Can't Touch This
By C. J. Williams

In a dark corner inside Jabba's Palace stands a guard by the name of Tamtel Skreej, with a bladed force pike in hand and wearing protective gear studded with bones. At that moment, one of Jabba's other bodyguards goes to stop someone at the door and is quickly thrown to the ground as a menacing roar sounds. In walks a masked bounty hunter with Wookiee in tow. It is the infamous Boushh with Chewbacca in chains. Tamtel nods toward the bounty hunter. Little does Jabba know that Tamtel Skreej is none other than the famous Lando Calrissian of the battle of Tenav. Later, Lando would have a part in the escape of his buddy Han that leads to Jabba's ignominious demise. In this disguise, Lando has the ability to act in any capacity that a servant of the mighty Jabba is required.

This week we introduce you to the third and fourth spoilers for the Scum and Villainy (SAV) dream card expansion set developed by the Independent Development Committee (IDC) formed by players concerned for the future of the game.

I have the great honor of presenting the first cards to the SWTCG community with the very first keyword ability developed by the IDC. I'm talking about the prestigious Stealth keyword ability. And the first card presented with this ability is our friendly Socarran smuggler/gambler turned Bespin diplomat and businessman, turned Rebel: Lando Calrissian.

The Return of the Jedi set brought us a version of Lando that seemed to exemplify Lando Calrissian as Tamtel Skreej in Lando Calrissian (H), but represents more of the moment at which he fought for his friends on the skiff. The new Lando Calrissian (J) represents Lando in his roll as Tamtel at Jabba's Palace, working under an alias and with Jabba's total trust. Having infiltrated Jabba's Palace under the guise of a member of the Hutt Guardsman's Guild, Lando was in a prime position to take advantage of Jabba's constant need for protection and debt collection, making him an inside man that helped assure the escape of Han and company.

This infiltration has been represented on Lando's card as two abilities. The first, as mentioned, is Stealth. Stealth's ability text reads, "Lando cannot be attacked unless he is tapped." This represents that the stealthy unit loses their cover once they attack the opposition, but cannot be attacked as if revealed if their cover has not yet been exposed. One need of a Stealthy unit is to be slower than other units. This well-represents the care a stealthy unit must take. Only the slower, more observant units can expose and kill the person behind the mask or in the shadows. This is good news for Lando, as his second ability comes in real handy for a unit that is either unrevealed or in need of protection after being found out. First, though, let's explore Stealth for a moment.

New Stealth decks will come as a result of the new Stealth ability, and ambush decks will see a boon. There will also be an infusion of strong, slow units to combat the Stealth menace. This will benefit fog decks as well, allowing players to rely more on tricks in their deck than on the field. Toss in some Discuss it in Committee, and some Confusion, and you could hold a game for some time. Of course, there are provisions in the new set that we made sure would put a check on Stealth and these types of decks. Stealth will undoubtedly become a staple ability for many decks and is a handsome accompaniment to Hidden Cost. In fact, use Lando Calrissian (H) in company with Lando Calrissian (J) and you can do some real damage to your opponent's position. You get to Hidden Cost Lando one turn and then keep him in Stealth the next turn, striking twice before your opponent ever gets a single hit on him, and without letting your faster, stronger units get a hit on him. You could even perform this maneuver a couple times if you pack a few of these versions in your deck.

There's more to Stealth than using it, though. You must also protect yourself against it. As mentioned, there is some protection from Stealth coming in the new set. However, you may need more or prefer less specialized means of protecting yourself. This can come in the form of Blockade {ESB}, Blockade {TPM}, and damage effects. Trap Door! and Log Trap could be especially useful. Tapping units may also see a rise in popularity.

Along with Stealth, when Lando takes out a unit, he gets their ability text next round. This could be great for taking out units like San Hill (A), where Lando could gain you 2 build, though this would expose Lando for the round and he would therefore likely need a little protection. Or he could acquire protection from a unit with Armor, Parry, Evade, or any other ability. This would not, however, include abilities granted by other cards such as Equipment, as Lando's ability specifically addresses "ability text". That is, the text written on the card he caused to be discarded. With this little kicker ability, though, your opponent would appreciate the opportunity to prevent Lando from succeeding in such endeavors.

Our second card for discussion is Mind Trick. Yep, that great Jedi ability that causes the weak-minded to succumb to a Jedi's will. Of course, the mind trick isn't just the tool of the Jedi. A good fast-talker can get a person to think what they want them to think with a few well-placed words and twisted reasoning. With Mind Trick, you can render the activated abilities of one of your opponent's units completely useless with only 1 Force, equivalent to the simple wave of a hand. This card isn't great for protecting your units from Jedi abilities like Darth Vader (S)'s auto-damage ability, or the many activated damage and discard abilities of Emperor Palpatine, or stop them from protecting themselves, but you can use this card to keep your opponent from benefiting from the abilities of their non-Jedi units such as diplomats and even from using your own abilities with Lando Calrissian (J). For its cheap cost, you might find it hard to keep this card out of your deck.

All told, there are fifteen Stealth units, one Stealth-granting card, two Stealth-canceling cards, and two cards to assist units with Stealth. Join us next week to analyze the arena-clearing, gun-toting Dash Rendar (B).

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About the Author
C. J. has been a player of the game since 2003 and is currently the Text Finalization Leader of the IDC Rules Sub-committee. He has written seven articles for Rebelbasers.com and is the SWTCG Hope of the Jedi tournament coordinator and founder of the Free-League. C. J. Williams has been a member of both the Wizards and Rebelbasers forums since January of 2004, posting under the name Corjay.