Stay On Target - It's Not Easy Being Green

Deckbuilding in Star Wars: the Card Game has always been an interesting exercise. The objective set system, for better or worse, can make putting together a deck a very simple (only 10 “choices” to make), yet occasionally nuanced affair. Much of the time, there will be a core group of sets that make up the basis for whatever archtype is being put together. Examples of these core groups would be Emperor’s Web/ Fall of the Jedi/ Counsel of the Sith for Sith Control and A Hero’s Hourney/ In You Must Go/ The Secret of Yavin 4 for most Jedi builds.

It’s these core sets that make up the beating heart of the deck, and after they are in place, the last few sets can be tinkered with based on what decks you expect to see and how the deck plans to win overall.

The Scum and Villainy affiliation presents some unique problems that don’t make themselves as apparent for the other 5 affiliations. Most deckbuilding processes will follow a fairly simple pattern:

• Find a theme/ strategy
• Build a group of core sets to work from
• Add sets that augment that strategy
• Trim that number until it gets down to a manageable 10

While it is way too early to make any blanket statements about S&V being “bad” or “unplayable”, there are some very clear issues with the affiliation on even the most basic deck construction levels. In short, S&V lacks a solid enough core to build a tight, focused deck. Given that a deck will only have 10 objective sets with which to function, it is imperative that they work well together on a consistent level. Scum and Villainy, as a whole, seems terribly at odds with itself, making deck construction a maddening proposition. Let’s take a look at the process of building a Scum-heavy deck to examine why it’s so hard to make sense out of big green.

Problem # 1 – Resources.

Let’s start with one of the basic principles of Star Wars deck design – proper application of resources. Here S&V presents its first (of many) challenges. Only 2 sets actually come with basic resource enhancements: Jabba’s Reach and Carbonite Transport. Jabba’s Orders also gives us Jabba’s Palace, an incredible resource that does extra duty as a health booster and 3 icon Edge winner. The rest of the resources are spread among units like Bib Fortuna, Ugnaughts, and Outer Rim Pirates. While these units are usually decent in quality (especially Bib), basic resource enhancements are so important that playing Jabba’s Reach and Carbonite Transport is almost a must in our situation. When things get rolling, Bib and the Pirates can produce a crazy amount of resources, facilitating the use of lots of Scum’s big hitters. Unfortunately, they are still units, and you are one super-powered Luke Skywalker away from being stuck with tons of 5 cost units in your hand the whole game.

Problem # 2 – “Scum and Villainy Only” Objectives.

There are currently two Scum and Villainy only objective sets, and they are both very strong. Lucrative Contracts offers a powerful objective, as well as incredible support in Twist of Fate, Explosive Charge and the two Corrupted Officials, who fit naturally into a Scum only build. This is also part of what makes this set odd. Because this set is Scum only, it is an all or nothing proposition. Corrupt Official becomes poor in a deck that splashes this objective, as it will only usually have 2-3 targets to save. Because it is Scum only, it cannot be used on the other end of the typical 7-3 or 8-2 split.

The other Scum-only set, Feeding the Pit, is one of my favorites, offering a strong resource character in Bid Fortuna, a giant wall in Krayt Dragon, and an excellent support card in Spice Visions. Again we have a set that clearly looks to other S&V sets to reach its full potential. Feeding the Pit, combined with Capture cards and Carbonite Transport, can offer huge card advantage, extra resources with The Almighty Sarlac, and healing potential. As a splash, this set cannot utilize its objective for much, and as the set doesn’t have any capturing cards itself, its function is very limited on its own.

Problem #3 – To Capture or not to Capture.

Here’s the big one, the one strange issue that really makes S&V a tough nut to crack. The main feature of Scum and Villainy is the capture mechanic – solid ways to remove any character (or card) from play, regardless of protection, shielding, or save effects. And while capturing can be a strong mechanic, the problems with it are twofold:

• Some of the hoops you have to jump through to make capturing work are tough. Cards like Bossk and Bounty are good examples of this. Their effects can be powerful ways to remove strong cards from play, but their drawbacks can be pricey. Bounty can be destroyed if just one Edge battle goes south, and Bossk is double-focused for his effect, which only allows him to capture exhausted characters.

• Then there's the underlying problem of capturing in general: your opponent can get the cards back later, leading to the return of problem cards when you don't want to see them the most.

The other main issue, really, is the breakdown of the objective sets in relation to what you want to accomplish with the deck. The circular nature of deckbuilding in this case can drive a person insane. Let’s follow along, starting with one of our strongest objective sets: Feeding the Pit.

