Great write up man

Great write up! I was your first opponent on the day, and you quickly showed me the error in putting Poe by himself. After that he stuck with the Y's and Z to help keep him alive longer. I still went 2-6, but as this was my first tournament ever, flying against lists I have never flown against, I was pleased with this result. Hope we meet again with a different result next time

Great write up, I enjoyed reading it. It was especially interesting because, like you point out, the Decimator seemed to be written off a bit with the introduction of TLT and big ship scoring rules, and also many have stayed away from playing Whisper with the decloaking rule changes. A lot of people lost confidence in IGs because of the new big ship scoring rules as well, but I've stuck by them with the same thought process you have with your build; play to win, forget about MoV. Your build is much more deliberate with that strategy than IGs, but I'm glad to see that great 2-ship lists like yours are still at the top tables. The game has truly hit renaissance stage where any number of ships are competitive and so many variations between the ships themselves, ship pilots, and upgrades are viable.

Great write up and congratulations on the excellent finish!

Nice. i enjoyed the read and i'll keep in mind that "forward-4 + boost" to put two early crits on round 1.

Vader does what Vader does and puts 2 crits on Soontir. Damaged Sensor Array and Shaken Pilot. Unfortunatly, my opponant then reveals a 4 strait as Soontir's next move. I stop him and point out the crit. I painfully take he dial and select his new move. 3 hard right, putting him dangerously close to the edge of the board, and out of the coming fight. He then goes to barrel roll, and I remind him of the Sensor Array. He rolls and misses. This will force Soontir off the board on the next turn.

And that, children, is why you use critical hit tokens.

I received the same crit in a later game, and I certainly made sure I put a marker out!

Nice job, sir!

I agree with your choice of that Whisper and Decimator list for those reasons. I regularly play:

Whisper+VI+ACD+FCS

RAC+Expose+EI+Vader+Moff+Captive

And it's one of my most successful, enjoyable lists to play. List's like this win brutally and fast, which is fantastic when you've got 8+ games to play in one day.

Thanks guys and gals, glad you enjoyed it.

Is this list still a thing in the current meta? Maybe even with a kallus added to whisper? Will it be viable in the wave 8 meta (that is the current meta on vassal)? Is Maybe adding expose+experimental interface in exchange for veteran instincts and engine a viable option? Did some podcast maybe interview Brad Miller?

Great write up. I watched the game against Corran-Dash on YouTube and it looks like a fun list to fly. How would you attack a dual decimator list, one with Vader and the other with Palpatine? One of the guys at my store likes to run that.

Is this list still a thing in the current meta? Maybe even with a kallus added to whisper? Will it be viable in the wave 8 meta (that is the current meta on vassal)? Is Maybe adding expose+experimental interface in exchange for veteran instincts and engine a viable option? Did some podcast maybe interview Brad Miller?

It was Mynock podcast episode 5 and this is Brad Miller's write up .

Yes. This list is still very viable in the current meta as it tends to just smash aces lists. Agent Kallus added to Whisper is the right move because he negates your need for the initiative bid. As for wave 8 meta, we will have to wait and see. I don't use vassal because I believe it inhibits your ability to fly personally. Viewing obs on the computer compared to obs on a board is drastically different.

As for attacking the duel decimator list, always smash the one with Vader on it first, and only with your deci for a turn or two. Try and put enough damage into it that he won't have the hull to vader your Whisper. Whisper should be able to clean up the other one solo if need be.

As for expose-EI.... I feel its a poor decision. You lock yourself into 2 speed moves after that because your greens are very limited, and thus your predictable. Large bases that can boost are the most powerful things in the game.

Thanks a lot for those insights. How does kallus make the ini bid obsolete? Do you normally take initiative against PS 9 opponents? I played the list some more and what I really don't like are stress hogs. Double stress on whisper really sucks. I often see the stress hog together with a VI Poe. If You play against such lists: Maybe kill the hog 1st? Is it worth to vader him? Or try to pump it/get into range 1 or avoid it totally/use whisper as bait and kill Poe 1st?

