1 hour ago, That Blasted Samophlange said:

But the real question is this; How long till FFG release a Mustache token as a tourney prize?

This needs to happen!

I don't play Biggs or JM5Ks, but I didn't like the way the FAQ tried to correct the current meta. As for Biggs, it would have been better if FFG had simply limited his ability to once PER ROUND! This FAQ basically removes Biggs' ability. I'll chime in on the other nerfs elsewhere.

30 minutes ago, Astech said:

But... Jess is 26 points with IA as well. They're both the same price. At this point, Biggs' one round of protection isn't equal to Jess' actual contribution to the list. If Biggs had an EPT it would be a different story.

Dealers choice. I’d prefer to take heat off my aces more than free re-rolls but that’s just me.

15 minutes ago, Darth Obvious said:

I don't play Biggs or JM5Ks, but I didn't like the way the FAQ tried to correct the current meta. As for Biggs, it would have been better if FFG had simply limited his ability to once PER ROUND! This FAQ basically removes Biggs' ability. I'll chime in on the other nerfs elsewhere.

Arguable, but kinda the point in any case. He's been warping the faction's design and squad building for far too long. The new version still has applications, but needs to be used at the right time.

Also, I've seen this "Once per round" idea being bounced around a few times, I assume because people don't realise how meaningless it would be. Are you really going to just leave Biggs alone while he soaks your biggest shot every turn, and then you chip away uselessly at Miri or whoever with the rest?

No, you won't split your fire like that. You'd still be obliged to take out Biggs first. Such a "nerf" would therefore have no effect other than to give players the illusion of a choice.

I have played Biggs at most of my serious tournaments. I am very happy that I won’t anymore.

21 minutes ago, DR4CO said:

Arguable, but kinda the point in any case. He's been warping the faction's design and squad building for far too long. The new version still has applications, but needs to be used at the right time.

Also, I've seen this "Once per round" idea being bounced around a few times, I assume because people don't realise how meaningless it would be. Are you really going to just leave Biggs alone while he soaks your biggest shot every turn, and then you chip away uselessly at Miri or whoever with the rest?

No, you won't split your fire like that. You'd still be obliged to take out Biggs first. Such a "nerf" would therefore have no effect other than to give players the illusion of a choice.

I see your point, but I don't like the fact that FFG has started altering core play mechanics of the game and of the ships (Biggs, JM5Ks, Advanced SLAM on K-Wings--see FFG's own preview article). If FFG feels that things are unbalanced, then they should go to a rotation of ships and cards and ban those they don't want to see [edit: in competition]. This FAQ however makes a mess of Pilot Cards now....

9 minutes ago, Darth Obvious said:

I see your point, but I don't like the fact that FFG has started altering core play mechanics of the game and of the ships (Biggs, JM5Ks, Advanced SLAM on K-Wings--see FFG's own preview article). If FFG feels that things are unbalanced, then they should go to a rotation of ships and cards and ban those they don't want to see [edit: in competition]. This FAQ however makes a mess of Pilot Cards now....

There is nothing stopping you from playing the cards as they are in casual play. In fact many people not caring hard enough will probably end up doing just that, people that just ended up buying the ships because they looked cool and they play the game once in awhile...

These changes are catering to the competitive scene, yes. If you are not part of that scene, or don't dabble in it, there is no reason for you to care because you are not playing with optimized lists most of the time anyway. Either that or you are in a house ruling type environment where you can easily agree to ban stuff on your own.

Just got back from my game, Biggs survived past the first round.....

in fact, he did not die. Nor did Wedge or Poe.

And the two TLT's with Ruthlessness failed to connect 75% of the time.....

Well if I had known that this FAQ was going to fix the T-65, TLT, AND my rolling I would have celebrated earlier!

14 hours ago, DR4CO said:

The only problem **[fill in any SWM ship name here]** will have going forward is the same one she currently has: she isn't Miranda.

Fixed it for you ?

... fair.

