I have a tournament coming up soon, and I was trying to think of a fun list. I have a TIE Striker on the way that should be here a day or two before the tournament and I was trying to make a decently competitive list with it. Here it is...

TIE Striker: "Pure Sabacc" with VI, Lightweight Frame, and Adaptive Ailerons-25 pts.
TIE Defender: Rexlar Brath with x/7 and Juke-37 pts.
TIE Defender: Maarek Stele with x/7 and Juke-35 pts.

The idea behind this list is to use "Pure Sabacc" as a flanker while Maarek and Brath stick close together. If my opponent goes for "Pure Sabacc" then that lets my Defenders live longer and get more use out of Juke. If they go for the Defenders, then a four dice attack from a high pilot skill ship with great repositioning capabilities will be coming their way. I know this list does not have the best matchup against turrents, but that will be the Defenders primary target if there is one or two. My local meta also has Carnor, Defenders, Miranda, Omega Leader, Bossk, and so on, so the high pilot skill with big bid will let me use positioning to the greatest (unless its Fenn or Chiraneau, but thats just a bad matchup). Let me know what you guys think!

Taste it and check the pleasure of power CoCoOlo(100)

Colonel Vessery (35) - TIE Defender
Juke (2), TIE/x7 (-2)

Countess Ryad (36) - TIE Defender
Push The Limit (3), TIE/x7 (-2), Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)

"Omega Leader" (29) - TIE/FO Fighter
Juke (2), Comm Relay (3), Stealth Device (3)

It's hard to go wrong with a pair of X7s and something else.

VI is a good choice for Sabacc as it will let him make at least one attack with 4 dice in a lot of matches. Putting Crackshot on him instead makes him really scary though. It seems like you could probably set him up as a flanker opposite your Defenders and feint with him forcing the initial engagement with your Defenders and swinging him back into the fight to drop a 5 die crackshot shot at an opportune moment.

The TIE Striker does not fit in a list I would call "decently competitive". I haven't bought one myself but I have flown against it on numerous occasions, and it is just underwhelming. And especially Pure Sabacc; I have never failed to disallow him to use his ability.

ImperialEmperor's suggestion, on the other hand, is really strong.

26 minutes ago, MrAndersson said:

The TIE Striker does not fit in a list I would call "decently competitive"

There have been a number of Strikers in squads that have been making the cut this Regionals season.

MrAnderson - the list should be designed in same strategy as in Oks times engineers test TANKS

1. FirePowe

2. Durability

3. Mobility

in Xwing we need add one point

4. Ekonomiczne action

in mu list we Have:

1. 3+3+2(juke and no reroll)

2.3evade+3evade+4evade

3.good dial and all Have bRoll

4. A)set dial on 3speed to get evade B)dont forget on TL and evade for OL C) focus power on one ship and kill him

this is enough to win. You dont need remember on thing like ,,i need to get Range2 for tactican" or ohhh i forgot about kallus or *** i forgot about autothrusters etc. We Have here sumie game dial>evade>action TL>roll dice THATS ALL.

And fun fact. If we use defenders as first kill ships and our OL will attack from 3range and hide from opponent arc he is one of best ship in 1vs1 game. TL+evede is a recipe to win with no problem.

//about sabacc

i love that ship but Ryad and vess is a couple. So 5/6PS with sabaccVI 8PS ? Bid do nothing, its a waste. He just dstn fit here. If you Have power aces use my list:

inquisitor title autothrusters ptl

sabacc VI title LWF

whisper VI kallus ACD FCS

here you Have 11red with 998PS and bid

2 hours ago, MrAndersson said:

And especially Pure Sabacc; I have never failed to disallow him to use his ability.

