Category Archives: Destiny

FuNkar 2.0

Deck tech, Destiny, star wars

Welcome to my latest deck list for Star Wars: Destiny and a new post graphic.

As regular readers of this badly written blog will know I had an initial version of this list, a 1.0 if you will, that I never put online. However a friend Chris Shaner (game designer, and Star Realms legend) very kindly shared a FuNkar list he was playing, and having a lot of success with. When I compared my list with Chris’s there was some common ground. I’d say around 70% or so was the same.

So what you have here is 90-95% of the list that was shared with me. The differences are down to me not having the cards, or in the case of the battlefield, me forgetting to make a note of the one on Chris’s list. So I’ve put an asterisk next to where I differ.


Battlefield: Starship Graveyard *

Events

  • Electroshock (1 cost, Neutral/Yellow) x 2
  • Flank (1 cost,Neutral/Gray) x 2
  • Friends in Low Places (0 cost,Neutral/Yellow) x 2
  • He Doesn’t Like You (0 cost,Villain/Yellow) x 2
  • One-Quarter Portion (1 cost,Villain/Yellow) x 1
  • The Best Defense… (1 cost,Villain/Red) x 2

Upgrades

  • DT-29 Heavy Blaster Pistol (2 cost, Villain/Red) x 2 *
  • Flame Thrower (2 cost,Villain/Yellow) x 2
  • Gaffi Stick (2 cost,Villain/Yellow) x 2
  • Holdout Blaster (2 cost,Neutral/Gray) x 1 *
  • Rocket Launcher (3 cost,Neutral/Red) x 1
  • Vibroknife (2 cost,Neutral/Gray) x 2
  • Vibroknucklers (3 cost,Villain/Yellow) x 2
  • Z6 Riot Control Baton (3 cost,Villain/Red) x 1 *

Supports

  • Backup Muscle (1 cost,Villain/Yellow) x 2
  • Imperial Inspection (0 cost,Villain/Red) x 2
  • Salvage Stand (0 cost,Villain/Yellow) x 2

My thinking behind the deck

Well I think this section of the post is defunct for me this time. It’s Chris’s deck.

Although as always I went with this deck because I had heard that FunKar was a good deck. Which is something that often influences my choice of Heroes/Villains. Some-one will say online somewhere that such and such is a good pairing. I make a mental note, often there isn’t any talk about cards in the deck, which is what I like. It allows me to make a deck around how I think the characters work together, based on the cards I have in my collection at that point in time.

How I Play This Deck

I’m looking for one or two of the two cost weapon upgrades naturally in my starting hand, along with maybe Imperial Inspection or Salvage Stand, plus a die removal card.

Ideally I want those supports out early so that they can start working in conjunction with Unkar and his die. Unkar and these support with their control really do provide a big thorn in the side for the other player. On top of that it’s really all about using FN and his ability to do as much damage as possible. Getting FN up to two, ideally three weapon upgrades and using his ability is key here. As is making sure that there are weapons on him with redeploy before he gets knocked out. Usually when I know FN is going down I load him up with those redeploy weapons and hold off exhausting the other characters. So usually my first action of that turn is exhaust FN, which forces the other player to take out FN. Any damage I can get out before FN goes is a bonus.

If possible I use the First Order Stormtrooper (FOS) to take any damage that would go to FN otherwise. By this I mean when I get to decide how the damage is allocated then it’s the FOS before FN.

How’d the deck do?

I played this against Dale’s eRey/Maz/Snap and out of four games, won 3, lost 1. Taken from a previous post on the match up…

” I was playing FN-2199 much better than the previous time I played this deck. The two supports Imperial Inspection and Salvage Stand made a huge once I started using them. I had singles before and never played them! The new deck plays 2 of each, and having them out and in play made a big difference. Stripping resources, sending upgrades back into hand. The other tweaks had an impact too“.

Where next?

I may not change the list. Considering that I differ on so few cards.

There’s gold in them there Dice!

