With the fallout from yesterday's FAQ still, well, falling out, it might do us well to start figuring out who benefits from all this. Sure, some of the losers are obvious (Dengaroo), but some of the winners are not so clear yet. So let's get theorizing! I'm only going to list a few, so please supply your own!

Losers

Tyderium Shuttle: Since the days of seeing 3 or 4 of these on the table are long gone, Palp was the one reason that kept these ships 'alive', as it were. With the Palp nerf, will it be worth it to bring the shuttle just to bring him along? I'm guessing it is a loser in all of this, and the time of the shuttle is over. Sure, Palp may still appear on a Deci or an UPS, but I think it's time to put this space cow to pasture.

In the Hunt

Attani Mindlink: While the Mannaroo nerf gave Attanni Mindlink lists a blow, they are not down and out by any means, still possessing top-notch efficiency, and with the likes of Kaato Leechos, Guri, or Palob, can still generate that extra focus that Mannarro did (albeit without the sheer flexibility that Mannaroo did it for).

TIE D: So while it isn't clear yet how competitive the TIE D title is, some have already used it to competitive use, and with the X7 nerf, maybe this title will finally shine.

Winners

Swarms: What killed the swarm was the X7, plain and simple. They simply could not get through that defense, and their best defense, bumping and focus firing, still didn't help because the X7 got an evade, and one of your ships couldn't attack him (because of the bump). With this off the table, swarms are back.

Stressers: Since X7 didn't care about stresshogs (and attanni mindlink lists don't really either), stresshogs were all but out. Now, one of their predators has become their prey, so I expect to see them right in the thick of things again!

U-Boats: We all know the Jumpmaster is 3-5 points undercosted, and has been the major problem since release, but now that some have discovered that three Atanni Mindlinked U-Boats are still amazing, looks like we're back to square one. Will we see a second U-Boat scourge? I sure hope not.

What are some others that I left out?

Doom Shuttle could see a resurgence since it's the only useful way to use the Lambda now.

I think people might be being uncharitable towards the Lambda. It always had Palpatine on it because Palpatine was overwhelmingly the strongest choice but it's still got a lot going for it. It's cheaper than a B-wing with a higher statline and it still has good crew options.

It won't be ubiquitous but I doubt it's gone.

Since the FAQ I've been looking more and more at the generic A-Wings, B-Wings, and Y-Wings to start rolling around the table with.

I'm betting on Kylo becoming the new hotness and I don't want to be stuck flying 2 ship lists or aces and getting Kylo'd to death. I'm thinking 3-4 ship lists are going to see a resurgence, and you may start seeing mini-swarms again. I'm leaning heavily towards:

Blue Squadron Pilot (22)
Fire-Control System (2)
"Mangler" Cannon (4)

Blue Squadron Pilot (22)
Fire-Control System (2)
"Mangler" Cannon (4)

Rebel Operative (16)
Twin Laser Turret (6)
Tactician (2)

Rebel Operative (16)
Autoblaster Turret (2)
Tactician (2)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Swarms are probably back. Thank goodness, because Imps are losing some viable competitive options. Aces are largely out because of all the bombs and auto-damage (not due to x7's, as is often thought).

D's would be amazing if it weren't for large-based ships (specifically Scum ones) wrecking them. They can absolutely murder small-based ships though.

So after this, it seems that the Empire has the following competitive archetypes:

- SF's

- Death RAC with Kylo and Carnor/Ace

- Swarms

- Maybe the UPS?

I really hope I am wrong, but Imperial Aces, which are a cornerstone of the faction, are not going to come back because x7's got nerfed.

I don't think that the /x7 nerf is too bad. It is still a very strong card, it is just no longer guaranteed. A good player can counter it with blocking, Stress or Ion which seems fair to me. I expect to see Mk2 engines become mandatory for /x7 Defenders rather than just "nice to have".

18 minutes ago, Tbetts94 said:

Doom Shuttle could see a resurgence since it's the only useful way to use the Lambda now.

I had thought of this list as an 'Imperial Control'

Kath Scarlett (45) - Firespray-31

• A Score To Settle (0)
• "Mangler" Cannon (4)
• Kylo Ren (3) [or Rebel Captive]
• Slave I (0)
• Long-Range Scanners (0)

Omicron Group Pilot (24)

• Darth Vader (3)

Inquisitor (31)

• PTL
• Tie V1
• Autothrusters

You've got a big control ship that threatens with crits and possibly double stresses (great for turning off X7 Defenders or Attani), a ship that acts as a 24-point F-U to aces, and a dedicated ace hunter.

I'm pretty sure swarms are still suppressed by spike damage just as much as they were before. When Fenn and Rey and their like can pop Howl pretty reliably before anyone can shoot the archetype's definitely questionable.

Crackswarms lessened the dependence on Howlrunner to some extent. Ultimately any list that relies on a ship with a Range 1 effect and only 3 health is going to have this problem.

Look at the math, this was an attack on the best two things the Empire had, plain and simple. It's a rebellious terrorist strike.

24 minutes ago, thespaceinvader said:

I'm pretty sure swarms are still suppressed by spike damage just as much as they were before. When Fenn and Rey and their like can pop Howl pretty reliably before anyone can shoot the archetype's definitely questionable.

