hothie said:

But Wave 2 also brings Interceptors, and with the 34-35 points you need to really take advantage of his pilot ability you can (almost) pick up two of them. It's hard to make the case that he's a good buy for tournament-style play.

Herrgeist said:

a definite yes. it is the closest thing you have to targetlock+focus for your TIEs, and there are so many new ways to help keep her around.

i think a common misconception is that you have to use her effect like all the time, simply because it is more efficient. You can choose to pair her off with just a couple of other ships instead of your entire squad, and she will still be useful. Even in the current wave 1, i pretty much keep her around with the entire squad for the first pass, then afterwards she's flying all around the map being useful at specific areas and stuff. even if she only passes her ability to one other TIE only, her ability is still being used, and if that helps to keep her alive for much longer, i don't see why not, after all she has already done her best for the initial pass already, which is where the added firepower really counts in any match.

as for Maarek, his ability is now very useful against any big ship that isnt chewie, and with things like PTL he will be a little bit more dangerous on the field. Of course, you'd rather Vader than him, but at the very least it's something.

I guess for the imperial side, a better question would be would you alpha TIE/in or would you backstabber instead? without any ship upgrades, both ships offer roughly the same thing, except that backstabber has a lower cost and much higher PS in exchange for a rather situational buff to bring it up to par to the TIE/in, and i can see myself opting for either one without any particular preference for either

Duraham said:

Im partial a little since my Backstabber took out Han, but I see what you are saying. Plus I think Backstabber is better than MM. 

Herrgeist said:

I agree, Mauler's reckless obsession to get within range 1 usually leads to an early death for me.  Now the large ships having more firing arcs (YT going 360 even), it's harder for him to get in range 1 and not take a range 1 attack back.  Backstabber can at least kite the big ship at a distance and hopefully survive a little longer.  Also Backstabber seems to solo better.

Regarding Alpha vs Mauler, I think I'll take an Alpha every time (I've had terrible luck with MM and need to switch to something else).  I don't see the high pilot skill being enough of an advantage since it can be mitigated with swarm tactics or squad leader from a high PS wingman.  I could see an argument made regarding taking Mauler + PTL over an Avenger Squadron pilot because the double action can give Mauler a bit more flexibity over the standard interceptor.

Something else that just came to mind- so far we've been basing this discussion on what would you take when building your squad.  I think the results would take a different turn if we looked at it during an actual game and said what ship would you rather have as you last surviving ship: MM or Alpha. I think Mauler might get more votes if he was your last chance to win the game.

Another Hypothetical: two players are down to their last ship each, one has Mauler + veteran instincts, the other has an Alpha (both undamaged).  Who wins the match?  I think most can agree that Mauler has a higher chance of winning this set up given equally skilled opponents.

spacemonkeymafia said:

Mauler has no advantage except that he shoots first, and in "heads up" play that's not necessarily even a good thing.

Interesting assumption.  His advantage goes beyond just shooting first (which I don't know how that is ever a bad thing when you're down to heads up play??), he moves and reacts after the Alpha, which, in head's up is a huge advantage.  Boosting and Barrel Rolling before you get to see your opponent's movement is guesswork and hoping you don't end up screwing yourself over.  Mauler will see where Alpha ends up and will always choose the best action option.  Given 1000 such battles, I think Mauler will win more often than he loses.

spacemonkeymafia said:

spacemonkeymafia said:

Lets say Mauler rolls a hit and focus, two blanks. does he, or does he not use his focus? 

When its alphas turn, he will be able to choose when the best time to use the focus is

spacemonkeymafia said:

Mauler attacks without knowing the outcome of the Alpha's return fire, and (if he has Focus) has to guess whether to spend his token on offense or reserve it for defense. When it's the Alpha's turn to attack, he already knows the outcome of Mauler's attack--so if he has Focus, he can freely spend it. Of course there's no information advantage if the Interceptor uses Evade instead, but over the long term that's actually not a good scenario for Mauler either.

I've had the Interceptor on the table a lot since the Kessel Run, and in one-on-one play the maneuverability and extra attack really do make a huge difference. 

Torresse said:

"Truly, you have a dizzying intelect." This has been quite the discussion, and I've enjoyed all the perspectives and 'what if's.

Me, I'd love to try "Mauler Mithel" with Veteran Instincts. Pilot Skill is pretty important (though not a deciding factor all on its own). If I had a squad full of Academy pilots and threw in a TIE interceptor, you can bet he'd be the target priority for my opponent. And with PS 1, he could get ganged up on in a hurry. But with "Mauler Mithel" at PS 9, he could conceivably barrel roll out of firing arcs, or at the very least inflict some hurt before he becomes one with the Force.

Another reason I vote "Mauler Mithel" is because he is unique. You can field more than one Alpha Squadron Pilot (by the way, I love that they pulled that name from the TIE Fighter video game). Why can't you have your cake and eat it, too? Throw "Mauler Mithel" into Alpha Squadron and I bet he'd be a great help to the team.

I reserve the right to change my opinion, but I won't write down all of my back-and-forth thoughts; you can read those in the posts others have made above.

Herrgeist said:

Yes, a clear choice against Mauler Mithel.

Torresse said:

Focus is more damage than Expose.

ShadowJak said:

Or, at least, exactly as good as a Focus that costs 4 build points and incurs a defense penalty.