Hotshots and Aces new pilots. What faction did the best? What faction did the worst?

This pack contains the following ship cards:

• Rebel Alliance:
  • Gina Moonsong (A/SF-01 B-Wing)
  • K-2SO (UT-60D U-Wing)
  • Leia Organa (Modified YT-1300)
  • Alexsandr Kallus (VCX-100)
• Galactic Empire:
  • Fifth Brother (TIE Advanced v1)
  • "Vagabond" (TIE/sk Striker)
  • Morna Kee (VT-49 Decimator)
• Scum:
  • Nom Lumb (JumpMaster 5000)
  • G4R-GOR V/M (M3-A Interceptor)
  • Bossk (Z-95-AF4 Headhunter)
• Resistance:
  • Paige Tico (MG-100 StarFortress)
  • Ronith Blario (RZ-2 A-Wing)
  • Zizi Tlo (RZ-2 A-Wing)
• First Order:
  • Captain Phasma (TIE/sf Fighter)
  • Lieutenant LeHuse (TIE/sf Fighter)
  • "Rush" (TIE/vn Silencer)

Resistance. Most of the new pilots are rubbish but Zizi is legit.

Yeah, it's not even close. You'd put Zizi's ability on any pilot at any initiative. 5thBrother, K2SO and Leia are all nice. But Zizi is leagues above.

IMO, Scum wins. Nom Lumb is stupidly legit, and can help bring Jumps back to the table. G4R-GOR has an incredibly dangerous ability that makes him a fire magnet. And Mag-Pulses are gonna show up in all kinds of hardpoints & missile slots.

Flew this today and wrecked absolute face with it:

Torani Kulda (48)
Cluster Missiles (5)
R5-TK (0)
Munitions Failsafe (1)

G4R-GOR V/M (28)
Autoblasters (3)

Nom Lumb (38)
Autoblasters (3)
Dengar (6)
Feedback Array (3)

Han Solo (54)
Mag-Pulse Warheads (6)
4-LOM (2)
Lando’s Millennium Falcon (3)
Total: 200

View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0

Other factions will benefit from H&A, but IMO this stuff helps put Scum back on the map.

if Zizi had a real price it would be a harder decision, but RZ2s have a time honored tradition of making other ships with the same price look like jokes, which wasnt a privilege extended to the rest of the pack

RZ-2 Awings cheat again.

I'm most excited for First Order (Rush and Leheuse help to fill some major gaps), but yeah, Zizi is going to be a powerhouse addition to the already-strong RZ-2 mini swarm.

If Rush had the Talent slot, like they showed off in the livestream, he would be at the top of the pile. Without it, he's above average in the card pack. Zizi is top of the pile

Resistance has the best in the form of Zizi. I think that there are some other winners, like Nom, Leia, and even Rush.

There's a lot of winners and not a lot of losers, TBH.

Resistance wins big with Zizi. But once her price settles down maybe that won't be such a big deal; Paige and Ronith aren't nearly as interesting.

FO is around average; Rush and Phasma are cool but not super game-changing, LeHuse is like Gina; mostly just an I5 but the ability is a neat bonus.

Scum also a mixed bag – Nom Lumb seems great. G4R-G0R was clearly designed as R5-TK's playmate, but they might just both be bad. Bossk is interesting but not that potent.

Empire is probably the most underrated. Morna Kee seems incredibly efficient, 5bro plays super well with the v1s, and Vagabond represents the first activation-phase mining.

Rebels might be the most disappointed given that they got the most new pilots and none really offers a new niche. Still no I5 RZ-1 for crying out loud.

37 minutes ago, ClassicalMoser said:

Still no I5 RZ-1 for crying out loud.

I am holding out hope for Tycho in a future pack. And I have to think there’ll be future packs, given how copies of this one seem to be moving. If the strategy is to add more pilots to ships they’ve (re)released, then the RZ-1 should be eligible next time...

7 minutes ago, CoffeeMinion said:

I am holding out hope for Tycho in a future pack. And I have to think there’ll be future packs, given how copies of this one seem to be moving. If the strategy is to add more pilots to ships they’ve (re)released, then the RZ-1 should be eligible next time...

Shara Bey would likely be in the i5 pilot over Tycho

50 minutes ago, MegaSilver said:

Shara Bey would likely be in the i5 pilot over Tycho

Except she’s already I-4 in the rebel arc, based on Garvin and Norra sharing their arc Ints with their other ships I doubt Shara is going to magically get an initiative bump.

yknow who is I-5 and flew an A-wing? Hera.

but I still want Tycho.

1 hour ago, CoffeeMinion said:

I am holding out hope for Tycho in a future pack. And I have to think there’ll be future packs, given how copies of this one seem to be moving. If the strategy is to add more pilots to ships they’ve (re)released, then the RZ-1 should be eligible next time...

Eh, I hope so but they may have botched this by throwing all the different factions pilots into one pack. But that’s a convo for the future.

10 hours ago, ClassicalMoser said:

...and Vagabond represents the first activation-phase mining...

To which Genius cries out, "Am I a joke to you!?"

... Yes "Genius", yes you are 😅

Vagabond is the first to drop bombs without endangering themselves. On second thought, Genius is actually worth a look now that there is a selection of mines available again {delayed fuses are available}(thanks @Managarmr)

EDIT: @Cerebrawl pointed out below that Genius only drops Bombs, while Vagabond drops Devices(bombs and mines), so Vagabond is the first to specifically be able to drop mines in the activation phase.

