Okay, so I know this is really early, but there has been a LOT of Dengaroo being played in vassal league and in general it seems as well. It seems it is the "new hotness". It has even been the spotlight of numerous podcasts as of late.

As a participant in the Xwing vassal league, I find it to be a really interesting data point for meta analysis. No, it is not worlds, nationals, or even regional level play. Yet, I do find that players tend to fly competitive lists, although admittedly there is a dash of experimentation, especially now that regional season is concluding. Still, players are hyper aware that their opponent has a good chance to bring a highly competitive list, and even if they are experimenting, they create their lists with an awareness of top tier lists.

So, with 24 reported games with a Dengaroo included, here are the results.

Wins- 18

Losses- 6

Total games- 24

Lists Dengaroo defeated-

• Double Deci
• Deci Whisper
• Brobots (thrice)
• 3 ship mid PS rebel
• Deci, Wampa, OM Lead
• Chopper Dash
• Chihuahuas (5 crack Green A-wings)
• Tala + Blount Alpha strike
• Carnor Stele Ryad
• OM Lead Vess Ryad
• Lothal Reb + Ghost Lothal Reb
• Lothal Reb + Vrill + Dorsal Gray Stressbot
• Krassis Trelix + Gamma Sq Vet x2
• Palp + Whisper + Inq (pheaver piloted this list. Lost 0-100)
• RAC + Whisper (Phild0 piloted this list. Lost 70-100)
• Vader + Inq + Black crack x2

Lists Dengaroo lost to-

1. Bossk + Veteran Instincts + 4-Lom + Zuckuss + K4 Security Droid + Guidance Chips + Concussion Missiles
   Dengar + Punishing One + Lone Wolf + R5-P8 + Experimental Interface + Gonk

1. Latts Razzi + Inertial Dampeners + Gunner + Bossk + Zuckuss
   Dengar + Punishing One + Push the Limit + Unhinged Astromech + Engine Upgrade + K4 Security Droid

1. Lothal Rebel + Autoblaster Turret + Fire-Control System + Hera Syndulla + Dash Rendar
   Lothal Rebel + Autoblaster Turret + Fire-Control System + Chopper + Weapons Engineer
   Prototype Pilot + Chardaan Refit (won by a single point)

1. Omicron Group Pilot + Emperor Palpatine
   Omega Leader + Juke + Comm Relay
   Wampa
   The Inquisitor + Push the Limit + Tie/v1 + Autothrusters (I actually saw the opening of this game and the Dengaroo player made a critical error and forgot to spend Countermeasures on the exchange where his opponents ships largely had range 1 shots with target locks. Considering the final score was 77-69, I personally believe this cost the player the game.)

1. Colonel Vessery + Juke + TIE/x7
   Countess Ryad + Push the Limit + Twin Ion Engine Mk. II + TIE/x7
   Omicron Group Pilot + Emperor Palpatine (Majorjuggler piloted this list and took the victory 100-0)

1. Biggs Darklighter + R4-D6 + Integrated Astromech
   Wes Janson + Veteran Instincts + R3-A2 + Integrated Astromech
   Corran Horn + Veteran Instincts + Fire-Control System + R2-D2 (pheaver piloted this list and took the victory 100-58)
   

Dengaroo players- (letter in parenthesis aligns player with the list they lost to above)

Unknown Reaches

TerTer 2-0

Wamutu 2- 1 (a)

Krynn007 1-0

Theepum7 2-0

Skitau 0-1 (b)

EnVKessel 1-0

Outer Rim

The_Dave_Side 3-0

Jefffaulkner 1-0

Aged_Whiskey 3-0

Mas2000 0-1 ©

Inner Rim

JaceS 0-1 (d)

Cavalier 0-1 (e)

evcameron 1-0

Core Worlds

DarthDane 2-0 (defeated both pheaver and Phild0)

serrateX 1-1 (f)

Dengaroo seems to do really well in the lower tiers (14-3), but doesn’t come out as clearly on top in the higher tiers (4-3). But the tiers are hardly fully representative of player skill at this point, so I’m not sure I would trust that data point anyway. Maybe 5 or 6 seasons in we can look at that.

