So you’ve decided to go to PAX: Unplugged and are looking to see how your list fares against the current meta..

Or perhaps you’ve decided to prepare for tournament night at your local LGS.

More likely, you’ve exhausted all our other articles and you’re terribly bored at work

Oh, you miss clicked. Well shit. At least we scraped together another unique view.

Introducing TheHyperloops X-Wing Extended Gauntlet

TheHyperloops has had a Destiny gauntlet for some time now, and we felt it was high time to introduce a competitive X-Wing gauntlet. if you’re not familiar with the page, it’s a congregation of the top decks in the meta that we recommend that you either playtest against, watch YouTube videos of, or otherwise prepare to see in a large event like a System Open or Regional-like event. Just because a list is in the gauntlet doesn’t mean you should be playing it, this is all about preparation for events. With any game, you likely won’t see many of these lists more than once in the swiss rounds of an event, but should see with frequency if you expect to be in the top cut. With these things in mind, here’s what we think the meta mainly consists of at the moment.

There’s no place better than to start with the most popular faction and the most popular ships. Redline and Whisper topped that charts at the Mynock open and it wasn’t close. It didn’t take down the event in the end, but only against incredible odds.. Powerful and popular, you’re going to be seeing these ships a lot.

Whisper’s evasiveness is one reason she is so strong right now. The ability to decloak almost every turn makes her movements unpredictable. Catching her in arc will feel hopeless at times, but with enough practice you will get better at predicting her movements.

I have found success against Whisper by pinning her in tough spots. With enough real estate Whisper has seemingly endless possibilities, however, once pinned down, she is quite predictable. Pinning Whisper into a corner is an easier task in theory and often takes the effort of multiple ships as well as obstacles. Dropping ordinance for her to work around is one way to keep Whisper where you want her.

My best success against Whisper has been from token stacking and bringing more ships to the fight. Abilities that steal or clear her tokens are one great way to combat her as well. For me, I have relied on IG-88D and Perceptive Copilot as Vader insulation. I could see pilots such as Palob or Old Teroch being equally as successful.

Whisper’s ability to hold onto her cloak should not be underestimated. Whisper’s access to a fist full of modded green dice can help her weather a pretty rough storm. Sometimes it’s better to switch targets at this point, while keeping your ships ready to pounce when Whisper comes up for air.

Once you’ve gotten a handle on where Whisper will be you still have to deal with her damage output. Vader crew makes it near impossible to keep up with Whispers damage output. Vader puts you in a lose-lose predicament: Either you must take damage because you used a re-positioning action to keep up with Whisper or you lose your dice modifications. This puts any ship trying to take Whisper one-on-one at a huge disadvantage. Couple Vader’s ability with Juke and its almost impossible to match her.

I can also see a barrage of torpedoes taking Whisper down, as she doesn’t have many shields to insulate her. The critical hits can certainly add up fast, making strategies like Trench Run or pilots such as Kavil with torpedoes a good choice.

If you thought pinning down Whisper was hard, Soontir is an entirely different beast. At initiative six with access to a double reposition catching Soontir could be a spin-off game mode. However, with great power comes great responsibility. Soontir’s three hull no shield tie interceptor is a flying tin can that can be blown out of the sky after one bad crit.

I’ve found the best way to take on Soontir is to be patient and wait for him to come to you. Soontir is eventually going to have to come in and do some damage and if it is not at the perfect moment then he will be left open to shoot. However, this requires more patience than a school nurse than a school nurse after a lice outbreak.

Luckily you’ll be too preoccupied with an onslaught of ordinance coming from Redline to worry too much about anything else. When Redline isn’t proton torpedoing you, he’s bombing you. When he’s not bombing you he’s torpedoing you. Hell, he’s often doing both in the same turn.

