as someone who does not appreciate PWTs and how they reduce the maneuvering complexity of this game, there wasn't ever going to be much for me in the recently released "The Garbage Will Do" article

apart, of course, from the eagerly awaited new rebel crew

but Finn has sadly left me wanting, due to his overcosting (undoubtedly a consequence of his brain-dead obvious synergy with Pilot Rey)

and so, in an effort to be more positive, I turn to the only thing I can be excited about from the preview

voila! Moldy Crow for everyone! (re: the one crew bearing ship you give Rey to)

Rey is an interesting crew because there really aren't a lot of upgrades that can grant you action-independent focus, whereas re-rolls are pretty easy to come by (predator, lone wolf etc.) so she will fill a role that previously simply could not be filled outside of Kyle Katarn, who needs stress and therefore found himself in basically only one build (PTL dash). This alone makes her worth looking forward to

so, who can take her?

The Fickle Scale:

Seems Interesting

...eh? Maybe?

can't see it being too great

0.) yt-1300

don't care about it; won't cover

just acknowledging it exists so people don't bring it up

1.) yt-2400

so far, this is still basically a Dash-only ship (smuggler's compartment did not bring the buff the lesser used pilots needed; they still sorely lack compared to the jm5k)

but for Dash himself? It seems like it has some potential. the closest point of comparison is Kyle Katarn who provides action independent focus using the stress off of PTL.

While Rey is more limited due to having an actual focus stock to manage, she is a point less and isn't dependent on green manuevers

I can't see her replacing KK but I don't fly Dash often enough to say for certain.

Lone Wolf dash, though? Could be a contender. While rec spec doesn't have to manage focus, she is also action dependent

2.) B-wing (b/e mod)

eh...1 agility makes extra focus far less valuable and the named pilots are expensive as is (plus keyan already overs his own "focus")

don't see her making an impact here

3.) VCX - 100

0 agility makes defensive focus pretty nigh on worthless (range 3; obstructions notwithstanding)

But hey, Kanan exists as does Hera and a lot of red maneuvers

More importantly, it frees you up to take evade actions without giving up focus' offensive modification. Even better, FCS will provide the TL for full mods!

maybe?

4.) HWK-290

a more restrictive but cheaper moldy?

idk, don't play many rebel HWKs, but I have a gut feeling that you could do better crew-wise

5.) Stolen Tie ( sabine's masterpiece )

I'm always leery about investing more points in a tie fighter, but it's got the agility to want focus and the evade to stack on top of it

keep an eye out on this one, either Ahsoka or Rex might take Rey's focus to the next level

6.) ARC- 170

as a lover of ARCs, I do have to say that she will not be any good on them (despite obvious synergy with Norra) due to the stringent limitations of the 2-die primary (it sucks without tailgunner or gunner)

7.) U-wing

sometimes 2-agility and a presumably red-stop maneuver make focus AND action-independent stuff pretty desireable

keep an eye out on this one, esp since you can combine Rey with FCS and/or gunner if so inclined (probably too expensive, but it's an option!)

8.) K-wing

saved the best for last

well hey, if you ever wanted to fly Kyle Katarn (HWK) but crappier , there's always Esege right?

more seriously, the K can now bank both focus and TL (LRS) to make your ordnance a lot more interesting. You cannot, unfortunately, take the opportunity to SLAM into position (no attacking afterwards). But if you bump or something, you can take the opprtunity to still fire fully modded homing missiles!

1 agility does seriously devalue defensive focus, but TLT's double attack might make it notable? Well, since TLT tactician no longer double stresses you may have 2 points floating around. Stacked with TL, Rey can also give you full mods on your range 1 primary

all in all, not super enthused with Rey on the K (despite the awesome rhyme) but there is a little bit of potential there

OVERALL:

keep an eye out for Rey on U-wings, VCXs and Stolen Ties (in descending order of awesomeness at a glance)

she could be a very nice card that we let slip through our fingers if we don't keep her in mind

Good write up, way to keep it positive.

By the way, what about the YT-1300?

Both pilot/crew combos of Kanan and Rey make really good pairings...

KANAN IS REYS FATHER CONFIRMED.

