After a brief delay, the Space Bone-Arm crew is back with another article highlighting the May 2023 points change! Turns out that playing in a bunch of X-wing Store Championships prevents me from writing about X-wing. Shocker 🙃
First off, a brief recap for these segments; I polled the Space Bone-Arm crew and forced them to judge a selection of pilots in a segment titled “Hot (
) or Not (
)”, where we judge X-wing pilot (not people!) strength post May points changes. Members of the Bone-Arm crew were presented with a single pilot and their respective changes, asked to declare “Hot” or “Not”, and then given an opportunity to provide a short explanation for their vote. I then source a longer format “overall” opinion from a squadmate that has experience flying the selected faction. We’ve previously covered two of the original factions, the Galactic Empire and Rebel Alliance. Now we’re back with the third original faction, Scum and Villainy.
Once again, the article length got completely out of hand due to all the points changes in Scum. So if you’re interested in a just a few of our opinions, scroll down and find the pilots you care the most about! I hope it’s a relatively fun and simple read!
Let’s get into it!
Leema Kai: BTL-A4 Y-wing
Old: 4 points and 14 loadout.
New: 3 points and 8 loadout.
Slots: Tech, Turret, Torpedo, Missile, Astromech, Payload (Lost a Talent slot)
Steve: Hot! i5 Plasma Torpedoes feel good. As a bonus, they’ll be double modded if you can pull that ability off.
Ted: Hot! THREE POINT Y-WINGS ARE BACK BABY!
Jon: Hot! That i5 is nice for a pilot that can still carry Plasma Torpedoes!
Ernie: Hot! High initiative and free locks makes for an interesting combination. I’d probably look at Ion Cannon Turret with this one.
Kevin: Hot! A cheap i5 pilot that can take Torpedoes feels good. Even if they’re single modded, you should be able to get them both off before you die (and give up a measly three points).
Final Verdict: Hot ! One of the newest Scum three point pilots looks pretty hot to us! High initiative, beefy, and ordinance slots feels like a solid combination. His ability isn’t something to play around, but could potentially go off every now and then.
Kavil: BTL-A4 Y-wing
Old: 5 points and 18 loadout.
New: 4 points and 7 loadout.
Slots: Talent, Turret, Torpedo, Missile, Astromech, Payload, Illicit, Modification
Steve: Not! Lost all his tools and is a four point Y-wing…
Ted: Not! You tease me with Leema and then remind me what they did to my boy. Mad Lad can’t take his 6 die procket? He was just a boy….poor little fella.
Jon: Not! Can’t fit a Proton Rocket anymore and is more expensive than the other i5 Y-wing.
Ernie: Not! The reduction in points is nice, but the loadout drop really limits options here.
Kevin: Not! No more prockets and he doesn’t feel great at four compared to the competition that well see below. They massacred our boy!
Verdict: Not ! Kavil wasn’t see a whole lot of play before these changes and I doubt that this will result in more table time. His entire thing was taking a semi-meme procket and going for a six dice dream. Now he can just…take a turret and point it forward? Cool…no thank you.
Arliz Hadrassian: BTL-A4 Y-wing
Old: 4 points and 13 loadout.
New: 3 points and 10 loadout.
Slots: Tech, Turret, Torpedo, Missile, Astromech, Payload (Lost a Talent slot)
Steve: Not! Maybe he* is filler? No one is excited to take this guy* in a list.
Ted: Hot! Crimdawg Bladerunner won’t be my first three point Y-wing pick, but if I’m taking two…
Jon: Hot! The one to sacrifice, put a Plasma Torpedo on and make people retreat shooting at them.
Ernie: Not! I think Y-wings die too fast in the first place and this guy* wants to die faster? Not a fan, although the three point cost is nice. I’m just not sure the reward is worth the risk.
Kevin: Not! I’m on the fence, but going not. Mostly because she’ll fall behind Leema if you’re taking a Y-wing.
*Ernie and Steve are now in a timeout for misgendering Arliz.
Verdict: Not ! While many of us are excited for three point Y-wings, it’s hard to really justify putting more than one in a list. Leema feels like the go-to for now, so poor Arliz falls behind the curve.
Lando Calrissian: Customized YT-1300 Light Freighter
Old: 6 points and 17 loadout.
New: 5 points and 10 loadout.
Slots: Talent, Missile, Crew, Gunner, Illicit, Illicit, Modification, Title
Steve: Not! Cheaper cost of entry, but losing loadout hurts. Basically a five point gift to your opponents score.
Ted: Not! I guess if they keeping moving the cost down, I will eventually think this ship is worth the cost? I keep comparing it to what else exists and Resistance has 4 hull, 5 shield ships that cost three points (with the same red/green)…so….
Jon: Not! The platform still sucks compared to other ships. It pretends to be a bruiser but only a few shots are dangerous.
