Yes, I do realize his ability is situational. But still, with Veteran Instincts and the x7 title he is a durable PS9 Ace with an auto-evade, clocking in at only 34 points. Lots of PS8 pilots flying around against whom that barrel roll at PS9 is golden. If played with Palp, Maarek´s ability becomes much more relevant, simular to Wampa´s ability. I guess I have always been somewhat of a PS sucker (I always preferred VI-Corran over PtL-Corran) but I feel Maarek is getting the shaft a little these days. Any Maarek-lovers out there?

I love Maarek! I usually run him with Ryan and a glaive in a three Defender list. I never thought of running him a Palp list to get more Crits off. Great idea!

Maarek's issue is hes overshadowed in the TIE Adv and in the TIE Defender theres no way to lock in a crit except Calculation or Palp (or forgo the amazing titles and put mangler on him).

Hes great, but because hes almost complete RNG, hes usually passed up. Vessery hits like a bloody truck and Ryad is super evasive.

His ability is really cool. I tooled around with him in a goof off game once and triggered his ability on a lucky crit. Pulling three cards and getting to decide which one screws your opponent the hardest is really fun.

However, there are more effective and lower cost options, and that's why he doesn't get used as much.

I like him more in the Adv with ATC than in the Defender, as such he is a staple of the list I have been running successfully for *whatever-timeframe-has-passed-since-the-Raider-released*.... It is much simpler to get use of his ability with ATC and Predator there than with the Defender

Yeah, and if what you want isa high PS Defender, VI Rexler fits that role better IMO, since both of their abilities are hard to trigger, and the much lower demand for an init bid at PS10 as opposed to 9 makes up a reasonable amount for the two point premium you're paying.

Maarak with predator and x7 is as scary as they come.

He can be boosted up to PS 9 as needed and your u don't have to build around him like Vessery.

Maarek is solid. Played against him Saturday. He got to pull his crits when it mattered, and it was fun to draw three and watch him pick.

As far as "random" abilities go, it's good fun when it works.

I use Maarek a lot. He's great for a PS bid over non-VI Brobots or Vessery. His ability can trigger often enough to make the opponent sweat.

I'm looking at him in place of Vessery, simply due to the higher PS and possible end of game utility. I've had a couple of matches lately where Vessery was on his lonesome at the end, and while he did decently, I think Maarek would wind up doing better.

I've used him in a build where I don't even care about ps9 and just put juke and x7 on him, bring a standard inquisitor with prockets and just bring the palp shuttle with baffle.

It was the best when 2 crits landed on an opposing defender. Drawing 6 cards total is an utter nightmare from hell descended upon Earth.

His ability is super cool and it synergizes with Palp, but I'd rather just have Juke x7 Stealth Device Vessery instead of Maarek with the same loadout.

I think Maarek is worth it over Vessery whenever you run a squad that can't regularly provude TLs for Vessery.

In Epic play, he's just a slightly better Glaive with a cool special ability. OTOH, why not fly him, just in case!!

Maarek's issue is hes overshadowed in the TIE Adv and in the TIE Defender theres no way to lock in a crit except Calculation or Palp (or forgo the amazing titles and put mangler on him).

Hes great, but because hes almost complete RNG, hes usually passed up. Vessery hits like a bloody truck and Ryad is super evasive.

I think the major problem is Mareeks incompatibility with the two TIE-Defender titles which really give more value to the TIE Defender than Marrek's situation pilot Ability. Marrek wants to take Mangler cannon but cannot use the TIE-D title which really brings him down in effectiveness.

I run my Maarek with calculation. Even in a list with palp, you still want him to be able to generate his own crits, and this ept is a cheap way to do so. Also, when you get to land 2 crits, thats when the fun begins

I ran him the other day with marksmanship. Fun but not worth it. For me you go for VI on all the Defender named pilots exept Ryad. Their abilities are a bit to situational to build after.

Maarek's ability is very underrated. Definitely better than Rexler. Crits come up naturally easily enough.

I want to try a tractor beam defender + Tie mini swarm soon and Maarek is THE defender for the job cause PS9. I wouldn't take this list to regionals, but it would be very decent in a local tournament.

-- Maarek Steele --

VI + Tie/D + Tractor Beam + Guidance Chips + Advanced Homing Missile (for the LULZ) = 40 points

4x Black Squadron Tie Fighters + Crackshot = 60 points

= 100 points total

Maarek Steele Miniswarm

If I was going to take him I think it'd still be in the advanced with crackshot for 29 points with at least another ace.

Maarek's ability is very underrated. Definitely better than Rexler. Crits come up naturally easily enough.

I want to try a tractor beam defender + Tie mini swarm soon and Maarek is THE defender for the job cause PS9. I wouldn't take this list to regionals, but it would be very decent in a local tournament.

-- Maarek Steele --

VI + Tie/D + Tractor Beam + Guidance Chips + Advanced Homing Missile (for the LULZ) = 40 points

4x Black Squadron Tie Fighters + Crackshot = 60 points

= 100 points total

Maarek Steele Miniswarm

I quite like it but I'd be inclined to drop the missile and switch vi for adaptability and bump one of those blacks to howlie.

Now we're looking at a list that looks like can bite!

I have run him with Colzet a few times for fun. Would like to play around with a list there some more.

The guy trades Vessery's extra action per turn for +1PS and highly situational ability

I run him with adaptability to 8 and Vesseray with VI and D with Tractor Beam. and Palp. Marek moves, target locks and Vesseray tries to reduce agility and strip shields, then Maarek shoots and Palps a crit if needed.

The problem with marek is forgetting to use him. My last tourney, he hit his crits a couple of times, and every time, forgot to draw the cards.

Granted, most of the times they were the killshot following Rex, so no bigs (then again, you are instructed to discard the lesser crits (or were they?!) So that may be a boon, or not depending on what you could've dumped).

I use Maarek with Juke in my 3 Defender list. I think he's a solid choice. The extra point of PS is handy given the sheer number of Defenders that I see nowadays, plus it puts him above Brobots naturally too.

I think the key with Maarek is not to try too hard to get his ability to work. Sure, you can put Calculation or Marksmanship on him to get your crits but that just leaves him vulnerable defensively. I treat his ability as a nice bonus when it does go off rather than the reason to take him.