Rebel Starbirds

(41) Norra Wexley [BTL-A4 Y-wing]
(4) Shield Upgrade
(5) Ion Cannon Turret
Points: 50

(30) Lieutenant Blount [Z-95-AF4 Headhunter]
(6) Shield Upgrade
(2) Expert Handling
Points: 38

(34) Arvel Crynyd [RZ-1 A-wing]
(1) Starbird Slash
(3) Intimidation
Points: 38

(32) Green Squadron Pilot [RZ-1 A-wing]
(1) Starbird Slash
(3) Intimidation
Points: 36

(32) Green Squadron Pilot [RZ-1 A-wing]
(1) Starbird Slash
(3) Intimidation
Points: 36

Total points: 198

Wanting to try out Starbird Slash, I also thought it might pair nicely with Intimidation. Norra provides some beef to the list, as another puncher who’s not afraid to get in close, and Blount likes to sit back and fire in at occupied enemies.

Feedback please! One change I think I’d make immediately is probably to switch something out for some sort of Device for Norra. Never used Conner Nets, for example!

Arvel with both intimidation and starbird?

2 hours ago, LUZ_TAK said:

Arvel with both intimidation and starbird?

Sure. If you misjudge the overlap, you might still get the block, and vice-versa. Besides, some ships are easier to move through, some are easier to bump. Depends on activation order and other factors.

Ok, why Norra? How about Teb Numb?

I don't see what piece pushes damage consistently in your list.

15 hours ago, LUZ_TAK said:

Ok, why Norra? How about Teb Numb?

I don't see what piece pushes damage consistently in your list.

Well, Norra wants to get in and brawl, and Blount likes allies who like to brawl. I also like having a high-initiative piece in the list.

I could definitely be persuaded to try Ten instead, but it would mean dropping the Shield Upgrade or Expert Handling from Blount. Which sounds okay.

When I built this, the idea was that Straining and Intimidating my opponents, combined with extra dice from range bonuses and Blount would help my offense. But there’s more than one way to skin a gundark...

2 hours ago, Cpt ObVus said:

Well, Norra wants to get in and brawl, and Blount likes allies who like to brawl. I also like having a high-initiative piece in the list.

Norra likes to get in close because it helps her survive, though, not because she's good at killing things. She's either a three dice attack at best or an ion attack limited to one damage.

There's no point running all these debuffs if you don't have someone to capitalise on them. LUZ is right, you don't have a heavy hitter.

Blount is your only pseudo 3 dice attack, but he's 2 across the board in every other stat. He's super easy to kill and probably the priority target now in this list. Blount and Norra are both pieces who work best when you can punish an opponent for ignoring them, which means dangling juicier bait. If they take the bait, Norra and Blount shine. If they don't, then whatever makes that ship juicy (eg. an I6, three dice primary with a strong ability like Wedge) gets to do its work.

17 hours ago, Cpt ObVus said:

Sure. If you misjudge the overlap, you might still get the block, and vice-versa. Besides, some ships are easier to move through, some are easier to bump. Depends on activation order and other factors.

Honestly, I feel like this is a card you need to back yourself on.

Either you get the maneuver call right or you don't. These sorts of hedging strats rarely pay off. See upgrades like Composure. Either Arvel is there to bump every time he possibly can, or he's not. Every turn you try and trigger Starbird Slash on Arvel is a turn you're wasting the points you invested in him + Intimidation. Granted, SS is only a point. If you've got it free, you may as well take it on Arvel now that Crack is 2 points, I guess. My problem there is that now you're kinda just building an Arvel/Norra/Blount range 1 shenanigans list and the two SS Greens are largely irrelevant. Also, if you're going for Intimidation As, then why go for Greens when you'll find it easier to set up blocks with Phoenix Squadron pilots? You see what I mean? Cheap Intimidation blockers want to be moving as early as possible. But if you drop to a lower I, now you can't also take SS.

