I've really been itching to get my TIE/x1s on the table again soon, they're just so snazzy and classic SW and there's some amusing abilities there (along with the new toys the Raider brought em'!). And there's no denying that Darth Vader is hands down one of the best pilots you can put on the table and is more than worth his points.

But what about everyone else? I've used Maarek Stele some and been pleased with his performance, but I feel like I'm "stuck" on his build when it comes to the other named pilots (save Colzet): TIE/x1, ATC, Predator. Solid, functional, hits like a ton of bricks.

Should I just stick with this when flying the likes of Juno, Alozen, or Strom? Any other way to build those three out (or even Maarek) that's fun n' viable? I'd love to see ol' Alozen rocking his free TL+ATC in one of my squads...

I use Maarek and Juno all the time with x1, ATC, PTL and TIEmk2.

Even though Maarek's ability isn't all that great. I still play him because it's Maarek.

I was looking forward to Defender Maarek, but the way the titles are worded, the Defender version is actually worse at getting good use from his ability.

Juno with VI is in incredible, she can dance her way around any ship on the table and dish out crits with ATC to brutal effect with how easy it is for her to get range one.

I use Maarek and Juno all the time with x1, ATC, PTL and TIEmk2.

Even though Maarek's ability isn't all that great. I still play him because it's Maarek.

I was looking forward to Defender Maarek, but the way the titles are worded, the Defender version is actually worse at getting good use from his ability.

Defender Maarek won't run with the titles, he'll have a Mangler and do just fine.

I got second at a store championship with Juno. She's amazing, and what's great is that people often ignore her for Vader, which gets her to the end game which makes her ability quite impressive.

I've run all of the Advanced pilots and they are all good. Alozen is probably the most forgotten one, but his ability is really quite good with ATC. The best thing about the Advanced is that it's quite cheap for what you get.

Even though Maarek's ability isn't all that great.

Are you kidding me? Maarek's ability is amazing when he can reliably crit. The ability to fish for things like blinded pilot, damaged cockpit, and direct hit is impressive. I've taken out a Y-wing with him rolling hit, crit, and then ATC crit, and selecting two direct hits.

Defender Maarek won't run with the titles, he'll have a Mangler and do just fine.

The Defender titles are going to be too good I think to not take them. Three attack dice ships roll crits more naturally anyway, so I think /x7 and Juke will be the go-to there.

I disagree. Defenders with HLC or Maarek with Mangler will be fun to use. Top tier, no. But fun and usable.

Juno with VI, title, ATC and engine upgrade is a great arc dodger, capable of making it into a Palp Aces build

Mareek with predator, title and ATC can be fun.

I did enjoy Maarek with Lone Wolf one time.

Juno with VI and an initiative bid can gain positional advantages over any pilot short of Vader or Han. PS8 Juno is also a deceptively good blocker against enemy aces, as she can perform all the 1 speed maneuvers.

Marek's pilot ability is scary against aces and fat ships, as you can selectively shut them down with strong critical hit effects. The mid-range PS works in his favor, since other elite pilots can shoot first and remove some shield tokens.

Alozen is a pretty decent pocket ace who rewards good flying and can help you zone out sections of the board. If you play your cards right, you can take defensive and maneuvering actions instead of generating a target lock for your ATC.

The PS2 generic is one of the more efficient and effective jousters in the game. I'm surprised I don't see this ship more often as a filler - the accuracy corrector gives it reliable firepower, as well as freeing it up to take evade and barrel roll actions.

And then there's the best starpilot in the galaxy... Darth Vader. The issue here is that almost any time you would use a TIE Advanced in a list, you would be better off using Darth Vader. He's cheap enough that it's not too difficult to fit him in instead of Marrek Steele or Juno. I ran Juno and Marrek a lot during the latter half of the 2015 tournament season, and I gradually ended up phasing them out in favor of Vader. He just does the same job better.

That said: I think lists with two or three TIE Advances are viable, and worth looking into. I think they get dismissed because of their vulnerability to TLT spam, but you might be surprised by the raw damage output that 3 or 4 ships with ATC can deal out. It's feasible to kill a Y-Wing during the first round of shooting.

My current list is Vader and Juno both with VI and ATC, then an Academy, an obsidian and Wampa all bare bones. Took second at my last Championship with that.

It's Soontir effect all over again.

I could take Turr... Or just take Fel.

I could take Jax... Or just take Fel.

I could go for Cowall (snicker)... Or just take Fel (or anyone else).

I could squeeze in a RGP... Or just free up points for Fel.

Vader and Fel are just that good. They don't need to cost more or any of those crazy ideas, but every other pilot has to be compared to them and no the rest of the game for value. Dash creates a similar situation. So does Jake for a-wings. They are the best in the game at their Role so 1-5 points is really not much to pay to upgrade to them.

I REALLY want to make Juno special. But, as awesome as she is, Vader does the exact thing better.

i personally find juno's dial easily makes up for her not being vader, but i like to run her with yorr to take her stress from ptl

If you're looking for any other x1 pilot and not just the 3 you mentioned...take Colzet with FCS + Palp + Wampa and laugh like a maniac when you finally manage to land a Blinded pilot against someone (perma Blinded Pilot until you deal more than one face down card, it's evil).

You're forgetting Strom and his trolling... dude is fantastic.

Throw in SJ and Predator and you've got a real mess on your hands (Juke doesn't hurt either).

