No Disintegrations - GenCon Aftershock

Welcome back everyone to another installment of No Disintegrations. Now that the dust has settled and everyone has gotten home safely from GenCon I wanted to take some time to review what we learned from the largest gathering of Star Wars LCG players to date. First things first though, I would like to congratulate Matt Kohls for winning the first ever North American Championship!! Also props go out to the entire staff of FFG, all the players, and everyone else who was involved in making this tournament a showcase for what the Star Wars LCG has in store down the road. Now to the meat of the article and be warned there will be “maths” happening from this point on DUN DUN DUN!!

For those who haven’t seen here are the top 16 decklists. You may noticed that there are a few striking things from these lists so keep scrolling down to check out a few things I found interesting.

Decklists ordered by finishing placement:

1 (3) - Matt Kohls
Rebel alliance
2x The Defense of Yavin 4
2x The Rebel Fleet
2x Renegade Squadron Mobilization
2x Prepare for Evacuation
2x Raise the Stakes

Imperial Navy
2x Fall of the Jedi
2x Council of the Sith
2x The Emperor's Web
Imperial Command
2x Defense Protocol
Reconnaissance Mission

2 (4) - Grant Huddleston
Smugglers & spies
2x Questionable Contacts
2x Raise the Stakes
2x Trust Me
2x Asteroid Sanctuary
2x Across the Anoat Sector

Imperial Navy
2x Fall of the Jedi
2x Council of the Sith
2x The Emperor's Web
2x Imperial Command
Reconnaissance Mission
The Ghosts of the Dark Side

3 (1) - Jon Herr
Rebel alliance
2x The Defense of Yavin 4
2x The Rebel Fleet
2x Renegade Squadron Mobilization
2x Prepare for Evacuation
2x Raise the Stakes

Imperial Navy
2x Fall of the Jedi
2x Council of the Sith
2x The Emperor's Web
Imperial Command
2x Defense Protocol
Reconnaissance Mission

4 (10) - Garrit Pruim
Jedi
2x A Hero's Journey
2x The Secret of Yavin 4
2x Questionable Contacts
2x Renegade Squadron Mobilization
2x Asteroid Sanctuary

Imperial Navy
2x Fall of the Jedi
2x Council of the Sith
2x The Emperor's Web
Cruel Interrogations
Death and Despayre
Deploy the Fleet
Across the Jundland Wastes

5 (5) - James Booker
Jedi
2x A Hero's Journey
2x The Secret of Yavin 4
2x Questionable Contacts
2x Wookiee Life Debt
2x Asteroid Sanctuary

Scum & villainy
2x Fall of the Jedi
2x Council of the Sith
2x The Emperor's Web
Cruel Interrogations
Hive of Scum and Villainy
2x Feeding the Pit

6 (8) - Ron Longhi
Jedi
2x A Hero's Journey
The Secret of Yavin 4
2x Questionable Contacts
Knowledge and Defense
2x Wookiee Life Debt
2x Asteroid Sanctuary

Imperial Navy
2x Fall of the Jedi
2x Council of the Sith
2x The Emperor's Web
Shadows of Dathomir
2x Imperial Command
Reconnaissance Mission

7 (11) - Justin McBride
Jedi
2x A Hero's Journey
2x The Secret of Yavin 4
2x Questionable Contacts
2x Renegade Squadron Mobilization
2x Asteroid Sanctuary

Imperial Navy
2x Fall of the Jedi
2x Council of the Sith
2x The Emperor's Web
Cruel Interrogations
Imperial Command
Deploy the Fleet
Across the Jundland Wastes

8 (15) - Scott Egan
Smugglers & spies
2x Questionable Contacts
2x Last Defense of Hoth
2x Wookiee Life Debt
2x Trust Me
2x Asteroid Sanctuary

Imperial Navy
2x Imperial Command
The Ultimate Power
2x Take Them Prisoner
Reconnaissance Mission
Shadows on the Ice
2x The General's Imperative
Sabotage in the Snow

9 (2) - Adam Johnson
Rebel alliance
2x The Defense of Yavin 4
2x The Rebel Fleet
2x Draw Their Fire
2x Mobilize the Squadrons
2x Hoth Operations

Sith
2x The Emperor's Web
2x Imperial Command
The Endor Gambit
2x Take Them Prisoner
Corporate Exploitation
2x The General's Imperative

10 (6) - Jon Wojcik
Rebel alliance
2x The Defense of Yavin 4
2x The Rebel Fleet
2x Renegade Squadron Mobilization
2x Raise the Stakes
2x Asteroid Sanctuary