That said, we're now going to get into my problems with Starbird Slash as a card for Rebels (hint: I don't think it's very good). It's a card that works best if you've got multiple copies in a list to give yourself a better chance of being able to use it, and it's a card that works best when you've got a heavy hitter to take advantage of that.

Problem is, when it comes to Rebels I think those two goals are incompatible. Rebel A-Wings are too expensive for what they offer relative to other ships, and their high damage pieces are also expensive. You just can't put together a list that makes use of both.

Closest I've got so far is this:

Phoenix Squadron Pilot (29)
Starbird Slash (1)

Ship total: 30 Half Points: 15 Threshold: 2

Phoenix Squadron Pilot (29)
Starbird Slash (1)

Ship total: 30 Half Points: 15 Threshold: 2

Phoenix Squadron Pilot (29)
Starbird Slash (1)

Ship total: 30 Half Points: 15 Threshold: 2

Wedge Antilles (55)
Servomotor S-Foils (0)

Ship total: 55 Half Points: 28 Threshold: 3

Ten Numb (48)
Fire-Control System (2)
Jamming Beam (0)
Stabilized S-Foils (2)

Ship total: 52 Half Points: 26 Threshold: 4


Total: 197

3 points for R3 on Wedge, Crack on either Wedge or Ten, a bid, or however else you like to flavour your ships for 3 points.

(EDIT: Lol, @LUZ_TAK just went to the next topic down and saw you'd suggested this exact list. Didn't mean to copy, but interesting that we both thought the same thing about how SS would work)

Do you see what I'm going for here? Three blockers/SS carriers to mess up the opponents formation and potentially ship some Strain tokens, an anvil down the middle who both takes a bit of killing and can dish out the hurt, and a high I flanker who is there to hit hard for as long as he lasts. Your opponent won't go for the A-Wings, but they will have to pick between Wedge and Ten. You're looking for a favourable trade early on, and then whittling down the rest with whoever you have left and chip damage from the A-Wings.

I don't think this is a very good list. But if you specifically want to use SS, it's about all I can think of.

Other than running a more standard Arvel range 1 shenanigans list with ARC Norra, Blount and maybe Luke or Corran and just squeezing SS in there as a backup.

7 minutes ago, GuacCousteau said:

(EDIT: Lol, @LUZ_TAK just went to the next topic down and saw you'd suggested this exact list. Didn't mean to copy, but interesting that we both thought the same thing about how SS would work)

Great minds think alike and all that 😎

Still, you explained it way better than I did.

Prior to Starbird I was having success with Outmaneuver, Daredevil A-wings and AAABB lists. Accounting for Starbird I came up with the following.

Damage list

(42) Blade Squadron Veteran [A/SF-01 B-wing]
Points: 42

(42) Blade Squadron Veteran [A/SF-01 B-wing]
Points: 42

(34) Arvel Crynyd [RZ-1 A-wing]
(1) Starbird Slash
(3) Intimidation
Points: 38

(32) Green Squadron Pilot [RZ-1 A-wing]
(1) Starbird Slash
(6) Outmaneuver
Points: 39

(32) Green Squadron Pilot [RZ-1 A-wing]
(1) Starbird Slash
(6) Outmaneuver
Points: 39

Total points: 200

or

Control list

(32) Gold Squadron Veteran [BTL-A4 Y-wing]
(5) Ion Cannon Turret
(3) Concussion Bomb
Points: 40

(32) Gold Squadron Veteran [BTL-A4 Y-wing]
(5) Ion Cannon Turret
(3) Concussion Bomb
Points: 40

(34) Arvel Crynyd [RZ-1 A-wing]
(2) Daredevil
(3) Intimidation
Points: 39

(32) Green Squadron Pilot [RZ-1 A-wing]
(1) Starbird Slash
(6) Outmaneuver
Points: 39

(32) Green Squadron Pilot [RZ-1 A-wing]
(1) Starbird Slash
(6) Outmaneuver
Points: 39

Total points: 197

19 hours ago, GuacCousteau said:

Norra likes to get in close because it helps her survive, though, not because she's good at killing things. She's either a three dice attack at best or an ion attack limited to one damage.

