Beginner's Guide to Competitive Listbuilding Principles

For a lot of players, part of the fun in X-Wing is building your own list. Unfortunately, building a strong list is hard, and it's easy to fall into various traps and build a weak list.

If you are a net-lister, you also need good list-building skills. You will have to decide which list you choose and whether to tweak it.

This article will go over some fundamental list-building principles I've come across. It covers what you should think about when you approach building a competitive list and discusses some common list-building traps to avoid.

Play strong lists

The first advice I have for list-builders is to copy and play the strongest lists. 😛

Wait, this isn't what it looks like, let me explain!

One of the most important skills for list-builders is the skill to figure out whether a list has potential after playing it only once or twice. You don't have time to playtest a list for dozens of games to figure out how strong it is. The worst thing that can happen is you spend a month playtesting a list only to realize it's not very good the week of the big tournament. Once you have this skill, you'll be able to quickly discard the weak lists, giving you more time to playtest and tweak a list with actual potential.

You need to know what it feels like when you fly a strong list. The best way to learn is to feel that power first-hand. You'll then be better equipped to build your own lists. That's why my first recommendation is to fly the strongest lists and see what it feels like.

You have my permission to strike this pose after your first time playing the strongest meta list

Against weaker lists, it should feel like you've got reasonable winning chances when you make a bad decision or have weaker dice. You should only be losing when you both have bad dice and make worse decisions. The game should feel absolutely crushing when you have good dice or make better decisions, where your opponent is completely helpless and they're losing no matter what they do.

Against strong lists, you should be able to come up with a reasonable plan for winning the game before it starts. This plan shouldn't rely on favorable dice or achieving a very specific and unlikely board state. When you have bad dice, it should feel like you can pull the game back to even if you make one great outplay. When you get outplayed, you should still be in a state where lucky dice can bail you out and bring the game back to even.

If you really need this guide, you're probably not great at evaluating list strength (if you're good at that, you probably don't need this guide 😊). You might misjudge how strong or weak your opponent's list is, and you may end up with a false sense of security if you play against a very weak list. In this case, the safest thing can be to remove that element by playing against other strong meta lists which have done well in tournaments.

An astute reader may have noticed that you'll need to be able to judge who had better dice. It's really easy to fool yourself on this, so spend some time on the X-Wing Probability Calculator to develop a better sense for much damage you can expect out of common situations. Remember, it's quite uncommon to get exactly even dice, and it's possible for dice luck to even out over the course of a turn or game (although often it does not). 

Do not focus too much on "synergy"

One of the common list-building traps is "Control-F" list-building. Coined by Swim, a Legends of Runeterra streamer, this is where you blindly go all-in on a synergy or mechanic. For example, General Grievous gets a bonus for not being in his target's firing arc. Outmaneuver gives the ship a bonus for not being in the target's firing arc. It's tempting to put them together because these cards have the same words. Another example is spamming the same ship in efficiency lists.

X-Wing is not a matching game

Control-F list-building isn't always a bad thing. In some cases, it will make sense! For example, it's often a good idea to run many copies of the same generic pilot. There are lists where Outmaneuver on General Grievous may make sense. The problem is this is not a reliable way to build strong lists. It may or may not work, and it can distract list-builders from more effective options.

Start from power, not from countering a list

Another list-building trap I often see is when people build a list with the idea of countering a list. This usually doesn't work out. In a tournament, you're not likely to see a particular list more than once or twice, and you may never see the list you tried so hard to counter. Even when they get their matchup, these "counter" lists often still lose!

The problem is this mindset often gets list-builders focused on the wrong thing. The best counter to a list is a stronger list. That's why "counter" lists often lose to the list they tried to counter: they were built around some gimmick that may be slightly stronger against that list, but overall they are simply weaker lists.

The moment you realize you should have played a bigger dynamite

Instead of building a list to counter a list, you should build a strong list that has reasonable or good matchups against the field.

That doesn't mean you should never think about other lists when list-building! You may want to pay special attention to strong ships that are also good against the meta, or at least not weak into the meta. For example:

• Ships tend to be especially weak against ships with one higher initiative, or against arc-dodgers with the same initiative but a bigger bid.
• More evasive ships (e.g., 3-agility ships, ships with lots of defensive mods) are relatively weaker against more attacks, big attacks, and reliable attacks and are relatively stronger against fewer attacks, smaller attacks, and less-modded attacks.

Once you have a strong list, you can also consider adding some tech choices to improve your matchups against certain lists. But start from building a strong list, not from building a list to counter another list.

Focus on matchups and board states

The most important things to think about when list-building are matchups and board states. As Swim says, the only thing a card can do is take a game that was lost and turn it into a game that was won, or turn a game that was won into a game that was lost.

X-Wing is a game with dice luck, and MOV sometimes matters for making the cut. "Win more" does have some value in X-Wing. Still, when list-building, your primary focus is to turn losing matchups and board states into winning ones while minimizing the amount of your winning matchups and board states that turn into losing ones.

As a quick aside, this skill will also improve your strategic and tactical decision-making while playing the game. You have many reasons to develop this skill!

Here are some common situations to consider when list-building:

• You're facing arc-dodgers that move after you.
• You're facing the strongest jousting list in the meta.
• Your opponent has you flanked.
• You've flanked your opponent, and they can choose which part of your list to turn on.
• Your opponent flies to deny you one of your tricks.
• You've lost one or two of your ships.
• You're down to your last ship or last two cheap ships.

When you consider filling out your squad with extra ships, choosing between different pilots, or adding pilots, you should be thinking about how this changes your winning chances in these situations, and any other common situations you may be facing given the expected meta.

For example, if your list is really strong against jousting lists but weak against arc-dodgers that move after you, you may want to consider spending some points to shore up that matchup. This can be a good idea even if it weakens your matchup against jousting lists a bit. Of course, you should be careful not to tunnel-vision and weaken your good matchups too much for what you gain against weaker matchups.

One of the results of this situation-based analysis is you usually don't want to mix tanky ships and glass-cannon ships in the same list. Your opponent will have an easy time killing your glass-cannon ships first and your tanky ships won't deal enough damage to punish this. Unless you have some way of protecting your glass-cannon ships (e.g., they are very difficult to catch), you should include ships of similar durability-to-damage ratios.

Let's return to that Grievous with Outmaneuver example. Suppose you've got a list with Grievous and a Vulture swarm. If your opponent ignores Grievous and turns on the swarm, Grievous gets double mods while they slowly chew through your Vultures, and you probably win. If your opponent goes after Grievous first, the Vultures may not be able to deal enough damage to punish that hard enough and you'll probably have a good chance to lose.

What happens if you add Outmaneuver to Grievous? Well, your winning situation is even more winning! Now, what happens if they turn on Grievous first? Outmaneuver does nothing, you just handed your opponent more points, and your Vulture swarm has fewer points to spend for offense to punish this. And unfortunately, you don't have a great way to force your opponent to ignore Grievous. Outmaneuver is only a "win more" card in this list and is probably a bad idea unless it's extremely under-priced.

Now, let's consider a list with Grievous, Ensnare Sun Fac, and Ensnare Chertek. If your opponents turn on Grievous, Ensnare Sun Fac and Ensnare Chertek get free rein to tear your opponent's list apart. You're probably winning those games. Your biggest chances of losing are probably when your opponent turns on Sun Fac first and kills him quickly. Outmaneuver can turn those losing situations into winning ones or perhaps even change your opponent's decision of who to attack first, so the upgrade may be a good idea for this list. Of course, you should still consider if there's a better way to spend the points (examples include a bid or Gravitic Deflection on the Nantex, and these will depend on the point cost of the upgrades and the meta).

Remember, even if your list doesn't really need a bid and you have spare points, you don't have to spend them. Since games often end on time, unspent points can be helpful and sometimes the bid will deny your opponent some value. In the Feb 2019 Toronto System Open, I lost my first game by 2 MOV. I'd upgraded a Bandit Squadron Z-95 to a Tala Squadron Pilot with Selfless for 5 points. The Tala died and I didn't use Selfless that game, and the higher initiative didn't matter much either. Adding Selfless with my spare points turned a won game into a lost game. It was still probably the right call over the long run, but you should remember it's not free to spend "spare" points.

Look for value

The best thing you can bring to a tournament is a 240-point list, and the worst thing to do is to bring a 160-point list. As long as the cards aren't perfectly balanced, a keen sense of value is important when list-building.

Don't do this to yourself

There are several common traps you can run into. First, some players try to "chase" value with a weak ship by loading it with upgrades. Unless the upgrade is extremely strong on that ship, usually transforming it into a different ship in some way (examples include Special Forces Gunner for Quickdraw or Advanced Sensors for Guri), adding more upgrades isn't going to fix the ship. If you buy a lemon used car for too much money, adding fancy speakers at fair market value isn't going to get your money back. The solution is to avoid the lemon and buy a good car at a great price.

Second, one of the most common list-building traps is to load too many upgrades on ships. Upgrades are often balanced around a ship that uses them the best, and many are mediocre for their point cost on any ship. Loading your fleet of good cars bought at a great price with speakers at fair market value may not be as good as spending that money on an extra car. You should be especially careful when adding upgrades on cheap ships. The value of most upgrades is multiplicative, which means they are stronger when the ship itself is stronger, but the cost of most upgrades do not scale with the quality of the ship they're equipped on.

Another list-building trap is to run a ship without a staple upgrade. Some ships, like the aforementioned Quickdraw and Guri, depend on having a specific upgrade to be worth their points.

Finally, a trap that often shows up when value isn't considered strongly enough is a list without enough offense. My rule of thumb is to bring at least three ships with 3-dice attacks, or a similar equivalent. 2-dice attacks count for half, and a 4-dice attack counts for 1.5 ships. These ships should also be durable enough to survive one average round of combat. When your list doesn't have enough offense, it often gets hard to play because you can't remove problematic enemy ships (examples include a ship with control elements, or firing arcs to give your arc-dodgers space to breathe) fast enough. This is not a hard rule, especially if your ships are extremely good at arc-dodging, but you should have a very good reason to bring fewer ships.

Unfortunately, outside of playing a bunch, scouring tournament results, or doing lots of math, I'm not sure how to really develop this sense for value. Situational thinking can be one way to approach this. Often, bringing too many inefficient ships or upgrades will ruin some of your matchups for little gain in other situations. Let me know if you have any other ideas!

Conclusions

When list-building, you should be looking to add value pieces to your list, which have a low point cost for the impact they have on the board. As you add ships and upgrades, you should be thinking about your chance of winning in different matchups and board states. You want to add ships and upgrades which flip losing situations into winning ones without flipping too many winning situations into losing ones.

As you list-build, there are many traps to watch out for. Don't tunnel vision on synergies. Build a strong list first, and don't list-build to counter another list. Be very careful to add ships and upgrades that bring more value than they cost, and try to bring enough offense in your list.

Finally, if you haven't done this before, go check out some recent tournament results, pick one of the top-placing lists, and play that a few times. Get a sense for what it feels like to play a strong list. Once you do that, it will guide you in your future list-building. Good luck and have fun!

Beginner's Guide to Not Jousting

I've said in the past that flying arc-dodgers is not harder than flying jousters at the tournament level, but there's an initial learning curve on how to avoid jousting.

Here's a basic idea you can try to avoid jousting: Don't put your ships in the same place.

In this case, "same place" means "area covered by the same firing arc(s)". In other words, flank with your ships.

This is not a flank:

This is a flank:

The important thing is where your ships are during the engagement, not where they are deployed. You can start your ace ships anywhere as long as they are spread out before the engagement. Similarly, don't get baited by spreading your ships during deployment but have all your ships end up in the same place by the time the shooting starts.

Of course, things get more difficult if enemy ships have multiple arcs, but this general concept still applies.

There are several reasons to spread out your ships. First, it's easier to arc-dodge and avoid shots with one ship than it is with three ships. When your ships are in the same place, their escape routes may end up getting blocked off by your own ships.

Second, it's hard to arc-dodge and get shots at the same time. Even when all your aces successfully arc-dodge, you may not have gained anything. Flanking means the ships that don't arc-dodge get free shots.

Third, it forces your opponent to make decisions and thus gives them more chances to make mistakes. If all your ships are in one place, your opponent's choices are obvious (turn towards all of your ships). When they have to decide which of three ships to turn toward, they might make the wrong choice and give you a significant advantage.

There's an added benefit of flanking for all ships, even ships that aren't aces. When ships are flying head-on at each other, they usually have to K-Turn to keep their guns on target. Flanking ships can keep guns on target without turning around. This means flanking is especially beneficial for ships that are often stressed and can't K-Turn (e.g. Soontir Fel, Braylen Stramm) or ships that don't have a K-Turn (e.g. the Upsilon Shuttle).

As such, flanking is also important if your list has both a jousting block and a flanker or arc-dodger, or if you only have ships with average or below-average maneuverability but you'd lose a straight joust.

Counterplay

For the other side of the matchup, there are a few ways to play against a flanking list. First, you can try to jump on one ship before the others can capitalize. In the best case scenario, you can kill or cripple one ship for free. If you play it especially well, you may have time to regroup before your opponent can punish even if you don't catch or cripple the target.

Second, you can try to herd your opponent's ships together. You can threaten to jump on a ship and force it to turn into its allies. Once your opponents ships are in the same place, you'll have an easier time catching them.

Sometimes, you can split your firing arcs. This threatens your opponent with at least some damage and may make them play more cautiously with spending tokens on offense. Don't do this if the enemy ships have strong defenses that require focus fire to overcome. This can also leave your ships uncoordinated and in a position to be picked off by the aces.

Finally, you can make sure you catch at least one ship in your arcs, even if you have to give up the flank to the other enemy ships. As long as your ships are shooting, you may still win the damage race. If possible, leave yourself with an option to threaten the flankers with your maneuver the next turn.

There's currently one more strategy against flankers that's potentially problematic for the game: "mobile fortressing". This strategy involves only flying your ships along the board edges, either waiting for your opponent to approach or for a favorable final salvo. It removes one of the flank approaches using the board edge while threatening the other approaches with hard turns and K-Turns. It's often the best strategy if you have a less-maneuverable list. Unfortunately, this strategy could be degenerate since it's pretty easy to execute and has limited options for counterplay. I believe the rules should heavily discourage mobile fortressing for this reason, and judges at various events may already be using their discretion to penalize mobile fortressing.

Beginner's Guide to X-Wing Second Edition

Who is this article for?

This article can help you decide whether you want to play X-Wing Second Edition. It also suggests what ships to buy if you do decide to play the game.

What is X-Wing?

X-Wing is a miniatures wargame where you bring a squad of Star Wars ships and try to blow up your opponent's Star Wars ships before they blow up yours.

In X-Wing, players simultaneously and secretly choose how each of their ships moves. Once all the choices are locked in, they are revealed and resolved one by one in order of pilot skill. There's a template for each movement option for simplicity of movement.

Most ships can only shoot in a 90-degree arc in front of them, and some ships have broader and/or mobile firing arcs. While there is luck in the game, predicting your opponent's maneuvers so your ships get shots while avoiding your opponent's firing arcs is the key to winning consistently.

Why should you play X-Wing?

I believe the biggest reason to play X-Wing is the community. X-Wing has many active groups around the world and X-Wing players tend to be pretty friendly. The community spans the casual to competitive. I started playing X-Wing because I enjoy getting deeply into the games I play and I lost my board game groups after a move. I've made some really good friends in X-Wing. While I've heard that bad experiences with other players does happen in the community, I've rarely had a bad experience.

The game is fun and has a lot of depth. If you enjoy visualizing (pre-measuring is not allowed) and predicting where all the pieces will go on a gridless board, X-Wing is a great game for you. It's hard to find board games that do this outside of miniatures wargames.

How expensive is X-Wing?

The biggest drawback to X-Wing is the cost. You can build a viable list for around US $150, but if you want a large number of options, the cost can easily run into the thousands. The ships need to be stored, and storage options can cost around $50-$200 or more. This investment can buy many complete board games.

