Yea, it sucks that the FAQ came out 3 weeks from Worlds but that is a Premier level tournament. If you consider yourself to be skilled enough to compete at that level, you should be able to find a new list to play in 3 weeks. Really, you should have a back up list already.

This change needed to happen at some point. I think if it didn't happen before Worlds and a U-boat list won, the outcry for the change would be even more deafening.

I think this is the best thing to happen for a long time. People are claiming that Scouts are dead, but this is untrue. They are still good, but it will require a player of a higher skill level to get the most out of them, no longer being move, OK I focus now and shoot. You want your full mods? You will need to fly well to get a low PS ship to keep out of range 1 and still in arc of your target. I think this has been a step in the right direction and I love the change.

I wonder how many people that dislike the change are 3x Scout players?

I strongly dislike the U-boat nerf and I have never flown 3x Scouts.

-- With the change, Contracted Scout is utterly thrown under the bus into tier 2. 'At least you can fly it in casual games.'

-- Without Deadeye, Long-Range Scanners, or high pilot skill, munitions fail.

-- The bumpmaster is a ship that blocks and does no damage for 30 points, no thanks.

-- U-boats are way more fascinating ships than TLT Y-wings

Torpedo boats will still be around - but not in triples anymore. They're a great high power ship that's hard to kill - they can complement another ace very well - do you go for the end game master, or do you go for the opening round master. Like a party bus, they will show up as a single ship complementing the rest of the build.

I own only one Jumpmaster. When I field it, its Dengar piloting this thing.

Same with the 666. Its Bossks ship. I like to fly with "historically correctness" (while I don't use the Hounds Tooth title even in casual games - my custom painted Pup is a shelf victim)

While I tend to lean this way myself, I do appreciate that FFG went out of their way to let you have your cake and eat it too. I giggle a bit when I see people upset that Slave-1 is being piloted by a "Mandalorian Mercenary" instead of Boba Fett for example.

Your post is well written.

So in professional Starcraft II, they only release major balance patches in the off season, not right before Blizzcon! FFG strengthens their reputation as perpetual amateurs in handling a competitive game.

Too bad the next off-season isn't until mid-2017. If you have something that you've determined is broken, you don't leave it in place for another 7 or 8 months.

Your post is well written.

So in professional Starcraft II, they only release major balance patches in the off season, not right before Blizzcon! FFG strengthens their reputation as perpetual amateurs in handling a competitive game.

Too bad the next off-season isn't until mid-2017. If you have something that you've determined is broken, you don't leave it in place for another 7 or 8 months.

I am not a fan of the idea that you can only release fundamental changes pretty much during Store Championships. Any time is going to be a "bad time" for someone. Ideally, we would be getting a new FAQ release shortly after every release, because questions pop up.

A whole lot of people are missing why the Deadeye nerf is different in kind to the cloak nerf. So let me try to explain:

Rules can be tweaked, modified, changed, and clarified to create a better game. But the pieces themselves should be as close to immutable as possible. The cloak nerf was a change in rules, and served to make things substantially more consistent in terms of movement.

Even the Tactician nerf was (arguably) different, in that they changed the card using a tool (the "limited" keyword) that they didn't have previously.

Changing Deadeye isn't just a rules change, it's a change to the pieces of the game itself. It's a change to the way the card had been designed in Wave 1, and played, since Wave 2.

I won't say that it's a bad change*, but it's a very different kind of change from what they have done previously.

I am, honestly, a bit more concerned about the precedent they have set with the Heavy Scyk title, as that's a far more substantial change, that opens the door to a whole lot of new things being done by errata.

*I think they needed to make _a_ change, and this is the smallest change they could make while addressing the problem

All they needed to do was add "Limited" to Deadeye and it would be fine. I dont do tourneys but dont see a lot of 3 J5K as most people play the more casual options. Agree that Palp needs a range limit such as 1-2 or just 'When attacking' especially given tokened up Defenders that can push 3-4 hits clinically each attack. And i also wish they would slow down the release cycles. Too many new ships too quickly together in this last half of 16 we have already had Vets, Wave 9, HOR, W10 and the missing SKU. Too much!

Limited? so you could only attach 1 Deadeye to each of your 3 Jumpmasters. .... ?

Sorry. My bad. I meant to say Unique?

correct me if im wrong but wasnt deadeye suppose to represent Luke's ability to fire the torps without his targeting computer?

Sounds to me like it was meant to be on small ships from the beginning. Which there were only small ships until wave2.

People are claiming that Scouts are dead, but this is untrue. They are still good, but it will require a player of a higher skill level to get the most out of them, no longer being move, OK I focus now and shoot. You want your full mods? You will need to fly well to get a low PS ship to keep out of range 1 and still in arc of your target.

Scouts weren't significantly dominating the meta before the nerf (they were already in decline). The change takes the hardest matchups for Scouts (aces) and increases their difficulty significantly. It just won't work anymore at the competitive level (too many lists you will just autolose against).

I have played triple scouts, moved on, and even though this change makes my current 'main' list stronger I still feel it's a bad change. Unless somebody really finds some unexpected synergy I think Scum is back to the pre-wave 8 situation, where you have one list (Dengaroo now, Brobots then) that is just head&shoulders above the rest.