Ernie: Hot! Value on a beefy large base ship at five points is appealing, but I’ve never really liked the two attacked on the Scum Falcon. Maybe Missiles can change that?
Kevin: Not! I just think this ship chassis is bad…sorry. At least the model is cool?
Verdict: Not ! The Customized YT-1300 just feels like poor design unless it has a ton of loadout. Even then, it requires a lot of work to get its awful base attack/defense boosted up. I doubt anyone flies this beautiful thing.
Fenn Rau: Fang Fighter
Old: 7 points and 18 loadout.
New: 6 points and 12 loadout.
Slots: Talent, Talent, Torpedo, Modification, Modification (Gained a Modification slot)
Steve: Hot! Fenn Rau will ruin your day. He lost Loadout, but all the Mandalorian upgrades got cheaper and work well on him.
Ted: Hot! UNLEASH THE FANGS!!!!!! Mandalorian upgrades costing less with a squad point drop mean Fenn can fang.
Jon: Not! This makes him playable, but he’s still incredibly hard to fly because he can just go pop.
Ernie: Hot! After flying Bodica with Rebels, the high pilot skill here is appealing. I’d probably put Mandalorian Optics, Beskar Plating, Fearless, and Predator on him.
Kevin: Hot! Fenn is back! I think he more easily recoups his points now and double Modification slots* is great with those Mandalorian upgrades going down.
*I just want to briefly brag that I predicted that giving Fenn a second Modification slot would help bring him back to relevance.
Verdict: Hot ! Most of the Space Bone-Arm crew are excited (and scared) about the potential return of Scum Fenn Rau. I suspect that he’ll be a strong Scum staple going forward.
Joy Rekkoff: Fang Fighter
Old: 5 points and 11 loadout.
New: 4 points and 7 loadout.
Slots: Talent, Missile, Torpedo, Modification, Modification (Gained a Modification slot)
Steve: Hot! Good value for four points.
Ted: Not! Initiative four and less Fangs are too good to cost three but, I think, struggle to be better than other four cost ships. I’m sure some people can make it work, but I’m not one of them.
Jon: Hot! Good ship for four points if you can fly Fangs. The ability is still powerful since you can take Ion Torpedoes and Beskar Reinforced Plating. Still, a high skill requirement.
Ernie: Not! Not enough options with loadout. I like Beskar to negate crits, but that only leaves you with Ion Torpedoes, which isn’t bad, but I’d want either a different Torpedo or an additional Mod/Talent to feel great.
Kevin: Hot! She’s borderline hot to me, mainly due to her initiative. The ability is good and I wouldn’t be shocked to see Fang aficionados make her work well.
Verdict: Hot ! Joy barely squeezes into hot territory. She feels like good value at four points, but probably has a fairly low floor and may get overshadowed by the four point Rogues we will review later.
Kad Solus: Fang Fighter
Old: 5 points and 12 loadout.
New: 4 points and 8 loadout.
Slots: Talent, Missile, Modification, Modification (Gained a Modification slot)
Steve: Hot! Also good value for four points, but you should probably take Joy first instead.
Ted: Not! Another initiative four Fang. How often are people doing red maneuvers with Fangs anyways?
Jon: Not! Not quite as hot as Joy. I don’t like having to do one of three red maneuvers to get the double focus. The ability feels like a panic button.
Ernie: Hot! This would be fun with Beskar and Optics. You can lock with Optics before you move, perform the red maneuver, and end up with double focus for defense and a double modded attack.
Kevin: Hot! That art is sick!
Verdict: Not ! I’m overruling my own vote since I’m not certain card art should really be the tiebreaker for Hot or Not. Kad feels like a step below Joy and you’re probably not taking two i4 Fangs in a list (unless you love Fangs).
Old Teroch: Fang Fighter
Old: 6 points and 16 loadout.
New: 5 points and 10 loadout.
Slots: Talent, Talent, Torpedo, Modification, Modification (Gained Modification slot)
Steve: Hot! Old T will ruin your day and your token stack combo.
Ted: Hot! GIDDYUP GIDDYUP YEEEHAAAAAWWWWW!!!!! Mr. Old Low T comin’ in hot ready for blastin’.
Jon: Not! Five points is a lot to lose when you get a few arcs on you at range 2 despite your abilities.
Ernie: Hot! I like this with Beskar, Mandalorian Optics, Fearless, and Clan Training. He can strip the greens and do a lot of damage.
Kevin: Hot! Hot for similar reasons as Fenn. High initiative and can recoup those points much more easily now.
Verdict: Hot ! Rise of the Fang Fighters! Old T might be a step below Fenn Rau, but he feels like he’s worth an extra point over the i4 Fangs. I don’t think he’ll be a faction staple, but we’ll be seeing him around.
Boba Fett: Firespray-class Patrol Craft
Old: 9 points and 22 loadout.
New: 9 points and 18 loadout.
