Star Wars LCG: "Imperial Entanglements" Deluxe Expansion Review - LS side part 1

MEET THE FAMILY (aka - THE REVIEWERS):
-chunkygorillas, host to the Ion Control Podcast ;
-doctormungmung, Massachussets' evil genius;
-yodaman, he who you seek when numbers are involved;
-pantsyg, jankmaster general;
-Majestaat, the one to blame for typos and delayed articles.

We're back to five people yet again. Mac and Blake and sleeping with the fishes for different reasons. Many thanks to them for their hard work until this point, but we must press forward and keep getting the jobs done.


THE RATING SYSTEM:
It's to be noted that due to the SW:LCG's unique way of deckbuilding, it's impossible to just pick the stronger cards. You're likely to stick with some undesirable cards no matter what. Hence, the different scores could be seen as:
1 – Poor – Edge fodder. Drops the total value of its objective set.
2 – Bad – Most likely edge fodder. Either too situational or clearly not strong enough for its cost.
3 – Average – Not stellar but does its job decently.
4 – Good – Solid card with guaranteed impact.
5 – Great – Gamechangers you will always be glad to see and play, if able.
* = indicates unique card.

THE BIG DEALS:



Top 10 Cards (they're actually way more with all the ties and us ignoring reprints):
1 – Force Illusion (Mysteries of the Rim), with 23 out of 25 possible points.
2 – Outer Rim Mystic (Mysteries of the Rim), with 22 out of 25 possible points.
3 – Niman Training (Mysteries of the Rim), with 22 out of 25 possible points.
4 – Mysteries of the Rim, with 20.5 out of 25 possible points.
5 – Central Computer (Fortune and Fate), with 20 out of 25 possible points.
6 – Directed Fire (Renegade Reinforcements), with 20 out of 25 possible points.
7 – Chewbacca (Debt of Honor), with 19.5 out of 25 possible points.
8 - Kashyyyk Resistance Hideout (Debt of Honor), with 19.5 out of 25 possible points.
9 – Undercover (Planning the Rescue), with 19 out of 25 possible points.
10 – Mirax Terrik (Honor Among Thieves), with 18.5 out of 25 possible points.
11 – Renegade Reinforcements, with 18.5 out of 25 possible points.
12 – Corporal Dansra Beezer (Renegade Reinforcements), with 18.5 out of 25 possible points.
13 – General Airen Cracken (Planning the Rescue), with 18.5 out of 25 possible points.

Overall best rated Objective Set:
Mysteries of the Rim, with 22.5 out of 25 possible points.


THE REVIEWS:

House Edge (171-1): 15 out of 25 possible points.



chunkygorillas (3/5) – This effect is actually pretty awesome, edge battles are often played with a lot of thought put in to what cards are going to be put in and in what order and this just totally messes with that. It only works when it’s undamaged though so you probably won’t get to use the effect that often.

doctormungmung (3/5) – Most of the time this objective is on the board, it’s going to be blank, because there is no way the DS will allow this effect to be active long. Not being able to choose what card you lead an edge battle with just totally messes up your ability to win said edge battle. Smugglers have a few tricks to keep this objective undamaged, but they’re not in very good sets, so in general once this is turned off, it’s going to be off the rest of the game. If the effect weren’t so powerful I’d have given it a rating of two, but not being able to reliably play edge battles for a turn is enough to bump it up a notch.

yodaman (3/5) – To be honest, I’m not a big fan of this objective, but it’s not awful. It has the standard 1 resource for 5 health, but the ability only works while undamaged and in the grand scheme of things, I’m not sure the ability to have the opponent to choose an edge card as random once per turn is so powerful that it needed the while undamaged aspect.

pantsyg (4/5) – This is a pretty cool effect. Given how important edge battles are to the game, not being able to lead a key one with the right card can be huge. Loses a point for being “while undamaged.”

Majestaat (2/5) – Unless this is discarding that DS key event that was gonna be used mid-battle, I don't see this effect mattering much. Two things in the pod make this objective particularly bad: for starters, it's got pretty weak defenders, so you may not have the tools to punish the DS wanting to deactivate this one. Second, the set's edge count is really crappy, meaning you'll likely lose the edge anyway.


*Lando Calrissian (171-2): 14 out of 25 possible points.



chunkygorillas (2/5) – His ability is just so weird and hard to use and it can benefit your opponent has much as it can benefit you, it’s just really not worth the cost of the deck slot really… His stats are at least better than Sarris’s.

doctormungmung (4/5) – Lando has always been good at messing with engagements, and this version is no different. He’s much more of a gambler, but the payoff is higher. At worst, you can get your opponent to pitch a card that they then can’t use in an edge battle. At best, you can get one of your heavy hitters to strike multiple times. Because he doesn’t need to be focused to use the ability, Lando can sit quietly in the corner playing sabaac all he wants. And because it’s an action, you can almost always find a time to play it where even if your opponent wins, they won't get any useful effect from that win. The biggest issue is the general lack of low force icon cards Smugglers have to help Lando out.

yodaman (3/5) – For the same cost as the original Lando, you get an extra combat icon and 3 health so that’s good. The old smuggler always has a trick up his sleeve and if you can get Lando’s gamble to work and actually free up a unit, it will be good. However, the ability seems like it could easily backfire since Smugglers often have cards with fewer icons. It might fit better in a Jedi build since they tend to have higher icons counts in sets.

pantsyg (2/5) – I was excited for this card at first, but after running him in real decks, I was almost never happy paying 4 to have him on the board. His effect is hard to set up to your advantage, and I only found myself playing him when I was ahead enough to spend 4 for a black tactics icon. Elite and/or 3 pips, or costing him at 3, might have saved him from total uselessness.