14 hours ago, DR4CO said:

Arguable, but kinda the point in any case. He's been warping the faction's design and squad building for far too long. The new version still has applications, but needs to be used at the right time.

I’ve seen this statement in other places and it always makes me laugh. What design space is Biggs “warping,” exactly? Rebels have a specific design flaw in their faction: they lack maneuverability. A-wings are as close to arc dodging as they can get, so damage control is about all they have left. And if Biggs was so game warping, why did they make things that clearly played off of his protector ability, such as Lowhrick or the new Chewbacca? In Armada, Biggs ability is something ALL the x-wings have. It’s called escort. Could you imagine if escort was an action in this game? Luke could have it. Wedge could have it.

Let’s be real. There’s probably not some over the top fantastic product coming that restores the classic x-Wing to its former glory. If there was, they would have already done it And I promise it’s not Biggs that’s stopped them. It’s about the fact that the x-Wing is boring and not really the flagship of the game despite being named for it. The best we can hope for is a Rogue Squadron pack or a Rebel Heroes with Rogue One ships. They can’t even draw from the EU anymore so we’re stuck.

The reason they nerfed Biggs so hard is because ships with less than 4 attack dice can’t compete, and they were about to take away the only counter left of everything still on the shelf. Period.

12 minutes ago, Boris_the_Dwarf said:

I’ve seen this statement in other places and it always makes me laugh. What design space is Biggs “warping,” exactly? Rebels have a specific design flaw in their faction: they lack maneuverability. A-wings are as close to arc dodging as they can get, so damage control is about all they have left. And if Biggs was so game warping, why did they make things that clearly played off of his protector ability, such as Lowhrick or the new Chewbacca? In Armada, Biggs ability is something ALL the x-wings have. It’s called escort. Could you imagine if escort was an action in this game? Luke could have it. Wedge could have it.

Let’s be real. There’s probably not some over the top fantastic product coming that restores the classic x-Wing to its former glory. If there was, they would have already done it And I promise it’s not Biggs that’s stopped them. It’s about the fact that the x-Wing is boring and not really the flagship of the game despite being named for it. The best we can hope for is a Rogue Squadron pack or a Rebel Heroes with Rogue One ships. They can’t even draw from the EU anymore so we’re stuck.

The reason they nerfed Biggs so hard is because ships with less than 4 attack dice can’t compete, and they were about to take away the only counter left of everything still on the shelf. Period.

When you have to design every ship in the faction with its 5 (now 6) disposable hit points in mind, that's going to warp the design of the faction. Rebels don't get to have a Soontir, whisper or even omega leader because guaranteeing they make it to the end game would be broken. Now that Biggs is gone, the rebels can actually have nice things.

46 minutes ago, Boris_the_Dwarf said:

I’ve seen this statement in other places and it always makes me laugh. What design space is Biggs “warping,” exactly? Rebels have a specific design flaw in their faction: they lack maneuverability. A-wings are as close to arc dodging as they can get, so damage control is about all they have left. And if Biggs was so game warping, why did they make things that clearly played off of his protector ability, such as Lowhrick or the new Chewbacca? In Armada, Biggs ability is something ALL the x-wings have. It’s called escort. Could you imagine if escort was an action in this game? Luke could have it. Wedge could have it.

Let’s be real. There’s probably not some over the top fantastic product coming that restores the classic x-Wing to its former glory. If there was, they would have already done it And I promise it’s not Biggs that’s stopped them. It’s about the fact that the x-Wing is boring and not really the flagship of the game despite being named for it. The best we can hope for is a Rogue Squadron pack or a Rebel Heroes with Rogue One ships. They can’t even draw from the EU anymore so we’re stuck.

The reason they nerfed Biggs so hard is because ships with less than 4 attack dice can’t compete, and they were about to take away the only counter left of everything still on the shelf. Period.

I disagree, I think they just have have a lot more on their mind expanding the number of ships. The X-Wing has some of the best pilot abilities in the game. Will we see it completely dominate? Hopefully not. Otherwise it would be Nym and the donut all over again.

