I'm pretty sure someone will copy my Redline/Alozen/Scimitar/Academy list and take it straight to the top. No one expects, etc.

The Spanish Inquisition?

I'm pretty sure no one expects the Spanish Inquisition to make the cut

I'm feeling the 5 x obsidian squadron pilot and Fel with trimmings.

Note to self: bring a rosary.

Can never be too careful.

Whatever wins there will be plenty of threads saying how the game is broken and meta stale.

I'm putting my bet on a Palpmobile + Fel + Vader of some sort. Very strong list in the right hands, can be flown a number of different ways.

I think Whisper is stronger in this list than Vader. Phantoms actually look to be good tech for TLT, even.

Brobots will win IMO.

While the TLT lists smash the 2 ship fat turrets, the TLT isn't as effective against Brobots (still good, just not as good).

Whatever wins there will be plenty of threads saying how the game is broken and meta stale.

No one complained about biggs walks.

I think whatever can beat tlt spam reliably AND still perform well against everything else. I think obsidian swarm will be it.

Tie. Swarm.

top8:

tie swarm

2x rebel fat turret (probably both corran+1200/2400)

2x tlt swarm (hwk+ywings)

imperial aces (w/palp)

2ship scum (brobots or kath/fett)

imperial fat turret

4 space cow swarm!!

I'm not sure why everyone thinks that 4 TLTs will be a thing at the top tables at Worlds. All the top players will (have already) recognised that a mirror match is a pure coin flip and one loss is the only one you can afford. You're much more likely to see variants like Morgan Reid's list from Aussie Nationals Jake and 3 TLTs (and other variations) because it wins the 4 TLT match almost every time. The other alternative would be Biggs and 3 TLTs, a potentially stronger list than 4 TLTs (though admittedly you would nominally like to be able to use Integrated Astro in that list but won't be able to). Both of these lists allow you to out fly your opponent, not just out dice him.

That being said, I suspect either Brobots who currently have no real predators. There really aren't any super strong counters to them. They can potentially beat every list and don't auto lose against any.

But my money is on Corran being in the winning list, whether he is the lynchpin in a mini swarm or the wingman to someone like Dash or Chewie remains to be seen.

The wildcard for me is an Emperor Shuttle and two aces. It is a strong list when flown well and out PS's Brobots and Corran which makes it fairly favourable.

A final thought, Worlds last year and the past two Gencons have shown that slightly off the wall lists that correctly accounted for the meta have won through. Don't expect a cookie cutter net list to win, those are the ones that good players know how to beat.

I'm putting my bet on a Palpmobile + Fel + Vader of some sort. Very strong list in the right hands, can be flown a number of different ways.

I think Whisper is stronger in this list than Vader. Phantoms actually look to be good tech for TLT, even.

We'll see but I think Whisper requires a different dance partner since 29 +35=64. That leaves 36 points for Whisper, which means just ACD. A shadow with Rec Spec, ACD and FCS is a better option at that point. The bottom line is I think there are a couple of combos of Palp+2 Aces that work, but I feel like Whisper eats up too many points so the leftover ship is weak and leaves the overall list weak.

Hounds tooth wins worlds by deploying the Z-95 and killing off a Crippled Fel.

BBBBZ takes 3rd.

Fat Han takes 4th.

Hounds tooth wins worlds by deploying the Z-95 and killing off a Crippled Fel.

BBBBZ takes 3rd.

Fat Han takes 4th.

I like your specificity. (I may have posted mainly to use the word specificity.)

Wonder how the old guard will feel if Tie Swarms become a thing again... I got in just after wave 4 in the middle of the Phantom Menace. Have never seen swarms as a big player.

Is there ANY real counter to a well flown bro-bot list? Maybe the Palp-mobile (or as I like to call it: Sheve Miller Band)? Only thing against brobots right now is that they are probably more hurt by the new MoV change than any other list. Going to make it basically a single elimination tourney for them from round 1.

Only thing against brobots right now is that they are probably more hurt by the new MoV change than any other list. Going to make it basically a single elimination tourney for them from round 1.

Brobots are just as well placed in terms of MoV as any list really is, though not as good as they had it previously. I could conceivably expect the highest MoVs in a large tournament to drop about 100-200 points after the change bringing them more in line with what 4 and 5 ship builds tend to score.

...and when you mean single elimination do you actually mean double elimination? Because all (well most) X-1 players should make it in. The whole Worlds tournament is effectively double elimination anyway. For reference Gencon had three 5-2 players make the cut, out of a field of 192. With a larger field (256? Maybe more?) and more byes (possibly) you could conceivably miss out on the cut going 6-1. With 300 players and 5-10ish byes, 3 (of 16) players, or about 20% of the 6-1 players would miss out. That's pretty rough for any list to be honest, I suspect timed games and the lower average MoV you get from them will be a large factor at Worlds, as will Modified Wins which will screw you over pretty vigorously.

I think the winner will be 7 TIE Swarm - Obsidians and Howlrunner

The top 8:

Brobots

7 TIE Swarm

Mirandash

Fel, Vader, OGP Palp

Kenkirk Palp and Whisper

4 Advanced

Mixed rebel swarm with 2TLTs and a cheap Jake

2 Unhinged TLT Ys, 2 BTL Aggro ICT Ys

(heck, Paul may very well dust off Biggs again and use two TLT Y-Wings instead of FCS Blues and basically just rerun 2013; Tarn+R7 might be his fourth ship? Plus Integrated Astromech if it's out and legal by then, but that's a long shot).

