I have faced Palp+2 aces many times, and I never seem to have an issue with the list. Taking Palp out of the match first seems to be the key, at least for my list.

This seems incredibly surprising to me since I absolutely want to lose Palpatine first assuming he doesn't just die for free. What build are they using and how aggressively do they play their shuttles?

More or less, I stress Soontir/Vader on the approach, and while they are clearing the stress behind my ships, I hone in on the shuttle. Some times it only takes 2 turns to take it out.

This has been against different people with different play styles.

Your list is also not as susceptible to the damage the aces do in those first few turns as other lists. It is unlikely that they will destroy one of your ships. And your damage output is quite high (especially with Bossk) so the shuttle doesn't have long to live.

What do you think of this for an alternate Bossk build:

Bossk (35)

Calculation (1)

Engine Upgrade (4)

Inertial Dampeners (1)

Gunner (5)

K4 Security Droid (3)

Tactician (3)

I like that Calculation can be used in the Aux. Arc and Gunner/Tactician is amazing. But it loses VI and the very useful Outlaw Tech, which helps keep the dial open.

Why does Bossk need ID when he already has a red stop? Am I missing something?

What obstacles do you take? How do you place them? Do you usually keep your guys together or space them apart?

If you don't mind me asking...

I haven't listened to the latest NOVA Squadron yet, but from the first bit, it sounds like it's what I expect. I'm getting more and more frustrated with their dismissal of so many things as not competitive.

VERY happy to see a very successful "non-standard" build being used! My kudos to you for taking something against the grain and making it work!

What do you think of this for an alternate Bossk build:

Bossk (35)

Calculation (1)

Engine Upgrade (4)

Inertial Dampeners (1)

Gunner (5)

K4 Security Droid (3)

Tactician (3)

I like that Calculation can be used in the Aux. Arc and Gunner/Tactician is amazing. But it loses VI and the very useful Outlaw Tech, which helps keep the dial open.

Why does Bossk need ID when he already has a red stop? Am I missing something?

In case your opponent catches you horribly off guard and you really need to slam on the brakes that turn.

What obstacles do you take? How do you place them? Do you usually keep your guys together or space them apart?

If you don't mind me asking...

I always take one big rock and 2 mediums. If I have initiative, I place the big rock in the middle, then when my opponent plays his rock, I try to place the third rock at range 2 of both other rocks. What does this do? Prevent my opponent from placing a rock between the three. This opens up wider lanes for my large hulls to squeeze through. I always do this set up with large base hulls or swarm builds.

I've been playing Firespray+YV-666 for a some time now and have settled on a different build out:

Boba Fett (49)
Firespray-31 (39), Veteran Instincts (1), Recon Specialist (3), Glitterstim (2), Engine Upgrade (4)

Moralo Eval (50)
YV-666 (34), Ion Cannon (3), Gunner (5), Bossk (2), Tactician (2), Engine Upgrade (4)

With this load out you want Boba in the scrum with Moralo doing 3-hards around your opponent. Boba takes a Focus action every turn to synergize with his pilot ability while Moralo takes a Target Lock or Boost. Why would Moralo take a TL? In the rare case that Moralo's Ion shot rolls two or three hits and you would rather get the fully modified primary (+Tactician) you can use TL to (potentially) re-roll your hits into misses. This allows you to consistently get the double-stress (provided you're in range) and gives you the option to Ionize when it makes sense to do so.

All that said - I still think Firespray+YV-666 is not as competitive as other lists. It reminds me a little of the RAC+Whisper list that made the cut at World's... what did he call it? All stick - no carrot? This list generates so much aggro and has so little damage mitigation (except in situations where Boba has three or more enemies in range one with Glitterstim active) that you have to win fast in order to have a chance of winning at all.

I haven't listened to the latest NOVA Squadron yet, but from the first bit, it sounds like it's what I expect. I'm getting more and more frustrated with their dismissal of so many things as not competitive.

VERY happy to see a very successful "non-standard" build being used! My kudos to you for taking something against the grain and making it work!

I am a huge fan of the show and the discussion, I think it helped me tremendously in my competitive game. Unfortunately it seems to me that the more they talk about a possible narrowing meta, the more narrow it becomes. I'm trying to open up the possibility of other builds getting play time, because there are alternate builds that can compete, but don't get the screen time they deserve because people are afraid of using them as they are not as conventional. The lull between Worlds and Store Championship season is the time for everyone to experiment, hopefully bringing a more diverse meta in the next few months.

I am a huge fan of the show and the discussion, I think it helped me tremendously in my competitive game. Unfortunately it seems to me that the more they talk about a possible narrowing meta, the more narrow it becomes. I'm trying to open up the possibility of other builds getting play time, because there are alternate builds that can compete, but don't get the screen time they deserve because people are afraid of using them as they are not as conventional. The lull between Worlds and Store Championship season is the time for everyone to experiment, hopefully bringing a more diverse meta in the next few months.