Majestaat (3/5) – So Lando's blast icon is now white instead of black, and he traded elite for a black gun and an extra health point. Not good in my book, and seeing how random his ability is, I can's see why he needed to lose both his elite keyword and black blast. Sure, his ability can be quite powerful, but your opponent has more than a fair chance to beat Lando in his own game. Again, partly due to this set's miserable edge count. I though real gamblers always had an ace down their sleeve. Guess I was wrong. In any case, using his ability when the DS refreshes is fairly safe. Force a discard or ready a defender.


Herglic Sabacc Addict (171-3): 14.5 out of 25 possible points.



chunkygorillas (3/5) – This guy is actually pretty decent, especially in Smuggler, since they have a few cards that will reveal the opponent’s hand. Even without seeing their hand first, you can often guess what they might be hanging on to if you know their deck pretty well.

doctormungmung (2/5) – Targeted hand removal can be very good. But doing that blind significantly reduces the utility. There are a couple of ways to look at the DS hand pre-choice, but generally they are in support sets, thinning out the offense in the LS deck to dangerous levels. You can just say a card you want to make sure your opponent doesn’t have in their hand (like a twist), but usually there will be more than one card they could have that will hose you, so even that is just a partial win. Two Addicts in a single turn will net you at least one guaranteed card of your choice. And of course, once you get your one shot at messing with their hand, you’re left with a unit that doesn’t do much.

yodaman (3.5/5) – This chud might be the best card in the set, which is not a good sign. Knowledge is power in this game and even if you don’t actually have your opponent discard anything, you get a way to see their hand although 2 might be a bit too high of a cost just for that. Ideally, you’d want to be able to use Platt or Bothan Spy to look at the DS hand first, then play the Addict to get rid of something to could cause you problems. But then you’re playing more chuds on the same turn so it might not be worth it.

pantsyg (3/5) – At Action speed, this effect would be key; attaching this effect to a body means you can only play it in deployment. The hand knowledge is the best part of this card, but you need to have an offensive board already established to make him work because his body is doing precisely nothing for you.

Majestaat (3/5) – Wanted to give him a 2, and most times he will, in fact, feel like dead weight. However, his ability will hands down win you games every time you know there's only one particular card that could crush your crucial attack. If he had a white blast instead of a gun, he would feel more useful at about every phase of the game, and not just during the last turns when you already have a decent army to push for the win.


Cloud City Casino (171-4): 18 out of 25 possible points.



chunkygorillas (4/5) – I don’t think I’ve had to rate one of the standard resource cards yet, but honestly they are almost always a good thing to see in a set.

doctormungmung (3/5) – It’s a limited one for one resource. It’s the basic resource all other resources are compared to. It’s nothing flashy, but it’s efficient. And just about any deck will be better with one of these standards in it (just hopefully not too many, though).

yodaman (3/5) – A basic neutral 1 for 1 resource reprinted. Not much special here.

pantsyg (4/5) – Standard 1-1 resource, always happy to see these with Mains—though usually I want better Mains.

Majestaat (4/5) – Resources: never leave home without them! Just try not to overdo it with the limited ones. It sucks when you can't play half your hand nor gain any edge advantage with it.


Sabacc Shift (171-5): 7.5 out of 25 possible points.



chunkygorillas (1/5) – It doesn’t really do anything? Ya they might have a good hand I guess but they are just going to draw up another hand, and on average they will just draw another decent hand. It’s worth 2 in the edge though and I guess has the chance of getting rid of your opponent’s god hand and causing them to draw a terrible hand…

doctormungmung (2/5) – Unless you know what your opponent has in their hand, making them replace it with an equal number of cards that may include some or all of the cards currently in it, you’re taking a big risk of turning a bad hand into a good hand. Maybe if this cost zero I’d be more keen on it, but as it is, I think at least half the time it’s going to hurt you more than help you. At least it’s a decent edge card, and not a bad one for Lando to play sabaac with.

yodaman (2.5/5) – On the surface this card seems interesting, but you’re just as likely to make your opponent discard their hand and redraw good cards as you are bad. If you have a way to look at the DS hand before playing this (via Platt, Bothan Spy, Addict, etc..) then you’ll know whether or not you should bother to play it. Too situational for my taste.

pantsyg (1/5) – I really dislike this card. Pay 1 to have no board effect, and possibly improve the opponent’s hand. Possibly OK if you have a read on what the opponent has, or hand knowledge from an Addict or Bothan, but you never know what they’ll re-draw. Would be much better if it discarded the hand, or let you re-draw a hand rather than the opponent, but I never feel like spending resources to give the opponent a potential mulligan.

Majestaat (1/5) – Pay one to let luck do its stuff or zero to use a couple pips in your edge stack. I'll pick the second option any day, and so should you. I don't see why this was limited to the opponent. Would have been nice to have a card that basically lets you mulligan again.


