I think people are giving you false information so you dont one shot them. lol
A g12 Poe can 1 shot a fully g12 geared tfp. Will he do it every single time?...no. But he can and will do it often.
when your in the top ranks though and especially going against a good reaper, I no longer go after tfp. in fact. I leave tfp for very last. The AI isn't going to play the same as you do and let's face it, once your in the top 5 it's just a pure RNG fest since all of your ships are probably going to be maxed and at the same speed as your opponent.