Slots: Talent, Cannon, Missile, Crew, Payload, Illicit, Modification, Modification, Title
Steve: Not! Too expensive as everything around him got cheaper.
Ted: Not! This ship is so strong and his ability is very 1.0. Boba is so hard to keep balanced in the game. At least he is so costly that he’ll be rarely seen?
Jon: Not! I love Boba and I flew him in one of my best tournaments. However, for almost half of your points, you are making him a clear priority target.
Ernie: Hot! He was hot before and losing loadout just makes him less hot. I’m sure we’ll see plenty of Boba.
Kevin: Hot! It’s Boba, he’s hot. I’m sure he’ll see zero play at the start, but someone will eventually work him back into a winning list.
Verdict: Not ! Barely “Not!” by the Space Bone-Arm crew votes (feels like Ted is on the fence). Steve makes a salient point about everything around him getting cheaper while he lost loadout, which feels like the meta might move beyond him. Still….this can’t be the last we see of Boba Fett!
Maul: Gauntlet Fighter
Old: 9 points and 20 loadout.
New: 8 points and 15 loadout.
Slots: Force, Talent, Crew, Gunner, Payload, Illicit, Modification, Modification, Configuration, Title (Lost a Missile slot)
Steve: Not! Too expensive and not enough loadout.
Ted: Not! Maaaayyyybeeee if they had kept his higher loadout, I’d say Maul is hot. But eight points is a huge investment considering that the ship counts in lists are trending upwards. Maybe throw Mando on him for the white reinforce?
Jon: Hot! Now cheaper than Boba with almost as much punch and three force. Probably worth trying out.
Ernie: Hot! This has a lot of appeal being eight points with all the force. I am not sure I’d enjoying flying a Gauntlet, but I’d be interested in experimenting with his.
Kevin: Hot! I’m a sucker for these big, force heavy ships. Less loadout hurts, but eight points is far more playable.
Verdict: Hot ! I’m shocked the crew voted Maul hot, but Boba not. Even though I voted “Hot”, I’ll fully admit that this might be one of our picks that ages poorly…whooops. That said, he’s a big base ship with big purple (force) and big orange (initiative), which always feels semi-relevant. As a fan of the Rebels show, I’d love to finally see this iteration of Maul get on the table more often.
Dace Bonearm: HWK-290 Light Freighter
Old: 5 points and 14 loadout.
New: 4 points and 12 loadout.
Slots: Talent, Crew, Payload, Illicit, Illicit, Modification, Title
Steve: Hot! Moldy Crow title for four is good value.
Ted: Hot! Nuff said. This bad motherf*$#er –I’M TALKIN’ BOUT DAAAAACE–I can dig it.
Jon: Hot! DACE THE ACE. The OG Moldy Crow. Well…he stole it.
Ernie: Hot! I actually kind of like this, how else would you be certain to ion a big ship.
Kevin: Hot! How can Dace not be hot! A Moldy Crow HWK-290 for four points is great.
Verdict: Hot ! We didn’t even need to vote for this one. We love our namesake Dace Bonearm. At four points, he finally feels relevant with the Moldy Crow title. His ability might be blank most games, but his LV looks priced for him to adopt several different roles depending on the squad composition. We’re excited to see Dace “The Ace” Bonearm back on the table!
Gamut Key: HWK-290 Light Freighter
Old: 3 points and 8 loadout.
New: 4 points and 8 loadout.
Slots: Talent, Crew, Payload, Illicit, Modification, Modification
Steve: Not! Too much to invest in a strict support ship. Put Gamut Crew on someone who can still actually fight.
Ted: Not! RIP Gamut, Dace took your sexy sexy spot.
Jon: Not! Dace is better.
Ernie: Not! I wasn’t interested at three points for this ship*. I do really like the ability, but not being able to put Moldy Crow on this ship feels like it’s not worth it.
Kevin: Not! Sorry Gamut, but you’re probably not a “go to” support piece anymore.
Verdict: Not ! Gamut felt like a small bright spot in a sad faction prior to the May points changes. He would probably be too good at his old squad/LV cost with all the other changes they made, but four squad points feels a bit rough. RIP Gamut.
*I personally think Ernie is insane for not liking Gamut when he was at three points. One of the few bright spots in Scum pre-points changes.
Kanan Jarrus: HWK-290 Light Freighter
Old: 4 points and 10 loadout.
New: 4 points and 6 loadout.
Slots: Force, Crew, Payload, Illicit, Modification, Modification
Steve: Not! Yay, Maul is gone.
Ted: Not! Y give Scum a bad rep Kanan? Go home, you’re drunk.
Jon: Hot! Still worth it if you lost your Dace card.
Ernie: Not! Would prefer is he was three points or could have Moldy Crow at four. I like the ability, but the two dice primary just doesn’t pack enough punch for me.
Kevin: Not! I wouldn’t even vote him hot if he hadn’t been changed. Rude and unfun ship. Have fun with Iden in the timeout corner.
