I read some great comments in the forums about
my first Deck Vault article last week. Thanks for all the kudos
and I hope I can continue to knock the cobwebs off of some of these
old deck tactics. One request was made from many readers months
ago. Where are all the Light Side deck articles? Yes, they are easier
to build than Dark Side decks, but you still need two decks in a
tournament setting. So, with that in mind, I present one of my favorite
Light Side decks.
I know what you're thinking after your first
glance. 66 cards!!! That's way too many cards. But (and RedneckJedi
can attest to this), I was cycling and building most of my deck
in my initial builds of this deck at 60 cards. After adding a few
more cards (Such as Chewie, Rebel Armored Freerunner and Yoda),
the deck really balanced out and worked great.
The premise is this. Control the Character
arena by using Han (G) and Leia (G) to prevent damage
to each other. Use GH-7 to remove their damage counters.
Attack heavily in Ground and protect your units using Rebel Trenches.
Use your Rebel Escape Squads to gain Build points and protect
them with your starfighters. When the Character arena is under your
control, move Leia (G) to the Falcon to gain even more Build
points.
That's about it. It sounds pretty simple, but
the greatest ability of the deck is it's flexibility. With its numerous
methods to draw, gain Build, gain Force and control any arena you
concentrate on, it's definitely a deck you should test out on your
own. Let's take a look at how it comes together.
The (G) and (I) versions of Han and Leia are
probably two of the best synergetic Light side units in the game
(in my opinion of course). With both (G) versions preventing damage
for each other, (I) versions are great in conjunction with the former.
Leia (G) and (I) both cost 5
Build. Therefore you're able to rearrange them at no cost. There
are several tactics you can use with her. If Han (G) is in
the Character arena, make sure Leia (I) is on top of her
stack. Then, tap Leia (I) to either gain 2 Build points or give
Han Accuracy 1. Then, move Leia (G) to the top to protect (and be
protected) by Han (G). Better yet is if the Falcon is in the Space
arena, tap Leia (I) for either of the above abilities, move (G)
to the top and then move her to the Falcon to be a pilot. Gain 3
Build points if the Falcon survives till the next Build roll.
Han is also a great unit. In addition to protecting
and being protected by Leia, Han (I) has to be one of the
coolest TCG cards ever. When his attack ends, he gets a chance to
attack again. And Leia (I) can pay his Upkeep AND give him Accuracy
1 (for a total of Accuracy 2).
If you have one or more GH-7's out,
in addition to the Han and Leia's mentioned above, you will control
the Character arena. Preventing and removing damage in the Character
arena all but ensures that eventually you will control.
Chewie is here mainly to help bring back the
GH-7's from the grave, but he's also great for backup in case Orn
Free Ta makes an appearance. Yoda (J) adds a fairly affordable
Jedi unit that can sometimes control the arena on his own.
The major Ground units in this deck are there
for one thing: to attack. Anakin's Podracer (A), the Republic
Attack Gunship and the Unmodified Snowspeeders are for
attacking, but with one exception. They work great with the Foward
Command Center. Tap the FCC and give these units +5 power. Add
in a See You In Hell and you'll be doing some major damage.
Especially if you utilize the Gunship's Overkill ability. The Rebel
Armored Freerunner is still one of my favorite units for dealing
direct damage.
And, of course, the requesite Jawa Sandcrawlers
are present to help you use all that build you're generating by
giving you units to build.
The Rebel Escape Squad and the Falcon
are keys to the Build engine in this deck. You must get either of
the two (with Leia (G) pilot if the latter) deploy in your setup.
I love the Rebel Escape Squad. Many a game
has been won with these bad boys (and not just in this deck). They
carry a punch, are very healthy, have Shields and give you
an extra Build point each turn. Superior!!
If you use Leia (G) to pilot the Falcon,
you must protect it at all costs. Whether you use the Falcon
(B), with its Evade; damage preventing Battle cards; or Intercept
with your Delta Six's, protect it!!
The rest of the units are there for protection
and attack. Swarm if you need to.
Free Coruscant helps in the Build gain
department. Play it in the Space arena when you use it. Rebel
Trenches help to protect your Ground units. But Rebel Command
Center is one of my favorite Light side locations. This gives
the Light side the advantage in most head-to head fights and lets
you draw a card as well.
IDEAL
SETUP
(Assuming
a 28 build setup)
13 build
4 build
10 build
BUILD
ZONE AFTER SETUP
- With 1 Build
HAND
AFTER SETUP (And Drawing 1 Card)
FIRST
BUILD STEP
(Assume a Build roll of 3 +1 for all three arena bonus
= 4 Build)
Gain 1 Build for Rebel Escape Squad
Tap Leia (I) for 2 Build
Total Build = 7 Build
Leia (I) is tapped (during the Build step), but now you
can move Leia (G) to the top (for free) to protect Han.
Leave Han (G) on top to protect Leia. (7 Build left)
There are several choices you can make
now. If you don't have any good cards, play Wedding of
Desitiny. Or you can play as shown in the next two arenas.
Put 2 Build on GH-7 and deploy him in
the next round. (5 Build left)
You can tap the Sandcrawler for cards during your Build
step at any time.
Deploy one of the speeders or deploy the
Delta in the the build zone to the Space arena. (2 Build
left)
Deploy Rebel Trenches. (0 Build left)
AFTER
FIRST BUILD STEP
As described above, prevent damage to
Han or Leia by placing damage counters on the other.
The next round, when GH-7 is deployed,
remove them as needed.
Rebel Trenches will keep your units around
for a while. Even if Anakin's Podracer (or another speeder)
is lost in the first round, the Sandcrawler should be around
long enough to build up more Ground units.
Protect the Esacpe Squad(s). These help
generate your Build (in addition to Leia (G).
As soon as possible, build a Falcon so Leia
(G) can start gaining you +3 more Build per turn.
Well, that's the deck in a nutshell. If you
have a similar deck you used to play, or have some ideas on a different
strategy or just want to comment about the article, let me know
in the forums.
Thoughts or comments? Visit
the message board thread for this article here.
About the Author
Brian Weeks (aka Skywlkr) has been playing the Star Wars TCG since
its introduction at Celebration 2 in 2002. After playing the demo
game and introducing it to RedneckJedi and Darthwalls, Team 'Dude
Where's My Card' was created. He competed in three qualifiers, yet
the closest he ever ranked was eighth. As a member on Rebelbasers,
SWDuelist and a writer for the now defunct Diehard Online, he has
tried to promote the game through information and interaction.
He is married, has a three year old son, is an architect, has been
the Treasurer and Newsletter Editor for five years for JediOKC (an Oklahoma
City based Star Wars Fan Club), was the IDC Card Development Chairperson
for Fall of the Republic and is now the IDC Public
Affairs Chairperson. Despite all that, he still has time to introduce
the game to new players.KEEP THE GAME ALIVE!
The
IDC is a player-elected body representing the Star Wars Trading Card
Game community. Neither this website, nor the information contained
herein is in any way produced for a profit to the IDC or any of its
members. The expansions created by the IDC are not available for sale
online nor in any store. The card images are free to download, print
and play.
Character:
(15)
Space:
(15)
Battle:
(8)
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