The Gambler's Trick (171-6): 8 out of 25 possible points.



chunkygorillas (1/5) – This card seemed super great to me at first, but really it’s not great, if your opponent plays no fate cards, it does nothing, it’s only worth one in the edge. It does stop all fate cards except Twist of Fate but too often it just does nothing.

doctormungmung (2/5) – This is another hedge fate card, but I think the worst of them. You need a unique smuggler in the engagement, which is sometimes limiting in a faction with a lot of chuds. And it doesn’t counter a twist, which gets through just fine. It doesn’t help matters that it only has one force icon. Still, having a bit of guarantee of not seeing a Seeds or a Heat could be all you need. But really, I’d rather have a twist. Or just about any other edge card, really.

yodaman (2/5) – As fate cards go, this new one seems disappointing. While, it could possibly turn off things like Seeds, I Have You Now or Prince’s Scheme, there will be lots of times where the fate card does nothing and it only has 1 icon.
pantsyg (1/5) – See Sabacc Shift. I don’t really have any desire for a weaker version of Twist, especially in Smugglers, who already struggle winning edge battles. Easily the worst faction-specific Fate card.

Majestaat (1/5) – More often than not, this card will do absolutely nothing. The rest of the time it will get to nullify a Heat of Battle while still losing the edge thanks to its single icon. Lose-lose scenario. Sure, there will be times when you get to disrupt The Prince's Scheme or I Have You Now, but don't let them fool you, as once you start thinking about all the times this card was useless, you'll notice its simply not worth the space in your deck.


Overall: 9 out of 25 possible points.

chunkygorillas (1.5/5) – This set just doesn’t really do anything, it doesn’t help you win and it doesn’t support other cards that will help you win. It just wastes a deck slot…

doctormungmung (3/5) – This set is a gamble. If luck is with you, it can really pull off some powerful effects. But if luck isn’t with you, it’ll fall pretty flat. The only card in here I want to see on a consistent basis is Lando. Maybe in conjunction with Platt O’Keefe you can get some more mileage out of it. If Platt was in here instead of the Addict, or Sabaac Shift, I’d think of this set considerably higher. But as is, to get a bit better odds, you have to thin out the offense in your deck, which is usually not a good plan of action.

yodaman (2.5/5) – To be honest, even 2.5 out of 5 might be overrating this set. Maybe people will find a slot for this objective, but I’ve yet to find a decent way to use it instead rather than other sets. It does have a resource, but 6 total icons really brings it down in my eyes.

pantsyg (1/5) – I really wanted this set to work, and I’m still experimenting with ways to fit it into decks, but I’m never happy drawing any of its cards. On top of low card quality, it also has a low edge count, compounding an existing Smuggler problem. There’s potential combos to make Lando and Sabacc do something, but overall they need too much setup for effects that just don’t do enough toward winning the game.

Majestaat (1/5) – So it happened. A set managed to get a 1. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, and it's actually closer to a 2. No matter, fact is this set is bad. Unless you're having a very lucky day, about any other pod would do more towards achieving victory. The terrible edge count here made what little control you could have had over your own effects nonexistant. If you like Lando as much as I do, just stick to his EoD version.


Debt of Honor (172-1): 15.5 out of 25 possible points.



chunkygorillas (3.5/5) – It’s not great, but feeding units back into you deck is a good thing especially since with all the Wookie synergy that exists you’ll want to draw them again. It’s interesting that it is a Reaction, instead of an interrupt that triggers before the go into the discard pile.

doctormungmung (2/5) – Unit recursion is good, but this is an example of just about the bare minimum of what you can call recursion. Saving one wookie once per turn, and placing them in your deck where you may not see them again is better than having them in your discard pile, but not by much. If you get lucky you can keep Chewie on the board throughout the game, but more likely you’ll see him maybe twice, if you’re lucky. Although the frequency I see Owen kind of contradicts this….

yodaman (3/5) – Can pair quite nicely with Wookiee Life Debt to have unlimited protection, assuming you do get the combo and can keep your objectives in play.

pantsyg (3/5) – Recursion is always good. Limited to Wookiees, who aren’t the strongest at the moment, but the value will go up if Wookiees get good tribal cards.

Majestaat (3/5) – Nothing fantastic, but most if not all Wookiees are above average units to say the least, so this one helps you to keep a rather high quality army. May be especially valuable against meatgrinder decks that threaten to leave your deck without units in the long term.


