Fearless and Inventive - A Fire Rises

The poll this time came down to the wire between Embers of Hope and The Escape from Ord Mantell. Despite a strong push in the end, Embers of Hope held on for the win. Most of the reasoning behind this was the fact that the new Yoda just hit, and people want to see what the Jedi can cook up. Since the pack release, it has become very apparent that Jedi are indeed back. Is there a place for this objective though? I think there sure is, so let's break the set down first.

Immediately you can see that this is a very strong ability, shutting down the likes of Council of the Sith, Dark Precognition, and the newer draw machine, Zygerrian Slaver. Of course it does have the unfortunate "while undamaged" text, but it is still good. If your opponent is playing an aggressive deck, this may not be his first target if there isn't a lot of draw in his deck. However, if they do have, say Council of the Sith, this may keep other objectives you have from being attacked, like May the Force Be With You.

The next two cards in the set are most likely the reason why this set does not see a lot of play, at least as a 2 of. The Moisture Farmer is not much to look at with 1 edge dependent unit damage. However, it still costs nothing. Flooding the board with cheap units can do a few things, first, your opponent might not be able to block every attack leaving him able to get some cheap damage in. Jedi don't relish in a lot of blast damage, so getting damage anyway you can is good. Second, he does have a force icon. Being able to attack with your mains and get the force back, even without May The Force Be With You, is good. Lastly, one of the best ways to combat these Jedi/Smuggler force decks is to be aggressive. Your opponent may forget this guys text when he is going in for the win by blowing up your last objective.

Now any Jedi set wouldn't be complete without some kind of training enhancements, and we get two in this set. The first is the second strongest card in the set, Makashi Training. Before this cycle, this was not that attractive of an enhancement. Luke already has Targeted Strike and the old Yoda is very fragile. His icons are also all edge enabled, making him even weaker. Obi-Wan, in both forms, only has 1 unit damage, so it was really a waste to put this on him. Much better off to chuck it into an edge battle. But now, we have two stellar candidates for it. First we got Kyle Katarn, and his amazing 3 black unit damage. It is extremely satisfying to play Kyle, lock down a committed Emperor, then attack and just get him off the board. Then, we get the beast that is Yoda v2. Yoda with targeted strike is extremely scary. If the dial even gets to 5, he can kill anyone except an Executor. We already know that in the last pack we are getting yet another strong candidate for this enhancement in Feris Olin. The stock on this card is only going to rise. Our second enhancement, Force Precognition, is more situational. Getting the original Obi-Wan's ability to see the first card in an edge stack is most effective against a deck running a lot of Twist of Fates. If you see that your opponent might have at least 3 of them in their deck, it might be worth putting this into play. Otherwise, its a nice edge card.

Finally, we have the last card in the set, Secret Guardian. This card is clearly the moneymaker. Before the new cycle, this was probably the only reason to run this objective set. Like Makashi Training, the stock of this card is only going to rise. The combinations and tricks that you can accomplish with this card are the Jedi's closest thing to the Millennium Falcon. The first prime example is Kyle Katarn. Using this to play Kyle let's you trigger his reaction 2 turns in a row. Now, imagine that you have Obi-Wan Kenobi sitting there holding the force every turn, getting this back. This allows you to even use it on your opponents turn, provided you have the resource.

How do you squeeze this set in?

With the current meta, there are plenty of Force Decks running around. You have your mono Smuggler, Jedi/Smuggler, and even mono Jedi. Here are some of those typical decklists.

Mono Smuggler:
Smuggler and Spies Affiliation
Along the Gamor Run x2
Against All Odds x2
Asteroid Sanctuary x2
Wookie Life Debt x2
Questionable Contacts x2

Jedi/Smuggler:
Smuggler and Spies Affiliation
Along the Gamor Run x2
Wookie Life Debt x2
May The Force Be With You x2
A Hero's Journey x2
Watchers in the Wasteland
Heroes and Legends

For our deck, we are not going to go total "Force Lock". With the stipulation of using 2 copies of our featured set, it just would not work that well. What we will do, is start with what you can consider the core of any Jedi deck now. Two copies of MTFBWY and Watchers in the Wasteland. These sets combined give you resources, card search, and free units with the Wolfmen when used properly. There is almost no wasted, or "dead" card in these sets except the actual Watchers objective. Yoda of course is your best way to start. When using this set, it seems like almost every game you see Yoda on the board by turn 2. Using the event to put him into play can free up a resource to get your Makashi Training on him, making him an even bigger threat right away. Your Wolfmen should 9/10 times be coming into play for free. If you have MTFBWY in play, it can be extremely easy. If not, you can still play the Wolfman, and use your Secret Guardian to play one of your more expensive mains.

The next set to add is normally a must have 2 of, A Hero's Journey. To fit everything into this deck however, there had to be a cut, and Luke ended up on the chopping block. Another great set that fits in as a 1 of is Heroes and Legends. I have never really been too keen of using two of this set, I either don't get the objective into play, making all of the Kyle's edge cards, or I don't have the resource to save, which does the same thing. Rahn's guidance is another great card to cycle with Obi-Wan. Echoes of the Force is clutch when you have MTFBWY in play. That will finish up the Jedi side of things, now lets switch to the yellow cards.

Ahh, Aquaris Freeholders. Where have you gone since your restriction? Due to the restricted list, The False Report has seen a significant drop in play. When it does make it into a deck now, it is usually as a 1 of, which is perfect for this deck. We need a couple more powerhouse units, and they certainly fit the bill. Being Elite makes them great targets for the force, and in turn, MTFBWY. The best part? Dropping one of THESE guys in with a Secret Guardian. That can quickly turn the tide on turn 1. Getting Yoda and one of these dudes on turn 1 is absolutely brutal. Not as bad as Free Dash but still very nice. Another random combo that occurred in playtesting was, Secret Guardian a Freeholder, attack, then before the phase is over, use Outmaneuver to bounce a Mara Jade. Ouch. This thing with a Trust Your Feelings is something the DS doesn't want to see either. The objective hitting can be a real surprise now, especially since one of the best ways to beat Jedi is be more aggressive.

The final set that will be added to the deck is going to be Trust Me. The deck needs to have some kind of way to combat events, and since we are going Smuggler Affiliation, Lando is the perfect choice. The resource, target, and 2 resource objective are all needed. Plus you can do that cheap, blow up my Trust Me to trigger a False Report. Lando himself is a solid unit to drop in with Secret Guardian as well.

Decklist shakes down like this:

Smuggler and Spies Affiliation

Trust Me x2 (EoD 71)
The False Report (H&L 99)
Embers of Hope x2 (EoD 76)
May The Force Be With You x2 (JUOD 112)
Watchers in the Wasteland (BoTF 91)
A Hero's Journey (Core 1)
Heroes and Legends (H&L 97)

The deck will run very smoothly. You have plenty of mains that have three health or more. Resources are covered with your enhancements, and 3 objectives with 2, allowing you to play an Obi-Wan or 5 cost Freeholder turn 1. Your Moisture Farmers, while not much, can get in some cheap damage when needed and protect your objective against some aggro decks. Getting Makashi Training on Yoda or Kyle can cause some real pain for your opponent. The Jedi have indeed returned, and it feels good.

If you can read this, you don't need glasses.