Every card in imperial aces has been revealed. What does it mean for the game? Will we see a lot of competitive 4 interceptor lists? Or will the interceptor still just supplement other lists? Which pilot will see the most play? The least?

I'm guessing that 4 Royal Guards with PtL will be common going forward. The slight PS edge over sabers could take them a long way. As far as uniques, Turr is the current one I see played the most due to his ability to stay out of front arc, which is the staple of well played interceptor squads. Soontir is a close second, as his focus ability lets him hit like a train, while also starting out of arc with PtL. I am thinking that people will obviously experiment with every pilot, but there is one that will be the most prevalent in the long term. Carnor Jax and Kir Kanos are powerful and will be forced to be reckoned with, but the real long term stand out will be Tetran Cowall. The ability to choose your K- turn speed after seeing where most of your opponents have moved will be just as powerful if not more than Turr or Soontir. Cowall with vet instincts will become a staple of non-swarm empire lists, or even as a swarm supplement. Lorrir also has a powerful maneuver ability in that he can, with a single action, perform basically the function of a barrel roll and banked boost, but his middling pilot skill and lack of EPT slot will be his undoing. There is a 50% chance your target hasn't moved yet when his ability triggers, likely leaving him without a target.

Disagree? Sound off. Agree? Let me know why.

I want to start by sayin....will we see competative interceptor list?

i just won a tournament with a 4 interceptor list.

Soontir + PTL + Stealth

Saber + VI + Stealth

2 x Alpha + Stealth

first match i didnt even take a hit he had 3 turrets on the table

oooops,

i hit enter by accident,

so my point being, interceptors are bad a$$ and are only going to get better with this expansion, so once people start playing this ships up to their potential, we are going to see them rocket to the top.

I personally like Kir Kanos the best, I know he does not have an EPT slot which means you cant abuse his ability with PTL but the ability alone is so good, if instead of what it currently says it said:

"Action: when attacking at range 2-3 this turn add 1 hit result to your roll"

I think people would give it a little more credit, as it is its actually more flexible than the above wording in that if you really need to use the evade before shooting you can.

I'm definitely going to be running this guy as soon as I get my hands on it.

Royal Guard Pilots will likely see a lot of play, as they're probably more point efficient than the already popular Saber Squadron Pilot

Lorrir: Seems more useful than Fel's Wrath, but that's not saying much. More of the type of ability you have to find a use for, and such, players who use Interceptors more will likely find a use for him much quicker than those who don't. Just how good he is still needs to be seen, as he seems to be the most debated on pilot right now

Cowell: Reminds me of Boba a little bit. People are loving it, but play testing has revealed Boba isn't all that. However, being a point less than Turr (who is also popular) in the same ship with the same PS could mean he still sees some playing time. The fact that you can make him PS 9 is also a plus

Jax: My personal favourite of all the Aces Uniques, and it seems I'm not alone. Care must be taken, but since 'focus' seems to be the most popular action, he seems great, and I can't wait to play 'mind games' with my opponents with him on the board

Kanos: Not sure on this. I'd have loved to be able to put PTL on him, but FFG might have stripped him of it for balance reasons. Also, excuse me for the slight de-railinag of the thread here, but I do have a question I find relevant. The rule book states that attack dice must be modified before defence dice are rolled, but modification only refers to re-rolls and using focus tokens, not abilities such as Kanos'. With Kanos, can you wait to use his ability until after your opponent has decided what to do with their defence dice or not before you choose to use his ability? If so, he could be more powerful than he seems.

I don't understand how people are not seeing the value of Lorrir. This guy is going to be an awesome flanker. The ability to barrel roll out and back is amazing, but SableGryphon is the only person I have seen mention it. I did some tests and he can have an enemy at range 3 and exactly parallel to him off to the side, do his barrel roll and get to range 1 with the guy in his arc. The ability of this guy to attack from unexpected quarters is going to be incredible.

