Countdown was the epitome of "filler ship" in 1.0. He was flying high with Kylo and Quickdraw, or Vader and Quickdraw, or with Kylo and Yorr actually becoming the second ace, every imperial pilots dream "To Fly in Palp Ace Squad"

What happened to Countdown? He got a small price hike (2pts in 1.0 points) but his ability is still the same and still strong and he essentially got upgraded in 1.0 pilot skill to 6/7 (I4 in 2nd ed.). On top of all that he could carry bombs, and has an EPT slot

I havent seen an abundant of swarms as most lists are 3-4 ships, and the popular ships being ran are hitting hard: Boba,Kavil with Protons, Fenn Rau, Redline, Juke shenanigans, Jan Ors + Luke, Wedge, etc.

Countdown can nullify those big hits easy, not too mention dodge a bunch of the lower PS stuff like Scimitar Bombers, PS1 Strikers, etc. His ability can help him survive the Quad Jumper tractor shenanigans. Ailerons can dodge trajectory bombs.

So, where did he go? Im not seeing him in many lists. If he could survive the bomb harpoon meta of first edition, he should be upper tier in second edition. He never needed LWF before, and for 44pts he is a steal (same as a PS1 Fang Fighter).

Did the Scimitar Bomber actually push Countdown out of "Imperials Favorite Filler"?

Scimitar Squadron Pilot (28)
Barrage Rockets (6)
Proton Bombs (5)

Total: 39

Duchess is cheaper and higher init.

Do you think he could survive jousting or simply outjoust Redline (with protorps)? Can somebody mathematicaly check that?

Best-ies

(49) Major Vermeil
(3) 0-0-0
(14) Darth Vader
(4) Lone Wolf
(4) Shield Upgrade
Points 74

(44) "Pure Sabacc"
(6) Shield Upgrade
(1) Crack Shot
Points 51

(44) "Countdown"
(1) Crack Shot
Points 45

(30) "Wampa"
Points 30

Total points: 200

There are quite a few Pilots not getting a lot of attention. People are still exploring and seeing what’s viable for them. The loss of the 2 Sloop down to a 1 kinda hurts the ships flexibility to some degree. What your hearing is the “New Hotness”. I wouldn’t take too much into it. So many things are viable right now everyone is breaking out what they like and it’s no longer a funnel down effect.

The Striker still has the 2 sloop. It went down to the 1k.

28 minutes ago, Jedu said:

Do you think he could survive jousting or simply outjoust Redline (with protorps)? Can somebody mathematicaly check that?

Well, if all he is taking from Redline is a Torp, then yes, yes he can outjoust Redline, because he can just take 1 stress and take 1 damage.

30 minutes ago, thespaceinvader said:

Duchess is cheaper and higher init.

I think you hit it on the head. In 5 is HUGE in this game, and I think the developers punished pilots like Countess Ryad (whose ability was heavily nerfed), Pure Sabaac and Countdown. These pilots should NOT cost more than their IN 5 counterparts, maybe they should be even. If Countdown was 42 as was Duchess, you'd have a real choice. Go for 1 less IN but a better ability, or more IN and a not great ability? I am sure these pilots (and perhaps more) will be adjusted in the first 'patch'.

I think it's partly that you pay a few points for I4, and with **** near every list in the meta having 1-2 pilots at I5, those are mostly wasted points. 2.0 is better at this than 1.0, but middle init pilots still occupy kind of an uncomfortable spot. Hopefully FFG will decrease the cost of some of the generics, and increase a couple of aces, so maybe we'll see some changes in the future.

He had his final one...

"Dadada dun, dada da dun dun, da da duun, da da dun dun, duuuun dada duuuun dada dun dun dun dun dun, duuuun, duuuuuuuun... It's the final countdown!"

I'll see myself out.

Less use because 2 ship lists are almost non-existent. The more ships an opponent has the less useful his ability is.

Its still good.

Once Sloane gets nerfed use it.

Still decent. But there are more ships around firing less accurate shots, so he's not what he once was. You'll be glad you brought him whenever you see proton torp spam across the table, otherwise you'll probably wish you brought Duchess.

2 hours ago, Boom Owl said:

Once Sloane gets nerfed use it.

Now this I am curious about. How much does she have to go up in price for me not to use her? Right now, I have Shield Upgrade and Elusive on Captain Feroph. Those are expendable. She would have to go up by more than 7 points to a total of 18 before I stop using her. She's that good. Do you think they'll increase her cost that much?

EDIT: on topic, I do have a squad with Vizier and the three named Strikers that I have been meaning to try, but I've been having just too much fun running 4 Planetary Sentinels with Sloane on Captain Feroph. I need to try new things.

Countdown was the filler in 1.0 for you?

In my area it was all Sabaac. For 26pts you got a crazy strong and very elusive pilot that is cheap enough to justify NOT taking out first, but also painful enough to kinda need to take out first.

