Are Tie fighters still competive?

By devotedknight, in X-Wing

16 minutes ago, Turbo Toker said:

Any list that can fit a TIE Fighter in it can probably also fit Omega Leader. Or in case of Rebels, the Stresshog instead of a Bandit.

This is the problem with the Striker also. Decent ships, more competitive than TIE Fighters, just not many lists with 20-ish point slots in them.

Quadjumper also has this problem. One with Spacetif Tractor Array and Pattern Analyzer is a good use of 19 points, just no room for the point costs it takes up.

Run 120 point lists!

Sadly, I think we'll find after the 2017 Worlds ends, the Rebel Captured TIE will be the best TIE/LN to field competitively.....I think I threw up in my mouth a little bit. It is such a nice little versatile platform. I really hate you Sabine, now get your skinny *** in the ship!

Edited by clanofwolves
58 minutes ago, clanofwolves said:

Sadly, I think we'll find after the 2017 Worlds ends, the Rebel Captured TIE will be the best TIE/LN to field competitively.....I think I threw up in my mouth a little bit. It is such a nice little versatile platform. I really hate you Sabine, now get your skinny *** in the ship!

It is saying something about the game when Rebel TIEs outperform the Imperial ones eh? :P

14 minutes ago, Keffisch said:

It is saying something about the game when Rebel TIEs outperform the Imperial ones eh? :P

Someone that holds the purse strings at FFG is seriously shifting the balances of power. And this is so very anti-"everything that is great about the core of our awesome Star Wars world". It's amazing that the Empire's core fighter has been stolen and improved and we can't do squat about it. But play it, whine and lament the 8 Galactic Empire beauties that coldly sit in their dark foam tombs. The classic Star Wars realm is going down the proverbial toilet.

...cold consultation is, I guess I can still win with a TIE on the board.

3 hours ago, Turbo Toker said:

With the push towards 2-3 ship lists, you often don't have any room for a 12-16 point filler.

The optimal builds for most ships are in the 30-40 range. It's better to have 3 of those than it is to have something like, 3 x7 Delta Squadron Pilots and Backstabber for example.

Unless they do something fancy like Wampa, Rex, or fat PS 9 untouchable Ahsoka, they have no role.

12 points could be 3 (!) Expertise upgrades in your list

I still see some 4-5 ship lists out there. There is no push to the 2 ship list, otherwise Agent Kallus and Score to Settle would be making a huge impacts.

I say yes to 8 Tie Fighters

I think it is interesting when people say things like "2 attack dice can't hurt anything in the meta these days". If you stop and really analyze that statement, it is completely false! Some of the most common archetypes right now are:

  • Ghost+Biggs: Both ships are vulnerable to concentrated fire from attacks, even if they are only 2 dice
  • RAC+Ace: Depends on the ace, but RAC doesn't want 10 dice thrown his way any time soon. Using Kylo crew makes boosting or TL'ing less common.
  • Bossk+Dengar/Ketsu: Killing bossk is not as hard as you would think. First round he kills a tie, and you lose 12 points. You take out half of his health, or more and get 20ish points. Dengar is the tricky one here, but is still susceptible to being blocked. 2 defense dice don't like getting hit too much
  • Fenn+2torp boats: Easily the hardest matchup for the TIEs. You really have to time the first engagement and block the torpedo boats so they can't delete a TIE each. Fenn is rough too, but can crumble if he rolls too many fickle green dice.
  • Miranda: The regen sucks, but I have not had any issue with her in any of my games. She has to engage to regen, and even one little TIE can take that shield back. Wardens have a much harder time, as you can block their path to drop bombs and they can't regen.
  • Ventress: The one ship that she stresses to use Latts Razzi with is going to be neutered, but the other 5-6 buddies will be fine. Unless you K-turn, then everyone can just put their dice away, lol. Lancers aren't much beefier than any other 2 defense ship, it is just the speed that makes them really hard to pin down.
  • TIE /sf: While not super common, it has made a big comeback in the meta and is vulnerable to 2 dice attacks.

The most common 3agi ships in the meta now are Omega leader, Vessery, Corran, and other imp aces. Sabine bombing lists and the great nerfing really killed off most of the ships that shrug off 2 attack ships.

The issue is not that they cannot hurt, they cannot hurt fast & reliably enough.

By the time those 2 dice attacks have made an impact, you're half a Squad down - against token stacking 3++ fully modded attacks.

8 hours ago, Gersun said:

Fenn+2torp boats: Easily the hardest matchup for the TIEs. You really have to time the first engagement and block the torpedo boats so they can't delete a TIE each. Fenn is rough too, but can crumble if he rolls too many fickle green dice.

8 hours ago, Gersun said:

Ventress: The one ship that she stresses to use Latts Razzi with is going to be neutered, but the other 5-6 buddies will be fine. Unless you K-turn, then everyone can just put their dice away, lol. Lancers aren't much beefier than any other 2 defense ship, it is just the speed that makes them really hard to pin down.

These two are a big issue: You actually can't block the 2 torp boat one very well -> They still get focuses from attanni, you'd have to block two of them. to avoid one stacking TL and F. Not to mention Fenn simply r1 5-dicing you.

The speed of the lancer is a big pain. It tends to move away into R3 and things quite quickly.