*Chewbacca (172-2): 19.5 out of 25 possible points.



chunkygorillas (4/5) – This Chewie is pretty great, maybe not as good as the old one, but getting shields out on your important units is really good, especially with all these enemy units with multiple tactics. I wish he had the same icons as EoD Chewie but that Chewie was pretty under costed so for 3 this version does seem really fair.

doctormungmung (3/5) – There’s nothing wrong with this version of Chewie, but he has a high bar to be compared to. The original Chewie was a beast, killing units left and right, and forcing your opponent to carefully consider their attacks and defense. He got a big boost by having WLD out, but even without it he was still very solid. This version of Chewie can do some pretty amazing things (four shields over one LS and one DS turn is nothing to sneeze at), but it also has a catch, that unlike original Chewie, if you don’t meet it will totally shut this version down. You have to make sure you have less units than your opponent. But that just means that Chewie is more of a come from behind unit, rather than leading the offense one. In general, whoever has the most units out is in the better position. This version of Chewie levels the playing field somewhat. He does have a few things going for him over his original version. He’s got a black blast, for one. The other is that he’s a bit better at holding the force or helping out in edge with two force icons. Still, I don’t think that’s enough to put him on the same level as the original. This version can be summed up by the saying, the best offense is a good defense, while the original is much more of the best defense is a good offense.

yodaman (3.5/5) – The original Chewie is one of the best mains there is, so it was always going to be tough for a new version to compare. This Chewie is different, and not as good. It’s nice to have the black blast. His ability to give shields is awesome, but it only turns on if you have fewer units than your opponent so it’s not guaranteed.

pantsyg (4/5) – This is one of the cards I was most looking forward to in the box. He’s not the bruiser EoD Chewie is, but he trades raw damage output for a very cool and underrated effect. Placing shields at action speed on 2 different units is major, and Smugglers often operate outnumbered so his condition isn’t hard to meet. My only complaint is that this card is named “Chewbacca;” this set wants to run with Life Debt, but that gives you an excess of Chewies.

Majestaat (5/5) – While it would probably be safer to give Chewie a 4, I think he has the merit to be a 5. Sure, he's not the killing machine that EoD Chewie is, but this version can support the rest of your deck way better. Shields are just incredible with DS always trying to reach new unit damage thresholds or focusing on locking down your big hitters. Play him early in your turn and use his ability while you still have less units than your opponent. Use it again on your opponent's turn after he plays some of his own units, saving your army from targeted strike and tactics. Heck, if Chewie prevents the DS player from playing extra units to avoid his ability, you're still winning something.


Wookie Defender (172-3): 17 out of 25 possible points.



chunkygorillas (3.5/5) – I think these guys are actually an improvement compared the other neutral Wookie chuds, Wookiee Warrior. The printed black blast is nice, don’t have to do anything to enable the blast, and the extra edge icon goes a long way in helping this set have a decent edge count.

doctormungmung (3/5) – This guy is a bit better than your standard chud. Black blast goes directly towards the LS win condition, and having that along with two health is worth it for his (her?) two cost. Getting edged enabled unit damage and a potential extra unit damage while shielded is really just gravy.

yodaman (3/5) – It’s another Wookiee so that’s good if you’re playing Wookiee Life Debt too and running 4 Chewie sets. As a chud he’s okay. Again we have an extra ability that comes from being shielded so the question becomes do you really want to put a shield on this unit to get an extra gun when there might be better options.

pantsyg (4/5) – Better than your average LS 2-drop chud because his blast is black. 2 Force pips and possible additional unit damage sum to an interesting, useable unit, or edge help if needed.

Majestaat (3.5/5) – I dislike using decimals, but it just feels like the most appropiate score here. It's not quite as efficient as to get a 4, yet with a second force icon, black blast and the possibility of gaining an extra gun, it's no doubt strictly superior to most 2-cost chuds.


*Kashyyyk Resistance Hideout (173-4): 19.5 out of 25 possible points.



chunkygorillas (4/5) – This effect is super powerful, it can make it almost impossible to lock down one of your biggest threats. And as a bonus, if you can’t use the effect it also provides a resource. This card and Chewie is likely a reason why Asteroid Base got the errata, all those shields could start getting a little bonkers.

doctormungmung (3/5) – I’m of mixed feelings on resources that double as effect generators at the cost of the resource. Resources are always good, and it’s important to every deck to have some. But having to make a decision on using the resource for whatever vs using it to pay the cost of it’s own effect is kind of annoying. Particularly when the resource is a two for one. I’d almost rather have a one cost enhancement that allows me to focus for the same effect. Almost. In this case, getting double shields on a unit can be super effective (protection from everyone except Palpatine). You still have to have fewer units than your opponent though.

yodaman (3.5/5) – On the surface this seems like a great ability – give a unit two shields even if it already is shielded. Then you realize it has the same drawback as the Chewie in this set since you have to have fewer units than your opponent to activate it. At least it does have a resource.

pantsyg (4/5) – Some of the ugliest art ever, but much like Chewie, I love the effect. 2 shields on the same unit makes that unit very hard to remove or lock down.

Majestaat (5/5) – Yeah, seems like I'm biased towards shields. This card can just do so much for you. Getting two shields at action speed is pretty crazy. And it doesn't matter if the unit was already shielded, so you may get as much as 3 shields on a single one. Do you need that? Probably not, but it should prove useful every now and then, especially if Palpatine pops up or if you can only afford to attack with a single unit against a swarm of troopers. If you cannot get those shields due to its built-in restriction, it still provides a valuable affiliation-resource for when you're short on money.