All they needed to do was add "Limited" to Deadeye and it would be fine. I dont do tourneys but dont see a lot of 3 J5K as most people play the more casual options. Agree that Palp needs a range limit such as 1-2 or just 'When attacking' especially given tokened up Defenders that can push 3-4 hits clinically each attack. And i also wish they would slow down the release cycles. Too many new ships too quickly together in this last half of 16 we have already had Vets, Wave 9, HOR, W10 and the missing SKU. Too much!

Limited? so you could only attach 1 Deadeye to each of your 3 Jumpmasters. .... ?

Sorry. My bad. I meant to say Unique?

The problem is then you couldn't use multiple in Bomber Swarms which is what they were designed for..

It's a shame that it happened so soon to World's. I agree and feel bad for all players that practiced WITH this list, and against it, in anticipation. On that same note, though, players who adapt to the change better can just show their skill and make their World's win that much more impressive, and even include an interview bash on the change and how they learned to over-come the odds after months and months of practice with 3 JM5Ks!

But, as with every single release in this game now, and every single delay, I assume we can just blame LFL for holding up the process, and not FFG. They care about us! LFL barely knows we exist outside of their profit margin!

As ive said before, a good player is one that learns to adapt and fly properly: not bring the list that is solely designed to kill the most common list.

A whole lot of people are missing why the Deadeye nerf is different in kind to the cloak nerf. So let me try to explain:

Rules can be tweaked, modified, changed, and clarified to create a better game. But the pieces themselves should be as close to immutable as possible. The cloak nerf was a change in rules, and served to make things substantially more consistent in terms of movement.

Even the Tactician nerf was (arguably) different, in that they changed the card using a tool (the "limited" keyword) that they didn't have previously.

Changing Deadeye isn't just a rules change, it's a change to the pieces of the game itself. It's a change to the way the card had been designed in Wave 1, and played, since Wave 2.

I won't say that it's a bad change*, but it's a very different kind of change from what they have done previously.

I am, honestly, a bit more concerned about the precedent they have set with the Heavy Scyk title, as that's a far more substantial change, that opens the door to a whole lot of new things being done by errata.

*I think they needed to make _a_ change, and this is the smallest change they could make while addressing the problem

Limited was an existing mechanic when tactician released. At the very least, Targeting coordinator in the Tantive (may 2014) was limited, don't remember if there's others that came out sooner. Tactician came in the TIE Phantom in june of 2014. They weren't retroactively adding a mechanic that didn't exist previously. They FAQed an existing card to prevent a combination that was deemed to be too powerful. Which is exactly what adding "Small ship only" to deadeye does.

Heavy scyk I'll agree was a bigger change. On the other hand, plenty of people complain about having to buy new stuff to get fixes for existing cards/ships. FFG just gave us a scyk fix without requiring anyone to buy new ships to get it. And it was a much needed change. We'll see if it's enough for them to see use.

I wish they would have "fixed R4 Agromech" back then. I never saw the torp scouts as a problem as much as others. I would have preferred a different kind of fix.

If they are going to get this serious about it, then just say Contracted Scouts can't take Deadeye, fix stuff on an individual basis. Having a 22 page FAQ is not good for the game either though.

I wish they would have "fixed R4 Agromech" back then. I never saw the torp scouts as a problem as much as others. I would have preferred a different kind of fix.

If they are going to get this serious about it, then just say Contracted Scouts can't take Deadeye, fix stuff on an individual basis. Having a 22 page FAQ is not good for the game either though.

Understand that why it is 22 pages is due to the usage of card images. And the majority of the FAQ are fairly clear cut answers.

This is "first patch"? Wut? And what the bloody hell was the change to decloak mechanics if not an outright patch for an overpowered ship? Or for that matter the change to large ships barrel roll (though it was before my time with X-wing, so correct me if I'm wrong there). FFG have been changing effects of different cards back and forth via FAQ all the time. I can understand that this particular change is especially powerful because it erases an entire list archetype from the game, but I don't really see this as anything but the game's devs doing their job. That is ensuring a fair, balanced and enjoyable experience for all players. Granted, I'd rather they didn't have to do that AFTER the ships in question are released but nobody is perfect and fixing the game late is definitely better than keeping it broken.

Erases? Not really, it just makes it more difficult to play, rather than just "point them at stuff and focus" (and yes, I did play scouts).

I agree with the original post.

FAQ stands for "Frequently Asked Questions"! They are supposed to be using these to clarify vague rules or cards, not to drastically change the way the card reads! I also agree that the timing of this FAQ is suspicious. They want the world to be in turmoil whenever SWX58 and Wave 10 come out so that everyone buys a couple hundred more dollars worth of stuff, and nothing stands in the way of all four versions of Sabine Wren being the four most powerful cards in the game... I'm sorry, but FFG using FAQ to cover up for their failure when originally designing stuff is not cool, and it's even worse when it seems to be used to force people to buy the new ships.

Sorry for the rant. New FAQs always make me salty!

I agree with the original post.