I don't understand how people are not seeing the value of Lorrir. This guy is going to be an awesome flanker. The ability to barrel roll out and back is amazing, but SableGryphon is the only person I have seen mention it. I did some tests and he can have an enemy at range 3 and exactly parallel to him off to the side, do his barrel roll and get to range 1 with the guy in his arc. The ability of this guy to attack from unexpected quarters is going to be incredible.

Oh, I am a big fan of Lorrir also in theory. He effectively gives you a boost and barrel roll with a single action. The issue that has me not quite sold is his low pilot skill. Ships that rely heavily on positioning need to move late in the order. It will be quite aggravating to position him perfectly just to have all priority targets move. Will not be a problem against swarms, but will cause issue with ace lists. He may, however, be useful at blocking Howlrunner and separating her from her swarm.

This is why I think Tetran will be used more often, simply because he moves later with a similar placement advantage. And with Vet Instincts he moves at PS9. Or he can take PtL for when he doesn't need to K-Turn.

It's amazingly simple. No Elite Talent= No Push the Limit= crappy Interceptor.

I love Lorrir, and I think he is the best of the bunch. He is going to be amazing as a lone wolf flanker.

Had another thought. Han Shoots First is ever popular, and the most common version I've seen is this:

Han Solo

+ Marksmanship

+ Gunner

+ Chewbacca Crew

Rookie Pilot

Rookie Pilot

How about this variant? Have not had a lot if luck with A wings but maybe if you can increase they're firepower with opportunist.

Han Solo

+ Marksmanship

+ Gunner

Green Squadron Pilot

+ Opportunist

Green Squadron Pilot

+ Opportunist

Han Shoots First, as usual, and forces the ship to spend its tokens. Han will likely be the primary target. Then the Greens fire away with focused or locked shots. makes them similar in power to interceptors. Maybe the A wing will be played more, because if this approach. Or Black Squads with Opportunist following a Firespray or interceptor ace.

I don't understand how people are not seeing the value of Lorrir. This guy is going to be an awesome flanker. The ability to barrel roll out and back is amazing, but SableGryphon is the only person I have seen mention it. I did some tests and he can have an enemy at range 3 and exactly parallel to him off to the side, do his barrel roll and get to range 1 with the guy in his arc. The ability of this guy to attack from unexpected quarters is going to be incredible.

Oh, I am a big fan of Lorrir also in theory. He effectively gives you a boost and barrel roll with a single action. The issue that has me not quite sold is his low pilot skill. Ships that rely heavily on positioning need to move late in the order. It will be quite aggravating to position him perfectly just to have all priority targets move. Will not be a problem against swarms, but will cause issue with ace lists. He may, however, be useful at blocking Howlrunner and separating her from her swarm.

This is why I think Tetran will be used more often, simply because he moves later with a similar placement advantage. And with Vet Instincts he moves at PS9. Or he can take PtL for when he doesn't need to K-Turn.

Given that the majority of lists have the majority of their ships with a PS of 4 or less, I don't see this being a significant problem. Sure he isn't as good against the few all PS6 builds that sometimes float around, but he's also cheaper than a Saber with PtL so when he can't do his job as effectively, he also isn't costing you as much.

I think for the majority of situations, Lorrir will be a better pick unless you're spending the points for a Royal Guard Pilot with PtL.

I find it amusing that people are complaining about Lorrir's pilot skill. You need to compare him to what your targets are going to be. You outpace popular PS4 targets such as Red Squadron and Dagger Squadron instead of tying them with PS4 Sabers.

Personally, there are 3 things and 1 minor thing to come out of this expansion pack.

1. Carnor Jax because of his ability that benefits the entire board while hating on Focus. This is absolutely huge because it'll actually allow the PTL Interceptors to outjoust most things in closer range. Attack consistency is king, and as long as you have the evade dice + odds in your favor, this WILL change how the game is played. I don't know if you guys are understanding just how big this is: It turns that X-Wing's 3 focus and a hit into 1 hit that you will free evade with PTL while being able to dish back 4 dice + Focus of your own. This is the difference between a dead ship and a free kill, the effects are utterly devastating and completely one-sided.

