

5x - Binarye Pirate Z - 95s (60)

Interestingly, my opponent went after my Z-95s first which caused Xizor's ability to never trigger. My opponent ran a TIE swarm and in the end I lost albeit it was close.

That's exactly what you should expect an opponent to do, especially if they are running a swarm of two attack ships. Shooting Xizor is pretty much the same thing as shooting the Zs through a damage filter unless you are going to be able to push through a lot of damage on each shot.

Today I ran another Xizor list (Xizor, Guri and Torkil Mux) against Oicunn (w/ Vader, Gunner) and Kath Scarlett. It got ugly as Xizor would evade the first attack due to AT, suffer a critical via Vader (transferred when possible) and then Gunner would activate followed by another Vader critical damage. Tactically, I should have suffered the initial attack damage so that Gunner and second round of Vader wouldn't have triggered....ah well lesson learned.

That's why I have trouble running Xizor without some redshirts around. When you don't have anyone in your list that is more disposable that Xizor you've effectively taken away his ability.

I've gotten to the point where Xizor is the only autothrusters-capable pilot I don't bother including them. His ability is enough of a deterrent that he is almost never shot at. Autothrusters or not my opponent shoots at the meat shields surrounding him. I run him cheap and dirty with everything meant for maximizing his offense. Warthogs also work well with him since it is the same amount of health for roughly the same points as 2 Zs. The Y-Wing gives some control to the list. I've enjoyed:

Xizor 39

Predator, Virago, AS, Inertial Dampener

Syndicate Thug 25

BTL, Ion, R4 Aggro

Banana Pirates x3 36

100 total