Fair warning: This is a text wall.
We all know (or soon will know) about the Meta staples through the years. Here's a recap:
1. TIE swarms.
2. Biggs + Pals.
3. Imperial Triple Aces.
4. Palpmobile and ces.
5. Triple defenders.
6. Fat Han
7. Triple U-boats.
8. Dengaroo.
9. Party Bus.
10. Rebel Regen
...
The list goes on. They each function differently, from Biggs' omnipotent protection bubble to Dengar's pile of 30 stress tokens. Whatever makes them tick sets them above the rest. Now I'm not against these lists or the players that use them, but - like the dark side - they lead to quick and easy power. I've found the game to be most rewarding when I've blazed my own trail, coming up with lists that have won me tournaments (3 so far, with 3-0 streaks each time). With this in mind, let's examine the worst best ships there are in the game:
Number 5:
The A-wing. Rare to see in competitive play, the A-wing suffers from Interceptor envy as it just can't punch through damage with its piddly ATT 2 platform. Despite its flaws, the A-wing has access to the one thing no other ship has - 2 EPT slots. Traditional uses have been predator, outmaneuver and PTL to help mitgate the ATT 2 platform, but these inevitably fall short due to the high cost and situational usefulness.
What I've found is that the cheaper EPTs on generic A-wings give you much better bang for you buck, and with Green Squadron Pilots you can get 5 in a list with some truly powerful combos. Snap shot, trick shot, crack shot, juke and adaptability are all nice combs, depending on what you're aiming for. Here they are in a list:
3 x Green Squadron Pilot (18)
Crack Shot
Trick Shot
PS 9 Poe Dameron (45)
R2-D2
Sensor Cluster
Autothrusters
Seismic Torpedo
Black One
Veteran Instincts
Total: 99 pts.
Sure, you need 2 copies of HotR to play this, but what it gives you is well worth it. The A-wings thrive in asteroid fields regardless, and the Crack/Trick shot combo is really geared towards dog fighting in a dense asteroid cluster. Poe gives you an incredible Anti-ace package (I played this version of Poe earlier today and he really was unstoppable).
The best part of these A-wings are that they do not suffer from Interceptor envy - so long as you have an obstructed attack, they're just as good as an Alpha squadron interceptor, plus crack shot and a slightly better dial, plus more health - at the same price! A-wings are really coming into their own now that so many potent, low cost EPT cards are out.
One final note - trick shot isn't limited to primary weapon attacks. Slap some cluster or homing missiles onto these to get some truly massive damage potential in a 22-23 point platform.
Number 4:
The Imperial Bomber. Before imperial veterans this ship was lacking in every department when compared to a TIE fighter. However, waves 7, 8 and 9 have provided some fantastic munitions tools that can open up their damage potential and support capabilities.
The TIE shuttle card is nice, and has been worked over numerous times, so lets skip that. Munitions are a big thing these days, although less so since Deadeye got nerfed to stop the raging U-boat tyrant. Optimal munitions choices for the bomber are cluster and homing missiles, cluster mines and proton torpedoes. When combined with the Gamma squadron pilot's cheap EPT slot, you get some heavy-hitters:
2 x Gamma Squadron Veteran (33)
Homing Missiles
Cluster Missiles
Ion Bombs
Deadeye
Guidance Chips
Quickdraw (34)
Push The Limit
Electronic Baffle
Primed Thrusters
Total: 100 pts.
Quickdraw gives you some Anti-ace potential, and the bombers give you enormous control and firepower. The trick, as always, is keeping your target in arc. The great thing about this list is that a focus action gives you so many options with the Vets, and tends to make opposing ace players panic about the firepower and spend actions getting their more vulnerable ships out of the kill zone.
You could add trick shot in lieu of deadeye to beef up the damage at the cost of adaptability. Not a killer list, but something to look out for.
Number 3:
Z-95 headhunter. Released in wave 4 as the rebel counterpart to the TIE fighter, it fell short of its ultimate goal (being just slightly worse), and really only came into its own in Millenium Falcon Support roles, where it excelled. This is still the case, but with the advent of HotR Chewbacca, they can play the role like never before.
4 x Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)
Chewbacca (Revenge Shot Version) (52)
Engine Upgrade
Predator
Rey
Intelligence Agent
Total: 100 pts.