Verdict: Not ! Out with the old, in with the new! Kanan deserved to be put in timeout, but I hope that it doesn’t cause the Scum faction to fall apart. I’m also assuming Ernie forgot (or didn’t experience) how oppressive Kanan felt at 4/10 when paired with Boba and Rook.
Torkil Mux: HWK-290 Light Freighter
Old: 4 points and 10 loadout.
New: 5 points and 8 loadout.
Slots: Crew, Payload, Illicit, Modification, Modification
Steve: Not! Feels bad pilot ability, not sad to see it priced out completely.
Ted: Hot! Giving a bad name to Scum HWKs. Hot cause he costs too much for play. Go play with Kanan, you’re both drunk.
Jon: Not! Five points and no Moldy Crow just feels bad.
Ernie: Not! How many of these ships aren’t allowed a Title card? Next.
Kevin: Not! Get rekt Torkil.
Verdict: Not ! This guy has such a mean ability that I can’t be too sad to see it priced out of play. He wasn’t flown beforehand, so I just wonder what the playtesters did that this was deemed necessary….
Dengar: JumpMaster 5000
Old: 7 points and 22 loadout.
New: 6 points and 11 loadout.
Slots: Talent, Cannon, Torpedo, Crew, Gunner, Illicit, Modification, Title
Steve: Not! Not enough LV to be scary.
Ted: Hot! I actually have no idea. I never imagined he would go down in points, but losing LV was the only way to make that happen. Extra shots are great, but they’re less great without modifiers. I think this is a healthier sport for him, but I’m more lukewarm than steamin’ on Dengar.
Jon: Hot! Why not, he’s Dengar. He’s i6 for six points and lives longer than Fenn.
Ernie: Hot! I like him being less points, but I don’t think I’ll ever get over the dial for this ship. It doesn’t give you enough options and gets too predictable.
Kevin: Hot! I have no idea how you load him out anymore, but being six points feels pretty hot to me.
Verdict: Hot ! Well while most of us think a beefy i6 with a potential double tap for six points is hot…I still am not 100% certain how he actually gets loaded out and fits into lists. I’ll be interested to see what people do with cheap Dengar to make him work!
Quinn Jast: M3-A Interceptor
Old: 3 points and 7 loadout.
New: 3 points and 12 loadout.
Slots: Talent, Cannon, Modification (Gained a Cannon slot)
Steve: Not! (Steve refused to provide extensive commentary on M3-As)
Ted: Hot! Hot cause chortles. BURNOUT THRUSTERS AWAY!!!!
Jon: Hot! Good loadout, the ability will rarely get used, but it’s worth trying as a three point Proton Torpedo carrier.
Ernie: Not! There is nothing exciting about this.
Kevin: Hot! Can take HLC and Ion Cannon now while being an annoying little monkey. Feels a little hot. Or just take Burnout Thrusters and SLAM around the map all game!
Verdict: Hot ! Steve’s probably going to be upset that he’s associated with a blog post that voted any M3-A Hot. At three points with enough LV for toys, Quinn may be a worthy filler pick.
Serissu: M3-A Interceptor
Old: 4 points and 12 loadout.
New: 4 points and 12 loadout.
Slots: Talent, Talent, Cannon, Modification, Modification (Gained a Cannon slot)
Steve: Not! Bad chassis, overrated ability.
Ted: Hot! I’m not the biggest fan of this ship, but Sexiru = Sexy forever.
Jon: Hot! If you’re looking for a place to put four points, Serissu has the potential to help your entire list live longer.
Ernie: Hot! Who flies these?
Kevin: Hot! Can go double Cannon now and the ability is good.
Verdict: Hot ! Oh lord, Steve is going to be upset again. For four points, Serissu is now competing with several Rogue’s and Fang Fighters. She wasn’t flown a lot before, but I can see her finding a way to into Scum lists that become more small base heavy. Defensive rerolls are typically pretty good if you can range control well.
Genesis Red: M3-A Interceptor
Old: 4 points and 14 loadout.
New: 4 points and 14 loadout.
Slots: Talent, Illicit, Modification (Gained an Illicit slot)
Steve: Not! Kev, you are making a lot of work for yourself including all these irrelevant Sycks.
Ted: Hot! False Transponder Codes with Plasma Torpedoes seems rude dude…
Jon: Hot! With lots of cheap low initiative ships, the ability is likely to be beneficial more often.
Ernie: Hot! Okay, I’d maybe try this one if only to dunk on some chump that moved before him.
Kevin: Not! If I’m taking a four point M3-A, it’s probably only going to be Serissu.
Verdict: Hot ! I’m a bit surprised that Genesis Red snuck through as a Hot pick by the crew! He looks like a decent pick against factions that fly a lot of i4 ships and below (looking at you 5 T-70 lists…), but might struggle a bit in this i5 heavy world.