Destiny, Game day, star wars

Yesterday Dale and I played surprise surprise, some Star Wars:Destiny. 

It was his new eJango/eVeers deck against my new eVader/Raider deck.

The stats will show my deck won 6-2.

Early on it hit me that with two Vader dice out on the table, plus a force speed, force choke, two vibro knives, and two Sith Holocrons, that’s a lot of money sitting there. Depending on current prices and where you buy from, you are not going to work away with much change if any from £100. In fact I think it’s more than £100 easy. That’s a frightening amount to have sitting there in the table. If I go to a store tournament I’m hoping Dale can make it also. I want some-one trustworthy watching my stuff while I go to answer a call of nature. If Dale can’t make it I may just have to buy one of those card quivers. Which I have to admit I do like the look of. That way I’ll be able to easily carry my prized dice and cards with me.


I think I’ve said this before, but I like repeating myself, but with the two sets there are already more cards you’d like in your deck than there is space. This is only going to get worse with the next set. But it’s a delicious position to be in. It’s means there will be even more variety in decks. So yes you know the characters you are up against, and might have an idea of the “core” cards they might be playing, but after that it will be a pleasant surprise. 

I think I know after yesterday which cards I’m going to drop and replace with other cards I like the look of. That’s the nice thing about sessions like yesterday. I think you need to play a deck a few times to get a feel for how it plays, get an idea of where it’s weak, remove the bad dice rolls and card draw (if you can ever do that completely). Ideally playing it against several different decks is something I’d like to do. But I don’t have a deck library at the moment (something I may look into doing – especially if I start to take the tournament scene seriously).

Dale’s deck didn’t work for me at all. It was a vehicle deck, they weren’t really getting out, most of the time if they did it was late game. I don’t think Veers is a good match up with Jango. Jango is on my list of characters to build a deck round. I’m thinking I’d pair him with FN-2199 or Royal Guard. Veers might come into his own with the next sets emphasis on vehicles. If I was intent on playing Veers I’d pair him with Unkar maybe so I’d have the resources to pay for the vehicles. 

On the other news front, The 7th Continent arrived. I didn’t do an unboxing video, despite pressure from Jonathan to do so.

Instead I did an unboxing photos stream on Instagram.

Now all I’ve got to do is unpack the cards and file them away, read the rules, and finally get it to the table!

Duelling Dice 

Destiny, Game day, star wars

Yesterday Dale and I met up at our almost ghost like work place to play some Star Wars: Destiny. I had to go there anyway to pick up my folding table for Saturdays MtG league play for The Fenland Gamers. Yes I have a folding 6ft table. Yes I use it at work for gaming and marking students work.

I started off with a FunKar deck. It was modified from my initial effort. I had a deck list shared with me by Chris Shaner. Our decks were not too dissimilar. I didn’t have all of the cards that Chris had in his deck (mainly second copies of some of the weapon upgrades), so I infilled. I’d guess this was 90% the list he shared.

Dale played his action cheating eRey/Maz/Snap (I think that’s the right elite character). It’s his broken action cheating deck that apparently according to FFG isn’t a problem! 

How’d I do against this nasty deck? Out of 4 games, FunKar won 3, lost 1. I was playing FN-2199 much better than the previous time I played this deck. The two supports Imperial Inspection and Salvage Stand made a huge once I started using them. I had singles before and never played them! The new deck plays 2 of each, and having them out and in play made a big difference. Stripping resources, sending upgrades back into hand. The other tweaks had an impact too.

Emokids that is such a great name for this pairing. Whoever came up with it deserves a pat on the back.

I had tweaked the deck with some newly arrived cards that allowed me to improve my chances of drawing the card I wanted, or replaced some cards I wasn’t using.

The emokids were up against Dale’s new deck eBaze/eLeia. It’s an aggro deck. Dale it the perfect roll at one point, or near as with 11 points of damage sitting there ready to hit me. 

