Do you guys think this is because of the current state of the game? More dice with re-rolls that can be thrown out at you from Howl + Ties, 360 turrets, a good amount of shields/firepower from Bloody Daggers?

What is it that makes Tie Interceptors lackluster in performance from a point-cost perspective?

I've been rolling with Interceptors since I started playing and although I've lost games, I don't think it's a complete wash. I manage to perform well vs. a good number of lists/players so I'm wondering what the issue is.

Let's compare something really quick, with a list that's been pretty popular as of late. The same could be compared to the winning list from Worlds this year with the only variation of downgrading the RSP for a Rookie + Biggs.

2x Red Squadron Pilots

2x Dagger Squadron Pilots w/ Advanced Sensors

With Imperial Aces coming out, we will see a fair share of competitive options. The biggest is Targeting Computer being available to Royal Guard Ties and Soontir Fel. However, this does come at a price and some will argue that Fel is the only one that will be able to properly use it.

For the points, I think a Saber Squadron Pilot with PTL (24) or a Royal Guard Pilot with PTL (25) is pretty competitive with all things considered. You're looking at double actions can be be cleared with some of the best maneuvers in the game. The ability to Evade + Focus every turn gives you the ability to put out good damage from all ranges, and being able to Boost + Barrel allows you to fly around firing arcs with ease. Sure, you're vulnerable to 360 turrets, but you can play a ranged game and still preform decently since you're throwing out 3 dice per attack with focus while advancing 2-green, and your opponents are shooting back at long range + 3 agil + Evade.

I would like to hear your thoughts on this, especially if you've recently participated in Worlds.

Edit: Damnit, I meant to say Worlds, not Nationals in the title. Can a mod change?

They suffer from being very glass cannon. Which means though they are excelent and well worth their point, they are not ideal for tournaments due to the tournament scoring system.

Interceptors either win big or lose big if you make a mistake or make an unlucky roll. In a meta where you need to win every game, people don't want to take the risk, with such a large point sink. Things like Tie Swarms and B-Wings are much more level either because if things go wrong you lose 1/8 of your fleet or they have enough hit points to survive a mistake with positioning or an unlucky dice roll.

Interceptors aren't bad, they just don't suit tournaments as they are currently written.

Meanwhile, I'm just sitting over here, wondering when they'll make a tournament-level Advanced other than Vader.

It is not the place to have that kind of wacky fun...

Nice to know you are a good player, but they want perfect players or people who are really good at setting up a nice cheese shop.

They are viable, watch theorist's use of them in the last vassal tournament. The magic combo seems to be saber ptl shield as a super flank ship.

also, 360 fire arcs. that may be one of the only things they are really weak against, but in a tournament where you cant change out your squad.... you don't want to be weak against anything.

Reason being is that hp is better for high agi lists than more agi.

Though they may become much more viable we didn't see many 360 options in the top 16, and as people look at the top crews when they design for tournament, I can see this being a year with more B-Wing, swarm rebel and Tie Swarm lists in the competitive meta.

They suffer from being very glass cannon. Which means though they are excelent and well worth their point, they are not ideal for tournaments due to the tournament scoring system.

Interceptors either win big or lose big if you make a mistake or make an unlucky roll. In a meta where you need to win every game, people don't want to take the risk, with such a large point sink. Things like Tie Swarms and B-Wings are much more level either because if things go wrong you lose 1/8 of your fleet or they have enough hit points to survive a mistake with positioning or an unlucky dice roll.

Interceptors aren't bad, they just don't suit tournaments as they are currently written.

This makes a lot of sense for tournaments. You can't afford a loss if you want to do well.

On the other hand, OUTSIDE of tournaments they are awesome. Sometimes loosing big can be super fun too.

Myself using a squad with

Saber ptl x2

Howl

Backstabber

Mauler

I find the glass to be their main fault, as stated it is better to have cushion than agility. I think we will see some interesting upgrades in future sets that benefit them but cost plays a large factor in deciding that.

They suffer from being very glass cannon. Which means though they are excelent and well worth their point, they are not ideal for tournaments due to the tournament scoring system.

Interceptors either win big or lose big if you make a mistake or make an unlucky roll. In a meta where you need to win every game, people don't want to take the risk, with such a large point sink. Things like Tie Swarms and B-Wings are much more level either because if things go wrong you lose 1/8 of your fleet or they have enough hit points to survive a mistake with positioning or an unlucky dice roll.

Interceptors aren't bad, they just don't suit tournaments as they are currently written.

