Cybit wrote:
Lets see, for 200...
Rebels (Speeder + Ferus + some other 20ish point piece)
Separatists (Droid swarm)
Sith (Malak + Fringe)
Republic (Yobuck swap, GOWK)
Imperial (B&B, Inquisitors?)
Anything I am missing?
Malak + Sith
Republic has several viable builds beyond Yobuck and GOWK. Senate Commandos, Flobi, Medium Swappers (usually Qui-Gon JT), Yoda GM is still good, and so on. I hardly see it down to only those two, especially when Rep is full of great melee attackers which make them great at dealing with GOWK and Flobi themselves.
Imperial was already way beyond just B&B at 200. In fact, the most competitive swap squads almost always had at least 2 threats, if not 3, and there are literally 5-10 different variants that can compete with anything.
NR is very solid at 200, you completely ignored them, as they too can totally nerf shooters with their melee (and support shooters).
And Vong has a number of new tricks, especially with Zuckuss and Cad Bane, that I don't think most players have explored well yet.
OR with Exile is excellent, and JBMs are darn close.
Zuckuss works well in every faction, and can help any of them compete at the top levels.
And your forgot Sep Whorm squads, they are at least the equal of droid squads, and can do a lot of different things at 200.
In all seriousness, this may be the first time in SWMs history that all 10 factions can compete at the top levels. I'm not saying OR will win Gencon, but that has never been my measure of "competitiveness" anyways. But I can tell you, I would have no issue taking any one of the factions to virtually any tournament in the world, and have a good expectation of competing. It's going to be much more about knowing your local meta and the particularities of those squads that will determine what each of you thinks is tops at any given time. Just as Cybit has done for his area. But all it will take is someone to figure out the local stuff and knock the socks off of everyone for a few weeks for that to change. Unlike the past, you can do it with any faction I believe, and that has to be seen as a positive.