Really? I've played maybe five games with him and never failed to shoot extra dice more than once a game. Granted only once was I against a turret but you can stay at range 3 and roll 3 with an evade token and take 0-1 hits pretty easily

Sticking to your original pilots but tweaking the loadout a bit could give you this:

25 Pure Sabacc (22), VI (1), Lightweight Frame (2), Adaptive Ailerons (0)
40 Rexlar Brath (37), /x7 (-2), Expertise (4), Mk2 Engines (1)
35 Maarek Stele (35), /x7 (-2), Juke (2)

Expertise is great on Rexler because it means he can save his Focus token to flip all his hits into crits or save it for defense if he rolls well enough to kill his target. Mk2 Engines give him some extra greens to make sure he can ditch any Stress if he runs into Tactician/Stressbot.

2 hours ago, Karhedron said:

Sticking to your original pilots but tweaking the loadout a bit could give you this:

25 Pure Sabacc (22), VI (1), Lightweight Frame (2), Adaptive Ailerons (0)
40 Rexlar Brath (37), /x7 (-2), Expertise (4), Mk2 Engines (1)
35 Maarek Stele (35), /x7 (-2), Juke (2)

Expertise is great on Rexler because it means he can save his Focus token to flip all his hits into crits or save it for defense if he rolls well enough to kill his target. Mk2 Engines give him some extra greens to make sure he can ditch any Stress if he runs into Tactician/Stressbot.

I second this. Expertise is pure gold with Rexler.

22 hours ago, WWHSD said:

There have been a number of Strikers in squads that have been making the cut this Regionals season.

According to ListJuggler, the TIE Striker represents 2.2% of the points spent in Imperial lists making the cut in regionals in february. Corresponding number for january is 2.7%. So it barely beats the TIE Bomber, at 1.2% and 2.5% respectively.

Competitive? Not in my opinion.

1 hour ago, MrAndersson said:

According to ListJuggler, the TIE Striker represents 2.2% of the points spent in Imperial lists making the cut in regionals in february. Corresponding number for january is 2.7%. So it barely beats the TIE Bomber, at 1.2% and 2.5% respectively.

Competitive? Not in my opinion.

We obviously have different ideas of what it means for a ship to be "competitive". In my book, a ship is competitive if you've got multiple players making the cut at different regionals with a ship. If every Imperial list that made the cut had a Striker, it would be sitting around 25% of the points spent because it is a relatively inexpensive ship. 2.5% is roughly 1 in every 10 Imperial lists that make the cut having a Striker. Honestly, that's not bad for a ship that has recently been released, isn't part of any crazy combo, and has had the forums calling it DOA and underwhelming since before it was released.

19 hours ago, Karhedron said:

Sticking to your original pilots but tweaking the loadout a bit could give you this:

25 Pure Sabacc (22), VI (1), Lightweight Frame (2), Adaptive Ailerons (0)
40 Rexlar Brath (37), /x7 (-2), Expertise (4), Mk2 Engines (1)
35 Maarek Stele (35), /x7 (-2), Juke (2)

Expertise is great on Rexler because it means he can save his Focus token to flip all his hits into crits or save it for defense if he rolls well enough to kill his target. Mk2 Engines give him some extra greens to make sure he can ditch any Stress if he runs into Tactician/Stressbot.

I just ran this list with 34 point Carnor Jax instead of Maarek Steele. I think both are pretty sweet options. Jax is nice because Rex can be the third shot with Expertise and a Focus to slam crits on the last of your shots. I've run Sabacc a handful of times in a couple different lists. I like him, because I like the dice. I'm not sure how competitive he is compared to Omega Leader (who I've run a ton), but he does get stuff done.

6 hours ago, Biophysical said:

I'm not sure how competitive he is compared to Omega Leader (who I've run a ton), but he does get stuff done.

I struggle to keep OL alive when her wingmen are a pair of token-stacked /x7 Defenders. I spite of her abilities (or perhaps because of them), OL is perceived as being the soft target and attracts a disproportionate amount of attention. If she works for you in that context that is great, I tend to prefer Deathfire with some ordnance to pack a bit of an alpha strike but 25 points is not quite enough for a properly kitted Deathfire IMHO.

