I’m looking at attending a small tournament Saturday that is hyperspace format. Not sure which list to bring. Thoughts?

Striker Juke

(42) "Duchess" [TIE/sk Striker]
(6) Shield Upgrade
(5) Juke
Points: 53

(38) Black Squadron Scout [TIE/sk Striker]
(6) Shield Upgrade
(5) Juke
Points: 49

(38) Black Squadron Scout [TIE/sk Striker]
(6) Shield Upgrade
(5) Juke
Points: 49

(38) Black Squadron Scout [TIE/sk Striker]
(6) Shield Upgrade
(5) Juke
Points: 49

Total points: 200

Stele Strikers

(34) Planetary Sentinel [TIE/sk Striker]
Points: 34

(34) Planetary Sentinel [TIE/sk Striker]
Points: 34

(34) Planetary Sentinel [TIE/sk Striker]
Points: 34

(42) "Duchess" [TIE/sk Striker]
(2) Predator
(5) Hull Upgrade
Points: 49

(46) Maarek Stele [TIE Advanced x1]
(2) Fire-Control System
(1) Marksmanship
Points: 49

Total points: 200

I like the bottom list the most. You got good hard to predict blockers and a good thumper in Maarek

Yeah, I like the second list more as well.

More ships = more arcs = more damage.

#2

On top of the above comments, I do not think that Juke is that strong on the Strikers as they only have one action and no way of getting an attacking modification/persistent token (like Locks).
4 Jukes are good.... but, if you are not modifying your attack dice, you are as likely to have a poor attack as a good one.
The Evade might keep them there longer, but then they are not using Juke.

If you wanted to run with 4 Strikers, consider using Predator instead:
They can Evade for Defense and still potentially modify their attack. You then also potentially have a way to modify after a KTurn/SLoop.
With the points saved there, you can have all of the named Strikers with Shields/other 6 point upgrades (Afterburners or Bombs come to mind). You have (slightly) higher Initiative.
I have been running Predator Strikers for a while and, though they disappear fairly easily, it is not that hard to get at least one bullseye on an average ship.

Running some numbers for Range 2 and, if you think that you can get two bullseyes, then....
Huh.
The numbers are almost identical against a 2 Dice Focused Defense.
The Jukers are actually significantly better against 3 Dice Focused defense.
Did not expect that.
....
I stand corrected.
Four Juke Strikers with Shields could be alright... just be aware of attacking dice variance.

Second List seems alright.
Blockers/Herders, a sneaky ship and a ship that can Punch holes once shields are gone.

I think I prefer the second list, but now the first has me curious.
If you drop Duchess (I wouldn't), you can outfit one Juke/Shield Striker with a Seismic Charge.

The think about Juke math us that it assumes you always have it. But with 2 evade dice and 3 initiative you most likely will need to use some of those evade tokens to keep a ship alive before it has the opportunity to attack.

The Juke maths assumes that one Striker spent their Evade token, as it would be if focus-fired upon, and so did not have Juke active.
Using an Evade action and a Shield Upgrade, you are likely to still have all Strikers alive if the opponent does 4x two hits prior to your shooting, though you probably lose one if the opponent manages 3x three Hit/Crits. It's just shy of 50-50 survival if they manage to land 2x four Hit/Crits. Of course, that is irrelevant if you are shooting first.

Assuming 4 Strikers attacking at Range 2, all Evading:
You need to have 2 Predators active for it to beat 3 Jukes active against 1 Defense with a Focus.
You need to have 3 Predators active for to break even/near enough (when compared to 3 Jukes active) against 2 Defense with a Focus.
You need 4 Predators to break even/near enough (when compared to 3 Jukes active) against 3 Defense with a Focus.

If you have only 2 Jukes active, that is loosely equivalent to having one less Predator (worse if you are attacking 3 Defense with Focus, about the same with 1 Defense).
If you have 4 Jukes active, it is close with 2 Defense. Predator significantly wins the Low Agility match-up, but Juke nails the High Agility match up better.

Gut instinct says I want Predator... but the Maths is coming up maybe Jukes.
Of course, maths also ignores the times you want/need to Barrel Roll, don't get an action, get out positioned etc...
I can also get 5 Predator Strikers vs 4 with Juke/Shield upgrades, and I am a biased towards More Strikers than Less (unless those Less are Named Strikers). They pop too easy for my liking/ability.

It might come down to what you expect to face:
- The Higher Agility, better repositioning ships do not like Juke against them but are probably pretty happy to dance around Predator.
- The less manoeuvreable Low Agility ships can't stand up to constant Predatory attacks but tend to shrug off otherwise unmodified Juke Shots.

Apologies for the De-Railing.
Back on topic.

How much experience do you have with Strikers?
Do you find that you are taking more token actions or re-positioning actions with them?
I have found that when I spend more time on repositioning them I am failing more. I get the feeling that they are very dependent on their token actions and initial positioning rather than making their Barrel Roll do work for them... unless blocking or making a massive spread.

How about Maarek?

I would also go for list #2

On 4/22/2019 at 10:13 AM, C3gorach said:

The think about Juke math us that it assumes you always have it. But with 2 evade dice and 3 initiative you most likely will need to use some of those evade tokens to keep a ship alive before it has the opportunity to attack.

This. Not to mention that whilst Juke messes with enemy green dice, taking evade instead of focus means you're basically stuck with unmodified red dice, so the benefit is a lot lower than you might think unless you have another way to modify your attack. Paired with someting like Full Throttle or Stygium Array to generate the evade for free it's amazing. On its own? Less so.

1 hour ago, Vespid1311 said:

Do you find that you are taking more token actions or re-positioning actions with them?
I have found that when I spend more time on repositioning them I am failing more. I get the feeling that they are very dependent on their token actions and initial positioning rather than making their Barrel Roll do work for them... unless blocking or making a massive spread.

This. A thousand times, this.

Focus is the default action which makes everything better . Remember that a 'good' shot (which is range 1 or not obstructed or whatever) without a focus token is rarely much better than a 'bad' shot with one - but the ship which focuses will be better defensively if it gets shot before it fires, and/or will not have to shake off stress or figure out how to move without colliding next turn. Silly manouvres are more justified if you can roll into a position where you have a shot and your opponent doesn't, and you still have a passive modifier of some kind - "Duchess" can barrel roll at initiative 5 and may do this quite a bit - but a generic striker is best off flying sensibly and conservatively (be warned! Adaptive Ailerons means you move a lot faster than you think you should!) and just massing range 2 focused attacks on an area likely to contain enemy ships.

1 hour ago, Vespid1311 said:

How about Maarek?

It's far more crucial with Maarek Stele. Marksmanship vs Crack Shot vs Ruthless is all much of a muchness and all boil down to "make the primary weapons attack a touch better" but it's the Fire Control System which is critical. If Maarek can't get a target lock he's flying a TIE/ln with delusions of grandeur and categorically will not pull his weight considering his not insignificant cost. The only reason you should ever be doing anything other than target locking is that you already have a lock from last turn - and whilst you have 5 ships in the early engagement, you should be expecting to turn your initial target into scrap metal in one engagement phase.