How did the emokids do? Out of 7 games Dale won 5-2. One or two of them were very very close games. It was nice to win a couple of games with this pairing at last. The only weapon upgrade I play is the Vibroknife. All other upgrades are abilities I can swap in using the Sith Holocron special.    

So adding up those scores Dale took the honours for the day 6-5. We have a rematch next week.

I’ll put deck lists up in the next week or so. Also I’ve changed my collection page to a page of cards I’m after (it’s a shorter list). 

Thinking out aloud about tomorrow’s decks!

Destiny, star wars

Tomorrow Dale and I do battle once again over this holiday period with Star Wars: Destiny.

I’ve tweaked my FunKar deck to be as close as I can to a deck list given to me by a friend, game designer and master player, Chris Shaner. I also need to tweak my emokids but I don’t have the cards yet for that.

I want to build something with the newly arrived Luke. My first instinct is eLuke/Rey. This is mono blue. 

Naturally Luke’s Light Saber and Rey’s Staff will be included. 

I’m also thinking maybe I could try him with one of the following. Which would give me access to yellow cards. 


Although Maz is another strong option. 

I can see myself also throwing together a quick and cheerful Jango/FN deck.

I’d like to see if this would be fun to play.

I’m half expecting to face Dale’s version of Vader/Raider. But then again it could be emokids too. Dale has just got both versions of Vader. So it’s not unreasonable to expect to see these decks, or at least one of them.

I think the only thing I can guarantee tomorrow is it will be fun.

eHan/eRey 1.0

Deck tech, Destiny, star wars

It’s a couple of weeks after the latest FFG rules update with its clarifications and errata (which hurt my mono hero mill deck with its ammo belt errata – so I will have to update that deck to a version 3). I’ve been building my initial version of a Han/Rey deck. Which as this post would suggest I’m happy enough with to suffer the slings and arrows of constructive feedback from the Destiny community. Which I really do enjoy receiving as it helps me build stronger decks.

Please remember I do not have a complete set of cards and dice. I’m hoping to correct that soon.

Battlefield: Rebel War Room (Yavin IV)

Events

  • “Fair” Trade (0 cost, Neutral/Yellow) x 1
  • Cheat (1 cost, Neutral/Yellow) x 2
  • Electroshock (1 cost, Neutral/Yellow) x 2
  • Friends in Low Places (0 cost, Neutral/Yellow) x 2
  • Hold On! (0 cost, Hero/Yellow) x 2
  • Loth-Cat and Mouse (0 cost, Hero/Yellow) x 2
  • Rejuvenate (0 cost, Neutral/Blue) x 2

Support

  • Improvisation (0 cost, Neutral/Yellow) x 2
  • Infamous (1 cost, Neutral/Yellow) x 1
  • Your Eyes Can Deceive You (1 cost, Hero/Blue) x 1

Upgrade

  • DL-44 Heavy Blaster Pistol (3 cost, Hero/Yellow) x 1
  • Fast Hands (0 cost, Neutral/Yellow) x 2
  • Force Illusion (1 cost, Neutral/Blue) x 2
  • Holdout Blaster (2 cost, Neutral/Gray) x 1
  • Jetpack (2 cost, Neutral/Yellow) x 1
  • Lone Operative (3 cost, Hero/Yellow) x 2
  • Makashi Training (2 cost, Neutral/Blue) x 1
  • Maz’s Goggles (1 cost, Hero/Yellow) x 1
  • Vibroknife (2 cost, Neutral/Gray) x 2

I’m a sucker for graphs! This is the analysis that the app I use gives me for this deck.

    The app I use on my iPhone is SWD Trades. 

    My thinking behind the deck

    This is all about action cheating with Reys ability and ambush, and keeping Han alive with the shields he gets from playing cards with ambush. To a lesser extent I’m getting some “action” cheating also on Han with fast hands.

    Installing an upgrade with ambush on Rey gives two additional actions plus a shield on Han.

    Rey is the big hitter here, and with the vibroknife installed deadly. Add in the Makashi Training upgrade with its plus damage, get the right roll there is potentially seven unblockable damage swinging in. Hopefully all before the other player has a chance to respond.

