Howdy!

I missed my local store tournament and I'm travelling to Cambridge, UK, for theirs in a few weeks. I've decided on running my Ghost build, which is a ton of fun, and runs very similar to tsefardayah's store-winning list (a big thanks to him for the chat we had about running this). Here it is:

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Nothing Left To Fear
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97pts

Biggs Darklighter (29)
X-Wing (25), R2-D2 (4), Integrated Astromech (0)

Kanan Jarrus (53)
VCX-100 (38), Ghost (0), Advanced Sensors (3), Ion Cannon Turret (5), Recon Specialist (3), XXX, Tactical Jammer (1)

“Zeb” Orrelios (18)

The list operates by buffing Bigg's defense with tactical jammer and R2's regen, and nerfing shots on Biggs with Kanan's pilot ability. I've tried it with autoblaster turret instead, with both AC and FCS, and they both have merits. They fly well with Zeb crew, but leave Biggs and Kanan vulnerable to extra range-1 fire, as Zeb's ability runs both ways.

In light of what's being played a lot at the moment, I think that ion turret offers much more; the only way for autoblaster to compare is pairing it with AC, and doing so puts Kanan's focus generation in jeopardy by removing advanced sensors. Ion poses a serious threat to Miranda, Poe, Dash (double ions ruin his day), Y's, B's, etc etc, while Autoblaster is great against Soontir and the Autothruster gang.

Okay, so here are my potential choices for the final all important crew slot, along with their rationale...

1) Second recon specialist: a great choice, giving Kanan the chance to nerf three guns, or one and to modify both his attacks.

2) Tactician: the logical choice to counteract the weakness against high-agility targets, brought about by dropping Autoblasters. Also offers the chance to double ion, double stress a target in one round, turning the Ghost into a very nice control ship on top of its nasty primary attacks.

3) Chopper: The little curmudgeonly droid is a great option to have when running into stress lists, or when you want to 5K and still keep functionality.

4) Zeb: A 5 attack primary followed by an ion is still nothing to sniff at. 2pts saved boosts the shuttle to Ezra.

So, what's you opinion, forum-dweller? Do I bet on maximising Kanan's pilot ability, splattering my enemy in tiny red triangles of hate, a degree of stress-immunity, or guns-blazing violence???

Also, new suggestions for crew are appreciated. Perhaps Kyle Katarn would be a good bet, being a middle-ground between stress-immunity and focus generation?

If you not afraid of Stress, Jan Ors, Gives big evade, Kannan evade +focus, so you can mitigate 2damage if you get shot only once. But as you have Biggs probably don't need Jan.

You can try dash, i like him on Ghost, you then are not afraid of asteroids and because you have biggs, you don't need to focus that round. Oh just realised you have Advanced Sensors, then i would go Dash. Get double focus and can turn on asteroid, without losing attacks.

I like Hera, but for Kanan i think, he does not want to be stressed

rec spec or ezra, depending if you think you'll be stressed often or not.

btw I lived in Cambridge for several years. I miss the little charming town.

Agreed, stress is the big threat to this list. Without it, I like its chances, even in the new alpha-strike meta. The dash idea is an interesting one! I'll give it a run tomorrow night and see how it flies, thanks.

rec spec or ezra, depending if you think you'll be stressed often or not.

btw I lived in Cambridge for several years. I miss the little charming town.

I like Ezra, but he seems inferior to Kyle Katarn - assuming you've been hit with some streehog action, shedding one stress gives you a focus, which you can use to protect Biggs if he's still up and running. You'll get focus either way, and three on the round you shed your last stress.

In Ezra's favour, he works on both Ghost shots. Hmm...

And yeah, isn't Cambridge lovely? You ever go to the Strawberry Fair?

rec spec or ezra, depending if you think you'll be stressed often or not.

btw I lived in Cambridge for several years. I miss the little charming town.

I like Ezra, but he seems inferior to Kyle Katarn - assuming you've been hit with some streehog action, shedding one stress gives you a focus, which you can use to protect Biggs if he's still up and running. You'll get focus either way, and three on the round you shed your last stress.

In Ezra's favour, he works on both Ghost shots. Hmm...

And yeah, isn't Cambridge lovely? You ever go to the Strawberry Fair?

well Kyle is better as defensive choice, while ezra is the offensive choice. depends on your choice.

I have moved to california and haven't been to cambridge for many years. I did go to the fair once if I recall. I was in college in Cambridge and I tended to hang out there instead

I'm a huge fan of Jan. She can give Biggs an evade (better than a focus with his 2 green die), and when he invariably dies, the ghost gets focus + evade. If you are really concerned about stress though, chopper may be worthwhile. That frees up points to upgrade the shuttle all the way to Sabine.

I too like a bit of Ors! But she doesn't benefit Biggs that much (3 green because of sneaky tactical jammer use) and limits the use of Kanan - I've had a few games where Biggs holds on through the initial engagement, and every time it was due to jammer/kanan nerfs.

So if Biggs doesn't benefit from an evade token over a focus, then the evade is only useful for protecting the Ghost - when of course Biggs should be tanking those attacks. Taking an evade could even be worse for both ships (Biggs loses the off-chance of an offensive focus, while Kanan loses nerfing ability, thus leaving Biggs exposed).