I have been contemplating for a while on what list I should run at my first store tournament. I’ve come up with 4 lists, these two are my favorite contenders. My imperial list has a combined hit point total of 17. However, my rebel list has a total hit point of 22. I feel that by running my rebel list will give me more room for error, since it being a little beefier. But the opposite for my imperial, I’m predicting it will be torn apart. Any thoughts, critics or completely new lists are all open to suggestion.

The imperial list, really you would just be better running adaptability Vessery. Same PS7, and he piggybacks off QDs FCS. I have not tried Double Edge out, so not sure what I really think of his ability. Looks like you may be limited on upgrades/pilots though. Score to Settle is a nice 0pt EPT for Maarek if he is your defender of choice.

Casual player, occasional competitor responding. Take the list that most fits the following conditions:

1. You enjoy the list, even if you're losing the game. Taking a list you don't like, just because you think it will be competitive, is a recipe for bitterness.

2. You are proficient with the list. Practice; either deliberate practice or repeated casual play with your list is key to a positive play experience in competition. This one is hard to meet when you have shiny new ships from a new wave, but that's okay because most everyone else is doing the same thing.

Critiquing your lists specifically: hit points aren't everything. It helps, but don't base your assessment of a list so heavily on attrition unless attrition is the focal strategy of your list.

Rebel list: take that missile off Rey and use the 5 points to make her Wookiee wingman better. Rey doesn't need a missile when her primary shot in arc is 4-5 dice with Finn. If you have Kanan crew, then I highly recommend you use him instead of Gunner on Rey. The Wookiee ship would be a good candidate for Hotshot Co-Pilot and Gunner if you can work the points. Otherwise take crew that can support both your ships. Jyn/Jan is a good combo, especially with 180-degree firig arc.

Imperial list: You have an intersting take on Quickdraw. I hope you're not expecting Primed Thrusters to let you use Expert Handling while stressed. It doesn't work. Primed Thrusters will only apply to the Barrel Roll on Quickdraw's action bar. Take Pattern Analyzer instead. Vessery and Ryad are both better than Maarek in different ways. You could save points by switching pilots, then you get a better EPT for your chosen Defender.

Agree with all jmswood wrote
Imperial: Replace Primed Thrusters on Quickdraw with Pattern Analyzer and either replace Maarek with Ryad or drop Twin Ion Engine and replace with Vessery.

Rebel: Inspired by jmswood I propose the list below. Wulffwarro shoots first due to PS9 and removes tokens on target with Hotshot Co-Pilot and Gunner, so Rey can kill the target. Expertise is very effective on Rey rolling 4-5 dice and Kanan secures that Rey remains unstressed even when using the title, so Expertise still kicks off. Vectored Thrusters gives Wulffwarro reposition possibilities at a very cheap price.

Rey, Expertise, Finn, title, Kanan Jarrus (58)

Wulffwarro, Veteran Instincts, Gunner, Hotshot Co-Pilot, Vectored Thrusters (42)

Both should be great lists so just decide, which you would enjoy flying the most and have fun