Sith
2x Fall of the Jedi
Council of the Sith
2x Black Squadron Assault
2x The Emperor's Web
2x The Killing Cold
Shadows on the Ice

11 (7) - David Bushermohle
Smugglers & spies
2x Questionable Contacts
2x Wookiee Life Debt
Raise the Stakes
Trust Me
2x Asteroid Sanctuary
2x Across the Anoat Sector

Scum & villainy
2x Fall of the Jedi
2x Council of the Sith
2x The Emperor's Web
Hive of Scum and Villainy
2x Feeding the Pit
The Ghosts of the Dark Side

12 (9) - Adam Hubner
Smugglers & spies
2x Questionable Contacts
2x Raise the Stakes
2x Trust Me
2x Asteroid Sanctuary
2x Across the Anoat Sector

Sith
2x Fall of the Jedi
2x Council of the Sith
2x Jabba's Reach
2x The Tatooine Crash
2x Trandoshan Terror

13 (12) - Zach Bunn
Smugglers & spies
2x A Hero's Journey
2x In You Must Go
2x The Secret of Yavin 4
Last Minute Rescue
2x Questionable Contacts
2x Trust Me

Imperial Navy
2x Fall of the Jedi
2x Council of the Sith
2x The Emperor's Web
2x Imperial Command
Death and Despayre
The Ghosts of the Dark Side

14 (13) - Ben Hosp
Rebel alliance
The Defense of Yavin 4
Mobilize the Squadrons
2x Hoth Operations
Echo base Defense
2x Renegade Squadron Mobilization
2x Preparation for Battle
The Defense of Cloud City

Imperial Navy
2x Kuat Reinforcements
The Ultimate Power
Death and Despayre
The Endor Gambit
2x Deploy the Fleet
Serve the Emperor
Sabotage in the Snow
The Tatooine Crash

15 (14) - Tim Fournier
Smugglers & spies
2x In You Must Go
2x The Secret of Yavin 4
2x Questionable Contacts
2x A Message from Beyond
2x Wookiee Life Debt

Scum & villainy
2x Jabba's Orders
2x Lucrative Contract
2x Hive of Scum and Villainy
2x Jabba's Reach
2x Trandoshan Terror

16 (16) - Phil Schrader
Smugglers & spies
2x Questionable Contacts
Renegade Squadron Mobilization
2x Raise the Stakes
2x Trust Me
The Defense of Cloud City
2x Across the Anoat Sector

Imperial Navy
2x Imperial Command
2x The Endor Gambit
Shadows on the Ice
2x A Dark Time for the Rebellion
2x The General's Imperative
Sabotage in the Snow

The first thing I noticed while glancing over the top 16 deck was that Vader, Palpatine, and/or Council of the Sith made an appearance in 12 of the Dark Side decks, so 75% of the players were running one or more of these three objectives. The decks none of these objectives showed up in were based around either Vehicle or Trooper themes and sadly did not fare as well. Even more surprising was that only one deck that was lacking any of these Dark Side powerhouses made top 8, in a field with ~100 players to see such consistency in a deck archetype really points to how strong it is. So for those people that were saying the days of Sith Control are over you might want to think twice.

Another thing to note is that of the Dark Side decks making top 4, there were only 3 objectives run that were NOT from the core set. This means that 92.5% of the objectives run in Dark Side decks came from the original box set, in fact Matt Kohls winning deck was a completely core set deck that many players have been running for months. So for players just starting out, or for those that may not have the funds to buy every single force pack take heart; you can still be competitive with just the core set.

Yet another point of interest is that the supporting cast for these decks based around the Sith core is what changed the most. We saw Scum & Villainy being added to gain the control from Capture and Uttini, or players going with all the tricks provided from Cruel Interrogations. The overwhelming choice for a supporting cast for Sith came from the Imperial Navy. Admiral Motti fills so many roles inside Sith decks by providing extra resources and a way to get out from under tactics icons that he saw play in roughly 56% of top 16 decks. On the other hand an objective that a lot of people thought would make a huge difference against Character based Light Side decks saw almost no presence inside the top 16 and that was Across the Jundland Wastes. Only two players made the top 16 with this objective in their deck, TGO (Garrit Prium) and his teammate Justin McBride.

The last thing to note is how aggressive the Dark Side decks that made top 16 are. Most are running a decent amount of objective damage, through cards like Devastator, Target of Opportunity, Darth Vader, TIE Attack Squad, or Orbital Bombardment. Being able to put extra pressure on your opponent by taking out or damaging key objectives needs to be a part of the Dark Sides strategy moving forward. It isn’t enough to just sit back and block while you wait for the dial to slowly creep up to 12, you have to pressure your opponent with the fear of winning if they over extend because you have the ability to attack back.