2. Royal Guard Ties are 25 points on the nose with PTL. This means you can take 4 of them in a list and outpace Red Daggers and every Tie-Swarm list outside of Howlrunner herself (unless she starts taking more costly named pilots, which reduces the amount of Ties, which leads to a better matchup for you). This is a huge metagame boon.

3. Lt. Lorrir being 23 points and outpacing PS4 pilots while detaining good value. Sure, no EPT sucks, but he is a mini-Turr Phennir in every sense of the word. The true question is: Is he more cost effective than a Saber + PTL at 24? Or RGT + PTL at 25? I don't think so because he has to burn an action for it, but only vigorous playtesting will tell.

4. Mini-buff for Soontir Fel is the Targeting Computer via Royal Guard Tie 0 Upgrade. I think he's the only pilot that will be able to utilize this well since he gets that free focus. He actually maintains his maneuverability but for 2 points, vastly increases his killing potential.

Oh, I am a big fan of Lorrir also in theory. He effectively gives you a boost and barrel roll with a single action.

He is way more than a boost/barrel roll in a single action (actually, I don't think he simulates that at all well since he ends up rotated 90 degrees from where a boost/BR would have him), its his ability to basically move sideways and rotate 45 degrees in either direction that makes him so amazing. PtL would be worthless with his ability because they both give stress, he couldn't use his ability and PtL in the same turn so it would be wasted most of the time. Put him in the center of the board and he threatens virtually the entire width of the board to his left or right, obviously in a fairly narrow band, but being able to attack from radically unexpected directions like that is worth its weight in gold for the psychological value and the enemy not knowing how to counter it. He is almost certainly the most maneuverable pilot in the game.

Oh, I am a big fan of Lorrir also in theory. He effectively gives you a boost and barrel roll with a single action.

He is way more than a boost/barrel roll in a single action (actually, I don't think he simulates that at all well since he ends up rotated 90 degrees from where a boost/BR would have him), its his ability to basically move sideways and rotate 45 degrees in either direction that makes him so amazing. PtL would be worthless with his ability because they both give stress, he couldn't use his ability and PtL in the same turn so it would be wasted most of the time. Put him in the center of the board and he threatens virtually the entire width of the board to his left or right, obviously in a fairly narrow band, but being able to attack from radically unexpected directions like that is worth its weight in gold for the psychological value and the enemy not knowing how to counter it. He is almost certainly the most maneuverable pilot in the game.

Well, Turr is very maneuverable in his own right and has the ability to take PTL.

Personally, I think PTL is a must-buy upgrade for Interceptors simply because they have so many actions to begin with. There's no Interceptor in the game that wouldn't benefit from PTL because it increases your ability to deny damage while maintaining damage proficiency. A stress token for an Evade + Focus means you can now joust like the best of them. This doesn't mean that you should in every scenario, but it gives you the ability to. You can Barrel Roll and Boost in the same turn. Sure, it isn't as angled as Lt. Lorrir (and this is his only advantage), but it comes pretty **** close.

Like I said before, his biggest competition is the Saber PTL or Royal Guard PTL. I think Royal Guard PTL because the PS6 allows you to shoot Biggs in the face first, and that's worth its weight in gold.

Here's a 789 list that should be fun:

Soontir Fel

+Push the Limit

Carnor Jax

+Push the Limit

Kath Scarlet

+Recon Specialist

They will likely focus on Scarlet, who can spend focus on attack and defense, while Soontir and Carnor flank. Soontir does a lot of damage while Carnor helps and denies tokens, both from behind.

I think the new Aces, the new Mod, and the new EPTs have caused PtL to no longer be mandatory for the Interceptor. One could run 4 Interceptors or 3 and a Tie-Fighter and be very dangerous.

