Just wanted to add something about naboos, from Weeks, he posted this over on gamers, "Naboo Deathshots should be a part of the conversation. They are pretty much unbeatable against certain squads unless you have ways to tech against them." (Post subject:Re: 2012 Regional MetaPosted: Tue May 22, 2012 3:14 pm if anyone wants to make sure he actually said this)
That is a pretty good statement to back up what we are saying from one of the top players out there. Pretty much unbeatable against certain squads is a pretty straightforward statement, oh look you are playing an almost all melee squad, autoloss.

I think you overcharged us
*is Hinkbert not won of the better players? He is in my book.
also? who is Major Generalization?, and when will he be here?

/salute Major Generalization!
/salute General Disarray!

Banning is, quite simply, not the way to go. You get weirdo's in every family, my friends. Although we did manage to get my Uncle Harold banned from the state of New York. (But that's off-topic.)
Anyhoo, banning is far too destructive. Throw some stealth and diplomats out there. Lob in some disruptive. Blow up your sacrificial lamb. It's all good.
The designers have whipped up this meta in to a hot, steamy mess and I'm quite happy with it. Besides, the times they are a changin'. Welcome V-Set 4 and all the tomfoolery contained therein! Let's keep this train rollin'!
I'll be in the dining car with my margarita.

/rant

P.S. When you have to run death shots, anti-death shots or anti-anti-death shots to scrape a 2 point win, you can start worrying.

i realy dont thing that they are unbeatable , especially in the Current meta. IF you look at the Meta before the vsets, only a few things dominated the meta. lancer, black and blue, and Rebels were the biggest ones, and to be honest if you didnt play one of those you were most likely playing a hate squad for one of them. Currently i dont see any hate squads or alot less anyway. The amount of unique squads out there this year means that you cannot predict anything. YOu could see anything from a swarm squads to high HP melee squads to high damage multi shot shooter squads. You cannot predict anything. Yes there are some tough match-ups for the naboo squads, but there are some easy counters that are not meant to be for them. I have an arica superstealth squad that would decimate them that i got 3rd at mystery map a few years ago with. My point is that although the naboo do well in the meta that doesn't make them broken. Several years ago i know that people were complaining about the lancer after GGDAC came out. The lancer (and yobuck for that matter) wiped out all of the swarm squads that people were playing at the time. That was a problem then, it made an entire type of squad disappear, but yet WOTC/DCI did not ban it, instead they came out with other pieces that went well with it. Think how people felt then. Exactly as you do now.

Sure, but how competitive have all melee squads ever been? An all melee squad against any shooter heavy squad is going to seriously suffer.

Maybe i'm completely mistaken (i don't play competitively anymore, just read about it), but with all of these "auto-loss" matchups... shouldn't that shift meta to a place where squads are much more generalized? Rather than focusing on complete synergy to give your pieces the most omg-1-billion-damage bonuses, it'll end up dwindling down to making sure you have all your bases covered (Ce's, force users, melee beat sticks, shooters, distruptive, door control, etc, etc, etc)? Sure, if you go up against the guy that only focuses on one aspect of his squad rather than multiple counter measures, you'll have a tough run, but ultimately, that guy won't have defenses against everything you, or other players can throw at him.

Or is there truly just not enough diversity in a 200pt game to have a strong squad that can stand against various builds? Would it then be auto-lose to everyone?

Well looking at what won gencon last year a bunch of old republic jedi, and what came in second the year before that a lord vader, jareal swap squad I would think all melee squads can be pretty dang competitive. I honestly believe that the diversity in what can be built right now is insane. The Vsets have released so many power pieces that are just so good that it all comes down to who you get paired against at the tournament, you may miss the person running a squad that would be good against yours, but planning to face a bastilla, mace windu, naboo death shot, Weir/commando, or cad bane squad is dang near impossible because they all play so differently and have such different power pieces.
The problem I take is that these are like 9 point pieces that were not even play tested and made it out of design as pieces that can instanly wreck entire squads, and that is bad for the game.

I have acutally seen the stealth in blue get destroyed by naboo pilots. single lancer CAN win but not an auto win by any means look at grahams play report in the semi finals, where he won because gree missed an attack and then died by no means is the single lancer an easy auto win, and that single lancer was being ran by one of the best players to ever use the lancer. not even sure what graham's hk squad so I can't answer that one. I said I could not think of an autoloss, but I guess there is one, a thon, bastilla, hk squad. good luck winning a regional, or major tournament with that.