    How I Play This Deck

    I’m looking for vibroknife/holdout blaster, along with fast hands and some dice removal in my initial hand. This will allow me to start action cheating straight away and put shields on Han through his ability. 

    If I don’t win the battlefield initially my two shields go on Rey usually. Han will be getting shields with my first play anyway. Unless I get a hold on in my initial hand then I put them on Han for the giggles. They will end up on Rey anyway on my first turn. 

    My first play is usually an upgrade on Rey, ideally with ambush so Han gets the shield. If fast hands is in my hand that gets installed on Han, then I roll him in and resolve one of his dice.

    I’m not using Second Chance but Force Illusion is my keep Rey alive a bit longer card.

    I’m also playing upgrades over top of each other so I don’t need as many resources to get them out and I’m getting the action cheating. Although I don’t do this with the vibroknife.

    How’d it do?

    Remember my local meta is Dale. I think I’m 50/50 against his ePoe/eMaz deck. But my wins have been when the starting hand was good for me, and my dice rolling was good. 

    I think I have the edge over his (I want to say) Unkar deck. But I can’t remember which one it was. I must start recording which decks of his I play against.

    Dale tends to target Rey first so I’m trying to do as much damage with Rey before she is killed off in our games. 

    Where next?

    Naturally I need second copies of the blasters. I also think Second Chance might be worth looking at. 

    I might change the battlefield. But I do like the idea of claiming and doing a parting shot with a die I didn’t have the resource for.

    Acrylic tokens for Star Wars Destiny

    Destiny, star wars

    So at the weekend a member of the UK Star Wars: Destiny page posted that they had created these acrylic tokens for Star Wars: Destiny. The price was really good (£10 for a set or £18 for two sets). Plus each set came with a bonus traitor trooper token and free UK postage. If you have looked at the likes of the Team Covenant tokens for games it costs so much to get them internationally it’s not worth it.

    I also liked the design because they look just like the cardboard ones that come with the starter sets, even the additional five damage token sticks with the original design. This avoids any confusion and miss use. Some of the tokens I’ve seen on streamed/recorded games are confusing and ugly. In fact if I was playing against them I’d call the judge over and complain. That’s how bad some of the designs are. 

    My order arrived this morning. I went with two sets to make sure I have enough tokens for playing with. I have a few extra given to me as “compensation” for having to wait for my third set (this will be a prize possible ) because the quality of some of the tokens wasn’t up to scratch.

    I love the traitor trooper token. But the tokens are a nice quality. And I’m looking forward to using them in my games against Dale (who also ordered some after I told him about them).

    You can pre-order a set HERE.

    Mono Mill Feedback

    Deck tech, Destiny, play test, star wars

    I have to admit I almost feel that my Star Wars: Destiny deck posts are like link bait. I do post them on a couple  of Star Wars: Destiny fan pages on Facebook to get feedback. And gradually they have been getting more interest. Yesterday for this small niche blog was crazy. But those types of post are there to help me (provide a record of what I am working on, and get feedback) and to share with the community.

    But I’ve been getting some great feedback/suggestions on how to improve the mill deck. There has been no nasty comments. And I think that is indicative of my experience on those pages. The Star Wars: Destiny community does seem to be very supportive, and helpful.

    I’m going to warn you this is a long post.

    So from the two groups I present the feedback I got for my Padme/eJyn Mono Mill Deck 2.5. I hope folks find me bringing all this feedback into one place helpful. This post is also acting like notes for me also. So I will be referring to this post a lot when I build the 3.0 version of this deck.

    Joe Lewis on the Star Wars: Destiny page said

    “Way different than my list

    I cut Asscension Gun very early for Hyperspace Jump. You need your Battlefield so having a card that allows you to have that when you don’t get it and to be able to get out of sticky situations is incredibly important.

    I cut Cunning for Maz’s Goggles which is just a better card for what you are trying to do.