That said, if you want a lifestyle game, X-Wing is one of the more affordable options. The time commitment is lower especially because the ships are pre-painted. Players tend to be reasonable about letting you borrow cards and ships you don't have, and casual games generally allow proxies. Still, this game isn't cheap. Expect to pay at least hundreds of dollars.

Unlike the previous version of X-Wing, the developers have stated a goal of allowing players to get all the cards they need without buying ships across factions. Overall, it seems like all factions will get access to all options, although sometimes it takes a few months for this to happen. The initial investment is more manageable if you stick to one faction and you can expect to spend $20-$80 every three months to keep up with the newest options.

Before I moved, I had two board game groups which mostly played a single non-collectible board game each. I could scratch my strategy board gaming itch at a very low cost. If you have a regular board game group already and don't have a special interest in wargames on gridless boards, then X-Wing may not be the best option for you.

How do I find a place to play?

You can ask on the X-Wing subreddit. Most X-Wing groups are on Facebook and a search for "X-Wing" and your city or region might help. You can also ask your local game store(s) if they have an X-Wing night.

What's the difference between First Edition and Second Edition?

If you're starting new, play Second Edition. Most players play Second Edition now. First Edition is no longer supported by official tournaments and is extremely rare. Overall, Second Edition improves the game and makes player choice more important.

As you can see on the official website, the Second Edition products are mostly black. First Edition packaging has more beige and overall tends to be more colorful. There is one exception: the First Edition Saw's Renegades and TIE Reaper expansion packs have all of the Second Edition components for the ships in the same box.

The First Edition plastic ship models can be used in Second Edition. However, you will need the Second Edition maneuver dials, cardboard ship bases, and pilot/upgrade cards to use them. There are conversion kits which provide those components (see the next section). They are not worthwhile if you only have a couple First Edition ships, but they are a great deal if you have a large number of different First Edition ships. To set expectations, a conversion kit converts a limited number of each ship, so you may need two if the collection has many copies of the same ship.

How are people playing with unreleased ships? What are the different formats?

The developers released conversion kits so players with large First Edition collections don't need to re-buy all of the plastic models to play Second Edition. In doing so, all of the First Edition ships can be played even when the Second Edition ships haven't been released yet.

There are two main formats: Extended and Hyperspace. All ships are legal in the Extended format. The Hyperspace format has a limited set of legal ships, almost all of which have been released in Second Edition. In casual play, people will usually play Extended. Formats are more important for tournaments.

You usually do not need to play unreleased ships to be competitive even in Extended tournaments. For example, some newer factions have no unreleased ships but have done well in Extended tournaments.

What ships should I buy?

You'll almost always need a Core Set. I usually recommend buying only one Core Set. Buy a second Core Set only if you want to fly a TIE Swarm (two Core Sets, two standalone TIE Fighter expansions) or want a fourth X-Wing (get the second Core Set after the standalone X-Wing expansion and Saw's Renegades). You won't have a full set of dice, but I recommend asking to share a set with your opponent. This is always legal and actually recommended in tournaments. If you want a full set of dice, you can buy a dice pack (or win an extra set in a tournament).

Then, you have a few choices. Second Edition has points adjustments every six months. This means ships tend to be more balanced (although outliers exist in both directions) and there aren't any perennial faction-defining ships to guide purchases. As such, I recommend one of these options:

1. Buy the ships you think are cool. This is great for your first few purchases so you can get some games under your belt, and it also works as you get more experienced.
2. Buy one copy of many/all expansions in your faction. This gives you a lot of different options. You can buy more copies of a ship later as needed.
3. Buy a competitive list you'd enjoy playing. Obviously this is harder to pull off when you're just starting out, but you can ask your local play group for recommendations on useful ships that can fit into many good lists. The Meta Wing website tracks tournament data and its List Archetypes shows what the popular and well-performing lists currently are. To set expectations, competitive lists will change over time and especially after a points adjustment (regular points adjustments happen every 6 months with rare emergency points adjustments as needed).
4. You can buy out an existing collection for ~33% of the retail price (less if First Edition, very large collection, and/or a limited selection of ships). I strongly recommend this for building your collection because it gives you a lot of options at a discount, but expect to shell out $500 or more in one go. Check the FFG Trade subreddit, the Star Wars Swap and Sell Facebook Group, your local/regional X-Wing Facebook Group, and ebay for options. IMPORTANT: check whether the cards and dials are First Edition or Second Edition. First Edition ships are fine, but you will need to buy the faction's conversion kit to use them ($30-$50, great deal for large collections with many different types of ships in each faction).
5. You can start with buying the ships you think are cool and/or building a competitive list, and then buying out a collection later when you have a better sense for the game. You can also split the purchase of a collection with your local group so the up-front cost is lower for everyone.

How do I choose a faction?

There are seven factions in X-Wing across roughly three time periods (Original Trilogy, Prequels, Sequels). All factions are legal and there are no restrictions on time periods (e.g. a Rebel player can play against a First Order squad or another Rebel squad). Squads can only have ships and faction-restricted upgrade cards from a single faction. For example, a squad can't mix Rebel ships and Resistance ships.

Sticking with one faction is a great way to keep your options open on a budget. Most players will buy into more than one faction, but I think a majority of players in Second Edition don't buy all of the factions.

I recommend picking factions based on which ones you like the most fluff-wise. If you're more focused on mechanics, you may want wait before deciding to have a better sense of what the competitive options for each faction looks like.

Faction identities are loose in X-Wing. Each faction feels distinct, but they're hard to pin down especially with the possibility of points adjustments and new releases. Broad mechanics and strategies tend to be available to multiple factions, but the factions usually express them in different ways and no faction has all of them available.

With that said, here's my best take on the faction identities:

1. (OT) Rebellion: Rebel lists have a reputation for wanting to fly slowly at their opponents and win a bruising fight. They have lots of "workhorse" ships with good offense and enough defense to survive a turn or two of focus fire. These ships often have below-average maneuverability and low-variance defenses. They also have ships (usually big ships like the Millennium Falcon) that can be stacked with upgrades and support ships into fearsome bruising monsters. They lack a prototypical nimble "ace" ship.
2. (OT) Galactic Empire: Imperial ships tend to be extreme and specialized, and the faction has support abilities tailored for specialized strategies. The faction doesn't have a traditional "workhorse" ship. Most of their ships tend to be fragile and rely on dice for defenses. Their durable ships tend to be extremely durable compared to their offensive output. They have several nimble "ace" ships.
3. (All?) Scum and Villainy: This faction tends to have ships that are weird in some way. "Workhorse" ships like to go slow to keep their arcs wide, but Scum's "workhorse" ships aren't great at going slow. Their nimble "ace" ships are better at flying into close range than skirmishing from a distance. Scum also tends to have more options for messing with their opponent's ships.
4. (Seq) Resistance: The Resistance feels like a more durable and expensive Rebel faction. They have a collection of workhorse ships and they can also stack ships into fearsome bruising monsters. Unlike the Rebel faction, the Resistance does have a couple nimble "ace" platforms.
5. (Seq) First Order: The First Order feels like a less extreme/specialized Galactic Empire. Their ships tend to be more durable and generally more balanced in terms of offense and defense, and they do have a "workhorse" ship chassis. Their ships also tend to be more self-reliant and they lack most of the support options the Galactic Empire has.
6. (Preq) Galactic Republic: Like their lore, the Galactic Republic has nimble quality ships mostly piloted by Jedi and clunky ships that are mostly flown by clones. Some of their support abilities benefit friendly ships beside them, unlike most other support abilities which affect nearby friendly ships or friendly ships in front.
7. (Preq) Separatist Alliance: The faction has cheap swarmy droid ships that can share tokens at close range and a collection of more "normal" ships. Unlike most ships, their droid ships are better at making sharp turns than gradual turns. Separatists also have the most abilities which which feel downright mean and dirty to their opponent.

You may want to consider cost in your faction choices. The Core Set comes with a Rebel X-Wing and a pair of Galactic Empire TIE Fighters. Starting with one of these factions is usually a bit easier. Keep in mind cheap ships are usually more expensive to field because you need more ships to fill out a list, especially if a list requires many copies of the same ship.