Wookiee Rage (172-5): 17.5 out of 25 possible points.



chunkygorillas (4/5) – LS doesn’t have a ton of good removal cards, but this is one for sure. The Wookiee Warriors have 3 health so you could use this with one of them to remove lots of the Dark Sides best units, and it combos pretty well with Heart of the Wookie. And even if you have to use it on Chewie, if you have the objective out they will just go back in your deck.

doctormungmung (4/5) – For the cost of a unit and a resource, you get to do in the neighborhood of three to six damage (with Heart of a Wookie) to participating units. This event is on the same level, if not a bit better than Let the Wookie Win. The best time to use this is after the sacrificial lamb strikes, although it can also be used pre-edge, or just before a critical enemy unit strikes to take them out of the picture. If you’re having trouble getting your Wookie Warriors damaged, this gives them another use.

yodaman (3.5/5) – This is an interesting event card for 1 cost. It will do some serious work if the wookiee you sack has increased damage capacity from Heart of a Wookiee. That being said it’s a bit situational. Sometimes you might rather have that wookiee on the table. At least if Debt of Honor is out, the wookiee will may get to see the light of day once again.

pantsyg (3/5) – Situational, as you need a participating Wookiee that you don’t mind losing, and right now quality Wookiee cards are in somewhat short supply. On top of that, you’re already operating with a small board as Smugglers, so often you won’t want to remove your own units.

Majestaat (3/5) – For how strong the effect can be, I think it's fine if this one is rather situational. What kills it for me is the single force icon, but I can live with that. While Wookiee Warriors should be prime targets for this, your opponent is likely to just let them swing unopposed. Better to endure that single blast than giving the Wookie a bunch of free stats; or even worse, have him enraged and end with a bunch of your units dead.


Protection (172-6): 20.5 out of 25 possible points.



chunkygorillas (4/5) – Even more shields! This fate card is turning out to be really good, it didn’t see much play early on, since the sets it was in were trash, but now that it’s in several good Light Side sets we are seeing that it’s a great trick, to stop tactics or just have your unit survive.

doctormungmung (4/5) – For a set based around shields, getting a Protection Fate card seems like a no brainer. Getting to drop a surprise shield on anything on your board during an engagement is always good.

yodaman (4.5/5) – I always love seeing Protection. It is a pretty powerful fate card since shields are so useful and dropping one on a unit during an engagement can really mess with DS battle math. It’s also great that you can play it on units or objectives not actually in the engagement. It synergizes well with the overall set which is nice.

pantsyg (4/5) – Love this Fate card. Drop a Shield on a unit you don’t want locked down before an upcoming engagement.

Majestaat (4/5) – Protection has always been a great fate card. Between its edge priority, decent number of pips and the fact it can target any unit or objective, it's just super useful at any time.


Overall: 18.5 out of 25 possible points.

chunkygorillas (4/5) – I think this set is really comparable to Wookiee Life Debt, they are both about equal in terms of power level, and in a Wookie deck you would probably want to run both of these sets.

doctormungmung (3/5) – I think the consistency in level in this set is a bit better than that of the Wookie Life Debt (those Warriors can be a weak link if the WLD isn’t on the table), but it doesn’t have the stand out that is original Chewie. Still, getting tons of shields will help get attacks through, and generally make life a pain for the DS. If only getting those shields didn’t require you to be behind on board presence… Which means look to use this set with big units.

Yodaman (3.5/5) – The set has some potential. Perhaps it might pair well with something like Undercover Dealings which also includes cards and ways to have less units than your opponent. Overall though it’s not as good as earlier Smuggler sets. The fact Protection might be the best card of the set says it all.

pantsyg (4/5) – My favorite Smuggler set in the box. I think this set has a lot of potential to help out classic Smugglers, who generally have only a few units on the board. Also has potential in Jedi, who rely on a few Mains to do the heavy lifting, or Rebel Ships, which often have only 2-3 enhanced units on the field. Definitely helps any deck play a slower game and preserve the board.

Majestaat (4/5) – With a respource and 8 edge icons this one is a pretty solid set. Obviously a nice fit with other Wookiee pods, but also a great splash in virtually any deck, though in that case the objective and event are really lackluster, so you may want to play only a single copy of it. If you're worried about tactics, you should definitely consider this as a filler. It's not that common to see such strong support capabilities and such able combatants in a single pod. Special mention for A Deep Commitment. If any set can get some huge value out of shields it is that one.


Fortune and Fate (173-1): 15 out of 25 possible points.



chunkygorillas (2/5) – Smugglers really don’t need any more blank 5/2 objectives… at least it doesn’t have “Smugglers Affiliation Only”

doctormungmung (3/5) – It’s your generic five-two (or is it two-five, I can never remember the convention). Nothing special, but the extra resource can help pull off bigger turns when necessary.

yodaman (3/5) – It does have 2 resources for the 5 health, but nothing special here.

pantsyg (4/5) – Vanilla 5/2, but in Smugglers that can mean a first-turn Falcon.

Majestaat (3/5) – I have yet to be disappointed by two resource objectives, and I'm almost getting to a point where I think they should be rated 4/5. If you want to make sure you won't be screwed by resources early game, play a few of these.


