Star Wars oSet Review - Heart of the Empire

Welcome to the first Star Wars LCG Objective Set Review! We'll be doing things alittle differently in these, focusing on one or two Objective Sets at a time. This week we start out with Heart of the Empire (22-1) to get our feet wet and in the coming weeks we'll be covering the first Force pack.

Heart of the Empire is a unique set, which is why we chose to go with it first. Our reviewers gave it a mid to low score, but most thought it deserved to have an eye kept on it as it has some potential.

Heart of the Empire: 2/5
In a vacuum this objective is actually very good. It is the only objective currently to provide 3 resources which is a huge advantage to have. What hurts this objective is that one pesky line of text that says "if this objective is destroyed you lose the game". Without that line this would be an auto include in most decks, with the line of text it becomes more of a liability and an objective you may run one of. If the dark side had access to an objective like The Secret of Yavin 4 it may not be such an issue but as it stands you just cannot reliably run multiple copies of this objective.

Coruscant Defense Fleet: 2/5
This is one of those cards that could be amazing if you build a deck with 10 Coruscant based objectives; but with each objective that you run that isn't Coruscant the worse this card becomes. The fact that this unit has five unit damage that is edge dependent is a blessing and a curse; on one hand you can destroy any one unit if you win the edge battle, but you HAVE to win the edge battle otherwise this unit just turns into a giant meat shield.

Force Stasis: 4/5
This is one of my favorite cards and one that I put on par with Jedi Mind Trick; and heaven forbid even better. The drawback to only being able to be used against characters will sometimes backfire against you, but it keeps the card in balance and shouldn't be an issue. The main reason I feel that this is better than other similar effects is that it completely negates the targeted character as opposed to putting focus tokens on that unit which can be removed.

Kuati Security Team: 1/5
Cannon fodder pure and simple. A great card to pitch for an extra draw at the start of your turn or to bluff with in an edge battle. These guys may not be winning you games but at least they serve some purpose.

Sith Library: 3/5
It's a resource and its good. You will always be able to use cards such as this. While it may not be the most exciting card it is an essential part of any deck.

There Is No Escape: ?/5
I am having a very hard time pinning down a rating for this card. I feel deep down like it should be good and that it has a place somewhere in a deck. At the same time nearly every opportunity I have had to play the card has ended in me losing the game in the end because I was already so far behind that when this card was useful it was already too late. Having to commit 4 resources on your own turn just seems really steep, and leaving 4 resources up on your opponents turn almost never happens. Having it cost any less or not effect your units however would be bad because it would be way too favorable to play for the dark side. Currently I think this card is unplayable, but given more cards and different strategies in the future it could become a staple card.

Overall: 2/5
This pod is very well balanced, offering some heavy hitters but having some rather harsh downsides. Stasis Field is the most powerful card in the pod currently, but with a few additions to the overall card pool I think this pod could be a solid choice. Sadly as it stands this is just too risky to run reliably.

Heart of the Empire: 3/5
This card has let me drop more first turn Vaders and Emperors than I can remember and lets face it if you can effectively control the board from turn one, then the disadvantage of the objective is negligible However not being able to see if you have these board controlling tanks before you choose your objectives means your taking a crap shoot every time you pick this as one of your three starting objectives. The silver lining is replacing a destroyed objective with this card is usually money, as the LS player usually has to deal 15 points of blaster damage to win the game anyway so its disadvantage becomes negligible again.

Coruscant Defense Fleet: 1/5
Now I love me a big ship as much as the next man but man is this card restrictive for its cost. So for five resources you get a 5 HP ship, so far so good, with shielding, always welcome, with protector Coruscant, Ok I love protector but this protector is so narrow its hardly worth the ink and then it gets worse. Now five unit damage is enough to kill anything in the game currently printed but all those white icons leave me feeling that more often than not this card is going to be a really expensive speed bump. Then to top it all of when you would generally have the advantage for the edge battle, when attacking, this thing can't participate.