1 hour ago, nitrobenz said:

To which Genius cries out, "Am I a joke to you!?"

... Yes "Genius", yes you are 😅

Vagabond is the first to drop bombs without endangering themselves. On second thought, Genius is actually worth a look now that there is a selection of mines available again.

It is 2points plus maybe 1 for delayed fuses. About the price Vagabond pays, compared to a hypothetical Ini 2 striker.

I would also say Empire, as overall best.

Morna makes a really tough Deci at I4, as she basically gets reinforce as a free action at the second turn. Vagabond as said above, and Fifth Brother is cheaper then the sister with 2 Force at I4. So all 3 pretty useful.

The others:

First Order

Close second. Rush is good, because people have one more FO ship where you have problems with firing priority. You want to shoot Rush only if you can kill it, which is not easy with 6hp behind 3dice. LeHuse another I5, at a good price. Phasma is a bit more meh, but she can enable Quickdraw or Fanatical, messing up enemy firing priority again.

Resistance

Zizi is stupid for that price. The other are more meh, Ronith is Ok, using unspent focus from a high ini, further stengthening A swarms. Unsure however if you would not rather take someone else at his price. Paige (why is she used as a gunner when she is a I 5 pilot??) would be really good on any other bomber. Here it is old MG problem, you have to pay the steep price for a high firepower gunship, and then pay for a lot of bombs, too, on top of it.

Rebels

Gina, having an I5 B-wing is value in itself and she is an "On switch" for Braylen or Ten. K2SO is interesting, rotate and get a calculate, however you will probably never see him due to K2SO crew. Leia, ok, force is always nice, but at the price point Lando has probably more use, depending on squad composition, and she might be rather used as crew. (Btw, why is Leia pilot I5?). Kallus has an interesting price for being I4 with 4die front gun. (Big win for Rebels is K2SO crew and the B-wing configs, but that counts not here).

Leaves us with Scum:

G4R is a really potent blocker, the enemy wants to kill fast (targetting priority). However, we already have a good blocker on that chassis with Sunny Bounder, so diminishing returns here, as you probably cannot afford both (why doubling up FFG?), and you have to be carefully not be bump-trained by the enemy. Nom Lumb, interesting if you fly carefully, 38 is a nice price for 9hp behind 2dice. Enemy can however choose to ignore him, or fly on the red side (giving him a piddly 2die unmodded even if Nom gets to rotate there). Bossk has a nice ability when being docked (Pursuit Craft), giving him double mods on deploy. But a lot of points for a squishy Z95, and might want Marksmanship, even more points.

2 hours ago, nitrobenz said:

To which Genius cries out, "Am I a joke to you!?"

... Yes "Genius", yes you are 😅

Vagabond is the first to drop bombs without endangering themselves. On second thought, Genius is actually worth a look now that there is a selection of mines available again.

Vagabond can drop mines, "genius" can only drop bombs, ClassicalMoser was indeed correct. Though it should be noted that Moff Jerjerod can let you pull off the same trick in the system phase.

13 hours ago, Deffly said:

If Rush had the Talent slot, like they showed off in the livestream, he would be at the top of the pile. Without it, he's above average in the card pack. Zizi is top of the pile

Or if he had a real ability and initiative.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

5 hours ago, Cerebrawl said:

Vagabond can drop mines, "genius" can only drop bombs, ClassicalMoser was indeed correct. Though it should be noted that Moff Jerjerod can let you pull off the same trick in the system phase.

Oops, my mistake. Mine≠bomb!

5 hours ago, Cerebrawl said:

Vagabond can drop mines, "genius" can only drop bombs, ClassicalMoser was indeed correct. Though it should be noted that Moff Jerjerod can let you pull off the same trick in the system phase.

Oops, my mistake. Mine≠bomb!

For Tournaments:

1. Win: Resistance. Zizi Tlo has already moved to the top of the list for RZ-2 pilots, and Ronith Blario is totally playable.
2. Place: Rebels. Stabilized S-Foils isn't a new pilot, but Ten and Braylen got *REALLY* punchy. Is it the best archetype? Not necessarily, but it can be impressive damage. K-2SO is also long-anticipated and at least decent.
3. Show: First Order. I think their H&A stuff gets easily overshadowed by the TIE/ba, which between Vonreg, Holo, and Proud Tradition might be up there with Zizi for the winner of the wave, but I don't think their stuff is too bad.

For Funsies:

1. Win: Empire. Vagabond is pretty sweet, and Fifth Brother opens up a lot of missile shenanigans which seem really cool for casual night (and he's inexplicable *cheaper* than Sev... FFG conspiracy to sell boxes?).
2. Place: Scum. Nom Lum helps open up the Jumpmaster some, and it's nice to have a playable Z-95 "ace", but it's all more cute than good.
3. Show: Rebels. Leia. < 3

I do think Zizi is the pick of the bunch, but I have a soft spot for "Rush".

I would say rebel for the collection, Gina, Leia and K-2SO are all good cards. For single pilot, Resistance. Zizi is stupid good at the price point.

Gina has a special spot, and Rush is interesting.

But by far, the greatest Ace in the pack is in the Empire, our faithful Carnor Jax: