Just curious, what are your favorite builds that no longer preform well in the current meta? I got into this game a little late (wave 8). Just wanted to know what it was like in the old days of X Wing

BBBBZ was very strong and popular. 4 Blue Squadron PS2 B wings plus a PS2 Z. all naked. 14 Reds and 36 Hit Points to erode. Also a good starting point to Battle Harden green players.

The composition of the squad was silly. 4 Bs plus a lone Z 95. So I often included only BBBB plus FCS and one Proton Torp. More themed but weaker.

A really shocking one is Brobots (IG88s in a pair, last iteration with widespread play was B/C with FCS, Crack Shot, Autothrusters, Glitterstim, HLC). They were somewhere around the top from the moment they were released and then immediatly dropped with wave 8 to their now pityful representation. They aren't unplayable by a long shot (even taking an event or two in the UK I heard), but other lists are just way more consistent.

I used to have great success with the following list. With it I was able to beat Fat Han and take on arc dodgers. However, with the introduction of Twin Laser Turrets, I stopped flying it, since Xizor cannot pass off that type of damage:

Prince Xizor (31)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Fire-Control System (2)
Inertial Dampeners (1)
Autothrusters (2)
Virago (1)

Binayre Pirate (12)
"Hot Shot" Blaster (3)

Binayre Pirate (12)
"Hot Shot" Blaster (3)

Binayre Pirate (12)
"Hot Shot" Blaster (3)

Binayre Pirate (12)
"Hot Shot" Blaster (3)

Total: 98

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Let's have a moment of silence for the aces of old. Pilots that lived and died in the narrow margins between action efficiency and green dice.

...

...

...

Your father's Arc Dodger. Not as clumsy or random as a bomber. An elegant weapon for a more civilized age.

I actually miss playing against Soontir Fel more than I miss playing with him. It was a real challenge to pin him down and get a hit through his token stack. If you killed Soontir, it was usually because you outplayed your opponent. Red dice creep and skill-less autodamage mechanics erradicated glass cannon arc dodgers.

The game was never perfect. There has always been something hated by the vocal masses. However, the game is better when firing arcs matter and green dice aren't totally useless.

8 hours ago, Admiral Deathrain said:

A really shocking one is Brobots (IG88s in a pair, last iteration with widespread play was B/C with FCS, Crack Shot, Autothrusters, Glitterstim, HLC). They were somewhere around the top from the moment they were released and then immediatly dropped with wave 8 to their now pityful representation. They aren't unplayable by a long shot (even taking an event or two in the UK I heard), but other lists are just way more consistent.

I play in Phoenix with some very good Brobot players, they can still win in the right hands, no doubt about it.

14 hours ago, Hexdot said:

BBBBZ was very strong and popular. 4 Blue Squadron PS2 B wings plus a PS2 Z. all naked. 14 Reds and 36 Hit Points to erode. Also a good starting point to Battle Harden green players.

The composition of the squad was silly. 4 Bs plus a lone Z 95. So I often included only BBBB plus FCS and one Proton Torp. More themed but weaker.

A guy here in PEI played that list against a TLT list and melted the opposition. It was glorious! I'm a huge B-Wing fan.

On 13/08/2017 at 7:45 AM, Hexdot said:

BBBBZ was very strong and popular. 4 Blue Squadron PS2 B wings plus a PS2 Z. all naked. 14 Reds and 36 Hit Points to erode. Also a good starting point to Battle Harden green players.

The composition of the squad was silly. 4 Bs plus a lone Z 95. So I often included only BBBB plus FCS and one Proton Torp. More themed but weaker.

When I started out with X-Wing, my regular opponent was a stalwart fan of 4 tactician B's.

I had a hard life.

It's interesting... now my local Meta plays whatever the heck they want to... but I find I'm able to bring back more of my old fun builds and be competitive than before...

Corran Dash / yup I've been flying that again

Corran AA / meh... kinda works

T70/A/A/Hwk / having a lot of fun with this one

B-Wings... still dead

My first buy past the Force Awakens Core Set (my first set) was Imperials Aces, where I quickly heard they weren't very competitive.

I ran a very simple list the first time I played against someone I didn't know and it was fun and easy to play.

Royal Guard Pilot x2

- Autothrusters

- VI

Epsilon Ace

- Stealth Device

Epsilon Sq. Pilot x2

Super easy to fly, got comfortable flying all those TIE's, and spanked a HotR Chewie once I got behind him with my Interceptors. Kinda scared to bring RGP's back at all, but I'd also to like to run an old list I liked to run with Deathrain escorted by two RGP's with PTL.

6 minutes ago, Praetorate of the Empire said:

My first buy past the Force Awakens Core Set (my first set) was Imperials Aces, where I quickly heard they weren't very competitive.

I ran a very simple list the first time I played against someone I didn't know and it was fun and easy to play.

Royal Guard Pilot x2

- Autothrusters

- VI

Epsilon Ace

- Stealth Device

Epsilon Sq. Pilot x2

Super easy to fly, got comfortable flying all those TIE's, and spanked a HotR Chewie once I got behind him with my Interceptors. Kinda scared to bring RGP's back at all, but I'd also to like to run an old list I liked to run with Deathrain escorted by two RGP's with PTL.

