Dusted off my Phantoms a couple weeks ago and am enjoying them with agent kallus.

I've had a few games with whisper and while she certainly is still awesome sauce I've been thinking about certian squads and asking myself, do I want initiative or my opponent.

Lately been flying against a lot of fel, and veteran instincts jax, veteran instincts poe etc.

Had a game against fel the other night and I thought I would be smart and I took initiative. Now I'll be cloaked after I shoot at fel.

Problem was had a hard time getting fel in arc so I either didn't know if I'd have a shot, or not.

Which got my thinking next time I should give fel initiative. At least I can move afterwards, still get to shoot and turtle up if need be.

With agent kallus I used him on jax since jax was ps 10 and I thought maybe he be easier to get off the board first. Plus he'll shoot first regardless. (which I did manage)

My question to the expert Phantom players out there is, do you take initiative with whisper against fel, veteran instincts jax (or Vader even) or give to your opponent?

Any particular reason I may have not mentioned?

Is there any one specific squad you would or wouldn't take initiative, for example Han and poe?

EDIT

One game my opponent was using

Fel Ptl,autothrusters, Stealth device, title. Jax, veteran instincts, autothrusters, hull upgrade, yorr, and emperor.

I was using whisper, agent kallus, FCS, Advanced cloak. Delta defender title (that reduces cost) Omnicron emperor

This game I took initiative and after I took jax off the board had a hard time catching fel in arc.

In the end the defender managed to finally take fel out and was last ship standing.

I figured next game I'd give him initiative, but thought would that still be a decent choice?

If I have IA on Whisper and I think I can knife-fight Fel, I give him initiative.

OK.

Then I should ask if you have agent kallus which would you choose?

IA would definitely make it easier

Make Fel move first no matter what your build is. Otherwise you will never see him.

Make Fel move first no matter what your build is. Otherwise You will never see him.

Now what about a fat Han and poe Or Wedge? Would you still give initiative?

If you take you can recloak before one out of two ships can shoot, (so long as you have 1 in arc?) or do you give so you can move after a ship but will now have two shoot before recloak

I've been flying Whisper with Omega Leader + Juke + Comms Relay, so I usually take initiative versus Fel. It's difficult for enemy aces to avoid arcs from both ships at once, and as a result he doesn't last long.

But in a more general context, especially if you're running Kallus, I think it's smart to make Fel move first and then focus fire on him immediately. You can deal with PS10 Carnor Jax in the endgame if you have to, but dealing with Fel is best accomplished using your own aces and as early in the game as possible.

I actually found jax easier to deal with first.

Doesn't have that extra dice, can't turtle up like fel, or reposition like fel.

I figured If I go for fel first and dice are terrible that I'd be in a real hard place fast.

And like any ace and emperor shuttle build I find if you take ship A off the board fast and go for shuttle, it dies extremely easy making fel easier to deal with.

I never give up the initiative, and I'm always shocked when my opponent gives it to me. That being said, I can see the advantages to giving the initiative to Fel making him move before you. I just don't ever think of him as that big a threat honestly.

Depends on the rest of the list but I usually give Fel the initiative, and take it vs Vader.

The reason being that even with Engine, the TIE Advanced is a slow turner compared to that sneaky Hard-1/K-Turn with Focus.

Against VI Juno, I just pray (and that doesn't seem to help much..).

If I am given initiative vs. Fel, I will actively try to block him.

A blocked Baron is a dead Baron.