As I type, Phillip Horny is running a pretty mean Rear Admiral Chiraneau and Ryad build at a 120+ player regional in Michigan. He is currently in the top four. This is his list:

Rear Admiral Chiraneau (65)

VT-49 Decimator (46), Predator (3), Gunner (5), Hotshot Co-pilot (4), Darth Vader (3), Engine Upgrade (4)

Countess Ryad (35)

TIE Defender (34), Juke (2), TIE/x7 (-2), Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)

RAC, Hot Shot Co-Pilot, Gunner, and Juke. Pretty exhausting combination for whomever is on the other side of the table. RAC being a DeciVader, too, just makes the Fenns and clinging Imperial Aces of this meta say GG before ships are placed.

I am a remorseless fan of DeciVader, logging at least 50 games with it when Fel ran things. I usually had Whisper by his side. Since then I have graduated to a more "conservative" VT-49 based on sage advice:

Rear Admiral Chiraneau (64)

VT-49 Decimator (46), Veteran Instincts (1), Emperor Palpatine (8), Rebel Captive (3), Dauntless (2), Engine Upgrade (4)

I won't bore you with why this works so well, but I will say the title and EPT on this build are way underappreciated.

Anyway, when I saw Phil's list keep two Tie/x7 Defenders on the ropes and sucking wind for the full 75 minutes, I really wanted to see the love child of the Decimator I play and his. And so:

Rear Admiral Chiraneau (65)

VT-49 Decimator (46), Veteran Instincts (1), Gunner (5), Hotshot Co-pilot (4), Rebel Captive (3), Dauntless (2), Engine Upgrade (4)

This ship is mean. It's got all the nightmarish token stripping of Phil's with the added benefit of Rebel Captive and the best* PS score in the game. In addition to stripping focus tokens (and evades if Gunner is being used properly), you now punish any incoming attacks on the Admiral, who already makes ships in range 1-2 sweat. Image if the Defenders in Phil's match had been stressed every time they took a shot at half of his list? (the first time, each round of course)

So that's 65 points, leaving a meaty 35 points to put whatever you want in. Of the Imperial Aces of today, that is a long list.

Defenders your thing? How about Vessery or Ryad with all the trimmings?

Old school more your style? How about Vader?

Me? I immediately thought about that four letter word that is taking over the world meta: TLT.

So who do I want takes Autothrusters? This is a shorter list: Interceptors; Tie Adv. Prototypes; and soon, Strikers.

Well, we can eliminate Carnor (half of his effectiveness is made obsolete by a 4-point crew on RAC). That leaves Inquisitor (lol, sorry Fel and Rudor, you know how it is). And for the same reason I can't trust Fel, I approached this build knowing I wasn't going to use Push the Limit:

The Inquisitor (35)

TIE Advanced Prototype (25), Juke (2), Homing Missiles (5), TIE/v1 (1), Autothrusters (2)

I gave him Homing Missiles because the opponent won't have focus tokens during your coordinated alpha strike - which makes Juke feel like Crack Shot. And so many ships have a bijillion hull and shields so I definitely wanted munitions on him. Maybe Proton Rockets is the correct answer? Let me know if you think so and why.

I'm also keen on the idea of the Inquisitor having access to his whole dial, which is a Defender dial without the sh*tty turns or the white 4-k. There's little re-positioning available if you want any offensive or defensive modifiers - but when Zuckuss and 4-LOM exist, do you even care? The worst thing about the Inquisitor, which I'll say is the lists weakest link, is the Protoype's two hull and two shields... Without being able to rely on a token stack or double re-positioning, this little guy will probably be the beneficiary of Palp nine turns out of ten.

Autothrusters is still as good as it always was, enough said.

What say you, community?

Updates from Phil's top-four and final table games:

13 minute mark, first shot of the game, range 3: his RAC has an enemy Whisper down to one hull and PS 0. R.I.P. Whisper.

It's all over - Phil moves on to the final table.

Final table result: Win.

* Chances are if you are PS 9 and taking VI as your EPT, you're either in a very dated meta or are not playing competitive (imo).

It's a mean list for sure, hot-shot is something that seems to be very underappreciated at the moment. I've tried similar lists to Phil and found it did incredibly against small base aces, Fenn Rau in particular, but against larger ships, particularly with turrets it was much less effective.

What are your thoughts on the list against ships like Dengar?

I'm not sure I'd like to fly the Inquisitor as you've built it to be honest PTL Ryad would be my choice though appreciate the meta may have swiftly shifted back to TLTs/list that mess with stressed ships in your area.

Flying against any two ship list requires kiting and bumping the right ship to kill the intended target (Dengar, first, if you ask me). I'd like to say Inq can catch and kill Manaroo but that largely depends on if she's got PtL, Painbot, or Feedback.

As you said, Inquisitor probably doesn't fit the bill. Unfortunately, the power creep demands ships with 5+ health and at least a 3-dice primary. If I had to take this to a tournament I'd probably skip him, too.