Corps - Star Wars Legion Skirmish - Tier lists #1

    Skirmish is a very different game from the regular. Specific format-locked cards make for exciting builds where still there is a lot to discover and experiment with. Here I will share my Corps tier list for the format.

Disclaimer

    The list is not final and may come with personal bias. Each unit has different roles that it may fulfil with each setup, but it's up to you how you use them. In skirmish:

• objectives do not require unit to interactions,
• 3 out of 4 objectives are scored only at the end of the game,
• range 3 is king and range 2 is sufficient,

F Tier

    Defensively a decent unit, but offense is lacking. They are expensive to field effectively, for what they do. Electro-whip is their unique option, that is cost-effective. Danger sense and low leadership don't mix, so the Capo is a must. They feel like Rebel Troopers 1.5, but are more expensive with fewer options.

Sample build - close threat

D Tier (Situational)

    The cheapest, the least durable and least threatening unit in the game. Good filler and command relay. They are spammable, and you can sneak a win as long as you stay away from Elimination objective. Lack of intractable objectives hurts them most. Chaff (bare B1) are not working in the format. I recommend using 1 unit at most.

Sample builds: back-line filler

Frontline engineers

    This unit cannot fight close for objective. Good keywords make this shine while fire supporting. It's still worth fielding since the cost is not high.

    Glass shotgun style unit is often a primary focus. They love shootouts, because they usually come out on top. Their Scatter Gun is a must, blast grenade mitigates enemy's cover that lowers significantly their damage output. Treat other options as means to get close, because they need all the help they can get (Recon Intel, Leia's 2-pip command and/or AA-5). 

Sample build - the short range menace

    Situational unit that may be equipped against the desired target, but become weak against any other unit. They rely heavily on dodge tokens so: Prepared Supplies, Specialist and Commander with Vigilance become a must.

Sample builds: Anti-armour

Anti-droid

C Tier (Solid)

    The most accurate corps unit in the game, that has access to critical keyword. They are the baseline for the gun line unit. As for Rebel standards, they are expensive, so grab CM-0/93 and return to them for point fillers.

Sample build:

    Expensive, but reliable unit. With T-21B at range 4, they can draw enemy's unit to come closer, weapon so versatile that is a must.

Sample build:

    Standard clone unit, that comes with a variety of builds. They do their job well as fire supporters and wingmen as you build them correctly. Republic is an army with expensive units, so their "cheap" is Rebel's expensive. DC-15 is a long-range rifle that adds versatility to the unit. My staple for them is adding Fives for additional Leadership and important Coordinate keyword. 

Staple Builds: Long range support

Fire supporters

B Tier (Strong)

    Cheap and versatile unit that has a punch of its own and also valuable fire support, cumbersome keyword and white armour make it a difficult unit to use.

    The slowest and one of the cheapest unit on the list. Steady keyword lets them stay mobile and cover the most terrain while shooting at the same time (2 1-moves are effectively 1 3-move). In Elimination, they become also valuable since they can move out of obscuring building, shoot and move back behind the building. They still require planning moves ahead, especially in breakthrough. Unfortunately, the damage output is mediocre.

Staple builds: Anti-droid

Long range engineer

Cheap short range filler

    The most iconic unit in the game that is everything you saw in the movie. They rely heavily on aim tokens due to white attack dice, so Specialist and Targeting Scopes are a must. T-21 is fishing for crits to avoid cover. HH-12 with specialist are using recover action as if it was an aiming.

Staple builds: Gun liners

Anti-tank

    The complete package unit: red armour (with a surge per round, to back it up), range-3 weapons and Leadership 2, that comes with a cost. Z-6 is a Fire Support weapon with a surged attack (to use this to the fullest Recon intel is mandatory). Mortar is a cheap self sufficient option that may take advantage of low enemy's Leadership.

Staple builds: Mortar

Z-6 Fire Support

A Tier (Meta)

    The deceptively fragile unit, that shakes off hits while behind cover. Offensively they do well, but when rocket is launched with Arm Cannons, they often wipe out other white armoured units, here the T-Series Droid is a must for cancelling the AI: Attack. Cheaper B2-ACM does not care about AI, because all weapons are firing, with points to spare Viper Recon Droid is a bargain for this unit.

Staple builds: The Meta

Budget close range

    Red armor, regular attacks hit like B2, but their power comes from using grenades: Meg-Det brings blast and Impact and Fragmentation adds crit-surges. Anything that is hit by them is wiped out or severely hurt. Expensive yet powerful option, where no target is safe. This unit may be also a consideration in Empire lists. Complete package almost cut for being a skirmish menace.

    Staple Build: The Meta

S Tier (Broken)

    No obvious broken units:

• Black Suns may be strong, but Force users are clear counter against them.
• B2 holds out force users for 2-3 round, but need cover at all times to stay on the battlefield. 
• Phase 2 Clones are durable, but require surging attack to use their firepower, and get in trouble if Force user sneaks on them.

As for just corps gun line battles, the list is adequate.

Conclussion

    Final tier list (for now) looks like this. Corps must be present on the battlefield, some of them are playmakers, where others are used to fulfil building tax. While building a list, you can look for some inspiration, or craft your plan against your opponent's army. Let me know if this helped you understand the game better and until then, Pandageek is rolling out.