Comradebot, I know you are looking at the standard 100 point game, but I have to say how awesome TIE x/1s with Opportunist are in epic play. 3 attack dice + crit at range 3? 4 attack dice + crit at range 1!? I'll take three of them! I have Maarek Stele, Zertik Strom, and Commander Alozen all with Opportunist with Advanced Targeting Computer and they absolutely shred huge ships because huge ships never have focus or evade tokens. I run them with "Howrlunner" for a reroll, and Colonel Jendon with ST-321 and Palpatine to pass a lock to one of the TIE advanced. I also have the Suppressor TIE carrier with Grand Moff Tarkin to help strip tokens and enable Opportunist to go off. Loads of fun!

But for standard play I think you could pull something like this off. Maybe Zertik Strom with Opportunist, and have some higher-PS TIE/fo's with Juke+Comm Relay to encourage the target to spend it's tokens on defense. If you do it right you can even squeeze "Howlrunner" in there to help Strom with his rolls. But it's all a lot of work to pull off what Predator basically already does. And Predator is better because self-stressing a TIE advanced in this meta is a bad call, I think. Just doing my part to help with this brainstorming effort.

Problem is two fold:

1) jousters are out of fashion right now

2) AC thrives in environments where you have mid/low agility jousters in the table.

Which is to say, the generics love jousting against jousters, and TLTs are chasing them away and encouraging the other ships to be high agility... Or another TLT.

They actually do pretty OK against TLTs, it should be noted.

As for the aces - if you're paying the points, you have to think carefully on why you're not paying a few more of them to field Vader instead.

Yeah, we have the same problem in our meta. You never see any pilot besides VI, ATC Vadar, which is a shame given how many other good builds there are for the advanced. Personally I love pairing Accuracy Corrector with Juke. It's just a shame the PS4 advanced doesn't have an EPT slot to abuse that combo. This is a list I ran in our local league the other night:

35 Vadar w/ Juke, ClusterM, X1, AccCor.

28 Zetrik w/ Juke, X1, AccCor.

25 Zeta Leader w/ Juke, Comms.

12 Academy.

0 Initiative.

Both advanced in this list are beasts damage-wise, and you almost always have tokens for defence. Cluster missiles with Accuracy Corrector and Juke are just brutally good, and will only get better once guidance chips comes out. I think I'll have to give this list a go when guidance chips comes out:

35 Vadar w/ Juke, ClusterM, X1, AccCor, guidance.

31 Alozen w/ Juke, ClusterM, X1, AccCor, guidance.

22 Omega w/ Juke, Comms.

12 Academy.

0 Initiative.

In my mind it's the better version of the previous list, although Zetrik is great.

I got second at a store championship with Juno. She's amazing, and what's great is that people often ignore her for Vader, which gets her to the end game which makes her ability quite impressive.

I've run all of the Advanced pilots and they are all good. Alozen is probably the most forgotten one, but his ability is really quite good with ATC. The best thing about the Advanced is that it's quite cheap for what you get.

Even though Maarek's ability isn't all that great.

Are you kidding me? Maarek's ability is amazing when he can reliably crit. The ability to fish for things like blinded pilot, damaged cockpit, and direct hit is impressive. I've taken out a Y-wing with him rolling hit, crit, and then ATC crit, and selecting two direct hits.

Defender Maarek won't run with the titles, he'll have a Mangler and do just fine.

The Defender titles are going to be too good I think to not take them. Three attack dice ships roll crits more naturally anyway, so I think /x7 and Juke will be the go-to there.

Maarek wants an Advanced Homing Missile as well.

​He doesn't particularly care whether he crits, just the status of the cards he deals

Try some of the generics with Accuracy some time. Its a great deal of fun, excepting only vs Aces.

Defender Maarek won't run with the titles, he'll have a Mangler and do just fine.

Without the titles though, Advanced Maarek is actually the better ship.

Try some of the generics with Accuracy some time. Its a great deal of fun, excepting only vs Aces.

Are yes these are also great, set to become even better with guidance:

100 (4x) Tempest w/ ClusterM, Guidance, X1, AccCor.

Make agility 0-1 ships sad-face.

TIE Advanced: · Zertik Strom (26)

Crack Shot (1)

TIE/x1 (0)

Sensor Jammer (0)

TIE Interceptor: · Carnor Jax (26)

Veteran Instincts (1)

Autothrusters (2)

Royal Guard TIE (0)

TIE/fo Fighter: Omega Squadron Pilot (17)

Juke (2)

Comm Relay (3)

TIE/fo Fighter: Omega Squadron Pilot (17)

Juke (2)

Comm Relay (3)

I did enjoy Maarek with Lone Wolf one time.

Dude children visit these forums keep that to yourself.

I used to play Alozen a lot (typically with ATC and Crack Shot), but lately Omega Ace has replaced him in most of my lists. Similarly, the FO-Fighter Aces has mostly replaced the generic Advanceds, with Wired Zeta Ace costing the same as an AC Tempest. Baron of the Empire and Valen Rudor will likely bring even more competition to this space.

Colzet....wampa....palpatine and a cold drink.

Super fun x wing right there.

I disagree. Defenders with HLC or Maarek with Mangler will be fun to use. Top tier, no. But fun and usable.

Six points more expensive and less fun than the Tractor Beam of throwing stuff around or either of the debuff cannons. HLC and Mangler exist as dull straight up damage buffs. HLC and Mangler TIE defenders are dead: they have nothing on the titled defenders in any department including fun.

Only Maarek could bring Mangler even close to a card you'd ever want on a TIE defender, and you might as well just stick Calculation on him.