Good write up, way to keep it positive.

By the way, what about the YT-1300?

what about the YT-1300

in all honesty, you could probably just copy-paste what I wrote for the VCX into the YT-1300 section. (assuming you use ye ole MF title)

You also left out the Attack Shuttle, but Hera's the only one who could really use her.

Theres also the way it works causing you to potentially dodge anti-token shenanigans.

Old Teroch or Dolab for instance cant clear your focus/steal it because its "not assigned to your ship" yet. Assuming of course they have init so their start of combat phase stuff goes first.

Kanan ghost is the obvious glory here. I would love to give EI + Lando the boot so i can quit stressing that ship out every turn so i can actually move lol. Only 3 focus (with recon spec) and no chances at evades, but also no chances at utter zilch and no stress.

My initial thought when i saw her ability was a way to get TL + Focus for attacks if you didnt spend the focus one round, but looking at my collection i remember Rebels are kinda lacking in the non-large ship crew, which shes not that great on the few we got (HWK, Kwing, rebelTIE, Bwing, yt2400) because theres some other crew that makes that ship just sing in glory.

Think the bigger issue of getting her on anything is what are you sacrificing to use her? Shes awesome, but is she awesome enough to remove Kanan, Ezro, Hera, or Sabine crew? Probably not, and thats the issue im seeing unfortunately. I'm sure i'll see something eventually, just nothing obvious right now

Pair with Esege, use it to modify your ordnance fire (particularly APTs) ...

Bank a focus at the end of turn 1 and save it for when you really need it later in the game.

You also left out the Attack Shuttle, but Hera's the only one who could really use her.

oh derp, I did

Think the bigger issue of getting her on anything is what are you sacrificing to use her? Shes awesome, but is she awesome enough to remove Kanan, Ezro, Hera, or Sabine crew? Probably not, and thats the issue im seeing unfortunately. I'm sure i'll see something eventually, just nothing obvious right now

I think for 2 points she's very competitive with those options

Kanan and Ezra (Crew) both need stress, so they're already relegated to specific builds (and they're 1 point more expensive)

Hera does something completely different

and Sabine, while I love her crew ability, requires further investment and very specific lists/ships

Its more of you have to change the tactic to bring her than lose a gimick. Most rebel ships combined with a crew or two go from hot garbage to pretty nasty, which is cool n all but also prevents them from doing something else lol.

Sure, Hera does something completely different, but its still taking a crew slot. Having both would be weird and probably sac something more powerful, so which would you rather have? a way to bank a focus for later, or the ability to kturn when the timing is wonderful but you happened to be stressed?

Im at work so im not thinking that indepth right now but everything i can think of i'd slap Rey into (giggity) i immediately go "but... X crew is much better in that ship..." -- except for kanan ghost of course.

I don't see a lot of hyper defensive aces in my meta, so I might be able to get away with some alternative ARC builds. I'm thinking in that case Norra+Rey could be very good. It definitely frees up the EPT slot for VI or something else. If nothing else it would be fun for casual play.

idk

so hera U-wing seems hilarious due to you spin me right round baby right round etc. spam of the title stop maneuver, but idk if that's actually more effective than just having focus to use with 2 agility and a 3 dice primary you can further augment with FCS

and Hera on a tie...well no mods means you can guess how long you'll last (not very )

as for ARCs, if you aren't against a VCX or VT-49 Tailgunner is basically the default. It's not just palp aces; literally everything under the sun just doesn't seem to care about my 30+ point tie fighters, crit or no

Tailgunner is also absolutely clutch against Dengaroo (infina focus + re-roll is far less impressive on one die), and also against others such as Poe

But mainly, the 2 dice is just really limiting without either gunner or some other means to improve dice output. Had Finn been more reasonably priced, I would've taken him over tailgunner on certain builds (probably involving Thane)

Rey also allows you to save a focus if you went through a turn without needing it, which was the first utility I'd thought of when I saw the card. She makes the focus action have quite a bit more utility.

I could definitely see taking her on Kyle for one less point, you should get at least two probably three focus before combat starts.

I trust you fickle, I'm just sad I dont have my ARCs yet I'm deluding myself into playing around with them a bit before coming to the same conclusions you have.

