The point drop of Contraband Cybernetics down to 3 points (from 5), along with the Shadowcaster title drop to 3 (from 6), has allowed the somewhat popular Ketsu, Teroch, Talonbane build to include this very nice upgrade on Ketsu. Before the point change Ketsu would have had to sacrifice the Fearless upgrade which is very important since you are frequently creating range-1 face-offs with Ketsu´s ability. Leaving the Predator upgrades on Teroch and Talonbane would not have been enough since Contraband was 5 points last patch. The thing is that Contraband Cybernetics is amazing on Ketsu. The biggest fear while running this list is either that the opponent stresses Ketsu before she wants to K-turn or if your K-turn gets blocked, leaving you stressed. It simply takes you way too long to turn Ketsu if the essential 5-K gets messed up. Well, Contraband Cyberenetics takes care of that as well as giving you an action while stressed.

So, here is my first-draft Ketsu/Teroch/Talonbane list:

Ketsu/Fearless/Contraband/Maul/Title 91 pts

OldTeroch/CrackShot 57 pts

TalonbaneCobra/CrackShot 51 pts

Total 199 pts

I think the Kestus plus a pair of high init ships archetype is going to be around for some time. you can sub in Kavil, Nym or even Kad Solus for Old T or even run Old T and Kad together. depends on what ships and pilot you like. I like having faster ships because if worst case scenario happens and I lose Kestu I still have a fighting chance vs other endgame ships like Vader, Soontir, Wedge or Jedi. These enemies can handily outfly Kavil or Nym.

Well, Kavil kind of got nerfed because of raise to the Dorsal Turret and to Veteran Turret Gunner. The Teroch/Talonbane combo is certainly not written in stone although the I5 combo is kind of nice.

Agreed - I think Ketsu seems good.

Will take some good positioning to make it work really well.

I reckon this would would be super annoying against a lot of lists.

4-LOM — G-1A Starfighter 49
Advanced Sensors 10
Tobias Beckett 2
Mist Hunter 2
Ship Total: 63
Half Points: 32 Threshold: 5

Ketsu Onyo — Lancer-class Pursuit Craft 70
Fearless 3
Contraband Cybernetics 3
Shadow Caster 3
Ship Total: 79
Half Points: 40 Threshold: 5

Palob Godalhi — HWK-290 Light Freighter 40
Moldy Crow 18
Ship Total: 58
Half Points: 29 Threshold: 3

All the scummy tricks are there - token stripping, handing out stress and tractoring.

Have used Beckett a few times and it is really good - would be great for clearing lanes for Ketsu as well I think.

My brain wants 'pairs of' so bad and I can't help but want to hammer more tractors home, so I keep thinking of Ketsu, 2 Jakku Gunrunners + something else. What that something else is, is where I'm kinda stuck.

5 hours ago, Sixter said:

Well, Kavil kind of got nerfed because of raise to the Dorsal Turret and to Veteran Turret Gunner. The Teroch/Talonbane combo is certainly not written in stone although the I5 combo is kind of nice.

not really. DT +1pt and VTG +2pts/ Kavil himself untouched. Balances pretty well with 3pt reduction to Shadowcaster title.

Ketsu Onyo (70)
Fearless (3)
Maul (12)
Shadow Caster (3)

Ship total: 88 Half Points: 44 Threshold: 5

Kavil (43)
Dorsal Turret (3)
Veteran Turret Gunner (8)

Ship total: 54 Half Points: 27 Threshold: 4

Old Teroch (56)
Predator (2)

Ship total: 58 Half Points: 29 Threshold: 2


Total: 200

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0: https://raithos.github.io/?f=Scum and Villainy&d=v8ZsZ200Z126X121W48WWWW160Y85XW137WW90WWWWY98X127W&sn=Unnamed Squadron&obs=

Kavil´s extra 3 points (because of the more expensive Dorsal and VTG) still erase the benefits of the point reduction of the Shadowcaster title. I´m wondering if the inclusion of Contraband Cybernetics could be a significant improvement to the consistancy of the list.

I had a decent game (trivially small sample size) prior to the adjustment with Ketsu, Talonbane, and Serrisu of all folks. Ion Cannon and Crack Shot (they don't work on the same attack, but CS to clean up Range 1 shots still seems worth it). With Serrisu nearby, Ketsu--who is certainly the prime target--gets defensive rerolls on the approach. Meanwhile, Ion can be nasty with tractors.

//

But back on point: The Contraband Buff is really nice for Ketsu.

7 hours ago, theBitterFig said:

I had a decent game (trivially small sample size) prior to the adjustment with Ketsu, Talonbane, and Serrisu of all folks. Ion Cannon and Crack Shot (they don't work on the same attack, but CS to clean up Range 1 shots still seems worth it). With Serrisu nearby, Ketsu--who is certainly the prime target--gets defensive rerolls on the approach. Meanwhile, Ion can be nasty with tractors.

//

But back on point: The Contraband Buff is really nice for Ketsu.

I have been toying with these, too. But I think Ketsu, serissu + any ini 5 can be effective. Ketsu burns down, serissu can help with that.

Was thinking about something like this. Swapping juke for contraband + X should be fine too.

Old Teroch (56)
Fearless (3)

Ketsu Onyo (70)
Fearless (3)
Maul (12)
Shadow Caster (3)

Serissu (40)
Juke (7)
Ion Cannon (5)
Total: 199

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

Tried this one last weekend, think it has potential. Had some good games and lots of fun

Ketsu Onyo (70)
Fearless (3)
Maul (12)
Shadow Caster (3)

Black Sun Assassin (48)
Predator (2)
Collision Detector (6)

Black Sun Assassin (48)
Predator (2)
Collision Detector (6)
Total: 200

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0