Yeah, half of what suppressed swarms has been nerfed a bit but the other half is still going strong.

Theyre at least worth testing again, but I wouldn't rush straight into round 1 of a big event with them tomorrow.

Make the imperial swarm great again !

Swarm Elite, Crackswarm and others variante ! I'm happy ! Time to hunt down those rebels scums !

Now a nerf about the TLT and I will be happy

The spacecow has a few new toys that have not been playtested much because Palp was such a star, but now maybe those new toys will come to light. Adv Sensors + Hux for the same price as PalpMobile. Leaves you room for another support option like Op Spec for even more focus popping options.

This can supply ships like Omega Leader or Whisper with a focus before they even move. And give the lambda fanatical devotion, so it can hit fools at range 3 through a rock.

X7 is barely nerfed, in fact it's still great. Its just that theres some counnterplay to it now.

Palp is also far from useless, he's just not guaranteed anymore.

Also, to clarify my post, I still believe X7s to be good, and the nerf is EXACTLY what I was calling for (and I love X7 Defenders), but what I meant was the swarms can now bump them and get their focus fire, while before it didn't really matter. That's what I meant!

Also, I don't see Palp useless, by any means, but does he justify putting the Lambda on the table just for that? Hmm, I don't think so, but time will tell. I think his new home is the UPS, and I think the Deci will definitely leave him for the Gunner, HotCop, Kylo combo which is so delish. Before, it was a Pro-Con, but with the Emperor a little weaker, players will go for the guarantee of Gunner-HotCop.

3 hours ago, Blue Five said:

I think people might be being uncharitable towards the Lambda. It always had Palpatine on it because Palpatine was overwhelmingly the strongest choice but it's still got a lot going for it. It's cheaper than a B-wing with a higher statline and it still has good crew options.

It won't be ubiquitous but I doubt it's gone.

#BringBackTheDoomShuttle

Has anyone tried OGP with Advanced Sensors and General Hux? It's the same points as Palp Mobile, and actually hands out more dice mod than Palp could.

Biggest winner: Sabine.

With her imperial and scum counterparts nerffed (emperor and Manaroo), she's now the only remaining table wide, no downside mechanic to build around. I would've liked to see her get a 1-2 range (maybe 3) limitation--if only for consistent game design.

4 minutes ago, Sekac said:

Biggest winner: Sabine.

With her imperial and scum counterparts nerffed (emperor and Manaroo), she's now the only remaining table wide, no downside mechanic to build around. I would've liked to see her get a 1-2 range (maybe 3) limitation--if only for consistent game design.

That'd be reasonable. Sabine carriers still tend to be in the middle of the fight anyway, so I don't think it would change her much. Biggest downside would be to those pilots who drop a bomb before revealing their dial, then move 3 and slam out of the bomb's range.

If we start seeing Sabine builds where the other bombers are doing work while she hides, then I'm confident FFG will address it. That was the main driver of the Manaroo nerf.

7 hours ago, Stay On The Leader said:

Yeah, half of what suppressed swarms has been nerfed a bit but the other half is still going strong.

Theyre at least worth testing again, but I wouldn't rush straight into round 1 of a big event with them tomorrow.

To be fair, Dengaroo is the single worst swarm matchup of all time excepting arguably pre-nerf Phantom, and if it's not 6 feet under, it's body temperature is uncomfortably low. Add in that the swarm can block and hit x7s with no tokens and they are in a much better place agaisnt some of their "easy to play" hard matchups.

10 minutes ago, Biophysical said:

To be fair, Dengaroo is the single worst swarm matchup of all time excepting arguably pre-nerf Phantom, and if it's not 6 feet under, it's body temperature is uncomfortably low. Add in that the swarm can block and hit x7s with no tokens and they are in a much better place agaisnt some of their "easy to play" hard matchups.

Palp also doesn't work as well when you have to guess at which of the 3-4 weak attacks your green dice will decide to fail against.

I don't think swarms are back. They've been dead since Wave 6 long before the Imperial veterans release. If U-boats were still a thing then maybe I could see them coming back. That is the only list I know that can take 6 plasma torps and still be fine.

8 hours ago, Tbetts94 said:

Doom Shuttle could see a resurgence since it's the only useful way to use the Lambda now.

MOV nerf on large ships still makes it a terrible option. Doom shuttle you could potentially hold up 24 points if you don't vader your last hit but now with a Doom shuttle there is no question that you might as well kill it giving your opponent the full value because they are going to be getting at least half of it. Doom might be better on patrol leader with Vader being the only upgrade.

I do see swarms struggling against Kanan+Biggs though They are likely to be down by two or three ships before they can get Biggs off the table.

43 minutes ago, Biophysical said:

To be fair, Dengaroo is the single worst swarm matchup of all time excepting arguably pre-nerf Phantom, and if it's not 6 feet under, it's body temperature is uncomfortably low. Add in that the swarm can block and hit x7s with no tokens and they are in a much better place agaisnt some of their "easy to play" hard matchups.

Kind of. I realise Slaughterhouse was not a typical TIE Swarm abd classic swarms were worse, but Slaughterhouse was favourable against Dengaroo. /x7 and the big hitters... not so much.

Dengaroo is Donaroo.