23 minutes ago, Mackaywarrior said:

I disagree, I think they just have have a lot more on their mind expanding the number of ships. The X-Wing has some of the best pilot abilities in the game. Will we see it completely dominate? Hopefully not. Otherwise it would be Nym and the donut all over again.

I don’t want to see it dominate, either. But right now bringing x-wings to the table is an auto loss. So something more than that would be nice although unlikely.

To anyone who started laughing after the Biggs nerf:

52 minutes ago, Mackaywarrior said:

The X-Wing has some of the best pilot abilities in the game. Will we see it completely dominate? Hopefully not. Otherwise it would be Nym and the donut all over again.

Huh?

The X-Wing had one amazing Pilot ability (Biggs), a couple decent abilities (Poe, Wes, Jess), a few 'meh' abilities (Wedge, Luke), and a whole bunch of crummy abilities (Tarn, Hobbie, Jek, Garven, Ello, Red Ace, Blue Ace, Snap).


The really great abilities are ones that grant a reliable bonus attack (e.g. Dengar, Quickdraw, Corran), offer exceptional offensive/defensive potency (e.g. Omega Leader, Fel, Miranda, Fenn Rau, IG88b) or offer reliable control (e.g. Carnor, Asajj).

2 hours ago, AllWingsStandyingBy said:

Huh?

The X-Wing had one amazing Pilot ability (Biggs), a couple decent abilities (Poe, Wes, Jess), a few 'meh' abilities (Wedge, Luke), and a whole bunch of crummy abilities (Tarn, Hobbie, Jek, Garven, Ello, Red Ace, Blue Ace, Snap).


The really great abilities are ones that grant a reliable bonus attack (e.g. Dengar, Quickdraw, Corran), offer exceptional offensive/defensive potency (e.g. Omega Leader, Fel, Miranda, Fenn Rau, IG88b) or offer reliable control (e.g. Carnor, Asajj).

That’s fair. I’d call Poe, Wes, Biggs, and Wedge more than just decent. They are incredible abilities in not so hot chassis.

But you are right, these are the abilities that aren’t winning anymore. These are old school great but not new meta great

20 hours ago, Astech said:

But... Jess is 26 points with IA as well. They're both the same price. At this point, Biggs' one round of protection isn't equal to Jess' actual contribution to the list. If Biggs had an EPT it would be a different story.

T-65 buff is incoming. Believe it or not

2 hours ago, SEApocalypse said:

T-65 buff is incoming. Believe it or not

Not.

On 10/26/2017 at 10:59 AM, theBitterFig said:

I almost think the Biggs strategy is to not declare him the first round of shooting. If your opponent targets him anyhow, mission accomplished. If your opponent doesn't target Biggs, you pop him the next round to split fire.

I bet it's a lot like going up against a Sicilian when death is on the line, with one poisoned cup between you.

This is pretty much the exact strategy. It’s why I think the change is pointless. The two worst offenders, Kanan Biggs and Biggs/Lowie/Miranda basically don’t care. You can’t kill the wingmen in the first round.

What changes is that Biggs can’t protect ships like Rex (or more importantly the upcoming Co-ordinate Shuttle) without using his ability immediately, which opens up shooting after that.

So he can’t protect low health ships (for long) but does exactly what he used to do against high health (9+ with regen or reinforce).

I kinda wish they just banned him while they could spend the time to figure out something better. It’s not like Rebels can’t take Selflessness and Lowie to kee stuff alive.

Alternatively - his ability should only work for friendly T65s. It’s the only real way of making the X-Wing great again.

While I think Biggs might not be terrible, the nerf might also be really strong. I've seen a fair number of games where Biggs lasts multiple turns of combat. The nerf really does hit hard in that sense.

