Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-125.237.150.42-20170221005205/@comment-454133-20170529064555

I generally agree with Falcon, Decimator, Jumpmaster, though there are great alternatives.

Scum actually has several amazing choices for large ships. Jumpmaster (Punishing One) and Lancer (Shadow Caster) are the most powerful and most tournament worthy, and also the easiest ships to use overall.

Firespray is less powerful in the current meta but still a delight to fly (e.g. Kath Scarlet with Tail Gunner). Unfortunately scum needs empire's Slave I and the Most Wanted expansion to field a firespray, so it's harder to get going if you're single-faction.

YV-666 (Hound's Tooth) is an impressive & dangerous support, but is more tricky to fly because of its limited dial. IG-2000 is a little harder to work into a build, and you'd likely want to buy two. I'd wait on those.

Empire's VT-49 Decimator isn't as competitive as it used to be, but it's still frightening when flown well, and it's an easy ship to learn. Firespray (Slave I) is a bit behind meta right now too but still fun to fly. Between the two I'd pick the decimator but it's a tough choice.

Lambda and Upsilon are both primarily support craft, and it's tricky to know which to buy. They're both very useful for support roles and both come with valuable upgrade cards (if you don't want to proxy), but the Upsilon sees more use these days with The Emperor no longer playing a dominant role in the meta. Lambda is cheaper and easier to fit into a fleet for carrying crew, but a tie bomber with TIE Shuttle does that almost as well, for cheaper. Between the two, I'd recommend Upsilon.

Rebels have a tough choice. The YT-1300 is a great ship for new players because it's both very easy to learn and still competitive. If you can afford it, you maybe should pick up Heroes of the Resistance because it comes with Rey (a fantastically fun pilot), and with a spare T-70 X-Wing with its own great pilots. That said, classic Han and Chewie (of the original falcon) are excellent too and still see good use.

But rebels also have the VCX-100, the Ghost. It's been seeing a lot of use lately for good reason. With an Autoblaster Turret or TLT and a docked Phantom, it's a beast and it can be a lot of fun to fly. It may be a more advanced ship for someone who's just getting into the game, however.

The YT-2400 is a bit of a more advanced ship too. Dash Rendar with the title and a Heavy Laser Cannon is very dangerous when used well, and fun to fly.

Finally, the U-Wing is primarily a support craft. You can actually fly it as an attacker too and it's close to the price of a novice T-70, but its dial lets it down a bit. Rebels need some better support crew; for now this ship isn't seeing a ton of use.

I hope that helps you pick!