    Having all of the random die removal is strange to me. We have Negotiate and Electroshock”

    Joe then posted this photo of his deck for me.

    A discussion mainly between Sam A. Cimino and Joe about the merits of certain cards broke out. I have to admit I learnt a lot from this discussion.

    Sam: “Dodge, block, evade, bolt hole, and take cover are all bad cards. Electroshock, Negotiate, Cat and Mouse, are all better options.”

    Joe: “ I cut Loth because it was free.”

    Joe: “(see: Jyn Erso)”

    Sam: “ that only works on the first event played. It’s still better than all those other cards”

    Joe: “The curve of the deck in general messes with Jyn’s ability. Most die removal is in reaction to something. To waste the first event (which is usually die removal for Mono-Yellow) for something like Negotiate is just stronger than playing Loth Cat”

    David Washburn: “Loth is indispensable, dude”

    Joe: “We’ll use his deck as an example:

    The average cost of an event for him that is yellow is 0.6, making the inclusion of Jyn in the deck virtually pointless.

    Adding Loth Cat and Mouse would not help that ratio. That is why a card like Negotiate and Electroshock are stronger. They serve the same function as Loth Cat and give you more.

    In other decks with Yellow it’s great. However, because of Jyn you have to really be careful with what events you play so that you are getting the most value out of her as a character. Running Zero cost Yellow cards really does not do much for her. Her strength comes in fixing the cost curve of your deck.

    Dice removal is generally reactionary. You seldom wait more than 2 actions to deal with a die you want to remove. Usually the threat is very clear across matchups after the problem character rolls in.

    Loth Cat and Negotiate need a roll in to be live. Jynn makes a reactionary card free, which makes Loth Cat not a valuable “must include” for her.”

    Sam: “By that logic friends is free too and isn’t a must include, since that’s often one of the first things you want to do to get the most value out of it.”

    Joe: “Friends fulfills a different purpose than Loth Cat though. They are both free but Friends does not have any activation requirement*. The value that you can gain from Friends in Low Places may outweight the value of it lowering your ceiling.

    Cards that take away from your opponent are never as good as cards that give you things, but since Friends in Low Places is taking the role of proactive lowering of your opponents ceiling, it’s usually worth it to lower your potential ceiling to take an option away from your opponent.

    *The deck has two yellow characters and will always fulfill its requirement.”

    Eric Murphy: “I can justify a single copy of dodge and block, i’ve actually seen them used very effectively. but no more than one of each in a deck ever.”

    From the Star Wars: Destiny UK/IRL Facebook Group Andrew Eyles wrote

    “I am trialing a Padme and Jyn deck and have come to the same decision that the EJyn is the way to go. An early Con artist or Cunning onto Padme makes them almost equal targets. My opposition then has to make a choice of which one is the most dangerous. As soon they make that call I try to get enough resources to get second chance and ammo belt hopefully next round.”

    I did then ask how our two decks differed and Andrew replied with

    ” I do not play Bolt hole, block, take cover or dodge. I play “fair trade”, Don’t get cocky, long con and Sabotage.

    For me block and dodge are too expensive. My resources are for second chance and maybe 2 other upgrades i can get out. Sabotage is in for the annoying supports like planetary uprising but more for freely discarding imperial inspection, salvage stand and dark presence.

    I do not play hunker down or Ascension gun. I have lone Operative and fast hands. In the current meta speed is everything. Having to tap a card for one shield (which a lot of the time makes no difference, i am looking at you vibroknife) is just too slow. Fast hands early gives me that scary ability to get 2 cards out your hand before you even have a go.

    The whole deck obviously needs the second chance/ammo belt combo early where yours may have a little more survivability without it.

    It is nuts when it all comes together – cheating and rebelling the ammo belts back out and discarding whole reams of cards from the deck and hand. It is fun to play – maybe not quite tier 1 but getting close.”