Also, I would expect players in the lower tiers are more likely to bring lists which are unproven, meaning if they run in to a Dengaroo, their chances of pulling off a win are heavily reduced.

The fact that MJ was able to take a 100-0 win against the list is astounding. I need to check that log and see if he used the Defender's speed to corner and lock up Manaroo, or if he used Ryad's k-turning ability to assure she never got caught in Dengar's arc, or perhaps something else entirely. I think Paul’s winning list is the most intriguing considering he took the win against one of the top Dengaroo players around, and that Dan (I think was the guys name) took a couple regionals with that list as well (although I don’t believe he ran in to any Dengaroos along the way to those wins). As with any list with Biggs though, it takes a really good pilot to fly it as effectively as possible, so I doubt we will see the list come out in full force. The double Lothal Rebel list is intriguing as well. The fact that there are no green die on the VCX that Dengar can manipulate with Zuckuss means they are better equipped to deal with the list. Still, that game was a very narrow victory, and considering in other games Dengaroo took out a double decimator list as well as another double Lothal Rebel list, not being able to use Zuckuss may not be a problem like I seem to think.

So what are some of your thoughts on this limited sample? Bossk and Latts Razzi were included in a couple of the victorious lists- Do Yv-666 pilots perform well against Dengaroo? Does any faction struggle in particular against the list? Are players figuring out how to deal with Dengaroo, or is it a menace we will be dealing with for ever?

For more Dengaroo commentary, I’d encourage readers to check out this fantastic regional report by Sp3nc3r who performed well with the list at the Toronto Regional. http://teamcovenant.com/star-wars-x-wing/toronto-regional-championship

really can't say for sure due to lack of experience, but I'd personally never touch Dengaroo without some incredible faith in my ability to win dice-trades (despite the obvious, incredibly efficiency of the build; my luck simply does not hold) and keep a jm5k alive

if either ship bites it early, the list is ******.

if you lose Dengar, you lose basically all of your offense

if you lose Manny, Dengar's pretty dead in the water with bare minimal mods (still get zuckuss and EPT though, and zuckuss is a boss)

the toughest match-up you can immediately see, which wasn't really present in the vassal league apparently, is torp scouts. Sure, Dengar can do a number on a torp scout in that get-up, but the odds of actually killing one in a round is puny and killing one before it fires is 0. By contrast, eating 3 plasma torps even with countermeasures + infinite focus is not a fun prospect

there's apparently the corner-case counter in Wes. Unless they run recon specialist on manny, which has been brought to my attention as redundant in basically every case of the build, Wes will slap off the focus even if Dengar spends it on the defense (spend, overclock to assign a new one; slap off the new one and he can't overclock it back)

finally, you mentioned a skill component and I have to agree. if you don't bring a super-stressed (no rolling!) Dengar's arc to bear...well, you got a single 3-dice primary out of 100 points doing any work. That's...just not scary at all.

Super Dengar may not be setting the world on fire, but the guy can dance and be a massive pain in the ass both with and without his ability. Dengaroo's Dengar is crutching on it in order to be the list's lynchpin

yes, your asymmetrical dial doesn't matter because stress doesn't matter while manny is alive, but there's only one direction of segnor's you can take

really can't say for sure due to lack of experience, but I'd personally never touch Dengaroo without some incredible faith in my ability to win dice-trades (despite the obvious, incredibly efficiency of the build; my luck simply does not hold) and keep a jm5k alive

if either ship bites it early, the list is ******.

if you lose Dengar, you lose basically all of your offense

if you lose Manny, Dengar's pretty dead in the water with bare minimal mods (still get zuckuss and EPT though, and zuckuss is a boss)

the toughest match-up you can immediately see, which wasn't really present in the vassal league apparently, is torp scouts. Sure, Dengar can do a number on a torp scout in that get-up, but the odds of actually killing one in a round is puny and killing one before it fires is 0. By contrast, eating 3 plasma torps even with countermeasures + infinite focus is not a fun prospect

there's apparently the corner-case counter in Wes. Unless they run recon specialist on manny, which has been brought to my attention as redundant in basically every case of the build, Wes will slap off the focus even if Dengar spends it on the defense (spend, overclock to assign a new one; slap off the new one and he can't overclock it back)

finally, you mentioned a skill component and I have to agree. if you don't bring a super-stressed (no rolling!) Dengar's arc to bear...well, you got a single 3-dice primary out of 100 points doing any work. That's...just not scary at all.

