Going to a tournament in the near future and won't have time to try everything I wanted to, but I thought about this after reading a bit of the two defenders thread ( https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/224862-two-defenders-are-they-viable/?hl=juke+glaive#entry2308771) and got excited about it.

So, the list here is Carnor supporting two Glaives w/ Juke & x7 (34pts each) which 32pt version of Carnor to take?

- Adaptive Carnor w/ [adaptibity or disposable 1pt EPT], Royal Guard, AutoThrusters, & Stealth Device

- Int Carnor w/ Intimidation & Autothrusters (add RG & GC for lolz) then give the Glaives mkII engines

- RG Lite Carnor w/ PTL, RG, AT, & mkII

Looking for some pros and cons or strategy advice for these loadouts. I'll throw my thoughts out here later when I get off work, just wanted to get it rolling here.

I've run the "RG Lite" version of this list fairly extensively, and it hits like a freakin' cannon. I think the PtL is still essential on him (or at least it is for me as I don't have the razor-sharp instincts needed to keep non-PtL Carnor alive!), and Mk.II lets him keep up with the sweeping banks of those Defenders effortlessly, and enable him to also effectively disengage on a bank. It's pretty sweet People tend to go for Carnor first but it's really those Glaives that do most of the pounding, even after Carnor dies!

Thanks for the feedback on the RG Lite version, acegard

In an aces matchup, the strategy I'm going for with Carnor is to use him as a high-PS blocker to deny the target of all actions as well as keep them from actually shooting Carnor. "RG Lite" has the addedflexibility in repositioning and/or focus/evade of PTL which is helped by high speed 3 banks from mkII engines, but you're still losing your actions on 5 straight and 1 & 3 turns as well as no K-turn options.

The blocker strategy in mind is why I'm really leaning toward Adaptability, though. This way if I lose initiative and still want to block PS8s (which is a crowded area of the PS ladder) I can adapt down to 7, but on the other hand if my opponent gives me the initiative and they have a PS9 then I adapt up to 9 and still get my block with the added bonus of simultaneous fire on his last round on the board.

Edit: then again, maybe straight up VI would be better since a missed block while moving first gives Soontir/Whisper a chance to roll away or just not push and open up the dial. Whereas when moving Carnor lastest they might waste actions on focusing/evading before he moves in or bumps in... is there a consensus on using Carnor Jax as a blocker vs. high ps?

I like to run.

Carnor Jax

Ptl

Thrusters

2x Glaive Squadron Pilot

Juke

X7

I like to keep carnor held back to let the Defenders take the opening salvo (since they can usually shrug it off with minimal damage. Only time this will not be the case is against the Wolf Pack. Need Carnor smack in the middle of them in that case.

I like PTL or Adap Carnor.

For preference PTL, but you have to drop the Mk II of the Glaives. Having said that that's not that bad.

My slight variation:

x2 Glaive: Title x/7 + Juke + Mk II

x1 Carnor: Adapt to PS9 + Title + Auto Thrusters + Targeting Computer

You take Carnor with Push the limit + autothrusters = 31

You need an initiative bid here because your Pilot Skills are 6 & 8. There are ALOT of ships with PS 6 & 8. Glaives are going to be quite common in the new meta, so a bid will be helpful against them.

Other Carnor builds have too many weaknesses and bad matchups. Why build a ship that makes certain matchups harder on yourself? If you want to do well in a tourney, take what gives you the best shot at winning. PTL Carnor is far better in more matchups than any other build...

I've become a big fan of Shield or Hull upgrade on Carnor. That extra point of damage keeps him around just long enough to really get under your opponents skin.

You take Carnor with Push the limit + autothrusters = 31

You need an initiative bid here because your Pilot Skills are 6 & 8. There are ALOT of ships with PS 6 & 8. Glaives are going to be quite common in the new meta, so a bid will be helpful against them.

Other Carnor builds have too many weaknesses and bad matchups. Why build a ship that makes certain matchups harder on yourself? If you want to do well in a tourney, take what gives you the best shot at winning. PTL Carnor is far better in more matchups than any other build...

