Dance
with the Devil
By
Cody Barnett
With
a graceful twirl that leaves the audience awe-struck, the young
girl finishes the dance before the great dais of Jabba the Hutt.
He booms with approval, requesting an encore. She knows this isn't
truly a request; she either dances or she dies. The choice is
simple.
What the fat
slug doesn't know is that the girl in front of him, under the
alias Arica, is secretly Mara Jade, one of Emperor Palpatine's
Hands. Jade is strikingly beautiful, overtly intelligent, and
deadly as venom. As it is with all of the Emperor's most trusted
minions, she has the blood of several of Palpatine's enemies on
her hands; steepled in the teachings of treachery, manipulation,
and stealth, Jade has become one of the Sith's most successful
assassins. Under the New Order, only those submissive to the Dark
Lord survive; understanding this clearly, her sole duty is to
obey the word of Palpatine.
"You must
kill Luke Skywalker."—Emperor Palpatine
In his maddening
quest to eradicate the Jedi Order, Emperor Palpatine had many
of his cronies in search of the spawn of his apprentice; Luke
Skywalker. Mara Jade was no exception, for she too was sucked
into the Sith's obsession with ultimate revenge.
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Knowing all
too well that Skywalker's compassion would lead him to attempt
to free Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt, the Emperor
sends Jade on a special mission to infiltrate the gangster's palace.
Located on the backwater planet of Tatooine, the Hutt's palace
is a stinking pit of the galaxy's foulest scum; crime thrives
in the dark, mysterious corridors of the former monastery. It
is here that the young Mara Jade slips past the defenses of even
the most alert bodyguards to become Arica. But even all her skills
cannot stop what is destined to happen through the will of the
Force. A fellow dancer, Melina Carniss, suspected Jade of attempting
to assassinate the Hutt and had her imprisoned, preventing her
from following Luke to the Sarlacc Pit. As a result, Skywalker
and the Rebels escaped, leaving Jade to face the displeasure of
her Master, Palpatine.
Behind
the Scenes
With the release of Scum and Villainy, players get to put a new
Mara Jade to the test. Originally, Scum and Villainy contained
two versions of Mara Jade - one "fighter" and a more reserved
"dancer." As the editing process continued over the next several
weeks, Card Development had to make a crucial decision. Should
both be in the set, or could we somehow have one all-powerful,
awe-inspiring card? The anticipation of a new Mara Jade was well
on the designers' minds when the newest version was just being
born; Jade had to live up to her legacy in the world of the TCG.
And so the cogs of sharp minds began to turn, and together, Card
Development thought that it would be best to combine them into
one potent Mara Jade for the public to absorb in awe. Thus, we
produced a new shining diamond. Satisfied with the results, the
sub-committee passed it on for further review.
Mara Jade
in Action
Debatably the best version to be made, Mara Jade (C) packs a powerful
punch and a heavy defense. Sporting an average 50-5-4 stats, Jade
beats out the average 6 build card. She proves a difficult target
to hit, boasting two of the newest mechanics in the game. Though
her speed seems to belie the new Stealth ability, the beautiful
assassin comes equipped with a speed-reducing ability to compensate.
She also sports Parry, causing those who roll disastrously to
pay. Should these defenses fail, Mara Jade (C) has yet another
way to stay alive, using her moderately priced Deflect 1 to both
continue her use and inflict more damage on your opponent, even
from the shadows.
The Emperor's
Hand is increasingly dangerous when coupled with the pride and
joy of the Imperial Navy, the Executor (A). Since she is an Imperial,
Mara picks up the power bonus, allowing her to put the Jedi out
of their misery and the Rebel scum in the place they belong. Fans
of Imperial decks don't want to miss out on this amazing new Character.
The impact
this card has had on the community is evident. Since the set's
release, Mara Jade has found herself in several Imperial and Stealth
decks, dancing away the Jedi one by one. "This is a very nicely
created card that can hold its own very well in the Character
arena." Quoted from Steven Lupa, better known to the Star Wars
TCG community as Obi-Wan 21, one of the three administrators of
Rebelbasers.
Hopefully,
this article has shown you the usefulness of such a vicious beauty
and, perhaps even more importantly, just why she is so literally
breath taking.
Thoughts
or comments? Visit the message board thread for this article here.
About
the Author
Cody has been
a collector of the game since its beginning in 2002. Due to lack
of interest in his community, he did not begin playing until he
joined the Rebelbasers online community in 2003. He is an avid
Star Wars fan and enjoys the Trading Card Game. Currently, he
is the Chairman of the Card Creation IDC sub-committee. He still
posts on Rebelbasers under the screenname of Grand Moff Nicodemus
Fett.
