So now that everyone has been able to look at whats all in R&R what will the main meta impact be?

Is it OR with their strong shooting?

Is it Imperial stormtroopers?

Is it Jules....I mean Mace?


What are your thoughts?

My gut (which has been wrong many times before with SWM!) tells me that the biggest switch we're going to see is the rise of the Old Republic. As we saw at GenCon, Bastila has made them competitive in the right hands. This set gives them a few very effective shooters, as well as strong support.

The Vong also got some very nice additions, and I think they're sort of where the Old Rep was after DotF: within striking distance of being competitive. I think we're going to see a lot of the Vong as people try to figure out the best mix.

So I think the Old Rep and the Vong are the big winners.

Beyond that, though, I think the order of the day is diversity. The movie factions and the New Rep all got some very nice options (both on their own and via Fringe pieces), but I'm not sure that any of them are competitively better than what they had before. However, folk may be so tired of the tried and true squads that they'll be excited to play with the new toys.

The Sith and Mandos, I think, are the ones who've gotten the biggest shaft. Don't get me wrong, great pieces for both. I think we're going to see a lot of Zannah and the new Maul in Sith squads, but I don't know that they can carry the day on their own. The Mandos, through Kal, have a lot more depth than a set ago, but I don't think it's game-changing just yet.

I think another trend is going to be a move away from commander effects--or at least dependence on commander effects. Between Bastila and the growing proliferation of Disruption/Distraction, a commander-centric squad is very much at risk. And that might be an excellent niche for the Sith and the Mandos.

Wow, 11 crits in a game? But some of thoes weren't actually 20's what REALLY sucks is when you are vs. your friend who's using kazdan and he litterally gets FIVE 20's in a ROW for init! It was crazy!

OR continues to gain the most support IMHO in this set. Thon is amazing, and Kavar provides a nice melee option for main beatstick. With all these old OR jedi with renewal, it is time for Nomi Sunrider to come into play again.
However, another main boost is the rise of pilots. With a ton of support for pilots (notably the Klatoonian Capt), Im sure they will get some more play time. I think they are on the cusp of becoming competitive; they just need a bit more to put them over the top.
Imperials got a lot of various commanders boosting lesser-played pieces (troops, Dark troopers, storm commandos). I havea feeling storm commandos will see some serious play with Thrawn (either one), Nyna, and Weir.
Mace is probably the biggest boost the reps got.
Rebels got a bunch of pilots and a utility shooter (Katarn).
Mandos got some more troops and commanders, but nothing special IMO.
YV continues to gain more firepower (pun :D) from the Firebreather, another Warmaster, and some grunts.
Seps got a very costly commander with a bunch of cool effects (Dooku). He cant even attack; but has Anticipation; PotDS; Reserves; Draw Fire; and a unique CE. However; lack of attacking power and lack of renewal is really going to hurt him. On the other hand; a double pawn squad with Sidious would be crazy.
Sith got a much-needed troop commander; as did the OR via karath in addition to some troops and a few sith lords. Of the 3 (Kaan; Zannah; Traya) I think they all have use; but Zannah will probably be used the most. The new Maul will definitely see some play as well.
NR got some utility pieces and a pilot commander. Winter is a cool distraction piece to pair with Leia. NR Tactician is an amazing piece to pair with Mara Jedi.

Well...I think that covers it...a brief synopsis of all the factions.

On a nearly unrelated note I think its ridiculous that the new Queen Amidala has Double-Twin. How much of a trigger-finger does she have??

I'm a little surprised that people seem to be discounting what the Sith got; I think they got some of the biggest boosts, and I don't even think Maul is that good in a Sith squad! Traya, Zannah, and Kaan are all GREAT pieces, but probably the biggest thing for them is Jaq. Sith have been dying for a strong non-fringe shooter that synergizes well with what they do, and he's it. With Exar DFS he gets extra FP for re-rolling Avoid Defeat, as well as Sith Rage which lets him do 50 damage against adjacent living enemies with Bandon (not an unlikely scenario, especially since he has GMA so he can move adjacent to do it) or 40 damage shots across the board, plus Override gives him some interesting utility; normally if there's a door open that you want to shoot through then close you can't do it in one act (say, at the top of a round), but now you can.

Otherwise, Mace will pretty much create a competitive non-Yobuck Republic squad, which is awesome. I'm obviously biased, but I think both Kyle and Luke add very good things to Rebels, but also the Red Squadron Aces along with other pilot boosts (Klatooinian Captain, Dutch) is a nasty squad. Imperials will be able to play troopers again, which is good, and Weird is very strong. Vong get Nas Choka (who is a beast) as well as the Chazrach, which is a very good filler piece. OR gets new masters and shooters and is falling into a very strong position (squads with Bastila, one of the good shooters, and one of the good masters are going to be the future of the OR archetype, I think). Seps didn't get a whole lot, but they do have a few more droid options now, and the A-series is actually a viable alternative to the IG-86, which is awesome. NR's biggest boost is Winter I think, because she can be quite a strong shooter as well as letting Leia, JK get into more squads as she'll have some protection now, which will open up their options a lot. Mandos got a few neat tricks, and Kal can create some very good options with the Republic Commandos.

Overall, I think that EVERY faction got new playable strategies, and it's quite hard to tell right now what's going to be the best, but I really think that Sith will have good chances to hit the top tables now.

Thon's mount ability make's nomi's sever force ability viable. Not having a swap/movement option had really made it difficult to get her in, and then keep her alive long enough to trigger the ability.

I don't know that I agree that the Sith got one of the biggest boosts, but I AM reconsidering that maybe they got one of the smaller boosts. Zannah and Maul are two amazing defensive pieces who can do what the Sith have been largely lacking in: survive long enough to get to the fight and dish out some damage.

I think Atton has much better support in the Old Rep than the Sith, but that doesn't prevent him from being a great Sith shooter (possibly better, point-for-point, than any of the Fringe options--unlike the Mandos and Vong, the Sith aren't really penalized by using non-Sith pieces).

I could see a strong Sith option looking like this:

Atton "Jaq" Rand
Zannah or Maul
Revan or Sidous (for swapping)
Klatooinian Captain
Round out with low-end pieces for activation control

Against the Vong, it's not much better than any Force-user-based squad, and it may not be a top tier combo in a normal match (not bad, though), but I think the first three pieces are all strong enough on their own that although commander effects might help them, they're not particularly handicapped if disrupted. Everything old is new again! The new dynamic is sort of what the old dynamic was like in the first 2-3 sets!

I think Sith got the biggest boost. Reven and Lord Kaan's thought bomb is a killer combo. I think it could push Sith to tier one easily. Throw in Zanna for defensive purposes and I think you've got the basics of a great squad.

I think the darkhorse of the set could be HK47. He gives mouse droids swarms 28 defense in cover, and he has disruptive. I see him fitting in nicely with most factions that don't have easy access to disruptive.

I thought this thread was about how we see the overall meta changing, not about pieces we don't like?

Having said that: At the end of KotOR2, HK-47 leads a small army of HK units. In Star Wars: Galaxies, he later appears as the leader of a larger army of droids... so it's not inappropriate for him to be a commander.

From a gameplay standpoint, I believe the designers have mentioned that they would like to make droids viable for factions other than the Seps. This is likely a first step.

If they want to make Droids more playable in other factions I personally don't feel this was a step in the right direction. I'd much prefer something like a NR Lando with Rapport for YVH-1 droids and/or a CE - perhaps granting synergy when within 6 of a living ally.