Technically, the rules describe discarding a card as flipping it face down, since you need to keep the card around for scoring purposes. So the way Tomax is worded makes sense with that in mind: you discard the card by flipping it face down, then Tomax's ability flips it face up, thus "un"discarding it.

Given that the most recent FAQs changed the way discarding is described (presumably to account for Dual Cards) I suspect Tomax's wording will change (either in the box, or by errata) to account for that.

It's obvious what the intent is, but I think the exact wording doesn't match the rules any more.

There is no FAQ change concerning discarding.

Sorry, the Tournament Rules

Yeah they changed the rule for discarding right after previewing Tomax. So now we will get q pilot that can't actually do what he's supposed to do...again.

The problem is that there's no existing procedure for un-discarding or re-equipping cards. So either the card has to refer to a process no one knows how to do, or it has to literally tell you to do the opposite of what happens when you discard a card. That worked fine, until the tournament rules "clarified" discarding.

I don;t know why people want Shuttle Tomax to work so much. He's just not worth it. He's designed for Crack Shot.

Because low PS support shuttles are "terribad", unless your entire list is low PS?

And because he is insane with Cool Hand and Fleet Officer?

A PS 8 Support Bomber with 6 Hull, 2 AGI, Focus and Evade. It will not die easily and even prevents the normal Gunner/Pred/FCS shenanigans as it will often just take 1 damage.

I've always looked at Tomax as being the best ordnance carrier in the game. I hadn't really thought about Cool Hand with him as a Tie Shuttle. In fact, I had to go look up what the heck Cool Hand even did. That's actually not too bad a set up.

I still hate to see him used for something other than ordnance, but glad the variety is there.

Why wasn't the Bomber painted red in Imp Vets? Tomax, hello?!

Also, Tomax is perfect for bombing and shuttling, so nice to see pilots with multiple builds.

I've always looked at Tomax as being the best ordnance carrier in the game.

How would you kit him out? Crack Shot, EM and GC are almost a given, but what else? With Redline's loadout of Plasma/Proton and Clusters he's only four points cheaper than his Punisher counterpart, and that's without the shields and the infinite re-roll.

The problem is that there's no existing procedure for un-discarding or re-equipping cards. So either the card has to refer to a process no one knows how to do, or it has to literally tell you to do the opposite of what happens when you discard a card. That worked fine, until the tournament rules "clarified" discarding.

HOwever, it would be very easy to phrase him appropriately:

Once per round after you discard an EPT upgrade, return it to play.

No need to write 'flip it face up' or 'take it out from under your ship card' or whatever, and it's clear what it means. And you don't have to account for how different players handle discarding, or how you handle dual cards, or card which exhaust, or cards which you tear up and throw over the board like confetti or whatever. You just... return it to play.

I've always looked at Tomax as being the best ordnance carrier in the game.

How would you kit him out? Crack Shot, EM and GC are almost a given, but what else? With Redline's loadout of Plasma/Proton and Clusters he's only four points cheaper than his Punisher counterpart, and that's without the shields and the infinite re-roll.

Proton/Cluster/EM, personally. He's expensive, but then, he should be. Maaybe drop EM. Aim to get a proton off, then a double crack shotted Cluster, then die gloriously.

I've always looked at Tomax as being the best ordnance carrier in the game.

How would you kit him out? Crack Shot, EM and GC are almost a given, but what else? With Redline's loadout of Plasma/Proton and Clusters he's only four points cheaper than his Punisher counterpart, and that's without the shields and the infinite re-roll.

Good Question! This gets me thinking....

Proton/Cluster/EM, personally. He's expensive, but then, he should be. Maaybe drop EM. Aim to get a proton off, then a double crack shotted Cluster, then die gloriously.

If you load him up too much, then he's just not going to get all his shots off. I think not long after he comes out that he will become Target #1 for most people. I've flown Tie Bombers and they can die with a little concentrated fire. They attract Crits like jawas to a scrap heap. I think there is temptation to load him with good stuff, but I think it's something to be avoided.

People will forget that Crack Shot works on just a Tie Bomber's main guns, as well. I think if he fires off his ordnance, he can still be pretty effective in wearing down the enemy with Crack Shot. Or, if you are going with Cluster Missiles in case they go to R1, then just fire with main guns and use Crack Shot.

I think I would give him Extra Munitions, Guidance Chip,....and just Homing Missiles. Go with either Proton Torpedo if you need that one point. He gets the 2 shots that are really worth it and still gets to fire his main guns afterwards and be effective. If he fires both his missiles without dying, he will drop in the priority list of targets for your opponent. That helps him out quite a bit for still being effective and using his Crack Shot. If he dies early, he still didn't cost as much as if you loaded him up with explosives.

I've always looked at Tomax as being the best ordnance carrier in the game.

How would you kit him out? Crack Shot, EM and GC are almost a given, but what else? With Redline's loadout of Plasma/Proton and Clusters he's only four points cheaper than his Punisher counterpart, and that's without the shields and the infinite re-roll.