FAQ stands for "Frequently Asked Questions"! They are supposed to be using these to clarify vague rules or cards, not to drastically change the way the card reads! I also agree that the timing of this FAQ is suspicious. They want the world to be in turmoil whenever SWX58 and Wave 10 come out so that everyone buys a couple hundred more dollars worth of stuff, and nothing stands in the way of all four versions of Sabine Wren being the four most powerful cards in the game... I'm sorry, but FFG using FAQ to cover up for their failure when originally designing stuff is not cool, and it's even worse when it seems to be used to force people to buy the new ships.

Sorry for the rant. New FAQs always make me salty!

So, no errata? Ever?

Erases? Not really, it just makes it more difficult to play, rather than just "point them at stuff and focus" (and yes, I did play scouts).

Sorry man, but no. U-boats already took a massive hit when agromech was nerfed. There's just no way in hell they're still competitive after the Deadeye change. They're gonna suffer from the very same problem ordnance carriers had from the very start - if you're lower PS than your opponent you can't lock him on the turn you enter each other's fire cones because you move before he does. And the turn after you're too close to fire your ordnance. As a result, you start losing ships before they get to use their expensive weapons. And then you lose the game. There are only 2 ways around this - use LRS or use Deadeye. Now that scouts can use neither, this particular archetype is dead, period. In this case "more difficult to play" is about the same as 4 x-wing rookies are "more difficult to play" than other lists out there. Can you field them? Sure. Can you win with them even? If you outplay your opponent or you're incredibly lucky - sure. But is this a viable list in a competitive environment? Hell no.

People are claiming that Scouts are dead, but this is untrue. They are still good, but it will require a player of a higher skill level to get the most out of them, no longer being move, OK I focus now and shoot. You want your full mods? You will need to fly well to get a low PS ship to keep out of range 1 and still in arc of your target.

Scouts weren't significantly dominating the meta before the nerf (they were already in decline). The change takes the hardest matchups for Scouts (aces) and increases their difficulty significantly. It just won't work anymore at the competitive level (too many lists you will just autolose against).

I have played triple scouts, moved on, and even though this change makes my current 'main' list stronger I still feel it's a bad change. Unless somebody really finds some unexpected synergy I think Scum is back to the pre-wave 8 situation, where you have one list (Dengaroo now, Brobots then) that is just head&shoulders above the rest.

There are some fun lists out there with the new ig88 crew. I personally have been flying Moralo-88 and what im calling "The Tin man" (aggressor+manaroo) to good success.

Im a dual aggressor VI player 100% so they are still my go to list, and for me, still stronger than the two new lists, but someone will find a new hotness to pair with the ig88 soon that will make some splashes.

Scum are in a good place right now IMO.

I think a Bumpmaster with dual YV 666 (or a Lancer) could be fun.

I agree with the original post.

FAQ stands for "Frequently Asked Questions"! They are supposed to be using these to clarify vague rules or cards, not to drastically change the way the card reads! I also agree that the timing of this FAQ is suspicious. They want the world to be in turmoil whenever SWX58 and Wave 10 come out so that everyone buys a couple hundred more dollars worth of stuff, and nothing stands in the way of all four versions of Sabine Wren being the four most powerful cards in the game... I'm sorry, but FFG using FAQ to cover up for their failure when originally designing stuff is not cool, and it's even worse when it seems to be used to force people to buy the new ships.

Sorry for the rant. New FAQs always make me salty!

So, no errata? Ever?

No! I hate errata. Once it's on the card, it should be set in stone. It's a poorly built game otherwise. I was just coming up with ways to beat U-Boats. They didn't have to nerf them for me. Besides, Palp Aces was better than U-Boats anyway... why didn't they make Palpatine "huge ship only"? Because they want everyone to shell out $100 for the stinking Raider, that's why!

Again, sorry for the saltiness... I'm going to be a troll for a while until I cool off about how lame the FAQ is...

I agree with the original post.

FAQ stands for "Frequently Asked Questions"! They are supposed to be using these to clarify vague rules or cards, not to drastically change the way the card reads! I also agree that the timing of this FAQ is suspicious. They want the world to be in turmoil whenever SWX58 and Wave 10 come out so that everyone buys a couple hundred more dollars worth of stuff, and nothing stands in the way of all four versions of Sabine Wren being the four most powerful cards in the game... I'm sorry, but FFG using FAQ to cover up for their failure when originally designing stuff is not cool, and it's even worse when it seems to be used to force people to buy the new ships.

Sorry for the rant. New FAQs always make me salty!

So, no errata? Ever?

No! I hate errata. Once it's on the card, it should be set in stone. It's a poorly built game otherwise. I was just coming up with ways to beat U-Boats. They didn't have to nerf them for me. Besides, Palp Aces was better than U-Boats anyway... why didn't they make Palpatine "huge ship only"? Because they want everyone to shell out $100 for the stinking Raider, that's why!

Again, sorry for the saltiness... I'm going to be a troll for a while until I cool off about how lame the FAQ is...

Someone lives in cloud cuckoo land, no game is ever perfect. So you either have to expect the occasional Errata, or the death spiral of the game (WFB I see you and your Demon Codex)