If you want to play Ion Cannon TIE/D, play Ion Cannon Brobots instead.

Can you go and have a good time and win some games, yes.

Will you win enough games, probably not (depending on the size of the tournament) unless you get some good luck in games and match-ups.

The problem with imperials isn't that they are so weak they can't compete in most games, it's that they have a few terrible matchups which can really handicap you over a longer event.

3 minutes ago, Stay On The Leader said:

If you want to play Ion Cannon TIE/D, play Ion Cannon Brobots instead.

Er, no.

2 minutes ago, FTS Gecko said:

Er, no.

Jesper Hill's considerable success with his Ion Cannon Brobots suggests it's a better route than the Defenders.

45 minutes ago, Stay On The Leader said:

Jesper Hill's considerable success with his Ion Cannon Brobots suggests it's a better route than the Defenders.

I'm sure. However they're not Defenders, which is what we're talking about here.

I won my first Store championship earlier this season with this list:

Maarek Steele (Defender) with x7 and Juke

Vessery with TIE-D, Adaptability (so he could shoot before Maarek), and Tractor Beam

Omnicron Pilot with Palpatine

Granted, this was before the Nym meta, but Nym doesn't really scare me with this list.

I think part of the reason it did well is that most people went after Vessery, considering him to be the greatest threat, but really, the point of the list was to set up Maarek with Juke and Palpatine to land guaranteed Crits of my choice. Vessery' main purpose was to soften up ships and strip shields so that Maarek could do his thing.

That's the thing - the x7 title and Palp do remain very good despite the nerfs. Just not quite as ridiculously powerful as they used to be.

2 hours ago, FTS Gecko said:

That's the thing - the x7 title and Palp do remain very good despite the nerfs. Just not quite as ridiculously powerful as they used to be.

Very very true. People tend to underestimate them now because they've been "nerfed," but they are still very potent. In the store championship I mentioned (so, let's see... 7 games total) I think there was only once when Palpatine was wasted on a roll I didn't need him on, and I don't remember ever having a big issues with the x7 nerf.

I want to try this double defender list out:

Countess Ryad (34)
Expertise (4)
TIE/x7 (-2)

Colonel Vessery (35)
Expertise (4)
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)
TIE/x7 (-2)

"Omega Leader" (21)
Juke (2)
Comm Relay (3)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

The idea is you have focus and evade every round for defense with Vessery and Ryad each having expertise. Then just OL to synergize with Vessery. Obviously, stress would destroy the list, so if you wanted, you could swap Predator for Expertise on Ryad, and do something else on Vessery.

Colonel Vessery — TIE Defender 35
Crack Shot 1
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II 1
TIE/x7 -2
Ship Total: 35

"Quickdraw" — TIE/sf Fighter 29
Veteran Instincts 1
Fire-Control System 2
Pattern Analyzer 2
Lightweight Frame 2
Special Ops Training 0
Ship Total: 36

"Omega Leader" — TIE/fo Fighter 21
Juke 2
Comm Relay 3
Hull Upgrade 3
Ship Total: 29

You could always drop countess and give this a shot.

On 10/3/2017 at 1:23 PM, SDCC said:

Countess Ryad - Push The Limit, TIE Mk. II, TIE/x7

Colonel Vessery - Veteran Instincts, Tractor Beam, TIE Mk. II, TIE/D

Omega Leader - Juke, Comm Relay

100 Points

Can it work in today's meta? I've got a tournament in a few weeks!

I think it'd do okay, but you'll have to be okay likely not having tokens for offense most of the time. This is what my similar list looks like:

• Col. Vessery (35) [38]
  • TIE/D (0)
  • Tractor Beam (1)
  • TIE mk. II (1)
  • Veteran Instincts (1)
• Countess Ryad (34) [35]
  • x7 (-2)
  • Juke (2)
  • TIE mk. II (1)
• Deathfire (17) [26]
  • Cruise Missile (3)
  • Cluster Mines (4)
  • Extra Munitions (2)
  • Guidance Chips (0)
• 99/100

The advantage, as I see it, is that my list does more different things. I feel that, while Lockdown flies a lot differently, it's not really that different, she's just a fly that's harder to hit swarming with a couple of wasps. An ordinance carrier packs a bigger punch and can litter the field with bombs, which makes your opponent have to think about more things happening, especially since Deathfire can 4 or 5 straight in, or even 3 speed anything, Target Lock, drop a mine, and throw 4-5 dice at any Range. He really does have awesome action efficiency for a TIE Bomber pilot.

If you don't like Bombers, I'd suggest a Lambda, Aggressor, maybe a Striker. Omega Leader certainly isn't a terrible choice, but be prepared to fly like the devil and make sure she sees a lot of table time getting out of the way of bombs.

5 hours ago, hawk32 said:

Colonel Vessery — TIE Defender 35
Crack Shot 1
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II 1
TIE/x7 -2
Ship Total: 35

"Quickdraw" — TIE/sf Fighter 29
Veteran Instincts 1
Fire-Control System 2
Pattern Analyzer 2
Lightweight Frame 2
Special Ops Training 0
Ship Total: 36

"Omega Leader" — TIE/fo Fighter 21
Juke 2
Comm Relay 3
Hull Upgrade 3
Ship Total: 29

You could always drop countess and give this a shot.

This is pretty much the list I've been using except I prefer juke to crackshot which normally means dropping twin ion or VI down to adapatability. It's a pretty good list all round but has a few bad match ups (mostly Miranda, dash and nym based).