Pro:
Magpies' effective range vs. static seems to be about 625 in practice - barely enough to pick off Pickets or Stingers without taking return shots, but with little margin for error. This requires Set Target plus move commands around the edge of its radius.
Magpies are now air's premier Hacksaw-sniper. Two of them easily remove a Hacksaw at no risk of return fire, if they use Set Target and moves to guarantee they won't enter range.
Magpies on Fire command happen to abuse Faradays; they will dearmor in anticipation of shooting, without getting any actual shots, and thus take full damage from a Magpie stream.
Magpies' damage-spreading tricks still work against non-splash AA, except that Flails now KO in one hit. Pickets are vulnerable here too.
Con:
Magpies act pretty stupid on fire command. They fly straight at the target, launch their shot, and only then start to turn away, resulting in them getting much closer to the target than necessary and guaranteeing fatal damage from e.g. Hacksaws
Magpies act very stupid on attack move, in
this case flying straight into a Moderator formation instead of hitting the Moderators from standoff range. But in larger numbers the behavior is even worse, with many Magpies locking onto one target at a time and mostly circling it without shooting due to OKP.
Magpies are still pad hogs for their cost and impact.
Accidentally flying Magpies over armies has become both easier and more punishing.
Conclusion:
Magpies have new strengths, but they only fully show up with specific micro styles - using Set Targets or Fire at Will while micro focuses on Move commands to maintain a minimum distance.
