SWLCG "Meditation and Mastery" Force Pack Review - Light Side

MEET THE FAMILY (aka - THE REVIEWERS):
-doctormungmung (codename: Salty), Massachussets' evil genius;
-yodaman (codename: Candy), he who you seek when numbers are involved;
-pantsyg (codename: Spicy), jankmaster general;
-Majestaat (codename: Bitter), the one to blame for typos and delayed articles.


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 3 LS Cards (tie in third place!):
1 – A Legend Begins, with 15 out of 15 possible points.
2 – Return of the Jedi (Daughter of Taanab), with 14.5 out of 15 possible points.
3 – *Sarenda, with 13 out of 15 possible points.
4 – Tactical Planning (A Legend Begins), with 13 out of 15 possible points.

Top 3 DS Cards:
1 – Inexorable Destruction, with 14 out of 15 possible points.
2 – *Demolisher, with 13.5 out of 15 possible points.
3 – Tatical Planning, with 13 out of 15 possible points.

Overall best rated Objective Set:
A Legend Begins, with 13 out of 15 possible points.


THE REVIEWS:

Daughter of Taanab (241-1): 11 out of 15 possible points.


doctormungmung (3/5) – Card draw is generally pretty useful, if a bit dull. Getting to draw a card for playing a card is pretty good for hand management, although it’s not like having an extra card for the entire turn (like with Dodonna’s objective). The effect is limited to once a turn, which is reasonable when considering you can use zero cost events to trigger this, and you can do it on your opponent’s turn. But also needing the objective to have two or fewer damage on it seems like a few too many restrictions.

yodaman (4/5) – Card draw is always great, even if it comes with a condition. Once per turn you get to draw a card after you play an event provided the objective has 2 or fewer damage on it. It’s important to note two things. First, there are actually no restrictions on the event so you could non-Jedi events like Bamboozle to potentially trigger it. Second, since it’s once per turn you can trigger it on both your turn and your opponent’s turn. Also, Jedi decks tend to have other objectives that DS might want to turn off first like MTFBWY so it may stay turned on longer.

Majestaat (4/5) – Glad they're using the better "while undamaged" variant again. Means the objective will still be active after a chud's attack, and generally be useful for longer.
Draw is always good. Curiously, this set only offers you a single event, so you'll have to take some time tuning your deck if you want to get decent value out of the objective. In a Spark deck, you'll have Kanaan's Concentration and very likely one or two Lightsaber Deflections. It's pretty amazing to get draw out of playing 0-cost cards. In standard Jedi decks, you still got Yoda, Force Rejuv and Unfinished Business to name a few.


*Sarenda (241-2): 13 out of 15 possible points.


doctormungmung (4/5) – While not flashy or game super impactful when she hits the board, Sarenda is all about value. For two cost, you get two black icons, two force icons and three health! If it wasn’t for their protect that would be better than Royal Guards. So for cheap you can a unit that’ll dish out some objective damage while being a low value target. That, though, is a bit counter to her other ability, which is basically to pull the card you want from your deck. You need to get her off the board, either through destruction or sacrifice. LS doesn’t have that many sacrifice effects, though. If there were an easy way to trigger when you wanted, she’d be nuts. As is, she’s just super worth the cost.

yodaman (4/5) – On the surface, Sarenda looks like a lackluster main. But for 2 cost you get a 3 health unit with all black icons (1 blast and 1 gun) with a pretty interesting ability. Whenever Sarenda is destroyed or sacrificed you can search your deck for any event card and add it to your hand. Much like the objective itself, it’s good to note you can pull any event card, not just Jedi ones. Let her die and get a Yoda, You Seek Yoda, Unfinished Business, Force Rejuv, Bamboozle, etc. You could even use My Ally to kill her off after winning a force struggle to get the card you want for your next turn. I think Sarenda will end up being better than people think.

Majestaat (5/5) – Great value for a 2-cost unit, having all black icons, two pips, 3 health, the Force User trait and an incredible tutor ability. I sometimes play 2x Crow just to have an extra chance at drawing My Ally is the Force. This does nicely as a replacement. Point is, Sarenda makes it easier to run some silver bullet events without having to alter your deck too much. If I had to think of a downside, it would actually be her high health. Maybe be rather hard to get her destroyed. Not terrible if that means she's continually dealing damage. It's a shame when she gets locked, but hey, if your opponent is investing tactics on a 2-coster, that leaves more space for the big guys.
To get maximum value, pair her with Noble Sacrifice from Following Fate. You know you want an excuse to play that pod anyway.


