Quinlan Vos, Infiltrator, from Alliance and Empire





I have a soft spot for Quinlan Vos Infiltrator - he was the first mini that I ever bought. But at the same time, he's in Minis limbo, better than the seriously outdated Jedi from Clone Strike and Revenge of the Sith, but not a serious contender for competitive play. He's got some strong aspects - Stealth and Lightsaber Sweep are very helpful, and he's got respectable stats and hit points for his cost. But his role is largely filled by Aayla Secura Jedi Knight - another Jedi with Stealth and Sweep, but she also has twin, is cheaper, and has other offensive options. It's certainly not a problem given that he wasn't seeing competitive play and that there's a nice new Quinlan Vos in the same set, it just means that he's firmly in the second tier of pieces, 6/10.

Rodian Raider, from The Dark Times





Triple Attack on a cheap Fringe piece is certainly interesting - while the Rodian Raider is too squishy and immobile to build an entire squad around, it's does have some potential. You're playing a Talon Karrde squad, and your opponent has a swarm of 20 hit point pieces? Bring in one or two of these guys, use Talon's intuition, and hopefully take down a couple of troopers with your reinforcement piece. Despite their in-game usefulness, the Rodian Raiders are still more likely to come up in discussions of how much damage you much theoretical can get out of one piece or one squad. Triple attack makes the Rodian Raider competitively playable in some situations, 7/10.

Naboo Pilot, from Battle of Theed





The Naboo Pilot doesn't look very impressive on paper - it looks like a fragile shooter that has to get up close to be effective. But throw in a Klat Captain for Speed 8 and Evade, Panaka of Theed for Twin and rapport, Mon Mothma for death shots, Amidala for rapport and mobile, and Yularen for Opportunist, and they're 9 point world-beaters.



Since it's so reliant of commander effects, Roll the Bones has problems with beefy disruptive and Bastila. Shooter squads that can outactivate and outmaneuver it also have a decent chance against it, but it's extremely nasty against lots of other builds, especially low activation melee squads, and the above build won the NZ National Championships in 2012. Naboo Troopers are a better option in the current high activation meta, but if the meta goes back to low activations, Naboo Pilots will be back in the mainstream, 10/10.

Devaronian Assassin, from Renegades and Rogues





I feel like a stuck LP, but the Devaronian Assassin is another Fringe shooter who's going to struggle for game time against the Klatooinian Assassin. Having said that, the Sniper and/Jolt combo is interesting; running a squad full of Dev Assassins wouldn't be competitive, as they're not heavy damage dealers for the cost, but it might well be worth running one of these in a Talon Kardde squad to Jolt an opponent's big piece at the top of the round. With Bounty Hunter, they can also pick up Cad Bane BH's CE in Seps and perform a similar role there, while Stealth also gives them options. There are plenty of things you can do with the Devaronian Assassin, but it's priced high enough that it's going to struggle to find a competitive niche, 6/10.

It was actually pretty decent in sealed depending on what else you got. 80 HP and the twin shots for 20 was very solid.

These guys and crab droids were my go to pieces for Seps back in the day, oh how times change. Remember when the original destroyer droid was good?

Don't think I ever used one even once. I was expecting less than a 5.

7 attack!?!

Dreadful for 30pts.

Mandalorian Trooper, from Legacy of the Force





I've never noticed this piece before, and that's not surprising, as the Mandalorian Trooper is largely unremarkable. Weirdly, it's actually one of two similarly priced Mandalorian Cunning shooters from Legacy of the Force. The 17 point Gunslinger is superior in most builds since it has Double Attack, Evade, and access to GMA, while its extra 10 hit points is significant as it means it can survive a twin strafe from a Lancer or Durge. Stealth and Deadeye make the Trooper somewhat interesting, and with Kelborn it's easy enough to position it for a deadeye attack. But Kelborn also competes with it for game time, since stacking a squad with Cunning attackers is often easy for your opponent to counter. The Mandalorian Trooper is bland, and there are plenty of better options for the Mandalorians in the price range. 4/10.

Kyp Durron, Jedi Master, from Command of the Galaxy






The New Republic have a few nasty nuke pieces - Mara Jade Jedi is one of the nastiest beatsticks in the game, while Kyle Katarn also gets up to 120 damage with the right support when he's up close. Kyp Jedi Master is similar to these two, but he's much more specialised - he's a specialised tank buster. With Bravado +10 and Brutal Strike, he's brilliant at putting a big hole in a tank piece like General Obi-Wan Kenobi or any of the Bounty Hunter Challenge pieces. It's also worth noting that's he's the exact same cost as popular tank Darth Zannah, so his Bravado doesn't work on her.

Tank busting is Kyp's primary focus, but he also has some other tricks. Force-Attuned Reflexes with Twin is a great defense against strafers like the Lancer and Durge on Speeder, while he's also got some direct damage with Force Push 3 and can make all his attacks on the move at distance with Lightsaber Throw 2. He's also got a creative commander effect where he hands out +3 attack and -3 defense to pilot followers - it's great especially for upping Dash's attack. He also has a strong synergy with Luke Galactic Hero, as GMA is very helpful for him, increasing his threat range. The below Weeks squad combines Kyp with both Luke and Dash, and it's probably his optimum build:



Kyp Jedi Master is a very good piece, but at the same time, I don't imagine him seeing much success in the current meta; it's hard to justify him over Mara Jade Jedi when he's so specialised. If tanks come back into fashion though, he's well worth considering, 7/10.

I'd really like it if tanks came into fashion again. I think Zannah is a good start, although I know she has her issues. I think that's what the Sith should be, (or at least have the option to be) : a squad with 4-6 powerful pieces and still competitive.