The question says it all. You don't even need to comment, just vote. If you comment, keep it to why you think the FACTION will win, not the players.

My vote...NR.

Rebels all the way

Funny you say that last bit Bill...as I was originally going to post that poll as well.

Lol, please don't. Let's not put any undo pressure on people 4 months ahead of time :) If you want to do one, save it until about a week before Gencon, that way the players involved can avoid it easily :)

Hahaha, yeah, thanks, Bill! Seriously though, I can't even decide on what squad I would most prefer to play for Regionals, let alone GenCon in 3 months (not 4!). Of course, I don't have Ganner yet, so that's slowing me down a bit. And I REALLY like the build Deri used at the Chicago Regional, but I keep shying away from trying it out, because I don't want to feel like I'm just copying him. :P

Seriously though, player's aside, I picked NR. I think this is their year. They've been close before. In 2008 there were at least 2 that made the top 8. I REALLY wanted to play NR in 2009 but the stupid map situation made that tough. If we'd had a restricted map list last year like we have now, I would have absolutely played the NR squad I'd been working on. Now, with Ganner added to the faction, and the two beefiest Disruptive pieces in the game, I think they're an all around strong faction.

In certain matchups, I think the NR can certainly lose to other builds, so obviously, it comes down to the strength of the players. But, when you have people like fingersandteeth playing NR in Chicago, and my own self-proclaimed interest in NR, plus plenty of others that I know who also like that faction, I think the combo of the faction strength + the players I suspect will play NR, will most likely put it on top. We'll see. It would be cool to see an EU squad win the Championship ('06 was Imperails, '07 was Republic, and '08 and '09 were Rebels).

You obviously haven't seen the commercial with Stevie Wonder beating his buddy to the slug bug hit as a Volkswagen rolls by :) "How do you do that?" was the expression his friend makes! Clearly, Stevie could do it if he wanted to. With the last name "Wonder", I wouldn't challenge him! :)

But otherwise, yes, I agree, because the view of the community is that they can't compete, the top level players won't run the factions, so they have virtually 0 chance to win it. And even if that wasn't true, I wouldn't put it above about 15% for any of them making it through the brutal 7 rounds swiss and being able to go 3-0 in single elim.

I'd guess Rebels. I think that Dodonna's ability to let you shift tactics on the fly is tremendously valuable in a meta where, as Bill says, lots of different things could come at you. That said, it is a slight advantage, and while I think the Rebels are the most likely faction to win, I would put the probability at well under 50 percent (30 percent, maybe? Then like 25% NR, 20% Republic, 15% Sep, 8% Empire, 2% "Other").

To be fair, Sith really should be there, as they are quite borderline, and can do well if played correctly. See jdjersey. I am convinced Sorcery can be playable. Just have to test a LOT more.

Coming from a heavy OR player, I would like to emphasize the word 'imagine' lol.

The only lesser faction squad that has a shot is Vong IMO. In a Lancer driven Meta Nom Bombs are very dangerous if the lancer player didnt pack a Treadwell Droid.

And Jedi Hunter builds are one of the hardest squads to kill in a timed game if played correctly. Even Han cannons have some issues with them.

Sith Sorcery is a nice thought, but no really usable movement breaker to immediately capitalize on activated enemies makes them no more than a nuisance. Shidious doesnt count.

Sith. If you set the right traps.