For instance:

http://geordanr.github.io/xwing/?f=Galactic%20Empire&d=v2!58:-1:5:1:M.2;58:-1:5:1:M.2;58:-1:5:1:M.2;11::-1:-1:

There is very little that this group is not going to destroy if they all fire on the same target. At R1 you're looking at 15 attack dice! At R2-3: 11. Even a Falcon is going to go down quick if the dice play nice. By giving the Interceptors both a shield and a stealth upgrade, you have some wiggle room before the hull is hit, and they are that much harder to hit! Furthermore, at R1 the Falcon is probably going to shoot the lowly Tie-fighter in hopes of taking out one of the guns at it would be the easiest target.

given this list, I would block the falcon whenever possible with the obsidian and then wail on it, but a strong Han list is still going to fly swat those royal guards, in two turns each if not one. Basically gives you the turns or less to destroy it. possible, but risky.

There isn't anything in the set that really makes the interceptor better against turrets. Biggest advantage is Carnor Jax vs Blaster turret, but no help against a falcon.

Another thing, there has been a lot of discussion on the Royal Guard TIE title. Will it see a lot of competitive use? Is it worth the price to add two modifications to an (arguably) already pricey interceptor? Will it see more use on named pilots or on RGPs? I can see it being used in Furball settings, but a 30+point interceptor in a 100 point tournament seems like a lot.

I don't expect to see much of Imperial Aces in real competitive play in general beyond the new upgrades like hull upgrade and targeting computer. The expansion seems to do little about the things that make interceptors "undesirable" to the competitive crowd. They are still expensive, and while it does give you ways to make them less fragile, that just adds further cost to the equation. If anything makes it competitively it might be the 32 point Royal Guard with shield/hull upgrade and push the limit for 5HP, but that's still a lot of points. Carnor Jax may see some play if people can really make him work but it's still a riskier proposition and the nature of tournaments does not favor risk.

I think royal guard and Cowall will be played the most. Kir was my longshot named pilot before Cowall was spoiled. I still think he's a bit of a sleeper since he's a no stress required intereceptor. Nothing in the pack ensures full interceptor lists will be viable. In fact, with what we know from rebel transport and wave 4, I think all the stress inducing will just kill off interceptor hopes. Lorrir and Turr are great as they have PTL built in, Lorrir still takes a stress though and soon a stressed interceptor is a dead interceptor as much as an actionless interceptor is a dead interceptor. I'll still fly them and they will work thier way into a mixed list but new stuff cancels any possitives that are coming out of aces.

So will superiority craft always fall by the wayside for the Empire? I already can't see myself justifying a TIE Defender when it costs 2.5 TIE fighters. It will have to be comparable to a Slave 1 in competitive play. Possible, as we have not yet seen the named pilots, but I feel its very unlikely. I think a well-maneuvered 4 interceptor list is competitively-viable, but it has a high degree of difficulty. Your first wrong move, you lose a ship. I wouldn't worry much about the Reb Transport pack, as the transport will likely only be usable in Epic Play, but we also haven't seen the pilot abilities for the X-wing pilots. Will there ever be an Imperial list that is consistently competitively superior to TIE swarm?

I think royal guard and Cowall will be played the most. Kir was my longshot named pilot before Cowall was spoiled. I still think he's a bit of a sleeper since he's a no stress required intereceptor. Nothing in the pack ensures full interceptor lists will be viable. In fact, with what we know from rebel transport and wave 4, I think all the stress inducing will just kill off interceptor hopes. Lorrir and Turr are great as they have PTL built in, Lorrir still takes a stress though and soon a stressed interceptor is a dead interceptor as much as an actionless interceptor is a dead interceptor. I'll still fly them and they will work thier way into a mixed list but new stuff cancels any possitives that are coming out of aces.

So will superiority craft always fall by the wayside for the Empire? I already can't see myself justifying a TIE Defender when it costs 2.5 TIE fighters. It will have to be comparable to a Slave 1 in competitive play. Possible, as we have not yet seen the named pilots, but I feel its very unlikely. I think a well-maneuvered 4 interceptor list is competitively-viable, but it has a high degree of difficulty. Your first wrong move, you lose a ship. I wouldn't worry much about the Reb Transport pack, as the transport will likely only be usable in Epic Play, but we also haven't seen the pilot abilities for the X-wing pilots. Will there ever be an Imperial list that is consistently competitively superior to TIE swarm?

