Last week on SHNN we spent a healthy amount of time discussing Lobot, possibly the single most popular piece in our game.
Follow this link to catch up http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=63807&cmd=tc
-It is EPISODE 277

There has been a lot of talk lately about Lobot and his place in the game. Some people have grown tired of seeing Lobot, game in and game out, show up on the opposite side of the map. Some see him as a tool that adds depth to the game. Still others see him as an obnoxious auto include that takes away creativity from the squad building process.

I have my own feelings about Lobot, but I want to know what all of you think. As always keep the conversation clean and on topic.

Problem if you're facing him, solution if you're using him.

Just wish people that use him sooo much as a crutch would try to build a squad without for once and self-police a bit. I know what he can do and have used him, but dislike him enough I rarely do now.

The few times I've played without Lobot in a tournament have been wonderful: no lugging around 2 extra boxes (1 for the Reinforcement cards, and 1 for the Reinforcement minis). So just for fun's sake, I prefer to play without him. But if I want to be able to compete well in a diverse meta, I think he's really hard to leave behind. I'd love to see a Fringe Reinforcements 10 piece with Rival for Lobot. At least you'll have another option than Lobot if you want flexibility for your squad.

But even if that happened, we should recognize that a lot of the prime Fringe Reinforcement options are 11+ pts. Human BG, LIN Droid, etc.

I think the Vsets have made him too good before Vsets he was good but had a very limited pool to pick from very simple to use. Now he is a swiss army knife. Really you can bring stuff in to shut and really slow a squad down its got out of hand. I also think going to 200 has causes a lot of the tech problems we are having now. Before you needed 2-3 beats or 6-8 swarm figures then 20 points of support. Now its like 140 and like 60 of support in some cases.

Its kind of got to the point if you don't use Lobot your behind in the game before it has even started.
I would say having Lobot might be stronger than winning or losing map now. If you have lobot and win map your a huge advantage.

No figure should be a auto include. There needs to be options to pick from. I think making a figure like Daala was the right move in the same cost or around Thrawn. You need options to pick from if a figure is too good to avoid swarms and auto includes.

During the Wizards era Lobot was useful but not always needed. Many squads were just as good if not better without him. However, his use; locking commanders in rooms, bringing in more activations, and playing the dirty gambit game made him prevalent. Then Wizards began introducing "counters" in Fringe. Fringe is the best choice for introducing mechanic altering and counter pieces like; munn tactics broker, anti-stealth, anti-strafe, anti-whatever because every faction has access to them. This introduced the "swiss army knife" aspect of Lobot. It made a Staple piece for a lot of top tier squads. Lobot appearing in many squads made players groan in complaint. Thus the hating of Lobot began.

Early V-set era Lobot saw less play for two reasons. First, the dirty gambit game was no more. You couldn't use free pieces to collect gambit. Secondly, Bribery(V-Set5) and there was less need for Lobot in many squads. Unlike Wizards our designers were very thoughtful about what was really needed in the game. They added a lot of new pieces to help make each faction stronger and not just be playable, but actually compete(see last years gencon champs, Mandos?).

Currently, Lobot is essential and needed in the game. Lobot has become an intricate part of the game for a long time and his absence would cause "many" unforseen side effects. Unfortunately, he is most effectively used in high act squads. So it's no surprise Lobot has once again become so prevalent with the dominance of higher act squads. Lobot is perfect for high act squads; locking in commanders, helping against Super-Stealth, Strafe, Master Tact, death shots, self destruct...ect. That's why I think instead of countering Lobot, it's time that we got a "Lobot" for low act squads. The "poor mans Lobot", so to speak.

That's what I was saying man.. lol