Force Stasis: 4/5
This thing nearly got 5/5 only slightly marked down due to the targeting restrictions (damn you pesky vehicles). Now most people would overlook this card figuring focus token could do just the same thing without costing a card in deck construction and a resource. However when faced with a Luke Skywalker with a Trust your feelings force stasis starts to look really appealing and even better if you have an Emperors Web and Darth Vader terrorising the battlefield.

Kuati Security Team 3/5
Can't really complain about this guy, he's just a solid no frills two drop with 2 HP one unit damage and one edge dependent blaster damage. One small thing to notice is that he isn't Sith affiliated so when those moments arise when you have spent resources not quite correctly in a high pressure match, these guys can be paid for with any resource.

Sith Library: 3/5
It boring, its necessary its pretty much gonna be in every deck out there.

There is No Escape: 4/5
This card really does frustrate me.

You know its powerful, its an effective board wipe it has to be powerful. But due to the cost and timing restrictions on when it can be played leaves players uncertain at when is best to play it or even hold onto it at the start of a draw phase. But think of it it this way if you and your opponent are effectively on equal footing for board position and due to the way that the draw mechanic works in this game, a reset will always favor the player that has the clock on his side (in this case the death star dial).

Overall 3/5
The objective has some really useful tools in it that I feel outweighs the chud it has to carry and the objective is sometimes worth the gamble to gain an early board advantage.

Heart of the Empire: 3/5
Unusual in the fact that it allows the light side player another available win condition, this card is pretty unique.

Firstly, let's look at the objective itself. 3 resources,10 damage capacity and no ability whatsoever. Having a potential 3 resources available is quite potent compared to the other objectives. Combined with any cards that allow you to remove extra focus tokens this card this card will become a machine. The 10 damage capacity is massive. No other objective has anything close to that. So, on the surface this card is amazing.However,all is not well with the heart of the empire. Should the light side player manage to topple this gargantuan objective, they win. That's a pretty huge downside to an otherwise amazing card.

Coruscant Defense Fleet: 3/5
For a mere 5 resources you get a 5damage capacity, vehicular unit. Not only that but it has shielding and the ability to protect any Coruscant card...including the cards own objective.The icing on the cake is that if you manage to win an edge battle with this unit participating you will be able to deal 5 damage to any participating unit. That's enough to make Obi-wan,Yoda and Luke go running for the hills. The only downside is that it can't attack. Personally I don't think of that as a huge flaw.

Force Stasis: 4/5 A reasonably powerful card that can ruin your opponents plans for the turn. Cheap and very dirty. Just how it should be.

Kuati Security Team: 3/5
A rather uninspiring card truth be told. Its solid enough though for its cost.

Sith Library: 4/5
Another very standard card that simply does what it was intended. Needless to say, this will always have a slot somewhere.

There Is No Escape: 4/5
Not strictly true as a number of cards available will counter this. But still, if not countered this can devastate your opponent.

Overall: 3/5
So. A number of very solid cards are to be found within this pod. Which begs the question...is this pod worth using?
I would personally say yes. Not only does it allow for some amazing resources, it has some solid cards associated with it.
I'd be curious to hear what you guys think.

Heart of the Empire: 3/5
With the tournament rules, the lightside would be fairly foolish to go after this objective unless if can be certain that it will be able to knock it out. If it fails, then the darkside player has a nearly automatic win if they split games. While having 3 resources is great, I would much rather take 1 resource and useful text. By paying 3 you are simply paying later for what you gain now. There is not much advantage in having the 3. In fact, I've seen someone focusing all 3 to rush out a Palpatine blow up in their face many times. Essentially, the best part of this objective is luring the light side to actually try to knock it out. Now if I was playing against Rebels I might be a bit more tentative to use it. Finally, if you only include one in your deck, you will never be forced to use it.

Coruscant Defense Fleet: 2.5/5
It's a solid but not great card. It's wonderful for baiting the light side into attacking Heart of the Empire and then just eating all of the damage with this ship and then dropping another copy. However, most good light side players are unlikely to fall for this trick.

