Perhaps I Can Find New Ways To Motivate Them.
by Derrick Rabenold

The card now thought of as by some as Darth Vader Dubya (in reference to US President George W. Bush, whether in admiration or derision) is a card that knows how to crack the whip, without risking everything.

The first Darth Vader card I can remember helping units in an arena significantly would be Darth Vader (H). As usual, it is one of those cards that show off WOTC's dazzling understanding of the metagame, which means not a clue if any readers think I'm being coy. In a metagame with multiple LS units that have Lucky, as well as great damage prevention cards, you could discard your best ‘tank’ units in one turn. This is where Darth Vader (W) comes in.

Now Darth Vader (W) may be a selective booster, only allowing you to discard Imperial units, but he is also much more effective. First, let's look at this from the disrupt angle. Using Vader as the actual unit that has the effect with an activation card, instead of granting this ability to every Imperial unit instead, Mind Trick, will not work on this Imperial Dark Jedi Master. Dismiss or Thwart is what LS players will have to use here.

Next, think about all the cheap Imperial units one can discard, when they're not used to heal ‘tank’ units through Imperial Misdirection. These units include the TIE Interceptor, TIE Hunter, Endor Scout Walker, Imperial Scout Bike, DD-13 Medical Droid and many others.

There was one DS deck I played that used the dangerous battle card Dark Sacrifice, but in a wise manner. In this situation, Darth Vader (W) was not alone; he had a friend in the IT-O Interrogator Droid. The DS player used that droid to search my hand, took one of my two Hotwires, and bided their time. I had a LS pilot deck that packed starfighters and speeders. That turn, DS used Vader to discard one of his speeder, and his other Scout Biker killed my non-Wedge piloted Speeder. Next turn, his unaided Death Star II Ceremonial Legion could not kill me, but he had one unit left untapped, the Endor Bunker (A). First, he killed the Imperial Scout Bike to give his bunker 2 power. Then, he used a Dark Sacrifice, disrupted my Hotwire with the only disrupt card he had in hand as I learned later, killed the nearly dead Legion, and the powered bunker killed my Wedge-piloted Luke's Speeder Bike (A) by one hit that was the last die rolled. In short, never underestimate Darth Vader (W).

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About the Author
Derrick J. Rabenold (aka Jedi Master DJR) has been playing the Star Wars Trading Card Game since he opened his Attack of the Clones starter box in July of 2002. Due to school and family obligations, he never had the opportunity to play in a SWTCG qualifier before Wizards made their last expansion. Since October of 2002 however, he has been an active member of Rebelbasers. He has bought more cards then any shoebox could contain and has understood the Meta through each expansion reasonably well.

After a hiatus from Rebelbasers during the creation of the IDC, he later joined the IDC near the end of production for the Scum and Villainy expansion. He currently serves as the Chairperson of the Rules Sub-Committee and is aspiring to understand the rulebook as well as JangoJay, RedNeckJedi, Corjay, and the other experts that have come before him.