Lanius B is good because boarding is good, not because it's any particularly good at boarding. If it had some real support for boarding, say hacking instead of MC or a beam to go with the flak, then it would be the top tier that everyone thinks it is. As-is, it's the same as any other 2-man boarder and vulnerable to the same weaknesses like a clone bay disaster, with only small upsides in boarding autoscouts or other Lanius. And Lanius crew being unable to heal via clone bay airlock therapy is a significant inconvenience, you start a lot of fights under full health, if someone doesn't recognize that problem then they're an armchair pilot who hasn't actually tried it in practice. 
Drones vs hacking on a boarder... I'd say hacking has more upside but DD1 has more anti-downside and that's what matters at our skill level. DD1 plugs more loss vulnerability in more worst-case scenarios, vs super shields and also clone bay disasters or just general attrition. When I buy drones, it's in that critical stretch around sector 3 when I need that worst-case protection more than anything else, and don't have cloaking yet to cover some of the missile defense. And when I don't yet have enough drone parts to spend one for hacking every fight - value per drone part spent is also a factor and favors DD1. The boarders themselves also matter, crystals with lockdown don't need hacking. Finally, drone control can also mean you get to use a sys-repair or anti-personnel or anti-drone or something else useful. I'd definitely agree that L3 hacking > drones and therefore vs the flagship, but it's a long way until you can afford that.
Drones vs hacking on a boarder... I'd say hacking has more upside but DD1 has more anti-downside and that's what matters at our skill level. DD1 plugs more loss vulnerability in more worst-case scenarios, vs super shields and also clone bay disasters or just general attrition. When I buy drones, it's in that critical stretch around sector 3 when I need that worst-case protection more than anything else, and don't have cloaking yet to cover some of the missile defense. And when I don't yet have enough drone parts to spend one for hacking every fight - value per drone part spent is also a factor and favors DD1. The boarders themselves also matter, crystals with lockdown don't need hacking. Finally, drone control can also mean you get to use a sys-repair or anti-personnel or anti-drone or something else useful. I'd definitely agree that L3 hacking > drones and therefore vs the flagship, but it's a long way until you can afford that.