*Lady Luck (173-2): 17.5 out of 25 possible points.



chunkygorillas (4/5) – Great stats and an ability that draws you a card, and helps you dig through your deck, that’s awesome! Seriously this card would be a 5/5 if it had elite, but alas this is a smugglers card so no elite…

doctormungmung (3/5) – The combat icons, health and force icons are all solid and equate to a standard four drop. So even if this was a blank card, it wouldn’t be bad, just dull. But it’s text is certainly not dull. It allows you to mill through your deck for the best card out of the top three, while placing the other two in a place you normally won’t get to see them again. There are ways around that, though, (including one in this set), so you could be setting up getting some key cards. If you don’t have any of those other methods, though, you could be pitching good cards for no effect. So it’s a bit of a gamble. And not being elite, it’s ripe for being locked down.

yodaman (4/5) – This card is interesting, but it’s a shame it’s not elite. It has a decent spread of combat icons and 3 health. The ability seems like something that you’d have to really build around to get the best use out of although the set does include a way to draw cards from the bottom that you may put there with it. 3 pips make it useful for edge battles as well.

pantsyg (3/5) – This card is alright for its cost, but its stats are mediocre for a 4-drop. I can’t help comparing it to 3-drops like Outrider, Rogue Nine and Red Five, which all have the same icons (minus one white gun, which is often inconsequential for LS). I like the draw and synergy with Central Computer, but I often find myself forced to edge this due to Smugglers’ limited number of 3-pip cards. Really wish this was Elite to justify the expense of getting it onto the field; because its text requires it to strike, it’s prone to getting locked down.

Majestaat (3.5/5) – Can't help thinking this one should have had 3 black and 1 white icons instead of 2-2 considering the set's subpar edge. Still, it has 3 pips and can hit quite hard. More importantly, she can give you some very nice control over your draws, while getting rid of all the bad cards, thinning your deck in a way that only leaves higher quality draws. The DS will obviously want to avoid that by locking Lady Fortune down. Thankfully she's a transport, so our old friend Talon Karrde can do his share to keep her online.


Cloud City Technician (173-3&4): 17.5 out of 25 possible points.



chunkygorillas (3/5) – They are an okay 2 drop, 1 health is bad, but at least they draw a card when they die, and if you throw them in the edge or discard them at the start of turn you also get to draw a card what is really good.

doctormungmung (4/5) – These guys are pretty great for a random chud. Getting a card back whenever this enters the discard is huge card advantage. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to pitch one to an edge battle, particularly with a Twist to draw out more of your opponent’s edge hand. Not only do you twist them, but you also get another card for the follow up edge battle that’ll hopefully have more than one force icon. And if these guys do get deployed, you can throw them in on defense, or random offense. They’ll likely be something of a tactics magnet, which will help protect your other units.

yodaman (2.5/5) – Basically, this unit is going to get you another card to look at and help you cycle through your deck. Not sure it really needed 2 of them in the set since they’re not really ideal as units. Most of the time it will probably be better to discard these during edge battles to help get you others cards that might be useful as opposed to playing them as a unit since they costs 2 and only have 1 health.

pantsyg (4/5) – This is a very interesting card. They’re subpar units, but the text means that you can edge them and regenerate your hand for the next edge battle. I’m excited to try them out as fuel for a deck with Defense of Yavin and Resupply Depot. Usually you won’t want to play them as units, but in a pinch they threaten blast, and replace themselves when they die.

Majestaat (4/5) – I'll pay for them if I really need the extra blast. They should get discarded most of the time though. But hey, this time it's actually a good thing, as they allow you to get what you want faster. They will also keep your hand healthy when you need to fight several edge battles in a single turn, or even if your stack gets Twisted. I don't know about you, but I think that's huge.


Central Computer (173-5): 20 out of 25 possible points.



chunkygorillas (4/5) – It’s an upgrade to Cloud City Casino since it provides affiliation match, plus if you put a good card on the bottom of your deck with Lady Luck or just feel like switching things up you can also draw from the bottom, what is actually pretty awesome.

doctormungmung (3/5) – A one for one limited resource is the benchmark all other resources are compared to, so this one is pretty standard. It’s rider text is interesting, and will combo well with the Lady Luck, or be moderately useful if you have knowledge of your top card and don’t really like it (which isn’t all that common). But most of the time, drawing from the bottom of your deck is just the same as drawing from the top of your deck, and won’t net you any real advantage.

yodaman (4/5) – I like the fact this is a 1-for-1, Smuggler’s resource. Matching resources of this type don’t come along very often. The added bonus of being able to draw a card from the bottom of your deck pairs well with Lady Luck so there is some nice internal synergy.

pantsyg (5/5) – The text is cute, but this card is really excellent as a 1-1 resource with affiliation match. If you can get Lady Luck going, this card could be a big advantage.

Majestaat (4/5) – Unless you've got Lady Luck in play and running, the text on this card should be irrelevant. It's still a 1 for 1 resource. The fact it's affiliated is actually a bad thing, I think, as this set could be an easy splash without using the S&S affiliation considering all the neutrals and Lady Luck having 3 pips. As it stands you'll be missing on the resource if you do that.


Target of Opportunity (173-6): 18.5 out of 25 possible points.



chunkygorillas (4/5) – Always a welcome card to see on the Light Side

doctormungmung (4/5) – Targets get the LS closer to their win condition (baring twists). Thus they tend to always be good, if rather bland. Things get a bit more complicated with all the navy healing and damage transfer effects, but the LS will always need to damage objectives, so you might as well get it where you can.

yodaman (3.5/5) – Targets are always nice since LS needs to get objective damage into win games. It fits okay with the theme of the set.

pantsyg (3/5) – It’s meh, but it’s free damage.