I hear that initiative bid argument, but in my local meta if you only bid at 99 then you're throwing away a point because all of the aces builds are 97 to 98 points. As always: your meta may vary! If 99 does give you a chance then it's probably worth dropping the mkII

You take Carnor with Push the limit + autothrusters = 31

You need an initiative bid here because your Pilot Skills are 6 & 8. There are ALOT of ships with PS 6 & 8. Glaives are going to be quite common in the new meta, so a bid will be helpful against them.

Other Carnor builds have too many weaknesses and bad matchups. Why build a ship that makes certain matchups harder on yourself? If you want to do well in a tourney, take what gives you the best shot at winning. PTL Carnor is far better in more matchups than any other build...

I hear that initiative bid argument, but in my local meta if you only bid at 99 then you're throwing away a point because all of the aces builds are 97 to 98 points. As always: your meta may vary! If 99 does give you a chance then it's probably worth dropping the mkII

It's not just aces you're bidding against, though. BroBots and other Defenders will occupy PS6 and getting the edge on them is almost as important.

So I ended up going with the RG Lite Carnor (PTL, AT, RG, mkII) and got top 8, best showing I've ever had at a tournament! I found that Carnor ended up drawing a lot of fire and always died first, which makes sense given that he's weaker defensively and looks like the key to any synergy that might be there. He still gummed up the enemy enough to trigger Juke a couple times against the aces I faced. Obviously, Juking didn't do much against zero agility, although there were a couple exchanges where I got to juke a Range bonus die there.

In swiss I beat a couple aces lists by the cost difference of my lite carnor vs the ace I managed to destroy (standard Soontir in one Vader in the other). Also beat a U-boats list by 1 point by losing Carnor but getting half points on two torp boats; that was a close one, I got the last hit I needed in the round that time was called and my x7s managed to not get destroyed largely thanks to Carnor taking 3 torpedoes to kill so there was that much less for them to deal with. My one loss in swiss was to a double Deci that the guy tricked out for anti-aces; another close one in the last round I failed to destroy the surving Decimator by one hull and then he destroyed my last Defender.

Ultimately got my list handed to me by a VI Corran, Stresshog, 2Z that I could have played a little cleaner. That was a disappointment when the Glaives somehow failed to destroy a measly Bandit in the initial joust. Hooray for white k-turns and free evades getting me behind the enemy after double stress. My opponent was better than me though and just when I thought I was distracting Corran with my Carnor he came back and squashed the damaged and stressed Glaive followed up by a good block on the other Glaive who then went down in a hail of fire from the rest of his ships including another double-tap to fish off. In the end this was the one game where Carnor was the survivor and got the lone kill of a single Z before going down himself.

I've been running variations of three ship defenders, and have to say the Glaive with Juke is still the most effective. The Evade/Focus action and tankiness seems most viable.

I've tried OML and the Inquisitor but keep coming back to the idea of a "lite" Carnor. I'm seeing lots of Scum Party Bus, N'Adru and Scouts and denying actions and burning through shield/hull seems the most viable approach. Gonna try a variation of this next.

Juke, IMHO is the go-to EPT for the Defender as it sits so well with the Tix/x7 title.

This is very similar to something I came up with and have been wanting to run. I also thought about replacing one of the Glaives with Ryad for a bit more tactical flexibility. I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Carnor Jax (30)

TIE Interceptor (26)

Intimidation (2), Autothrusters (2)

Glaive Squadron Pilot (35) x 2

TIE Defender (34)

Juke (2), TIE/x7 (-2), Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)

I finally got to try this against a Jake Farrell, Ten Nunb, Keyan Farlander list. Carnor never got to use Intimidation, but his pilot ability was still very powerful. My dice were pretty hot and the Defenders tore through the B-Wings. I finished without losing a ship, but Carnor took a crit that got flipped down, and one of the X7s had lost all of its shields.

In another game, Carnor died before he could really do anything. The X7s proved to be pretty potent, even without Carnor's shenanigans. This was a three-way match with a modified list, so it's hard to judge how the list would do in a tournament.