What builds are the most competitive these days to face Jumpmasters, arc doggers, and the whole shebang.

None. A few top 8 cuts and lots of top 16 rebel squads with super dash w/kanan and lothal rebel. they are viable, but need lots of practice to fly properly. u-boats and imp aces are REALLY strong.

U-boats seem to have shaken up the meta a bit. Palp Aces work pretty well vs U-boats so little change there but popular Rebel builds seem to have suffered and it is not clear what will emerge on top after the shake-up. Winning List for last week's Utah Regionals was:

Corran w/ VI, R2-D2, FCS

Wes w/ VI, R3-2A, IA

Biggs w/ R4-D6, IA

You could try copying this list but I think the win was down to the skill of the player as much as the ships. Instead, I think it is more instructive to look at the elements in this list and how they work together.

Corran with R2-D2 is the Ace. He hits hard and can regenerate meaning he stands a good chance of lasting well. If he makes it through to the end game then you have a very good chance of winning as he is hard to fight 1-on-1.

Wes is an awesome control ship. He ability to shave off enemy tokens is vital against ordnance lists. In this list, that ability is enhanced with the addition of a Stressbot. Not only can he mess with a ship this turn, he can also impede it in the following turn as well.

Biggs is the insurance. The T-65 is hardly a stellar ship but Biggs with R4-D6 ensures his buddies stand a good chance of living long enough to mess up the enemy plans. Now you can simply run him as a bullet catcher for your other ships but with skill, you can make him last longer than that. By using positioning, you can control whether or not an opponent can (and hence, must) shoot at him. For example, you don't necessarily want Biggs taking every last hit when Corran can use R2-D2 to recover lost shields and thus can withstand some light shooting without help.

So the 3 elements that seem to give Rebels a chance in the current meta are an Ace (preferably with Regen) who can tangle with the best the enemy has to offer. Corran is one option and Poe is another strong contender. Next up is a control element. Wes can badly mess up enemy ships' ability to act as they want and he is probably the hardest counter to U-boats right now. There are other control options available though. The old Stresshog suffers a little from ordnance but if you go for the PS4 version and have some ablation in the shape of Biggs, it should be able to last long enough to double-stress a couple of targets. Biggs has always been strong and is likely to become even more so as ordnance gets big.

Other options do exist though, you can get a pair of prototype A-wings that can be used as blockers. Blocking is a great skill against any ships that rely on action economy to drive their performance. As large-base ships, U-boats are very vulnerable to these little guys. Historically, Imperial players have been better at this with their cheap and disposable Academy Ties. It is time more Rebel players learned to play the blocking game.

So in summary you need a hammer to hit the enemy, something to interfere with their plans and something to keep your ships alive long enough to win.

The last ingredient in a winning list is the player. Skill comes from practice, not from the list. Some lists are easier to run than others so play as many games as possible and make sure you know your list inside and out. Know what other lists are strong in the meta and try to have strategies to counter them. U-boats have made the Rebellion's life harder but we still have the tools to put together winning lists. It is just those lists may require a little more skill and planning.

I am currently running a version of Nathan Eide's build from worlds last year. It looks like this:

Poe: Lone Wolf, R5-P9, Autothrusters

Corran: VI, Fire Control, R2-D2

Green Squad: Draw their Fire, Char Refit, A-wing Title, Autothrusters, Adaptability

Poe runs all over the map, tracking down the ships the opponent wants to keep safe. With the focus reroll, Lone Wolf reroll, R5 regen and autothrusters he is tough to bring down. Corran is the killer, with FCS and PS10, he just wrecks other aces. The A-wing runs around close to Corran and blocks for him, both offensively and defensively. Additionally, he can take some damage off Corran if anything gets to close. I have to fly well to beat uboats, but my record against Palp Aces is 12-5.

5 Greenies (test pilot, refit, crackshot, adaptability, autothrusters) at 20 points each is very solid and has game against both torpscouts and Palp Aces

it's also very demanding of the player, so don't expect easy wins

otherwise, it's easier just to come your local meta and sees what shows up.

Over here, it's been palp aces and imperial aces out the ass since Wave 7 (empire won literally every single store championship last season: palp aces, palp aces, palp aces, Deathrain!!! + Vader + Omega L aka. "**** palp aces", and finally Crackswarm)

But, surprisingly, not a lot of scouts

which means I can just build to screw over Palp aces and do aokay 90% of the time!

such as with this little guy:

Warden Squadron

*conner nets

*extra munitions

*advanced SLAM

*autoblaster turret/sabine/seismics

[33]

only issue is if you run into torp scouts, then you'll start wishing he was just a prototype pilot