With only two attack, your best bet is often to run straight at him. If do you manage to get in range one you’re only halfway there. You still have to burn through 9 health while avoiding the lists aforementioned threats. A quick hit job is they key to success here. Flying in, doling out the pain, and getting out before the higher initiative assassins come to finish you off. On your way out don’t forget about his proton bombs. Sometimes Redline drops bombs like a normal ship, a fact I once forgot and paid dearly.

If this Imperial list is up your alley you better get comfortable in the mirror. As you’re likely to see this list and its imitators in droves. Just be ready to get into a serious bidding war as having initiative could hand you a quick loss before a ship even takes flight. This list for instance, has a 15 point bid.

Not interested in the i5 bidding war? This list from Asa Graff was piloted to success at the Mynock open and should pick up some traction from Imperial Players looking to take a new approach at the meta. Asa eschewed the i5 war and flew two of the best i6 pilots in the game, backing them up with a coordinating ship that still gets to mod its shorts. #broken

Rolling in with two i6’s and a strong support ship, Asa put a serious hit out on all of the i5’s in the meta. Both Vader and Soontir are almost impossible to track. If you thought Soontir was hard to track try catching Vader. Vader, with super natural and his pilot ability, can be anywhere

Not only can Vader be anywhere, but he almost always has a target lock thanks to Lieutenant Sai. That means Vader is consistently critically hitting his opponent. Any exposed hull that Vader targets immediately begins to shred.

If you’re looking to get an edge on this list you might want to try Fenn Rau with a bid. Fenn will be able to hunt these guys down as long as he moves second.

This Boba and three support ship list has taken the last two major X-Wing events, making it a must for any gauntlet you test against for the next few weeks. Two quad jumper lists are particularly strong, with success in the last three major events. This list is so disruptive that it’s reasonable to practice against this list over any other list if the amount of games we can get in is limited in any way.

Up close, Boba deals serious damage and is incredibly hard to kill. This list can get Boba into range one incredibly fast thanks to an extra boost from the quad jumpers. If you see Boba lined up near a quad jumper, be prepare for the following:

Tractor boost forward, 4 straight, boost.

Suddenly, Boba can be taking a free range 3 shot if you’re not prepared. Alternatively, Boba an fly down the side of the map setting up a killer flank.

This means you’ll either have to respond to him or fly straight into Palob and a quad jumper. You’ll have to take the out quickly, as Boba won’t take long to close the gap. The second quad jumper, however, usually takes a few turns to get back into the fight if this strategy is employed.

Palob is not particularly had to kill but can be troublesome with a quad jumper at his side.

If you get into a scrum against this list, things get a bit more difficult. Fighting through Boba Fett is hard enough, but without access to focus or evade tokens things get exponentially harder. Beyond Palob stripping tokens and Boba Fett being an evasive tank that deals solid damage, you still have quad jumpers to deal with. Quad jumpers not only reposition your ships, making it difficult to dial in effective maneuvers, but they also lower your agility. In a world where one agility ships are prevalent, this list can be rolling 10+ dice into a ship that has no way to mitigate damage.

Unless your list can completely blast Boba Fett in the first 2-3 shots, success is most likely found killing Palob and the quad jumpers first. Due to their extensive dial and the powerful tractor ability, Quad jumpers are a late game terror. Putting a premium on killing them early is a sound strategy. With Palob only donning Moldy Crow due to point restrictions, if you commit to it you can most certainly kill him quickly.

While you might not see this specific list anywhere: this scum list that will give you reps against most of the strong ships in Scum not named Boba Fett. Being familiar with the strongest abilities Scum has to offer will give you success in any big events you attend.

4-LOM:

Scum Lists piloting 4-LOM have found success in 2.0 and there aren’t many questions as to why. Giving nearby ships stress is incredibly powerful. If you ever manage to double stress a ship, they’re screwed. Suddenly opponents’ maneuvers become incredibly predicable, meaning 4-LOM can get the blocks in and keep her disruption going. Advanced sensors give 4-LOM the ability to perform actions before she bumps, giving her the upper hand in close combat. Speaking of close combat, the ability to roll four dice at range one is amongst the strongest attacks in the game. These dice can be especially scary if 4-LOM is allowed a calculate token from 0-0-0, as many ships need to avoid getting double stressed.

