Hey guys thinking about jumping back into skirmish because of a few local tournaments coming up in my area. Trying to field a couple competitive lists with my brother and wondering what I would need or should add to my collection to compete.

I have everything up to the box of Bespin Gambit but currently nothing that was released after that. What are the biggest priorities in command cards and models and what packs do they come in?

If it matters my preference would be to run a Bantha list as that was what I'm most comfortable with and what I took the regionals. Not sure about the other list just yet though. Thanks for any help!

First, I'd familiarize myself with the new scoring system. Points per model, instead of points per deployment card. In case you haven't heard about it.

If you play Scum, I'd instantly buy the Jabba's Realm box and perhaps also Jabba himself. Then you can probably make a solid Bantha list with a few tweaks to the old one.

Any new command cards that are staples in lists now?

The big changes as far as command cards go were the additions of some really solid Hunter cards in the Jabba expansion (Assassinate, Tools for the Job, etc.). These cards can put out a lot of damage really quickly, meaning that some mid-range health units (e.g. Leia) are seeing less play since it's easier to focus her down quickly. These cards are included in all kinds of mercenary lists and they're also used by the popular Alliance Rangers in rebel lists.

If you're running a Bantha list, or any merc list really, EWeequays (from Jabbas) are a great addition since they're really consistent and can make use of the new cards. Jabba himself could be good, too, getting you some extra command cards or giving your bantha some out-of-activation movement.

Hey Unsullied, Worlds are this weekend so this is a great time for you to be asking these questions, FFG will be streaming the important games and after this weekend there will be a ton of write ups and reviews for you and your friend to pour over and build your lists. You also might get limited responses right now because of this, everyone is holding things pretty close to their chest until worlds is over. We are a pretty small community compared to Destiny or especially X-Wing so word can travel fast. Check out the link for scheduling info: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/op/world-championships-may/tournament-details/

I also build two lists out of one supply for a friend of mine, Negation comes in Hoth and while it isn't a OMG IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT YOU LOSE, it really is a bit of a handicap to play without it. Being able to shut down Take Initiative is a game changing move. The rest of the cards will mainly depend on what lists you guys are running. I would suggest picking opposite traits to avoid command card cross overs. So maybe he wants to run a trooper list and you are going to run hunters. Or Force Users versus Droids (thanks to the new wave coming out next Thursday!). If you aim to run opposing factions and opposing traits then you really should be fine, assuming you own at least one of everything

For our last tournament I ran Jedi Luke with some E. Rangers, Obi-Wan, C3, Gideon and an Alliance Smuggler while he ran Terro, jets and some officers. We only had a few command cards that over lapped so I just split them up evenly, but both were still able to do very well in the tournament. If you are going to consistently be attending tournaments together perhaps buying a Negation off ebay isn't a bad idea.

But the best part is you've got a dedicated partner to play games against and test out all your lists/card builds ahead of time. This is the greatest resource you could ask for in regards to skirmish list building!

Edit: Looks like they will be streaming the top 16 cut from 2-8:30 tomorrow on the FFG twitch channel, I imagine most of these games will be on youtube after as well.

https://www.twitch.tv/ffglive

I own doubles of almost everything before Bespin so we've already got two Negations

So there is nothing new like Negation or Element of Surprise that I would want doubles of?

Positioning Advantage is one that comes to mind in the Jedi Luke Pack, Tough Luck is another from the Lando pack. Those are both pretty well universally used. On the Lam is a must have Smugglers card in Jabba's Realm and Tools for the Job is a good Hunter card in JR as well. But those are starting to get into trait specific cards which again you only need one of as long as you are careful how you build your lists.

How is everyone expecting Jawas to measure up to the current cream of the crop? 2 Cost for the r Jawa with a +2 surge sounds pretty solid. Add in the fact that they can add extra blocks if they don't roll or need a surge on defense and they definitely piqued my interest. They also have the Hunter trait for some of those sweet command cards you were talking about.

4 hours ago, TheUnsullied said:

How is everyone expecting Jawas to measure up to the current cream of the crop? 2 Cost for the r Jawa with a +2 surge sounds pretty solid. Add in the fact that they can add extra blocks if they don't roll or need a surge on defense and they definitely piqued my interest. They also have the Hunter trait for some of those sweet command cards you were talking about.

1) They don't have hunter, they have smuggler.

2) Yes its +2 dmg surge, but its on a 2 yellow die attack. They will average just a hair over 1 dmg on the dice, so the +2 just helps smooth them out some. They may also struggle a bit on range, only safe at range 2, but likely can hit regularly at range 4.

3) The defense bonus is nice, but its on a figure with only 3 health. If you are going to use it it'll give you either 1 or 2 blocks, with 5 damage being a pretty standard hit they still are not going to hold up (although you may get lucky and have it save you once).

I don't think the reg jawas are going to change much in the meta, I think they're best use is cheap filler in a strain list. In most lists I'll rather have 2 reg hired guns over 2 reg jawas.

Now the elite jawa on the other hand, he is going to change things up with his droid shenanegans.