To Protect and Serve
By Brian Weeks

After the murder of King Veruna of Naboo, Captain Panaka, head of the Royal Naboo Security Forces, wanted to make sure that the death of a Royal would not happen again under his watch. As protector of Queen Amidala, the newly elected leader of Naboo, he installed new security procedures, one of which was the use of Royal Handmaidens as decoys. His loyalty to the crown was unmatched and his pessimism led him to always be prepared for the worst. This loyalty was evident in his soldiers and gave them the extra strength they needed to succeed in their sole duty: to protect the Queen.

With the fifth IDC set, Invasion of Naboo, we can emulate that exact loyalty and strength by sharing today's preview card, Captain Panaka (B).

At 6/40/4/5, Captain Panaka (B) lives up to his character. Always prepared and protected, he has Armor. He also shares his dedication to the crown by giving his fellow Naboo units Fury 2. For those new to the game (or that don't remember), Fury was introduced in the last IDC expansion, Republic at War. Fury X says that if you roll at least one natural 4 for this unit's attack, roll X additional dice for this attack.

Lastly, Panaka grants Naboo units with Hidden Cost or Stealth Fury 4 instead. But there are currently no Naboo units with Hidden Cost or Stealth. Perhaps there are some new Invasion of Naboo units that have these abilities, but what about units that don't? Well, the first ability would work great in a traditional Naboo Swarm deck. Imagine rerolling 2 more dice for each of your Naboo Starfighters when you roll a natural 4. This could finish off your opponent's starfighters easy.

With just one more week to go, you have much to look forward to in the next IDC expansion.

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 five year old son, is an architect, has been the Treasurer and Newsletter Editor for eight 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 through all five expansions. Despite all that, he still has time to introduce the game to new players…KEEP THE GAME ALIVE!