Talk:TIE Punisher Expansion Pack/@comment-27613051-20170505190004/@comment-454133-20170507162546

Sorry, I was in a hurry at the time and misinterpreted. Check out TIE/x7, which got a nerf that made it much easier for an opponent to disable (see errata'd version). It used to give you the evade even if you were stressed or you bumped, plowed through asteroids, etc; that's no longer the case. This brought x7 in line with TIE/D, in terms of power, and gave opponents more tactics for dealing with a TIE Defender.

x7 TIE Defenders used to be nearly mandatory -- you almost had to play them or a fleet designed to take them out (like one of the other top meta fleets of the time). It's amazing how this small design change (evade token -> evade action and only if no collisions) drastically altered that.

Emperor Palpatine, Zuckuss (Crew), and Manaroo also took heavy nerfs at the same time, as part of FFG's efforts to even out the meta a bit and make the game more fun and diverse. Paratanni, Dengaroo, Palp Aces, and x7 TIE Defenders were the top dogs until then, and to play at a tournament, you really had to either play one of those, or play a fleet designed with them in mind. Some people are still pretty sore about their favorite fleets or ships losing that dominance. And to be fair, some of those nerfs (e.g. Palpatine) hit extremely hard, and it's tougher to include those cards in a fleet now. It's possible Palp took too hard a hit, and will be adjusted again in the next FAQ. We'll have to see. I don't see him played anymore, which is such a breath of fresh air!!!... but people bought the expensive Raider for that card, and now it's often considered "useless" (or rather, not effective enough for its price).

TIE Defenders got off easy though -- they're still plenty viable and I still see them a lot, just not all the time. A little while after the nerf, there was a brief period where I didn't see them at all. My suspicion is that everyone was so sick of using them all the time, they took a break from TIE Defenders after the nerf, and have slowly been re-adopting them in their fleets after some time away.

A few other people read the nerf and said "Welp, TIE Defenders are useless forever now!!11!!!" and have never tried them post-nerf. And I suspect at least a few people quit X-Wing altogether over it. :)  We got some drama from time to time, but most people have accepted the nerf as necessary at some level or another and moved on, even though it hurt a lot.

But if you weren't here or especially at the FFG Forums to watch "The Great Nerf of 2017" unfold, you missed some amazing drama. ;)  Everything you'd expect from a DOTA 2 or League of Legends nerf, but with a smaller community.  And as an admin (a position of power where I need to be professional and relatively neutral), I really had to work to restrain myself... I had so much salt ready to pour on those wounds... but it wouldn't have been appropriate.  Plus many of my friends love TIE Defenders and I didn't want to be a jerk to them.  :D