Michaela Freeman would rip must mechs apart out there

I agree with hakkenshi, but would divide by weight class in a nod to CBT. How 'bout it gang? Light, medium, heavy, and assault class standouts?

Sounds good.

LIGHT: Janis Novacat, DF Raider, Katsu Moriyama, A. Kirasawa

MEDIUM: Any Dasher II, BR Lego, Kendrick Fetladral, Mason Dunne

HEAVY: Andre Crawford, Federick Bo, Antonia Chinn

ASSAULT: OEJ, Erin Johnston, Declan Devalis, Bounty Hunter, Geoff Bekker

BEST HARASSING SKILLS: Shin Wolf

BEST SNIPING SKILLS: Decan Devalis

BEST SURVIVABILITY:SC Shockwave

BEST DAMAGE POTENTIAL:Jacyn Bell

BEST PUSHABILITY:Meclian Tetro

BEST COMBINATION OF WEAPONS:Geo Kane

BEST OVERALL COMBINATION OF SEs:Erin Johnsten

BEST COST-EFFECTIVENESS:Yuri Mashnovaska

BEST ARMOURED BRUTE:OEJ

BEST PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE MECH: Paladin Johan Levin

I'm not a huge Declan Devalis fan. Sure, for his points, he's a total monster, but that Attack 10 just doesn't cut it for the modern assault 'Mech, especially when you consider that the foundation of his nastiness (Pulse) really requires a high Attack to reach its full potential. Geoff Bekker, Jacyn Bell ... better units IMHO.

Ever since the FAQ everyone at my venues has been arguing over this very topic. The general concensus has been to split it by faction.

Liao - Catalina Trujillo - AWE
Liao - 2nd - Jacyn Bell - Highlander Burial

BR - OEJ - Ouch
BR - 2nd - Stephani Ehli - nails in coffin

DF - Bounty Hunter - Does anything need to be said?
DF - Varied

SC - Arnis - in spite of everything he remains on top
SC - Marauder II (Declan?) - JoustMech

SW - Semi-Surprising - ForestryMech MOD - an army of three shreddded all comers for several weeks. Very annoying!
SW - 2nd - Tied - Kodiak - 360 arc 14" range ouch
SW - 2nd - Tied - Kendrick Fetladral - see above

SS - Blade (Senn?) - a usable mech with decent stats and a heat dial that doesn't immediately blow the mech up.
SS - 2nd - I won't embarass myself by putting words to this one.

ROTS - Skariah Paragon - This one wins consistently for RoTS at my venues. It seems to simply be charmed.
ROTS - 2nd - Paldin Jonah Levin - Beatstick

HL - there were no HL players who would admit to playing HL and scouting the stats.

Some of the mechs like the SW ForestryMech MOD are specific to the venues and probably (probably?) won't be respected outside of the venues but when you have a ten year old consistently handing all comers their collective heads some minimum respect is due. That or an inquisition into the kid's dice. Anyway lampoon at will guys!

On that not I will mention the best HL mechs (mind you I mostly agree with your analysis of other factions).

Light: Joel Brane/Tara Bishop. I haven't used Tara but hear good things; I HAVE used Joel Brane to good effect.

Medium: no great HL mechs here.

Heavy: Caden Senn all the way.
2nd: Now with the new charge rule, the Shockwave is a potent force and at least not THAT attractive to a charge; not great but still quite decent.

Assault: Oh boy there are a lot. Gotta go with Eriabee Childs as #1. Just a beast; 5 damage energy to pound most big targets and AnP for the infantry; bring it on, bee-yotch.
2nd: Despite criticisms, I have had good experiences with Dominic Voeller (Cygnus) when properly used. Also, if you know how to use Joel Nguyen (ie avoid basing with agility mechs) then he is one really solid mech for his points.
3rd TIE: Leela Banach is pretty darn nasty despite her tendency to spontaneously explode
3rd TIE: again with the new charge fix, Melicien Tetro is decent; could be better for that point cost, but playable if you know how.

If you play faction pure then HL is a quite attractive option; while not perfect at anything, HL has something that can do decent at anything. Use it right and you'll win; I've beaten non faction pure opposition with HL faction pure armies and the players were not slouches. HL is a surprisingly strong faction, if you know how to use them.

On a side note, I must say that Declan Devalis is one of the fiercest mechs in the new set; a player at my venue has him and is a major problem to fight while using him (have faced that sucker several times in fun games, and won less than half of the time, albeit two of those games were with SS armies featuring Shenetta and a Crimson Hawk -good mechs for their class but mismatched against Declan).