How do I build a list?

With points adjustments, point costs are no longer printed on the cards. The best way to build a squad is through third-party apps like YASB 2.0 for PC or Launch Bay Next for mobile. There is an official squad builder app, but it's usually considered to be worse than these options. Point costs can also be found in PDFs near the bottom of the official website.

For casual play, you can also use the "Quick Build" format. Expansions come with pre-built ships. Decide on a threat level (usually 8), select a group of ships with total threat equal to the threat level, and play. Note the Quick Build format is distinct from using points to build ships and sometimes has ship layouts that would not be legal in "normal" play.

Beginner's Guide to Factions: Scum

This series describes the strengths and weaknesses of the factions in X-Wing, with this article covering the Scum and Villainy faction. Rather than general statements like "Rebels are more supportive and Imperials are more self-sufficient" (which isn't even true), I'll highlight the factions' strongest pilots and upgrades as well as some of its weaknesses. This can help you choose which factions you want to play and which expansions to prioritize.

For the other two factions, check out the links below:
Rebels
Imperials

1. Attanni Mindlink

Every faction has special ways to get extra actions. Rebels have regeneration through R2-D2 and evades through C-3PO. Imperials have pilots and ships with extra actions, and many of its ships have enough green maneuvers to use Push the Limit. The Attanni Mindlink elite pilot talent is Scum's faction-defining way of generating extra actions. You need three or four ships with Attanni Mindlink for it to shine. You'll usually want a cheap Attanni Mindlink carrier, a strong ship, and either another strong ship or two generics. Ideally, at least one ship will have a turret or a mobile arc. Attanni Mindlink prevents you from performing red maneuvers with multiple ships in the same round, so you may have a hard time turning the list around.

These ships are often used as the heavy lifters in a Mindlink list.

• Fenn Rau or Old Teroch (pilot; Protectorate Starfighter) [1][2]. With 3 attack dice and 3 defense dice, Protectorate Starfighters crave extra actions and Attanni Mindlink gives them just that. Fenn Rau is the more common of the two. He's very strong in close range and has higher pilot skill. Old Teroch provides extra disruption and counters lists which rely on focus tokens.
• Asajj Ventress (pilot; Shadow Caster) [1]. Asajj Ventress can be extremely tanky with an extra action thanks to Latts Razzi crew and her evade action. Besides being a solid jouster, she adds some disruption with her ability to stress enemy ships. Asajj is also great in an Attanni Mindlink list because her mobile arc reduces her reliance on K-Turns. Extra points are usually best spent on the Gyroscopic Targeting modification or on illicit upgrades like Black Market Slicer Tools.
• Generic Jousters (Mist Hunter or M3-A Interceptor) [1][2]. These pilots function as efficient damage-dealers with a medium pilot skill. Unlike most other generic jousters, they have action economy thanks to Attanni Mindlink. They use it for more consistent offense with Target Lock or better defense with Evade.
• Guri (pilot; StarViper) [1]. The StarViper isn't very efficient and you're almost always better off with the cheaper and stronger Fenn Rau. That said, Guri's ability can be especially useful in a Mindlink list. It provides some insurance against bumps, and it lets all of your ships take a different action instead of focus.

Usually, you'll also want to bring one of these as a cheap extra ship. Besides taking the focus for your other ships, they can also be quite disruptive.

• Contracted Scout (pilot; Punishing One) [1][2][3]. The Contracted Scout makes for a cheap third Attanni Mindlink. Its durability and maneuverability makes it a good blocker, and its attack is good enough at close range. You can run it with just Attanni Mindlink, add R4 Agromech to improve its attack, or add Intelligence Agent and/or Rigged Cargo Chute to improve its disruptive capabilities.
• Manaroo (pilot; Punishing One) [1][2]. Manaroo is a strong option for a third Attanni Mindlink, even after the errata which limits her ability to range 1. She'll usually give another ship a focus token while regaining a focus for herself. She can also take and pass a target lock to improve your other ship's offense. If you have more points, you can add to her damage output with Anti-Pursuit Lasers and R5-P8.
• Kaa'to Leeachos (Z-95 Headhunter pilot; Most Wanted) [1]. Coming in at 16 points, Kaa'to Leeachos is the cheapest way to get a ship with Attanni Mindlink. He's otherwise unimpressive, and you may want to keep him out of the fight for a while so he can continue buffing the rest of your squad with focus tokens. If you have extra points, Concussion Missile and Guidance Chips gives him a bit more damage output.
• Palob Godalhi (HWK-290 pilot; Most Wanted) [1][2]. Palob is interesting in an Attanni Mindlink list. Not only does he remove a focus token from the opponent, he can also use his ability to get a focus token for the Mindlink. This can come in handy if all of your ships bumped or otherwise needed to take a different action. He's pretty fragile, so you can either run him light or use Cloaking Device to mitigate his squishiness. Dengar crew is also helpful since it applies to both of the Twin Laser Turret attacks.

2. Jumpmaster 5000

If you were bummed out that you need to buy two copies of the Jumpmaster 5000 expansion for a full set of Attanni Mindlinks, cheer up! The Jumpmaster 5000 is an incredibly strong ship and you can easily have two in one squad. It features a relatively low cost, enough defense to survive a turn of shooting against all but the strongest alpha strikes, unparalleled mobility thanks to its excellent dial and barrel roll, and a vast array of upgrade slots. All four of its pilots have been played to high finishes in Premier-level tournaments.

• U-Boat Contracted Scout (pilot; Punishing One) [1][2]. The U-Boat uses Attanni Mindlink, R4 Agromech, and Guidance Chips for a 92% chance of a 4-hit result with torpedoes. These ships can get both target lock and focus by either taking the target lock action and getting focus from Attanni Mindlink, or by acquiring the target lock with R4 Agromech the previous round. After spending the target lock to shoot the torpedo, it can spend focus to change any focuses to a hit, reroll any blanks with the new target lock from R4 Agromech, and modify a blank to a hit with Guidance Chips. The first build does an extra damage against shields, and the second build strips an important upgrade from the opponent with Boba Fett. Extra points can be spent on crew like Intelligence Agent or 4-LOM for the first build, and on Extra Munitions for the second build.
• Bumpmaster Contracted Scout (pilot; Punishing One) [1]. The Bumpmaster abuses the Jumpmaster 5000's excellent dial and barrel roll action to cover most of your opponent's options. Feedback Array and Anti-Pursuit Lasers lets the Bumpmaster deal damage when blocking. Adaptability is usually used to reduce the Bumpmaster's pilot skill to 2, and can be replaced with Attanni Mindlink.
• Dengar (pilot; Punishing One) [1][2][3]. Dengar's pilot ability gives this expensive ship enough offense to justify his cost. The first build takes advantage of his pilot skill and barrel roll action and enhances his arc-dodging ability. He's similar to Dash Rendar with a much higher pilot skill and the ability to shoot ships at range 1. The second build is slightly cheaper and uses Expertise to modify both of his attacks. The third build is used in alpha strike lists, often paired with Bossk in the YV-666.
• Manaroo (pilot; Punishing One) [1][2]. As mentioned above, Manaroo is a strong option for a third Attanni Mindlink. Spare points can go towards Anti-Pursuit Lasers, R5-P8, Intelligence Agent, and/or illicit upgrades like Feedback Array, Burnout SLAM, or Black Market Slicer Tools.
• Tel Trevura (pilot; Punishing One) [1][2]. The least popular Jumpmaster 5000 pilot, Tel Trevura is still a viable option. The first build takes advantage of Tel's pilot ability with Gonk, R5-P8, and Hull Upgrade. The second build is a pilot skill 9 torpedo boat.

3. Disruption

Scum isn't as good as Rebels for denying actions, but they've got some tricks up their sleeves. They have some strong ships which hand out stress and strip tokens from enemy ships. Scum also has the best ways to hand out tractor beam tokens.

