Is a non-Phoenix route now viable?

You can't start with a Geo team purely because you can't reach the final stage of cantina battles at the start of the game, and they suck without the Alpha.

Yeah, the reason Phoenix are great as a beginner squad is not only because they unlock quite a few powerful ships and characters in the game, but that they’re extremely easy to farm.

"YaeVizsla;c-1907393" wrote:
Non-Phoenix starts have been viable for a hot minute now. Just rockier and it sucks when you have to double back and build Phoenix anyways to get Palp, Thrawn, and Chimaera.

But it's mostly not by the means you list, OP. A lot of what you list requires you to reach the end of the table first. GBA is near the end of the cantina table. Same with Talzin and Zombie who make Nightsisters work. Hunters are not really a reliable go to team until you get Bossk and/or Jango. GR isn't really a solid team until Padme who is not a reasonable early game goal. Separatist droids require a very strong fleet and

Even a lot of the early access teams are available significantly later than Phoenix, to the point where there's little reason to not at least work on them first.

First Order is the main viable early game alternative.

This. There are multiple other options for early game, but the thing you have to consider for early game is farmability. That's why phoenix is #1, because you can show up to arena battles with 3/5 (Ezra, hera, chopper) already unlocked, unlock Kanaan very shortly afterward, and Zeb 2 days after you hit level 40. The main alternative is First Order, since KRU is easily farmable and gives you potential access to a geared and starred ship once you hit level 60 (the main advantage they have over phoenix). You can also start out with Jedi, if you're willing to purchase a bastila pack, by farming Old Ben, Ezra, Kanaan and Ahsoka. With her rework they're probably one of the best early-game teams available, though they don't give you as much for ships as either phoenix or FO. BH would be great, but unless you're willing to fork out big bucks for the fancy pack that comes during the Chewbacca legendary, they're very hard to access in the early game. So for a strictly FTP, I'd probably stick with either Phoenix or FO.

When I started over a year ago, I more or less went straight for BHs. While it only barely got me into top 100 in arena, it was a blast anyway. Also got me 7* chewie before anyone else in my shard, which was a killer when he released

You will miss out on so much things if you don't go for Phoenix first. This way never was meant to bring you somewhere with the speed of light but to get every legendary toon at some point. What you describe is way to focused for a beginner and will bring him/her nowhere close to a well built roster, it will only lead to always chasing the meta but never to reach it.

TL/DR: No.

This only works if you already have a main account with a good guild and you manage to a get a new account in there
No top guild is going to recruit a low GP starter player just because they have geos, especially since you need a full G12 geo squad to even try to succeed with them in TB.
Focusing on GR fleet on a starter account is also a waste of resources. Again, only top guild will unlock Negotiator relatively soon. A new player, even if they get in a guild that tries Geo TB, will probably not have Negotiator within a year. And that meta will be on its way out by then.

Bounty Hunters are a solid secondary team for a beginning player, but by neglecting Phoenix, you delay progress toward Thrawn, Palpatine, R2, CLS, & Yoda. That’s a lot to give up.

Also, most of the other teams you propose are end-game stand alone teams that are difficult to farm and must be at gear 12-13 with zetas to be usable. Such teams would be incredibly difficult for a new player to obtain and even harder to use properly without considerable spending.

I would still go Phoenix to start because the beginning of the game is really the only place where Phoenix can be used for more than just getting Thrawn. They won't give you the top spot (whales will always buy the meta off the hop), but they'll keep you relevant until you're ready to move on.

Building a Phoenix team later in the game (like I did) just to get Thrawn is painful even though they're very accessible and easy to farm.

But after Phoneix, I would bite the bullet and start on Revan. I say bite the bullet because the fact that it's mostly hard node farming means you'll be farming them for a while to get them to 7*. But once you have him, you'll be so far ahead of everyone else at your level, it's sickening.

Non-Phoenix starts have been viable for a hot minute now. Just rockier and it sucks when you have to double back and build Phoenix anyways to get Palp, Thrawn, and Chimaera.

But it's mostly not by the means you list, OP. A lot of what you list requires you to reach the end of the table first. GBA is near the end of the cantina table. Same with Talzin and Zombie who make Nightsisters work. Hunters are not really a reliable go to team until you get Bossk and/or Jango. GR isn't really a solid team until Padme who is not a reasonable early game goal. Separatist droids require a very strong fleet and

Even a lot of the early access teams are available significantly later than Phoenix, to the point where there's little reason to not at least work on them first.

First Order is the main viable early game alternative.