There's no point running all these debuffs if you don't have someone to capitalise on them. LUZ is right, you don't have a heavy hitter.

Blount is your only pseudo 3 dice attack, but he's 2 across the board in every other stat. He's super easy to kill and probably the priority target now in this list. Blount and Norra are both pieces who work best when you can punish an opponent for ignoring them, which means dangling juicier bait. If they take the bait, Norra and Blount shine. If they don't, then whatever makes that ship juicy (eg. an I6, three dice primary with a strong ability like Wedge) gets to do its work.

Honestly, I feel like this is a card you need to back yourself on.

Either you get the maneuver call right or you don't. These sorts of hedging strats rarely pay off. See upgrades like Composure. Either Arvel is there to bump every time he possibly can, or he's not. Every turn you try and trigger Starbird Slash on Arvel is a turn you're wasting the points you invested in him + Intimidation. Granted, SS is only a point. If you've got it free, you may as well take it on Arvel now that Crack is 2 points, I guess. My problem there is that now you're kinda just building an Arvel/Norra/Blount range 1 shenanigans list and the two SS Greens are largely irrelevant. Also, if you're going for Intimidation As, then why go for Greens when you'll find it easier to set up blocks with Phoenix Squadron pilots? You see what I mean? Cheap Intimidation blockers want to be moving as early as possible. But if you drop to a lower I, now you can't also take SS.

That said, we're now going to get into my problems with Starbird Slash as a card for Rebels (hint: I don't think it's very good). It's a card that works best if you've got multiple copies in a list to give yourself a better chance of being able to use it, and it's a card that works best when you've got a heavy hitter to take advantage of that.

Problem is, when it comes to Rebels I think those two goals are incompatible. Rebel A-Wings are too expensive for what they offer relative to other ships, and their high damage pieces are also expensive. You just can't put together a list that makes use of both.

Closest I've got so far is this:

Phoenix Squadron Pilot (29)
Starbird Slash (1)

Ship total: 30 Half Points: 15 Threshold: 2

Phoenix Squadron Pilot (29)
Starbird Slash (1)

Ship total: 30 Half Points: 15 Threshold: 2

Phoenix Squadron Pilot (29)
Starbird Slash (1)

Ship total: 30 Half Points: 15 Threshold: 2

Wedge Antilles (55)
Servomotor S-Foils (0)

Ship total: 55 Half Points: 28 Threshold: 3

Ten Numb (48)
Fire-Control System (2)
Jamming Beam (0)
Stabilized S-Foils (2)

Ship total: 52 Half Points: 26 Threshold: 4


Total: 197

3 points for R3 on Wedge, Crack on either Wedge or Ten, a bid, or however else you like to flavour your ships for 3 points.

(EDIT: Lol, @LUZ_TAK just went to the next topic down and saw you'd suggested this exact list. Didn't mean to copy, but interesting that we both thought the same thing about how SS would work)

Do you see what I'm going for here? Three blockers/SS carriers to mess up the opponents formation and potentially ship some Strain tokens, an anvil down the middle who both takes a bit of killing and can dish out the hurt, and a high I flanker who is there to hit hard for as long as he lasts. Your opponent won't go for the A-Wings, but they will have to pick between Wedge and Ten. You're looking for a favourable trade early on, and then whittling down the rest with whoever you have left and chip damage from the A-Wings.

I don't think this is a very good list. But if you specifically want to use SS, it's about all I can think of.

Other than running a more standard Arvel range 1 shenanigans list with ARC Norra, Blount and maybe Luke or Corran and just squeezing SS in there as a backup.