• Asajj Ventress (pilot; Shadow Caster) [1][2][3]. Asajj Ventress is reliable stress control in a great ship. The first two builds are more defensive, while the last adds the Shadow Caster title to also hand out tractor beam tokens.
• Old Teroch (pilot; Protectorate Starfighter) [1][2][3]. Old Teroch has to put himself at risk to strip tokens, but he's pretty durable as long as he has arc on the enemy ship. There are three good options for the elite pilot talent but otherwise the build is pretty standard.
• Ketsu Onyo (pilot; Shadow Caster) [1][2]. Ketsu is one of the few ways to assign a tractor beam token without hitting with an attack. The easiest way to trigger Ketsu's ability is to keep her mobile arc forward. She can bump into an enemy small ship, apply the tractor beam and barrel them off, then shoot them with a range 1 attack. She's not usually played as defensively as Asajj, so you'll generally see her with an offensive crew. Veteran Instincts is especially useful with the Shadow Caster title if your other ship(s) has pilot skill 8 or 9.
• Jakku Gunrunner (pilot; Quadjumper) [1][2]. I usually don't like paying much more than 12 points for 2-attack ships with low health, but Spacetug Tractor Array is amazing. It doesn't require an attack, and it can be used before your opponent moves. You can easily set it up so they have to go over an asteroid twice this turn, or nudge them too close to the board edge. The first build is the barebones setup, but upgrades can make this ship much more effective. Intelligence Agent lets you know exactly how to move the ship (or not move them) to mess them up, and Pattern Analyzer lets the Gunrunner use the tractor beam after a reverse move.
• Palob Godalhi (HWK-290 pilot; Most Wanted) [1][2]. Palob can't strip as many tokens as Old Teroch, but he does it more reliably. Since he steals tokens instead of just removing them, it encourages your opponent not to take those actions. Sometimes he'll get an entirely squad to change their actions, even though he can't steal more than a single token! The two builds here use Attanni Mindlink. If you're not running a Mindlink build, you should probably choose a 0-cost elite pilot talent since Palob doesn't particularly benefit from any of them.

4. Offensive crew

Scum have the best options for crew which adds offensive dice modification or denies defensive dice modification from your opponents. You've already seen several of these, but they're also useful in other builds.

• Dengar (crew; Punishing One) [1][2][3][4]. Dengar is one of the strongest crew in the game. Rerolling two dice is almost as good as target lock, and Dengar gives it to you without limiting your maneuvers! You only reroll one die against generic pilots, but that's still on par with Predator and named pilots are much more popular than ships with pilot skill 1 or 2. The last two builds are ships we've seen before, and the first two are other ideas you can consider.
• K4 Security Droid (crew; Most Wanted or Hound's Tooth) [1][2]. The downside of Dengar crew is it can't be used to shoot missiles and torpedoes, and you can't run it with Dengar. K4 Security Droid grants extra target locks, but requires doing green maneuvers. It's also an extremely strong crew that the other factions would love to have. I've highlighted its main strengths over the Dengar crew in these two builds.
• 4-LOM (crew; Mist Hunter) [1][2][3]. 4-LOM lets you block a focus or evade token on an important attack. He's best used with large ships since they can use it twice before suffering any penalties.

5. Closers

Scum doesn't have the same selection of cheap closers Imperials do, but they have some strong options. Unlike Imperials, several of these are large ships which either get very tanky or deal lots of damage. We've seen many of these pilots before, but it's worth noting them here again. I won't list the Attanni Mindlink version of their builds since Mindlink isn't very helpful when you're down to your last ship.

• Fenn Rau (pilot; Protectorate Starfighter) [1]. Despite the similarities, the lack of an evade action and the Concord Dawn title means Fenn Rau flies very differently from Imperial arc-dodgers. Without evade, he can explode with one or two bad rolls. Still, his offensive and defensive abilities and high pilot skill make him a strong closer. He's most effective if you can stay out of range 2.
• Asajj Ventress (pilot; Shadow Caster) [1]. As mentioned earlier, Asajj is very tanky when she can take focus and evade every turn. Combined with Latts Razzi, she's guaranteed to mitigate 2 damage every round and will mitigate a third thanks to her green dice.
• Dengar (pilot; Punishing One) [1]. We've seen Dengar before. He's a great closer thanks to his mobility and high pilot skill, and because his double-tap ability is very strong in a 1v1. He can be very difficult for small-ship closers to pin down. The downside is he is somewhat squishy for his cost, and he suffers against turrets.

6. Brobots

The Aggressor is an interesting ship because their pilots share each others' abilities. They're quite durable thanks to their 3 green dice and ability to equip Autothrusters, and they can put out good damage with a Heavy Laser Cannon and IG-88B's ability. Their main downside is they're a big-base ship that can't shoot out of its arc. They rely on sloops and K-turns to have shots on their target, so they have a hard time getting action economy. The most common pilots are IG-88B and IG-88C.

• IG-88B or IG-88C (pilot; IG-2000) [1][2]. The first build is the standard heavy-hitting build. Fire-Control Systems with IG-88B's pilot ability means you'll rarely go a round without dealing damage, and Crack Shot can be used to push a key damage through. The second build uses Push the Limit with Advanced Sensors to stay free of stress so red maneuvers stay as options. It also highly maneuverable since it can boost before executing its maneuver. The downside with the second build is the Heavy Laser Cannon version costs 51 points, so one has to use the Mangler Cannon instead.
• IG-88D (crew; IG-2000) [1]. The IG-88D crew lets another ship benefit from your Aggressor pilot's ability. Usually, you'll see IG-88D on a ship with a cannon paired with the IG-88B pilot. You can do this with any YV-666 build, but I decided to highlight a bit of a cheesy build. This build tries to miss with its first attack to then make two attacks: one with IG-88B's ability, and one with Gunner. This works because both are triggered once the first attack misses (even if IG-88B ability's cannon shot hits), and IG-88B's ability doesn't prevent further attacks.

7. Efficient damage dealers

Scum have a couple options for efficient damage dealers.

• Syndicate Thug (Y-Wing pilot; Most Wanted) [1]. Just like its Rebel cousin, the Y-Wing with Twin Laser Turret is a cheap and efficient damage dealer. Unhinged Astromech and R4 Agromech are popular upgrades with extra points.
• Cartel Spacer (pilot; M3-A Interceptor) [1]. The Cartel Spacer is an option for a cheap damage dealer thanks to the errata which adds 1 hull to the Heavy Scyk title. It should survive 2 shots from a 3-attack ship with one offensive dice mod, but it'll die quickly against stronger attacks or if it suffers from bad dice luck.

Scum Weaknesses

Scum is a flexible faction, but it has a couple weaknesses. Many of its small ships are awkwardly positioned. The Protectorate Starfighter wants to fill the role of a closer, but it's fragile and prone to exploding before the endgame. The StarViper is positioned as a heavy-hitting arc-dodger, but it doesn't have the greens or the dice modification to support that role. The Kihraxz Fighter is positioned as a jouster, but doesn't have a 1 straight. The M3-A Interceptor is in a better spot after the Heavy Scyk errata, but it's very dependent on green dice and also has trouble getting action economy to support its dice.

Some of these action economy concerns can be fixed with Attanni Mindlink, but that introduces also introduces problems. Since the Mindlink gets weaker with each ship lost, you ideally want to bring durable ships or keep a fragile one out of the fight. That's either very expensive, or makes some of these fragile ships less suitable for a Mindlink list.

Scum lists can be a bit light on offense. Many of Scum's strongest ships are big ships that sit best around 45 points and up, and it lacks options for damage dealers under 30 points. Scum ships with heavy offense can be a bit awkward to use, like requiring target locks for torpedoes, being fragile, or being hard to maneuver.

Beginner's Guide to Factions: Imperials

[Updated for Wave 11]

This series describes the strengths and weaknesses of the factions in X-Wing, with this article covering the Imperial faction. Rather than general statements like "Rebels are more supportive and Imperials are more self-sufficient" (which isn't even true), I'll highlight the factions' strongest pilots and upgrades as well as some of its weaknesses. This can help you choose which factions you want to play and which expansions to prioritize.

