Getting away from the Meta is hard to do. The Sad Tale of My Gand Findsman

By Hrathen, in X-Wing

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Ever since the Great Nerf I have been working on a list that I wanted to take to the next round of Store Championships. I had figured out that Stress was the counter to everything that had been nerfed, so I wanted to go with a stress list. This is what I came up with.

Gand Findsman — G-1A Starfighter 25
Attanni Mindlink 1
Tactician 2
Black Market Slicer Tools 1
Ship Total: 29
Gand Findsman — G-1A Starfighter 25
Attanni Mindlink 1
Tactician 2
Black Market Slicer Tools 1
Ship Total: 29
Asajj Ventress — Lancer-class Pursuit Craft 37
Attanni Mindlink 1
Ketsu Onyo 1
Shadow Caster 3
Ship Total: 42

I was particularly proud of those Findsmen. I thought the ship looked cool, and have loved it since it came out. I thought it was perfect since it could carry Tactician and Black Market Slicer Tools. This list can seriously put a lot of stress on someone. I particularly liked using the tractor beam on Asajj to put enemy ships at range 2 of my Gands. I could seriously put on some stress, and then take advantage of it with my slicer tools.

But after I played it more and my friend who I test my lists against got to know it, I found those Gands hard to fly. They don't have a great dial and they don't have any repositioning abilities.

I started to look at what other ships could fit in their tactician role. I realized that a Contracted Scout cost exactly the same a Gand Findsman. For the added price of exactly zero points, you got one of the best (if not THE) dials in the game, an agility, a hull, a barrel-roll, and a 360 firing arc. You do lose one attack dice, bu come one. There is no way these two ships are balanced with each other.

I was so proud of myself for coming up with a list that I felt could do well in (my local) meta while at the same time flying a ship that I literally had never seen at a tournament. Turns out there is a reason why Jumpmasters are so popular in the meta and have been part of the past two nerfs.

I will keep looking, but in a game with point economies like X-wing has, good expendicutures of points are just good.

I really think the Jumpmaster needs a whole new dial.

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That's sad. =(

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That is a damning indictment of the Toilet Seat's pricing.

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Ouch. That's a very fun looking list as well.

The JM5K's price really doesn't hold up well to scrutiny, and never has, especially when you compare the abilities of the Scout to pretty much any other generic at the same price point.

I wonder if FFG misprinted a "3" as a "2".

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The step up from 2 attack dice to 3 always seems to come with a hefty increase in points. The 12 points for the Punishing One title or 9 points for the Outrider plus Mangler Cannon combo gives a fairly clear indication of what kind of value FFG put on a 3 dice turret.

The G-1A isn't well suited to using Mindlink IMO. You want a ship with as few reds as possible, and ideally green turns to make the most of Mindlink as an upgrade. It's why the JumpMaster, Lancer, and Protectorate are the popular choices for it.

If I was going to use the G-1A in a Mindlink list, I'd probably go for something like this - I'm aware it doesn't have the stress/tractor control element you're looking for, but it gives you much more consistent and less action dependant offence, and Outlaw Tech synergises well with the G-1A's need to pull a red maneuver from time to time.

Gand Findsman (25)
Attanni Mindlink (1)
Outlaw Tech (2)
Fire-Control System (2)

Gand Findsman (25)
Attanni Mindlink (1)
Outlaw Tech (2)
Fire-Control System (2)

Asajj Ventress (37)
Attanni Mindlink (1)
Latts Razzi (2)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

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Considering that the findsmen are agility 1, I don't think they get all that much from mindlink. I have a buddy who just runs outlaw+FCS on two freelancers and 4LOM. He says it does well.

Posted at
52 minutes ago, grandmoffjoe said:

Considering that the findsmen are agility 1, I don't think they get all that much from mindlink. I have a buddy who just runs outlaw+FCS on two freelancers and 4LOM. He says it does well.

They get the ability to have focus/evade or focus/lock. Double mods is ALWAYS worthwhile investing in.

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4 hours ago, Jarval said:

The step up from 2 attack dice to 3 always seems to come with a hefty increase in points. The 12 points for the Punishing One title or 9 points for the Outrider plus Mangler Cannon combo gives a fairly clear indication of what kind of value FFG put on a 3 dice turret.

The G-1A isn't well suited to using Mindlink IMO. You want a ship with as few reds as possible, and ideally green turns to make the most of Mindlink as an upgrade. It's why the JumpMaster, Lancer, and Protectorate are the popular choices for it.

If I was going to use the G-1A in a Mindlink list, I'd probably go for something like this - I'm aware it doesn't have the stress/tractor control element you're looking for, but it gives you much more consistent and less action dependant offence, and Outlaw Tech synergises well with the G-1A's need to pull a red maneuver from time to time.

Gand Findsman (25)
Attanni Mindlink (1)
Outlaw Tech (2)
Fire-Control System (2)

Gand Findsman (25)
Attanni Mindlink (1)
Outlaw Tech (2)
Fire-Control System (2)

Asajj Ventress (37)
Attanni Mindlink (1)
Latts Razzi (2)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

This is a really good list, but my starting point was the tacticians and slicer tools.

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2 minutes ago, Hrathen said:

This is a really good list, but my starting point was the tacticians and slicer tools.

That's a fair point. :) I've found that the YV-666 in general, and the Trandoshan Slaver in particular is a good way of getting use out of Tactician in Scum. The 180 front arc means it covers a lot of ground and it can be pretty difficult to arc dodge out of the stress zone. Even more so if you're flying two of them, although they have enough weaknesses that I'm not sure I'd recommend it...

I've done a double Tactician Slaver list with a medium loaded Xizor in the past, which has done reasonably well. It's not top tier by any stretch of the imagination, but its won more games than its lost so far.

You might be able to get a similar effect from a Lancer with a Tactician on board, but at 35 points for even just a Shadowport Hunter with a Tactician, it's not a cheap option unfortunately.

I've found Z-95s a good way to get Slicer Tools into a list. At 13 points for a Binayre Pirate with Slicer Tools, it's pretty affordable, and spending your action on Slicer Tools rather than dice mods is less of an issue if it's happening on a relatively disposable blocker.