Ackbar Lead??

You are running a different squad the 95% of your Arena shard. You're likely getting targeted so much because people are tired of fighting 5+ matches against CLS for the last 6 months(or RJT for the last month).

People are their own worst enemies, they complain constantly about how stale, stagnant and undiverse arena is and then target anything that deviates from the pack.

There's a solid Ackbar lead that stays in the top 15 over night in my shard.

He runs Ackbar, cls, hermit yoda, Thrawn, and GK. As @Dwinkelm stated, you want one other rebel to increase your chances of hitting hard, and cls fills that spot nicely.

With hermit yoda, your basic always calls an assist as well.

I'd say it's more team composition than anything which is why you're dropping. You're almost there. Just need a few tweaks.

I agree with @CleverWes completely

ackbar lead is effective and fun, but the secret is to use fewer rebels actually. AA is heavily RNG-dependent, and certainly not as good as CLS lead, so in order to work you need to mess with the opponent's plans.

Try using ackbar with just ONE other rebel (DPS), and two at most. I think the two best individuals are raid Han and PL, but CLS and Ezra also make fine additions. Run one non-rebel tank and one non-rebel support with two non-attack specials. The idea is to maximize the amount of time a high DPS rebel is called to assist. CW chewbacca is actually great in this role, a taunt and self-heal keep him and your team alive, and calls an AA-leadership assist twice. Thrawn is also great, two non-attack specials calls two AA-leadership assists, and brings a TON of control. Datcha is decent as a self-healing taunter, and RG is decent with stun, auto-taunt, and defense-up. ShT and GK can also work.

Of course, this leaves a fifth spot. Dealers choice. I actually like to run a second DPS rebel in this spot. I typically run PL and Ezra... Ezra's assist special doesn't count as an attack, so you can potentially call PL for a triple-tap, AA calls Leia to triple-tap, and Ezra double-taps... eight attacks from one move! That'll bring down the house!

If you have any of those characters at high levels, give it a try and let us know how it turns out. However, I think you'll find the sad truth is that they're just not as arena-friendly as CLS.

AA, however, DOES make a great TW defensive trap team

You're going to fall more with an Ackbar lead, that's just the way it's gonna be. Having said that, here's what I use that gets me into top 10 when I'm around near payout, sometimes right at the top. All gold bar GK, who is 6* g11.

Ackbar(l), GK, Commander Luke, Ezra and R2. Before I got Luke I used Leia, and once upon a time I was first on the regular, but times changed. I also at one point used Shoretrooper, did a good job but GK is just such a good character.
If you want the a squad that'll let you got at the top and stick around overnight then I won't reccomend it, but if you're looking for a little variation that still gives you a fighting chance then go for it, and good luck.

You are NOT dropping because "people are tired of fighting the same CLS squads".

You are dropping more than usual because mediocre teams can beat this setup when they couldnt beat your normal setup.

Think about it. People climbing for payouts are making max jumps because everyone can beat everyone in top 20 and even top 50. Noone is going to risk needing a refresh to make a short jump to you "because you're different" instead of a max jump.

People may be tempted to try out your team, sure, but once you start falling hard, it is a clear indication that your team can be beaten by many more teams.

Just think of the mechanics of the CLS meta, with raid han 85% counter chance, 50% extra defense for all rebels, thrawn fracture and protection regen, gk lead the charge.

"Mobewan;c-1430374" wrote:
You are NOT dropping because "people are tired of fighting the same CLS squads".

You are dropping more than usual because mediocre teams can beat this setup when they couldnt beat your normal setup.

Think about it. People climbing for payouts are making max jumps because everyone can beat everyone in top 20 and even top 50. Noone is going to risk needing a refresh to make a short jump to you "because you're different" instead of a max jump.

People may be tempted to try out your team, sure, but once you start falling hard, it is a clear indication that your team can be beaten by many more teams.

Just think of the mechanics of the CLS meta, with raid han 85% counter chance, 50% extra defense for all rebels, thrawn fracture and protection regen, gk lead the charge.

This is a contradiction.

If "everyone can beat everyone in the top 20 and even top 50." Then how is anyone able to "beat this setup when they couldn't beat your normal team."

Think about it.

@DedrickRogue

In some shards the top 20 can all beat each other. When i drop to the 20s, thats it. I dont fall any further with my normal team. However, when i put in an offensive team, or CLS with chaze to fight nughtsisters, i can fall much further.

Why do you skip over the part where i said mediocre teams can beat this team but not his other team.

In other shards, much older shards, you will find amazing teams all the way to top 50, all of whom can win max jump battles to #1.

The better your team defensively, the less you will fall. It's that simple. There is no contradiction in what i said. And there is no other explanation of consipiracy theories or cliques needed.

"Mobewan;c-1430392" wrote:
@DedrickRogue

In some shards the top 20 can all beat each other. When i drop to the 20s, thats it. I dont fall any further with my normal team. However, when i put in an offensive team, or CLS with chaze to fight nughtsisters, i can fall much further.

Why do you skip over the part where i said mediocre teams can beat this team but not his other team.

In other shards, much older shards, you will find amazing teams all the way to top 50, all of whom can win max jump battles to #1.

The better your team defensively, the less you will fall. It's that simple. There is no contradiction in what i said. And there is no other explanation of consipiracy theories or cliques needed.

Not really sure what a theory of "people get tired of fighting the same 5 battles every single day for months on end, so if given an opportunity will often attack a different squad" has to do with conspiracy theories or cliques? It's human nature to attempt to alleviate boredom through change of repetition.

It seems more plausible to me then your theory of "people in the top 50 make max attacks with no care as to the squad composition that they face."

I can say this because I for one, only attack CLS or RJT teams, and if someone is running anything else I'll give them a pass, even if it means not making the biggest jump.

@DedrickRogue

Let me summarize and end this back and forth.

I am encouraging the OP to find a better mix of toons that will give better defense. Other people have shown more solid teams in this thread that seem to hold better on defense with Akbar lead.
And most people i know make max jumps unless they have a weaker team and have trouble beating the guy at max jumps.

You are telling him that anything new he tries will get targeted regardless of how good the defense is.

Lets agree to disagree.

EDIT:
You wrote that most players " target anything that deviates from the pack."
Who are you to judge the thoughts and feelings of others?