Deck Builder's Challenge #1
By Nathanael Tripp

Now to what you have all been waiting for… the submissions for the first ever Deck Builders Challenge!! We had a great turnout with five excellent decks being submitted and amazingly, no two are anywhere near the same concept.

Deck Builder's Challenge #1 - Dark Side Damage:
Here are the submissions for the first Deck Builder's Challenge. Please look over each deck and be sure to go to rebelbasers.com and vote for your favorite deck. What you need to be looking for in each deck is a new or innovative way to deal damage outside of direct combat. So don't vote for a deck just because it wins; vote for a deck because it is creative or innovative.

Submission #1 - Corjay
Basic strategy, get out Ty's Geo Speeder (A), draw lots of cards, tutor for a Battle Card that breaks the game completely in half, stall a whole lot, play a Battle Card that breaks the game completely in half, win. Along with this, the idea is to smoke your opponent's Battle cards and Missions so that they can't pull the same surprises on you that you're pulling on them. This deck was the only deck I ever saw where a high card count was forgivable. Of course, you will need to dump any and all non-unit cards in setup to survive setup, but it should go off frequently with the right player.

Character: 14
4x Probot
2x Mas Amedda (A)
2x IT-0 Interrogator Droid
2x San Hill (A)
1x Senator Tikkes (A)
1x Darth Sidious (B)
1x Darth Sidious (E)
1x Ephant Mon (A)

Ground: 13
4x Tyranus's Geonosian Speeder (A)
4x Tatooine Hangar
2x Sebulba's Podracer (A)
2x Commerce Guild Droid 81-X
1x 501st Legion (A)

Space: 14
4x TIE Fighter
4x TIE Interceptor
4x Separatist Buzz Droid
2x Death Star II (A)

Battle: 16
3x Discuss it in Committee
3x Confusion
2x Lando's Influence
2x Vendetta
1x Dismiss
1x Unfriendly Fire
1x Lull in the Fighting
1x Dark Sacrifice
1x Painful Reckoning
1x Imperial Misdirection

Mission: 2
1x Homing Missile
1x Guidance of the Chancellor

Location: 4
3x Cloud City Battleground
1x Occupied Tatooine

Total Cards: 63

Submission #2 - Mengo
Someone asked for damage? That's what they will get. In character you have all kinds of damage manipulation going on with Vader (S), Sidious (E), and LIN Demomech all throwing it around. Ground uses mainly support units, but packs a punch with a pair of PMVD. Space comes out swinging hard with Droid Missiles, TIE Interceptors and Marauder Corvettes. To top it all off you can HC in a few EIF if you feel the need. The Battle cards are all about damage, lots and lots and LOTS of damage. Locations make it easier to flood the board with damage from your Battle cards, and missions help not only with damage but also with force gain.

Character: 12
1x Darth Vader (S)
1x Darth Vader (R)
1x San Hill (A)
1x Ephant Mon (A)
1x Assassin Droid ASN-121
2x Darth Sidious (E)
2x Jabba the Hutt (C)
3x LIN Demolitionmech

Ground: 12
2x Tyranus's Geonosian Speeder (A)
2x Sebulba's Podracer (A)
2x Jawa Sandcrawer
2x Patrol Mode Vulture Droid
4x Jabba's Guards

Space: 12
2x Marauder Class Corvette
3x Endor Imperial Fleet
3x TIE Interceptor
4x Droid Missiles

Battle: 16
2x Dismiss
2x Sneak Attack
2x Imperial Misdirection
2x Unfriendly Fire
4x Snowstorm
4x Lightsaber Throw

Mission: 6
2x Well Earned Meal
4x Homing Missiles

Location: 2
2x Cloud City Battleground

Total Cards: 60

Submission #3 - Marconis Maximus
Basic idea is to use the Painful Reckoning/Emperor's Prize/Brutal Assault combo on your Kouhuns, Blizzard Force Snowtroopers or Droid Missiles to take both the Character and Space arenas. The combo allows you to attack several times with a cheap unit inflicting an average of ten damage each attack. The large number of draw cards allows you to pull this combo off quite easily on both the first and second turn (with Cloud City Battleground the combo only costs 2 force).

Character: 12
4x Blizzard Force Snowtrooper
4x Darth Vader (I)
4x Kouhun

Ground: 12
1x Jabba's Sail Barge (A)
3x Tyranus's Geonosian Speeder (A)
4x Jawa Sandcrawler
4x Jabba's Guards

Space: 12
4x TIE Interceptor
4x Droid Missiles
4x Marauder-Class Corve

Battle: 15
4x Emperor's Prize
4x Brutal Assault
4x Painful Reckoning
1x Vendetta
1x Dismiss
1x Unfriendly Fire

Mission: 4
4x Probe the Galaxy

Location: 5
4x Cloud City Battleground
1x Occupied Tatooine

Total Cards: 60

Submission #4 - Commandant Xerxes
Battle - Unfriendly Fire does damage (and is a requirement for the deck) which can be doubled by Painful Reckoning. With CCBG the total price is down to 7, which is manageable. The Emperor's Prize works well with the Space units in particular, but Kouhun will likely profit... especially if you drop a UF/PR combo on them.

