No meta for old lists, but a fond farewell! https://hoarderofgarlicbread.wordpress.com/2020/12/22/goodbye-old-friend-may-the-force-be-with-you/.

As you probably heard, the official forum will close at the end of january. My heart is bleeding right now. 
I will create an online blog to continue posting battle reports and an archive containing all previously written batreps.
Thanks for reading my content, you guys are awesome.

It's been a long time since I've posted on these forums but I figure since this is the most important thread on here, I might as well say thanks for the good times!
I lost my will to 'wing at the 2.0 changeover and I miss x-wing 1.0. As hideous as it was sometimes, I met a lot of rad people on here and many times in person!
I appreciate you all! I appreciate the inspiration, conversation, frustration, righteous keyboard fury, won games, lost games, names to go with handles, faces to go with avatars, and masters both jumpy and salty.
To anyone I ever butted heads with, thanks for putting up with me! To everyone I never butted heads with, what's your ******* problem? 
 
Love and kisses!

More like FFG, amiright?

More like FFG, amiright?

Well, now I know why I cannot find very old content out here.
They've already begun shutting down things.

If Hondo's such a pirate, why doesn't he synergize well with Torrents, hm?

If Hondo's such a pirate, why doesn't he synergize well with Torrents, hm?

If Hondo's such a pirate, why doesn't he synergize well with Torrents, hm?

Fac is a bit difficult with the changes. If it were a Spamtex meta, you could just skip Ensnare and use the ability against other Nanteces a la Niklas God. IMO, his Predator Crack Fac is still the best build and just 50 pt. Use the I6 and tractor ability to roll up to the biggest threat and delete it. When he dies, it's not a big deal, as most Duchess builds are more expensive than he for the same role.
But since you prefer to Ensnare, step 1 is make an offering to the matchup gods that you don't face medium or big bases. After that, bring rocks, even if clouds are better to run through. With tractor changes, slamming opponents into rocks is the only way you are guaranteed to not get shot when using Ensnare. Thus, take big rocks and clump them together. If the opponent goes into the asteroid field, make them pay. If not, they are better herded by Jango whilst Fac gets a safe engagement route.
When possible, turn hard and tractor to keep time on target. Tighter tends to be better.
If Lone Wolf isn't in your list, Doocrew on Jango can help Fac weather an incoming attack. If you can't tractor the opponent, you can still reposition with the ship ability and then Ensnare Jango to clear agility all around whilst repositioning (unless your Jango has tractor beam in which case, cool?).
Also, don't engage unless close range is possible. Granted, the tractor and the dial make close range very possible, but you'll vaporize at Ranges 2-3 even with Dooku. Fac is more the control piece and Jango the damage dealer.

Fac is a bit difficult with the changes. If it were a Spamtex meta, you could just skip Ensnare and use the ability against other Nanteces a la Niklas God. IMO, his Predator Crack Fac is still the best build and just 50 pt. Use the I6 and tractor ability to roll up to the biggest threat and delete it. When he dies, it's not a big deal, as most Duchess builds are more expensive than he for the same role.
But since you prefer to Ensnare, step 1 is make an offering to the matchup gods that you don't face medium or big bases. After that, bring rocks, even if clouds are better to run through. With tractor changes, slamming opponents into rocks is the only way you are guaranteed to not get shot when using Ensnare. Thus, take big rocks and clump them together. If the opponent goes into the asteroid field, make them pay. If not, they are better herded by Jango whilst Fac gets a safe engagement route.
When possible, turn hard and tractor to keep time on target. Tighter tends to be better.
If Lone Wolf isn't in your list, Doocrew on Jango can help Fac weather an incoming attack. If you can't tractor the opponent, you can still reposition with the ship ability and then Ensnare Jango to clear agility all around whilst repositioning (unless your Jango has tractor beam in which case, cool?).
Also, don't engage unless close range is possible. Granted, the tractor and the dial make close range very possible, but you'll vaporize at Ranges 2-3 even with Dooku. Fac is more the control piece and Jango the damage dealer.

