What are the BEST list, and WHY?

[Astech 1,540]

Going by tournament juggler, Paratanni is by far the strongest list and, post-nerf is even stronger. It has some incredibly strong synergies and on top of that all pilots are superb:

Fenn Rau has;
- PS 9, meaning that in the endgame he trumps everything PS9 or below.
- An easily attainable 5 die primary attack. Pre-nerf, this was the most reliable way to damage Focus+Evade defenders protected by Palp.
- Concord title and autothrusters gives Fenn a huge bubble of protection with his boost+barrel roll actions.

Asajj has;
- An effective and passive stress dealing mechanic that is very hard to avoid.
- High health value combined with tanking mechanics (up to double focus + evade)
- Great dial + firing arc combo make Asajj a consistent hitter as well.

Manaroo has;
- One of the best abilities in the game (so good it got the nerf axe, and is still fantastic), able to massively increase the durability of any ally in trouble.
- High health + agility combo means she's also hard to take down.
- A PWT that is best when dealing consistent damage against low agility targets.

Overall the list has some of the best action efficiency in the game, coupled with the best support ability in Asajj and one of the best damage dealers in Fenn.

[Admiral Deathrain 5,232]

Some rebel top dogs:

Warden Squadron Pilot (23)
Extra Munitions (2)
Sabine Wren (2)
Cluster Mines (4)
Advanced SLAM (2)

Warden Squadron Pilot (23)
Extra Munitions (2)
Intelligence Agent (1)
Seismic Charges (2)
Cluster Mines (4)
Advanced SLAM (2)

Warden Squadron Pilot (23)
Extra Munitions (2)
Seismic Charges (2)
Cluster Mines (4)
Advanced SLAM (2)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Here is the most powerful rebel list in recent times. It completely ignores the attacking and defending game (for the most part) and feasts on any 2-3 ship list. The mines are not put on the board in some place you want to block of as you'd expect - they are actively dropped on top of enemy ships and detonate immediatly. Advanced SLAM allows the K-Wings to do that from lots of positions, some even outside of range 3. Sabine Wren is why this list is as ridiculous as it is. She makes the Cluster Mines much more reliable and gives the tokens that didn't manage to hit an enemy a purpose - you run over them yourself and deal one guaranteed damage to an enemy at range one of it. The list is weaker against any list with 4 or more ships, as those can block the spaces where the K-Wings need to SLAM to, but these lists are weak to efficiency monsters like Parattanni and triple Defenders so the K-Wings are a very viable option.

Kanan Jarrus (38)
Advanced Sensors (3)
Twin Laser Turret (6)
Rey (2)
Jyn Erso (2)
Ghost (0)

Sabine Wren (21)

Biggs Darklighter (25)
M9-G8 (3)
Integrated Astromech (0)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

This is a list that aims at slowing down Biggs death until Kanan can reduce any incoming attacks at himself. Advanced Sensors make sure he gets to generate the focus he needs for his ability. The main source of damage is the TLT, which gets buffed by Biggs, although in arc of course the 4 dice primary gets used. Sabine is only here to activate the double attacks, but she can close games with her manouverability. Still, for most of the game, in many games all of it, she stays docked to enable the Ghost title.

Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)
XX-23 S-Thread Tracers (1)

Bandit Squadron Pilot (12)
XX-23 S-Thread Tracers (1)

Blue Squadron Pilot (22)
Fire-Control System (2)

Blue Squadron Pilot (22)
Fire-Control System (2)

Gold Squadron Pilot (18)
Twin Laser Turret (6)
R3-A2 (2)
BTL-A4 Y-Wing (0)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

This is a little swarmy list that has gained some traction because of suprising results by Blaire Bunke recently, I have seen it do well in the online VASSAL league, too. The Bandits are very efficient baseline ships and serve to increase the damage of the list with the missiles. The B-Wings with FCS are just efficient chunks of hitpoints. The Y-Wing is one of the most powerful control pieces in the game, as it can double stress any ship at range 3 of it in the combat phase, typicaly preventing it from taking actions for the next round. If the target is worth more than the Y-Wing, that is usually extremely good. Ships that rely on dice modification to survive hate this ship. Another version of this list replaces the B-Wings with Y-Wings who are equiped with Autoblaster Turrets, Plasma Torps, Guidance Chips and R2 Astromechs for better alpha damage, but that list is less reliable, if more interesting.

[RevJJ 44]

6 hours ago, Asturonethorius said:

Thanks The Human Hydra thats exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for.

You posted a better, a 1 of the best, top tiered list.

Then you did a complete breakdown on why its a top list, why its so good.

You also pointed out weakness, strengths.

You also covered what we can learn from the list, in list building in general whether build rebel, scum, imperial, 2,3 ship list, large ship list, Tie Defenders, whatever, etc.

I learned a lot from your post. I will study it more. 

Your post, and hopefully other post like it will help not just me, but could, would, should help me, others to learn how to build better, top list.

Thanks

Another source for this info are the the numerous competitive X-Wing podcasts that often feature discussions by top prestige tournament players. They discuss and breakdown why the lists that bubble to the top of the meta at any given time are so good.  Some do quantitative analysis with math, etc, while others have more qualitative discussions. But you aren't going to get a better source of why some of these lists do so well then the guys that either created them or fly them well at top tournaments. You'll also see a trend of top players that consistently do well regardless of the lists they take because X-Wing is primarily a game of skill and they play a lot. Luck or "best" lists alone doesn't explain why a Paul Heaver for instance wins three Worlds titles in a row with different lists in different metas. Some of these podcasts feature interviews w/ the game designers as well. 

[Asturonethorius 5]

Thanks Rev, do you know where the podcast can be found, links, or can they be googled, found by google?

[TheHumanHydra 665]

2 hours ago, Asturonethorius said:

Thanks Rev, do you know where the podcast can be found, links, or can they be googled, found by google?

This thread goes over some people's favourite podcasts. There is a list of all podcasts in the top stickied thread in the General section of the forums.