Good Question! This gets me thinking....

Proton/Cluster/EM, personally. He's expensive, but then, he should be. Maaybe drop EM. Aim to get a proton off, then a double crack shotted Cluster, then die gloriously.

If you load him up too much, then he's just not going to get all his shots off. I think not long after he comes out that he will become Target #1 for most people. I've flown Tie Bombers and they can die with a little concentrated fire. They attract Crits like jawas to a scrap heap. I think there is temptation to load him with good stuff, but I think it's something to be avoided.

People will forget that Crack Shot works on just a Tie Bomber's main guns, as well. I think if he fires off his ordnance, he can still be pretty effective in wearing down the enemy with Crack Shot. Or, if you are going with Cluster Missiles in case they go to R1, then just fire with main guns and use Crack Shot.

I think I would give him Extra Munitions, Guidance Chip,....and just Homing Missiles. Go with either Proton Torpedo if you need that one point. He gets the 2 shots that are really worth it and still gets to fire his main guns afterwards and be effective. If he fires both his missiles without dying, he will drop in the priority list of targets for your opponent. That helps him out quite a bit for still being effective and using his Crack Shot. If he dies early, he still didn't cost as much as if you loaded him up with explosives.

Yeah, I agree Clusters might be overkill given that he gets a single shot in range 1 with 3 dice anyway. But the ability to crack shot twice in a round is just SO nice.

http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Galactic%20Empire&d=v4!s!190:140,1,126,-1,-1,-1:-1:25:&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron

Is as high as I would go, pts wise; for him in that role.

The Crack Shot would be helpful to push the Crits through.

http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Galactic%20Empire&d=v4!s!190:140,1,126,-1,-1,-1:-1:25:&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron

Is as high as I would go, pts wise; for him in that role.

The Crack Shot would be helpful to push the Crits through.

Proton Rocket? Really? I don't get it.

For one more point, you can get three better options. Why not spend one more point?

The problem is that there's no existing procedure for un-discarding or re-equipping cards. So either the card has to refer to a process no one knows how to do, or it has to literally tell you to do the opposite of what happens when you discard a card. That worked fine, until the tournament rules "clarified" discarding.

HOwever, it would be very easy to phrase him appropriately:

Once per round after you discard an EPT upgrade, return it to play.

No need to write 'flip it face up' or 'take it out from under your ship card' or whatever, and it's clear what it means. And you don't have to account for how different players handle discarding, or how you handle dual cards, or card which exhaust, or cards which you tear up and throw over the board like confetti or whatever. You just... return it to play.

But "return it to play" has some risks, too. The section on discarding upgrades takes a whole paragraph to explain exactly what it means, and goes out of its way to explain that a discarded upgrade card is not out of play for all purposes. And we also don't have a clear definition of what "removed from play" or "out of play" actually mean...

I've always looked at Tomax as being the best ordnance carrier in the game.

How would you kit him out? Crack Shot, EM and GC are almost a given, but what else? With Redline's loadout of Plasma/Proton and Clusters he's only four points cheaper than his Punisher counterpart, and that's without the shields and the infinite re-roll.

Proton/Cluster/EM, personally. He's expensive, but then, he should be. Maaybe drop EM. Aim to get a proton off, then a double crack shotted Cluster, then die gloriously.

Proton/Cluster is my favorite loadout for Bombers. It's a bit on the expensive side, but it ensures that your entire initial engagement range is "live": a smart opponent can't time their ships

approach in such a way as to dodge the range of your ordnance.

http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Galactic%20Empire&d=v4!s!190:140,1,126,-1,-1,-1:-1:25:&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron

Is as high as I would go, pts wise; for him in that role.

The Crack Shot would be helpful to push the Crits through.

Proton Rocket? Really? I don't get it.

For one more point, you can get three better options. Why not spend one more point?

Edited, should be torps ofc.

Yeah, I agree Clusters might be overkill given that he gets a single shot in range 1 with 3 dice anyway. But the ability to crack shot twice in a round is just SO nice.

He can't Crack Shot twice in one round. Only once:

Proton/Cluster is my favorite loadout for Bombers. It's a bit on the expensive side, but it ensures that your entire initial engagement range is "live": a smart opponent can't time their ships

approach in such a way as to dodge the range of your ordnance.

I like him having both sets of missiles, but I really think it will be too much. People will want to kill this guy and the more you pile on, the worse it gets. I think Crack Shot with his main guns will be enough. Either that or Barrel Roll away from arcs for those that he can (lower PS). I think people will start using both, but will eventually drop the Clusters after they see how fast he gets taken down.

Then again, if you can build a list you like with him having both, why not?

Yeah, I agree Clusters might be overkill given that he gets a single shot in range 1 with 3 dice anyway. But the ability to crack shot twice in a round is just SO nice.

He can't Crack Shot twice in one round. Only once:

SO he could use it on both shots of Cluster Missiles and discard it for good.

