...and so I'm working with a completely unknown meta. On top of that, I have exactly one tournament win ever to my name, and that involved a lot of beginner's luck and likely some sub-optimal play on the part of my opponents because they didn't know what to make of my weird newbie list. And, of course, I'm working with a limited fleet. I'm in a position to throw about another $50 USD at my collection but that puts things like a Tantive or two Aggressors out of reach. I -can- afford, say, another large ship and another small ship, a handful of small ships, or even just some single upgrade cards from eBay. Please see my signature for my current fleet, but note that I have 4x Feedback Array, 1x Tactician, and 3x Push the Limit on top of the upgrades that come with all my ships and the core set.

SO....for those of you that enjoy this kind of theorycraft, I pose the following two, related questions: 1) Given all the ships in the world, what list would you want to give to a relatively new player to attack an unknown meta? 2) Are lists like Fat Han and 3Zs, Chewie and Leebo, or Brobots really easier to fly for a more novice player?

Ultimately what I want to know is if I'm just really going to be fighting an uphill battle to progress my tournament play if I don't jump on the above bandwagons. I have the ships and cards for lists like Scum Warthogs, Triple Squints, Jonus Brothers, and Panic Attack, and those lists are more thematically appealing to me. I could pick up one Aggressor and do the Boba Fett and IG88B list or Brohawks. I'm also just two small ships away from Rebel Warthogs or BBBBZ. I could do Dash and Corran, too, but that seems like another bandwagon.

Truth is I play X-Wing because it's the Star Wars universe, and I'm all about the overall aesthetics. So I favor thematic lists with a smaller chance of mirror-matches that make the experience less immersive. I even shelled out for asteroid models that have clear bases that are the same shape as the tokens so my tournament games can be more aesthetically appealing. Yeah, I'm that guy...but it's also fun to win! So I'm hoping some of you guys with more experience can help me out in the short term. I'll eventually own all the expansions needed for the top tier lists but, like I said, I hope I don't have to play them to be successful! On the other hand, I'm just not all that good a pilot yet so if that's what I need to do to progress, I'll do it, and still be happy I'm playing X-Wing.

Thanks for reading, and for any advice!

Fly what you know. First and foremost.

Someone who knows their list extremely well can fly a few HWK's and win.

So what do you like to fly?

YT1300+triple Zs/Awing are really easier (not autofly!) to play. With my limited tournament experience i found that compared to many imperial variations i played, fathan is more forgiving. I say its really good spot to start, then progress to some more demanding lists.

As for more of non-mirror matches firespray is returning to play lately, mostly in scum version.

if you want to win go with a fat han. i have been talking a lot with a friend lately and truly believe two things about that list:

1. it makes mediocre players good. when flying against it your shots need to be darn near perfect or youre just not going to do much to han.

2. (and this might be a different thread for a different day) C3PO REALLY needs to be nerfed.

theres a reason why you will see the top8 at every tournament littered with fat han. true it canbe fun to play but i dont ever run it any more because i dont want to be THAT guy who ALWAYS runs it, wins and thinks im the bees knees.

dash corran or even chewy corran is definitely in the meta. however i believe it has more strategy than fat han who simply lines up and thumps opponents

BBBBZ is harder to fly than people give it credit for. you need to know when to stay in formation, when to break formation, when to peel off some of your B's for a future counter attack after having been hit hard, and when to block with the Z

Of course, it being a new town, new store and a new group. You might not want to break out the fat turrets just yet. .

You want to win, but more than that you want a playgroup.

If you're really looking for easy to fly with good output, then PTL/EU Dash is your guy. Just do greens all day while taking focus+TL every turn, and if an asteroid gets in the way then just barrel roll or boost off of it and push for the focus. Put Corran, Keyan, or BB's with fire control beside him and go nuts.

Looking at your list of ships, here are some ideas for fun builds I have run:

Vessery's Bounty 100 pts:

Tie Defender Col Vessery (35) Veteran Instincts (1) Cluster Missles (4) Stealth Device (3)

Firspray Bounty Hunter (33)

Lambda Shuttle (21) ST-321 Title (3)

If you can get a Mangler Cannon - you can put it on Vessery as an alternative to the Missles.

Kinda Fun to Run. Lots of Points for the opponent to chew through. Vessery and the Firespray do most of the heavy lifting.

Shuttle stays back to get Target Locks to support Vessery and catch strays.

Biggs' Blues 99 pts

X-Wing Biggs (25) R2-D2 (4) Shield Upgrade (4)

3x B-Wing Blue Squadron (22 ea)

Opponents have to shoot at Biggs and R2 and the Shield help him survive.

With a lot of 2-3 ship builds out there Biggs can survive long enough to let the B-wings focus on at least one of the ships and his own firepower makes him dangerous.

Off-Topic:

Am I reading your signature correct in that you have 6 Tie Interceptors?

I have 3 that I run and can imagine running 5, but 6 would be more than 100 points in a squad. (???)

A beautiful sight, but seems like you went a little Interceptor-crazy.

Just for fun, not very competitive, but a good challenge. TIE Fighters for swarm strategy and learning formation flying. The Interceptors will help you learn positioning and anticipating where others move in certain situations.

This will provide you, a new player, the experience you need. It will also prevent you being the new guy who shows up with the Fat Han build, like chubby09 said. Also, Dagonet is correct. Fly what you know to win. I'll add, fly what you don't know to learn more!