Super Dengar may not be setting the world on fire, but the guy can dance and be a massive pain in the ass both with and without his ability. Dengaroo's Dengar is crutching on it in order to be the list's lynchpin

yes, your asymmetrical dial doesn't matter because stress doesn't matter while manny is alive, but there's only one direction of segnor's you can take

Ya as is being discussed in acidReign's forum post, triple scouts are nowhere to be seen in vassal league currently. I think they will start popping up a bit again because they should perform well against Dengaroo. I actually can't think of a time I have seen the match up, but I wouldn't be surprised if top tier dengaroo players have a good way to handle them.

pray to the fickle gods of green dice that LW (if used) and focused 3 agility comes up 3 evades every time and you'll only lose all your shields

1. Lothal Rebel + Autoblaster Turret + Fire-Control System + Hera Syndulla + Dash Rendar

   Lothal Rebel + Autoblaster Turret + Fire-Control System + Chopper + Weapons Engineer

   Prototype Pilot + Chardaan Refit (won by a single point)

This was me, and honestly it's a game which I probably should have lost. My remaining Lothal was down to 2 hull and double-stressed, so I used turn 19 to try to run instead of engaging. My opponent's Manaroo (down to 3 hull) did the same, not realizing he was down one point. Had Manaroo tried to engage, he probably had around a 75-87% chance to kill me.

Heck, had he spent the remainder of the game trying to kite me with Manaroo at five hull and one shield instead of giving me one last good shot, it would have been his.

1. Lothal Rebel + Autoblaster Turret + Fire-Control System + Hera Syndulla + Dash Rendar

   Lothal Rebel + Autoblaster Turret + Fire-Control System + Chopper + Weapons Engineer

   Prototype Pilot + Chardaan Refit (won by a single point)

This was me, and honestly it's a game which I probably should have lost. My remaining Lothal was down to 2 hull and double-stressed, so I used turn 19 to try to run instead of engaging. My opponent's Manaroo (down to 3 hull) did the same, not realizing he was down one point. Had Manaroo tried to engage, he probably had around a 75-87% chance to kill me.

Heck, had he spent the remainder of the game trying to kite me with Manaroo at five hull and one shield instead of giving me one last good shot, it would have been his.

Thanks for the added info PhantomFO.

I find it really interesting that the 0 agility lists still weren't able to capitalize on the benefit of ignoring Zuckuss against the list. Perhaps something to look in to. Do you have any thoughts on it PhantomFO having flown such a list against it?

I played against Dengaroo with RAC+Whisper and lost 100-76 due to my own mistakes.. By all accounts, I feel like I should've taken it but forgot Manaroo had Feedback Array. Doh.

As much as people want to say that Manaroo is the target, I think Focusing Dengar down is the right tactic. Despite his shenanigans, he's only one ship with one arc (RE: pilot ability). The math on him (per the NoVa podcast) is unreal so exchanging your big hitter(s) for him early allows you to clean up Manaroo in the late game. And the list is designed to let you do it. Manaroo wants to let you tank Dengar. She just hopes her hubby comes back in one piece.

that is the thing with Dengaroo

the Dengaroo Dengar himself has, according to the good major juggler, an idiotic jousting value

basically, he will eat your face

but, if you throw caution to the wind and end up trading him for like...Soontir, well you've won the game because Dengar is as close to 100% of the list's offense output as you can possibly get

not sure if anyone wants to approach a match thinking they're going to be bleeding mov, but sacrifices must be made!

