Ket's Deck Clinic #7
By Nathanael Tripp

I was actually inspired to do this deck by some ideas that Mixmaster was posting on Rebelbasers.com. There, he was talking about how abusive the Falcon could be in Space with Vehicle Shields Packages equipped. As is my usual mindset, I took that idea of Shield abuse and went wild with it. What that culminated into was what I feel could be a huge deck, and it could even make cards that strip away Shields very useful. Here is the basic premise for the deck:

Character: (13)
3x R2-D2 (K)
3x Princess Leia (G)
2x Princess Leia (I)
1x Nien Numb (A)
1x Dash Rendar (A)
1x Lando Calrissian (I)
1x Finis Valorum (B)
1x Yoda (E)

Generally, I do not advise giving up an arena; instead, even if it’s just one good fighting unit, I will try to give myself a chance to win in all three arenas. With this deck, it is totally different. Character is almost a complete give away since you are running all support units or Pilots. R2-D2 (K) is the key card to search out your Equipment. Without him, this deck would be hurting. Finis Valorum (B) and Princess Leia (G) and (I) are used for their excellent build-gain potential, which is something you will need a lot of, because the Equipment in this deck is not cheap. Lando Calrissian (I), Nien Numb (A), and Dash Rendar (A) are three of the best Pilots in the game and can greatly boost your chances in Space. Yoda (E) is one of those iffy units. He isn’t a key to the deck and you could do without him, but he helps and can affect the game greatly. Don’t worry though; while you are giving up solid attack Characters, you can still give yourself a strong chance to win in this arena. But we will get to that a little later.

Ground: (13)
4x Fambaa Shield Beast
3x Kaadu Scout
3x Gungan Catapult
3x Jawa Sandcrawler

In Ground, I take a page from a previous deck article and use a Gungan Ground arena setup. The focal unit for Ground is the Fambaa Shield Beast; these slow creatures are some of the most powerfully defensive units that you will find. Granting Shields 1 to all Gungan Ground units is amazing. What makes it even better is the quality of Gungan units such as the Kaadu Scout who can tap to grant your Gungan units Accuracy 1. This bonus becomes even more important when combined with the Gungan Catapult which can untap once per turn and attack again. It’s bonus against Droids makes it even better because your main threat will be Patrol Mode Vulture Droid, which a Catapult can easily take out with multiple attacks per turn. Lastly, we have the staple of every deck; the Jawa Sandcrawler. With the focus on Shields in this deck, you could possibly have one of your Gungan units with Shields 8, meaning that a Patrol Mode Vulture Droid is little more than an overpriced attack absorber.

Space: (12)
3x Modified YV-330 (A)
3x Millennium Falcon (E)
1x Millennium Falcon (A)
1x Millennium Falcon (J)
1x Millennium Falcon (D)
1x Luke’s X-Wing (B)
1x Luke’s X-Wing (C)
1x Luke’s X-Wing (E)

Modified YV-330 (A) has always been a favorite of mine for its cheap cost and Shields 2, but just think if you equip four Vehicle Shields Packages to the YV-330 (A). Then you have a unit with Shields 6 and Shields 6 in Space is basically like saying “All you have against me is the Death Star II!!!” True, your opponent can still use Droid Missiles, but with Dismiss and units with 60+ speed, you should be safe. The Millennium Falcon is an amazing unit, add Overkill to its already impressive abilities and it becomes a real threat. Luke’s X-Wing is another one of those units that you can’t help but fall in love with. It is cheap, effective, and, above all else, really hard to kill.

Battle: (12)
3x Discuss it in Committee
3x Trap Door!
3x Dismiss
3x Pilot’s Dodge

Drum roll, please…. I would like to announce that I am using the same Battle cards I always use. I really need to get out of my rut don’t I?… It’s just so good of a rut though, ha-ha. Actually, I am bringing back an older card for this deck that hasn’t seen much play lately but used to be a star in most every deck. Pilot’s Dodge is a good card, it isn’t High Speed Dodge, but I needed something to help with damage prevention in Ground where I am running rather slow units so Pilot’s Dodge fit the bill nicely.

Mission: (4)
3x Homing Missiles
1x Explore the Swamps

Explore the Swamps is a standard card for any Light Side deck running Locations. It is one of those cards that are just too good to pass up. Homing Missile on the other hand has had its hot and cold spurts since it was released. What makes it better in this deck is the fact that it lets you deal with pesky units that could cause you a major headache such as Droid Missiles, TIE Interceptors, any support Character, and it also gives you some extra punch in dealing with your opponents Ground units.

Location: (3)
2x Cloud City Battleground
1x Lars Homestead

Cloud City Battleground is an amazing card and I just seem to like it more and more as I play it. There are so many cards that it takes from being middle of the pack to wonderful just by making them cost two less. Also it lets you play multiple high cost cards per turn, such as two Trap Doors. Lar’s Homestead is more of a throw in card, it’s nice to have but you don’t need it to win. Mainly it was just a way to help lower the build curve of the deck some.

Equipment: (5)
4x Vehicle Shields Package
1x Sonic Charges

Lastly, we come to the central strategy behind this deck: the Vehicle Shields Package. This is one of the more expensive Equipment, but for good reason. Giving a unit Shields 1 is big, taking away one power from every attack against the equipped unit. Playing multiple Shield Packages just increases the abuse, especially when the unit already has Shields of its own. Sonic Charges is a great card for equipping to the Millennium Falcon (E) as it gives you Overkill, not only in Space, but also in Character; letting you decimate two of your opponents arenas with a single unit.

Total Cards: 62

Two words summarize this deck: HOLY CRUD!!! I really feel that if someone can make this deck just a tiny bit more consistent that it will be breaking some records for how strong a deck can truly be. The best part is that it does so in a way that hasn’t been tried before and that is what makes this deck so interesting to me.

As always, if you have an interesting or quirky deck, one that utilizes a forgotten subtype or an overlooked strategy or interaction, or if you just want to make your deck better please e-mail it to me at ketricel@msn.com.

Download this deck and other deck articles for LackeyCCG here.

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

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About the Author
Nathanael has been a player since May 2002 and is currently taking time off from the IDC and Playtesting for personal reasons. 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 also been a member of both the Wizards and Rebelbasers forums since January of 2002, posting under the name Ketricel.