Diplomatic Immunity
By Clay O'dell

No one can forget the scene that started the entire Star Wars saga – the fateful battle in the heavens between the Tantive IV and an Imperial Star Destroyer. After the short battle, the heavily outnumbered diplomatic cruiser is taken in by the Star Destroyer, where the Rebel troopers valiantly defend their ship and their Princess against the Imperial troops.

In the chaos of blasters flying, Rebels getting choked, R2-D2 receiving secret plans, and a lovely lady stunned to the ground, it’s hard to remember every word of dialogue. However, one little line from this stage-setting scene became the basis for an excellent card in the IDC expansion, Scum and Villainy.

During Darth Vader’s deadly interrogation of Captain Antilles, the captain of the diplomatic cruiser claims that the Tantive IV is on a diplomatic mission. Darth Vader, knowing that Princess Leia has the plans to the Death Star aboard the ship, responds to Antilles’ lie by shouting “If this is a consular ship, where is the ambassador?”

This little quote evolved into the Scum and Villainy card Consular Ship. A consular ship is simply a diplomatic vessel, with its own ambassador. Utilizing the Diplomat subtype, a consular ship can translate well into the Star Wars Trading Card Game. Seeing as the Card Development Sub-committee not only enjoys creating brand new strategies and techniques, but also enjoys strengthening existing themes; creating a Consular Ship was an easy choice.

Creating the Card
Consular Ship was one of the few cards that did not change much in the card creation phase. There were some minor rewording issues on the Reserves ability, but for the most part, Consular Ship hardly changed at all from its original submission.

One of Card Development’s goals is to revisit past abilities as best as we can. Instead of having Consular Ship’s prevention ability as a normal mechanic where the unit would tap, we decided to use Reserves. Not only is Reserves not seen very often, making it an ability that Card Development definitely wanted to include, but it represents diplomacy well. Consular ships are used to not only transport Diplomats, but provide backup if necessary. Reserves illustrates this perfectly.

Consular Ship’s Reserves ability allows Consular Ship to tap to prevent two damage to one of your Characters, or three damage to one of your Diplomat Characters. Yoda (E)’s similar and very popular Reserves ability shows just how useful free damage prevention can be. In conjunction with Padmé Amidala (H) and Rapid Recovery, Consular Ship will ensure that your opponent will have a tough time taking out your Diplomat Characters.

Spreading the Love
In the Fall of the Republic expansion, the Independent Development Committee spread the Diplomat subtype from the Character arena to the Ground arena with Bail’s Speeder (A), but we wanted to take this a step further. The Consular Ship is the first Space unit to have the Diplomat subtype, so it can benefit from cards such as Padmé Amidala (H) and Support in the Senate. On the other hand, though, Consular Ship is susceptible to Chancellor Palpatine (F), Sly Moore (A), and other nasty tricks. Even though the Diplomat subtype has some drawbacks, when played properly it can be an excellent sub-theme, or even become a complete deck theme.

Perhaps Consular Ship is the boost to Diplomat decks everywhere that players have been looking for. Though it shines best when used in combination with Diplomats, Consular Ship can be an excellent damage prevention card in any type of deck. We hope that you’ll take another look at this carefully crafted card and consider playing it in your next deck.

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About the Author
Clay has been a player and collector of the game since its release. He is currently the Research and Accuracy Workgroup Leader for the IDC Card Development Sub-committee. Clay is also a moderator and member of Rebelbasers.com and posts under the name Unduli.