How to make a unique Mindlink list that doesn't die and fall apart immediately Pt. 2

Welcome to Part 2 of our Mindlink series. Here is part 1

What has been proven to work for Mindlink?

I think that before we start crafting our own fun Mindlink builds, we need to look at what is successful, and why it is successful. I'm going to gloss over swarms a little bit. This is not because I do not think they are great, but because I haven't spent a lot of my time playing with Mindlink swarms. Because of that, I don't feel I can speak honestly about them. 

Old Man Fennaroo

Old Man Fennaroo (I think it is actually The 186 Special) is the Mindlink list I have had the most experience playing with and against. It involves Manaroo with Mindlink+K4+Unhinged+Feedback, Fenn with Mindlink + Title + Autothrusters, and Old T with Mindlink + Title + Autothrusters. 

My favorite version of this list switches Unhinged +Feedback for R5-P8 on Manaroo. 

This list is strong, but I feel that many people don't understand why. Here is the basic order for how I run the list:

1. Perform a green maneuver with Manaroo to get a free Target lock
2. Barrel roll if serious danger is coming her way
3. Focus if no danger
4. Old T performs a green or white maneuver (lots of options)
5. Focus if Manaroo didn't focus
6. Reposition if able to trigger ability, or collect a second focus
7. Fenn performs a green or white maneuver (lots of options)
8. Fenn looks for range 1 on whatever ship Manaroo got the target lock on
9. Fenn Barrel rolls or boosts for best position
10. Fenn takes a focus if position is already good enough
11. Manaroo passes focus target lock to Fenn or Old T (whoever has the best shot/needs the extra focus)
12. Old T strips tokens off poor fool who Fenn is about to fire at

Now, the beauty of this order of operations is that there is enough flexibility to adapt as needed. Everyone could just turtle up to get 2-3 focuses (besides Man), but the extra positioning with the Barrel Roll or boost options gives the protectorates PTL quality actions with an open dial.

Why does this list work? Well, there are a lot of different things working together. The first is double auto thrusters + Extra focus tokens make Range 3 pretty safe for your aces. R5-P8 makes your opponent not want to take careless shots at Man either.

Therefore, your opponent will want to engage you at Range 2. Luckily, since no one will be getting stressed every turn, you can move at unpredictable speeds. This gives the 186 special the advantage for going to range 1. Next, if a supreme jouster like the defender tries to go for the engage, Old T offers control with his pilot ability.

The next thing is that Fenn becomes a Phantom at R1 with this build. Manaroo passes focus target lock, and he gets to throw 5 red dice and defend with 4 green. It hits very hard.

What is this list weak against? Well, without a true Palp on a list, your aces can and will suffer an unfortunate crit or get exploded in one round with some bad rolls. For an opponent, it can maximize the chances of this at range 2. Catching Fenn or Old T in arc at range 2 is perhaps the saddest moment for any 186 player.

What about stress?

People will naturally assume stress counters a Mindlink list without Palob/Guri. And, there may be some truth to that. I have played against stress, and found that it is not as bad as you would think. The main reason is that ships don't double up on stress because of Mindlink. So, you might be stressing Fenn to high heaven, but Old T is free to get some focuses for the squad. Next is that a lot of Scum ships already have great green maneuvers available to clear their stress.  I think the old school 4 ship stress control that was popular would be strong enough because it can get the bump on my focus generator while still stressing out someone else. The new three ship variant with the Arc doesn't have enough bodies on the field to control the board. That being said, it is still a hard match up for the Mindlink player, and one that you won't always win.  

Ironically, I think the biggest weakness for the 186 Special is Tie/D defenders. The ability for multiple well aimed shots lowering agility will wreck Manaroo and leave Fenn and Old T all alone in the vastness of space.

Paratanni

The Paratanni list trades the hard control of Old T for some Tanky-ness from a light Asajj and light Manaroo. Manaroo has Mindlink, Asajj has Mindlink + Latts, and Fenn has Mindlink + Title + Autothrusters.

It took me until recently to grab the shadowcaster, but I finally got some reps in with parrattoni. The list is hard to beat, and I can definitely see it doing well at a tournament. You have focus generation from Manaroo, stress control + Latts from Asajj, and the every present terrifying Fenn.

What I have learned while playing it is that Fenn is always trying to be inside Asajj's arc. That way Asajj can stress anyone who tries for a sneaky R2 shot on Fenn, and Fenn have extra guns on whatever he is going to dive and blow up.

What is this list weak against? This list is simply strong right now. I think the trick to beating this one is taking Manaroo out first (she has no teeth and can be focused fast). I would burn down Manaroo and then work to kill Asajj, leaving Fenn with only 1 action a turn.

Home-brewed lists!

I feel that The 186 Special and Paratanni are good because they don't gimmick on Mindlink, but use it to simply boost already powerful squads. I, on the other hand, have been having fun doubling down on the shenanigans part of Mindlink to some moderate success. I have settled on two favorite lists:

Defender Ender

The list is Asajj with Mindlink + Latts Razzi + Shadow Caster Title, Manaroo with Mindlink + R4 Agromech, and Palob with Mindlink + TLT

Although this list is derived from Paratanni, it flies completely different. I keep all three ships grouped up, and look to control one ship at a time. The combo works like this. Manaroo spends a focus for a target lock, and next turn passes it to Asajj. Next turn, Palob grabs a focus or evade token, Asajj fires a focus + Target Lock shot to put on a tractor beam token. Palob TLTs the lower agility ship with 1-2 focus and 0-1 target locks. Manaroo attacks and grabs a target lock for next round. Because of the tractor beam, putting someone on a rock or in a position to do it again next turn is not that hard. I one rounded a Col Vessery with this combo. 

There are a few things I like about this list. The first is that my opponents always have a hard time deciding who to kill first. Jump into range 1 to kill Palob? Fine, Asajj will start the stress train and Manaroo will get free target locks for next turn. Focus Assaj first? Fine, Palob will grab tokens every turn to turn + Manaroo will get the target locks. Same goes for focusing down Manaroo first.

Perhaps the thing I like most about this list, and the thing I like least about paratoni, is that Asajj has points for her title. Putting pressure for an opponent to dodge a primary or get tractor beamed is hilarious.

Mindlink Veterans

The list started as a joke, and has done better than I would have thought. Fenn + Old T have Mindlink + Title + Autothrusters, Guri has Mindlink + Title + FCS + Autothrusters. I fly them really close together with Guri closest to the middle of the board, Fenn closest to the outside edge of the board, and Old T in between the two. Basically, the list just wants to jump into Range 1 and see what happens. The cool thing about the list is that they all have autothrusters, so staying at R3 is pretty safe. The list would probably be eaten by many of the top lists out there, or anything with munitions, but it is a lot of fun to fly.



Final Mindlink thoughts for pt 2

After trying out some terrible lists, and tweaking some good lists to make them more fun, I have come up with some general rules for Mindlink to remember when list building.

1. Take at least three ships with Mindlink
2. Take Manaroo if you can. She takes Mindlink's ability and doubles its effectiveness.
3. If you can't take Manaroo, take Guri, Palob, or Kaa'to

Thank you guys for reading!