Biggs Darklighter (25)

R2 Astromech (1)

Integrated Astromech (0)

Gold Squadron Pilot (18)

Twin Laser Turret (6)

Gold Squadron Pilot (18)

Twin Laser Turret (6)

Tarn Mison (23)

R7 Astromech (2)

Integrated Astromech (0)

Total: 99

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Biggs walks the Hogs

I think Biggs wants the cancel hits for stress bot, but other than that the list looks like it could be a contender in the right hands and enviroment.

(heck, Paul may very well dust off Biggs again and use two TLT Y-Wings instead of FCS Blues and basically just rerun 2013; Tarn+R7 might be his fourth ship? Plus Integrated Astromech if it's out and legal by then, but that's a long shot).

Biggs Darklighter (25)

R2 Astromech (1)

Integrated Astromech (0)

Gold Squadron Pilot (18)

Twin Laser Turret (6)

Gold Squadron Pilot (18)

Twin Laser Turret (6)

Tarn Mison (23)

R7 Astromech (2)

Integrated Astromech (0)

Total: 99

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Biggs walks the Hogs

I think Biggs wants the cancel hits for stress bot, but other than that the list looks like it could be a contender in the right hands and enviroment.

Yep that's exactly what I drew up last night (same name too!), and R4-D6 on Biggs just in case of Phantom or HLC lists, or the Ghost, or Zuckuss.

When Integrated Astromech is tourney legal that will be a solid list. The only question is: BTL-A4 title on the Ys or no? You want Biggs and Tarn pointed and jousting anyway, so it wouldn't be a stretch to aim with the Y-Wings as well. No room for R2 Astros on there for after K-turning, is my only hesitation.

At least one R2 is possible to bring the list up to 100 points. You can give that Y-Wing the title but not the other one or pull the droid from Biggs (without IA availiable the usefullness is questionable anyways) and run both with R2 and title. Don't arc Y-Wings without R2 or other utility like R4 Agro or R3-A2.

(heck, Paul may very well dust off Biggs again and use two TLT Y-Wings instead of FCS Blues and basically just rerun 2013; Tarn+R7 might be his fourth ship? Plus Integrated Astromech if it's out and legal by then, but that's a long shot).

Biggs Darklighter (25)

R2 Astromech (1)

Integrated Astromech (0)

Gold Squadron Pilot (18)

Twin Laser Turret (6)

Gold Squadron Pilot (18)

Twin Laser Turret (6)

Tarn Mison (23)

R7 Astromech (2)

Integrated Astromech (0)

Total: 99

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Biggs walks the Hogs

I don't think the integrated astromech will be out for Worlds....

I don't think the integrated astromech will be out for Worlds....

Probably not! I said it was a long shot but it makes for interesting theorycrafting. Plus Biggs' ability to corral shots works very nicely against TLTs, and being able to respond in kind but at targets of your choice would make the XXYY squad above pretty potent.

I will endeavor to make your prediction come true!

Only thing against brobots right now is that they are probably more hurt by the new MoV change than any other list. Going to make it basically a single elimination tourney for them from round 1.

Why do you say that? They will be plenty of games 175-25, most 150-50 and occasionally 125-75. Given that when brobots lost in the past they likely went down hard 0-200, the change in MoV actually helps them as they pick up more MoV in a loss than they might otherwise have done. Their biggest issue is that Soontir, Vader and Corran to name a few can actually beat them (mostly modified) in timed games, when previously they would have had full wins in the past (except against Corran). Note that this is true of all the large base ships, and is not confined solely to Brobots.

Brobots are just as well placed in terms of MoV as any list really is, though not as good as they had it previously. I could conceivably expect the highest MoVs in a large tournament to drop about 100-200 points after the change bringing them more in line with what 4 and 5 ship builds tend to score.

...and when you mean single elimination do you actually mean double elimination? Because all (well most) X-1 players should make it in. The whole Worlds tournament is effectively double elimination anyway. For reference Gencon had three 5-2 players make the cut, out of a field of 192. With a larger field (256? Maybe more?) and more byes (possibly) you could conceivably miss out on the cut going 6-1. With 300 players and 5-10ish byes, 3 (of 16) players, or about 20% of the 6-1 players would miss out. That's pretty rough for any list to be honest, I suspect timed games and the lower average MoV you get from them will be a large factor at Worlds, as will Modified Wins which will screw you over pretty vigorously.

There are certainly a few different build archetypes that are good counters to BroBots. Not all of them will necessarily handle the wave 7 TLT meta very well though.

The MoV change unequivocally hurts BroBots at the top end. Instead of having the MoV of a 2 ship list, they essentially have the MoV of a 4 ship list. Getting a few more MoV in your one loss is trivial compared to going 100-50 for your other 5 wins instead of 100-0. In the last 3 medium-large tournaments I played in (77, 19, 88 players), I was 5-1, 4-1, and 5-1, and #2 Swiss in all three, because I was wiping my opponents 100-0 with low-health but alive BroBots at the end of many matches. It'll get scored differently now, and staying on top of the MoV heap will be much harder.

Also, there will be 300+ players at Worlds, FFG is at fire capacity for the room. At 300 players there should be at least three 6-1 players that don't make the cut.

Will there really be 300+ players at worlds? I thought attendance was capped at 256?

When I talked to Wade Piche (FFG Organized Play) at Nova Open, he said the hall has a fire capacity of over 300, and they will be at fire capacity for the event. I don't have exact numbers. They are making the tournament as large as they can physically accommodate.