I always flew him in a way where my opponent was forced to turn towards him, or give him free shots. Didnt care about R1, didnt need it. Same goes for 2.0 though his price went up just enough to make it a bit harder to squeeze in a list.

27 minutes ago, Parakitor said:

Do you think they'll increase her cost that much?

I anticipate Sloane will be banned, hit with an erata to single stress, or up up up to 18-20 pts.

8 hours ago, Okapi said:

Hopefully FFG will decrease the cost of some of the generics, and increase a couple of aces, so maybe we'll see some changes in the future.

Generics are mostly fine, it's I3 and I4 unique pilots suffer the most and Countdown falls into that category. Can't recall any I4 ship who is shaking current meta. Even good ones (like Deathrain) are massively overshadowed by I5 (Redline). Cost adjustments are needed to change this situation.

And what happened to Countdown?

Well let's be real for a second - Countdown was a B-tier choice for the filler slot in a squad from the worst faction of the dying days of 1.0. What happened to Countdown? People realised they didn't need to be playing anything that bad any more.

Also: Captain Jonus happened to Countdown.

4 hours ago, Boom Owl said:

I anticipate Sloane will be banned, hit with an erata to single stress, or up up up to 18-20 pts.

Hahahahaha.

No.

I always thought he was underutilized in 1E especially with all the 4/5 dice attacks being thrown around. However, when I need to grab a Striker in 2E its probably Duchess. I'd probably swap Duchess and Countdown's price point.

10 hours ago, Oldpara said:

Generics are mostly fine, it's I3 and I4 unique pilots suffer the most and Countdown falls into that category. Can't recall any I4 ship who is shaking current meta. Even good ones (like Deathrain) are massively overshadowed by I5 (Redline). Cost adjustments are needed to change this situation.

Possibly, but reduce the cost of the middling aces, and they'll replace the generics. If the meta were full of I1-2 ships, then suddenly I3-4 would enable dodging and alpha striking. Ideally, all three (or six, if you like) brackets should see equal use. If they don't, it's possibly because the I5-6s are too cheap for what they bring to the table.

Guri and Fenn Rau (Fang Fighter) pay a premium for their high initiative. Whisper, Boba, and Redline do not, and there is barely a reason to choose a generic over any of those. When this is the case, the I3-4s suffer even more.

Duchess was always my favorite striker. Sabaac was tricky to leverage, and like duchess could get nuked by munitions or devoured by TLT. Countdown didn't need to invest the points for defense if you wanted to and although hurt by TLT, could "no u" harpoons. When you fly Kylo and Quickdraw, you need a pest to take the aggro so that Quickdraw's shields could do wonders in the midgame. More importantly, Kylo 1v1 is a game won, be that outpointing, half-pointing, or chucking 4 dice vanguard focus from any direction consecutive turns to nuke it. A LOT of aggro needs to be shifted. Countdown was a better candidate than even epsilon ace, as with careful flying, he had a guaranteed 4 turns to kill. He could ignore his defense and block well, throwing 4 dice focus in a face. Ignoring him meant either suffering the dark side and futilely chasing the squirrely Kylo or eating Quickdraw's bonus attacks with Countdown's shenanigans present for the mid or even late game. In a list that prioritized the roles of opener, mid game, and closing monster, Countdown was essential.

Although he was amazing, especially in store champ season, the evils that necessitated his existence are gone. He is properly costed and the talent is nice, but his ability was never "do crazy stuff!" but rather "mitigate the bullshite or undo that double blank roll". He served his time well as one of the last vanguards of the art of arc-dodging. And now we can fly Duchess viably! Wahoo! AND HOLY **** IS SHE FUN WHEN SHE HAS A BASE OF 42 PT AT I5 AND CAN EFFECTIVELY TAKE ELUSIVE AND STEALTH!!!!!

19 hours ago, Vineheart01 said:

Countdown was the filler in 1.0 for you?

In my area it was all Sabaac.

You were a Pure Sabaac purist, if you will?

I think a lot of it is the Interceptor.

Soontir Fel is pocket-ace price now, so he'd replace a lot of the Countdowns of yore (also, no Yorr).

Meanwhile, generic Interceptors are actually decent. Autothrusters gives them a lot of potential to change up their position. Far better blocking from an Alpha, far better arc dodging from a Saber.

Pure Sabacc is my man-crush. The Striker is so fun to fly. And rolling extra dice is extra fun.

I like Duchess, but i find her extra options make her too easy to fly and so less fun. I know that sounds a touch mad...

On 10/25/2018 at 10:47 PM, Parakitor said:

I need to try new things.

My buddy has been flying double firespray Boba+Krassis.

He also keeps saying he "needs to try new things".

And I'm like, "Bro...why bother? It's GOOD, and you're WINNING."

Sure, there's other stuff, but if you're having fun and winning...I wouldn't change a thing.