And I think that would be an excellent use of his ability, given how few shots you expect Bombers to get anyway.

http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Galactic%20Empire&d=v4!s!190:140,1,126,-1,-1,-1:-1:25:&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron

Is as high as I would go, pts wise; for him in that role.

The Crack Shot would be helpful to push the Crits through.

Proton Rocket? Really? I don't get it.

For one more point, you can get three better options. Why not spend one more point?

For zero more points, you get a torpedo with the same amount of dice, that works are R2-3 and occasionally strips a shield as well. That's a decent trade for a slightly worse R1 attack.

http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Galactic%20Empire&d=v4!s!190:140,1,126,-1,-1,-1:-1:25:&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron

Is as high as I would go, pts wise; for him in that role.

The Crack Shot would be helpful to push the Crits through.

Proton Rocket? Really? I don't get it.

For one more point, you can get three better options. Why not spend one more point?

For zero more points, you get a torpedo with the same amount of dice, that works are R2-3 and occasionally strips a shield as well. That's a decent trade for a slightly worse R1 attack.

The linked build has Proton Torpedoes not Proton Rockets.

Once per round after you discard an EPT upgrade, return it to play.

No need to write 'flip it face up' or 'take it out from under your ship card' or whatever, and it's clear what it means. And you don't have to account for how different players handle discarding, or how you handle dual cards, or card which exhaust, or cards which you tear up and throw over the board like confetti or whatever. You just... return it to play.

But "return it to play" has some risks, too. The section on discarding upgrades takes a whole paragraph to explain exactly what it means, and goes out of its way to explain that a discarded upgrade card is not out of play for all purposes. And we also don't have a clear definition of what "removed from play" or "out of play" actually mean...

How about "Once per round, when instructed to discard an EPT upgrade, ignore that instruction."

Once per round after you discard an EPT upgrade, return it to play.

No need to write 'flip it face up' or 'take it out from under your ship card' or whatever, and it's clear what it means. And you don't have to account for how different players handle discarding, or how you handle dual cards, or card which exhaust, or cards which you tear up and throw over the board like confetti or whatever. You just... return it to play.

But "return it to play" has some risks, too. The section on discarding upgrades takes a whole paragraph to explain exactly what it means, and goes out of its way to explain that a discarded upgrade card is not out of play for all purposes. And we also don't have a clear definition of what "removed from play" or "out of play" actually mean...

How about "Once per round, when instructed to discard an EPT upgrade, do not discard that card."

Is there any reason Tomax couldn't use crack shot twice on the same attack?

http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Galactic%20Empire&d=v4!s!190:140,1,126,-1,-1,-1:-1:25:&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron

Is as high as I would go, pts wise; for him in that role.

The Crack Shot would be helpful to push the Crits through.

Proton Rocket? Really? I don't get it.

For one more point, you can get three better options. Why not spend one more point?

For zero more points, you get a torpedo with the same amount of dice, that works are R2-3 and occasionally strips a shield as well. That's a decent trade for a slightly worse R1 attack.

The linked build has Proton Torpedoes not Proton Rockets.

Tomax Bren (24)

Crack Shot (1)

Proton Torpedoes (4)

Extra Munitions (2)

Guidance Chips (0)

Total: 31

Or drop the Proton Torpedo and spend 1 more point for Homing Missiles; you get your TL to modify in addition to guidance chips and ignore evade tokens (hello Soontir...)

Is there any reason Tomax couldn't use crack shot twice on the same attack?

You could, but you'd lose it on the second usage, since his ability only prevents the loss once per round.

Er, misread. On the same attack, as in "I'm using my primary, and I'm going to use crackshot X times to cancel all X of your (evade) results"? Then no because it falls under the once per opportunity rule for abilities.

If you were using Cluster Missiles, or something else that lets you perform two attacks, you could use Crackshot on the second attack in addition to the first, but as I said in my initial response you'd lose it on the second use in that scenario.

Is there any reason Tomax couldn't use crack shot twice on the same attack?

You can only trigger an effect once per opportunity in X-Wing. Each attack counts as a separate opportunity.

Once per round after you discard an EPT upgrade, return it to play.

No need to write 'flip it face up' or 'take it out from under your ship card' or whatever, and it's clear what it means. And you don't have to account for how different players handle discarding, or how you handle dual cards, or card which exhaust, or cards which you tear up and throw over the board like confetti or whatever. You just... return it to play.

But "return it to play" has some risks, too. The section on discarding upgrades takes a whole paragraph to explain exactly what it means, and goes out of its way to explain that a discarded upgrade card is not out of play for all purposes. And we also don't have a clear definition of what "removed from play" or "out of play" actually mean...

How about "Once per round, when instructed to discard an EPT upgrade, ignore that instruction."

If there is something in the pipeline that triggers when you discard a card, changing the wording in that manner would cause it to work differently than originally written.

"Once per round, when instructed to discard an EPT upgrade, do not discard that card."