Mission - Deflectors Activated is perfect when playing UF or 'Overloaders' like the DFS-1VR and TUWarship.

Location - Cloud City Battlegrounds makes the Battle Cards affordable. Emperor's Prize is especially useful, as it's free.

Character - Vader and Sidious/Palpatine are there to throw some dice and do some damage. Kouhun is meant to shine, especially with Painful Reckoning, as it can single-handedly knock off a major LS Character. Dash is good both on the Speeders in Ground and as a boost for the TUWarship. Being able to Overload, then P0 E1 is nice... even better with Deflector's Activated AND Painful Reckoning. You roll eight dice with Accuracy, do no damage to yourself and have a large amount of health to boot.

Ground - AT-AT and Patrol Mode Vulture Droids are the hitters here. The AT-AT has the drawback of forcing the enemy to retreat, but that can cost them the arena just as easily as knocking them off. The Ty's Speeder can pull the battle cards and its B version (when coupled with Dash) can be hard to kill... P0 E1 and P1 E2. It's low-health can be risky, but it should last a while. Jabba's Barge is a moderately good draw engine and a speeder, making it friendly to Dash's abilities.

Space - All of the units here (aside from the 9979's) are built for damage output. Droid Starfighters, while suicidal, can put some big hurt on the opposition, especially with Deflector's Activated absorbing their self-damage. Or let them take it with a couple Painful Reckonings and then they come around and do it again, courtesy of Emperor's Prize. Droid Missiles can now put 6, 9, or 12 damage on a unit in a single swoop thanks to Painful Reckoning and, if they're killed, they'll likely come back with the Prize. TU-Warships have a high health for their cost and their self-damage ability can be negated with Dash and Deflector's Activated. The C-9979s are there to give a little more card drawing. And they can outlast a UF/PR slap-to-the-face, possibly turning the tide in your favor if your opponent can't take the hit.

Character: 14
1x Emperor Palpatine (C)
1x Darth Sidious (E)
1x Darth Sidious (H)
1x Darth Vader (I)
1x Darth Vader (S)
2x Darth Vader (R)
2x Darth Vader (C)
2x Dash Rendar (A)
3x Kouhun

Ground: 15
2x Jabba's Sail Barge (A)
2x Tyranus's Geonosian Speeder (B)
3x Tyranus's Geonosian Speeder (A)
4x Patrol Mode Vulture Droid
4x AT-AT

Space: 16
4x Droid Missiles
4x Droid Starfighter DFS-1VR
4x Techno Union Warship
4x Trade Federation C-9979

Battle: 10
4x Emperor's Prize
3x Painful Reckoning
3x Unfriendly Fire

Mission: 4
4x Deflectors Activated

Location: 3
3x Cloud City Battleground

Total Cards: 62

Submission #5 - Grand Moff Nicodemous Fett
Battle cards all around. As well as some damage effects from Vader, Kouhun, and LIN. I thought I would get a little tricky with the battle cards and try for the LSQD combo with Tyranus's Geo Speeder (B). Other then that its all about the combo with your battle cards, and doing more damage than your opponent can handle each turn.

Character: 12
4x Kouhun
3x LIN Demolitionmech
1x Assassin Droid ASN-121 (A)
1x Darth Sidious (E)
1x Darth Vader (S)
1x Darth Vader (R)
1x San Hill (A)

Ground: 12
1x Jabba's Sailbarge (A)
1x Sebulba's Podracer (A)
2x Jawa Sandcrawler
2x Tyranus's Geonosian Speeder (B)
3x Tyranus's Geonosian Speeder (A)
3x Tatooine Hanger

Space: 12
2x Endor Imperial Fleet
3x Droid Missiles
3x TIE Interceptor
4x Marauder Class Corvette

Battle: 16
2x Dismiss
2x Sneak Attack
2x Trap Door!
2x Snowstorm
2x Imperial Misdirection
3x Lightsaber Quick Draw
3x Unfriendly Fire

Mission: 5
2x Well Earned Meal
3x Homing Missiles

Location: 3
3x Cloud City Battleground

Total Cards: 60

Download these decks and other deck articles for LackeyCCG here.

Until next time May the Force be with You.

Please submit all decks to me either by sending me a PM at rebelbasers.com or by e-mailing it to me at Ketricel@msn.com.

Thoughts or comments? Visit the message board thread for this article here.

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.