Ket's Deck Clinic #14
by Nathanael Tripp

This deck was actually inspired by something I read on Rebelbasers.com a few weeks back. Basically someone asked the question if Mon Mothma (B) was used in conjunction with Yoda (J) and Princess Leia (H) if that would create a good advantage for the Light Side player. While I was sitting there thinking it struck me that while this theme won't win you character every single time it will be very strong. I wanted to combine this with a few other tricks I had been thinking up so with that was born the Speeder Feeder deck!!

Basically this deck focuses on two goals; mass swarm in ground and combat trickery. First let's break down the unit choice for the deck, and then we can take a look at how to play the deck. So first up is Character arena:

Character: (13)
1x Ephant Mon (A)
1x Boba Fett (H)
1x Princess Leia (G)
2x Princess Leia (H)
2x Luke Skywalker (K)
3x Mon Mothma (B)
3x Yoda (J)

As you will notice, this is a very odd setup indeed. Ephant Mon is included for his Hidden Cost and Battle/Mission stripping ability. Boba Fett makes a showing mainly as a counter to Darth Vader (R) and other Hidden Cost Dark Side Characters. From those two choices the deck goes crazy. Princess Leia (G) is a great pilot for her build gain ability, but it's her (H) version that shines in this deck. As long as you have another Rebel Character she cannot be attacked, basically this gives you free intercept. How though do you take this fact and use it to your advantage? First off you need a good damage absorber that is also a Rebel. Unfortunately there aren't any Characters that fit this role; however, Mon Mothma (B) allows you to give two units of your choice the Rebel subtype until end of game for only two build points. Now we have access to ANY Light Side Character, but the one that truly shines is Yoda (J). He not only allows you to thin your deck, but also he has Lucky and Evade making him quite a little tank. The last Character is Luke Skywalker (K), though in this deck I would actually consider him as a Ground unit; let me clarify this as we take a look at the Ground Arena.

Ground: (14)
3x Jawa Sandcrawler
3x Snowspeeder Squad
4x Snowspeeder Rogue Two
4x Unmodified Snowspeeder

Talk about combat trick insanity. That's what the Ground Arena is. It almost surprises me that no one has tried this before with how effectively it works. Let's start with the work horse of every Ground Arena, the Jawa Sandcrawler. While the Sandcrawler is amazing sometimes its discard requirement can take a toll on some decks. This deck however feeds off of that discarding. The Snowspeeder Squad features a unique ability that triggers only when it is in the discard pile, so you will want to pitch it with a Jawa Sandcrawler as soon as possible. What is this ability though? You can discard two Speeders from the Ground Arena to put this card from your discard pile into the ground arena. What makes this so tempting a strategy is that Light Side Speeders are cheap and efficient. The Unmodified Snowspeeder only costs three build, throw Lar's Homestead into the mix and that is lowered to two build. Plus eventually the Unmodified Snowspeeder will die because of its Upkeep, so why not put it to even more use by discarding it to bring out a Snowspeeder Squad. The other Speeder unit in the deck is the Rogue Two, this is a very solid little unit packing good speed, power, health, and Critical Hit all for only four build. As I mentioned in the Character overview, I consider Luke Skywalker (K) to actually be a Ground unit. When the unit he is piloting is discarded, instead of discarding Luke as well, you simply move him to the Character arena and treat him as a Ground unit. Then when the Ground battle is over you move him untapped to the Character arena. So in a single turn Luke could be party to three separate attacks. So here is the sequence that makes this ground setup so devastating. Two Unmodified Snowspeeders with four damage on each and Luke Skywalker (K) piloting one of the Speeders, they both attack. Since they will be discarded at the beginning of your build step you instead discard both of them to bring out a Snowspeeder Squad. Instead of Luke being discarded, he is instead moved to the Ground arena and gets to attack, as does the Snowspeeder Squad. After four attacks with a total of 20 power you play a Discuss it in Committee (if your opponent even has ground units left) and sit back and laugh. Talk about devastating.

Space: (13)
1x Modified YV-330 (A)
1x Luke's X-Wing (B)
1x Luke's X-Wing (C)
1x Luke's X-Wing (E)
1x Millennium Falcon (D)
1x Millennium Falcon (L)
1x Millennium Falcon (K)
3x Millennium Falcon (E)
3x Jedi Interceptor

While your Character arena is good, it could really use some help, this is there the Millennium Falcon (E) comes into play. Being able to attack from Space into another arena is a great ability, especially when it is free. You will want to stack the Falcon to get the most use out of this ability so three other version are included. Luke makes another showing in his X-Wing, as well as another deck favorite of mine, the Modified YV-330 (A). The last unit in the Space arena is the Jedi Interceptor. This little guy is great for taking the heat off your other units from the likes of the Death Star or Endor Imperial Fleets.

Battle: (9)
3x Dismiss
3x Trap Door!
3x Discuss it in Committee

It's my usual trifecta of Battle cards. There really isn't much more to say about these three cards that hasn't already been said in my most of my Deck Clinic Articles. Except to say that Dismiss works great in getting Snowspeeder quads into your discard pile mid-turn. Also you can use it solely as a discard effect if push comes to shove.

Mission: (5)
3x Hatch a Clone
2x Explore the Swamps

Combat tricks are good. Reusable combat tricks are even better. That's where Hatch a Clone comes in. It lets you reuse your Speeders to fuel the Snowspeeder Squad trick, which is very useful in long drawn out Ground battles. Explore the Swamps makes another showing in this deck, your optimal target for tapping is Luke Skywalker (K) as he can still move to a unit after being tapped, thus almost nullifying the cost of Explore the Swamps.

Location: (4)
2x Lar's Homestead
2x Cloud City Battleground

Lar's Homestead is good in this deck, but mainly only for the Ground Arena. Sure some of your other units gain benefits from this card, but if something better comes along, like a Rebel cost reducer that would probably work better. Cloud City Battleground on the other hand is superb and fits nicely into this deck, being able to Disrupt and play a "fog" card in one turn is wonderful.

Equipment: (2)
2x Sonic Charges

Swarms beware!! Not just Space swarms either. This beauty of an Equipment card turns any of your Transports into Overkill maniacs. Coupled with the Millennium Falcon (E) this card can single handedly assist in the decimation of two arenas. Watch out Dark Side this could spell doom to many a deck.

That's all folks. Play around with this deck; it truly has some great tricks to it. As always, if you have an interesting or quirky deck, one that utilises 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.