Ran my first game last night with Kath, NDru, and Old Teroch (all had mindlink).

It worked pretty well, but it wasn't OT's ability that won the game (didn't use it once), but Mindlink. Being able to not have to worry about blocks or doing a talon roll and still get tokens was pretty significant. This isn't to say I didn't like or wouldn't continue to use Teroch as I think the ship is very good (he still did a lot of work even without his ability) and my opponent's list wasn't really suited to get his ability to work, but that I think Mindlink may be the way to go with these guys in general. I'll admit that I've never liked the dial for PTL as there are too many moves in the same range, making it easier for an opponent to block.

Your opponent doesn't want to be at range 1 of Old Terroch. Well, with Autothrusters now he also doesn't want to be at 3. Hitting exactly range 2 isn't the hardest thing in the world, but it introduces a new source for error. And then you also have a field day against turrets, which you may or may not meet, but thats a different story and not even needed for ATs to be good.

This very much, on top of that there is the thing that against lower PS old Teroch can always choose to go into R1 or roll into R3. It very uncommon that both options can be denied at the same time and most ships with more PS than 7 don't want to be at R2 themselves.

Anyway, back to the original post:

The usually scum aces suspects

Manaroo

Guri

Palob

Fen Rau

Some or all of them Mindlinked, finally scum has all the ingredients together for their own ace lists.

One thing to note is that OT is a prime x7 hunter. Ryad and Vessery are the most popular x7s by far, and Teroch has better PS than either of them. He's also got a good dial and can probably get in front of them to get his ability off. That leaves the Defender open to your whole squad.

The problem I keep running into is what he brings over Carnor Jax (aside from the lists obviously being different). The title and 4 hull make him a lot tougher in the disruptive role than Jax is, I think, although he's harder to trigger.

well, you get one stupidly limited application in ******* juke over by removing the token instead of disallowing its expenditure

but overall, Ol Terry is a sh*tty Carnor in a sturdier interceptor (and in a different faction etc)

but overall, Ol Terry is a sh*tty Carnor in a sturdier interceptor

This is I think the best way to sum up old Terry I've seen.

well, you get one stupidly limited application in ******* juke over by removing the token instead of disallowing its expenditure

but overall, Ol Terry is a sh*tty Carnor in a sturdier interceptor (and in a different faction etc)

To be fair, Carnor dies a lot. Being Carnor Junior that doesn't die as quickly while doing his thing is actually a bit of a selling point.

One thing to note is that OT is a prime x7 hunter. Ryad and Vessery are the most popular x7s by far, and Teroch has better PS than either of them. He's also got a good dial and can probably get in front of them to get his ability off. That leaves the Defender open to your whole squad.

The problem I keep running into is what he brings over Carnor Jax (aside from the lists obviously being different). The title and 4 hull make him a lot tougher in the disruptive role than Jax is, I think, although he's harder to trigger.

well, you get one stupidly limited application in ******* juke over by removing the token instead of disallowing its expenditure

but overall, Ol Terry is a sh*tty Carnor in a sturdier interceptor (and in a different faction etc)

This actually gets to the heart of the reason for my original post about support, because that's where I feel the biggest difference is.

In general, Carnor's ability is much better (outside of a few corner cases, one of them being Juke Defenders) and his PS is very strong in the meta right now, probably better than it has ever been since he first came out. He is more expensive to build with similar base durability.

I guess that's what led me to focusing on support options for Teroch along with builds that might have some different advantages over the Imperial version. I think they're some interesting options there.

To expand on my point above:

I like the access to Mindlink as while it's not as flexible as PTL and has a drawback, there are a lot of advantages to it as well, like having at least one token every turn, and in a 3 ship list you're paying the same price as one PTL card. Sure it takes up a slot for something else, but after playing it, I'm surprised I'm not seeing it more.

Scum also has access to more flexible tools that Jax doesn't, particularly to deal with the higher PS aces that can outmaneuver their abilities. Zuckuss crew, Palob, BM Slicer Tools, to name a few. If I'm considering flying Jax these days, it's probably with a more limited selection (Palp and Defenders).

If going the Mindlink route, I've played this list a few times and been happy with it. Also fun dropping some other ships on the board you don't normally see

Old T, Mindlink, AT, Title (30)

Palob, Mindlink, GONK!!!, VT, ABT(27)

Kaa'to, Mindlink, Ion pulse Missiles, G-chips (19)

Black Sun Ace, Mindlink (24)

Maybe Kad Solus with Bodyguard EPT?