    There was even a comment left on the post yesterday from a Ben:

    “I think you need to use Jyns ability more, cards like Negotiate and electroshock Would help more than block and take cover. Also Disarm is great, it gets rid of alot of upgrades that hurt like vibro knife. finally, trade in hunker downs for maz goggles. for 1 cost, it has two focuse sides and a “Discard” side.”

    There is some great food for thought there, and I will be trying out some of those suggestions (mainly the ones that don’t require dice – I can print out the cards I don’t have as a stop gap). Those that require dice I will have to try and target buy (after my booster box of Awakenings arrives, just in case I get them). I will then target buy the cards that I feel work best after play testing them.

    I was playing this deck for the first time yesterday against a ePoe/eMaz deck yesterday. Dale got three Awakenings booster boxes yesterday that gave him enough cards (like Poe!) to build an initial deck. I got creamed in our first game. Very little went my way in that game. Dice rolls, card draw, all conspired to make me eat humble pie.

    The second game I won, and removing his battlefield (Starship Graveyard) and going with mine was a good start towards that victory.

    I know Dale is missing some cards from a “full” ePoe/eMaz deck. He already has a couple of tweaks to the one I played against.

    But that’s the interesting thing about our local meta, it’s Dale and myself with our limited card pool. Although Dale’s card pool (2.5 SOR boxes, 3 Awakenings boxes, plus 25 SOR boosters) is larger than mine (.5 SOR box, 20 SOR boosters and some targeted purchases). However if you look at our stats I have our longest win streak of 6 games. Out of 75 games I have the edge with 49 wins to 36. So I’m very happy with that. I’ll have to write a post about the decks Dale has been playing with sometime.

    Padme/eJyn Mono Mill 2.5

    Deck tech, Destiny, star wars

    In my previous post I went through my second version of this mono mill deck. I’ve tweaked the deck since then. Not major stuff, more incremental minor changes.

    Battlefield: Command Center (Lothal)

    Events

    • Friends in Low Places (0 cost, Neutral/Yellow) x 2
    • Rebel (1 cost, Hero/Yellow) x 2
    • Evade (1 cost, Neutral/Gray) x 2
    • Block (2 cost, Neutral/Gray) x 2
    • Take Cover (0 cost, Neutral/Gray) x 2
    • Bolt Hole (0 cost, Neutral/Yellow) x 2
    • Cheat (1 cost, Neutral/Yellow) x 2
    • Unpredictable (0 cost, Neutral/Yellow) x 2
    • Dodge (2 cost, Neutral/Gray) x 2

    Upgrades

    • Ammo Belt (1 cost, Neutral/Gray) x 2
    • Ascension Gun (2 cost, Neutral/Yellow) x 2
    • Second Chance (3 cost,Hero/Yellow) x 2
    • Hunker Down (0 cost, Neutral/Yellow) x 2
    • Con Artist (2 cost, Neutral/Yellow) x 2
    • Cunning (2 cost, Neutral/Yellow) x 2

    My thinking behind the deck changes

    One of the “big” changes in this deck is that I have gone from elite Padme, to elite Jyn. I had tried this once before and got my butt handed to me, so didn’t persist with it. However the reasoning about this change was that in the end game where I am trying to get my opponent down to zero cards in hand, Jyn with her two discard faces is more likely to allow me to do that. Plus when rolled I can reduce the options available to my opponent in the rest of the game by removing up to four cards at a time if it comes up both the two discard.

    Daring Escape, Long Con, Diversion and R2-D2 made way to a second Second Chance plus Hunker Down, Con Artist and Cunning. Hunker Down helps keep my characters alive just that little bit longer, while Con Artist helps amp up that milling action on the opponents deck. Cunning gives me a nice ability to use the special on other upgrades and characters. There might be a special I want to use on my opponents cards but in reality it gives me another bite of the cherry on my specials.

    How I Play This Deck

    When dealing the initial five cards I’m looking for one of the following: Ascension Gun, Con Artist or Cunning. Ideally I’d like a hunker down and some of my cheap (ie zero cost) removal cards. Otherwise I’m mulliganing hard to get one of those three cards.