Captain Seevor: Modified TIE/ln Fighter
Old: 4 points and 10 loadout.
New: 3 points and 7 loadout.
Slots: Talent, Missile, Modification (Lost a Cannon slot)
Steve: Not! With no Cannon slot, I’m not sure he’s worth Swarming Tactics-ing up for just his ability.
Ted: Hot! Are the Scum TIE’s now something to look at? Seevor’s subtext seems fitting if nothing else.
Jon: Not! TIE/ln’s in Scum feel like filler. Hard to get them to be worth three when you can bring a M3-A or Y-wing that pack more punch.
Ernie: Hot! I like this as a pesky objective ship that doesn’t care about asteroids. Handing out jams is nice too.
Kevin: Not! More playable at three points, but losing the Cannon slot hurts.
Verdict: Not ! Despite a couple of Hot votes, no one seems super excited about a slightly cheaper Seevor. He might sneak into some lists as an annoying objective ship, but he’s not going to be doing much at i3 if the enemy decides to ignore him.
Cad Bane: Rogue-Class Starfighter
Old: 5 points and 18 loadout.
New: 4 points and 13 loadout.
Slots: Talent, Cannon, Cannon, Missile, Illicit, Illicit, Modification, Title
Steve: Hot! Cad is super good and his ability is brutal.
Ted: Hot! Four point Rogues are HOT. Scum has an X-wing adjacent ship priced to sell! Dead to Rights can be really rude and Chad’s ability is pretty slick.
Jon: Hot! Feels good at four. Title and loadout seem to be in a good place. His ability is really punishing.
Ernie: Hot! All of these are hot if they’re four points. I always liked Cad’s ability and I think the loadout reduction doesn’t hurt him much.
Kevin: Hot! This should hopefully push Cad back on the table after Durge stole his spot.
Verdict: Hot ! A cheaper Cad is super appealing in a faction that could use good news. His ability is great, his initiative isn’t irrelevant, his chassis ability is brutal, and he gets a decent amount of loadout with a Title that allows him to take crew and bombs. All around hot.
Viktor Hel: Rogue-Class Starfighter
Old: 5 points and 19 loadout.
New: 4 points and 11 loadout.
Slots: Talent, Cannon, Cannon, Missile, Illicit, Modification
Steve: Not! Probably ok, but you’re taking Cad or Durge first every time.
Ted: Not! I think all four cost Rogues are hot, but then you have to choose which to bring. Sadly, for 1-800-Viktorb (the b is for bargain), I don’t think he makes it into the top two.
Jon: Not! Cad and Durge are still better and cost the same. Can’t take the title so you can’t force the ability with a cloak.
Ernie: Hot! Also four points and I don’t see why someone would shoot him through an obstacle or at range 3.
Kevin: Hot! I’m not 100% certain about this, but his ability can be rude and four point Rogues just feel right.
Verdict: Not ! Although we’re all on board with the four point Rogues, it’s hard to justify taking any of the remaining pilots over Rogue and Durge. Because of this, I doubt we’ll be seeing much of Viktor unless some bold soul starts to take 3+ Rogues.
Nom Lumb: Rogue-Class Starfighter
Old: 5 points and 19 loadout.
New: 4 points and 11 loadout.
Slots: Talent, Cannon, Cannon, Missile, Illicit, Modification, Modification
Steve: Not! Same as Viktor. Kinda fun, but Cad and Durge are superior.
Ted: Hot! Priced to sell with an interesting ability. Being i1 hurts during Activation Phase, but shooting at a higher initiative is great. I’d still take Durge/Chad first, but I think there is something nifty with Nom Nom.
Jon: Not! Cad and Durge still win and Viktor even probably over Nom. The ability seems cool, but you still move first and catching something high initiative in arc is just going to be someone feeding it to you. It just saves his ass from getting initiative killed while the Rogues are going to be saved just by being higher initiative.
Ernie: Hot! I love this ability. I can see myself putting a list of a few of the Rogue-Class ships together.
Kevin: Hot! F*$k it, hot. That ability is weird and I kind of love it.
Verdict: Hot ! What a weird little ship that finally might be priced to see the table. If I was running three Rogues, I’d be highly tempted to take Nom alongside Durge and Cad. While getting arc might harder for an i1, you’re also forcing your opponent to play around the ability. Seems fun!
The Mandalorian: ST-70 Assault Ship
Old: 7 points and 20 loadout.
New: 6 points and 10 loadout.
Slots: Talent, Cannon, Cannon, Missile, Illicit, Modification, Modification (Lost Talent, Crew, and Cannon slots)
Steve: Not! Not enough LV anymore.
Ted: Not! Why is Hot even an option? Din wasn’t played much beforehand, so they halved his LV and lowered his cost by one while removing a Crew slot. What atrocity is he paying for?
Jon: Not! I can’t figure out any way to make it flyable. Everything just seems rough on this platform and The Child makes you die faster.