• Feeding the Pit is amazing with capturing, yet it has no capturing itself.

• Carbonite Transport is a great way to filter cards into Feeding the Pit and Jabba’s Reach, yet it too has no capturing cards.

• The Tatooine Crash gives you repeat capture, but only with Carbonite Transport AND either Jabba’s Reach or Feeding the Pit can it really be turned into something worthwhile. Without all three objectives out, each becomes average to substandard. Carbonite Transport is borderline useless by itself, except for the rare instance when you need to save a captured card from being reclaimed and can do it far enough ahead of time.

• Speaking of The Tatooine Crash, if you don’t have one out first turn, Weequay Elites look pretty bad at 4 cost.

• So what else do we have for capture cards? Capture is probably the most powerful, kind of S&V’s version of Force Lightning. What set is it in? Hive of Scum and Villainy, which includes the average at best Greedo and his two below average chud companions. The objective itself barely registers. A steep price to pay for Capture and a Bounty.

• Most other capturing is pretty unreliable. As mentioned before, Bossk’s effect is nice, if pricey, and Bounty can be equally risky. Get Me Solo! is frequently a complete shot in the dark; the Hunters will rarely ever get the units that really matter, as they will be played first thing during your opponent’s turn; and Boba Fett is still the poster child for underpowered.

• Ironically, Cruel Interrogations and Take them Prisoner are far more reliable capture sources than most of what the Bounty Hunters have to offer. Want to play one of those? Looks like you will be missing out on Lucrative Contracts and Feeding the Pit.

• Want to let go of the capture-based objectives a little and go for pure value? Great! Except that many of the better value sets (Jabba’s Reach, Feeding the Pit) do get much of their value off captures. The two copies of Spice Visions (one S&V’s best cards) come with Feeding the Pit, which is based on capture combos and The Shadow of Nar Shadda, which is based on, near as I can figure, severely overpriced units that don’t really do much. At least Lucrative Contracts packs a punch on its own.

Out of these stunning contradictions comes one impressive roadblock to competitive Scum decks – one that certainly I haven’t been able to crack. I think some of their stuff is extremely promising, and I have had loads of fun playing with them. I just don’t feel like a tight, competitive deck is quite there yet. For reference, here is as close as I’ve come to something I’m happy with… although playing 4 one-ofs doesn’t fill me with a warm feeling of consistency.

Afflilation:
Scum and Villainy (Core Scum and Villainy)

Total Objective Sets: 10

1x Jabba's Orders (47-1)

Weequay Elite (47-2)
Weequay Elite (47-3)
Jawa Trading Crawler (47-4)
Jabba's Palace (47-5)
Get Me Solo! (47-6)

1x Lucrative Contract (57-1)

Outer Rim Space Pirates (57-2)
Corrupt Official (57-3)
Corrupt Official (57-4)
Explosive Charge (57-5)
Twist of Fate (57-6)

1x Jabba's Reach (81-1)

Jabba the Hutt (81-2)
Jabba's Pleasure Barge (81-3)
Gamorrean Guard (81-4)
Prized Possession (81-5)
Reversal of Fate (81-6)

2x The Tatooine Crash (82-1)

Jawa Scavenger (82-2)
Jawa Scavenger (82-3)
Sandcrawler (82-4)
Utinni! (82-5)
Twist of Fate (82-6)

2x Carbonite Transport (84-1)

Slave I (84-2)
Traitorous Wing Guard (84-3)
Prized Possession (84-4)
Tractor Beam (84-5)
Target of Opportunity (84-6)

1x Trandoshan Terror (85-1)

Bossk (85-2)
Trandoshan Hunter (85-3)
Trandoshan Hunter (85-4)
Bounty (85-5)
Heat of Battle (85-6)

2x Feeding the Pit (86-1)

Bib Fortuna (86-2)
Krayt Dragon (86-3)
Gamorrean Guard (86-4)
Spice Visions (86-5)
The Almighty Sarlacc (86-6)

If there is a bottom line to how I feel about Scum and Villainy, it’s this: When they are firing on all cylinders, they are very good. They can create massive card advantage, remove threats from play, prevent and heal damage, and do some very cool things. Getting all of that to happen on any consistent basis is the trick, and when the combos misfire, they leave you in a pretty rough position sometimes. So now that I’ve talked about the rough patches, have any S&V builds worked for you? What combinations have you found useful? Please, tell me I’m wrong and Scum and Villainy is poised to break the competitive scene wide open!

Until next time!