So I've recently being on a one shot killing spree with a list I cooked up. I've found that my second favourite ship (the B-wing) just isn't a good late game ship. So without further ado, here's an evolution of my big-hitting list that I think you'll find entertaining:

Phase 1:

Keyan Farlander (29)

-Heavy Laser Cannon (7)

-Opportunist (4)

Corran Horn (35)

-R2D2 (4)

-Advanced Sensors (3)

-Push The Limit (3)

Prototype Pilot (17)

-Chaardan Refit (-2)

Total: 100 Pts.

One day it just clicked with me that Keyan Farlander with opportunist is awesome; receive a stress to roll another die, then immediately spend the stress. It's good stuff. What I haven't seen anywhere is the costly addition of HLC, giving Keyan range 1-3 presence, rather than primarily range 1. This version of Keyan has killed Guri in 1 shot, as its benchmark. Corran is there for a double tap alpha strike and end game survival once Keyan goes down. The prototype was purely, only for blocking. Most games it didn't even do damage. What I learned from this list was that - after the first round, where I normally kill a ship (once an IG 2000, including corran's shot) - Keyan dies immediately, and corran becomes hard pressed to carry the day on his own. This list had a good track record of about 6-2, with the losses going to a Whisper and Soontir build each. I also had some problems with triggering Keyan's ability, as a first round action is generally focus, evade or a combination of both.

Phase 2:

Keyan Farlander (29)

-Heavy Laser Cannon (7)

-Opportunist (4)

Biggs Darklighter (25)

-R2 Astromech (1)

-Flechette Torpedoes (2)

-Intergrated Astromech (0)

Horton Salm (25)

-Twin Laser turret (2)

Tota: 99 points

Total:

Biggs meands Keyan survives at least until the mid-game, and the flechettes were added to help against PTL aces. Horton shoots before Keyan and almost always rolls three hits with his ability and TLT, so he strips the tokens, then Keyan goes in for the kill. This list won me a 3 round casual store tournament (only six players), with a margin of victory of over 500, as biggs died in 2 rounds and Keyan in one. Every single round was over at least 30 minutes early. Keyan's still the obvious target here, and is vulnerable to most of the popular ace lists, as well as triple JM5Ks, considering the alpha strike alone will end Biggs.

Phase 3:

Keyan Farlander (29)

-Heavy Laser Cannon (7)

-Opportunist (4)

-Fire Control System (2)

Ten Numb (31)

-Mangler Cannon (1)

-Fire Control System (2)

-Veteran Instincts (1)

-B-Wing/E2 (1)

-Intelligence Agent (1)

Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)

-Assault Missile (5)

-Guidance Chips (0)

Total: 99

This is the current version of the list. The assault missile Z-95 swarm is for softening up any swarm formations and discouraging squadrons from flying close together against the B-wings. It is also a useful blocker against JM5Ks after it releases its missiles.

Ten Numb will kill any ace in the game; one crit tht cannot be cancelled per turn is brutal against high agility aces. PS 10 is very handy against Soontir, Poe, Whisper and any other <10 PS ace. Intelligence agent is a cheap fix against PS 11 aces like vader. Mangler cannon guarantees damage, and FCS gives some action economy for use against jousting squads.

Keyan has been upgraded with FCS to help carry damage through against targets with focus/evade.

Some statistics: against an agility 3 ship without tokens, Keyan will do (assuming he has the enemy target locked) 57/16 damage, which is about 3.55 damage. In other words, a TIE is almost certain to die, and anything else suffers serious damage, only to face an unstressed ship the very next turn.

I'll most likely be taking this to my next store tournament, with a few modifications. Does anybody have suggestions for improvements or why I should switch to something else to support Keyan?

I do like the idea behind it. And a total of 20HP can be difficult to push through with so much damage coming the other way. The only suggestion I would make would be to switch the IA to Jan Ors. With one agility, switching your focus token to am evade token would be awesome for keeping things alive longer. I would put it on Keyan as he will likely be the one who could still get the offensive benefit from his ability.