For the other two factions, check out the links below:
Rebels
Scum

1. Great Closers

Imperials have a wide array of ships which are fantastic closers. Unlike other factions, these ships are often cheap enough to fit three of them in a list. It can make target selection for opponents extremely tricky. These ships are also often durable enough to survive a round of shooting and are maneuverable enough to escape the next turn.

• Omega Leader (pilot; TIE/fo Fighter) [1]. Perhaps the best ship in the Imperial faction today, Omega Leader wins almost every 1v1 endgame that doesn't go to time. He pushes consistent damage through with Juke, and being able to modify his dice when his enemy can't makes him fairly durable. He's very easy to fit into lists at just 26 points and forces opponents to deal with him early. Extra points should go toward Hull Upgrade or Shield Upgrade, with Stealth Device being a distant third.
• Quickdraw (pilot; TIE/sf Fighter) [1][2]. A versatile and powerful ship. While his durability isn't fantastic, his pilot ability makes attacking him a Catch-22. Killing Quickdraw early spikes his damage output, but he's very hard to deal with at full health in the end-game. Most builds will use the title, Fire-Control System, and Lightweight Frame. He works with an extremely wide array of EPT and Tech options. Besides the two examples, other interesting EPT options include Crack Shot and Draw Their Fire. Extra points can also be spent on Cruise Missile or Homing Missile for extra damage output.
• TIE/x7 (title; Imperial Veterans) [1][2][3]. Extremely durable ships. It's great in the end-game since it can out-K-Turn its opponent while being very hard to hit. These are some of the easier Imperial ships to fly, and they're a good place to start for beginner Imperial players. The first two TIE Defender pilots are the most popular since they have consistent offense to go with their strong defense. The third is a cheap generic with the same defensive abilities, but doesn't have the consistent offense.
• Darth Vader (pilot; TIE Advanced) [1]. His mediocre offense is a weakness, but he's one of the few ships that can reach PS 11 with both boost and barrel roll. His action economy with focus and evade makes him fairly durable. He's not great when pilot skill isn't as important, but he's a great pick to counter other aces. With extra points, Cruise Missile is a great option to boost his offense.
• Whisper (pilot; TIE Phantom) [1]. Whisper is a dangerous but streaky ship. She can explode the first turn she's shot at, or she can destroy your opponent's list by herself. When Whisper gets to shoot first, she rolls 4 dice on attack and on defense with plenty of tokens to modify them. She has one of the best ways of staying on her target with the "candy cane" maneuver of decloaking to the side and doing a 1 hard turn towards where she came from. While strong, Whisper's vulnerable to disruption (stress prevents her from cloaking), ships with higher pilot skill, and bad dice luck. Agent Kallus is fantastic, but optional. Other options include Rebel Captive and Gunner.

2. Arc-dodging aces

Imperials have some of the best arc-dodging aces. These pilots share five features. First, they have six or more green maneuvers, including green hard turns. This lets them use Push the Limit (elite pilot talent; A-Wing or Imperial Aces) to perform two actions each round at a minimal cost. Second, these pilots have high pilot skill and both the boost and barrel roll actions. Combined with Push the Limit, they can perform a boost and barrel roll in the same turn and have great flexibility in dodging enemy arcs. Third, they have access to the evade action. When they can't dodge arcs, they can focus and evade to become very difficult to hit. Fourth, they have a pilot ability which effectively gives them a third action or denies actions from the opponent. Finally, they can equip Autothrusters (modification; StarViper) to counter turrets. These pilots come in at an affordable 31-35 points, which makes it very easy to fit them into a list.

Thanks to their defenses, these ships are excellent in a 1v1 endgame. They can even win some unfair fights with luck and good flying. These ships depend on their actions, so bumps and stress can get them killed pretty quickly. These ships have recently fallen out of favor due to the prevalence of bombs and higher-PS ships.

• Soontir Fel (pilot; TIE Interceptor) [1]. Stealth Device is optional. Soontir Fel used to be one of the best ships in the game, but he's fallen in popularity thanks to the prevalence of counters.
• Carnor Jax (pilot; Imperial Aces) [1]. Hull Upgrade is optional. Carnor Jax has seen more play recently since he can disrupt lists which depend on focus or evade tokens.
• The Inquisitor (pilot; Inquisitor's TIE) [1]. Sometimes takes Proton Rockets. Very popular since he only costs 31 points and has more health than the TIE Interceptors.

3. Three-crew ship with a turret

The VT-49 Decimator is one of two ships in the game with 3 crew slots. The other is the YV-666, which doesn't have a turret and has a hard time turning around. You'll almost always want Gunner (Slave I or YT-2400 Freighter) in one slot. The other slots can be filled with Darth Vader (Lambda-Class Shuttle), Hotshot Co-Pilot (Heroes of the Resistance), Kylo Ren (Upsilon-Class Shuttle), Rebel Captive (Lambda-Class Shuttle), or Ysanne Isard (VT-49 Decimator). Unlike other large ships with low agility, the Decimator doesn't have access to defensive abilities like C-3PO or Kanan Jarrus's pilot ability. They die very quickly for their cost, which makes the Engine Upgrade modification and arc-dodging especially important.

• Rear Admiral Chiraneau (pilot; VT-49 Decimator) [1][2][3]. The first build tries to miss with the first shot to strip enemy focus tokens, leaving the target vulnerable to the Gunner shot and the wingmate. The second uses Kylo Ren to put Blinded Pilot or Damaged Cockpit on enemy ships. The third also uses Kylo Ren, but has Palpatine to keep the ace alive or force through a critical hit for Kylo Ren.
• Captain Oicunn (pilot; VT-49 Decimator) [1]. Oicunn is a cheaper Decimator with a strong ability. He doesn't use Hotshot Co-Pilot or Kylo Ren as well as Chiraneau does, but Darth Vader and the defensive crew are still strong options. Engine Upgrade is still a strong upgrade for maneuvering, but the lower pilot skill limits Oicunn's ability to arc-dodge.

4. Support crew cards and platforms

Imperials have the best selection of support crew. Most support abilities costs one action to generate an action, or passes a token from one ship to another. Imperials have the best selection of crew which generate additional actions for allies, including Emperor Palpatine (Imperial Raider epic), Fleet Officer (VT-49 Decimator), and General Hux (Upsilon-Class Shuttle). Imperials also have the best ships to put support crew on, so they also take the most advantage of support crew like Operations Specialist (Upsilon-Class Shuttle), Systems Officer (Imperial Veterans), and Inspiring Recruits (U-Wing). Finally, Imperials have the best targets to support with these abilities. Most of their ships have high agility and can make good use of extra focus tokens, and their aces can make especially good use of extra actions and defensive abilities.

• Emperor Palpatine (crew, Imperial Raider) [1][2][3]. Emperor Palpatine's errata makes him less consistent and overbearing, but he's still very strong when supporting aces. It can be used on defense to keep your ships alive or on offense to push through extra crits. The first two options are in the more supportive shuttles. They'll usually be used with 2-3 aces who do the heavy lifting, while the shuttle adds a tanky threat that can't be ignored. The third option is in a Decimator. It's a threat on its own, but you'll only have the points to run it with one ace.
• TIE Shuttle (title; Imperial Veterans) [1][2]. While a bit fragile, the TIE Bomber with the TIE Shuttle is the cheapest way to field support crew. If you have extra points, Rebel Captive is probably the best defensive option.
• Major Stridan (pilot; Upsilon-Class Shuttle) [1]. Major Stridan's ability is great with support crew and his Coordinate action.

5. Swarms

The TIE Fighter is the best swarm ship in the game. Not only are its stats and dial superior to comparable cheap ships, it also has a cheap offensive support ship in Howlrunner and generics with the ability to equip Crack Shot. I list several TIE swarm variations in this post.

