Surprise Tactics
by Matt Walker

The Imperial fleet hidden on the far side of Endor...
A Rebel strike team hidden on an Imperial Shuttle...
A second Death Star secretly being constructed...

Ever since Hidden Cost was introduced in 2004 with the release of Return of the Jedi, it has been a great theme for decks and a powerful ability to reckon with. The ability to take a unit out of your build zone half built and surprise your opponent with reinforcements for a little Force cost can sometimes turn the tide of battle. It's a shame that the Hidden Cost ability hasn't been available to gamers as long as other powerful abilities like Overkill and Retaliate. The IDC has remedied that situation by producing many cards that feature the Hidden Cost ability. Both the Fall of the Republic and Scum and Villainy expansions featured great cards that utilized Hidden Cost and the upcoming Battle of Endor set will follow suit. Today I am honored to bring to the public two of those cards centered on the great deck theme of Hidden Cost.

The first card I would like to bring your attention to is It's a Trap!

When you play this Dark Side battle card, you are able to provide one of your units with the Hidden Cost ability a power boost  of +4 Power for free! (until end of turn) This card can be very useful when used on powerful units like 501st Legion (A) and Endor Imperial Fleet. It's a Trap! can give these already powerful units an extra punch, which helps when taking down Light Side "tank" units, such as a stacked Luke's X-Wing (E).The Darks Side player has had great units with Hidden Cost for some time now and with the addition of It’s a Trap!, Hidden Cost becomes even more important for the Dark Side player. Of course, when Battle of Endor is released, we'll leave it up to you whether you use Hidden Costs surprise tactics or not.

The second card I would like to preview is a new Location, Sanctuary Moon.

This Neutral Space Location can be used by both Light Side and Dark Side (or completely Neutral) decks. With this Location, you can immediately tap any of your opponent's (or yours for that matter) units that are deployed using Hidden Cost, and at a cost to you of only 1 build point. This card is especially useful when facing an opponent who is exploiting the power of Hidden Cost. When you are facing units like the previously mentioned Endor Imperial Fleet, you can force your opponent to wait a whole turn before they get the chance to lay siege to your arena. With Sanctuary Moon in play you will be able to drastically affect the way your opponent utilizes Hidden Cost and you may be able to get in a few shots yourself too.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed this little preview of the upcoming Battle of Endor expansion. This is just a little taste of many great new cards to be released. Hopefully you will find some great additions to your Hidden Cost decks, as well as others.

Four cards down and six to go, so far we have seen a Ground, Character, Battle and Location cards. Join us next week as we preview the first Space unit and first Equipment card from the upcoming Battle of Endor expansion.

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