Ket's Deck Clinic #10
by Nathanael Tripp

Another week and another Sealed Draft article. Don't worry all you deck fanatics. I only have one more week of draft writing left in me then its back to my usual decks. This week we tried something rather fun, instead of going out and buying packs we build decks on Lacky and then played across it. It took a bit longer, but in all it was good to get everyone up to date on how to play Lackey. During this draft we decided to draft the set based off of my favorite movie, The Empire Strikes Back. Here is the card pool that I received:

** Before reading on after the card pool try your hand at building a deck and see how close you get to what I ended up running for my deck**

Battle:
Blizzard
Close the Shield
Decoy Tactics
Force Throw
Leia's Warning
Stormtrooper Swarm
Strange Lodgings
Surprise Reinforcements
3x Trust Her Instincts
2x Vader's Vengeance

Character:
2-1B Medical Droid (A)
Dack Ralter (A)
Darth Vader (J)
Darth Vader (K)
Han Solo (E)
2x Lando Calrissian (B)
Luke Skywalker (H)
Navy Trooper
R2-D2 (F)
Stormtrooper Sentry

Ground:
All Terrain Scout Transport
Blizzard Force AT-ST
Bogwing
Dragonsnake
Rebel Hoth Army
Rebel Troop Cart
Snowtrooper Elite Squad
Snowtrooper Heavy Weapons Team
Snowtrooper Squad

Location:
Cloud City Landing Platform
Hoth Battle Plains
Hoth System
Medical Center
Rebel Command Center
Swamps of Dagobah
Torture Room

Mission:
Alter the Deal
Carbon Freeze
Hope of Another
Jedi Master's Meditation
Jedi Trap
Leap into the Chasm
2x Well-Earned Meal
Yoda's Training

Space:
Bright Hope (A)
Gallofree Medium Transport
Kuat Lancer-Class Frigate
Lambda-Class Shuttle
Rebel Escape Squad
TIE Bomber EX-1

This deck was really REALLY hard to build. The unit selection is very sparse and space is just atrocious. Character was pretty solid with Darth Vader (K) and ground was decent but it defiantly took some tricky playing to squeak out a winning record with this deck. Instead of breaking down the deck I am just going to post what I played and go over a few of the matches I played. Here is the deck that I ended up playing:

Character: (6)
Darth Vader (J)
Darth Vader (K)
Han Solo (E)
Luke Skywalker (H)
R2-D2 (F)
Stormtrooper Sentry

Ground: (8)
All Terrain Scout Transport
Blizzard Force AT-ST
Bogwing
Dragonsnake
Rebel Hoth Army
Snowtrooper Elite Squad
Snowtrooper Heavy Weapons Team
Snowtrooper Squad

Space: (2)
Gallofree Medium Transport
Rebel Escape Squad

Battle: (8)
3x Trust Her Instincts
2x Vader's Vengeance
Blizzard
Close the Shield
Strange Lodgings

Location: (3)
Medical Center
Rebel Command Center
Torture Room

Mission: (4)
2x Well-Earned Meal
Alter the Deal
Jedi Master's Meditation

Total Cards: 31

Just a note but we play a weird tourney format. Everyone plays everyone else and we go by who has the most wins. This means there are 8 rounds, seems like a lot but we only play one game per round. It keeps it interesting and helps speed things up some.

Round 1:
This was by far my easiest match and everything went how I had envisioned it. I was able to get Darth Vader (K) and Snowtrooper Elite Squad out, along with a first turn Jedi Master's Meditation and Torture Room. Then I was able to pump up my Bogwing with Vader's Vengeance two turns in a row for +10 power each time. I easily wiped my opponent out of Ground and also won an uncontested Character arena. (1-0)

Round 2:
After seeing how perfectly my deck could run, I was ill prepared to see just how horribly things could go wrong. I had a hand full of Battle cards… yes, I drew 7 of the 8 I have in my deck. Of course I had to mulligan, so I kept my three Trust Her Instincts thinking I would need prevention more than anything. Big mistake, the next four cards I draw are two Well-Earned Meals, Torture Room, Medical Center, and my last Battle card… what are the freaking odds really now. Out of 11 cards I hit ALL Battle/Mission/Locations. Better luck next game. (1-1)

Round 3:
Now that I have seen the two extremes my deck could offer, I was hoping to get a middle of the road compromise and just have a good solid game. Was this ever a solid game; I obviously lost Space, Character was mine hands down as soon as I dropped Darth Vader (K), but again Ground was hotly contested. After gaining major force over a few turns with Jedi Master's Meditation, I was ready to make the big push. I had 28 Force and both Vader's Vengeances in hand, the only problem was my opponent was faster and I didn't have any form of prevention. However I did have Close the Shield which turned out to be a life saver and ended up helping me win Ground that turn by keeping all my units alive, though some just barely. (2-1)

Round 4:
Going into turn two I was struggling to keep a hold in Ground and was fighting for my life in Character. I was only drawing Space and Locations, when I finally hit my Alter the Deal. All I needed to do was get Darth Vader (K) and I would be able to hold off long enough to get him built. I was able to get him with my Alter and build him the following turn. The build rolls were awesome. Two six's in a row!! Vader was more than enough to clinch Character and Ground was easy to win once I didn't have to worry about fighting on two fronts. (3-1)

Round 5:
Going into round 5 I was feeling that my deck had finally settled down some and was going to be somewhat reliable for me. I was right, but I didn't expect my opponent to come out in force in Character after I dropped my Darth Vader (K). I just didn't have enough force to keep evading, especially against Torture Room and units pumped with Vader's Vengeance. I put up a good fight but there was just too much damage coming my way and in the end Vader fell. Space was already my opponents, seeing as how I only had two units… but this was the first game I was able to use Bogwing and Dragonsnake to actually deck my opponent. It's something cool to do, but fruitless if it does not give you a win in the process. (3-2)

Round 6:
I would just like to point out that the Millennium Falcon (E) is absolutely broken in a limited environment. Especially when your opponent has NO space units and no way to protect from the constant abuse that the Falcon can dole out. To put a long story short by not being able to contend in space I lost the match. My opponent just concentrated on Ground and kept retreating his single Character forcing me to stay in so that I didn't lose the match. (3-3)

Round 7:
Just as in the first round my deck played exactly how it was supposed to and I was able to come away with a quick clean victory. I was also able to deck my opponent again, and it actually helped in this match because I dumped some really good Battle cards that could have helped my opponent, such as Strange Lodgings and the only creature he had to enable him to play Trust Her Feelings. (4-3)

Round 8:
The final round has always been the most nerve racking for me. It doesn't matter what my record is or if it's a casual tournament, a qualifier, or a regional tourney. I always get nerved up during my last game of a tournament. Sometimes this is good because it makes you focus more on the game at hand, but other times it throws off your concentration. However, this was a game where the former happened. For the first time all day I was able to win the Space arena with my two lone units. Character was mine from setup but I had to constantly keep clearing it of smaller Characters that were rather well protected with Battle cards. In the end though my opponent ran out of Force, cards, and time thus letting me pull out a close win. (5-3)

I think I may have the guys in my area addicted to the SWTCG. They have been having a blast with the new IDC sets and being able to play on Lackey is really helping draw people in because they don't have to pay to get into the game. They just have to pay for lunch and they get an afternoon of gaming and hanging out with friends. 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.