League night is coming and I'd like to put something special on the table, expecting Vader/Soontir from this good player that took first at regionals.

Talonbane Cobra

Expert Handling

Dead Man's Switch

Cobra will die fast but I can't fly ships without some sort of repositioning so EH is in. The idea is to die after a R1 shot and trade him for another Ace. A more expensive one ideally...

Wingmates (add your suggestions please):

Drea Renthal

Twin Laser Turret

Unhinged Astromech

If Cobra fails Drea may be able to finish the Ace

IG-88D

Wired

Autothrusters

Sexy segnors with poweful cheap ugrades is where I am regarding IGs atm

The lack of init bid scares me. Might drop drea for a ps4 Ywing...

It's quite clever. I could see it being really annoying for Soontir. I agree that initiative will be very important so you can be the one to barrel roll out of arc instead of him.

I wonder, though, how likely you are to get this to trigger. Again, you need initiative to make sure you can respond to his movements and barrel roll into range 1. Otherwise I think he'll be more than happy to attack at range 2.

If it does trigger, it probably won't hit more than one ship. In that case, you're probably better off with something else. For example, Crackshot can deal an extra damage and it only costs 1 instead of 2. I think that could be just as effective against those aces. Of course, you do lose Expert Handling that way.

My last concern is that you'll have no way to modify dice if you use Expert Handling. If you can dodge arcs, that's great because taking no shots is the best dice modification of all. But if you don't have target lock or focus, I think Cobra's 5 dice will feel a little cold. But if you can TL at range 3, that should be good enough since, as you said, he'll probably die fast.

I think dropping Drea for initiative makes the most sense because it changes your list the least. If I were running it, though, I think I'd try someone besides IG-88. I might even go with VI Xizor to battle at the PS 9 area, especially if you get initiative because he has awesome repositional abilities. I'd probably put Sensor Jammer on to give him a little more staying power. Bonus points if you can get him to shunt damage to the Y-wing!