With the Coruscant Invitational happening this week at Star Wars Celebration, what does the community think are good 77 point lists for each faction? Any predictions on what popular ships/pilots will be? Top and bottom draft picks? Can Paul pull off an unexpected win? (Even FFG OP thought he wasn't going as they let him make draft ships)

I have a feeling Paul isn't going to run anything close to what he'll be running at Worlds. He's probably gonna run Jess and maybe a few of those A-Wings with Juke. He did run that Swarm Leader Jess on a Stele TV test before it got big at Naboo.

The other guys I have no idea. Scum would probably be Fenn Rau and Manaroo. Rebel lists probably will have something with a stressbot or Miranda. Imperial lists will be the ones to watch for anything interesting. I'm hoping Vader makes an appearance considering the entire theme of the System Opens.

All of the draft ships are found in this LINK .

If I were to go I would go for pure fun. Everyone there essentially gets the same prizes and no one remembers who wins this one anyways, especially if they don't stream it again. So I would bring some wacky 77 point lists just for fun.

So my 77 point squadrons would be:

Rebels: Take 2/3rds of the Rebel Squad from Stele Open

I would bet that most 77 point rebel lists will be Miranda plus either Biggs or the Stresshog. Scum will probably be PTL Fenn plus something. Imperials are the most open. Maybe 2 Defenders or SFs?

I really enjoy that the OP is the hoth open champ and trying to get us to do his scouting for him

Scum can fit Fenn Rau and a set of bugzapper Zs very neatly.

If you win the draft, you could even get two more!

2 hours ago, MenaceNsobriety said:

I would bet that most 77 point rebel lists will be Miranda plus either Biggs or the Stresshog. Scum will probably be PTL Fenn plus something. Imperials are the most open. Maybe 2 Defenders or SFs?

"Quickdraw" (29)
Expertise (4)
Fire-Control System (2)
Sensor Cluster (2)
Lightweight Frame (2)
Special Ops Training (0)

"Backdraft" (27)
Expertise (4)
Fire-Control System (2)
Sensor Cluster (2)
Lightweight Frame (2)
Special Ops Training (0)

Total: 76

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

4 minutes ago, VanderLegion said:

"Quickdraw" (29)
Expertise (4)
Fire-Control System (2)
Sensor Cluster (2)
Lightweight Frame (2)
Special Ops Training (0)

"Backdraft" (27)
Expertise (4)
Fire-Control System (2)
Sensor Cluster (2)
Lightweight Frame (2)
Special Ops Training (0)

Total: 76

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Exactly what I was thinking. I think empire will probably have the best variety because they have so many good options at the 25-35 point level.

Just now, MenaceNsobriety said:

Exactly what I was thinking. I think empire will probably have the best variety because they have so many good options at the 25-35 point level.

I've been running these two alongside pure sabacc with adaptability/lwf/ailerons lately. Been a great squad. Could even take the expertise striker in the mini squads to have close t the same list :P.

2 minutes ago, VanderLegion said:

I've been running these two alongside pure sabacc with adaptability/lwf/ailerons lately. Been a great squad. Could even take the expertise striker in the mini squads to have close t the same list :P.

I have been running /D ion Vessery with backdraft(same build except CS instead of expertise) and TS Sabaac. I love that list and had forgotten how powerful that ion cannon can be! Backdraft is the ideal spotter for Vess.

13 minutes ago, MenaceNsobriety said:

I have been running /D ion Vessery with backdraft(same build except CS instead of expertise) and TS Sabaac. I love that list and had forgotten how powerful that ion cannon can be! Backdraft is the ideal spotter for Vess.

/D also has some bonus utility when you know people are only bringing 77 points worth of ship plus a random(ish) small - Ion cannons work much better when the opponent isn't Large.

43 minutes ago, Reiver said:

/D also has some bonus utility when you know people are only bringing 77 points worth of ship plus a random(ish) small - Ion cannons work much better when the opponent isn't Large.

I have found the Ion to be greatly effective even against large bases. Hit the large based ship with one ion shot then they become very conservative with their maneuvers. They will not go anywhere near range 2 of any board edge for fear of that second Ion making them fly off.

13 hours ago, catachanninja said:

I really enjoy that the OP is the hoth open champ and trying to get us to do his scouting for him

With only 2 weeks to prepare, I've only got 4 games in at the format. Please help!

I'm not looking to win, but don't want to show up and get wrecked.

39pt deathrain

26pt duchess

12pt academy tie!

47 minutes ago, killerbeardhawk said:

With only 2 weeks to prepare, I've only got 4 games in at the format. Please help!

I'm not looking to win, but don't want to show up and get wrecked.

You should be looking to win man.

I think the correct strategy for this format is to look at the ships that you may have to choose from. You are picking like 3rd or 4th, right? So you can see the players picking ahead of you and try to determine which ships they will draft. You'll then have an idea of what ships are left. Start to formulate a plan about which faction you will pick the first ship from and which faction you will pick last. Once you can zone in on a few targetted ships for each faction you can begin to come up with your 77 point squad that will jive with the 77 points you are bringing. I wouldn't just design 77 point squads in a vacuum, you can find some information about which ships you will likely be able to pick from your draft spot.

One of the unfortunate side effects of the invitational last year, and will likely still be present this year is that many of the games are very matchup dependent. I played Tom Reed in the first round with VI Corran, Biggs, Rebel Operative with TLT against his Jan Ors, Han Solo list. Corran just murdered him and he never really had a chance. The following round I played my imperial squad of Whisper, Inquisitor, and Tie Punisher against Sascha Glitsch's Rebel squad of two autoblaster Lothal Rebels and Roark with a Dorsal turret and had almost no chance before setup.

Make sure that your lists aren't going to just auto lose to any of the lists you think your opponents may come up with. If you think the lists your come up with have a terrible matchup, practice the hell out of it to find some tactics that can swing the game back to an even matchup.

I think the key is not to just come up with a good list that's 77 points and then try to make whatever ship you end up with work together with those 77 points. I think you need to figure out what ships you are likely to get, and which you want to get, and put together 77 point squads that will nicely work with the ships you draft.

1 hour ago, killerbeardhawk said:

With only 2 weeks to prepare, I've only got 4 games in at the format. Please help!

I'm not looking to win, but don't want to show up and get wrecked.

Honestly bro I'd just try and grab a solid 77 points. Draft formats are hard to predict, especially with no past history. Only thing strategically i can think of is if you're on the fence between drafting two ships, and another player after you is known for running those ships, don't let em have them. So maybe keep mishary out of the Ties and paul out of the z miniswarms and the b wing?