So what can we take from this?

1. Sith Control is still really good
2. Just because there are new objectives out doesn’t mean they are the “best”.
3. Being able to blow up objectives as Dark Side is greatly needed.
4. Scum as a mono faction is underpowered.
5. Targeted strike for dark side is really good.

DS Top-16 pod spread:
Fall of the Jedi - 22
The Emperor's Web - 22
Council of the Sith - 21
Imperial Command - 13
The General's Imperative - 6
Reconnaissance Mission - 5
Deploy the Fleet - 4
Hive of Scum and Villainy - 4
Jabba's Reach - 4
Trandoshan Terror - 4
Feeding the Pit - 4
Defense Protocol - 4
The Tatooine Crash - 3
The Ghosts of the Dark Side - 3
Sabotage in the Snow - 3
Shadows on the Ice - 3
Cruel Interrogations - 3
Death and Despayre - 3
The Endor Gambit - 3
Take Them Prisoner - 3
A Dark Time for the Rebellion - 2
Corporate Exploitation - 2
Kuat Reinforcements - 2
The Ultimate Power - 2
The Killing Cold - 2
Lucrative Contract - 2
Jabba's Orders - 2
Across the Jundland Wastes - 2
Serve the Emperor - 1
Black Squadron Assault - 1
Shadows of Dathomir - 1

On to the Light Side!! So first things first… a vehicle deck won the North American Championship. You heard that right, a vehicle deck won. With all the outcry over how “broken” Smugglers were because of the Falcon/Chewy/Han shenanigans, they didn’t end up taking the top prize home. That being said Smugglers in all their many forms were the hands down dominant faction of choice for every single player to make the top 16. Only 5 of the top 16 decks were missing everyone’s favorite smuggler Han Solo, but two of those decks made top 4 and one ended up winning the whole show.

As was the case with Dark Side, the majority of decks were built around a core setup of Han, Chewbacca, and/or the Millennium Falcon. From that point the strategies for utilizing these three objective sets were rather varied. You had Sleuth Scout based decks that tried to abuse Across the Anoat Sector and Raise the Stakes, banking on Dark Side decks not having enough small defenders out to protect against them. There were pure Smuggler Character builds using Lando Calrissian to allow for some brutal attacks with his ability, all the while being protected against the ever present Force Lightning by the ability on Trust Me. Lastly you had the protector heavy Jedi builds that could keep their big guys around for quite some time with Guardian of Peace and Lightsaber Deflection; combine that with Luke Skywalker and you had a truly fearsome package.

On this particular day all those decks were outclassed by the sheer ferocity of the vehicle decks piloted by Matt Kohls and his teammate Jon Herr. Eschewing the reliance on the quality characters that Light Side has available they instead built a deck that can all but ignore edge battles and still get out more than enough Blast damage to consistently destroy your opponents objectives. You also gain the utility of two copies of Swindled and Rebel Assault to help you deal with pesky defenders or to finish off an opponent's objective. If you want to learn more about this deck in particular you can check out the interviews that Table Flip and Smugglers Den did with North American Champion winner Matt Kohls.
So what can we take from this?

1. Smugglers & Spies is a VERY strong faction.
2. Vehicle based light side decks should not be taken lightly.
3. Slower Light Side decks do not fare well in the current environment.
4. Pure Jedi decks are nowhere to be seen.
5. Han Solo does some serious work against so many different decks.

LS Top-16 pod spread:
Questionable Contacts - 26
Asteroid Sanctuary - 18
Raise the Stakes - 13
Trust Me - 11
The Secret of Yavin 4 - 11
Wookiee Life Debt - 10
Renegade Squadron Mobilization - 10
A Hero's Journey - 10
The Defense of Yavin 4 - 9
Across the Anoat Sector - 8
The Rebel Fleet - 8
Prepare for Evacuation - 4
Hoth Operations - 4
In You Must Go - 4
Mobilize the Squadrons - 3
Preparation for Battle - 2
A Message from Beyond - 2
Last Defense of Hoth - 2
The Defense of Cloud City - 2
Draw Their Fire - 2
Last Minute Rescue - 1
Echo base Defense - 1
Knowledge and Defense - 1

Thanks again for checking in for No Disintegrations this week. Hopefully everyone had a blast at GenCon, now it is time to start preparing for Worlds! Next time my plan is to go over a quirky Jedi deck that I first heard about from TGO, I have really enjoyed playing over the past few weeks. If you have a deck you would like to have featured in an upcoming No Disintegrations article please feel free to post it below or PM me. As always without each and every one of the valued members here at CardgameDB.com I would be writing to no one so I thank you for your time and may the top deck always be with you!