1 hour ago, Mep said:

If it were possible to move the Raider and then do anti-squad, that ship would work for one round. It is simply too short of range and fragile to do anything but get blow up by the squadrons. If it had something that allowed anti-squad attacks after movement it would be usable instead of free points. Intel is a bridge too far for this ship to overcome..

Fleet 2050 (87/400)
===================
Gladiator II-class Star Destroyer (62 + 25)
+ Agent Kallus (3)
+ Ruthless Strategists (4)
+ Engine Techs (8)
+ Demolisher (10)

A classic!

However: squadron screen and instigator can nullify intel. Flight Commander with or without RLB helps to accurate positioning. First player and activation advantage are other tools. If you go with FT and OE you easily will need just one round. After that you can move around shooting down again and again. Okay that is too optimist but I usually get two round of fire. Then the raider pops up (by ship's fire) or escapes. One round is gold, if you need more than two good luck.

EDIT: actually, if Riekan's aces become a real meta. The glad could bring flechette torpedoes... hmmm

@ovinomanc3r That's much better for sure with the flechettes. The problem is the aces do have scatter. It would force them to use that token on those flechette attacks though. Is it worth the points?

1 minute ago, Mep said:

@ovinomanc3r That's much better for sure with the flechettes. The problem is the aces do have scatter. It would force them to use that token on those flechette attacks though. Is it worth the points?

Scatter doesn't do anything to stop Fletchettes - only any additional damage along with it.

(Fletchettes spend the die in the Modify Dice step - because its spent, it can't be "cancelled" in the Defense tokens step)

5 minutes ago, Mep said:

@ovinomanc3r That's much better for sure with the flechettes. The problem is the aces do have scatter. It would force them to use that token on those flechette attacks though. Is it worth the points?

You are aware that Flechette Torpedoes are used prior to defense tokens getting spent, right?

Edit: Oh snap, ninjaed by @Drasnighta , who is a worthy adversary when rules considerations are involved. Touche, sir!

2 minutes ago, Mep said:

@ovinomanc3r That's much better for sure with the flechettes. The problem is the aces do have scatter. It would force them to use that token on those flechette attacks though. Is it worth the points?

EDIT: double so completely KO.

Thank you, thank you and umm, thank you. Okay, everyone fly Demonlisher.

It's far too early after Worlds to proclaim Rieekan Aces as too strong for tourneys and in need of nerfs. The same "issues" have occurred after every major event, especially with Demolisher, and in due time the player base adjusted, or new waves came out, to compete with the strong showing of dominate lists. Anyone in any gaming tourney environment knows there is almost always 1 strong list that a players will choose for tourneys because it has done well in the past. Rieekan Aces will be no different. Rieekan Aces is strong, and has been strong for over a year. Yes, it has become very strong, but it's too early to say it requires nerfing, especially when Wave 6 is a few weeks away.

It's worth mentioning that FFG was aware of how weak squadron-based fleets were about 18 months ago and they have since improved their power with every wave (Rogues, new keywords, synergies, flotillas, etc) since wave 2. I'm sure they are fully aware of how powerful carrier builds are, and and are trying to address it, but it will take time. We are seeing releases that were probably concieved almost a year ago, if not more.

As of right now, does something need to be tweaked to keep Rieekan Aces from dominating all events? I don't think so. I truly do not believe enough anti-meta has developed to see if Rieekan Aces is too strong. Give players time to make builds that do well against this build. Having played Rieekan Aces since Rieekan first came out, I can think of quite of few fleets that should have a good chance vs Rieekan Aces, and not be run over by other fleets. Only testing will tell. I know I don't like the feel of how resilient Rieekan squad aces are right now, even if you can find fleets to compete with them. The redirecting to a zombie escort was bad enough, and now Biggs adds a whole new option to the protective layer.

They certainly made a mistake allowing Rieekan to work with aces. Development of new Rebel squads will have to be very aware of the defensive capabilities under Rieekan, limiting their design space. The whole escort with Rieekan was already very janky and now Biggs and cheap CC aces took this over the edge. I still feel the best change for this game is a reduction in squad max. Rieekan Aces won't be as powerful, same with flotillas, and games will go back to being more about capital ships than balls of squads, the game will be much less fiddly/clunky to play, and an added bonus take much less time to play, something this game needs for tourneys.

1 hour ago, Thraug said:

It's far too early after Worlds to proclaim Rieekan Aces as too strong for tourneys and in need of nerfs. The same "issues" have occurred after every major event, especially with Demolisher, and in due time the player base adjusted, or new waves came out, to compete with the strong showing of dominate lists. Anyone in any gaming tourney environment knows there is almost always 1 strong list that a players will choose for tourneys because it has done well in the past. Rieekan Aces will be no different. Rieekan Aces is strong, and has been strong for over a year. Yes, it has become very strong, but it's too early to say it requires nerfing, especially when Wave 6 is a few weeks away.

It's worth mentioning that FFG was aware of how weak squadron-based fleets were about 18 months ago and they have since improved their power with every wave (Rogues, new keywords, synergies, flotillas, etc) since wave 2. I'm sure they are fully aware of how powerful carrier builds are, and and are trying to address it, but it will take time. We are seeing releases that were probably concieved almost a year ago, if not more.

hence why I think we're in a power creep spiral if we just don'T errata anything...