Majestaat (4/5) – LS wins by dealing objective damage. This gives you objective damage.


Overall: 16 out of 25 possible points.

chunkygorillas (3.5/5) – This set is pretty good, the main is solid, the chuds are pretty good and it has the desired resource and fate card, which often make up a good set. But the objective is mediocre and the edge count isn’t great what takes away from it. I could see this set being important in any Combo decks that may arise though, since the amount of card draw and digging it provides could really help find the combo pieces.

doctormungmung (3/5) – This set is designed to help you find the cards that you need from your deck. And if you can get the setup, Lady Luck and the Central Computer can really help with that. There’s some reasonable cost effective blast as well, although playing the Tech’s is probably the wrong way to go. Still, this set isn’t by itself going to win you any games (although it will help enable those wins), and it lacks any control, so it’s in a weird space of being a support non-support set. As such, I’m can see it being both terribly effective and terribly ineffective at the same time.

yodaman (3/5) – On the surface, it seems like this set could be cool, but as with other sets in IE, this falls short of the old Smuggler sets. Might be worth of as a 1 of in the right build.

pantsyg (3/5) – This set has some interesting mechanics and a decent Main, but there’s just something meh about the whole thing. I like that it’s got a good resource and card draw, but that’s about all it offers. The Main is just barely worth its cost, and too easy to lock down for a unit that needs to strike to use its text. On top of that it’s another Smug set with abysmal edge. All that said, I will definitely be trying this set in decks that like to discard for Resupply Depot bonuses.

Majestaat (3.5/5) – Whenever you have 8 sets and think "Man, this deck would be perfect just like this", you should give Fortune and Fate a chance. The set is basically resources, draw and edge, which is ironic since it's got subpar edge at only 7 icons. I fail to see many scenarios in which you can't get some serious use out of every card here. On the other hand, I'll admit I have also failed to brew a deck that can make these tools really shine.


Honor Among Thieves (174-1): 16 out of 25 possible points.



chunkygorillas (3/5) – Pretty average, the objective probably won’t trigger that much, but enough that I wouldn’t just consider it blank.

doctormungmung (3/5) – If Sith can hold on and remain in the meta with all the navy incursion, this objective is going to be pretty good. Getting two resources out of a one resource objective can go far. Unfortunately your opponent controls that extra resource, so you’re not likely to see it during your deploy phase. Still, it can open things up for an important event, like Bamboozle or Swindled, which can really put a dent in your opponent’s plans.

yodaman (4/5) – This objective’s ability is pretty good. Most popular DS decks feature events so the fact it can then give you a resource to potentially respond with your own smuggler trick is nice.

pantsyg (3/5) – Though this will occasionally allow you to afford a clutch event play in the opponent’s turn, I wouldn’t rely on leaving one less resource than you need for a play in hopes that the opponent will enable it for you.

Majestaat (3/5) – This has some potential. Smugglers often have trouble playing their events while keeping a significant board presence. This certainly helps, but it's ultimately your opponent who has control over the effect. With how easy it is to determine one's deck after seeing just a few cards, the DS player will have no problems calculating the benefits and costs when playing his events.


*Mirax Terrik (174-2): 18.5 out of 25 possible points.



chunkygorillas (3/5) – Really solid stats for a 2 drop, and her ability is pretty good since Smuggler’s have a bunch of good events. But sadly 2 health mains are still bad, just way too easy to kill before they even get a chance to do anything.

doctormungmung (4/5) – First we have some good stats for a good price. Black blast, white tactics, two health, two force icons for two cost. That’s about the best you can hope for. Blast for winning the game, tactics for control, and decent force contesting. Then there’s her text. Cheaper events can lead to some crazy plays. Drop a swindled while all your resources are tied up. Make them worry about a Bamboozle with only one open resource. Smugglers have a lot of events to play with, but Mirax doesn’t have any sort of affiliation restriction, so you can also get Rebel Assaults for one. Or, best (worst) of all, you can seek Yoda for one. Ouch.

yodaman (3.5/5) – For a main, she’s a bit on the weak side in terms of her stats. She does have a white tactics at least. However, her ability fits in well with the whole theme of smugglers in that you can get your first trick off cheaper. You’ll need to sequence your event cards properly though to get the most you can out of her. She’ll probably be a prime DS target if she hits the board so you’ll probably need to have a deck with some protectors and/or shields to help with that since she only has 2 health.

pantsyg (4/5) – I can think of a lot of events that I’d like to discount by 1: Swindled, Bamboozle, Rebel Assault, etc. I like the icons on this card as well.

Majestaat (4/5) – Statwise, it's like getting Boussh for the LS, only she has white instead of black tactics. In exchange, a very powerful ability that isn't quite as situational as Boussh's. She can give you a ton of free money just by existing, and when she needs to strike, she's as threatening as it can get for 2 cost, combining some nice damage and control elements.