• Howlrunner [1]. The force multiplier of your swarm, She often adds 2-3 hits across the rest of your swarm. Expect your opponents to focus her, so don't be afraid to spend actions defensively to keep her on the board.
• Black Squadron Pilot [1]. This is the cheapest generic pilot with the ability to take Crack Shot. Extra points can be spent to upgrade these to named pilots, or to upgrade to the equivalent TIE/fo Fighter for the extra shield.
• TIE Bomber [1][2]. These are a bit more expensive than the TIE Fighters, but they're very durable and have some interesting options. The first build uses Unguided Rockets to get a 3-dice attack. The second build is passes focus tokens with Operations Specialist. Extra points can be spent on Tactician or Intelligence Agent. One ship can also run Darth Vader or Kylo Ren for variety.
• TIE Aggressor [1]. Imperials finally get their Twin Laser Turret carrier in Wave 11. They're less durable than Y-Wings, but have better maneuverability and barrel roll.

6. High-PS alpha strike

Thanks to their cheap aces with missile slots, Imperials can pull off an alpha strike at pilot skill 11 and 10. These ships make sacrifices for their alpha strike, so these ships will have trouble if the alpha strike doesn't work.

• Quickdraw [1]. He probably makes the fewest sacrifices, but the loss of Lightweight Frames is big. Still, he probably functions the best of these three ships after the initial alpha.
• Darth Vader [1]. Losing Engine Upgrade hurts, but Darth Vader still has most of everything he wants.
• The Inquisitor [1]. You can alternatively run him with Proton Rockets for insurance against being in range 1. Unfortunately, this ship sacrifices a lot for the alpha strike and doesn't perform well afterwards.

Imperial Weaknesses

Imperials have a couple weaknesses. First, their ships tend to have less health and rely on green dice to survive. While this can keep them alive longer in the end-game, it means they're vulnerable to bad luck. It encourages you to spend your focus on defense, which weakens your attacks. It also makes your ships vulnerable to disruption. Stress, tractor beams, and automatic damage (e.g. bombs) are all especially deadly for Imperial ships.

Second, Imperials don't have many great options for disruption. Their disruption options tend to be fragile, unreliable, and/or expensive enough to limit their use.



Underrated Ship?

If I had to bet on one ship which is potentially underrated in the Imperial arsenal, it'd be the PS 2 TIE Punisher with Lightweight Frame and Unguided Rocket. It's a 25-point ship with 9 health, 2 agility, and a pseudo-3 attack. Compared to the 25-point naked Jumpmaster 5000, it has better offense but worse maneuverability. The top-tier meta right now isn't very good for jousters, but this ship should be fine in more casual games.

Beginner's Guide to Factions: Rebels

[Updated for Wave 11]

This series describes the strengths and weaknesses of the factions in X-Wing, with this article covering the Rebel faction. Rather than general statements like "Rebels are more supportive and Imperials are more self-sufficient" (which isn't even true), I'll highlight the factions' strongest pilots and upgrades as well as some of its weaknesses. This can help you choose which factions you want to play and which expansions to prioritize.

For the other two factions, check out the links below:
Imperials
Scum

1. Regeneration

Rebels have the best ways of recovering shields in the game. Regeneration effectively mitigates 1 damage every round. It's better than an evade action since it can recover damage taken on previous rounds. Combined with other defensive abilities, these ships can be extremely hard to kill, especially in the end-game. If focused early, a common strategy is to run the damaged ship away and bring it back into the fight at full shields.

• R2-D2 (astromech; Red Core Set) [1][2][3][4]. One of the best cards in the game. It single-handedly makes some of the more expensive Rebel ships viable. R2-D2 is the most reliable regeneration card since it'll always work after doing a green maneuver.
• Miranda Doni (pilot; K-Wing) [1][2][3]. Twin Laser Turret has special synergy with her pilot ability, since she can recover a shield on the first shot and take the second shot with the full 3 dice. Unfortunately, running away to regenerate with Miranda is more difficult since she needs to shoot to regenerate. Twin Laser Turret doesn't work at range 1, but she can spend a shield to make a 4-dice primary attack instead.
• R5-P9 (astromech; Rebel Transport epic) [1][2]. This isn't seen nearly as often as R2-D2 since the focus token is a large cost, but it works with some ships. The main selling point is the ability to use both R5-P9 and R2-D2 in the same squad. It has special synergy with Poe Dameron since he usually won't have to spend his focus token. It lets him regenerate while doing white maneuvers and is a point cheaper than R2-D2, but it does make him more vulnerable to bumping and stress.

2. Anti-Focus Fire

Rebels have many ships which are vulnerable to focus fire. Fortunately, they have several mechanics which keeps your opponent's damage away from your crucial ships, and those extra turns can make all the difference.

• Biggs Darklighter (X-Wing; Red Core Set) [1][2]. Despite flying a weaker ship, Biggs Darklighter is one of the most powerful pilots in the game. I like to keep Biggs cheap since he will die quickly, but sometimes you can get value out of R2-D2. Biggs is sometimes seen with a different astromech like R3-A2 or M9-G8 to provide utility.
• Lowhhrick (pilot; Auzituck Gunship) [1]. Lowhhrick's ability helps keep friendly ships alive. Equip him with either Draw Their Fire or Selflessness to make him better at this job, and Wookiee Commandos or Rey keeps his offense acceptable while he takes Reinforce actions.
• Captain Rex (pilot; Sabine's TIE Fighter) [1]. Captain Rex's ability is annoying enough to encourage enemy ships to kill him first. He's best with Biggs to force enemy ships to lose the attack die. Captain Rex doesn't need upgrades, but can take some utility upgrades like Tactician, Jyn Erso, Jan Ors, or Black Market Slicer Tools.
• Selflessness (elite pilot talent; Auzituck Gunship) [1][2]. Despite its single-use nature, this is more reliable than Draw Their Fire. It can go on many pilots, but the best candidates are include Jess (who opponents usually don't want to shoot first) and ships which regenerate who don't need their elite pilot talent slot for something else.

3. Stress control

Stress is a strong counter to ships which rely on their actions. Not only do Rebels have the cheapest options for stressing enemy ships, they have the best ways of giving enemy ships two stress in one turn. A ship with one stress can do a green maneuver and still take an action next turn, but a ship with two stress will almost never get an action next turn.

• R3-A2 (astromech; Rebel Transport epic) [1][2]. Both of these example ships can shoot twice in one turn and stress the target with each shot. Note the Stresshog only stresses their opponent with the primary attack and the first shot of the Twin Laser Turret, and doesn't stress a third time on the second Twin Laser Turret shot. Braylen wants to miss with the first attack, and you can make it easier by not to adding the extra attack dice from the title for that attack.

4. Tanky 1-agility ships

The C-3PO crew greatly improves the tankiness of ships with 1-agility. By guessing 0 evades, it guarantees a ship with 1 agility will get at least one evade result every round. It's strongest when combined with other defensive measures like the evade action and/or regeneration. Ships with C-3PO and another source of damage mitigation are very hard to take down in a 1v1 endgame.

• C-3PO (crew; Tantive IV epic and promo) [1][2]. Han mitigates two damage per round by taking the evade action, and Norra can mitigate three damage a round thanks to her ability and regeneration.

5. Bombs

Bombs are interesting because they let you deal damage without having to get through defense dice. Rebels get the best use out of bombs thanks to Sabine Wren (crew; Ghost) and K-Wings with the Advanced SLAM modification. Sabine deals one damage to a nearby ship when a friendly bomb detonates, even if the bomb was dropped by another friendly ship. This often doubles the damage of a bomb and is especially deadly against evasive ships with low health. Furthermore, K-Wings with Advanced SLAM have unparalleled flexibility in where they drop their "action" bombs (see below).

There are two types of bombs: ones dropped upon revealing your dial ("reveal bombs") and ones dropped as an action ("action bombs"). You'll probably want at least one of each. Reveal bombs are better if you move after your opponent, and action bombs are better if you move before your opponent. You want to drop these bombs directly on enemy ships or when you otherwise know they'll hit. The most popular reveal bombs are Seismic Charges, Ion Bombs, and Thermal Detonators. The most popular action bombs are Cluster Mines, Conner Net, and Proximity Mines. Note a ship can only drop one bomb per turn, no matter what type, and using the SLAM action doesn't let you to drop a reveal bomb since no dial was revealed.