Another option for keeping Keyan alive might be to put 3P0 on him. A bit expensive at four points (counting E2), but it makes the B-wing a bit less squishy. I actually like your second list a bit more than the current incarnation (at least on paper, I haven't played with either although I'd like to try both at some point). The thing about double B's that fill different roles is that whichever one is a bigger threat to the opposing force is going to die very quickly (Nunb against aces, Keyan against just about anything else). You've already got a decent counter to aces in your second list in the form of TLT Horton.

First and foremost, thanks for replying; I was beginning to think my post had been forgotten.

In response to Raven 19528: I hadn't though about using Jan Ors in this list, although it is an excellent idea. The main purpose of Intelligence agent was to allow Keyan to barrel roll into the way of enemy aces (using the foreknowledge of exactly where they're going), taking their actions away etc. It is a bit costly for 2 points, and I believe Jan Ors will be a better alternative. My original Keyan build when i fist started playing X-wing was:

Keyan Farlander (29)

Push The Limit (3)

B-Wing/E2 (1)

Jan Ors (2)

For an evade, offensive focus and target lock each and every turn. Even without push the limit, Jan Ors is still way better. As another defensive option, what would you think about sensor jammer on Keyan, and reoving the intelligence agent. It still gives me a 1 point initiative bid, but drastically lowers the damage he receives.

In Response to DeathToJarJar: Since C3P0 only gives 1 evade per turn I've found him to be very vulnerable to more than 1 shot. On a falcon with other defensive upgrades he's great, but on a B-wing like Keyan I think Jan might still be better due to the 1 pt lower cost. The second list won a tournament with a MoV of over 500 in 3 rounds, so it was definitely solid. The problem I found was that it was incredibly vulnerable to Soontir Fel and Whisper, who at AGI 4 (and Soontir using autothrusters) they could reliably avoid both Salm and Keyan. The only patch I could think of was swapping out the flechette torpedoes on Biggs for R2-D6 and Veteran Instincts. This would give me a PS 10 pilot who could easily destroy whisper, and have a much easier time with Soonir. I would have done it but I don't have R2-D6 yet.

I'm thinking now that sensor jammer on Keyan is a far better use of points. My only true defeat (defeat with terrible MoV) was against 2 Jumpmasters and Zuckuss. By putting sensor jammer on him he becomes far less of a target and can stay around much longer, as well as opening up shots for opportunst. The only downside is a decrease in firepower due to the lack of Fire Control System, but I think its still worth trying out.

I have flown Keyan with Oppertunist. It works really well. I do advance sensors on Keyan build with opportunist.

It helps him get where he needs to be. It allows him to do actions and bump on purpose if te can to help him survive longer. Helps him barrel roll before hand if he needs to. Helps him do action before he K's in case he needs to. It is just an awesome upgrade on him.

Cool idea, how about this variation?

https://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Rebel%20Alliance&d=v4!s!88:49,36,-1,-1,-1:-1:-1:;48:150,135,164:-1:-1:;82:27,-1,148:-1:20:&sn=Unnamed%20Squadron

Keyan Farlander

Opportunist

Fire Control System

Jan Ors

Wired

Tlt

Hera

Wes Janson

VI

BB-8

Integrated Astro

Wes with VI firing before almost everyone strips the token of your main target ensuring Opportunist can be active.

Jan Ors to Fire a respectable 5 dice or a monstrous 6 at r1, modified.