Psycho Mactis vs. BBXA
 
Anakin Skywalker (56)
Precognitive Reflexes (13)
Marksmanship (1)
Autoblasters (3)
R2-A6 (6)
Stealth Device (8)
Obi-Wan Kenobi (49)
Supernatural Reflexes (24)
Marksmanship (1)
Autoblasters (3)
R7-A7 (3)
Stealth Device (8)
Total: 175
I took a lot of photos and want to write an extensive battle report about this game. I hope this report will show you why this list is so hard to play and that one single mistake can cost you the game. 
Braylen, Ten and Luke have a ton of mods so I had to play really careful.
 

Setup: I want to draw the B-Wings through the rocks while putting pressure on Luke and the A. I have no preffered first target here (maybe Luke?); instead I'll take what I get.
 

Two rounds later. My gameplan for this round:
I want to attack Luke here. If he banks, Anakin will turn to get a shot and Obi will stay at range 3 of him by 2 straight. If Luke turns towads Anakin, Ani will hide behind the clould while Obi will Supernatural into Lukes flank.
Thinking about all the different options I had to consider that turn made my brain melt. 
 

Anakin missed the bullseye because I barrel rolled backwards instead of forward while using precog. I barrel rolled Obi right to stay at range 3 of Luke. First damage on Ten.
Gameplan for the upcoming round: Anakin will ignore the A and keep attacking Luke. I dialed in a 2 bank for him. If Luke turns or banks towards Obi, Anakin is right behind him. If Luke k-turns what is possible, Anakin is in his flank. If Luke turns towards Anakin, the Jedi (or Sith) will fly over him. I thought about Obi's move a long time here and ended up with a 5 straight because this won't get him into trouble. Because If my opponents turns every ship towards Obi, he created a huge killbox where I can't escape, even with SR. Thoughts are welcome  
 

Luke did the k-turn and Anakin landed in a perfect position. Luke lost his shields. Obi's disengage was sucessfull as well.
Options: Obi will turn right to avoid Lukes shot and to get behind Braylen (yellow). I was also a bit afraid of turning Anakin in to follow Luke. So I dialed in a fast maneuver for him.
 

I was glad Ani didn't turned in towards the middle.
Options: The A-Wing is far away. Braylen is still stressed and Luke has to fly over the cloud. Obi's position is excellent for a 3 turn in. If Luke is moving straight, Obi can use SR to barrel roll out to keep his distance. Anakin could turn in as well but if Luke, Ten and the A are all turning towards him, he could be in trouble. So I decided to disengage once more using IC boost left + 5 straight.
 

Looking at the board state Anakin could have turned in. Autoblaster+Marksmaship+R7-A7 makes Obi a killer. 3 unavoidable crits went into Lukes hull who barely survived.
Option: Ani can disengage once more but I decided to perform a force tallon roll because Luke has only 1 hp left and couldn't fly over the cloud because of structural damage (the obtacle would have killed him). I dialed in a 1 turn left for Obi which was the wrong decision. He might get shot twice there and his position is bad for the upcoming round. More on that later.
 

Luke died. Obi took an evade dodging all the incoming fire (3 force + evade gave him a 90% chance of taking no damage against Braylen and Ten who both had mods)
Now here's the problem: Obi's position is bad. He's facing towards the board edge and can only turn left or right. The B's can cover both positions. 
 