Ernie: Hot! Still has a decent amount of loadout. I like the free Illicit card with the Title. Not sure how you build him out though.
Kevin: Not! I understand chopping his LV after a price decrease, but did he need to lose the extra crew slot? Feels like AMG did him dirty.
Verdict: Not ! I can’t really figure out what AMG was thinking here. I understand making a pilot cheaper to get them on the table more…but it feels like maybe they overcooked things here. Maybe you take The Child, Electronic Baffle (cause oof…that dial…), and Clan Training? Still doesn’t feel great, even with a free Illicit.
Q9-0: ST-70 Assault Ship
Old: 6 points and 16 loadout.
New: 6 points and 16 loadout.
Slots: Talent, Cannon, Cannon, Missile, Illicit, Modification, Modification (Lost a Crew slot)
Steve: Not! Everything else got cheaper and upgrades got more expensive.
Ted: Not! He had some fun in the sun for a bit, but with other ships changing, I’m not convinced he’s still worth six points. I’m also not a fan of zero blue maneuvers that are not straight…rough stuff.
Jon: Not! Can’t take The Child/Mando together anymore. Just doesn’t feel good.
Ernie: Hot! I like the additional loadout (compared to Din) while not sacrificing the Title or Initiative.
Kevin: Not! Again, why did AMG cut his second crew slot? He was barely relevant before…
Verdict: Not ! RIP Q9. You had some brief moments of relevance with the cheaper cost compared to The Mandalorian while retaining the double Crew slot feature. The loss of a Crew slot, while seeing no other compensatory changes, feels pretty bad. I doubt he sees any significant play.
Bossk: YV-666 Light Freighter
Old: 7 points and 22 loadout.
New: 6 points and 16 loadout.
Slots: Talent, Cannon, Missile, Crew, Crew, Gunner, Illicit, Modification, Title
Steve: Hot! Probably still good.
Ted: Not! I’m glad he’s only six, but honestly what kills Devil Boosk more than anything is “Zed Ninety Five” Boosk being two points. Reaching for that five ship count becomes really tough if you throw in a 6+ cost ship without a two point ship to offset things. Boosk is going to be seen in the Z waaaaay more than this. Sadface
Jon: Hot! Still room for some upgrades.
Ernie: Hot! Less points feels good here. I would have been nervous about putting so much in a large and not nimble ship before, but this feels like less of a risk.
Kevin: Not! Bossk has hurt me bad before. While six probably makes him more playable, I’m not convinced he’ll see play over Aphra. Having a two point Z-95 Boosk also hurts his return to the table.
Verdict: Hot ! Once a staple in Scum lists, Bossk has seen much less play recently. The crew has voted him “Hot”, but several of us remain skeptical. Not necessarily because Bossk is bad at six points, but because he has double competition in the form of Z-95 Bossk and other YV-666 pilots with more loadout for toys. Hopefully six point Bossk sees more play. I hate playing against his crit ability, but I love classic ships/pilots on the table.
Bossk: Z-95-AF4 Headhunter
Old: 3 points and 10 loadout.
New: 2 points and 3 loadout.
Slots: Talent, Talent, Missile, Illicit, Modification
Steve: Hot! Nice two point filler.
Ted: Hot! I guess it’s technically Hot, but I’m kinda sad about it (see above).
Jon: Hot! Easy choice as an objective runner (it’s either him or a drone that blows up in 3 turns). His ability is great with Marksmanship on large bases.
Ernie: Hot! Objective getter.
Kevin: Hot! Now this is hot! Expert Handling and Marksmanship feel stapled to him.
Verdict: Hot ! Scum finally gets a playable two points ship (ignoring the first iteration of 2.5)! Hopefully this helps open up faction listbuilding in a good way and allows for some nice pilot combinations. That said, it is sad that this choice by AMG means that YV-666 Bossk will see less play. Also why did they let him keep the missile slot? Feels a bit insulting.
Honorable Mentions:
A couple of interesting omissions from the survey were:
Doctor Aphra (6/22 -> unchanged): A few of us mentioned Aphra as an Honorable Mention pilot. While she wasn’t changed, the toys she wanted to take previously also stayed the same price. She feels like a perfect anchor piece that can be surrounded by these cheaper Fangs and Rogues.
QUAD JUMPERS: Someone mentioned Quad Jumpers. I have no idea what that is about.
Latts Razzi (6/16 -> 6/22): Similar to Aphra, but she comes with a Talent slot rather than a second Illicit slot. Could be another solid list anchor with Notorious.
Durge (4/10 -> unchanged): Despite being unchanged, Durge is probably still Hot and a go to four pointer within the faction (even if he’s worse than CIS Durge).