I hear ya. I just don’t think (yet, pending testing) that the combo of Slash & Intimidation is bad. Arvel is integral to the list, and since he tries to get range zero at every opportunity, Intimidation is my preferred talent for him. Slash is a low-opportunity cost addition in slot that (in this list) I would probably not otherwise fill. The i3 generics preserve an open activation order for everyone but Norra, which is at least a small value, and allows the (practically free) backup plan of Starbird Slash. I definitely do see the value in Phoenix A-Wings as blockers. But this gives me perhaps more options. I don’t think “you either make the block or you don’t“ needs to be as binary a choice as you’re making it out to be. Sometimes you miss. Sometimes (for whatever reason) you’d rather jump a guy with a K-turn than ram. Slash is your backup plan. Backup plans, particularly backup plans that cost almost nothing, can be valuable.

The main objective of the list is to find out if Starbird Slash and Intimidation together are a workable plan. Maybe the i3 plan fails. And it’s very possible that I have the wrong closers in Blount & Wexley. But the objective of the list is really to find out about the A-Wings.

I can see the value in starbird+intimidation in Arvel, not convinced about the greens.

New take, with Arvel and generic Bwing:

Starbirds + Wedge + Arvel + Blue Bwing

(55) Wedge Antilles [T-65 X-wing]
(2) R4 Astromech
(0) Servomotor S-foils (Closed)
Points: 57

(41) Blue Squadron Pilot [A/SF-01 B-wing]
(0) Jamming Beam
(2) Stabilized S-foils (Open)
(2) Fire-Control System
Points: 45

(29) Phoenix Squadron Pilot [RZ-1 A-wing]
(1) Starbird Slash
Points: 30

(29) Phoenix Squadron Pilot [RZ-1 A-wing]
(1) Starbird Slash
Points: 30

(34) Arvel Crynyd [RZ-1 A-wing]
(1) Starbird Slash
(3) Intimidation
Points: 38

Total points: 200

I still think Im going to miss predator on Arvel A LOT.

3 hours ago, Cpt ObVus said:

Arvel is integral to the list

How much have you played using Arvel?

Because this statement would worry me. Arvel's a nifty little ship, but building a whole list around him just doesn't work. It's the classic Rebel synergy trap. You telegraph your plan from a mile away, and even if you pull it off the results aren't anything spectacular. You reduce one ship's agility by 1 without sacrificing one of your attacks the way you normally would with Intimidation. Okay? The problem is that attack you're not sacrificing via Arvel's pilot ability is only three dice and it's unlikely to have much in the way of mods. Probably just a focus token. Predator really helps Arvel, but you're not taking it here. So either Arvel gets his shot, but is light on mods and max damage or he doesn't and you've maybe achieved the single agility drop.

Arvel isn't going to win matches you for. At his absolute best he's essentially a support piece.

Here's the other thing with Starbird Slash. You're assuming that failed bump/block = maneuver through opponent. That isn't guaranteed at all. If you miss your block/bump because they didn't maneuver where you thought they did, then more likely your maneuver will just miss them entirely.

3 hours ago, Cpt ObVus said:

Slash is a low-opportunity cost addition in slot that (in this list) I would probably not otherwise fill.

Also, I don't buy this for a second. If you're not filling that second talent slot on a Green or Arvel then why are you taking them over the Phoenix? The A-Wing is low attack and mod starved, Predator and Crack Shot are still cheap and should absolutely be on Arvel alongside Intimidation at the very very least. Slash is cheaper than them, yes, but way harder to trigger.

3 hours ago, Cpt ObVus said:

Slash is your backup plan. Backup plans, particularly backup plans that cost almost nothing, can be valuable.

Slash is a terrible back up plan though.

Because look at this list. You've built an entire list around the card. Because you have to. It being limited to a single ship in the faction means to use it you have to bring A-Wings. To make A-Wings worthwhile you need multiple of them. Having multiple A-Wings costs you points you then can't spend on aces or tanks. SS isn't a 1 point upgrade that you add to a list that already works okay just in case the situation calls for it, it's an upgrade that dictates what ships you're bringing from the ground up. You've brought A-Wings to test out Slash then thought "what are A-Wings good at? Ah, blocking" and then finished the list by picking one ship who can make use of blockers and one ship that also helps Blount's ability.