    I don’t mind not winning the roll off, I almost want my opponent to choose their own battlefield (I do have the Ascension Gun). Two shields on Jyn is massive for me. In fact I usually pick my opponents battlefield if I win because of that.

    Next up I’m hoping to draw into Second Chance and Ammo Belt early, along with Hunker Down if I haven’t got that yet. These then go onto Jyn first.

    I have to keep remembering to use Rebel. I usually remember about it after I have played the discard card ability of the dice. Which is too late then. But it is apart from Cheat, my only other recursion card.

    If I’m going with Con Artist I want that pretty early on to make use of it’s special. Mid to late game it’s re-roll fodder.

    I am tending to leave Padme unprotected at the moment, and any discards from the deck I get with her I’m counting as a bonus. At the moment the card discard from hand with Jyn is what I’m trying to get. That really does stop what the other player can do during a round.

    Where next?

    I like the look of Datapad from Awakenings, it would fit in nicely with this deck but where would I put it?

    UPDATE:I can see maybe Electro Shock replacing Unpredictable. But I will have to see if I pull any in my Awakenings booster box I have coming.

    Otherwise I’m pretty happy where this deck is.

    We do not have an addiction

    Destiny

    Looking on the stats app I have on my iPhone, that is used to record all my game plays on. So far for June I have played Star Wars: Destiny 31 times. Taking into account the four games I played at the UK Games Expo, that means this month alone I have been battling it out with Dale over 27 games.

    The app tells me that Dale and I have played 51 times so far. With the edge currently being with me. I have 29 wins to Dale’s 22.

    Dale and I both hold the longest win streak, which is currently at 5 games long.

    Dale does have a bigger card pool than myself, having bought a booster box more than me. We are currently playing with both starter sets each, and half a booster box of a Spirit of Rebellion, plus 10 addition booster packs, plus some targeted buys. While Dale has 1.5 booster boxes worth of cards, plus 5 booster packs plus targeted buys. Which by any standards is not a massive investment. We are eagerly awaiting the reprinting of the first set Awakenings.

    The games have on a whole been so so close, often turning on a single key moment. Like during one of today’s games when Dale avoid 6 ranged damage on his ePalpatine by discarding this annoying upgrade Force Illusion. Ok it got rid of 6 cards from the top of his deck. But I’m not playing a milling game with my Sing/Bala-Tik/Tie Pilot deck. I’m going for maximum carnage. That bought Dale enough time to kill me off.

    It’s great having some-one to play with. We are able to lend each other dice (if we have them). For instance Dale borrows my Palpatine die to play the elite version. Where I need to borrow a Tie Pilot die from him when I play Training.

    I have to admit this is a great two player game that we can play during our lunch break. We can often get three games in. It hits all the buttons for me, deck construction, theme, dice. Yes it is collectible and the boosters are random. But I can over look that for such a great game. We are having a blast with not a massive pool to build from. The release schedule also seems a lot less crippling than the mess that is/was Dicemasters. That was madness due to poor scheduling you’d end up with nearly a new set a month! The only big drawback on that front is supply. Destiny is a popular game at the moment. FFG seemed to have improved it for the current set Spirit of Rebellion. They grossly under estimated it on the initial Awakenings set. Luckily we have the one off reprint at the end of the month. So being able to buy product is important. It’s what helped kill Ashes for me. Didn’t matter if I could get some-one into playing it, they couldn’t buy it.

    It’s great to have some-one to play with, and who is into as much as I am. That was one of the downsides of Netrunner and Ashes for me.

    I like the to and fro Dale and I have with our decks. His Palpatine was trashing decks. My mill deck could win just on the odd occasion. But now my Sing/Bala-Tik/Tie Pilot aggro deck has the upper hand. However Dale has by the sounds of an email I’ve just received identified some cards to add to his deck that I won’t like. Shame they are not in stock at the moment.

    For better or worse we are also thinking about maybe going to a store championship or game night. I think the nearest one I have seen so far is Lincoln at the start of July. Then we will see how poor our deck construction skills are. I think we will get our butts handed to us. It’s a shame we don’t have anything nearer.