Exactly! I have been a fan of the show for a long time, but I'm being turned off lately by the dismissive attitude about ships not seen. There is the logic that if they aren't seen at the high tables of the mid-west then they aren't any good. This is because if it were good, people would use it. This becomes the meme on the podcast and on forums. People are less likely to try things because they have seen from a few places that it's not worth using. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I was one of the ones posting that they should put Biophysical on their show to talk about the Tie Defender because he's had great success with it.

I will say that if I have a stack of podcasts to listen to, it's at the bottom of my list these days. Sometimes....I just don't even finish an episode, especially if they are reviewing specific ships.

How important do you find Engine Upgrade on Bossk? I know they are worth their points on large ships and being able to adjust Bobas arc is a big deal, but I am wondering how often you use it as opposed to other actions on Bossk. It seems mostly useful for getting back into the fight.

Also I get what you are saying versus Palp, all the stress on the ships make Soontir/Vader burn through actions to remain out of Range 2, so they become a lot less action efficient.

How important do you find Engine Upgrade on Bossk? I know they are worth their points on large ships and being able to adjust Bobas arc is a big deal, but I am wondering how often you use it as opposed to other actions on Bossk. It seems mostly useful for getting back into the fight.

Also I get what you are saying versus Palp, all the stress on the ships make Soontir/Vader burn through actions to remain out of Range 2, so they become a lot less action efficient.

I use it more often than you would think. The boost is used to control the range of his shot, specially if followed by a green maneuver which gave me a target lock. Also I've had several instances of arc dodging with the boost action with a shot off the auxilary arc. And yes, a 3 turn then boost can bring you back into the fight quicker than expected.

Store Tournament, 27 players: 4-1, placed 6^th. Only loss came in the last round, against an IGB/2 Y TLT. I drew an injured pilot on Boba Fett early, which completely neutered him for the rest of the game. Ironically, my opponent also drew injured pilot on his TLT Y the same turn, which had no effect. This was before the new damage deck, I don’t miss the old deck

If that was a cool stuff tournament in Orlando then I think that was me and the list was Boba + 2 TLT Y-Wings. I remember cause it was a really close game until those 2 crits. No single crit should win the game like that. Fun game otherwise.

I really like your build, VaynMaanen! I've been looking forward to getting into Scum once the Punishing One is available, and am hoping to come up with a list utilising Dengar and Boba, so your post gave me some solid starting points.

Store Tournament, 27 players: 4-1, placed 6^th. Only loss came in the last round, against an IGB/2 Y TLT. I drew an injured pilot on Boba Fett early, which completely neutered him for the rest of the game. Ironically, my opponent also drew injured pilot on his TLT Y the same turn, which had no effect. This was before the new damage deck, I don’t miss the old deck

If that was a cool stuff tournament in Orlando then I think that was me and the list was Boba + 2 TLT Y-Wings. I remember cause it was a really close game until those 2 crits. No single crit should win the game like that. Fun game otherwise.

Yes that was it! Great match, and a great opponent. I think we've played a couple of times now. I'll hopefully make it back over to Orlando sometime soon again, hope to see you there!

Nice list. I might try a version swapping Outlaw Tech and VI on Bossk for Daredevil (plus maybe Greedo). I've found Bossk with Daredevil to be very effective (even outflew Soontir 1v1 in the end game). How important has Bossk's PS 9 been in your games?

Nice list. I might try a version swapping Outlaw Tech and VI on Bossk for Daredevil (plus maybe Greedo). I've found Bossk with Daredevil to be very effective (even outflew Soontir 1v1 in the end game). How important has Bossk's PS 9 been in your games?

It's been a difference maker in some match ups. Against IG with VI you get to shoot first, which absolutely saved my skin in a match which I was left with 1 hull and I killed the IG for the win before he could shoot back. Also matching the many PS9's gives me a chance to choose how to engage the list wether or not I have initiative.

What obstacles do you take? How do you place them? Do you usually keep your guys together or space them apart?

If you don't mind me asking...

I always take one big rock and 2 mediums. If I have initiative, I place the big rock in the middle, then when my opponent plays his rock, I try to place the third rock at range 2 of both other rocks. What does this do? Prevent my opponent from placing a rock between the three. This opens up wider lanes for my large hulls to squeeze through. I always do this set up with large base hulls or swarm builds.

I've been running this list and I'm 4-1 with it. Faced Palp and aces twice and have went 1-1. Still needs some tweaking but the main goal is to have Boba mix it up range 1 while Moralo picks guys off from long range. Not sure how much the stealth device and proton rockets really help so I know I could do some tweaking.

Moralo Eval [Heavy Laser Cannon, Bossk, Tactician, Gunner] (50)

Boba Fett [Veteran Instincts, Outlaw Tech, Proton Rockets, Slave-1, Stealth Device, Extra Munitions] (50)

Nice write up and thanks for sharing. I do like the looks of VI + mangler over calculation.