To really judge the value of this is a back up, you need to look at the list without it - is 3xA-Wings + Norra + Blount without SS a good list? If it's not a good list, is it going to be fixed by the simple addition of this card?

I really, really don't see it.

The logic of the list makes sense when you step through from upgrade to pilot who can use it to pilot who works with that pilot, but completely breaks down when you look at it as a whole. Why is Norra there, really? I honestly can't see a reason beyond "I already have Blount who likes ships to be at range 1 and Norra likes to be at range 1". It's synergy for the sake of synergy and not actually driving to a result greater than the sum of the parts. Blount is there because Arvel is, but what is the link between Arvel and Norra? How are those two ships specifically benefitting each other? Do you see Arvel bumping a target and then Norra being at range 1 of that target with a shot as something that will happen regularly? Because I'll tell you now, it won't. Bumping a blocking a target with Arvel and then getting Norra in range 1 but not bumped or blocked herself is difficult. Not impossible, with the activation order and dials in question, but not easy by any means. Honestly, one of the best uses of Arvel is denying the range 3 bonus. Having him block, then having a heavy hitter at range 3 is so much better. It's easier to pull off as the A-Wing is faster than most other ships, and it means you get a defensive bonus on your heavy hitter while denying the opponent theirs. Wedge especially loves Arvel.

4 hours ago, Cpt ObVus said:

The i3 generics preserve an open activation order for everyone but Norra,

Everyone but Norra and Blount . Blount is I4. This means all you have is open activation for the A-Wings. Which you'd also get if they were all Phoenix Squadron pilots. And then they'd be better blockers.

Arvel is fine at I3 because those ships he can't block he can still boost into and benefit. The Greens don't have that luxury. Any ships of lower I, they can't block. All they can do is bump after, which means the opponent ship has mods and you don't. Yes, Intimidation triggers but frankly that's almost always straight up worse than just having an extra ship shoot them with a focus token. I1 is also probably best for SS because you move first and so know exactly whether your maneuver will overlap the opponent. In fact, this suits their role as blockers really well. Block them one turn, guarantee SS the next. Yes, your opponent will see that coming and dial a blue to clear the Strain, but that's valuable too. You've just controlled their dial.

4 hours ago, Cpt ObVus said:

The main objective of the list is to find out if Starbird Slash and Intimidation together are a workable plan.

I mean, that's fine but if you're absolutely dead set on that then just go for it. Run the list, see how it does and hit up the Battle Reports forum afterwards to share.

If you really do want feedback, then my feedback is that SS is probably a bad card on RZ-1s, that I3 A-Wings trying to switch between Intimidation and SS is too much of an awkward middle ground for too many points and that if over half your list is going to be spent on RZ-1s then the other half of the list had better hit like a truck.

I'd strongly consider changing Blount and Norra, and strongly advise outright dropping one of those Green Squadrons at the very least.

If you want to test Intimidation + SS, then do it with Arvel and one other Green. That should give you plenty of test data.

If you really want to keep Blount in there too, then I'd probably suggest something like this:

Green Squadron Pilot (32)
Starbird Slash (1)
Intimidation (3)

Ship total: 36 Half Points: 18 Threshold: 2

Arvel Crynyd (34)
Starbird Slash (1)
Intimidation (3)

Ship total: 38 Half Points: 19 Threshold: 2

Lieutenant Blount (30)
Ship total: 30 Half Points: 15 Threshold: 2

Ten Numb (48)
Fire-Control System (2)
Jamming Beam (0)
Stabilized S-Foils (2)

Ship total: 52 Half Points: 26 Threshold: 4

Horton Salm (37)
Ion Cannon Turret (5)
R4 Astromech (2)

Ship total: 44 Half Points: 22 Threshold: 4


Blount, Ten and Horton are all I4. Gives you that same activation freedom. Horton is also underrated, IMO. He really, really wants Proton Bombs too but that can't be helped here. Ten will draw all the fire. You've just got to hope he puts out some damage before he dies. If you get a chance to double tap with that Jamming Beam, take it. It's normally not worth it, but there's a real chance that Ten won't live to get to use that lock next turn in this list. May as well set up Horton, Blount and hopefully Arvel a little better before he dies. Then your opponent has to pick between stack of health Horton or cheap but killable Blount.