What do we have that triggers on being assigned a focus token?

Apart from Jan crew that is.

Rey also allows you to save a focus if you went through a turn without needing it, which was the first utility I'd thought of when I saw the card. She makes the focus action have quite a bit more utility.

I could definitely see taking her on Kyle for one less point, you should get at least two probably three focus before combat starts.

that too

she's a very nice, flexible and generally self-sufficient card.

I trust you fickle, I'm just sad I dont have my ARCs yet I'm deluding myself into playing around with them a bit before coming to the same conclusions you have.

I wish they were a base 3 dice primary is the conclusion I came to

then again, guys visiting my local meta generally comment about how cut-throat it is even during casual tournies, so that's definitely colored my opinion

that and my trademark dice

On almost any ship spending 2 points to be able to bank a focus early is fantastic.

Remember you can bank a ton of focus tokens early if you slow roll, i cant see a ship that does not want to get free focus actions every turn while in combat.

Even if you only bank 1 or 2 its still suppoer strong for 2 points, if you can bank 3 or 4? holy **** that is insane.

Good write up, way to keep it positive.

By the way, what about the YT-1300?

what about the YT-1300

in all honesty, you could probably just copy-paste what I wrote for the VCX into the YT-1300 section. (assuming you use ye ole MF title)

I've never really like playing it, but my kids love it and so do my noobish friends.

Good write up, way to keep it positive.

By the way, what about the YT-1300?

what about the YT-1300

in all honesty, you could probably just copy-paste what I wrote for the VCX into the YT-1300 section. (assuming you use ye ole MF title)

I've never really like playing it, but my kids love it and so do my noobish friends.

they should all go alright with Rey (crew) in it

1 agi with focus is pretty meh, but the old MF title lets you take an evade action (like the ghost) and Rey crew frees up your action by storing focus for the winter

only thing is whether or not to consider c3po instead. Generally, he's just absolutely borked in terms of cost:effectiveness, but lately there have been more counters coming out for him due to his die result being added before the modify dice step , allowing stuff like Juke and Zuckuss to nullify his effect

ofc, if you don't run into those upgrades, he's probably superior

but, on the other hand, if you're really good at never getting shot (Thereby never triggering c3po) then Rey can be used offensively while c3po can't

Her plus Calculation would help Ten Nunb out, but not more efficiently than just giving him a Mangler.

On tlt HWKs I like to use recon spec instead of moldy crow. This is a cheaper option assuming you bank focus a while before entering battle. 24pts instead of 25 for the generic. HWKs need more options so it's a positive upgrade in my book.

It's basically something akin to an Comms System for Focus tokens. That's great for a utility piece, especially if you plan on taking a lot of red moves or use actions other than Focus.

Just skimmed and didn't see this mentioned but would she be worth anything at all on an ARC with adv proton torpedo? Keep your focus banked and tl when you can and when you get in range the focus is safely tucked into a gurantee. Lot's of what if's but is a use for her.

Just skimmed and didn't see this mentioned but would she be worth anything at all on an ARC with adv proton torpedo? Keep your focus banked and tl when you can and when you get in range the focus is safely tucked into a gurantee. Lot's of what if's but is a use for her.

Fickle, don't answer that.

LordFajubi, please try this out. When it works I want pictures. Bonus points if you add an extra result with Norra's ability by stealing Shara's TL.

So if you do C-3PO + Rey on a Falcon, you can stack a Focus, guess zero on the C-3PO roll, and if you roll a focus you'll net an evade off of C-3PO, focus into an evade, and potentially spend the Falcon's evade token from the title for 3 evades.

So if you do C-3PO + Rey on a Falcon, you can stack a Focus, guess zero on the C-3PO roll, and if you roll a focus you'll net an evade off of C-3PO, focus into an evade, and potentially spend the Falcon's evade token from the title for 3 evades.

yup

only issue is you're flying a fattie 50+ ship that only farts out 3 dice without anything special beyond TL + focus

may be one of the reasons we don't see YTs anymore. sure, TLTs and torps murdered them to hell and back, but without gunner it's very hard to hit all those thrusters