I'm am continually at a loss when I see post saying high pilot skills and interceptors aren't competitive. Interceptor take a ton of practice to get good at and oftern take longer to move which disappoints the tourney crowd. However the more you practice with them the quicker you can make your moves.the Int is a completely different beast than the conscript iron coffin known as the x wing. Mode often than not my interceptors never take damage. When your sitting with 3 interceptor all with stealth and Ptl your opponent routinely needs to score 3 hits per shot to even have a chance to do damage. And that's if you choose to expose yourself to even give him a shot. Typically the first couple turn I completely avoid giving my opponent a shot. I could care less if I'm able to make a shot. After a while your opponent will start to make mistakes and you will be able to boost into a range one shot and do some damage without exposing your six. It's a high pilot skill tactic and it seem to be only dominant in my meta. Having 4 defense dice one focus and an evade per turn is extremely powerful. The only thing the interceptor asks is that you don't make a green horn mistake in manuvering and it will take you to victory every time. Another thing my meta tend to see a lot of is an aspect of poker in this game... Taking the first few turns slow to feel out your opponents play style and adapt. I know in a tourney there's no time for all that, I disagree .Jax/fell & Tur will be an excellent list.

Carnor and Royal Guard seem like the likeliest Aces pilots to see lots of play. In the right list, or until there's some way to get Evade tokens easier than just Squad Leader, Kir Kanos is a longterm play IMO. Trading an Evade for a guaranteed hit whenever you don't need it is very solid. It just comes at the price of his other actions which is where Interceptors have issues.

Another thing, there has been a lot of discussion on the Royal Guard TIE title. Will it see a lot of competitive use? Is it worth the price to add two modifications to an (arguably) already pricey interceptor? Will it see more use on named pilots or on RGPs? I can see it being used in Furball settings, but a 30+point interceptor in a 100 point tournament seems like a lot.

I don't expect to see much of Imperial Aces in real competitive play in general beyond the new upgrades like hull upgrade and targeting computer. The expansion seems to do little about the things that make interceptors "undesirable" to the competitive crowd. They are still expensive, and while it does give you ways to make them less fragile, that just adds further cost to the equation. If anything makes it competitively it might be the 32 point Royal Guard with shield/hull upgrade and push the limit for 5HP, but that's still a lot of points. Carnor Jax may see some play if people can really make him work but it's still a riskier proposition and the nature of tournaments does not favor risk.

I think royal guard and Cowall will be played the most. Kir was my longshot named pilot before Cowall was spoiled. I still think he's a bit of a sleeper since he's a no stress required intereceptor. Nothing in the pack ensures full interceptor lists will be viable. In fact, with what we know from rebel transport and wave 4, I think all the stress inducing will just kill off interceptor hopes. Lorrir and Turr are great as they have PTL built in, Lorrir still takes a stress though and soon a stressed interceptor is a dead interceptor as much as an actionless interceptor is a dead interceptor. I'll still fly them and they will work thier way into a mixed list but new stuff cancels any possitives that are coming out of aces.

So will superiority craft always fall by the wayside for the Empire? I already can't see myself justifying a TIE Defender when it costs 2.5 TIE fighters. It will have to be comparable to a Slave 1 in competitive play. Possible, as we have not yet seen the named pilots, but I feel its very unlikely. I think a well-maneuvered 4 interceptor list is competitively-viable, but it has a high degree of difficulty. Your first wrong move, you lose a ship. I wouldn't worry much about the Reb Transport pack, as the transport will likely only be usable in Epic Play, but we also haven't seen the pilot abilities for the X-wing pilots. Will there ever be an Imperial list that is consistently competitively superior to TIE swarm?