1 hour ago, GuacCousteau said:

How much have you played using Arvel?

Because this statement would worry me. Arvel's a nifty little ship, but building a whole list around him just doesn't work. It's the classic Rebel synergy trap. You telegraph your plan from a mile away, and even if you pull it off the results aren't anything spectacular. You reduce one ship's agility by 1 without sacrificing one of your attacks the way you normally would with Intimidation. Okay? The problem is that attack you're not sacrificing via Arvel's pilot ability is only three dice and it's unlikely to have much in the way of mods. Probably just a focus token. Predator really helps Arvel, but you're not taking it here. So either Arvel gets his shot, but is light on mods and max damage or he doesn't and you've maybe achieved the single agility drop.

Arvel isn't going to win matches you for. At his absolute best he's essentially a support piece.

Here's the other thing with Starbird Slash. You're assuming that failed bump/block = maneuver through opponent. That isn't guaranteed at all. If you miss your block/bump because they didn't maneuver where you thought they did, then more likely your maneuver will just miss them entirely.

Also, I don't buy this for a second. If you're not filling that second talent slot on a Green or Arvel then why are you taking them over the Phoenix? The A-Wing is low attack and mod starved, Predator and Crack Shot are still cheap and should absolutely be on Arvel alongside Intimidation at the very very least. Slash is cheaper than them, yes, but way harder to trigger.

Slash is a terrible back up plan though.

Because look at this list. You've built an entire list around the card. Because you have to. It being limited to a single ship in the faction means to use it you have to bring A-Wings. To make A-Wings worthwhile you need multiple of them. Having multiple A-Wings costs you points you then can't spend on aces or tanks. SS isn't a 1 point upgrade that you add to a list that already works okay just in case the situation calls for it, it's an upgrade that dictates what ships you're bringing from the ground up. You've brought A-Wings to test out Slash then thought "what are A-Wings good at? Ah, blocking" and then finished the list by picking one ship who can make use of blockers and one ship that also helps Blount's ability.

To really judge the value of this is a back up, you need to look at the list without it - is 3xA-Wings + Norra + Blount without SS a good list? If it's not a good list, is it going to be fixed by the simple addition of this card?

I really, really don't see it.

The logic of the list makes sense when you step through from upgrade to pilot who can use it to pilot who works with that pilot, but completely breaks down when you look at it as a whole. Why is Norra there, really? I honestly can't see a reason beyond "I already have Blount who likes ships to be at range 1 and Norra likes to be at range 1". It's synergy for the sake of synergy and not actually driving to a result greater than the sum of the parts. Blount is there because Arvel is, but what is the link between Arvel and Norra? How are those two ships specifically benefitting each other? Do you see Arvel bumping a target and then Norra being at range 1 of that target with a shot as something that will happen regularly? Because I'll tell you now, it won't. Bumping a blocking a target with Arvel and then getting Norra in range 1 but not bumped or blocked herself is difficult. Not impossible, with the activation order and dials in question, but not easy by any means. Honestly, one of the best uses of Arvel is denying the range 3 bonus. Having him block, then having a heavy hitter at range 3 is so much better. It's easier to pull off as the A-Wing is faster than most other ships, and it means you get a defensive bonus on your heavy hitter while denying the opponent theirs. Wedge especially loves Arvel.

Everyone but Norra and Blount . Blount is I4. This means all you have is open activation for the A-Wings. Which you'd also get if they were all Phoenix Squadron pilots. And then they'd be better blockers.