Force Stasis: 5/5
This card is the main reason I'm tempted to run this pod along with the very dicey reset. It is simply phenomenal. Locking down big units for a turn is always amazing.

Kuati Security Team: 1/5
Terrible at 2 cost. However, when playing against emplacements, someone has to soak up the damage. Also, you need something to discard every turn 1 to draw those Vaders and Palpy's. He makes your decision much easier.

Sith Library: 4/5
Resources are clutch. Any pod with a resource gets a bump up in my book.

There Is No Escape: 2/5
I don't know what to think about this card. I love that it's a reset. I hate that it costs 4. In my Sith decks I like to put a ton of dudes out with resources on them and this card crushes me. The few times I've actually used it, it has backfired. The problem I've faced is with only 2 big boys in a deck in Vader and Emperor, a Jedi deck running 4 is more likely to draw back into a big bopper. Additionally, being able to draw 6 every turn fixes a reset. You cannot wait until you have hand advantage and then play it. Essentially, it has to be played at the perfect time and you need a bit of lucky to make it work.

Overall: 2/5
If this pod was not Sith affiliation only I would give it a 3 or 3.5. However, that limitation is huge because for me it means I cannot play it in my Sith control deck. I choose to run the Imperial affiliation card and use Motti for the resources. However, in the new meta perhaps I will find a place for this objective. Like I said above it can be great for luring the LS player into a scenario in which they destroy 0 objectives.

The Heart of the Empire: 2/5
The fact that it gives you 3 resources is this objectives one upside. That can certainly make it easier for the Sith to play some of their cards as the Sith tends to have expensive characters like Vader and Palpatine. Of course like any other multiple resource generating objective it would then be locked down for 3 turns, leaving you with as few as 3 resources left for the next few turns.

Coruscant Defense Fleet: 2/5
Essentially this card adds 5 damage capacity to the Heart of the Empire objective set, assuming you have it in play. It is a good defensive card but every single icon is edge dependent. So most likely it will be used to soak up damage and not in any kind of a more meaningful way. But if defending Heart of the Empire you are likely going to be trying to win the edge battle anyway and if you do this card can shoot down anything that the LS sent against you.

Force Stasis: 4/5
For a cost of only one, possibly zero with the right Sith objective out, The Emperor's Web (23-1). this card can help you control your opponent. It would also allow you to trigger Vader's ability on your opponents turn allowing you more control as you shutdown their fattie like Obi Wan or Luke and then kill one of their weenies or maybe even Yoda. The fact that it is limited to only Characters and Creatures keeps this card from being a 5. I hope to see this one down the road in other Sith objective sets.

Kuati Security Team: 1/5
2 health is good for helping to soak up damage but considering his uninspiring icons and lack of ability still feels too expensive at 2 cost. Meat shield.

Sith Library: 3/5
Resources are necessary to help you get your units out. Perfectly useful card nothing fancy.

There Is No Escape: 2/5
Resets in card games tend to be powerful tools. However this one I find very hard to like or use. It is the reason that I experimented with this Objective set. The problem is you want to use it on your opponents turn meaning you need to have 4 resources ready on their turn during their Force Struggle phase. Not something that is likely or easy to do. That is the best point to play it however as then on your turn you play some units and then you have free reign on their objectives. Since you have free reign it can then be very easy to over extend yourself and if you do not destroy enough objectives to push the dial to 12 your LS opponent will very likely end up with the same advantage. I think resets are good and a necessary thing in card games but I just don't think this card is very efficient. It requires very careful usage and timing to make sure you end up with the advantage.

My other issue with this overall objective set is the advantage it can give to the LS. Creating an extra win condition that can be dealt with easier creates an advantage to the LS that I don't feel is made up for with the DS using this set. Now that being said it will also very likely make it easier for you to know where the LS player will be attacking, assuming they take the bait.
Overall: 2/5