Kallus makes that ini bid obsolete because he gives you the tools to take a shot while uncloaked and still have the firepower for your return shot. For example: Whisper is at R3 of a VI Poe Dameron whom she has as her Agent Kallus target. She takes an Evade action. Poe then fires at Whisper at R3. Throwing hit, hit, focus, which he uses his pilot ability for 3 total hits. Whisper rolls 3 evade dice and gets Evade, Focus, Blank. Kallus turns the Focus into an evade for you, so you Evade all 3 shots while uncloaked. Now you return fire into Poe, and Roll hit, hit, focus, blank. You agent Kallus that focus into a hit for a total of 3, and do 1 damage to Poe. Having Kallus saves you from all but a 4 Dice attack, unless their are multiple ships shooting before you, but those are odds I like personally for the benefit of the offense. Also, if your not worried about that high PS person, throwing Kallus on a TLT Y-wing thats shooting last is a huge defensive boon. you've used all your tokens by the time it shoots and Kallus works on both of the TLT shots. As for taking inititive against PS9 opponents if I can, absolutely. Stress Hogs are a problem. They are very dangerous and you have to be very cagey around them (they accounted for my only loss in swiss). The goal against a stress hog list is to Joust it perferably. You want to attempt to get both of your ships into range 1 and lob as much firepower into that thing as possible. Yeah, your going to get double stressed if you miss range one. You should then spend your next turn NOT DECLOAKING, and just clearing stress. Play the long game if needed. The Decimator should be able to finish the Y-wing, and hopefully take another ship down with it before it goes away (whatever is the biggest threat to Whisper), then you just let Whisper play clean up crew.

Don't be afraid to use Vader crew, even on shields. Putting that much stress on your opponent makes them make mistakes. Do damage fast and make them alter their plan.

Thanks for all this advice! Another question: How do You decide Your Kallus target? Always the one, whom u intend to kill 1st in order to burn it faster? Or leave the Kallus target for last? And what about brobots or even double firesprays (e. g. Kath + Boba Fett - lost to that yesterday)? Also vader their shields?

The Kallus target depends on the list your going against. If there isnt anyone that will shoot before Whisper, I will typically put it on the second or third ship that will be shooting at Whisper, especially if one of those is a TLT. This allows me to use my tokens on the initial shot if necessary and not be without when we get to those later shots. Typically I don't kill my kallus target first, unless they are the higher pilot skill and a big threat. Brobots is a toss up. You just pick one and kill whatever presents itself first. What I mean by vader their shields is that you can't be afraid to give out vader crits for shield damage, especially against bots. You have to take them down as fast as possible and that is the way I do it.

I really fell in love with this squad! But don't like seeing all those hight hitpoint targets in Wave 8. Also the tripple jumpmasters make me headaches. How to best play high hitpoint targets like say Dengar+Boba Fett? And how to approach the Triple Jumpmasters or dual VCX-100s? Is the list still as strong in the meta? Pls someone tell me, that the list is still viable and how. ;-)

The Kallus target depends on the list your going against. If there isnt anyone that will shoot before Whisper, I will typically put it on the second or third ship that will be shooting at Whisper, especially if one of those is a TLT. This allows me to use my tokens on the initial shot if necessary and not be without when we get to those later shots. Typically I don't kill my kallus target first, unless they are the higher pilot skill and a big threat. Brobots is a toss up. You just pick one and kill whatever presents itself first. What I mean by vader their shields is that you can't be afraid to give out vader crits for shield damage, especially against bots. You have to take them down as fast as possible and that is the way I do it.

What are your thoughts on using the old damage deck for this list (Kallus version)?

It feels like overall it's better, but I've genuinely never even used the old damage deck before, so it feels weird thinking this way (I started around christmas, so basically have always used the "new" damage deck). My thinking is basically centered around how criticals affect RAC rather than whisper, since RAC is the one that will likely 1) have criticals, and 2) survive long enough to have their effects be ongoing:

You have two "fr ee " criticals in Minor Hull Breach ( After executing a red maneuver, roll 1 attack die. On a Hit result, suffer 1 damage ) and Munitions Failure ( Immediately choose 1 of your secondary weapon Upgrade cards and discard it. Then flip this card facedown ), and a [mostly] better Blinded Pilot (for the gunner aspect, as you mentioned, as well as triggering adv. cloaking device on Whisper). The only downside is Injured Pilot ( All players must ignore your pilot ability and all of your Elite upgrade cards. ) , but beyond the loss of the pilot ability, on RAC it just knocks him down to 8 (not great, but not brutal), and whisper to a 7 (quite brutal, but if she has one crit, then she's not a in a good place already).

In turn, you lose the following criticals from the new damage deck:

Loose Stabilizer ( After you execute a white maneuver, receive 1 stress token. Action: Flip this card facedown . ) - Not bad, not great

Major Hull Breach ( Starting the round after you receive this card, all Damage cards dealt to you are dealt faceup. Action: Flip this card facedown. ) - BRUTAL if not fixed on RAC.

Shaken Pilot ( During the Planning phase, you cannot be assigned straight maneuvers. When you reveal a maneuver, flip this card facedown. ) - Not bad, not great.

Thank you for sharing this. Now I have a better idea of using the Deci-Phantom build.

I had the same Whisper build as yours, but my Decimator featured Oicunn with a defensive crew of Rebel Captive, Mara Jade, Ysanne. Dauntless and Expose, and Seismic charges to complete the points.

I shall definitely test your build, though my Phantom skills are still rookie level at best.