Mighty Wingman
By Ryan Searby

This week, the IDC continues to provide behind the scenes looks at the creative processes that brought about the cards in its newest expansion for the Star Wars Trading Card Game: Scum and Villainy. In keeping with the theme established over the previous two articles, this week we will take a look at another unit card from the Star Wars Expanded Universe (EU) that the Card Development Sub-Committee (CD) felt was essential to include in an expansion such as Scum and Villainy: The Zoomer (A).

The Zoomer made its debut into the Star Wars EU with the release of the Star Wars: Starfighter video game. While the Zoomer and its pilot, Reti, are not playable characters in the game, they play an integral role in its plot. In it, Reti teams up with Vana Sage, a mercenary piloting the Guardian Mantis, Nym, a pirate flying a prototype bomber named the Havoc (see last week’s article), and Rhys Dallows, a rookie member of Naboo’s Bravo flight. Together they help put a stop to the Trade Federation’s invasion of Naboo.

Behind the Scenes
When developing the card, CD changed very little of its text from the original concept. The Bounty ability was added because CD wanted to show that the Zoomer (and its pilot) were known for turning junk into profit. This also provided a way of giving players a rarely seen card that grants a Bounty, but is not also burdened by an additional cost of Upkeep. Towards the end of development of the set there was a little debate over whether the subtype of the card should actually be changed to “Transport” instead of “Starfighter”. This debate came very late in the development process however, (after Graphic Design (GD) had already made the card) and even though “Transport” is probably a better choice of a subtype of the Zoomer (A), CD felt it would not impact game play too greatly and would also just be easier to keep the card as a “Starfighter”.

The biggest snag that the IDC ran into with this card was finding a quality image to use for it. There is little to no artwork done of the Zoomer, and the pictures that GD did find were typically horribly pixilated screen shots from the video game. Originally, GD was going to settle with one of these shots for the card image, but thanks to some great investigation by one member of the IDC, we were able to find a couple pictures that were not as poorly pixilated and used the more attractive one in the card’s final design.

The Zoomer is not well equipped for fighting and Reti himself is actually quite skittish. As a result, Reti does little actual ship to ship fighting. What Reti and the Zoomer do provide, however, is great support to their allies. CD wanted to capture that essence in their depiction of the Toydarian’s mighty mite starfighter.

  He’s Got Your Back
The Zoomer (A)’s stats reflect its relative lack of firepower. At 30 Speed in the Space arena, the Zoomer (A) is not going to be able to shoot first against anything save perhaps the Death Star. Likewise, its 3 power and 3 health are not going to out-duel much more than a droid starfighter. The Zoomer’s abilities however, are a different story.

The Zoomer (A)’s tap ability to provide any starfighter with +3 power for an attack cannot be underestimated. Imagine giving Luke’s X-wing (B), with its Critical Hit 4, a +3 power boost. Now you are much more likely to roll that 6 and inflict a devastating blow on your opponent. Or how about teaming the Zoomer (A) up with the Havoc (A)? You now get (with no other modifiers) a Bombard capability (7) that rivals that of the Death Star II (A) at 10. You can rain fiery death down on your opponent’s ground units from the safety of the space arena. Not to mention that, because the Zoomer (A) is neutral, you can add it to either your Light Side or Dark Side decks. Isn’t that worth the card’s measly 4 build cost?

Hopefully, this article was able to provide you with some valuable information on this little-known member of the Star Wars universe. The Zoomer may be a small player in the grand scheme, but as it is said, big things come in small packages. Be sure to use this mighty little starfighter in your games and watch what a big impact it can have for you!

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

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About the Author
Ryan Searby has been playing the Star Wars Trading Card Game since January 2005, and a member of the Rebelbasers community since August of that year. While relatively new to the game, he has been a workgroup associate for the Card Development Sub-committee of the IDC since its inception. He posts on the Rebelbasers forums as “pocketaces98”.