Obviously, Maarek Stele is the most popular.

But if you mean most used, it's one of those other ones.

It's Ryad and Vessery for sure - but I'll admit to finding Ryad less of a worry than she used to be, because even with MkII engines she limits herself with PTL and I've learned how to get around that and deny her shots for long periods of a game.

Personally, my go-to pilot is Rexler, every time. I mainly take him for the PS8, which outclasses all the other commonly seen Defenders, but his ability is wonderful. You should never build or particularly plan for it, but when the planets align and you get to use it, it's magical.

I also like the good ol' Delta. Being PS1 is great as a Defender - so much harder to block the K-turn, and they make fabulous blockers themselves.

Ryad is the key Defender pilot. It's her ability to Push The Limit that feeds action economy to Vessery. I genuinely think if Ryad was banned then Commonwealth Defenders wouldn't really be a problem - she's the engine that makes it tick.

Ryad and Vessery, they come as a pair ;-)

Depends on if Brath/Expertise becomes a major thing.

So expensive, but man could it wreck face.

If it could hit anything outside of a ghost and a decimator. Which it can not. Damage output is properly lower than Ryad or Vessery.

Pretty much the only reason I put Vi on my tourney Asajj build, to out-PS the usual defender lists. Even if Vessery gets VI too, I'll get to fire back/fire first.

Depends on if Brath/Expertise becomes a major thing.

Yes, it is soooo very fun!

Depends on if Brath/Expertise becomes a major thing.

Yes, it is soooo very fun!

Or one point cheaper, Predator. I've been using that on him for ages. But I'm not going to buy (what is to me) a useless ship just for one EPT.

Ryad is not only the most popular defender, she was the most popular ship flown competitively for the last four months (Fenn Rau is #2)

Ryad and Vessery. But I only use Stele. I like his ability a lot. Ryad is too predictable to me. Vessery seems better with the D title to get the most out of his ability.

I find Ryad less predictable than any other defenders. 4 k turns vs 1 k turn for everyone else.

I was going to say, how is Ryad too predictable??

Well she is going to do a k turn if she is stressed. I guess other defenders are more than likely going to k turn too. But she is going to without a doubt. Especially if she doesn't have MKII engine on her. I see it a lot.

But I guess that's my take on it.

She could also go straight. And people really should be flying Mk. II Engines on her. So, basically, whoever you're flying against needs to learn how to play Ryad.

Well watching batreps she does the same thing over and over k turn this turn that turn. Players set up so she has a clear spot to k turn on turn 3. Yes it's what the ship does. But I used her and felt that she was too predictable over the other ones. I personally fly stele and try not to k turn that much. Because people expect it. Ymmv I guess.

If players just K-Turn with Ryad then they are missing out on her flexibility. I was playing against a K-Wing player yesterday who tried to drop some Conner Nets in her path, fortunately with Mk2 Engines her banks are Green too and you can use the 3-Turn and still get your Evade token.

Sometimes repeatedly K-Turning Ryad is what the situation calls for (which case the opponent needs to up their game a bit). However if the situation calls for other moves, Ryad can handle it without too much loss of flexibility.

EASILY Ryad. If you only see 1 defender its 90% of the time Ryad, 2nd defender is usually Vessery or an x7 Delta (28pts ftw).

Ryad with mk2 engines effectively has 14 green maneuvers and a 2-5K turn, which are green. She completely ignores any handling issues Defenders tend to have (the 4K permaflip predictability, shedding stress often loses a shot, 4k was blocked).

Defenders as a whole tend to spam 4ks since it isnt red. Any ship would if they could. Ryad has a 2-5K which is impossible to prevent, only limit which ones she does. Ive done a 5K into a 2K into a 5K into a 2K to keep arc on someone before lol (the Kturn also dodged some arcs every time which is why i wasnt just chasing)

At worlds, many people took PS7 Maarek in order to shoot before the more popular Vessery and Ryad.

A counter-meta list.

I took Rexler Brath (x7 + juke) alongside Omega Leader (comm relay + juke + hull) and Carnor Jax (PtL + AT + hull) to a 90-player regional last November. I faced and defeated Commonwealth Defenders (with Vess swapped out for Maarek), a PtL Ryad/Vessery/Omega Leader list and my own triple defender list (Vess/Ryad/Glaive, all with x7 and crack shot) twice throughout the weekend and ended up going undefeated in the swiss (though one of those matches was in the top cut).

I only used Rexler's ability twice throughout the weekend, and while both instances were quite amusing, they ultimately didn't change anything in either match... but that was expected as I only wanted him for his PS to juke early in the combat phase. Killing a fully tokened Vessery in the first round of combat before he could fire more than made up for that, and so did out PS-ing Maarek to be able to freely move away to target lock and have a full token stack when getting back into combat.

So yeah, using Rexler/Maarek is totally a counter-meta thing.

i tried flying Rexler when Expertise hit. Made the bugger a 40pt ship so i was leery already (x7 + mk2 + expertise). It enabled me to get his ability off 2-3 times a match but it rarely did anything.

I really like flying Ryad, xD, MkII, ion cannon, and VI if needed, or PTL. I send her with a more potent wingman, such as the Inquisitor. If I don't, she draws too much fire on her own. Granted I'm low on the competitive scale and more into it for the fun, but, she gets it done. It's nice how those small agile ships work together.