10 Hot Hyper Hitlist

With about two weekends of data we can start seeing some sort of “Wave 3 meta” starting to form, though I have no illusions that we’re “there yet”.

This article is much more an opinion piece than what I usually write here – I’ve started with hard data, but some of the ranking is based on my own judgement. My previous “State of the Meta” article was more about “average performance” – for this piece, I’ve focused more on lists that are better than average – and have several good results. The objective is not to try to list “the best hyperspace lists”, but more to put some light on what is perhaps a little different and is doing well – with a few of the more “mainstream” lists thrown in. My hope is that it might serve as an inspiration for some of you.

10. Vader, Ved Foslo & 2 Scariff Base Pilots

This one popped up in Nürnberg (Germany) and took up two spots in the top 8. Both players flew the Scariff Base Pilots naked – and with just FCS on Vader and Ved. One player flew this to 5-1, the other to 4-2 – making it to 4th and 7th place in swiss respectively.

9. Wedge, Braylen, Dutch & Partisan

There are a lot of beefy 4-ship Rebel lists working well at the moment – this particular combination has seen two very good results last weekend.
In Nürnberg (50 players total) this list ended up in the top 8 – just creeping in after finishing 4-2 (8th in Swiss). The loadout was Swarm Tactics on Wedge, Protons on Dutch and Leia on the Partisan.
The next day, in Texas, the list went 4-2 in a 50-player swiss ending up in 8th place again – but this time making it into the top 4. The layout here was Selfless on Braylen, Proton on Dutch and Leia and Tactical Officer on the Partisan.

8. 5 RZ-2 A-Wings

This is really more of an archetype than a list – since some variations exists in the exact pilots and loadout. Common for all the lists is the inclusion of L’ulo – but apart from that all bets are off. 4-5 Advanced Optics, 4-5 Heroics and sometimes Crack Shot seems to be the recipe.

As this “list” has a lot more representation (about 2% of the total meta) than most of the others – the results are as expected a lot more varied. The top part of these lists ended near the top in Texas (50 players. 1st in swiss, top 8 finish – 3 i1 + the two i5s), Switzerland (14 player league, 2nd overall – L’ulo + 4 Green Squadrons) and in Florida (30 players, 3rd in swiss, 2nd overall – all four named pilots + 1 i1)

7. Kylo, Quickdraw & Null

3-ship First Order lists makes a lot of buzz at the moment – and Kylo, Quickdraw & Null seems to be working out for those that have the skills to fly it. 4 of the 5 lists ended in the top 20% – the common part of the succesful loadout seems to be to Proton Torpedoes on Kylo + Fanatical, FCS, Shield Upgrade, SF Gunner, Pattern Analyzer on Quickdraw and a naked Null. For the last points we see either Hate or Heightened perception on Kylo, and in some cases also Pattern Analyzer on Kylo – though a pretty strong bid (8-9 points) also seems to be very desireable.
As for the results, the list finished 1st in a 38 player Trial in Ontario, Canada & 2nd in a 42 player Trial in Wyoming.

6. Anakin, Mace Windu and Wolffe

“Jedi & Support” seems to be a functional theme – this list have 3 out of 3 entries in the top 25% last weekend – with very different loadouts.
In New South Wales, Australia in a 49 player Trial a version with 7B on both Jedis and R2 Astromech on Anakin finished 9th in Swiss, 2nd in the cut – while another variant with Calibrated Laser Targeting and R4-P17 on Anakin, 7B & R4 on Mace Windu and Veteran Tail Gunner on Wolffe finished 6th in Swiss and top 8 in the cut.

5. Wedge, Saw + 2 Gray Sqd. Y’s

This is another 4-ship Rebel Joust-type list, and it finished 1st in swiss and 8th overall in a 64 player Hyperspace Trial in Krakow, Poland. Loadout was R2 Astromech on Wedge, Leia on Saw and the expected Ion Turret/VTG on the Y’s – as well as a proton bomb on one of the Y’s and a seismic on the other.

4. Fenn + 3 x Zealous Recruit

Probably best known for the results in UK where Oliver Pocknell has killed it with this list for a while. This list is beginning to catch on – and while no one else has taken it to the top of a Hyperspace Trial – the results generated are very solid. In the five events we’ve seen after Wave 3 release – 4 of these ended in the top 25% and 2 in the top 10%.

3. Howl, Iden & 4 other TIEs

TIE Swarms are back in style – and doing really well. Making up almost 4% of the total meta, this is by far the most popular of the lists presented here. With such popularity, we would expect to see the average be close to the center of the field, but more than half of the Howl & Iden swarms flown has ended up in the top 25% of the events they’ve flown in.
Looking at the top squads the main difference between the lists are whether to take Seyn or Wampa. Wampa seems to do slightly better overall. The rest of the list is Howlrunner, Iden Versio, Gideon Hask, Del Meeko and an Academy Pilot. The list have won a 42 player trial, finished 4th in a 53 player trial, 7th in a 52 player Trial – and if you look at smaller events you get even more good results.

2. Anakin, Ahsoka + 2 Gold Sqd. Troopers

Returning to New South Wales, Australia – more Republic success was found with Anakin & Ahsoka – both with the 7B variant and two naked Gold Squadron Troopers. Finishing 1st in Swiss and 4th overall was a version with R2 Astromech on both Jedis, while the 2nd in Swiss (Seemed to have dropped from the cut?) had Heightened Perception on Ahsoka instead.

1. Vader, Soontir & Duchess

After a period with relative light Imperial presence in Hyperspace, it seems that “Trip Aces” are back. This list seems, unsurprisingly, to depend a lot on player skill – and also a very deep bid. Predator on Soontir is a stable, as is Afterburners on Vader.
Going back to Nürnberg, Germany – this list won after finishing 5th in swiss. In this tournament, Vader also had Collision Detector, and both Soontir and Duchess had a shield upgrade – and a 13 point bid.
In Brighton, UK (53 players) the list finished 4th in swiss and top 4 overall. This time Vader had FCS and Duchess had Afterburners and Prox Mines.. and a 19 point bid.

What about…

There were frankly a lot of things I would have expected to find on this list – but didn’t.. So a few honorable mentions:

Poe/Nien/L’ulo was strong during the second half of Wave 2 – and in Wyoming there were four of them – two of them even made cut.
Staying with Resistance; Poe+3 A-wings also get some good results – but havn’t cracked the top spots in larger events.

For First Order “Tavson+2” and “Tavson+3” can be strong – but the variance is the results are huge – a pattern I see a lot of in First Order. If any faction is “Low floor, High Ceiling” – First Order is very much that.

Separatists probably have yet to be “figured out” – they fly very differently from other swarms. Like First Order I suspect we will see another “Low floor, High Ceiling” faction here.

And that leaves Scum… There are other things than Quad Fangs out there, and a few players HAVE success with them. Boba + 2 Fangs won a 64 player event in Poland, and Fenn/Han/Old T have been close to cut twice. Both of these will be exciting to watch in the coming weeks.

I hope you enjoyed reading this – leave a comment below with your thoughts 🙂