Swarms have a hard time in the meta because of MoV, the inability of 2 red dice ships to punch through damage avoidance/mitigation and the lack of options against arc dodgers. Nothing can be done against MoV, but maybe the other two can be adressed. So what about mixing swarms, HLCs and control a little bit?
1.- HHFZZZ
HLC Scyk (x2)
Flechette Scyk
Z (x3)
BBBBZ is competitive, and probably BXXZZZ is not far off. A HLC Scyk is the most efficient source of red dice in the game barring EPTs and ordnance (5.75 points per die), if we switch BXX for two HLC Scyks and a Flechette one we got more red dice than a 8 ship swarm! Of course some of the Flechette Scyk's damage will be canceled, just try to use it against high agility ships or ships highly affected by stress.
Use the three Zs to screen your Scyks and shoot away from range 3. Probably quite hard to fly (specially against arc dodgers), but with potential.
2.- MIIFZZ
Mangler Scyk
Ion Scyk (x2)
Flechette Scyk
Z (x2)
A mixed control swarm. Crits, two ions, stress and blockers, any ship caught in the fire of this squad will be rendered useless. A good chunk of the damage may be canceled, but that will mean that you'll be ioning and stressing like crazy anyway. Besides, damage cancelation against damage mitigation/avoidance is not a problem; swarms have a hard time damaging high agility ships with only 2 red dice per ship, whereas 3 red dice ships have an easier time getting some damage through.
This should be able to deal to some extent with arc dodgers thanks to control. Also, ion is extremely powerful against 2 ship squads: pin one of the ships and get into range 1 with as many ships as you can on the next turn to deal the final blow (just don't use the ion and flechette cannons).
Remember to use Evade and that 5k on the Scyks too! Scyk cannons also work in part as a poor man's Accuracy Corrector, increasing the average damage of the Scyk from 1 to 1.5 when no actions are available to modify the offense.
Edited by Zzharg