    Sing/Bala-Tik/Tie Pilot 1.0

    Deck tech, Destiny, star wars


    This is my third deck that I have built, but the second one I am putting the details of on this blog! The second deck I have built is still a work in progress and not really in a position to be called a 1.0 and talked about.

    This deck and the my second deck are a departure from my first deck, in that these are “aggro”. So without further ado here is my Sing/Bala-Tik/Tie Pilot deck…

    Battlefield: Ewok Village (Endor)

    Support

    • Air Superiority (1 cost, Neutral/Red) x 1
    • Attrition  (1 cost, Villian/Red) x 2
    • Backup Muscle  (1 cost, Villian/Yellow) x 1
    • E-Web Emplacement  (3 cost, Villian/Red) x 1
    • First Order TIE Fighter  (3 cost, Villian/Red) x 1

    Events

    • Aim  (1 cost, Neutral/Gray) x 2
    • Armed to the Teeth  (0 cost, Villian/Yellow) x 2
    • Bait and Switch  (0 cost, Villian/Yellow) x 2
    • Cheat  (1 cost, Neutral/Yellow) x 2
    • Collateral Damage  (0 cost, Neutral/Red) x 2
    • Nowhere to Run  (2 cost, Villian/Gray) x 2
    • Relentless Pursuit  (0 cost, Villian/Yellow) x 2
    • Salvo  (2 cost, Neutral/Red) x 1
    • Disarm (1 cost, Neutral/Yellow) x 2
    • Flank (1 cost, Neutral/Gray) x 1
    • He Doesn’t Like You (0 cost, Villian/Yellow) x 2

    Upgrades

    • F-11D Rifle  (2 cost, Villian/Red) x 2
    • Infantry Grenades  (2 cost, Villian/Gray) x 1
    • Rocket Launcher  (3 cost, Neutral/Ted) x 1

    My thinking behind the deck

    I’d heard a comment on a Facebook page that Sing and Bala-Tik were a lethal combination. So I thought I’d like to explore that. They are obviously an aggro combination. I had a single die for each and some points spare so I chucked in the Tie Pilot to work with Sing especially. Plus it gives me access to a second colour with cool weapon upgrades.

    The theme is to strike hard and fast. Hopefully doing 5 or 6 damage minimum a turn.

    To help with that I have cards to manipulate the dice (Nowhere to Run, Bait and Switch, and Aim).

    I have cards like Disarm, Flank, and He Doesn’t Like You to remove opponents dice or weapons/equipment.

    Cheat is a go to card with Yellow to give me a chance of recursion.

    Air Superiority is there to help give shields to keep characters alive long enough to kill off the likes of ePalpatine.

    As part of the plan I use attrition to make defeating my characters come with a cost.

    Backup Muscle is part of the plan for inflicting addition damage. While Relentless Pursuit is a nice way to attack a character hiding behind shields. I attack an undefended character then move the damage to my intended target.

    Collateral Damage is there to make use of my damage and do addition stuff to my opponent by removing a resource. Salvo is there for a similar reason but this time to maximise its impact.

    Armed to the Teeth could provide that final point or two of damage to win the game.

    The weapons and support are there to give extra chances for the Tie Pilot addition damage sides to be used.

    How’d it do?

    Well it’s been doing really well against Dale. Against his Chewie/Mon Mothma it’s been really successful. I’d like to say dominating it. Dale has been tweaking it, and improving his deck. In fact he ended the week on a high with a win.

    Against Dale’s ePalpatine it’s 50/50. Mind you we only played two games. But that match up really is a race to roll damage.

    Where next?

    I would like a second backup muscle and air superiority.

    I’d like to replace the 3 cost cards I have with cheaper options. This deck isn’t about getting resources and saving up. It’s about rushing stuff out cheaply and quickly, finishing off my opponent quickly.

    I must get Dale to play my mill deck against this.