This makes a lot of sense for tournaments. You can't afford a loss if you want to do well.

On the other hand, OUTSIDE of tournaments they are awesome. Sometimes loosing big can be super fun too.

Yep there is nothing I love more than running Interceptors, and I did run 1 at the last tournament with an X-1... and OK I didn't do amazing, but I didn't do awfully either. And most of it was bad flying on my part rather than them being inherently bad.

I ran with TIE Interceptors at Worlds.

Soontir Fel

Push the Limit

Stealth Device

Saber Squadron Pilot

Stealth Device

Krassis Trelix

Heavy Laser Cannon

The build was very glass cannon, but I can honestly say I have the absolute MOST fun flying the interceptors. I added the big ship to help draw the threat and the fire away from my lovely interceptors. I also flipflopped with the idea of flying an Omnicron Class Shuttle with Darth Vader and Gunner, and then adding two unnamed interceptors to boot.

I ended up going 2/3 at Worlds.

Unfortunately the dice weren't in my favor, and as Rodent Mastermind mentioned above it really is a win big or win lose - and it's mostly on dice. Soontir Fel is really the star of my build. At range 3 he's rolling 5 die and is often loaded with two focus tokens and an evade [with push the limit and his pilot ability] - but even so, once he's hit - that's pretty much it for him. Even as a pilot who can out maneuver most ships - not all shots are avoidable and inevitably after one hit gets through and the stealth device goes down - they are incredibly vulnerable. [if the shot itself didn't one shot them entirely] Furthermore, Interceptors are very weak against anything with a 360 degree firing arc [ion Cannon Turret, Blaster Turret or Millennium Falcons].

I greatly look forward to the Imperial Aces pack, and have it pre-ordered. Hoping it will boost my build and make it more viable for next years tournament season - I had planned to keep flying my Interceptors regardless, but nonetheless - still very exciting!

I LOVE my Interceptors.
I bought 2 interceptors before I even bought my first core set
Sexiest ship in the game aesthetically.
Imho, they are the reason Turrets exist. The rock to the Interceptor's scissors.

I think the they are fine as is.

Think of Interceptors as "critical damage"... you can't count on them, but boy is it fun when they do their thing.

I fly an interceptor in almost every list. They are just that much fun. More maneuverable than a bwing with advanced sensors, same fire power... Sadly, 1/3 the hp. Can take the fight to any ship and when flown well they will take down multiple ships even under focus fire. One bad dice roll and they are toast.

Soontir and Turr are crazy good. Imagine either of them vs the bwing in the final match instead of 2 academies... Game over rebel scum.

With turrets losing favor and Bwings gaining it the interceptor is a great choice but can they consistently avoid bad dice?

I love the Squints, they are fun to play! Especially when you have PTL on them. I played a four interceptor squad in my first local tournament in Southern California and I won first place. I had Soontir Fel with PTL, Turr Phennir, Fel's Wrath and Saber Squadron Pilot with Veteran Instincts. Totaling 100 points. I love their movement dial and all of there 2 turns are all green. I was always evading too since it is a guarantee one point of damage being evade. I have another tournament this Saturday and I will see how I do. Not doing the same exact squad but a combination.

I think it's like being in a bad relationship with a hot girl...
You know she's bad for you but you just can't keep away.

I think what some poeple here say is quite true. Interceptors and A-Wings for that matter don't work well in tournaments, not because the ship is bad, but because they just don't work well in a setting where the lost of a single ship can make the difference between 1st and 5th place.

That said I do think that both Interceptors and A-Wings need something. Int's are getting that wth Imp Aces, and I hope to see something simular for A-Wings soon.

I think they'll probably get a boost once the Aces pack comes out. It's possible some people just held off, waiting for them to get some new goodies. I think they're in an odd place in the meta right now, where Swarms are still a very popular bang for your buck, and Imperial players subscribe to Stalin's theory of quality vs quantity.

I think there's definitely a place for them - Imperial twists on Han Shoots First using a Firespray or Lambda, with a couple of PTL Sabers or what have you as escorts, are perfectly viable. I think they're just not what's hot right now with Imperial players. It's a good ship, though, which is about to get some interesting new pilots and tools, so I wouldn't worry too much.

The Interceptor is not dead, though it hath slept. I think it'll be back in vogue soon enough.

I'm curious, people seem to think the Imperial Aces pack will somehow improve the Interceptor, but how? The only really interesting cards I have seen from it so far are the targeting computer and the royal guard title, both of which continue to add cost to a ship whose main criticism seems to be its cost.