40 minutes ago, Karhedron said:

I struggle to keep OL alive when her wingmen are a pair of token-stacked /x7 Defenders. I spite of her abilities (or perhaps because of them), OL is perceived as being the soft target and attracts a disproportionate amount of attention. If she works for you in that context that is great, I tend to prefer Deathfire with some ordnance to pack a bit of an alpha strike but 25 points is not quite enough for a properly kitted Deathfire IMHO.

That is actually why I like OL so much. She protects the other ships in the list, or acts as a great end game ship, and can do damage,to Defenders in the meantime.

If you fly her a little like Biggs, where you put her in a position to get shot, but not by everyone, you can get the most out of her damage while making it suboptimal to shoot at her.

On February 9, 2017 at 9:49 PM, MrAndersson said:

The TIE Striker does not fit in a list I would call "decently competitive". I haven't bought one myself but I have flown against it on numerous occasions, and it is just underwhelming. And especially Pure Sabacc; I have never failed to disallow him to use his ability.

ImperialEmperor's suggestion, on the other hand, is really strong.

I feel like that might be groupthink talking. Everybody loves to go with what they know, but sometimes it's worth it to look outside the box and find the right fit for a ship instead of dismissing it after only a month of release. Here's a list that took second place at Mustafar Open using a TIE/D and Pure Sabbac.

Marc Sebo: Imperial Jank Aces: Vessery (TIE/D! Tractor, Twin Ion Engines, Expertise, Pure sabbac (Title, Trickshot), Quickdraw (FCS, Title, Expertise, Lightweight Frame), title

I like Sabbac here because it messes with target priority and he's barely an investment at 22 points.

On February 10, 2017 at 4:44 AM, Karhedron said:

Sticking to your original pilots but tweaking the loadout a bit could give you this:

25 Pure Sabacc (22), VI (1), Lightweight Frame (2), Adaptive Ailerons (0)
40 Rexlar Brath (37), /x7 (-2), Expertise (4), Mk2 Engines (1)
35 Maarek Stele (35), /x7 (-2), Juke (2)

Expertise is great on Rexler because it means he can save his Focus token to flip all his hits into crits or save it for defense if he rolls well enough to kill his target. Mk2 Engines give him some extra greens to make sure he can ditch any Stress if he runs into Tactician/Stressbot.

I've been loving expertise as a card. Defenders are also great at clearing/avoiding stress with white 4ks and Ion Engine. It works even better if you can get a consistent target lock, which is why I like it on Vessary, albeit at a lower pilot skill.

What about

Colonel Vessery (38) - TIE Defender
Expertise (4), TIE/x7 (-2), Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)

"Omega Leader" (26) - TIE/FO Fighter
Juke (2), Comm Relay (3)

And then add an ACE? Maybe Vader, who holds locks or another defender? Soontir could give you a nice 99 pt build too.

Looks good! You have 36 points left which would give you EU Vader, Soontir or (my personal favourite) PTL Ryad.

I really like all of the ideas and discussion so far! I have a few more ideas that either build off of ideas listed here or are a few more lists that I have thought of. Let me know what you think.

TIE/fo Fighter: "Omega Leader" with Juke and Comm Relay-26 pts.
TIE Defender: Colonel Vessery with x/7, Expertise, and Twin Ion Engine Mk.2-38 pts.
TIE Defender: Countess Ryad with x/7, PTL, and Twin Ion Engine Mk. 2-36 pts.
(I have flown these guys at both of the tournaments I have gone to, but not in this setup)

(This list is kind of crazy, but if Defenders are already hard to kill, why not make it harder)
TIE Defender: Delta Squadron Pilot with x/7 and Hull Upgrade-31 pts.
TIE Defender: Delta Squadron Pilot with x/7 and Hull Upgrade-31 pts.
TIE Defender: Countess Ryad with x/7, Outmaneuver, and Hull Upgrade-38 pts.

TIE Defender: Delta Squadron Pilot with x/7 and Hull Upgrade-31 pts.
TIE Defender: Delta Squadron Pilot with x/7 -28 pts.
TIE/sf Fighter: “Quickdraw” with Expertise, Fire-Control System, Sensor Cluster, Lightweight Frame, and Special Ops Training-39 pts.