I am of the opinion that imperials is slightly better than scum right now based on tournament results I have seen.

This is likely because imperial aces and ordnance lists are beating scums best squads and keeping them off the top tables.

Redline/Whisper/Soontir/Deathrain/Bombers are emerging as a significant threat and its clear to me you need to be prepared to face these imperial pilots. Sloane and vader crew are very strong options for imperials.

Barrage Rockets and Proton Torps (and occasionally advanced proton torps) are proving to be consistent against the field and imo have the resources to deal with scums most popular archetypes right now.

So what does scum have that matches up well with imperials best squads and still is decent vs the rest of the field?

Depends on the format. Sure, in extended, Scum has the burden of execution on them, and the Scum players who make it to top tables certainly display the skill ceiling of their lists (and that is to be expected of anyone who makes top tables). But if we're talking about only 2nd edition (not extended, and thus the hyperspace format and stuff), I'm guessing that the Fenn Rau/Boba faction is pretty strong. I mean, everything that you listed in Imp favor is illegal in hyperspace.

5 minutes ago, player3010587 said:

Depends on the format. Sure, in extended, Scum has the burden of execution on them, and the Scum players who make it to top tables certainly display the skill ceiling of their lists (and that is to be expected of anyone who makes top tables). But if we're talking about only 2nd edition (not extended, and thus the hyperspace format and stuff), I'm guessing that the Fenn Rau/Boba faction is pretty strong. I mean, everything that you listed in Imp favor is illegal in hyperspace.

I was meaning 2.0. Edit made to thread title.

1 hour ago, Da_Brown_Bomber said:

I was meaning 2.0. Edit made to thread title.

And this is where Nick Ruvio's term (4.0) is helpful. Because even though we all play 2.0, it is just called "X-Wing." "Extended" is anything that is compatible with this new edition of "X-wing.""2nd edition" refers to anything that could be played in this new edition straight from the box, no conversion kits needed (i.e., core, saw and reaper, x and y wings, tie fighters and advanced, scum falcon and mandalorians). We should all just refer to these new standalone rereleases as "4.0".

6 hours ago, player3010587 said:

And this is where Nick Ruvio's term (4.0) is helpful. Because even though we all play 2.0, it is just called "X-Wing." "Extended" is anything that is compatible with this new edition of "X-wing.""2nd edition" refers to anything that could be played in this new edition straight from the box, no conversion kits needed (i.e., core, saw and reaper, x and y wings, tie fighters and advanced, scum falcon and mandalorians). We should all just refer to these new standalone rereleases as "4.0".

We've got hyperspace now, we're free from the terminology black hole.

On 12/1/2018 at 9:36 PM, player3010587 said:

And this is where Nick Ruvio's term (4.0) is helpful. Because even though we all play 2.0, it is just called "X-Wing." "Extended" is anything that is compatible with this new edition of "X-wing.""2nd edition" refers to anything that could be played in this new edition straight from the box, no conversion kits needed (i.e., core, saw and reaper, x and y wings, tie fighters and advanced, scum falcon and mandalorians). We should all just refer to these new standalone rereleases as "4.0".

How about... No. And we stick to the terms that are already established and easy to understand. People got lazy and have started calling extended 2.0, and that's not the correct terminology.

So, back on track with this thread... what i would like to do is come up with a scum list that beats imperial aces or imperial alpha strike or a scum list that CAN beat both when flown well. My feeling is that scum lists are finding it hard vs imp aces and bombers/punisher ordnance heavy squads and scum therefore needs to adapt and morph into something that can regularly beat these imperial squads.

27 minutes ago, Da_Brown_Bomber said:

So, back on track with this thread... what i would like to do is come up with a scum list that beats imperial aces or imperial alpha strike or a scum list that CAN beat both when flown well. My feeling is that scum lists are finding it hard vs imp aces and bombers/punisher ordnance heavy squads and scum therefore needs to adapt and morph into something that can regularly beat these imperial squads.

Could the defensive reroll from Serissu help. Juke as the talent with her carrying either a HLC or Jamming Beam? She has the Init to be able to make use of the Jamming Beam to counter Locks and green tokens. HLC will bring more damage output to the table. Just need to make sure she's near someone likely to be shot at and is evading.

From what I saw at the Systems Open this past weekend (they used a Best Coast pairings app which made it very easy to scan the rankings and see everyone's list during the tournament), Scum and Empire were having about the same success (I believe empire took the top spot). There were a lot of both with variety among the lists. (As a side note, there were also plenty of Rebels competing at a high level with lists like the Dash/Roark, Norra/Wedge/Luke and even 2 B-wing/2 X-wing lists).

In terms of what scum was flying, I'd say the most common ships were what you'd expect in a 3-5 ship list with the current meta: Boba, Palob, Jakku Gunrunner, Unkar, 4-LOM, Kavil, Drea, Fenn Rau, L3-37, and a smattering of other ships like Z-95s as parts of swarms and scum falcons. I know I also saw at least one YV-666, Khiraz, and M3-A as well. I'd say the most common thing was scum lists with at least 4 ships and 2 of them tugboats. There was a lot of variety with upgrades (or lack thereof).

This was my first Systems Open. My son and I both went, and I think the take-away for us (and I know this should come as no surprise) is that the players who know their lists and fly them the best are going to do the best (yey 2.0!). Beyond that, dice still have their part to play, so you can't always assume the top 10 lists are the "best" 10 lists. We didn't see any lists in any faction that were just plain superior to the other lists.