Not trying to be a naysayer, but I'm currently just not sure how the Imperial Aces pack is going to "revitalize" the interceptor

It comes down to how many ships can I put out there? Imps took this initative first with TIE swarm and now rebels are forgoing their special characters and high pilot skill ships to field 4 models and this has been proven a boon vs their conterpart, the TIE swarm. Sure, Soontir Fel and Wedge Antilles have some cute abilities but are they worth 25-50% of another ship? Tournemant results say no. You want more HP, more attack dice, more shields, target saturation, more evade over pilot abilities or upgrades. Unless you fullfil an army wide buff, a la Howlrunner, your points don't justify you being on the field vs any % of an additional ship being on the field.

So when it comes down to it, fielding 4 sabers with PtL just doesn't math up to what is really good in the game.

That being said, for funnziez, Soontir Fel and Tur Phennir all day 'er day.

I'm curious, people seem to think the Imperial Aces pack will somehow improve the Interceptor, but how? The only really interesting cards I have seen from it so far are the targeting computer and the royal guard title, both of which continue to add cost to a ship whose main criticism seems to be its cost.

Not trying to be a naysayer, but I'm currently just not sure how the Imperial Aces pack is going to "revitalize" the interceptor

This right here.

We already see what pilots we're going to get -1 and all the upgrades.

Let's analyze for a second how it will change the meta.

-For 1 point more, you can get a PS6 pilot with PTL over the Saber in the form of the Royal Guard Tie.

-For 2 more points, you can get a free Targeting Computer upgrade on Fel, in addition to his other options. However, this is in addition to.

-We still don't know what the last ace is, but I'm sure that 1 guy isn't going to change the meta.

-The only other one is Carnor Jax, with his ability to deny Focus and Evade tokens, which can be really powerful but will require your guys to get close. Being PS4-6 with the more elite Interceptors, you risk the chance of getting jammed up by lower ships moving to block you. If you get blocked on Interceptors and lose your action at Range 1, you might as well throw your hands up because you're going to lose that ship.

The only realistic change we get out of this is 25 point PS6 Interceptors with PTL.

If you get blocked in an Interceptor with boost, barrel roll, and quite probably PTL letting you do BOTH, you deserve to lose your actions, because you are a terrible pilot.

It's not about completely rewriting the meta. It's about giving them more tools. They'll get some cool new named pilots. Maybe some interesting generic, dunno. The RG title letting them take double mods is great - Target Lock + Focus will make Interceptor guns quite deadly. The fact they can do so AND upgrade shields or hull - or forgo the computer in favor of adding a couple of hits worth of survival in shields + hull, just adds a ton of options to them.

I'm not really sure what people were expecting here. They can add options, some interesting new pilots, etc, but they can't reinvent the wheel. The Interceptor was never going to get a Death Star cannon, advanced protons, the Falcon's shield generator... But it is the first ship getting a bit of an overhaul with new pilots, a new non-unique title that allows double modifications, the ability to target lock. What more were you hoping for, exactly?

It's not about completely rewriting the meta. It's about giving them more tools. They'll get some cool new named pilots. Maybe some interesting generic, dunno. The RG title letting them take double mods is great - Target Lock + Focus will make Interceptor guns quite deadly. The fact they can do so AND upgrade shields or hull - or forgo the computer in favor of adding a couple of hits worth of survival in shields + hull, just adds a ton of options to them.

They're unrealistic expectations actually. No one is going to take Hull + Shields for double mods. That's +7 points to something that's already considered overpriced. It's a unnesscary upgrade, and no one with cost-effectiveness in mind will take that kind of upgrade.

I understand the concept of adding tools for sure. I'm all for adding player options to the game! However, the options that are added this upcoming expansion will not make them fare any better vs. the current metagame.

I can however see them taking the Targeting Computer and Stealth device. The aim to guarantee at least 1 kill before the stealth device drops. More or less a Alpha strike list. You hit hard fast. then hopefully are far enough ahead that you can win the game.

I can however see them taking the Targeting Computer and Stealth device. The aim to guarantee at least 1 kill before the stealth device drops. More or less a Alpha strike list. You hit hard fast. then hopefully are far enough ahead that you can win the game.

I'm going to say that Interceptors pretty much have to take the PTL upgrade to be worthwhile.

SD + TC will make them 29 points for a Saber, 30 for a Royal Tie. Not sure if worth in that respect.