I kind of thought Biggs would be interesting if he only worked against ships outside your firing arc. That doesn't change Kanan-Biggs too much, since that list often flies away, but it'd open up counter-play. Fly into the teeth of a jousting squad? Shoot whoever you want. Try to come from behind like Vader, Backstabber, and Mauler Mithel? Biggs will shut you down.

However, that's not the change they went with.

16 hours ago, SEApocalypse said:

T-65 buff is incoming. Believe it or not

I'll believe it when I see it.


The Force Awkaens Core: No X-Wing fix/buff
The T-70 Expansion: Integrated Astromech
Heroes of the Resistance: No X-Wing fix/buff

It's like FFG has resisted issuing a serious fix for the X-Wing, despite three opportunities (including one legitimate "ace" pack with HotR). Yet X-Wings haven't received any cards even comparable to Royal Guard, Chardaan Refit / Test Pilot, TIE/X7, TIE/D, Vaksai, or the Starviper Fix.

The X-Wing's integrated astromech was like the attempt to make the Scyk "fixed" by adding a hull point on Heavy Scyk: a crappy ship with 'meh' maneuverability and so-so offense and defense doesn't suddenly become good by gaining +1HP it has to pay for (even a free +1HP wouldn't save it). It doesn't help those ships start winning, it just helps them lose more slowly.

3 hours ago, AllWingsStandyingBy said:

I'll believe it when I see it.


The Force Awkaens Core: No X-Wing fix/buff
The T-70 Expansion: Integrated Astromech
Heroes of the Resistance: No X-Wing fix/buff

It's like FFG has resisted issuing a serious fix for the X-Wing, despite three opportunities (including one legitimate "ace" pack with HotR). Yet X-Wings haven't received any cards even comparable to Royal Guard, Chardaan Refit / Test Pilot, TIE/X7, TIE/D, Vaksai, or the Starviper Fix.

The X-Wing's integrated astromech was like the attempt to make the Scyk "fixed" by adding a hull point on Heavy Scyk: a crappy ship with 'meh' maneuverability and so-so offense and defense doesn't suddenly become good by gaining +1HP it has to pay for (even a free +1HP wouldn't save it). It doesn't help those ships start winning, it just helps them lose more slowly.

What’s worse, Integrated Astromech just becomes a shield point that requires you to sacrifice a different ability you paid for as part of the build cost. And even more importantly that semi-free shield comes at the cost of other modifications. No vectored thrusters. No engine upgrade. No ... you get the idea.

What you lose in the way of the mods, especially on a T-70, is vastly more defeating than what IA gives you.

R2-D6 and Selflessness. Played him the other night like this. Very fun! Saved him until range 1 then used his ability and blasted my targets with my other guys.

9 hours ago, AllWingsStandyingBy said:

I'll believe it when I see it.


The Force Awkaens Core: No X-Wing fix/buff
The T-70 Expansion: Integrated Astromech
Heroes of the Resistance: No X-Wing fix/buff

It's like FFG has resisted issuing a serious fix for the X-Wing, despite three opportunities (including one legitimate "ace" pack with HotR). Yet X-Wings haven't received any cards even comparable to Royal Guard, Chardaan Refit / Test Pilot, TIE/X7, TIE/D, Vaksai, or the Starviper Fix.

The X-Wing's integrated astromech was like the attempt to make the Scyk "fixed" by adding a hull point on Heavy Scyk: a crappy ship with 'meh' maneuverability and so-so offense and defense doesn't suddenly become good by gaining +1HP it has to pay for (even a free +1HP wouldn't save it). It doesn't help those ships start winning, it just helps them lose more slowly.

one interesting thing to note: in the first three seasons of Star Wars Rebels, X-Wings did not make a single appearance. When they inevitably do, it could be the opportunity FFG has been waiting for to release a new expansion.

It is even possible that they could release an X-wing and B-Wing combo pack from star wars rebels, then follow up with the Last Jedi A-wing to bring new "a-wing only" cards that help the original A-wing and bring all the OT rebel fighters back into the game in quick succession. I certainly don't expect things to pan out this way, but it is theoretically possible.