Pillage on the Sea of Stars
By Clay O'dell

You breathe a sigh of relief as you enter the system where you are making the drop-off. If the payoff is big enough, this could be one of your last smuggling runs. You double-check the coordinates, run a quick diagnostic check on your weapons systems and...wait, what's this?

From around the moon, a small fighter emerges. It could be a pirate, but you're not concerned. With a ship your size, you can handle most any pirate. But then another ship comes from around the moon, and another. This isn't just a single pirate - these are raiders.

In the Star Wars universe, pirates are those who scavenge and rob. Though no pirates factored into the films, they have been more instrumental in various Expanded Universe materials. Han Solo lost his payment money from A New Hope to pirates. Nym is one of the more famous Star Wars pirates, and was respected as such with his own card in the Scum and Villainy set. Another famous pirate is Cade Skywalker, a descendant of Luke Skywalker who features in the Legacy comic series.

A Card That Almost Wasn't
For the Star Wars Trading Card Game, we in the Card Development Sub-committee wanted to have some cards representing pirates. The Pirate subtype existed previously on only Ponda Baba (A). We decided to further expand that subtype in Scum and Villainy with four cards: Nym (A), Havoc (A), Pirate Swoop, and Pirate Raiders. These four cards cover all three arenas and have a nice range in abilities and strategies.

Originally, there were only three Pirate cards in Scum and Villainy - Pirate Raiders was not part of the original list. However, partway through production it was decided to drop Jabba's Yacht (A), a card that wasn't working properly nor melding smoothly with the set, and a slot opened up. Ideas were submitted, and a large neutral Space unit was agreed upon.

It took only a few days to settle on the right idea. At first, Pirate Raiders was named Bounty Hunter Group, and its Bounty worked only on Bounty Hunters. Through excellent suggestions, though, Card Development decided to change the card to Pirate Raiders, boosting the Pirate and other subtypes and extending Pirate Raiders' usefulness immensely.

Pirate Raiders is an apt reflection of the galaxy's scum. It features a somewhat steep Upkeep, representing the idea that pirates have to be bought with hard cash to keep in line. Pirate Raiders also has a very useful Bounty, being able to remove three damage counters from a Bounty Hunter, Pirate, or Smuggler. When pirates raid cargo ships, they often come across items that can be useful for repair upon their own vessels, and the Bounty ability showcases this.

Plunder the Loot
Boasting an impressive 40 speed, 8 power, and 6 health for a low 6 build, Pirate Raiders is a boon to many decks. Even if its Upkeep can be costly, there are ways to avoid it, and when played in combo with Bespin Engineers, C-3PO (G), or Prince Xizor (A), the Upkeep will hardly matter at all. Its Bounty is not to be underestimated, considering it works in any arena! Remember that Pirate Raiders can even use the Bounty on itself to keep it alive for another turn or two, protecting it from the DS to be able to strike back for that crucial win. Under many circumstances, this Bounty can change the tide of the game.

ow that you know a little bit more about the background of Pirate Raiders, we hope that you will consider placing it in your deck - you may just raid a victory from your opponent!

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

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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.