That Little Droid Did It!
By Nathanael Tripp

Welcome everyone to the official launch of the IDC's first set Fall of the Republic (FotR). We are proud to bring you a very unique set in the SWTCG universe. It has a strong focus on strengthening the dark sides growing power and provides some new staples for using against the "corrupt" light side.

This deck article featuring cards from the new set will focus on the evil mastermind behind the fall of the republic… Emperor Palpatine. Ever since Emperor Palpatine (D) was released many people have been trying to use him to good effect with dark sides abundant force gain. But it never clicked the way it could have, now though we have an insanely viable way to keep the Emperor in fit and fighting form.

The newest superstar from FotR is the DD-13 Medical Droid. For three build you get a unit that is 20 speed, 1 power, and 3 health. Seems rather unimpressive, but it's the ability that this little guy packs that sweetens the deal. You can discard this little guy and remove ALL damage from one of your Jedi or Sith characters. No more choosing between evading or taking damage because of the force cost in relation to the Emperor's stats. Now you can use Emperor Palpatine like a roll of Bounty paper towels and have him be your damage quicker picker upper. So now that we have the basic synergy in our deck to keep the Emperor alive lets take a look at the rest of the deck and see how it comes together.

Character: (13)
4x DD-13 Medical Droid
3x Emperor Palpatine (D)
1x Emperor Palpatine (E)
1x Emperor Palpatine (C)
2x Darth Vader (R)
1x San Hill (A)
1x Tion Medon (A)

Character has seven slots already occupied by Emperor Palpatine and the DD-13. Also needed to keep the deck from falling flat on its face in setup are a few version of the Emperor to stack. Otherwise you will lose your very costly Emperor when the turn starts because you have no force. So throwing in the © and (E) versions of Emperor Palpatine is a rather good idea. The next choice for character is almost made for use in Darth Vader (R). Vader is just too good not to run 2-3 copies of (to keep your draws consistent), plus the main downfall of Emperor Palpatine is the Spirit Deck. He just cannot deal the damage necessary to kill a spirit no matter how much force you have. Vader on the other hand with his unpreventable damage can mop the floor with spirits. The last two cards in the character arena are super stars in their own rights. San Hill (A) has been a staple card since AotC with his amazing +2bp just for tapping ability, and with this deck you are going to need all the BP you can muster. Tion Medon (A) has that wow factor that comes along every now and then and just screams at you to play this card. His ability lets you look at a face down card in your opponents build zone AND remove a build counter from it. Not only do you gain a tactical advantage by knowing what your opponent is building, but you also hurt him in the building of reinforcements. With the setup this deck is running in character you should be able to deal with most anything that is thrown your way.

Ground: (12)
4x Commerce Guild Droid 81-X
4x Crab Droid
2x Patrol Mode Vulture Droid
1x 501st Legion (A)
1x Grevious' Wheelbike (A)

Ground has always been a strong arena for dark side, and it continues to get stronger. With the inclusion of the 501st Legion (A) the dark side now has a very strong Hidden Cost unit in every arena. Pair this with Patrol Mode Vulture and you can lockdown ground with just two units. But don't count the rest of the units out as just filler units; they can dish out quite a beating. Commerce Guild Droid 81-X's have been a unit of choice lately because of their cheap cost and efficient Ion Cannon ability. The Crab Droid from FotR is one of those units that while not a ground breaking improvement over other DS ground units offers a little speed that DS needs. Speaking of speed Grievous' Wheelbike has more than enough to attack first and get its hits in. Other than the two podracers there is nothing to compare to the 70 speed this unit is packing. Now that we have these two arena's pinned down we need to switch to the most troublesome arena for DS, space.

Space: (13)
4x TIE Interceptor
3x Droid Tri-Fighter Squadron
3x Buzz Droid Swarm
2x Endor Imperial Fleet
1x Grevious' Starfighter (A)

The TIE Interceptor and Endor Imperial Fleet have been standard DS space units for sometime now. They are very efficient in the roles they play and are too valuable to be replaced. Grievous gets yet another fancy vehicle in his Starfighter which will see a lot of play from now on. The final two units in the arena are two need additions from FotR that are exactly what are needed. The Buzz Droid Swarm has the ability to deal lethal damage to any Starfighter LS can play, and with a solid speed and power, this unit can hold its own. The Droid Tri-Fighter Squad is another efficient unit that DS was lacking and will see quite a bit of play in the coming months.

Battle: (6)
3x Dismiss
3x Lightsaber Throw

Disrupt is a must in a deck that relies heavily on Mission cards, just one well placed Foil can ruin your day. And Lightsaber Throw can take out not only a pesky character but get rid of any location in the character arena that is giving you fits such as Cloud City Dining Hall in combination with Falcon (F).

Mission: (11)
4x Palpatine's Teachings
3x Capture Obi-Wan
3x Jedi Masters Meditation
1x Emperor's Bidding

Here is where your plans for domination start. Capture Obi-Wan and Jedi Masters Meditation are just what the doctor ordered to gain force quickly to fuel Emperor Palpatine (D). There is a new force gain card of choice though in Palpatine's Teachings. It lets you gain force equal to the number of damage counters on one of your Jedi or Sith characters. Let Emperor Palpatine (D) soak up all the damage, play Palpatine's Teachings to pump him up even bigger then play a DD-13 Medical Droid and remove all damage from Palpatine. The last mission card in the deck is a single copy of Emperor's Bidding. Not only does it fit the theme of the deck, but it also is a good failsafe incase you can't quite win and your opponent doesn't have a Jedi in play.

Equipment: (2)
2x Lightsaber Collection (A)

This card will be the reason to run Sith in abundance. It has no draw backs, any of the abilities are great. And on the chances you roll a 6 you will have a super powered Jedi killing machine.

Location: (2)
2x Imperial Medical Facility

This location is really nice for getting as much damage as possible on Palpatine before using his teachings to gain force like crazy. It also keeps your other characters healthy, mainly Vader.

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About the Author
Nathanael has been a player since May 2002 and is currently the Playtesting Chairperson and a member of the IDC Board. He has written a number of articles for Wizards of the Coast and has been very active with the SWTCG Hope of the Jedi tournament. Nathanael Tripp has been a member of both the Wizards and Rebelbasers forums since January of 2002, posting under the name Ketricel.