Same (purchases)!!! Where did you go from there? I've continued collecting Imperial arc dodgers because I'm crazy. I still pair two Epsilon Squadron Pilots with everything and it works well enough in casual.

@Browncoat50: I don't know what its competitive status was, but I've heard of a Triple Aces build that looked like this:

Soontir Fel (27)
Push the Limit (3)
Autothrusters (2)
Stealth Device (3)
Royal Guard TIE (0)

Carnor Jax (26)
Push the Limit (3)
Autothrusters (2)
Stealth Device (3)
Royal Guard TIE (0)

Turr Phennir (25)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Autothrusters (2)
Stealth Device (3)
Royal Guard TIE (0)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

I've actually never flown the Baron Fel.

I like pairing up two RGP PTL Interceptors with other things for fun. The issue is just making things fit.

I have done a Vader squad build similar to this:

Vader

ATC

Squad Leader

Eps. Sq. Pilot x3

Gamma Sq. Vet.

TIE Shuttle

Fleet Officer

Systems Officer

TIE mk II

Not entirely sure how accurate that is, but it was something like this. It's pretty fun. Feels very Empire. I usually run the TIE/fo's in tight formation, have Vader fly with them a bit, let the Gamma stay within buff range behind. Easy to fly, simple, fun, keeps Vader as the spotlight, as he deserves to be.

I've been running some weird Imp Acey stuff competitively (in South Dakota), but no Interceptors right now. I might try out a Deathrain Interceptor build soon since I've flown it in practice, but not in a game with another person.

On 8/13/2017 at 11:12 AM, jmswood said:

Your father's Arc Dodger. Not as clumsy or random as a bomber. An elegant weapon for a more civilized age.

Hear hear!

Let's just hope we don't see the good old swarm on this thread any time soon.

But back to the topic on hand, when did anyone last see those multiple Lamdas bumping into each other in a corner lately? Probably nothing I'll ever miss. I did play some Lambdas with Engine Upgrades last week, that is still as fun as it is absurd.

13 hours ago, DampfGecko said:

Let's just hope we don't see the good old swarm on this thread any time soon.

But back to the topic on hand, when did anyone last see those multiple Lamdas bumping into each other in a corner lately? Probably nothing I'll ever miss. I did play some Lambdas with Engine Upgrades last week, that is still as fun as it is absurd.

With the store championship kit giving engine upgrade cards for the first time (only every been an imperial player) the dogfighting Space Cows are calling to me too.

Either 3 with Gunner, Fire Control System, Tractor Beam, Engine Upgrade, or 3 with Gunner, Collision Detector, Operations Specialist, Engine Upgrade sound good.

15 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

With the store championship kit giving engine upgrade cards for the first time (only every been an imperial player) the dogfighting Space Cows are calling to me too.

Either 3 with Gunner, Fire Control System, Tractor Beam, Engine Upgrade, or 3 with Gunner, Collision Detector, Operations Specialist, Engine Upgrade sound good.

Nice. I just played four with engine Usually it amounts to a big crash somewhere and stuff exploding in quick succession.

2x gold Y-wings with ion cannon turret
2x blue B-Wings with FCS and ion cannon

was never a top meta list but you could gimmick people out with it since it was unexpected and no one had plans to deal with it. Doesn't really seem to work at all these days with all the large ships and high damage attacks

Ions... So much fun with them. Perhaps Ion Turret is one of the most feared upgrades in our own "meta". Why? Because it is a tradition to be rude with a player whose best pilot gets caught. The first time we saw Vader on the table he was pursued by Gold Y till exiting the play area (no mat at the beginning)

1 hour ago, Hexdot said:

Ions... So much fun with them. Perhaps Ion Turret is one of the most feared upgrades in our own "meta". Why? Because it is a tradition to be rude with a player whose best pilot gets caught. The first time we saw Vader on the table he was pursued by Gold Y till exiting the play area (no mat at the beginning)

Indeed. Ion Cannon/Tactician pairings are even more unpleasant.

On 14/08/2017 at 8:15 PM, TheHumanHydra said:

Same (purchases)!!! Where did you go from there? I've continued collecting Imperial arc dodgers because I'm crazy. I still pair two Epsilon Squadron Pilots with everything and it works well enough in casual.

@Browncoat50: I don't know what its competitive status was, but I've heard of a Triple Aces build that looked like this:

Soontir Fel (27)
Push the Limit (3)
Autothrusters (2)
Stealth Device (3)
Royal Guard TIE (0)

Carnor Jax (26)
Push the Limit (3)
Autothrusters (2)
Stealth Device (3)
Royal Guard TIE (0)

Turr Phennir (25)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Autothrusters (2)
Stealth Device (3)
Royal Guard TIE (0)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

I played that very list for a long while including in my first (and only) tournament to date. I had mixed success with it, probably could have had a lot more if I was an above average player. But.... it was so much fun to fly, those ships were so manoeuvrable. It was amazing to zip around boosting and barrel rolling out of their arcs and lining up shots.