Saber Squadron Pilot — TIE Interceptor 21

Push the Limit 3

Autothrusters 2

Ship Total: 26

Saber Squadron Pilot — TIE Interceptor 21

Push the Limit 3

Autothrusters 2

Ship Total: 26

Academy Pilot — TIE Fighter 12

Ship Total: 12

Academy Pilot — TIE Fighter 12

Ship Total: 12

Academy Pilot — TIE Fighter 12

Ship Total: 12

Academy Pilot — TIE Fighter 12

Ship Total: 12

You have the cards to do BioPhysical's dual defender list. It's a personal favorite of mine and catches a lot of opponents off guard.

Fly what you know. First and foremost.

Someone who knows their list extremely well can fly a few HWK's and win.

So what do you like to fly?

In general I'm attracted to TIE swarms, or a handful of TIEs as an "escort" for a Lambda or Deci - which reminds me that I have the ships and cards for a RAC + Fel build, is that kind of like the Imperial version of Dash and Corran?

Actually, I guess I like "hybrid" swarms in general, regardless of faction, but it's my understanding that those are usually unforgiving for novice pilots.

Looking at your list of ships, here are some ideas for fun builds I have run:

Vessery's Bounty 100 pts:

Tie Defender Col Vessery (35) Veteran Instincts (1) Cluster Missles (4) Stealth Device (3)

Firspray Bounty Hunter (33)

Lambda Shuttle (21) ST-321 Title (3)

If you can get a Mangler Cannon - you can put it on Vessery as an alternative to the Missles.

Kinda Fun to Run. Lots of Points for the opponent to chew through. Vessery and the Firespray do most of the heavy lifting.

Shuttle stays back to get Target Locks to support Vessery and catch strays.

Biggs' Blues 99 pts

X-Wing Biggs (25) R2-D2 (4) Shield Upgrade (4)

3x B-Wing Blue Squadron (22 ea)

Opponents have to shoot at Biggs and R2 and the Shield help him survive.

With a lot of 2-3 ship builds out there Biggs can survive long enough to let the B-wings focus on at least one of the ships and his own firepower makes him dangerous.

Off-Topic:

Am I reading your signature correct in that you have 6 Tie Interceptors?

I have 3 that I run and can imagine running 5, but 6 would be more than 100 points in a squad. (???)

A beautiful sight, but seems like you went a little Interceptor-crazy.

These are some very interesting lists, thank you! As for my Interceptors, yes, you're reading it right - that was really a concession to my sense of aesthetics. I bought two singles and two Imp. Aces so I could run two Guards, two Sabres, or two generic squints in a squad and have matching paint jobs Like I said, I'm that guy!

You have the cards to do BioPhysical's dual defender list. It's a personal favorite of mine and catches a lot of opponents off guard.

Yeah I'd been really curious about that list as well! I assume that since one of the Defenders gets Lone Wolf that the list doesn't require formation-flying, right?

This is great feedback overall, thanks to everyone for replying! Some general questions I'd like to ask now: Are Scum Warthogs just really difficult to fly because of the title forcing you to work within your firing arc? What do you guys think about the Boba and IG lists? And what about a Deci and Soontir list - is Soontir really hard to fly effectively?

Thanks again!

I've been having fun with Warthogs. I only have 2 though so usually backing up Boba. I wouldnt say they are hard to fly but they are predictable with the Y wing dial and no Astro to open it up (as you will tend to have the agromech). Of course once Ion starts landing them knowing where you're going and doing anything about it are two different things. Trying to get that first Ion on someone like Fel can be annoying but generally the first shot should strip some tokens to help the more important follow up Ion shot get through.

Imwouldnt even worry about 'being competitive' till you have tested the waters.

If you are not that good pilot yet (by your words) I'd take a PTL turret with engine and decent dial, that leaves you with two options (upgrade it with your fav stuff):

Dash + PTL + EU + Title + Mangler + Kyle

Chiri + PTL + EU + Ysanne

Why?

Both can avoid swarm-like arcs

Both can block any Ace while escort punish it for it (Corran, Soontir, Whisper hate Dash and his BR)

Against Han/Chewien just TL+ F and you'll be fine

Both can deal with IGs allright

If you want to be a serious contender in a tourney you must master all of the above, ain't easy but you'll have the tools

As escort that deppends on your risk tolerance and red die luck, in both regards Corran +FCS+R2-D2 is a bit superior to Soontir + SD+ AT

Boba + IG is a very strong list but require more finesse than any of the above

If you are not that good pilot yet (by your words) I'd take a PTL turret with engine and decent dial, that leaves you with two options (upgrade it with your fav stuff):

Dash + PTL + EU + Title + Mangler + Kyle

Chiri + PTL + EU + Ysanne

Why?

Both can avoid swarm-like arcs

Both can block any Ace while escort punish it for it (Corran, Soontir, Whisper hate Dash and his BR)

Against Han/Chewien just TL+ F and you'll be fine

Both can deal with IGs allright

If you want to be a serious contender in a tourney you must master all of the above, ain't easy but you'll have the tools

As escort that deppends on your risk tolerance and red die luck, in both regards Corran +FCS+R2-D2 is a bit superior to Soontir + SD+ AT

Boba + IG is a very strong list but require more finesse than any of the above

Great advice! I totally accept that what I need more than anything is practice, but knowing -what- to practice and why helps me get so much more out of every game. Thanks!

I won the last store championship with BBBBZ but I would not recommend the list unless you get some practice matches with it beforehand. As had been said, the list is not hard to fly but you need to have an idea of what you can do with the Z and when to break formation. The top tier list that is easiest to pick up is fat Han, in my opinion. Great maneuverability and good, consistent damage output. It is weak against swarms of jousters, but not much else... So you are likely to do pretty well in an unknown meta.