I have played the Twin Defender + Jonas list on and off for a while.

It is fun and has a chance against most lists.

Crumbles pretty quickly with only 18 points of hull/shield though.

Yeah, just ran it today and got destroyed by a 5 ship scum build.

Xizor, Z-95 x2, M3-A x2

Then again my what should have been a very aggressive twin IG-2000 build also got destroyed by a Decimator build today as well so maybe I was just having a bad go today.

I've always considered Rexler to be such a tease. It sounds so good, but I often end up using that focus for damage instead.

I've tried Vessery with a Stress Kath and it works alright.

Kath

Mangler

Veteran Instincts

Rebel Captive

Engine Upgrade

Vessery

HLC

Outmaneuver

Stealth Device

98 point total gives you a good chance that your PS9 Kath can hunt down Soontirs, but you can also swap out VI for Lone Wolf if you feel inclined to do so.

Here's a couple I've been running (you'll notice a theme):

Brath + Lone Wolf + HLC

2x Royal Guard + PTL + Autothrusters

The other one is:

Brath + Lone Wolf

Kenkirk + PTL + Isaard + Gunner + Engine Upgrade

The second one is to contend with the meta, the first is a hell of a lot of fun to fly. I've just found that Brath + Lone Wolf works very well together, if you can fly it right

Here's a couple I've been running (you'll notice a theme):

Brath + Lone Wolf + HLC

2x Royal Guard + PTL + Autothrusters

The other one is:

Brath + Lone Wolf

Kenkirk + PTL + Isaard + Gunner + Engine Upgrade

The second one is to contend with the meta, the first is a hell of a lot of fun to fly. I've just found that Brath + Lone Wolf works very well together, if you can fly it right

I like the idea of that 1st list. Unfortunately for me, when I run a jouster + arc-dodgers, my opponents almost always go after the jouster first. I guess you run Rexler as a flanker? I would think it hard to pull off in some situations without having engine upgrade...

I've had a pretty good run with the following list, having taken 17/78 and 24/81 in two regionals as well as 3rd in a store championship, and this is my first year playing the game so I'm by no means a competent pilot!

Vessery

VI

HLC

Omicron group pilot

Advanced sensors

Vader

Dark curse

Targeting computer

Academy Tie

This list actually evolved from something very similar to one of the lists you first posted by with a few key difference

Advanced sensors > Title

The shuttle title seems like a great buy; TL-ing anywhere almost guarantees Vess will have a free lock every turn. It even allows Vess to get a turn 1 TL/focus shot on anyone that bum rushes forward. However, in my experience the shuttle spends too much time pulling red moves (stop & turns) to reliably get a TL up, and that's without considering the likelyhood of it bumping a few times too. If it isn't spending it's TL to fire it's actual physical impact on the game is greatly reduced. Advanced sensors means you only don't get to put your TL up when you begin the round stressed AND bump on your move. This vastly reduces the amount of actions you will miss during the game and therefore makes the TL support much more reliable. The shuttle can confidently spend his TL each turn too, increasing his damage output. Which leads nicely onto...

Vader

An absolute must in this build. Yeah sure, the free crit is nice and will win you games from time to time, but it's what it does to your opponents target priority that is most important here. With Vader, the shuttle is a high threat and (relatively) low durability target, and that makes it an obvious choice for target priority early game. This takes a HUGE amount of heat of Vess which plays exactly into what we want to achieve; a Vessery endgame. What this does mean however is that your shuttle is likely to die every game, so it's ability to support Vess in the late game is basically Zero, which is why we need...

Dark Curse with targeting computer

Dark Curse is, at the end of the day, a crappy basic tie fighter in terms of damage output. In addition to that, she is an absolute pain in the arse to kill, especially for the standard two ship builds we see nowadays which rely on low volume, highly modified attacks to land damage. Because of this, she's an unattractive target for your opponent, despite the minor damage output increase the targeting computer gives her. This makes her the perfect late game support ship Vess needs to stay pumping out 4 hits a turn until the end. The fact that she is defenceless when she puts her TL up is also mitigated by her ability. She also adds a reasonable amount of firepower to the list when she can get range 1 TL/focus shots in.

Finally, the tie fighter is basically filler but an incredibly useful blocking tool. Again, as a low priority target he is often afforded the luxury of being able to forgo getting stuck in and be used solely as a blocker when your opponents are using highly action dependent ships.

Of my four losses over two regionals, in three of them my opponents had 2 or fewer combined hull left on the table. I beat brobots, fat han, fat chewie, dash, trip ceptors, panic attack and BBBBZ too, so tried and tested lists. I truely believe that is down to the versatility of the list because like I said, I am not a top level or even decent player. I'm new to the game and competitive gaming in general, and I'm pretty old so I learn stuff slower than you whippersnappers!

Give it a try. I'm confident you'll be impressed and enjoy the experience of you love he defender even half as much as I!

kinda bland but i have a buddy who has consistently done well with this list

Patrol leader

2X delta

comes in at an even 100points. in every tournament his opponents' first reaction is ...meh, i got this. thing is the list takes a beating, doesnt really care about stress or crits, and can deliver its own fair share of damage...and oh ya it has 28 health. he hasnt won any tourneys but hasnt finished worse than third

I play this list with Cubby its alot of fun and works pretty well one of the strengths is in the set up where you have the defenders fly in opposite directions with the decimator in the center its really worth a try.

I have tried Vessery, EU and VI + 2 IG with auto and TL. It comes to 98 points and was okay. Won one game and drew one. Not fun to play without a cannon but a high PS and EU seems neccessary.

With a cannon I am now going to try Vessery, EU, VI and HLC + 1 IG with auto and TL and one shuttle with advanced sensors and pursuit lasers.

A list that I've had success with at a few casual tournaments is this (Came 3rd twice):

Rexler Brath:

• Heavy Laser Cannon
• Shield Upgrade
• Lone Wolf

Cpt. Oicunn

• Ruthlessness
• Mara Jade
• Ion Projector

The whole trick to this list is to break formations. You don't want Oicunn near you for obvious reasons. Ruthlessness just adds pain to any would-be formations. If someone is bright enough to fly into you, a stress/ion combo awaits them. If it's a head-on collision you just keep smacking them until they die. I've seen a few Whispers get decimated from this.

Rexler operates as the air superiority fighter here. Keep him away from Oicunn to get the benefit of Lone Wolf. He's one of the best arc dodgers around. I've outflown Jake & Tycho with this guy. A white K-Turn and barrel roll is a nasty way to frustrate your opponent. Even Fel will struggle.

This list requires a fair bit of practice but is fun to play.