1. Colonel Vessery + Juke + TIE/x7

   Countess Ryad + Push the Limit + Twin Ion Engine Mk. II + TIE/x7

   Omicron Group Pilot + Emperor Palpatine (Majorjuggler piloted this list and took the victory 100-0)

This game was lost in the 2nd round. MJ clearly turned towards manaroo with the two defenders with palp backup, and the other guy didnt turn and run with manaroo quick enough.

1. Lothal Rebel + Autoblaster Turret + Fire-Control System + Hera Syndulla + Dash Rendar

   Lothal Rebel + Autoblaster Turret + Fire-Control System + Chopper + Weapons Engineer

   Prototype Pilot + Chardaan Refit (won by a single point)

This was me, and honestly it's a game which I probably should have lost. My remaining Lothal was down to 2 hull and double-stressed, so I used turn 19 to try to run instead of engaging. My opponent's Manaroo (down to 3 hull) did the same, not realizing he was down one point. Had Manaroo tried to engage, he probably had around a 75-87% chance to kill me.

Heck, had he spent the remainder of the game trying to kite me with Manaroo at five hull and one shield instead of giving me one last good shot, it would have been his.

Thanks for the added info PhantomFO.

I find it really interesting that the 0 agility lists still weren't able to capitalize on the benefit of ignoring Zuckuss against the list. Perhaps something to look in to. Do you have any thoughts on it PhantomFO having flown such a list against it?

In my particular case, I wasn't able to fully ignore Zuckuss. He used it early on to vaporize my tokenless A-Wing, as well as on a couple of range 3 shots at my Hera/Dash VCX. I don't think depriving him of Zuckuss would have been all that great, anyway, as that just means Dengar can take actions himself.

The larger problem I encountered was the difficultly in actually pinning down Manaroo once Dengar is down. She's only throwing two dice, but she's also a turret who approaches Dash Rendar levels of maneuverability. It was ridiculously hard to get her in arc, especially once I was down to a single VCX. She can buzz around you like a mosquito, and will chip away with those two attack dice even if you take an evade action.

oh hey, speaking of weird specific counters like Wes, completely forgot Palob existed . You'll need to time your yoinking with Manny's ability as they have the same trigger (at the start of the combat phase) so initiative determines their order.

If Manny has initiative, you can keep Palob close to Dengar and take it from him. Otherwise, you have to keep Palob close to manny to take the focus before she passes it

there's also Carnor I guess, but range 1 and in arc is not a friendly place to be. Gotta be careful!

1. Latts Razzi + Inertial Dampeners + Gunner + Bossk + Zuckuss

   Dengar + Punishing One + Push the Limit + Unhinged Astromech + Engine Upgrade + K4 Security Droid

It was a hard match, but giving my opponent initiative and having my Dengar boost and BR out of his Dengar's firing arcs and still keep arc was what won me that game. Latts with Gunner, Bossk, Zuckuss was also able to crack Dengars double modded evades fairly easily, before she got shredded.

1. Latts Razzi + Inertial Dampeners + Gunner + Bossk + Zuckuss

   Dengar + Punishing One + Push the Limit + Unhinged Astromech + Engine Upgrade + K4 Security Droid

It was a hard match, but giving my opponent initiative and having my Dengar boost and BR out of his Dengar's firing arcs and still keep arc was what won me that game. Latts with Gunner, Bossk, Zuckuss was also able to crack Dengars double modded evades fairly easily, before she got shredded.

I found it interesting that two of the winning lists included a YV-666. Do you think they perform any better against Dengaroo than other ships? While only 2 games to base it off of is not much and it could be a fluke, I can see the 180 arc being an effective way to get shots on Dengar without him getting return shots or catching Roo as she skirts around the board. Also, the 3 crew options is huge for the YV. So many insane options with those.

1. Latts Razzi + Inertial Dampeners + Gunner + Bossk + Zuckuss

   Dengar + Punishing One + Push the Limit + Unhinged Astromech + Engine Upgrade + K4 Security Droid

It was a hard match, but giving my opponent initiative and having my Dengar boost and BR out of his Dengar's firing arcs and still keep arc was what won me that game. Latts with Gunner, Bossk, Zuckuss was also able to crack Dengars double modded evades fairly easily, before she got shredded.

