With tractor beams, Dengar crew, and Boba crew on the horizon, it looks like the 1 strong small ship ace and other lists will be less prominent. Boba also looks to put a nasty wrinkle into fat PWT builds as well. Does this mean that swarms of various sizes will be surging again? Will crackswarms be on all the tables? What about the classic 8 man variety. No upgrades to shoot off, and who cares if one of them gets dropped onto an asteroid.

Not looking for complaints or whining, I’m hoping for theories about how the meta will change once these previewed cards hit the table.

I'm not sure what the meta at large will look like, but I do know that I'm pretty excited to try out Youngster + Rage with 7 Academy TIEs. So that's at least one new possible swarm on the horizon.

Ffg came prepared for the possibility with Sabine + seismic charges

Only extra damage to one, but that's a 2/3rds dead tie you can wipe out with a TLT or another charge the following round

Bombs are great

Swarms have been back.

Swarms never left.

Swarms have been back.

Swarms never left.

The FO and the new TIE Fighters in the Gazanti have brought our attention back to the backbone of the Empire. The TAP will be another addition to the trend. The Swarm has always been a powerful reality for the Empire, but recent additions to X-wing have diverted attention to expensive specialty ships. I'm personally ready to return to what the Empire does best, OVERLOAD! ...and now we have a bunch of new toys to reign swarmy terror on those Rebel scum!

I'm not saying they never left, I myself have flown them a few times, but I was curious if they would go from being "an OK option" to one of the primary lists of the meta.

I'm not saying they never left, I myself have flown them a few times, but I was curious if they would go from being "an OK option" to one of the primary lists of the meta.

The beauty of the meta is that there are no primary lists, it's immensely varied and very well-balanced.

I'm not saying they never left, I myself have flown them a few times, but I was curious if they would go from being "an OK option" to one of the primary lists of the meta.

While always more than "an OK option", they have fallen from popularity. For a few reasons. New ship and new toys to play with... and they can be hard to fly well. More moving parts equals more chances to mess up.

All of the new toys of the Empire as of late have been swarm style ships. FO, new TIE Fighters, and soon the TIE Adv. Prototype. I expect to see these three ships out in bulk. Will the swarm be as popular as Waves 1 - 3? Probably not. But we should see an increase.

I'm not saying they never left, I myself have flown them a few times, but I was curious if they would go from being "an OK option" to one of the primary lists of the meta.

The beauty of the meta is that there are no primary lists, it's immensely varied and very well-balanced.

My most recent, 45 person store championship was won by an expertly flown, 7-ship Tie swarm. I lost to it in the top 4, in a very exciting, very close game. I was flying a Palp Decimator + Vader, and it was a really close game that came down to the last 2 minutes. As far as I can tell, we had a huge variety in our top 8. The meta looks pretty wide open from where I'm standing.

Nothing against the Swarm or those who fly it but it's going to be harder and harder to just spam ships and expect to win. I mean, TIE/D Tractor/Ion Vessery with Ruthlessness plus some Omega Sq backup is going to be fantastic.

That said the Crackshot swarm is still pretty terrifying when you come up against it.

Swarms have been back.

How many store champs are they winning?

Nothing against the Swarm or those who fly it but it's going to be harder and harder to just spam ships and expect to win. I mean, TIE/D Tractor/Ion Vessery with Ruthlessness plus some Omega Sq backup is going to be fantastic.

That said the Crackshot swarm is still pretty terrifying when you come up against it.

Imperial Veterans is still in development, so there will be a nice /D-free window for new and existing swarm players to sharpen their skills before then.

Anyone remember the glorious Vader age after the Raider release but before the rise of TLTs? Swarms will have a similar opportunity.

I don't think Boba Fett crew really hurts small ship aces that much. He has to deal a faceup card through an attack; advanced homing missile aside, by the time you start doing face ups to most small bases(Y and K wings, Punishers and Bombers aside) they're going to be dead pretty shortly after anyway. Much bigger problem for large bases, I'd think. Maybe I'll end up proven wrong though, who knows. Lots of weird stuff coming up.

I've been waiting for Inquisitor with PTL and autothrusters + 3x Zeta squadrons + Zeta Leader with wired. Not a Large swarm, but 5 ships on the board nonetheless.

Black Crack swarms are dominating the meta in Austin.

I watched them come in 1st at two different tourneys just this month.

Swarms will always be less popular in the hardcore tournament scene for a couple of reasons wholly unrelated to their power. 1) the endurance of flying 6-8 for 60-75 minutes for 6+ rounds is grueling physically and mentally.

2) you by nature bleed mov like nothing else and that can hurt placement in bigger tournaments.

A 38 person store championship in Palm Bay, 3 of the top 4 were Palpmobile lists, the other was Dash Corran. Otherwise the field had great variety, but the same lists are purculating to the top right now.

Swarms never left, the shark just evolved

Swarms have been back.

How many store champs are they winning?

45 person Store Championship in Phoenix AZ was just won last weekend by a Tie Swarm.

A 38 person store championship in Palm Bay, 3 of the top 4 were Palpmobile lists, the other was Dash Corran. Otherwise the field had great variety, but the same lists are purculating to the top right now.

boba just picked up a new bounty. . .

Swarms have been back.

How many store champs are they winning?

45 person Store Championship in Phoenix AZ was just won last weekend by a Tie Swarm.

52-person Store Championship in Poznan, Poland was won by TIE Swarm.

42-person SC in Toronto, Canada saw a top 4 finish

Edit: these are SCs from this season

Swarms have been back.

How many store champs are they winning?

45 person Store Championship in Phoenix AZ was just won last weekend by a Tie Swarm.

52-person Store Championship in Poznan, Poland was won by TIE Swarm.

42-person SC in Toronto, Canada saw a top 4 finish

Aside from direct results, I can say that Black Crack-esque lists are definitely something I would want to be prepared for at a major tournament.

TLT

Crack

StressBot/Panic Attack

Double Aces

Are the things I think are impacting the meta the most at this time. Hard to say what the future brings, but I wouldn't be surprised if we move to a more middle of the road/balanced style of list. Like Ace, mid-range Ace, Generics/Utility being more of a standard. A mid-range Ace would mean to me a mid PS Ace like Guri or Dash, etc. who eat low PS but struggle to fight a true Ace.