Here's what happened:

I dialed in the 2 turn left and barrel rolled right. Unfortunately I misjudged distances so both B's were able to shoot. Obi lost 1hp and his stealth device  What made things even worse: Obis position was super bad for the upcoming round. See, doing a single mistake will most likely cost you the game
Remember: If you're flying the ETA and you're not sure if you can make it out of range then just take an evade. You'll probalby not taking damage.  (Obi's chance of taking 0 damage was still at 59% but that wasn't enough).
Now here is what I should have done:

SR boost left + 2 turn + barrel roll out. If I would have done it this way Obi would have dodged at least one shot. But more improtantly his position for the upcoming round is good.
Option 2:

Disengage the round before. I think that would have been the right decision over all.
There are a lot of other things I could have done, of course. You can tell me, if you like. Would appreciate it.  
 

I was really lucky in the end because Ten couldn't bank while Braylen didn't bank as well. Obi arcdodge both B's. 
Options: Time to run and recover force. I was pretty sure my opponent won't k-turn here. Nevertheless Anakin prepared for the k-turn. He IC rolled right and I dialed in a fast move with the Precog option boosting right. If the B's turn left, Anakin will land right behind them.
 

Messed up with Obi again by clipping the cloud. He dodged the incoming fire by the luck of the dice (he could have even died here). Anakin made it behind the B's and stripped some shields. 
Options: Obi will disengage once more while you just dial in a 2 turn for Anakin and use R2-A6 to get the bullseye later.
 

Braylen took his first damage card. Now Obi is finally in a save position an is able to use SR and 3 turn next round without getting in trouble.
I had no idea what to do with Anakin. Ten will k-turn or tallon roll and Braylen will go slow. I used IC to barrel roll him right and then dial in a straight move....my brain hurts!
 

Anakin dodged as expected. Now Ten can't do much and Brayle will k-turn so Anakin will overshoot by executing a 5 straight. Obi's position is excellent for using SR to barrel roll and 1 turning left.
 
 
Obi had not bullseye but R7-A7 triggered so the A-Wing lost his first shield.
Obi is in a good position to attack the A again. Anakin will now do a purple tallon roll trying to kill a B-Wing.
 

Obi aligned the bullseye and rolled 3 crits with all of his mods. The A didn't even had to roll dice-brutal! Ani halved Ten Numb and is now able to kill Braylen the upcoming round. Again, dial in a 2 turn and do whatever you want.
 

Braylen goes BOOOM!
 
Conclusion:
The intention of this batrep was to show you how strong this list can be but also how super fragile it is. I also wanted to demonstrate why I struggle so hard flying this. There are just too many options to consider. BUT: I can't explain how much fun I have flying this.
I did less k-turns this time which I should remember for future games. 
My opponent had 13 shots, I shot 11 times. But only 2 of his shots had a chance of more than 20% of dealing damage which is why I think that I played decent overall.
Autoblaster + Marksmanship is necessary for this list because you won't deal damage otherwise. Especially Obi is a damage machine and can kill ships pretty fast.
I am curious what you think about this game.
Until next time!

It was easy to abuse Deadeye torps right after product hit, because thousands of people were exposed to the product during previews, well before it hit shelves.  Similarly, I don't doubt they warned FFG, but a warning doesn't do any good once the product is at the printers.
I was an extremely active playtester, heading an extremely active group, and I didn't see any posts or playtester reports about abusive JM5K builds until after the product was being previewed.
There have always been rumors about upper echelon competitive players deliberately sandbagging abusive builds during playtesting, in order to gain a competitive advantage.  I have no way to prove something like that didn't happen, but I can say that I don't believe it happened during the period when I playtested.  Nor did I ever get the impression FFG was throwing balance under the bus deliberately for any reason.
As far as I could ever tell, all of the playtesters (and all of the developers) wanted to put out fun, fair, balanced product.  Again, I have literally no way to prove any other playtester's or developer's mindset ... all I can offer is my opinion, formed first-hand.

Simply requoting for emphasis.

