No Disintegrations - Top Tier Navy

Welcome back one and all to another week of No Disintegrations, this week I am going to dive head first into dissecting what is quickly becoming one of my favorite decks in the current game environment; Top Tier Navy. First I have to give a shout out to my good friend TGO for turning me onto this deck a few weeks ago. I was a bit skeptical switching from my Sith Control to this deck but after playing a few games with and against it I have absolutely fallen in love with how this deck plays and have been devoting all my dark side play time in learning the ins and outs of this particular deck. I have been able to play this deck in a regional event (to a 5th place finish) and in a local weekly tournament to an undefeated finish with the deck. I have had multiple people ask for the decklist so without further ado here it is in all its glory:


Afflilation:
Sith (Core)

Total Objective Sets: 10

2x Black Squadron Assault (Core 21-1)

Vader's TIE Advanced (Core 21-2)
TIE Advanced (Core 21-3)
Black Squadron Pilot (Core 21-4)
I'm On the Leader (Core 21-5)
Target of Opportunity (Core 21-6)

2x Kuat Reinforcements (Core 27-1)

"Backstabber" (Core 27-2)
TIE Fighter (Core 27-3)
TIE Bomber (Core 27-4)
Tallon Roll (Core 27-5)
Death from Above (Core 27-6)

2x Death and Despayre (Core 29-1)

Devastator (Core 29-2)
Imperial Officer (Core 29-3)
Control Room (Core 29-4)
Defense Upgrade (Core 29-5)
Heat of Battle (Core 29-6)

1x Defense Protocol (Core 30-1)

TIE Attack Squadron (Core 30-2)
TIE Fighter (Core 30-3)
Tallon Roll (Core 30-4)
Death from Above (Core 30-5)
Twist of Fate (Core 30-6)

2x The Endor Gambit (Core 31-1)

AT-ST Commander (Core 31-2)
AT-ST (Core 31-3)
AT-ST (Core 31-4)
Aft Armor Plating (Core 31-5)
Target of Opportunity (Core 31-6)

1x Deploy the Fleet (The Search For Skywalker 46-1)

Death Squadron Star Destroyer (The Search For Skywalker 46-2)
Death Squadron Star Destroyer (The Search For Skywalker 46-3)
Fleet Navigator (The Search For Skywalker 46-4)
Death Squadron Command (The Search For Skywalker 46-5)
Admiral's Orders (The Search For Skywalker 46-6)

As you can see the deck is very centralized around vehicles and getting them out quickly and in great number; especially Fighters. You have some of the best pure aggro units in the game at your disposal in Devastator, Vader’s TIE, and TIE Advanced as well as pretty much everything else in the deck. As the dark side player running this deck you are able to consistently destroy 3+ objectives per game which not only helps with match tie breakers, but also means you are winning very quickly ratcheting up that Death Star dial even if you don’t control the force struggle. Surprisingly for an aggro deck you have some decent ways of gaining and potentially keeping the Force because many of your units have a decent amount of force icons.

Deck Strengths:
This is pure and simple an aggro deck and it makes no efforts in hiding that from anyone. You are going to want to put the pressure on early and keep it on the entire match. With how fast this deck is you are able to race ahead of most Jedi/Smuggler decks before they can stabilize their board presence. On the other hand the deck doesn't do too shabby sitting back on defense if the situation calls for it especially if you have a TIE Attack Squadron in play and are able to give it Targeted Strike. As you will notice many of the units in this deck have two or more health capacity which means that your opponent is going to have to really work to clear the board of all your units once you are able to get them out. The deck is very resilient and able to handle a variety of situations so don’t feel like if you play this deck there is no strategy involved, knowing when and what to attack takes practice but with this deck the payoff can be quite destructive.

Deck Weaknesses:
As the very observant players have already surmised this deck is by no means perfect and has a few shortcomings, the main one being an utter lack of Tactics icons or for that matter any way to reliably interact with your opponents board state. Your best way of dealing with your opponent is through attacking and defending so if your opponent is able to force you into unwise or unprofitable situations the deck starts to falter. Be careful on your early turns; especially if you have Kuat Reinforcements out, because you will generally be able to play a few cards a turn which will leave your hand on the slim to empty side of things which leaves you vulnerable to losing Edge battles. By no means does the deck get shut down from losing an edge battle, but it makes things a bit more difficult and forces you to use potential combat tricks such as Talon Roll to strike back instead of being able to strike multiple times. Additionally while Kuat Reinforcements means you can afford your big units early there really aren’t a plethora of resources in this deck so you have to manage what you do have wisely and not overextend.

Play Tips:

- You generally want to keep your objectives in the following priority order:

Kuat Reinforcements -> The Endor Gambit -> Death and Despayre or Black Squadron Assault -> Defense Protocol -> Deploy the Fleet

You don’t want to generally double up on Kuat Reinforcements as two provide no extra bonus. Double The Endor Gambit and one Kuat Reinforcements is overall one of the strongest opening objective sets against Tactics heavy Jedi/Smuggler decks. On the other hand Defense Protocol is a star when facing Rebels and you need that last tick of damage.

- Talon Roll is an amazing card on offense, but that is not the only use it has. Don’t forget you can use it to refresh a unit on defense or right before the Force Struggle in order to maintain or gain control of the force. Most opponent’s won’t see this coming and I have caught many opponent unawares with a well timed Talon Roll.

- Don’t forget that Death From Above targets all Vehicles, not just Starfighters. For the longest time when I started playing this deck I read the card wrong and wasn’t using it to the full effect. Plus there is nothing quite as funny as watching AT-ST’s rain Death From Above on a helpless objective.

- Forgetting the ability on Devastator can be... well.... devastating. That extra tick of the dial can mean the difference between winning and losing a game, especially if you have open resources early and are forgetting to activate it.

- A first turn Devastator can be a huge shock to your opponent and something that is hard to overcome, but sometimes it is not always the right play. Your opponent will have one turn to prepare for the Devastator’s attack and this could leave you vulnerable to losing the big guy early. More often the better play is to roll out some smaller TIE’s or an AT-ST on your first turn allowing you to build a board presence and then play the Devastator on turn two when you are able to attack with it as soon as it comes into play.

This deck has become one of my favorite decks to play not only because it is competitive, but also because it is down right fun to play. Being able to make huge swings against your opponent has the feel of wielding the power of the Imperial Naval machines full might and wiping out those pesky Rebel scum one objective at a time. If anyone has any questions or comments about the above deck please feel free to comment or PM me here on the forums.

Next time though I will go over a deck that can take the hits from the Imperial war machine and come back with a knockout punch of its own. If you have a particular deck you would like to see discussed in the coming weeks please leave a comment. 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!