Good morning my friends,

I'll start with a "WOW!". Countess Ryad is incredible! Any non-Imperial player has to respect and be a little intimidated by that ability. I think it is a given that Defenders are going to become the new meta and we will see them everywhere.

There is a great discussion in the Aaaaannnnd Defenders thread regarding her abilities (and that of others) so I'd like to avoid talking about what she can do .. and focus on how we can shut her down.

So, my Rebel / Scum playing friends .. what can we do about this? What strategies or combos can be used to counter this incredible foe?

I'm excited to hear your ideas.

Block the 3 hard. Its just outside the arc of the 2 foward and the 5k, and if she does a 3 hard, she bumps.

Be higher ps then 5 she won't know when to k-turn or not aces will still out fly her. I don't think she will as big as people thing cause of that ps 5 she is rocking. Don't get Mr wrong will be good but not meta changing or game breaking.

Block the 3 hard. Its just outside the arc of the 2 foward and the 5k, and if she does a 3 hard, she bumps.

Assuming you mean '3 straight'? She only gets her ability on straight maneuvers.

And if she's in an x7, she'd still gets the evade token, anyway (it's not an action). Which, of course, still feeds a Juke EPT's attack.

Sure she loses the 'standard' action she'd take, but...not too shabby result for an unplanned bump!

You shouldn't beat nobility there are peasants around for that.

You shouldn't beat nobility there are peasants around for that.

A Baron and a Countess escort the Emperor through remnants Alderaan. This game becomes more cinematic by the day.

You know who else can K-turn all day long? Lothal Rebels with Han, FCS and Hera.

Glittercrack IGB. Focus + Evade? Well, she'd better manage that carefully or she's taking a really nasty hit regardless.

"Hobbie" Kilvan with Targeting Astromech can also join her in the "Everybody do K-turns at PS5!" derby.

You shouldn't beat nobility there are peasants around for that.

A Baron and a Countess escort the Emperor through remnants Alderaan. This game becomes more cinematic by the day.

Actually, soontir killed her...

Wes Janson is coming back in a big way, and I feel the Defender is going to fuel that. VI + BB-8 is usually enough for him to threaten anything important, especially anything that relies on tokens.

Palob Godalhi is a good Scum option to counter the Countess; same PS and can threaten the appeal of the x7 title. Also Defenders can't take Autothrusters, so any Turret on him isn't going to be wasted (my buddy tends to take Opportunist and a Blaster Turret for a pretty painful smack but a TLT is fine too).

Ello to white T-roll out of arc.

Z swarm with Homing Missiles. How'd you like your evade token now, missy?

Proton bombs. Because bombs.

Lt. Blount and Advanced Homing Missiles; hope for a useful crit.

Ion Stresshog. Shut that green K-turning silliness down, pronto.

N'dru, Glittercrack, Cluster Missiles.

You shouldn't beat nobility there are peasants around for that.

A Baron and a Countess escort the Emperor through remnants Alderaan. This game becomes more cinematic by the day.

Actually, soontir killed her...

Lol...

Corran with sensors.

Red dice.

(Have rolled 1-2 Evades total last few times I have played Vessery...)

Block the 3 hard. Its just outside the arc of the 2 foward and the 5k, and if she does a 3 hard, she bumps.

Assuming you mean '3 straight'? She only gets her ability on straight maneuvers.

And if she's in an x7, she'd still gets the evade token, anyway (it's not an action). Which, of course, still feeds a Juke EPT's attack.

Sure she loses the 'standard' action she'd take, but...not too shabby result for an unplanned bump!

You want to be off to the side, like if you were fighting a firesprsy.

Be higher ps then 5 she won't know when to k-turn or not aces will still out fly her. I don't think she will as big as people thing cause of that ps 5 she is rocking. Don't get Mr wrong will be good but not meta changing or game breaking.

As a person that made the cut at the Atlanta regional with a bunch of PS 4s, boy you don't know what you're talking about.

Anything with Intel agent to know what speed to block. If she takes MKII or EU it gets even weirder to try to predict where she's going.

Out PS isn't even the answer because you both have your move locked in before either get positional chances. She can dial hers in, get a token (or 2), and decide to flip her arc wherever she knows you want to fly. Can you dodge 1 arc with only a Boost+BR? Can you dodge 2 arcs? What if those arcs can Boost or BR after flipping 180? Can you do so and keep her in your arc? Even if you manage all that she can be double tokened.

Don't get cornered if she's around. She can pretty well make sure her arc is pointed where you want to go and have the tokens to protect herself if you do have a shot.

Without thinking too hard, my first thought is to not try to out fly or out guess her. Just get Dash with the out rider title and HLC. Fly to the center of the board and shot with your favorite EPT/crew for dice modification.

Nothing :-p

The imperial will rule the skies again........

That aside, all ships live and die based on what is coming against them. Combine fire, also seeing its a small ship, Ion and tracker beams are going to stop the ship hard.

As an imperial player, I wouldn't mind using a swarm tactics on a nearby Rexlar.

However, defenders are gonna be one of the first things to be fired upon. Focus firing with a mod will be very helpful. But with the Tie/X7, that could get a bit trickier. A list that can do great damage can tear one up, if you've got a shot in. A high PS will help you in this situation, but don't underestimate countess' PS.

Good luck on crushing those defenders!

Well for rebels,

Ion cannons, since Ryad's ability pretty much laughs at the stress hog.

Wedge is a natural enemy of Defenders, with his pilot ability, and high PS.

Arvel Crynrd, although he would be difficult to pull off, but not impossible.

The Ghost i'm sure.

Scum...

probably u-boats. Definitely Zuckuss. Maybe Bossk/Kath Scarlet/Boba fett.

easy

Wes Janson is coming back in a big way, and I feel the Defender is going to fuel that. VI + BB-8 is usually enough for him to threaten anything important, especially anything that relies on tokens.

Palob Godalhi is a good Scum option to counter the Countess; same PS and can threaten the appeal of the x7 title. Also Defenders can't take Autothrusters, so any Turret on him isn't going to be wasted (my buddy tends to take Opportunist and a Blaster Turret for a pretty painful smack but a TLT is fine too).

Both very good observations. I like it!

Proton bombs. Because bombs.

Amen.

No, seriously, bombs are going to wreck their day; make them think twice about that K-turn. I think Conner Nets will be especially good because the ions prevent them from stacking tokens for two turns in a row (lose the focus action when they run over the nets, then lose the evade token when they performs straight 1's from the ion.

EDIT: Proton Bombs are a little trickier because they can barrel roll after the K-turn, so unless you've laid it just right, they'll dodge it.

It has been two years but do I bring back the Blue B's with Auto-blaster Cannon? Eat that Palp... Modify if you want I don't care.