****. If AMG tanks the game, can we just ignore their expansions/points in some community events? 

Sprinkler systems to spice up grease fires

The biggest challenge
3 ETA Actis are difficult to play. But having 9 hitpoints seemed a bit much for me   Because I love two ship lists and the new ETA, I built they craziest list I have ever flown.
Anakin Skywalker (56)
Precognitive Reflexes (13)
Marksmanship (1)
Autoblasters (3)
R2-A6 (6)
Stealth Device (8)
Obi-Wan Kenobi (49)
Supernatural Reflexes (24)
Marksmanship (1)
Autoblasters (3)
R7-A7 (3)
Stealth Device (8)
Total: 175
View in Yet Another Squad Builder 2.0
Two ships with only 6hp and a 25 point bid, that's what I love about this game. These ships are the most mobile and squirrelly pieces the game has to offer. Even Guri struggels to keep up with them. And this is what makes this list so hard to play. Guri/Fenn is tough because you have only two ships and one of them is a brain****. But Guri and Fenn can both take a beating and still win games. With double Actis you have two ships that have more options than Guri so it's an even bigger brain**** while they shouldn't suffer any damage. Looking at the meta makes things even more complicated; swarms, turrets and beefy lists are everywhere.
Because of their pilot abilities Ani and Obi are the right choices looking at the pilots the ETA has to offer. They also have 3 force. Supernatural and Precognitive Reflexes allow them to do whatever they want. Repositioning in the system phase and before you execute your maneuver is insane. The list has some serious issueswhen it comes to damage output. Therefore I put Autoblaster and Marksmanship (+R7-A7) on them. If your end up in the right spot and line up the bullseye, you can really cripple your opponents ships pretty hard. I already talked about the importance of Stealth Device on these ships so it's there as well.
I played two games yesterday. 
Psycho Mactis vs Kylo, Vonreg, 2 Epsilon Cadets
Every I6 is a threat for Obi so I had to be really careful.

Setup. I already have no idea what to do  
After the frist couple of rounds I was overwhelmed by the amount of options and decisions I had to consider. I struggeled so hard and played really bad. Anakin lost his Stealth Device by clipping a debris field and rolling a crit. But I was able to half a Tie/FO early on without suffering more damage. 
 

The best round in the game. Obi Wan supernaturaled around the rock, 2 turned towards Kylo and barrel rolled out. Vonregs shot missed and Obi rolled 1 crit, 1 hit and 2 eyeballs. Using his focus+marksmanship+R7-A7 converts everything into 3 crits + 1 hit. Kylo could only defend against the hit and suffered 3 unavoidable crits and dropped down to half points. What a feeling!

The last round. Every time these ETA's get shot you start sweating real hard  The FO missed and I won the game suffering only 1 damage.
To sum this game up:
It's the most stressful list I've ever played. I did so many mistakes: Forgot R2-A6, spent force way to aggressive, k-turned to often, and so on. But on the other hand it was the most fun I had recently playing this game (I would say it's as satisfying as Guri/Fenn is). I think getting good with this list is my biggest X-Wing challenge

Playing, Failing, Learning, Winning!
But you are absolutely right. This list is brutal. 
The second game I played yesterday was againt Sun Fac and Jango. Obi Wan was basically useless in this game because of two i6's across the table. So it was Ani against those two and he did fairly well. I played pretty bad and did some mistakes here and there but was able to win the game in the end by halving Sun...
But yeah....time will tell
Btw. Phil dropped because his PC died

Sprinkler systems to spice up grease fires

****. If AMG tanks the game, can we just ignore their expansions/points in some community events? 

So this is how this thread dies, with polite applause.

Hot take: the TIE/sa Bomber will always be relevant because each wave's new bomb will always be 1 point undercosted to encourage carpet bombing. Cool to see that bombers are...bombing, instead of the previous role of barrage rockets.
Hotter take: Rush is bad without Automated Target Priority and that same tech makes Avenger the only silencer worth taking Debris Gambit.
Hottest take: Dooku is the best unique Foresight carrier in the game. But why take Foresight when you can take Zam?

So this is how this thread dies, with polite applause.

I miss the times when you went away and hid.