Hey guys,

So we have a tourney here on Sunday, and I'm expecting a good turnout. I have two favorite lists right now, and I'm trying to decide which to play. I've beaten Dengaroo lists with BOTH of these squads, though they play quite a bit differently. One thing i haven't been able to do though, is test these against Palp Aces lists. Which do you think is more viable in the current meta?

List one: 99 pts

Captain Oicunn (42)

Emporer Palpatine (8)

Adaptability (0)

Gunner (5)

Conner Net (4)

Dauntless (2)

Anti-Pursuit Lasers (2)

Countess Ryad (34)

PTL (3)

Tie/X7 (-2)

Twin Ion Mk. II (1)

- I also played a version of this where instead of APLs and the Conner Net I had Engine Upgrade and an Ion bomb. Oicunn is really good at jamming Dengar and Manaroo and just causing chaos. As long as Palp is alive, Ryad is virtually impossible to kill.

List 2: 100 pts

Blue Squadron Pilot x 3 (22)

FCS (2)

B-Wing/E2 (1)

Tactician (2)

Lieutenant Blount (17)

Crack Shot (1)

XX-23 S-thread Tracers (1)

So here we have a spin on the classic BBBBz, that improves the accuracy of an alpha strike against Dengar. I fly them in pretty tight formation with Blount in the back. Everyone focuses on the first in-combat-range action. Blount then fires his tracer (a guaranteed hit) to give the Blues target locks for at least the first round that can't be shaken off by Counter Measures. If Blount survives the first round of shooting, he pretty much gets ignored after that, so I threw on a Crack Shot just to help him get one more damage through. If Dengar survives the first pass, I pretty much ignore him on my way to Manaroo, who is terrified of my tacticians. Without Dengar shooting twice, I expect the B's can hold up long enough to get Manaroo down.

So I feel pretty good facing Dengaroo. What worries me is Soontir, Inquistor, and other X/7 Defenders. Defenders are probably stronger jousters than B-wings right now, even if I have 3 B's in my list, and there's only 2 defenders in my opponent's. Against Palp aces, I'm pretty much relying on stress and blocking to get the job done. I don't know if Ryan and Oicunn have enough fire power to hunt down a Palp shuttle and survive the aces coming after them. And the B's will just have trouble getting those aces in arc.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

7 Cartel Spacers

I would take the first list. Oicunn has anti ace stuff equipped. Conner net one of them, and ryad with Palps help can do some good damage. Or ram them and get damage. The bwing list, unless you get multiple arcs on an ace (not so easy), it will be hard to get them, but should be easier vs defenders who dont have post maneuver tricks.

EDIT: However! If you win a tourney these days with a rebel list, you are a hero!

Given the option, I will take a Decimator list every time

Thanks guys! I will probably run the Decimator list. Luckily I have league tonight so I can get a few test games in. Appreciate the advice!

Let us know how it goes tonight

Update: my B's and Blount had a bad night in league. Only got two games in but they weren't really close. The first was against Dengaroo. My opponent set up rocks really well and I think I turned in to face him too quickly. Killed Manaroo and got Dengar to 5 health, but it wasn't really that close.

Second game was against Poe, Miranda (no bombs) and a Green A-wing. Again, bad squadron Flye ing led me to over stress my B's on my own debris, and Miranda is hard enough to chase down. This game went to time but he was steadily whittling down my 1-agility B's and the loss was inevitable.

Anyways, I know bad night doesn't = bad list, but confidence is everything in competition, so I'm definitely flying a defender list Sunday. I think Deci + Ryad is strong, but the lack of defense on Oicunn makes me nervous. Basically if I miss a bump with Oicunn, it's "adios muchachos" (Quoting Paul Reiser from "Aliens"). Also considering Ryad + Glaive, both with PTL, and a Palp shuttle, a list I think is strong but I don't have any direct experience with.

Thanks for bearing with me as I work through my tourney prep "out loud" on the Internet!

(As an aside, 1st place in this tourney is a Shadow Caster! I really, really, really want to win, lol)

Ok so that happened...

Ended up taking the Decimator (palp, gunner, Conner Net x 2, anti-pursuit lasers, adapted up to 5) and Ryad (PTL, MII engines, x7). Turned out to not be a great day. We had only 7 players total, which was disappointing.

Game 1: Opponent had a Kanan VCX (ion turrets, fire control, engine upgrade, tactician, Rec-Spec), Ezra shuttle (docked), and Airen Cracken with Squad Leader. VCX gets up to 4 actions/round if he wants. I was overconfident in my Defender's ability to survive, and double-stress and ionization left her dead in the 3rd round of shooting. I killed Cracken, but after that it was double-ionization on a defenseless Oicunn, who was never able to get a bump or drop a meaningful bomb. Better list + being out flown = 100-21, and we're only 35 minutes into the day! This VCX list ended up carrying the day, though he did drop one close game to a triple-defender list (2 glaives, Ryad)

Game 2: was low man on the MOV totem pole already, so I got a bye.

Game 3: vs. Ryad (Juke, X7), Inqy (juke, title, thrusters), Vessery (/D, tractor beam, adapted up to 7). This game started out well enough, opponent decided to joust the decimator, forgot I had a straight 4, and Vessery paid the price two turns later after a Conner Net and focus fire. Decimator couldn't hit thrustered Inqy (Ryad out of range most of the match), so Oicunn died with about 30 min left. I made a great, unexpected soft-1 with my Ryad to avoid fire from his predictably k-turned Ryad and get Inqy at range-2 with me having target lock and focus. Inqy flips a direct hit on the crit and suddenly the match has turned in my favor. It's my 36 pt, PTL Ryad vs his 34 pt Ryad, and he has initiative, meaning i get to react with barrel rolls. 3 turns later I make a HUGE blunder and 4-k on a debris cloud, leaving me action-less, and opponent gets a free range 1 shot, so of course he throws 3 hits and a crit, and it's adios muchachos.

Game 4: Standard Dengaroo, but no torps, and rec-spec on Manaroo. Didn't make any huge mistakes here, but had a really hard time catching Manaroo without an engine upgrade on the Deci. Game ended with Dengar at 2 hull and Manaroo at 5, and some bad green dice rolls from my Ryad.

Not much else to say. Some days you just don't have it. Compared to the top 3 lists, I'd give mine a solid C+. Need more practice at flying and list building. Thank you guys for the advice this week!