I think royal guard and Cowall will be played the most. Kir was my longshot named pilot before Cowall was spoiled. I still think he's a bit of a sleeper since he's a no stress required intereceptor. Nothing in the pack ensures full interceptor lists will be viable. In fact, with what we know from rebel transport and wave 4, I think all the stress inducing will just kill off interceptor hopes. Lorrir and Turr are great as they have PTL built in, Lorrir still takes a stress though and soon a stressed interceptor is a dead interceptor as much as an actionless interceptor is a dead interceptor. I'll still fly them and they will work thier way into a mixed list but new stuff cancels any possitives that are coming out of aces.

So will superiority craft always fall by the wayside for the Empire? I already can't see myself justifying a TIE Defender when it costs 2.5 TIE fighters. It will have to be comparable to a Slave 1 in competitive play. Possible, as we have not yet seen the named pilots, but I feel its very unlikely. I think a well-maneuvered 4 interceptor list is competitively-viable, but it has a high degree of difficulty. Your first wrong move, you lose a ship. I wouldn't worry much about the Reb Transport pack, as the transport will likely only be usable in Epic Play, but we also haven't seen the pilot abilities for the X-wing pilots. Will there ever be an Imperial list that is consistently competitively superior to TIE swarm?

I'm am continually at a loss when I see post saying high pilot skills and interceptors aren't competitive. Interceptor take a ton of practice to get good at and oftern take longer to move which disappoints the tourney crowd. However the more you practice with them the quicker you can make your moves.the Int is a completely different beast than the conscript iron coffin known as the x wing. Mode often than not my interceptors never take damage. When your sitting with 3 interceptor all with stealth and Ptl your opponent routinely needs to score 3 hits per shot to even have a chance to do damage. And that's if you choose to expose yourself to even give him a shot. Typically the first couple turn I completely avoid giving my opponent a shot. I could care less if I'm able to make a shot. After a while your opponent will start to make mistakes and you will be able to boost into a range one shot and do some damage without exposing your six. It's a high pilot skill tactic and it seem to be only dominant in my meta. Having 4 defense dice one focus and an evade per turn is extremely powerful. The only thing the interceptor asks is that you don't make a green horn mistake in manuvering and it will take you to victory every time. Another thing my meta tend to see a lot of is an aspect of poker in this game... Taking the first few turns slow to feel out your opponents play style and adapt. I know in a tourney there's no time for all that, I disagree .Jax/fell & Tur will be an excellent list.

Great points, Takeda. Also, not joking one bit, I love it when people directly disagree with some of my opinions if they can argue their point. I think there will be competitive lists coming from the set, and I look forward to playing them and playing against them. They definitely are difficult to play and reward high-risk tactics. But, I stand by my previous statement in that, with only 3-4 ships with only 3 hull, each time you make a mistake, you lose a ship. That is the high-risk factor. But, There isn't an X-wing that can take 4 focused Interceptor shots from the back.

Another thing, there has been a lot of discussion on the Royal Guard TIE title. Will it see a lot of competitive use? Is it worth the price to add two modifications to an (arguably) already pricey interceptor? Will it see more use on named pilots or on RGPs? I can see it being used in Furball settings, but a 30+point interceptor in a 100 point tournament seems like a lot.

I don't expect to see much of Imperial Aces in real competitive play in general beyond the new upgrades like hull upgrade and targeting computer. The expansion seems to do little about the things that make interceptors "undesirable" to the competitive crowd. They are still expensive, and while it does give you ways to make them less fragile, that just adds further cost to the equation. If anything makes it competitively it might be the 32 point Royal Guard with shield/hull upgrade and push the limit for 5HP, but that's still a lot of points. Carnor Jax may see some play if people can really make him work but it's still a riskier proposition and the nature of tournaments does not favor risk.

I think royal guard and Cowall will be played the most. Kir was my longshot named pilot before Cowall was spoiled. I still think he's a bit of a sleeper since he's a no stress required intereceptor. Nothing in the pack ensures full interceptor lists will be viable. In fact, with what we know from rebel transport and wave 4, I think all the stress inducing will just kill off interceptor hopes. Lorrir and Turr are great as they have PTL built in, Lorrir still takes a stress though and soon a stressed interceptor is a dead interceptor as much as an actionless interceptor is a dead interceptor. I'll still fly them and they will work thier way into a mixed list but new stuff cancels any possitives that are coming out of aces.