I found it interesting that two of the winning lists included a YV-666. Do you think they perform any better against Dengaroo than other ships? While only 2 games to base it off of is not much and it could be a fluke, I can see the 180 arc being an effective way to get shots on Dengar without him getting return shots or catching Roo as she skirts around the board. Also, the 3 crew options is huge for the YV. So many insane options with those.

The YV-666 had a couple of advantages:

-HP defense rather than agility limits Zuckuss' impact.

-It's dificult to arc dodge with Manaroo.

-Latts can -1 Dengar's agility for your Dengar's shot.

-Zuckuss on the YV lets you crack Dengar's agility shell.

Latts basically let me knock a heap of HP off of Dengar in the opening rounds, then after he got behind she switched to pot-shots on Manaroo before dying. My PS9 PtL Dengar then finished off the other two by arc dodging and making engagements 1v1.

Last Sunday I beat a Dengaroo with triple defenders. I focused on Dengar while always having three different angles on him. Whichever ship was in dengars arc opted to not fire that turn. When time expired, Dengar and one defender were dead, and manaroo was below half. I ran two deltas with x7 and stealth with Ryad x7 stealth and juke. It's the first time I've seen the manaroo list. Very interesting info. Thanks. I think my opponent had the droids swapped from the write up you linked.

Actually I think you missed one.

Ive been 2-0 with dengaroo in the vassal league.

Once was the bro bots, the other was omega, vessery, and inquisitor.

(Sorry was before the escrow thing)

As a noob who has never faced Dengaroo..should you burn Dengar or Manny down first? There is an argument for both I guess, but as I have said, never fought this list and would definitely make stupid mistakes and die in fire, probably on an asteroid.

YV's give Dengaraoo problems because they hit really hard, have 1 green, which forces stress on Dengar (where as VCX/Decimator leaves Dengar free to TL, BR, etc.), have lots of HP that means Dengar has to focus on them for 3 or 4 rounds while the other ships in the list attack Dengar. I beat a Dengaroo with Kath Bossk list.

1. Latts Razzi + Inertial Dampeners + Gunner + Bossk + Zuckuss
   Dengar + Punishing One + Push the Limit + Unhinged Astromech + Engine Upgrade + K4 Security Droid

It was a hard match, but giving my opponent initiative and having my Dengar boost and BR out of his Dengar's firing arcs and still keep arc was what won me that game. Latts with Gunner, Bossk, Zuckuss was also able to crack Dengars double modded evades fairly easily, before she got shredded.

I found it interesting that two of the winning lists included a YV-666. Do you think they perform any better against Dengaroo than other ships? While only 2 games to base it off of is not much and it could be a fluke, I can see the 180 arc being an effective way to get shots on Dengar without him getting return shots or catching Roo as she skirts around the board. Also, the 3 crew options is huge for the YV. So many insane options with those.

The YV-666 had a couple of advantages:

-HP defense rather than agility limits Zuckuss' impact.

-It's dificult to arc dodge with Manaroo.

-Latts can -1 Dengar's agility for your Dengar's shot.

-Zuckuss on the YV lets you crack Dengar's agility shell.

Latts basically let me knock a heap of HP off of Dengar in the opening rounds, then after he got behind she switched to pot-shots on Manaroo before dying. My PS9 PtL Dengar then finished off the other two by arc dodging and making engagements 1v1.

That Latts Dengar list (Lengar?) is sweet. Looks fun.

really can't say for sure due to lack of experience, but I'd personally never touch Dengaroo without some incredible faith in my ability to win dice-trades (despite the obvious, incredibly efficiency of the build; my luck simply does not hold) and keep a jm5k alive

if either ship bites it early, the list is ******.

if you lose Dengar, you lose basically all of your offense

if you lose Manny, Dengar's pretty dead in the water with bare minimal mods (still get zuckuss and EPT though, and zuckuss is a boss)

the toughest match-up you can immediately see, which wasn't really present in the vassal league apparently, is torp scouts. Sure, Dengar can do a number on a torp scout in that get-up, but the odds of actually killing one in a round is puny and killing one before it fires is 0. By contrast, eating 3 plasma torps even with countermeasures + infinite focus is not a fun prospect

there's apparently the corner-case counter in Wes. Unless they run recon specialist on manny, which has been brought to my attention as redundant in basically every case of the build, Wes will slap off the focus even if Dengar spends it on the defense (spend, overclock to assign a new one; slap off the new one and he can't overclock it back)

finally, you mentioned a skill component and I have to agree. if you don't bring a super-stressed (no rolling!) Dengar's arc to bear...well, you got a single 3-dice primary out of 100 points doing any work. That's...just not scary at all.

