This past weekend saw a 27 man Legion tournament take place in Vermillion, Ohio, (yes not Indianapolis ;) and today we are going to take a look into the 9 lists that managed to come out on top. No members of the Garrison were able to attend, but that doesn't stop us from taking a peek into how this 27 man scrap went!
A quick faction breakdown:
Separatist - 9
Empire - 8
Rebel - 4
Republic - 3
Shadow Collective - 3
That's a lot of Evil.
This faction spread is not too particularly surprising if you've been looking through the recent Legion TTO events, but it's still very interesting to see that the Light Side (Rebels and GAR) made up only a combined total of 26% of lists present at the event. Another notable stat here is that faction battle forces were not present at all for this event. While I expected at least one battle force to be present, it's not surprising given that LSO saw a low turnout of them as well. Whether this is because battle forces are new, or because they're not good, we'll see in due time.
Without further ado, let's break down our top 8 competitors:
Honorable Mention: David Sivnksty
Despite not officially placing in the top 8, I felt the need to showcase David's list to give some Light Side representation to this list. While this is a somewhat standard looking Ani BARC list, we do see a few interesting aspects; the occlusion of Padme and the presence of Pykes. Padme missing makes it a bit harder for your clones to live without her Vigilance and Quick Thinking exemplar, but the presence of Pykes bringing the list up to 10 acts certainly helps to offset that problem.
Their inclusion also helps find points for a few more expensive tools in the clone arsenal, such as being able to outfit all of his P1s with heavies, an Echo strike team, and BARCs fully loaded with a gunner and Comms Jammer. I think David has found a way to get that activation count back up out of the single digit gutter while not sacrificing much strength, and I hope to see more lists like this one come out and bring GAR back into the running.
8) Garett Fierro - Greivous AAT
A bit more standard than the Greivous AAT skew list we saw make top 8 at LSO, but definitely not less effective. Greivous, with a compliment of Magnas, will always do a good job of breaking into your opponent's lines and dealing with high priority targets while the AAT rains High Velocity fire down on the opponent's lines. The icing on the cake here is including 4 B1s with E-5Cs and Aggressive Tactics on Greivous, to make your objective units able to really dish out some damage if needed. While I would personally want to run some E-5Ss as well, I think playing for bid definitely helps with the presence of dodge spam armies that want to sit back and shoot; the battle deck of this list certainly stops that from happening.
7) Matthew Gergely - Bounty Hunter Spiders
The second CIS list we are taking a look at includes everyone's favorite units to hate on: Ion Spiders and Kalani! As always, the pair creates a solid gunline option, which is further backed up by 3 E-5S B1 units. This anvil setup is always performs, and can do so even more when accompanied by the hammer that Bane and Bossk are together.
Having the threat of double bounty allows your gunline to do their thing, while still having an aggressive diver in the form of Bane and a lethal sniper in the form of Bossk. Kalani can even pass those aims over to Bossk to help with his bounty, and he gains more help from the two units of B1 droids with vipers attached to really make sure he's rolling those 5 crits when he needs to be. Bane, on the other hand, can divulge his 3 pip and be the objective nightmare unit that lets the guns have to only worry about aiming and shooting.
6) Chris Stephenson - TacStrike Mercenaries
A hot take on the standard TacStrike formula, but definitely a good one. Cutting the third unit of shores and DF-90 mortar and ISF unit, Chris is able to fit in two units of Black Sun Enforcers rocking a full boat package of Mag-Det Enforcer, Vigo, Frags and Targeting Scopes. While it's trading out some gunline and TacStrike power, you gain two units that are dealing an average of 8.85 required saves per attack with their independent aim, or 10.127 saves if the officer stays close enough to pass aims over to them. They're generally unconcerned with getting in too, as the shores and ISF are causing problems all the while. It's very much an aggressive list that'll clear the way for your objective units in the back, who can even potentially throw some more damage downrange with their T-21B.
5) Sam Dayton - Shadow Collective Goodstuffs
Taking all of the good parts of a "faction" and combining it into one is never a bad plan. We see how effective it can be here with our first Shadow Collective list. Featuring Maul, Rook Kast Mandalorians, a speeder truck and Black Sun riders, and a bit of a Pyke gunline, this list can do a lot. I think this is the first list here that is actually quite objective agnostic; I'd be very comfortable playing every objective in the game with this list. Whatever your opponent is bringing, this list will have an answer to.
Top 4 placements
4) Chris Watson - Separatist Sabers
The second list here in the top 8 that we see taking Grievous?? Accompanied by Dooku, the pair will definitely have a great time being able to slice and dice their way through the enemy, while the rest of the gunline with their E-5C/S's can put in work while playing the objective. I will say that the inclusion of Ion spiders here without Kalani is interesting; there's not a great way to always get orders on them so they're not aim-recovering every other turn. They evidently performed well, but I wonder if they would be better served as flamer spiders to follow the sabers in.
3) Andrew Gleason - Maul and his Pykes
The "tried and true" of the Shadow Collective thus far, with Maul backed up by a disruptor Pyke gunline. The inclusion of Rook Kast mandalorians helps to separate this list from other popular variations of this list, but definitely helps up the killing power of the list up close while being a great unit choice for objectives. Of all the Shadow Collective lists I've seen so far since their release, I think this will be one of the few we see stand the test of time and meta.
2) Jake Parker - Boba AT-ST
My favorite list at the event, two of the most fun Empire focus pieces are included here in one list. The AT-ST is backed up by a solid gunline, allowing it to push forward and fire down upon its enemies or stay put and form a defensive wall depending on objectives. Meanwhile, Boba's skating around, deleting a unit here with his Flamer, jetpacking over there to claim his bounty, and just causing problems in general while the gunline goes to town. The inclusion of Improvised Orders helps make sure that the AT-ST or Boba is activating when you need them to, adding a deceptively large amount of order control to this list.
1) Brian Ludwick - Vader Dews
If Maul and Pykes is the tried and true of Shadow Collective, Vader and Dewbacks is definitely the tried and true of Empire list building. While it is a bit stock standard with the triple Dewback, IRG bodyguard and OpVader accompanied by a few other supporting elements, it's those upgrades that helps this list stand out from the rest. TWO (2!!!) HH-12s are present in this list, accompanied by a Specialist to make sure those impact wounds are going through. I really like this combo, as when you recover for your rockets you're essentially getting an aim as well to spend, meaning this unit is functionally just aim shooting when it needs to. The tech into this to (presumably) answer spiders and T47s to allow the rest of the list do what it wants to is definitely a great call.
That covers what we've seen take place out in Vermillion Ohio. Shoutout to the wonderful team that ran this event. (see their amazing Darksaber trophy).
If you are in the area, be sure to check out The Shop Game Shop for more great tournaments and Legion play!
If you have a local event of 20 people or more, feel free to reach out to Indianapolisgarrison@gmail.com to have your own local tournament broken down as well! Thanks for reading!
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