So will superiority craft always fall by the wayside for the Empire? I already can't see myself justifying a TIE Defender when it costs 2.5 TIE fighters. It will have to be comparable to a Slave 1 in competitive play. Possible, as we have not yet seen the named pilots, but I feel its very unlikely. I think a well-maneuvered 4 interceptor list is competitively-viable, but it has a high degree of difficulty. Your first wrong move, you lose a ship. I wouldn't worry much about the Reb Transport pack, as the transport will likely only be usable in Epic Play, but we also haven't seen the pilot abilities for the X-wing pilots. Will there ever be an Imperial list that is consistently competitively superior to TIE swarm?

I think royal guard and Cowall will be played the most. Kir was my longshot named pilot before Cowall was spoiled. I still think he's a bit of a sleeper since he's a no stress required intereceptor. Nothing in the pack ensures full interceptor lists will be viable. In fact, with what we know from rebel transport and wave 4, I think all the stress inducing will just kill off interceptor hopes. Lorrir and Turr are great as they have PTL built in, Lorrir still takes a stress though and soon a stressed interceptor is a dead interceptor as much as an actionless interceptor is a dead interceptor. I'll still fly them and they will work thier way into a mixed list but new stuff cancels any possitives that are coming out of aces.

So will superiority craft always fall by the wayside for the Empire? I already can't see myself justifying a TIE Defender when it costs 2.5 TIE fighters. It will have to be comparable to a Slave 1 in competitive play. Possible, as we have not yet seen the named pilots, but I feel its very unlikely. I think a well-maneuvered 4 interceptor list is competitively-viable, but it has a high degree of difficulty. Your first wrong move, you lose a ship. I wouldn't worry much about the Reb Transport pack, as the transport will likely only be usable in Epic Play, but we also haven't seen the pilot abilities for the X-wing pilots. Will there ever be an Imperial list that is consistently competitively superior to TIE swarm?

I'm am continually at a loss when I see post saying high pilot skills and interceptors aren't competitive. Interceptor take a ton of practice to get good at and oftern take longer to move which disappoints the tourney crowd. However the more you practice with them the quicker you can make your moves.the Int is a completely different beast than the conscript iron coffin known as the x wing. Mode often than not my interceptors never take damage. When your sitting with 3 interceptor all with stealth and Ptl your opponent routinely needs to score 3 hits per shot to even have a chance to do damage. And that's if you choose to expose yourself to even give him a shot. Typically the first couple turn I completely avoid giving my opponent a shot. I could care less if I'm able to make a shot. After a while your opponent will start to make mistakes and you will be able to boost into a range one shot and do some damage without exposing your six. It's a high pilot skill tactic and it seem to be only dominant in my meta. Having 4 defense dice one focus and an evade per turn is extremely powerful. The only thing the interceptor asks is that you don't make a green horn mistake in manuvering and it will take you to victory every time. Another thing my meta tend to see a lot of is an aspect of poker in this game... Taking the first few turns slow to feel out your opponents play style and adapt. I know in a tourney there's no time for all that, I disagree .Jax/fell & Tur will be an excellent list.

Great points, Takeda. Also, not joking one bit, I love it when people directly disagree with some of my opinions if they can argue their point. I think there will be competitive lists coming from the set, and I look forward to playing them and playing against them. They definitely are difficult to play and reward high-risk tactics. But, I stand by my previous statement in that, with only 3-4 ships with only 3 hull, each time you make a mistake, you lose a ship. That is the high-risk factor. But, There isn't an X-wing that can take 4 focused Interceptor shots from the back.

Indeed you are correct sir, with high risks come high rewards. I have been playing the interceptor exclusively since it was release and still haven't completely mastered it with the high end pilots. I would venture to say its not completely the movement capabilities of the interceptor you have to master but know all of the other ships to a tee. Knowing every possible play your opener has at his finger is great but its house when you can read it on his face after seeing his first two moves.