I'm guessing this is either a really bad idea, or no one else plays around with ion either.

I have seen a list similar to yours. It has 3 b-wings w/ion cannon and a stresshog y-wing.

Ions are powerful. Stress is annoying. Together its.....powerfully annoying!

The biggest problem is always getting enough damage in. B-wings and Y-wings can also have their bad matchups, so there's that aspect too (swarms for example are difficult, since they do plenty of damage but are harder to 'control' due to their numbers)

So basically, you will probably do quite well against 2/3 ship builds, have a fight on your hands against 4/5 ships and 6+ are likely to be a very uphill battle for you...

My rebel 'control' list atm is:

2 blue squad pilots with ion cannons = 25 x 2

2 blue novice pilots (not confusing at all) w/ R2 Astros and integrated astro = 25 x 2

100

The b-wings are slow but nasty with their ionization while the T-70s offer solid firepower and some speed to block or catch anything the b-wings would otherwise struggle against. When up against swarms, I haven't 'over-committed' into control elements, so I feel confident that my firepower + relative durability gives me a reasonable chance at victory...

I used my ion/stress build in 3 store championships this season.

Mesa, ~52 players, came in 8th, made the cut, lost to Phil Booth (top 4 worlds). 4-1 pre-cut

Tucson ~32 players, came in 5th, missed the cut at 3-1. (Phil Booth ended up winning that one)

East Mesa ~54 players, came in 11th at 3-2. Lost in the final round to a list I had never practiced against and am sure I'd beat if I had to do it again. Didn't set a dial and left it the same as the previous round on the stress hog.

Here is the list I ran, similar to the list I ran last year in the regionals (4-2, 18th place / Mesa and 5-1 10th place San Diego)

Y-Wing Stresshog, TLT, R3-A2, Title

Rebel Operative, Ion Cannon

Rebel Operative, Ion Cannon

Y-Wing, Autoblaster turret

Z-95

Last year's version was

Y-Wing, stresshog, Ion Cannon, R3-A2, Title

3x Rebel Operative with Ion Cannon

Z-95

I also played the first list and won a local tournament in November.

I played a Wedge with VI and BB8, Stresshog, 2x Rebel Operative with ICT in a local tournament. Went 3-1, but play testing showed it too vulnerable to TLTs.

I have really enjoyed the control lists and can win enough games with them to be in the running, but I find the MOV is hard as you always lose ships and have only ever pulled a 100-0 win two times in all of those tournaments together. It means I have a lot of records good enough for cuts, but I have been the bottom 5-1 etc a couple times, too.

Daniel

I played a take on Heaver's World Champion list with success......

Poe

-VI

-R5-P9

-Autothrusters

Gold Squadron Y-Wing

-Ion Cannon Turret

-R3-A2

Gold Squadron Y-Wing

-TLT

-Bomb Loadout

-Ion Bombs

Z-95 Bandit

Quick update. Played 3 'casual' games with 3 different variants on the Ion/Stress Control list here and went undefeated last night. It's so effective, it's kinda cruel!

I'm just curious - but neither ion or stress stops a ship from shooting, so it would seem a turret heavy list like a fat Han, decimater etc would pretty much laugh at this. If your shooting it, he's shooting back. And things like Luke or other abilities don't care about either of these.

I mean yea I'm not moving or acting as much as I can - but in the end the game comes down to the red dice. And if You're taking return fire from turrets ... Seems kind of moot.

I can see the value against an ace list or something that needs arc, but those generally have good defences and can dodge or avoid the ion, and many work well when stressed. (Like soontir getting focus when stressed)

Seems to me, this is a one trick pony In a single basket with all the eggs. Personal opinion but I don't see the real advantage to a gimmick like this. Might work once - but a good opponent would identify the shtick and counter it pretty quick.

I'm just curious - but neither ion or stress stops a ship from shooting, so it would seem a turret heavy list like a fat Han, decimater etc would pretty much laugh at this. If your shooting it, he's shooting back. And things like Luke or other abilities don't care about either of these.

I mean yea I'm not moving or acting as much as I can - but in the end the game comes down to the red dice. And if You're taking return fire from turrets ... Seems kind of moot.

I can see the value against an ace list or something that needs arc, but those generally have good defences and can dodge or avoid the ion, and many work well when stressed. (Like soontir getting focus when stressed)

Ion and stress annihilate action economy and make my opponent so predictable that it's a certainty that I line up shots while rotating out my own damaged ships. Han + Luke certainly didn't care as much, but it made his red dice less effective (i.e. no focus) and he couldn't take an evade action (making the falcon title useless). So yes, while Fat Han can still dish out moderate punishment, he's a bit declawed and his defenses are severely stripped.

Seems to me, this is a one trick pony In a single basket with all the eggs. Personal opinion but I don't see the real advantage to a gimmick like this. Might work once - but a good opponent would identify the shtick and counter it pretty quick.

Obviously nothing is keeping the B-Wings from using their primary weapon and they're incredible dog fighters with advanced sensors. So once a ship is hit with ion, they're fodder for 6-8 focus/TL red dice right afterwards, not to mention a TLT + Title Y-Wing is putting out 2 consistent hits every round. These lists actually had a surprising amount of bite. In any case, I've already proven its versatility with a perfect record last night against a decent variety of Rebel lists.

I'm actually kinda glad not a lot of people are able to use ion cannons effectively (or don't see the merit in them). There was a time (albeit brief) near the tail-end of wave 3 when people were starting realize how amazing that kind of control was ('Panic Attack' being the most well-known list to come out of that period). In a way, it became a boring fight as the player with the ions just zapped the opposition, got behind them and then tore their list a part without breaking a sweat...

Wave 4 changed things up quickly though, and then by Wave 5, it was all 2 ship lists trying to counter the deluge of Whispers, decimators, Han Solos and Rendars, and ion cannons were all but forgotten.

TIE/D is going to change that. The terror of the ion cannon will return and I fully expect rebel lists to get hit the hardest (3 ship lists in particular will for the most part be poorly equipped to do well against them...)

Fair enough. But you also said the falcon did himself in by hitting an asteroid and then bumping into things rest of the game. So while you did take advantage of the situation like a Bawz - he kind of beat himself.

I've played against an ion list before -(3 ion cannons on 3 ships) and was not really impressed with it and won easily. So I suppose it all depends on each individual list and the person flying..

That said if your list works well for you - then awsome. This game is pretty much about figuring out what your best ships/list is and flying it well to win. If this list does it for you then congrats.