Hot or Not: Scum (Long) Summary
Our Scum recap rounded off with 14 “Hot” and 12 “Not” pilots. The Scum and Villainy Faction was pretty much at the very bottom of the meta during the previous points cycle. Their faction identity was…well it was Kanan/Boba/Rook Kast, with very little variation. While a couple of great players found great success with that specific list in a couple of major events, there was a definite lack of diversity in the the Scum meta. I’m not sure it was because Scum was truly outclassed by the other factions or if it was because no one was really attempting to find the next true scummy Scum list. In my non-expert opinion, Scum has always been one of those factions that needs the most time to “cook” up solid lists. Their faction is so deep in terms of weird pilot+crew+illicit interactions that it takes time, testing, and brain power to find great lists. Looking back at our rankings, the crew seems to be pretty torn about Scum. We think there are some really solid pilots at the moment, but the combinations (and notably the filler pilots) do not seem super obvious.
Due to my complete lack of Scum knowledge (outside of getting frustrated when playing against weird jank), I turned to Ted for a faction recap. Ted is pretty much our resident Scum player, although he had previously taken a brief hiatus to play CIS (which is basically Scum 2.0):
Well, it’s come to this, having a chump spout nonsense about Scum and Villainy….
“With a few minor outliers, Scum had previously been relegated to the old plug and play formula of 3 ships, or rather 2 ships and Kanan Jarrus. Kanan was almost exclusively equipped with Maul Crew which allowed him to regen force by taking stress upon damage (and more stress, so on and so forth). This points change appears to have alleviated the oppressiveness of Kanan slightly (LV hit), elevated some parts of the faction, and lowered the overall cost of many ships to allow more variability in list building. This last change is something Scum sorely needed. More people are going to be drawn to trying out different things in Scum, but I’m unsure if these new lists will be able to hang with the field. At least we’re moving away from Kanan+2 ships or bust territory, so I’m excited for people to get creative!
This wouldn’t be considered a recap by me if I didn’t shout from the rooftops how happy I am to see some 3-point Y-Wings come back!!! I’ve always loved the ship for no reason other than simple nostalgia, It feels like they are in a fair-ish spot for most factions now and Kev made great points in the Rebel discussion, so I won’t belabor the point. Scum having an i5 3-point Y-Wing (Leema! Leema! Leema!) is one way to get their ship count average out of the gutter and help them become a more diverse faction.
The Scum YT-1300 has always been a weird ship to balance. Having 1 agility with a 2 dice bowtie arc is… rough, but is counterbalanced by adding dice through Han’s ability and the title. All pilots went down by 1 point to 5 Squad Points, except for Han. While I can see this as an attempt to help get Scum ship counts up, the LV losses appear to prevent support utility and/or meaningful red output. While Lando has a great ability and Han has initiative and a nice ability, I don’t anticipate starting any lists here.
The only change to Firesprays was Boba losing some LV. His First Edition ability will keep him gated behind the high cost and if he can carry a force, he will remain oppressive in this relatively broken ship chassis. Front and rear arcs on a ship with a canonical rotating gun still confounds me.
Sadly for Scum, the Gauntlet Fighter only saw a drop in Squad Points for Maul, which came with a significant LV drop as well. Most factions got their Gauntlets dropped to 6, but this wasn’t the case for Scum (thanks for nothing Rook). We were previously only seeing them flown in the 3-ship Kanan shenanigans, so I doubt they will see much table time going forward. Similarly, Dengar was the only Jumpmaster to go down in points (with a similar LV hit). While this low cost might make him appealing, it will be interesting to see if he fits into 2.5 play with the limited maneuverability.
Scum’s “filler” ships have always been sub-par at best, which explains why we have historically seen low ship counts in the Scum faction (outside M3-A spam). I don’t see justification for a 3 cost Z-95 when I can take Boosky Boi at 2, sit on an objective for 2 turns, and give him a pat on the back. I look at Empire, or stare longingly at FO, to see what it takes for a 3 cost TIE to get on the table. That said, at least Seevor isn’t 4! The M3-A’s are reasonable for 3 points, but I wish that Sexiru had gotten a discount to open up the door to some jank (I understand it is probably better this way…). There will be a smattering of these filler ships due to the 4-5 ship meta, but I don’t see any of them being pivotal to a list.
One last stop in this “middle of the road” thoughts on changes, Big Boi Bossk was lowered to 6 with a hit to his loadout. Not much changes here aside from my frown that you can only take one Bossk (even if I call one of them Boosk). Sadly I think Ye Ol YV-666 Bossk is a hard sell if you are trying to reach a 5 ship list count considering you can’t take the most relevant 2 pointer the faction has (ignore the Autopilot Drone and Nashtah Pup). Looks like Jabba-tuned is going to have to find another party bus to be a degenerate on.