I don't think that a squad is to good if it does not have an autoloss, I am looking more at the auto wins for the squad, that is what worries me. Sure it does have some weaknesses, but not every squad can have counters to it in them.

Way to go Tennessee play group for stirring up more arguments. lol

Anyways, here's my take on it. Naboos are extremely powerful and are definitely tier 1. I do see them as the most powerful Republic squad to play. Even, yes, over Mace and GOWK squads. Let me break it down, using Weeks's Roll the Bones squad (although Echo created the squad), which is pretty much the benchmark for Naboo pilot squads.

18 activations. More than most squads not using dodonna, ozzel, or san hill.
8 Naboo Pilots, costing 9 a piece. 9 point pieces don't seem so scary right? WRONG
They can run 16, base a piece, and if the piece tries to run away, it will have to face a 15 attack with twin for 40 a pop. 80 damage. Just from running away from a 9 point piece. And that's not all! If you decide to kill the piece, and it is adjacent to you, get ready for twin deathshots for 90 damage! This 9 point piece is enough to sink most pieces by themselves. And if it does die, congratulations, you just won nine gambit. Did i mention they have speed 8, evade, mobile attack, and an R2 to tow them? One pilot has the chance to go 28 squares. In most games, Naboos can get in the opponents backfield by round 2! And if it wasn't enough, you have a Klatoonian captain to clear walls, Yularen for backup shots for 30, 2 It's a Trap pieces, Queen amidala for either combining fire or more shooting, and Panaka isn't a bad shooter himself. That makes for a deadly deadly squad, and a very tough matchup to face.

Now, what weaknesses do they have you ask? Why, my good friends, let me show you.

Disruptive can be a pain in the tail. But, in the current meta, how many disruptive pieces really are used anyway?
NR- Kyle Katarns- They are used once in a blue moon, but neither are truly considered tier 1 or 1.5, and can get steamrolled.
Talon Karrde- I've never seen this guy get play. In any tournament, or game for that matter.
R-2/C3PO GH- It is used somewhat often. And can be a pain, but, 2 fairly well timed pilots can kill it because of bravado. Then, it's all downhill from there.
Han Solo, GH- The most used Disruptive piece for NR. Solo Charge can cause problems for Naboos due to the 10 mouse dump, and his disruptive. This is probably the only squad played competitively that has a chance, and a decent one at that. But, it is just as easy to stay back and pop for 40 from 8 Naboos.

OR- None. (Correct me if I'm wrong)
Republic- None. ("")
Seps- None. ("")
Imps- None. ("")
Sith- None. ("")
Mandos- The new Mandalore has it. The new Mando squads imo will pose Naboos problems, due to cloaked and Mandalore's Disruptive. But, a smart player can still get past it.
Fringe- Nym- No one plays Nym.
HK-47- A good droid, and definitely helps against Naboos. He can kill 2 on his own, and have disruptive so no one gets close. In a good seps squad is where he is at his best, and this type of droid squad gives naboos trouble.
Rebels- They have a ton of disruptive, but Crix Madine is the main used one. And he has the same problem R23pio has.

Next big weakness- Bastila. ABM can completely nerf Naboos. It's probably the best counter to them out right now. But, Naboo Pilots can outrun bastila. They are extremely quick if played correctly. But, if not played correctly, Naboos get destroyed. Although Naboos are at a disadvantage, they still have a good shot.

Other weaknesses: Kaan Bomb, Unleash the Force, Poggle or Nom Bombs, Super Stealth or Cloaked.

So what's the verdict? Naboos are sooooo powerful. Annoyingly powerful. But, I'd rather see more counters made against it rather than hit them with the ban hammer. Do I like naboos personally? Heck no. But, I am a realist and see it both ways.

I was messing around with Pilots today and they aren't as bad as it might seem (it you are playing a shooter heavy team). I watched 2 locals play and the better player had the naboos and still lost against an Imp squad that wasn't top tier.

Storm commandos can beat them if they can take out some of them on the way in. Now if you somehow let them all run right up to you and base you then yes you are in trouble. This squad reminds me alot of a local's death shot senate commando squad. Same 90 damage on a death shot (but not having to be adjacent), lots of similarities. The only difference really is the fact that instead of 20 pts for a double attacker with 50 hp you pay 9 for a single attacker with 30 hp.

The fact that pilots have no movement breakers besides R2 is huge. You know where they can get to. It's partly the same reason mandos struggle in the current meta.

And yes squads that are all melee (or maybe only have 1 shooter) are going to struggle and or lose to a naboo squad. This will lead to squads maybe going back to a little more balanced squads.