8 hours ago, Sybreed said:

yeah... I'm always suspicious of people switching commands when you don't look. I play regularly against a guy who always has the perfect command at the perfect time...

I have perfect dials 99% of the time no lie - but most of that is because I generally prefer to make most ships single focussed ships that will do ONE command the entire game. Yavaris will ALWAYS do squadrons, Demolisher will ALWAYS do Nav - and Arquitens will ALWAYS Concentrate fire when I've got Vader boosting them with rerolls. But yeah - some people tend to cheat and it ruins so much for so many....

4 hours ago, Marinealver said:

Where's Lord Vader when you need him?

Lord Vader we have some real scum that need to be eliminated, should I send the legions of storm troopers, or do you want to choke the *** yourself?

Just a question, do you think that becomes a topic worth a video in itself since it spans all games, or do you think you don't have enough significant input on that topic?

I don't really WANT to do a video about cheating - but it may become more of an informative thing at some point. "How to play casually, but still ensure your opponent KNOWS you aren't cheating. "

5 hours ago, thecactusman17 said:

I'm betting that Sloane will be reworded to indicate that she doesn't count as spending the token for the turn. That said, I don't see her having the impact on the Rieekan ball that some say she will. Most of those squadrons have brace, if anything.

I talked with someone on that. The rules don't agree with that point of view. They can't spend "that" token but they can spend a different brace.

They will likely fix the rule itself and specify that it only counts tokens spent during the Spend Defense Tokens step.

5 hours ago, JJs Juggernaut said:

I think that this is quite unfair. Almost like saying if Demo hits that list, they are playing it wrong.

I echo the unfairness. Having played the squadronless meta in a squadron heavy environment and was successful I can say, there are a lot of factors.

7 hours ago, CaribbeanNinja said:

The two smiley faces and drum riff didn't give it away?

Dude, I love that you carry the anti-squadron flag. (My total squadron count in 3 different regionals and Worlds lists is THREE TOTAL) It is your thing for sure. And I think you have valid arguments. But I think sometimes you go too far begging for data and taking things personally . I just worry that you take things so seriously.

I mean this in the best way possible. Life is way too short. Lighten up about all of this stuff.

Lol. I'm just saying people have been accusing me if saying things I haven't said. Usually not with good intentions either.

See im not even anti squadrons. I'm pro-let's let gunships be useful.

Lol. I'm answering very stiffly cuz it's not honestly been very fun.

2 minutes ago, Blail Blerg said:

Lol. I'm just saying people have been accusing me if saying things I haven't said. Usually not with good intentions either.

See im not even anti squadrons. I'm pro-let's let gunships be useful.

Lol. I'm answering very stiffly cuz it's not honestly been very fun.

It's rieekan. He has stolen our fun.....

3 minutes ago, moodswing5537 said:

It's rieekan. He has stolen our fun.....

@moodswing5537 You know what must be done...

Mr. Rieekan, thanks for coming to your performance review.

So, you're in charge around here, is that fair to say?

Rieekan:"Absolutely, I'm the boss."

Well, so take us though a day in the life of, "The Boss".

Rieekan: "Well the first thing I do is---"

Restrain Demo (like a boss)

Improve fleets (like a boss)

Lead a tabling (like a boss)

Zombie ships (like a boss)

Change game-flow (like a boss)

Worlds '16 Alt-Art (like a boss)

Enrage opponents (like a boss)

O.P. Synergy (like a boss)

You're fired Reeikan!

Alright, but I'm not leaving until the next status phase

Toke Tarkin (like a boss)

Dead Dodonna (like a boss)

Melt Motti (like a boss)

Mix-up Mothma (like a boss)

Choke Vader (like a boss)

Scrap Screed (like a boss)

Oppress Ozzel (like a boss)

Saute Ackbar (like a boss)

Swallow sadness

Appear a lot (like a boss)

Force RMb (like a boss)

Top Two Tables (like a boss)

Win it all (like a boss)

Gernes is watching (like a boss)

Hit on Torryn (like a boss)

Get rejected (like a boss)

Fifth of Blue Milk (like a boss)

Be nerfed (like a boss)

**** on Mothma's desk (like a boss)

I was walkin' through Coruscant streets
And an Admiral walks up to me and hands me the latest Rieeken fleet
"Zombie more, score higher"
Man, I'm not gonna let you destroy Armada
I threw it on the ground
You must think I'm a joke
I ain't gonna be part of your system
Man! Nerf that garbage and get out of my face.

1 hour ago, WuFame said:

I was walkin' through Coruscant streets
And an Admiral walks up to me and hands me the latest Rieeken fleet
"Zombie more, score higher"
Man, I'm not gonna let you destroy Armada
I threw it on the ground
You must think I'm a joke
I ain't gonna be part of your system
Man! Nerf that garbage and get out of my face.

amazingly, @CaribbeanNinja, @miferr and I were coming up with throw it on the ground rieekan remix at worlds. To the point where we can almost film that one....