I like it, but Keyan becomes such a significant target that the opponent will focus on him immediately. Also, you lose the Heavy Laser Cannon, which does about 2/3 of what Jan does, while also negating a range 3 bonus. Wes is a very nice touch, and nearly guarantees that opportunist will trigger. After I first introduced the Kayan + Opportunist + HLC combo to my local meta another player took it up and did a Jan and Keyan combo that could blast six dice - and killed Darth Vader in one shot. The problem with it is the total lack of health in the squad, as any given ship can probably be killed in a turn. Its very tricky to work Jan into a competitive squad because of the innate squishiness of the HWK. If a maximum damage attack is the goal, perhaps:

Nera Dantels (26)

Fire Control System (2)

Advanced Proton Torpedoes (6)

Extra Munitions (2)

Opportunist (4)

Guidance Chips (0)

Jan Ors (25)

Twin Laser Turret (6)

Veteran Instincts (2)

Intelligence Agent (1)

Biggs Darklighter (25)

R2 Astromech (1)

Integrated Astromech (0)

Total: 99 Pts

Nera Dantels can fire torpedoes outside of her firing arc, so that's a range 1 death circle for any opposing ships. Jan triggers in combination with opportunist for a 7 die attack with focus and a guaranteed 4 hits (3 from changing blanks to hits and 1 critical hit from guidance ships). Biggs keeps the important part of the list alive for longer.

I've tested out the third list in my original post above, and it definitely needs some increased late game power. With that in mind, I whipped up the following list:

Keyan Farlander (29)

Heavy Laser Cannon (7)

Opportunist (4)

Sensor Jammer (2)

Corran Horn (35)

R2-D2 (4)

Advanced Sensors (3)

Veteran Instincts (1)

Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)

Total: 99 Points.

With Keyan at 44 points and Corran at 43, any opponent would be divided in going after the vulnerable - yet tanky - B-wing or the late game ace of Corran Horn. Corran Horn fills the same role as Ten Numb originally did as an ace killer, while still maintaining his ability to deal out reliable damage. The bandit squadron pilot can be used as a blocker.

If you're after a list that uses Opportunist + HLC on Keyan to maximum effect, this is a mean one:

34 Wes w/ DtF, R2D2, IA.

40 Keyan w/ Opportunist, HLC.

26 Biggs w/ R4D6, IA

Biggs protects Wes and Keyan. Wes draws crits off Biggs with DtF keeping Biggs alive longer. Wes also strips tokens for Keyan's opportunist to activate. It's pretty gimmicky, but I can see it being fun and effective-ish. Also Wes with R2D2 in the endgame is damned annoying to fight against.

The less gimmicky version of the above list (I like this more):

34 Wedge w/ PtL, BB8, IA.

40 Keyan w/ Rage, AdvS, HLC.

26 Biggs w/ R4D6, IA

Biggs protects the two heavy hitters, who can both put out double modded shots. Also Keyan and Wegde can be annoying to pin down with their pre-movement barrel rolls.

Nice; I like the synergy between the three pilots. The only downside to Advanced Sensor on Keyan with rage is that if he does a green maneuver he loses the stress, but its a small loss.

Nice; I like the synergy between the three pilots. The only downside to Advanced Sensor on Keyan with rage is that if he does a green maneuver he loses the stress, but its a small loss.

Rage gives two stress though, so you Advanced Sensors to Rage, get two stress, lose one with a green manoeuvre, then lose the other during your attack. So you can do it all again next turn.

Of course! I should have seen it from the beginning, but it serves me right for not reading the whole card's text. The only downside I can think of (which is always the case with Keyan) is having absolutely no shots, thereby keeping the stress until next round and leaving you in a sub-optimal position. It's even worse with rage because its an offensive action. Still, rage and Advanced sensors Keyan is a great build I'll have to try sometime soon.

Okay, trying to look at making a somewhat tanky B-wing, and in line with your first list, here's what I came up with:

Keyan - Rage, Sensor Jammer, E2, Jan Ors, HLC - 44

Ten Numb - VI, SJ, E2, 3P0, Mangler - 44

Bandit

Rage and Jan Ors on Keyan turns it into an offensive and defensive action, giving an evade, two stress for his ability, and 3 rerolls on the attack, making for some very accurate and hard hitting shots. The rest is pretty self explanatory. Get the Bandit in there mucking things up while your Bs lay down the law. It would be better if Ten could shoot after Keyan sometimes to put that crit on the hull, but these guys should survive enough turns that attrition from their sheer damage output and SJs reducing the opponents' will win the day.