On defense, 4-LOM is no slouch either. Elusive, and 4-LOM’s seemingly endless ability to recharge it, means 4-LOM is almost always mitigating one damage. With 9 HP, whittling down 4-LOM will take a strong commitment.

Staying in range 2 and committing a lot of dice is the easiest way to take out 4-LOM. One agility with Elusive can only take you so far and once 4-LOM’s 4 shield are gone, one bad crit can send her reeling.

Kavil:

Some of the strongest, most consistent damage in the game. The ability to target lock and have a focus, thanks to Han Solo Gunner, means Kavil’s dice are almost always double modded. Adding Proton Torpedoes to Kavil gives her immense striking power from all ranges. If you manage to proc her trick shot, the one-shot potential is real.

With R4 Astromech, Kavil can ditch her stress and still be in great position to keep shooting. Tracking Kavil with access to so many blue maneuvers, especially blue 2-hard turns, can be daunting.

Employ the same strategy you use to beat a 4-LOM. Commit enough dice, especially proton torpedoes, and Kavil is in for some trouble. Kavil only has two shields, which means one good proton torpedo leaves Kavil already taking his first crit.

Guri

There is no doubt that you will face Guri in any event you attend. Her Microthrustered barrel rolls and ability to get a free focus make her incredibly strong. She has already seen success in all of the big events this year, even winning an event alongside Boba Fett. Due to her power and success, Guri was in nearly 1 of every 5 Scum Lists at the Mynock Open.

Guri is Scum’s slipperiest ship hands down. Give her advanced sensors and she is a nightmare. Ships with initiative against Guri will never shake her, not that they will have long. At range one Guri has access to four dice and a focus. Unless armed with a lot of agility and multiple arcs to shoot out of, Guri’s victims will be easy prey.

Guri, however, relies on one important factor to achieve success. She has to be moving second. If a Guri lists loses the bid and gets initiative she is no longer able to terrorize other i5’s with such ease. Furthermore, i6 aces can make pretty quick work of Guri as Guri’s ability to reposition herself favorably relies on knowing where the enemy ship will be first. Running i6’s or taking a healthy bid will let you turn the tables on Guri.

TRENCH RUN (Triple X or XXY)

People love X-Wings

People love Luke

People love proton torps

People love to complain about Wedge.

Wedge was the third most popular ship at the Mynock open behind Redline and Whisper. Just behind him was Luke at number 4. Safe to say X-wings will be flown at Pax Unplugged and I think trench run is strong

Despite receiving copious amounts of flak, Wedge is well-suited against a lot of ships right now. Wedge is landing free proton torpedoes against the most popular ship in the meta: Redline. Add trick shot and Wedge can be hurling 5 dice proton torpedoes at enemies who have no way to stop it. Even with average dice you’re looking to land 3-4 damage there.

While Wedge is a bit of a glass cannon, the addition of Biggs means Wedge can keep bring the pain longer. Shield upgrade on Biggs is a no-brainer as it lets Wedge get off more shots. Not many Ships can take multiple proton torpedoes let alone rolling one less green die.

With the addition of Luke’s proton torpedoes following up Wedge’s, ships will be blowing up in the blink of an eye. Once ships start falling to Trench Run’s proton torpedo onslaught, Luke can start terrorizing ships with his superior mobility. Supernatural Reflexes gives Luke a strong re-positioning tool that many ships cannot match. If you do manage to find Luke in your arc, despite his slipperiness, you are rewarded with regenerating his force. Gaining a force back every time he’s shot at gives Luke strong defensive dice that are hard to push past.

With such a small representation in the meta, its hard to pick more than one rebel list and these seems to pack the biggest punch.