I gotta agree with the sentiment for gunner though. The synergy with tactician is just so strong and it creates a real conundrum for your opponent.. let that crit through and take 2 damage or take double stress and still possibly take 2 damage.

On that note how essential have you found k4 to be? As opposed to say gunner and maybe swap glitterstim to keep outlaw tech.

How much of the success of this list is based on your piloting prowess? Based on your results in your signature, you are clearly a strong pilot. Do you think this is a case of a decent list with a great pilot beating better lists with weaker pilots?

I ask because I'm intrigued by the list, but not sure how well I could do with it given my mediocre flying skills.

Nice write up and thanks for sharing. I do like the looks of VI + mangler over calculation.

I gotta agree with the sentiment for gunner though. The synergy with tactician is just so strong and it creates a real conundrum for your opponent.. let that crit through and take 2 damage or take double stress and still possibly take 2 damage.

On that note how essential have you found k4 to be? As opposed to say gunner and maybe swap glitterstim to keep outlaw tech.

I mentioned earlier that was definitely a consideration, I don't know if swapping Outlaw Tech or K4 would be more beneficial. But taking out either or might pigeonhole you to prefer the red/green maneuver over the other to get the modified shot, which might make you more predictable. Also I'm kind of gutsy with Boba, diving in at swarms at R1 and glitterstim seems to be the only way I don't get him killed by the second turn lol

Makes sense. What I was thinking of would push the focus more into the stress realm rather than damage output which might not be a good thing considering AGI 1.. guess I'll have to take it for a spin and see.

How much of the success of this list is based on your piloting prowess? Based on your results in your signature, you are clearly a strong pilot. Do you think this is a case of a decent list with a great pilot beating better lists with weaker pilots?

I ask because I'm intrigued by the list, but not sure how well I could do with it given my mediocre flying skills.

I think "piloting prowess" comes with experience of flying the same ships/list, noticing mistakes, adjusting your set up and approach, and practice, practice, practice.

The goal was to show how with some smart list building you can bring a unique list that you are experienced with and catch some people off-guard that won't know how to handle it.

It's better to focus on the themes that seem to be succeeding (control/stress, PS9/10 Aces, Damage Mitigation, etc.), rather than the ships/pilots themselves.

I mentioned earlier that was definitely a consideration, I don't know if swapping Outlaw Tech or K4 would be more beneficial. But taking out either or might pigeonhole you to prefer the red/green maneuver over the other to get the modified shot, which might make you more predictable. Also I'm kind of gutsy with Boba, diving in at swarms at R1 and glitterstim seems to be the only way I don't get him killed by the second turn lol

Do you generally have Boba dive in and Bossk hang back? Makes sense giving them a close, tough target or a farther, less defensive one.

I've been flying Bossk + Palob + N'Dru and diving in with Bossk, then swinging around with Daredevil. Usually Palob or N'Dru are more attractive targets even with Bossk up close, so he's been pretty survivable. Flying Bossk aggressively like that, Mangler cannon isn't as important (lots of R1 or secondary arc shots), so I was thinking one option for Gunner in your list would be to swap out Mangler for it. But if you tend to hang back with Bossk and let Boba do the diving, you probably get more out of Mangler than I do.

I mentioned earlier that was definitely a consideration, I don't know if swapping Outlaw Tech or K4 would be more beneficial. But taking out either or might pigeonhole you to prefer the red/green maneuver over the other to get the modified shot, which might make you more predictable. Also I'm kind of gutsy with Boba, diving in at swarms at R1 and glitterstim seems to be the only way I don't get him killed by the second turn lol

Do you generally have Boba dive in and Bossk hang back? Makes sense giving them a close, tough target or a farther, less defensive one.

I've been flying Bossk + Palob + N'Dru and diving in with Bossk, then swinging around with Daredevil. Usually Palob or N'Dru are more attractive targets even with Bossk up close, so he's been pretty survivable. Flying Bossk aggressively like that, Mangler cannon isn't as important (lots of R1 or secondary arc shots), so I was thinking one option for Gunner in your list would be to swap out Mangler for it. But if you tend to hang back with Bossk and let Boba do the diving, you probably get more out of Mangler than I do.

Yes. The glaring weakness in the list is Bossk can go down like a ton of bricks under focused fire. I tend to bait my opponent after Boba, and try to use his durability while Bossk stays at R3 with the mangler. Bossk does not like furballs, but Boba thrives in them.

Since I'm more aggressive with Boba than Bossk, I can plan ahead if the opponent decides to go all in on Bossk. With his stop maneuver and surprisingly fast dial+boost I can usually allow Boba to get several free shots while the opponent takes ineffective (R3, through a rock, etc) engagements against Bossk.