So, attending my first ever escalation event a week on Sunday, and thought I'd run my lsit by the forum to see what people think/ any improvements people would make.

Round 1 (60 points):

Kath Scarlett (40 points)

-Firespray-31 (38 pts)

-Tactician (2 pts)

Hired Gun (20 points)

-Y-Wing (20 points)

Total: 60 pts

Round 2 (90 points):

Kath Scarlett (40 points)

-Firespray-31 (38 pts)

-Tactician (2 pts)

Hired Gun (26 points)

-Y-Wing (20 points)

-BTL-A4 (0 pts)

-Ion Cannon Turret (5 pts)

-Unhinged Astromech (1 pt)

Binayre Pirate (12 points)

Binayre Pirate (12 points)

Total: 90 points

Round 3 (120 points)

Kath Scarlett (44 points)

-Firespray-31 (38 pts)

-Tactician (2 pts)

-Engine Upgrade (4 pts)

Hired Gun (26 points)

-Y-Wing (20 points)

-BTL-A4 (0 pts)

-Ion Cannon Turret (5 pts)

-Unhinged Astromech (1 pt)

Hired Gun (26 points)

-Y-Wing (20 points)

-BTL-A4 (0 pts)

-Ion Cannon Turret (5 pts)

-Unhinged Astromech (1 pt)

Binayre Pirate (12 points)

Binayre Pirate (12 points)

Total: 120 points

Round 4 (150 points)

Kath Scarlett (47 points)

-Firespray-31 (38 pts)

-Tactician (2 pts)

-Engine Upgrade (4 pts)

-Ion Cannon (3 pts)

Hired Gun (26 points)

-Y-Wing (20 points)

-BTL-A4 (0 pts)

-Ion Cannon Turret (5 pts)

-Unhinged Astromech (1 pt)

Hired Gun (26 points)

-Y-Wing (20 points)

-BTL-A4 (0 pts)

-Ion Cannon Turret (5 pts)

-Unhinged Astromech (1 pt)

Binayre Pirate (12 points)

Binayre Pirate (12 points)

Palob Godalhi (27 points)

-HWK-290 (20 pts)

-Moldy Crow (3 pts)

-Blaster Turret (4 pts)

Total: 150 pts

My basic idea was to get Kath Scarlett in early, preferably with a Tactician for some board control, then load up with escorts (in particular Y-Wings since I enjoy running them with Firesprays).

I don't know whether to keep the Ion Cannon on Kath in round 4, or use the points for a Recon Specialist on Palob, I initially had the ion cannon when one of the Hired Guns was replaced with an HLC Scyk, but now there's already two sources of ion effects.

As for Palob, well, I wanted to put a HWK in and thought some more effective action denial alongside Kath's Tactician would be worthwhile.

I might swap out the Engine Upgrade on Kath for some other upgrades, since that would be mainly to correct my own bad maneuvering, or to get someone into her rear arc/range 2.

I'm fairly certain this is pretty much my final lists, but I am open to suggestions.

Recon on Palob is definitely better than Ion on Kath.

He deserves better than waiting to Round 4. The fewer ships the enemy has, the more effective his ability is, so you want him in by Round 2.

With a Blaster, Moldy Crow, and Recon Spec, he costs exactly 30 points. If you can afford to float some cost in Round 1, you can even get him an Illicit Upgrade or an Elite Talent, to boot!

Remember that you don't need to meet the maximum points, just that the maximum points expand. This means you can take an initiative bid in one round, and turn that into extra points for upgrades in the following!

You've got some Filler points, in the form of your PS bid on your Y-Wings, your Unhinged Astromechs, your Z-95s, and arguably your Ion Cannon Turrets. I'd like to fiddle with that, if I may.

• Ion BTL-A4 are decent control options, but you get more damage out of Aggromech Blaster BTL-A4, for the exact same price.
• Between the Z-95s and the PS bid on the Y-Wings, that's 28 points that you can spend otherwise. That's almost an entire wave!
• No-one in your final build has any Elite Talent or Illicit upgrades equipped. You might want to look into that.

If I might offer a rebuttal on filler:

-The PS4 bid is a bit expensive I agree, though I don't know what I'd want to do with the saved points, besides bid for initiative (which very rarely helps me out I find, goram dice rolls). Any ideas on illicit upgrades instead?

-The Unhinged Astromech I would never consider filler, it's in my opinion one of the best cards in Most Wanted, Y-Wings suddenly being able to go relatively quickly and still get their actions improves their dial dramatically, and I've found it especially useful on BTL-A4s

-As for the Y-Wings themselves, yes I could go for raw damage output, but I do want some control on the board, it's been what's hindered me in every prior tournament, not having control. Though again, I think switching the ion cannon from Kath to a recon spec for Palob would indeed be advantageous

-Speaking of Palob, do you reckon it might be worth it to run him with only a blaster turret in round 2, giving me room for Kath + Y upgrades? Not too sure about using the whole tier for him, and since I want to get Kath out of the gate quickly, he would be a naked HWK if I put him in in round 1, and naked HWKs have never gone well for me.

-As for the Z95s, I mainly put them in because I wanted two Z95s to join the fight at some point, in my experience they're actually quite effective for the points, people tend to underestimate Binayre Pirates. And using Binayre pirates does let me spend more points on other upgrades. As for the 24 points I'd spend on them, I don't really know what else I'd spend said 24 points on, I tried fitting an HLC Scyk before, but I've never had a Scyk survive more than five turns, my green dice are just never that hot. And in the absence of the Kihraxz...

It's just I never like fully loading my ships, they tend to die/I forget to use them effectively. More ships does mean more things I can concentrate fire with.

Anyway, that's just some of the theory I was using for the list, if that gives you any indication of improvements. I'm thinking bringing Palob in fully loaded at tier 2 is a good bet, and if I drop the Hired Gun to a Syndicate Thug, then I've got two points left in both turns, for potential initiative bid.

As for EPT, well I didn't have room for Predator on Kath, but reworking things could help.

This also fills my non-game-mechanic less-important want of a list that uses entirely repurposed ships, no scum originals. Something I do like to try from time to time.