The Z-95s form a traditional screen for the Falcon, and have their own guns to add to the fight. Fitting 4 into a list is a bit of a stretch, but it works well with Chewbacca's ability. Speaking of which, the gist of this list is to delay combat until Chewbacca has around 3 Rey focus tokens, then bring the Z-95s in for a joust, with Chwebacca either on the flank or behind, taking the inevitable revenge shots, powered by Rey's focus and Predator. Intelligence agent helps Chewbacca block and avoid aces.
While Chewie's revenge shots are nice (and aren't limited to 1 per round), this list is limited by Having to fly Z-95s in a joust while having CHewie continually presenting a less tempting target while still being in range. Practice may be required.
Number 2:
Scyk interceptor. FFG is a humble company, and corrects their mistakes. Until recently the Scyk interceptor tied with Fel's wrath for worst ship in the game, mainly due to their despicable 3 health total. The recent anti-nerf to the Title card gives the scyk a free hull upgrade along with the original ability. This gives you a ship as durable as an A-wing with cannon potential:
2 x Tansarii Point Veteran (26)
Heavy Laser Cannon
Heavy Scyk
Trick Shot
Fenn Rau (32)
Autothrusters
Fearlessness
Concord Dawn Protector
Binayre Pilot (14)
Feedback Array
Total: 98 pts.
A healthy initiative bid aids Fenn in the late game ace vs ace battle. The idea here is to have your super-cheap, ridiculously dangerous ace joust the opposition as a potent distraction, while your Veterans move in with heavy laser cannons from the mid-board debris you've set up, gaining obstructed 5 die attacks as they slow play forward. Regardless of whether or not Fenn dies early, the veterans punch way above their 26 points, and have some durability to stay in the game.
Not only do you get two potentially 5 die attack platforms (which are a big thing, nowadays) but you also have points left over for a Binayre blocker with feedback array, which can follow behind Fenn and watch for k-turning enemies.
Now that the Scyk has been buffed in errata, they have become playable to the extreme. The scyk was never meant to be a jouster (it just doesn't have the stat line), but acting as a 'sniper' ship, you're gaining a very strong attack platform for an incredibly affordable price.
Number 1:
I'd love to say the T-65 x-wing, but its still dead in the water. The firespray has yet to receive its buff, as with the E-wing (rebel veterans, fingers crossed), y-wing, Kihraxz fighter and TIE punisher. However, some upgrades have been released that make the B-wing (my most-played ship) a lot stronger than before.
Rebel aces gave us Keyan Farlander (my all-time favourite pilot), and his massive damage potential when suitably protected (Biggs) had given him respectable B-tier table time. However, he's never had the punch necessary to be on the same tier of play as Soontir, or Regen Poe. I ran to a 3-0 win in a small tournament the following Keyan:
Keyan Farlander (40)
Heavy Laser Canon
Opportunist
Target lock, strip tokens with any PS 8 ace, use Keyan to have a 5 die (at any range) attack with a target lock and stress-focus. Doing the math gives you 4.6 hits per attack. He was amazing, until I encountered PTL aces with numerous tokens. Regrettably, I don't have Wes Janson (the token stripping X-wing pilot), so I hit a dead wall.
Then wave 9 released (along with Heroes of the Resistance), and gave me new hope:
Keyan Farlander (38)
Finn
Push The Limit
B-Wing/E2
Collision Detector
Biggs Darklighter (26)
R4-D6
Integrated Astromech
2 x Green Squadron Pilot (18)
Crack Shot
Trick Shot
Total: 100 pts.
Keyan loses his dependency on his target having a focus token, and gains PTL + collision detector shenanigans (debris would be a good bet here). Biggs keeps Keyan alive, and that's about it. THe A-wings are significantly faster than the B-wing, so using them to flank while your opponent goes for the much more dangerous half of your list would be a good idea.
Keyan at range 2 with target lock and stress-focus gives him an average of 3.375 hits, or a spread of about 3, 3, 4 hits/crits. Against swarms you can expect about a ship per turn with just Biggs and Keyan, and maybe a bit more. At range 1 Keyan goes up to 4.25 hits, or 4, 4, 4, 5 hits. You can expect a TIE per turn at range 1 with just Keyan. The A-wings are just icing on the cake.
So there you have it. Hopefully I've convinced you that meta-staples aren't the only way to play, or even the only way to win. A lot of top-tier lists require enormous capital investment (Emperor Palpatine, Triple U-boats, TIE swarms). Why go with one of them when you could have 99% of the list strength with the stack of cards you never though had a chance of winning, but always wanted to use?