• Miranda Doni (pilot; K-Wing) [1]. Miranda is used when you want a closer with bombs. Her Twin Laser Turret gives her consistent offense after her bombs are expended, and her pilot ability keeps her healthy. Choose the bombs according to your preference.
• Captain Nym (pilot; Scurrg H-6 Bomber) [1][2]. Captain Nym's ability combined with Bomblet Generator gives you unparalleled zone control. The first build is a kiting build. This Nym gives opponents the unenviable choice between chasing and eating a bunch of bomblets or slowly being whittled away by the Twin Laser Turret. The second build is a close-range brawler. Advanced Sensors gives you more options to drop bomblets and to arc-dodge or bump to avoid shots. The main downside of Captain Nym is he wants another ship to carry Sabine Wren crew.
• Warden Squadron Pilot (pilot; K-Wing) [1]. The generic K-Wing pilot lets you run multiple bombers at the cost of a weak attack. You can have up to three if you use cheaper bombs. If you already have Sabine (crew) in your list, they can take Intelligence Agent to make bombing runs easier.
• Ahsoka Tano (pilot; Sabine's TIE Fighter) [1]. Most lists can't attack Ahsoka until she's your only ship left thanks to the Captured TIE modification. A common strategy against bombing lists is to kill the ship with Sabine first, and the Captured TIE ability makes that strategy impossible for lists who don't have a pilot skill 9+ ship. It also lets her freely run into the enemy formation and generally be a nuisance. Her weakness is requiring a ship to die in close range before she can drop a second bomb.

6. Arc-Dodgers

Rebels don't have great cheap arc-dodgers, but they've got several options in the 40- to 60-point range. They tend to be weak to turrets since they don't have enough dice to avoid damage and can't regenerate. On the other hand, they tend to punch harder than most of the cheaper arc-dodgers.

• Dash Rendar (pilot; YT-2400) [1][2]. Dash Rendar's ability makes him incredibly hard to pin down by ships with lower pilot skill. Combined with Push the Limit and Engine Upgrade, he's one of the best arc-dodgers in the game. Dash has a weakness against ships with higher pilot skill, and he only has a pilot skill of 7. Because of his cost and inability to use Gunner, he often uses the Heavy Laser Cannon. Ships with higher pilot skill can exploit the "donut hole" by closing in after Dash commits to his position. The first build has the best arc-dodging capabilities, and basically has his whole dial available every turn. The second build trades maneuverability for more tokens, but keeps Engine Upgrade.
• BB-8 (astromech; Blue Core Set) [1][2][3]. The ability to barrel roll before your movement is decent for arc-dodging, but being able to use it for extra bonuses pushes it over the hump power-wise. The first uses it to power Intensity, which lets Poe boost or target lock with his normal action while keeping his focus. The second and third builds can use BB-8 to trigger Push the Limit. Combined with boost, it gives these ships a great deal of flexibility.
• Captain Nym (pilot; Scurrg H-6 Bomber) [1][2]. Captain Nym can't barrel roll and boost in the same round, but his high pilot skill and zone control with bomblets makes him hard to pin down. Both of these builds mentioned earlier works great as arc-dodgers.
• Hera Syndulla (pilot; Ghost) [1]. "Heragator" wants to stay at range 3 of one enemy ship at a time and chip away at them with Accuracy Corrector Twin Laser Turret shots while staying safe with C-3PO and evade actions. She can turn a 5-K into any hard turn, and a 2-straight into any straight or bank maneuver. Combined with Ahsoka Tano (see below), she can boost after all ships have moved.
• Jake Farrell (pilot; Rebel Aces) [1]. Jake is the only Rebel arc-dodger in the low 30-point range. Unfortunately, his 2 attack dice means he contributes very little offense outside of the one Proton Rockets attack. Other builds substitute Intensity or Juke for Veteran Instincts, but these significantly limit his ability to set up the Proton Rockets attack against ships with pilot skill 8 or 9.
• Ahsoka Tano (pilot; Sabine's TIE Fighter) [1][2]. Ahsoka isn't an arc-dodger herself, but she lets arc-dodgers reposition after everyone's moved. She can also give actions to a ship which bumped. You can run her light or with bombs.

7. Heavy-hitting ships

All faction have heavy-hitting ships, but Rebels have the most access to ships that can throw out 4 or 5 attack dice with consistent dice modification.

• VCX-100 (ship; Ghost) [1][2][3]. The first build is a relatively cheap support ship with a scary offense and the ability to K-Turn to its heart's content. While expensive, the second and third builds get an extra turret shot at the end of combat and are effectively two ships in one. The second build also gets an extra attack die from Finn, although it's only effective when rerolled with target lock.
• Dash Rendar (pilot; YT-2400) [1][2][3]. Dash is one of the heaviest-hitting ships with a 360-degree turret. Besides the arc-dodging builds with Push the Limit and Engine Upgrade, you can run a cheaper Dash with Lone Wolf just for his firepower.
• Rey (YT-1300 pilot; Heroes of the Resistance) [1]. Finn synergizes nicely with Rey's ability to give her a consistent 4-dice attack against targets in arc. Expertise helps with Rey's action economy since she craves focus tokens for both offense and defense. The new Millennium Falcon title with Kanan lets Rey turn around without stress so she can keep targets in arc and still get use out of Expertise and focus.
• Norra Wexley (pilot; ARC-170) [1][2]. Norra's ability adds an extra hit when you have target lock and focus. The first build is the standard tanky build, while the second has some fun repositioning options.
• Miranda Doni (pilot; K-Wing) [1]. Miranda's back, and this time she uses her ability to make a 5-dice Homing Missile attack with focus and target lock on the first round of combat. If you have extra points, you can add Extra Munitions, bombs, and Sabine Wren, or instead give her C-3PO for more durability.
• Corran Horn (pilot; E-Wing) [1][2]. Corran doesn't have a 4- or 5-dice attack in the traditional sense, but his double tap ability lets him do incredible burst damage. You usually don't want to use it at Range 3 against an opponent that still has defensive tokens. Instead, you want to use it when you wouldn't have a shot next round anyway, ideally against a target at Range 1 who doesn't have tokens. He's extremely strong in a 1v1 endgame. However, Corran has some weaknesses. He has trouble turning around, he's reliant on green dice, and he's especially vulnerable to effects that deal damage cards through shields.
• Jan Ors (pilot; HWK-290) [1][2]. Jan Ors doesn't hit hard by herself, but she pairs well with a hard-hitting ship to give them a 5th or 6th attack die. She dies quickly when built cheap, but Chewbacca and a stack of focus tokens significantly improve her durability.

8. Cheap damage-dealers

Rebels have several options for ships with 3 attack and enough health to survive a turn of being shot at an affordable cost.

• Gold Squadron Pilot (pilot; Y-Wing) [1]. The Twin Laser Turret is the most efficient turret in the game, and putting it on a Y-Wing makes for a cheap and efficient damage dealer.
• Blue Squadron Pilot (pilot; B-Wing and Rebel Aces) [1][2]. The Blue Squadron Pilot is cheap and efficient by itself. Adding Fire-Control System is a strong option that greatly improves its offense assuming it can keep shooting the same target.
• Blue Squadron Pathfinder (pilot; U-Wing) [1][2]. The U-Wing costs 1 point more than the B-Wing and trades a more awkward flight pattern for 1 more agility die. Like the B-Wing, it can be run with or without Fire-Control System. You should strongly consider adding Hera Syndulla (crew) to this ship so it can stay in place forever.

Rebel weaknesses

There are two things Rebels don't do well. First, its closers tend to be more expensive, starting at 37 points with strong reasons to go even higher. The other two factions have closers under 35 points. These extra points make a big difference when building lists.

Second, Rebels don't have a full-featured small-base arc-dodging ace. The A-Wing almost fits this profile, but its 2-dice attack means it can't reliably provide enough offense to justify spending ~30 points on it. Some small-base Rebel arc-dodging ships exist, but they tend to be too fragile for their cost. Imperials have many options, and Scum have the Protectorate Starfighter. That means most small-base Rebel ships want to fly at the enemy ships, and have limited options if they are outgunned.