Arvel is fine at I3 because those ships he can't block he can still boost into and benefit. The Greens don't have that luxury. Any ships of lower I, they can't block. All they can do is bump after, which means the opponent ship has mods and you don't. Yes, Intimidation triggers but frankly that's almost always straight up worse than just having an extra ship shoot them with a focus token. I1 is also probably best for SS because you move first and so know exactly whether your maneuver will overlap the opponent. In fact, this suits their role as blockers really well. Block them one turn, guarantee SS the next. Yes, your opponent will see that coming and dial a blue to clear the Strain, but that's valuable too. You've just controlled their dial.

I mean, that's fine but if you're absolutely dead set on that then just go for it. Run the list, see how it does and hit up the Battle Reports forum afterwards to share.

If you really do want feedback, then my feedback is that SS is probably a bad card on RZ-1s, that I3 A-Wings trying to switch between Intimidation and SS is too much of an awkward middle ground for too many points and that if over half your list is going to be spent on RZ-1s then the other half of the list had better hit like a truck.

I'd strongly consider changing Blount and Norra, and strongly advise outright dropping one of those Green Squadrons at the very least.

If you want to test Intimidation + SS, then do it with Arvel and one other Green. That should give you plenty of test data.

If you really want to keep Blount in there too, then I'd probably suggest something like this:

Green Squadron Pilot (32)
Starbird Slash (1)
Intimidation (3)

Ship total: 36 Half Points: 18 Threshold: 2

Arvel Crynyd (34)
Starbird Slash (1)
Intimidation (3)

Ship total: 38 Half Points: 19 Threshold: 2

Lieutenant Blount (30)
Ship total: 30 Half Points: 15 Threshold: 2

Ten Numb (48)
Fire-Control System (2)
Jamming Beam (0)
Stabilized S-Foils (2)

Ship total: 52 Half Points: 26 Threshold: 4

Horton Salm (37)
Ion Cannon Turret (5)
R4 Astromech (2)

Ship total: 44 Half Points: 22 Threshold: 4


Blount, Ten and Horton are all I4. Gives you that same activation freedom. Horton is also underrated, IMO. He really, really wants Proton Bombs too but that can't be helped here. Ten will draw all the fire. You've just got to hope he puts out some damage before he dies. If you get a chance to double tap with that Jamming Beam, take it. It's normally not worth it, but there's a real chance that Ten won't live to get to use that lock next turn in this list. May as well set up Horton, Blount and hopefully Arvel a little better before he dies. Then your opponent has to pick between stack of health Horton or cheap but killable Blount.

Thanks for the detailed response. There’s a lot to respond to here, but most of it boils down to: I’m less familiar with some of these individual elements (as evidenced by the fact that I incorrectly recalled Blount’s initiative, for example), and wanted to try them out. All of my decent Rebel lists seem to use Wedge, Luke, Dutch, Ten, Lando, and two or three others, and I just wanted to try some lesser-used pilots.

”Arvel is integral to the list” because I want the list to use Arvel with the two Greens (or at least one), to see how they work. It’s part of the mission statement of the list. I’m hearing you when you say it’s not worth it, but I’m gonna try it. It is entirely possible that my closers lack punch.

As for Predator and Crack Shot: I tend to find them underwhelming? Crack Shot has always felt to me like something I would throw in because it was just a point, and some lists would rather see the points used than a bid. But it typically went unused (particularly on low-initiative pilots), or used to small effect. I doubt I’ll use it much at all at two points, and Predator feels similar. Of the bullseye talents, I do like Deadeye Shot, because the critical effects in this game are often crippling. And again, it’s cheap. But probably not particularly useful here. So yeah, entirely possible these slots would not otherwise be filled. It’s also possible I haven’t used these talents enough to see their value. The number of games I’ve played is in the dozens, not the hundreds.

Drop shield upgrade on Norra, add afterburners. Drop Blount for Airen Cracken with crack shot.