Fringer Captain (174-3&4): 12 out of 25 possible points.



chunkygorillas (2.5/5) – These guys are just mediocre, they really aren’t many event your opponent would want to target them with anyways, and having two of them in the set is pretty bad since you wouldn’t want to have 4 of them in one deck.

doctormungmung (2/5) – Plain Jane chuds through and through. That are immune to Force Choke, Force Storm, Force Lighting, etc. Not bad for a two drop, but certainly not out of this world (see Mirax).

yodaman (2.5/5) – Another set with 2 of the same chud. At least they can’t be targeted by enemy events so they might stick around for a bit. If they had black blast rather than white, they’d be much more useful. Smugglers often have trouble winning edge so they might not get much mileage.

pantsyg (3/5) – The same meh 2-drop, but this time immune to enemy events. Not doing much for you, but it’s a unit. Really don’t like having 2 in the set.

Majestaat (2/5) – Force Choke aside, I can't imagine the DS wanting to target these guys with their precious events. And yeah, limited to targeted enemy events, so they still get screwed by Moment of Triumph, or Desperation if you wanted to make some wacky deck. So all in all, their immunity means close to nothing. Having one would have earned him the regular 3, but at two copies of them it just drags the set down too much.


Special Discount (174-5): 15.5 out of 25 possible points.



chunkygorillas (3/5) – It’s a pretty steep cost, but it could be a good way to get value out of a unit on the board that is locked out or has some sort of negative enhancement on it. It’s situational, but it at least as 2 edge icons.

doctormungmung (3/5) – This card says that this set loves to go with Freeholders. One of Freeholders big weakness is that once your opponent knows you have them, they can play around them and keep their hand low. Well, now you can pitch a two cost chud and still get a Freeholder for four. That’s certainly worth it. Or, say you have a freeholder that is near death, or that is focused out from here until next Tuesday? Now in combination with the discount, you can get any other card for free! And that card can be a unit, enhancement, or event! The only downside is that you are giving up board presence for the surprise discount.

yodaman (3.5/5) – For 0 cost, this is a decent event. There are times when you might want to sack a unit that was teetering on dying anyway or buried in focus tokens and use it to reduce the cost of the next card you play. If you’re sacking a freeholder with it, you’ll be playing something for free. Also, if you’re pairing this with Debt of Honor, you could sack a wookiee, bring it back to hand, and then play it for free and clear any damage it had. I could see this card being really useful in the right builds.

pantsyg (3/5) – My favorite plays involve sacking locked-down 2-drops to play Bamboozles or Rebel Assaults for free on the opposing turn, or to get the Falcon down unexpectedly. Probably best used to power out events on the opposing turn, because using it in your deployment will put you at both a board and card disadvantage. I like the synergy with Cloud City Technicians, which will allow you to at least regain a card when they’re sacked.

Majestaat (3/5) – It's basically a way to give some use to those units buried under focus tokens. Not bad by any means, but fairly situational. If you can't get some sort of flashy strike into sacrifice to play an event, it's still got two edge pips.


One Last Trick (174-6): 15.5 out of 25 possible points.



chunkygorillas (2/5) – It’s really situational, and it’s really hard to hold onto events in till you need them in this game, so it often just becomes a bad edge card.

doctormungmung (4/5) – If Special Discount screamed Freeholders, One Last Trick screams Falcon. It’s a high cost unit that’s going to be jumping out of play often, so for one (to none) resources, you also get to focus out a five cost unit! Frequently, the DS will just let the Falcon through, so you if you lead with it you can lock out their best defender for the turn. Even if you just use it on a chud, you can usually lock out a resource unit, or that pesky mouse droid. There is lots of utility in this card.

yodaman (3.5/5) – This event actually pairs pretty well with Special Discount as you could play it after having something leave play. Being able to focus a DS unit that might be problematic to deal with is good. Perhaps it might find a place in an unblockable build to help clear the way by focusing a potential blocker.

pantsyg (3/5) – This card has a powerful synergy with the Falcon, focusing just about any opposing defender while also giving you a fresh attacking unit. That said, it’s still a situational combo card.

Majestaat (3/5) – It's comboey nature and single force pip won't allow me to rate this higher. Still, it's not quite as situational as one might think. Losing units from mere combat to effects like those on EoD Falcon, Infiltration, Unfinished Business all allow you to trigger this and get a decent to very strong result.


Overall: 15.5 out of 25 possible points.

chunkygorillas (2/5) – This set just doesn’t have anything that is super impactful to the board nor does it have anything that makes it a good support set, so really it doesn’t really add much too any deck.

doctormungmung (4/5) – This set has a tremendous amount of internal synergy, as well as general utility. If it weren’t for the two chuds, I’d rank this as one of the top LS support sets out there. As it is, I’d still put it in the top five. This is easily my favorite LS set from this expansion, and I think it’s ripe for abuse in the right deck.

yodaman (3.5/5) – I think this set really could shine in the right build. I wish it had a resource though.

pantsyg (3/5) – This is a nice little support set, but again it’s saddled with a below-average edge count and 2 copies of an uninspiring chud. The events are tricky, but ultimately not as strong as the key Smuggler events like Swindled and Bamboozle. This set would be a much more appealing support if it replaced on of the chuds with a useful Fate card.

Majestaat (3/5) – A missed opportunity to make THE event set. I guess asking to remove both copies of the Fringer Captain is too much, but cutting one to include a reprint of a powerful Smuggler event or having an enhancement to support event-heavy decks would have been ideal.


To be continued...