In my opinion, the biggest sadness comes next. All ST-70 Assault Ship pilots now cost 6 points. Turns out AMG doesn’t like too many ships having double Crew, so Q9-0 and Mando both lost their second slot. Mando also lost a Talent and a Cannon slots in addition to half his LV. I’ll touch on it more next, but the Mandalorian upgrades all had a hefty drop in loadout cost, so there may be some justification for Mando losing so much to get his cost down to 6. Unfortunately, that ship that only previously saw mild play and I can’t imagine people are going to be flocking to it more now. I hope someone finds a nifty trick for any of them, but poor Mando, he wasn’t even the primary ST-70 pilot we were seeing…
Now, let’s have some real fun! Speaking of Mandalorian upgrades going down in points…along with that came the price cut of nearly every Fang Fighter Pilot (Sorry Tor, 3 points would have been too spicey)! It looks like AMG got the note that a shield-less ship that thrives at being range 1 due to Concordia Faceoff does NOT like the existence of range 0 shots. While being one-shot in a Fang Fighter is a rite of passage, lowering their squad cost to 4, 5, and 6 points makes the ship cost low enough for Scum players to walk that adrenaline fueled razors edge. The Mando upgrades are cheap enough to fit with the loadout hit they all took as well, making this update by AMG one that I can stand behind. These Fangs will still be tricky to fly, and can still pop, but gating the new upgrades behind the Mandalorian keyword really helps elevate the Fangs without collateral damage elsewhere (aside from Din). Scum players, let’s remind people why we stan Scum Fenn! We don’t need no stinkin’ Rebel Fenn to be the only one played!
Still on the hype train here! Rogue-Class Starfighter pilots all cost 4! While I personally still believe Durge is the go-to (I’m biased from my fake Scum CIS tendencies), I think there will be a spot for the other non-generic Rogues. My guess is that we will primarily see Cad, as he carries the title, or Durge, as lining up that bullseye is crucial (thank you i5!). Regardless of which pilot sees play, a 7-health ship with reposition options, a powerful bullseye ability, and double cannon slots for 4 points is something that I think will help keep Scum maintain the higher ship counts we failed to see previously.
Rounding off my thoughts on Scum post points change, I have to spout my thoughts on the HWK-290 changes. This chassis contains the most polarizing pilot abilities in Scum, especially when combined with the Moldy Crow title to allow focus tokens to be banked. Personally, I loved flying Gamut, but him going up to 4 is a tough pill to swallow. His ability is amazing, so I don’t disagree that 3 was an amazing price, but 4 makes him tough to justify. Similarly, Torkil was bumped from 4 to 5 AND received a loadout hit. I won’t say I’m upset with Torkil going up though, he falls under “that Scum ability that is oppressive” and is not fun to play against. Having already mentioned Kanan’s changes (insert cheers), the biggest standout in Scum IMO (I’m here for fun and hot takes) must be D-D-D-Dace B-B-B-B-Boneaaaarrrrrrmmm!!! Slight bias (just look at the URL), but even still, a 4-cost ship that takes the Moldy Crow title, has great upgrade slots, and 12 loadout to work with? That is a versatile, good value ship. If I am making a Scum, list 9 times out of 10 I will 1) staple Dace into it 2) figure out what else I want to fly and 3) circle back Dace to decide what loadout fits the list. Dace can occupy a number of roles (coordinator, bomber, Lando or Notorious carrier -180 degree arc!) and that versatility stands out to me. I’m expecting to see more Dace the Ace out there and I couldn’t be happier. Oh, he’s got an ability too, I might take 4-LOM on Cad to trigger it. Maybe don’t force it, but then again…Scum mindset!
While the wind is still in my sails post-Dace talk, I’m excited where Scum has landed. I don’t foresee them being necessarily ahead of the other factions but allowing them to fit more ships in their lists will help them be played with more diversity. It will be difficult to overcome the mindset many Scum players may have gotten accustomed to regarding being able to fit all the tools/toys you could want on your ships (à la Party Bus style), but the tradeoff seems fair. I’ve been in CIS la la land for my recent tournaments, but I’m really feeling the itch to fly my main man Dace “the Ace” (possibly alongside a sweet i6 Fang Fighter I’ve been missing)!”-Ted
Well I’m glad that Ted ended this recap with some optimism for the Scum faction! Looking at tournament results, they do not seem to have found their footing at the moment. Even CIS, which is played by only a select few, has found more success. Unfortunately, AMG doesn’t seem to have much to look forward to in terms of Scum releases. This weird faction of misfits doesn’t have an obvious “movie scale event” that they can build a Scenario Pack around, which is a bummer. That said, AMG did tease a Scum Dash SL at Adepticon! So maybe Dash will ride in and save the day!
I hope you enjoyed this version of “Hot or Not” for the Scum and Villany faction! I’ve begun sourcing votes and hot take opinions from the Space Bone-Crew for the First Order changes and will continue with this series throughout the summer until we touch all seven factions.
I’m certain that many of you (including other Space Bone-Arm crew members) disagree with any of our “Hot” or “Not” designations! If so, leave a comment below!
Posted on: July 18th, 2023
Written by: Kevin L.