Super Dengar may not be setting the world on fire, but the guy can dance and be a massive pain in the ass both with and without his ability. Dengaroo's Dengar is crutching on it in order to be the list's lynchpin

yes, your asymmetrical dial doesn't matter because stress doesn't matter while manny is alive, but there's only one direction of segnor's you can take

If you don't want to have to deal with dice, just put two Advanced Proton Torpedoes on Dengar. https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/225259-dengaroo-double-tapping-advanced-proton-torpedoes-shoutout-to-mynock-squadron-podcast/

That one direction of Segnors is more than enough. These things also have non-red hard 1 turns. They're very well off even when multi-stressed.

Wes isn't very common. If you end up actually facing a wes, you could just not use Zuckuss, get your free K4 TL and focus with Manaroo, then focus with Dengar himself.

I'd also argue that Wes is just the kind of ship that dengar wants to face. An expensive ship that their squad revolves around that dies easily and doesn't need to be Zuckussed. Sweet, since Dengar doesn't have 34 stress on him from Zuckuss and overclocked R4, now my action economy is even better.

That Latts Dengar list (Lengar?) is sweet. Looks fun.

Yeah, I love PtL Dengar. The problem has been finding something to pair him with. You want 2-3pts for Initiative, so you don't have many choices with 41-42 pts left. After some experimentation I've settled that the YV-666 is the best support (Scum Dash + Lothal), but I'm still tweaking the build:

42 Latts w/ Gunner, Bossk, Zuckuss, Dampeners. [shreds most ships, especially if they rely on agility dice.]

41 Latts w/ Gunner, Bossk, Zuckuss. [As above except with 3pt initiative bid.]

42 Slaver w/ Gunner, Bossk, Tactician, Engine. [scares expensive ships that hate being double-stressed. Also really good at blocking and turning around.]

42 Slaver w/ Gunner, Bossk, Tactician, Feedback, IonProj. [Mr Blocky McBlockson. Not sure if this is better than engine version, as it's pretty predictable.]

40 Slaver w/ Gunner, Bossk, Zuckuss, Dampeners, IonProj. [Could take 4pt initiative, or do dampeners on Dengar and 3pt initiative.]

Still not sure which of these is better, though I'm leaning towards the engine slaver, though Latts with Zuckuss is better for the Dengaroo matchup.

The strength of this list became apparent to me when the average game time after swapping to Dengaroo went from 45mins to 20 minutes.

As a noob who has never faced Dengaroo..should you burn Dengar or Manny down first? There is an argument for both I guess, but as I have said, never fought this list and would definitely make stupid mistakes and die in fire, probably on an asteroid.

It is a similar issue to the Palp Aces discussion. Some say dive in on the Shuttle, others say point your guns at the squints.

Personally, I think if you have ANY chance of catching Manaroo, you 100% go for her. She's the engine behind the build, and without her feeding him tokens, Dengar isn't nearly as scary.

Also, an additional data point added last night. Player named IsusCbr took a victory over Dengaroo with a pair of K-wings stuffed to the gills. Here is the list.

Warden Squadron Pilot + Twin Laser Turret + Extra Munitions + Proton Bombs + Conner Net + Advanced SLAM
Miranda Doni + Conner Net + Proximity Mines + Proton Bombs + Twin Laser Turret + Sabine Wren + Extra Munitions + Homing Missiles + Advanced SLAM

Bombs aren't attacks, baby! Dengar that!

I could see Ion Brobots doing mean things to Dengar. Can't use his ability of your being walked to the board edge.