Cathar Defender (241-3): 11 out of 15 possible points.


doctormungmung (3/5) – Going with the value theme of this set, here we get a one cost unit with shielding. That’s always worth it. You either protect a key character during a strike, or you pull a unit damage to an otherwise inconsequential unit. And if you do find yourself needed to defend, you get two black guns to go with that shielding. Although most of the time I’m envisioning using this guy on offense, so that extra gun won't make much of an appearance. Still, I’ll take this chud over many others.

yodaman (4/5) – A cheap 1 cost unit that only has 1 health and 1 black gun, but is great on defense. This chud comes with shielding and gains a 2nd black gun when defending which is really cost effective. If Core Sith ever comes back to the meta more prominently, these guys will just be fodder for Vader and his reaction, but for now, you’ll probably get your money’s worth from them.

Majestaat (4/5) – It's all about value, I tell you. A cheap body with shielding is great support for your main units. However, the Cathar is also a very able defender when facing similarly costed units, dealing very easily with standard 2-cost chuds without having to invest much in edge.


Gotal Outcast (241-4): 8.5 out of 15 possible points.


doctormungmung (2/5) – I really want to like the Gotals. They always piqued my interest. But it’s just so hard having them turned on at the right time. Admittedly there are a few more options for that now, with box Yoda and T’ra Saa’s set. But it’s still far from a sure thing. Which is probably a good thing in the long run, because if the LS could start including six units with two black blast that cost two each into their decks, the DS would be in trouble (although at this point, that doesn’t seem like a horrible thing). As is, most of the time these guys will just try to help hold the force for their brethren, or help try to win edge.

yodaman (3.5/5) – The Gotals are still a bit too situational to me. The chud is great value at 2 cost for 2 black blast if you have when attacking, which makes cards like Jedi’s Resolve and Forgotten Masters very useful. However, if you don’t have balance, they’re pretty worthless.

Majestaat (3/5) – A somewhat gimmicky unit, trying to get value from the Gotals can be more trouble than it's worth. Having just one or two in your deck isn't too bothersome though. They've got two pips, the Force user trait, and Spark exists now, so it's possible you won't even need to pay for them. All in all, still situational units.


Return of the Jedi (241-5): 14.5 out of 15 possible points.


doctormungmung (5/5) – Here you not only get a great edge card (in multiple ways), but a way to also cheat in power hitters like Luke, T’ra Saa or Obi into play for a discount. Normally you don’t want to pitch this into edge because of its utility, but it does allow for plays of pitching Luke into edge to win an earlier battle, then once that’s over and all defenders are focused out, pull him out of the discard and go to town. So in a way it allows you to get the best of both worlds out of your Jedi mains, who are great at winning edge battles as edge cards, and heavy hitters that also like to be on the table. And there’s definitely something to be said about being able to put a big unit into play at action speed outside of the deployment phase.

yodaman (4.5/5) – This card is really powerful, even though it’s a bit expensive at 3 cost. Still it’s nice to see it reprinted here. You can use it to pitch a powerful card like Obi-Wan, Luke, Kyle or Yoda into edge and then have a way to get them back and, unlike Unfinished Business, stay on the board. The fact Preparation and Planning exists now makes this card even more powerful since you could potentially make it only cost 1 which is great value even for Yoda.

Majestaat (5/5) – It has returned, literally! We've all known how amazing this event is since way back, even though it lacked options. Now we've got a plethora of mean Force Users who are ready to come back from the grave and bring down the hammer on the Dark Side, probably at a discounted price.
Having this event in your deck also allows you to edge you mains with more freedom, knowing you have a reliable way to get them back into the fray. Best thing is, we will now see Obi in play more often. Who doesn't like Obi?
If it shows up too early, 3 pips still make it pretty useful.


Preparation and Planning (241-6): 12 out of 15 possible points.


doctormungmung (4/5) – Cheaper events are good, especially when this set comes with a very powerful three coster. Leaving three resources open is pretty telling, leaving one open (or even none) allows for a lot more surprise plays. Still, this is a combo fate card, so sometimes it’s only going to be two pips in an edge battle. But even then, whenever your opponent sees you flip one of these, alarm bells should be going off in their head.

yodaman (4/5) – Not much new to say from what I’ve said past reviews. I really like this fate card, especially in this set with Return of the Jedi being potentially a 1 cost event if timed right. 2 pips if nothing else is still good.

Majestaat (4/5) – A bit awkward to have it here, with only a single event in the set. Good thing that one event pairs amazingly well with this fate. That aside, P&P works great with old classics like Yoda, You Seek Yoda (tutoring him for free is absurd, to be honest) and Force Rejuvenation.


Overall: 11 out of 15 possible points.

doctormungmung (3/5) – This set does some interesting things that can be pretty impactful, but it’s also got a lot of underwhelming in it as well. It’s low cost, but also usually low blast. In a way it’s kind of like Endor Leia’s set. It’s a support set, except it’s a support set without a resource, which tend to be harder to build with. We finally get a reprint of Return of the Jedi, but it’s still in a set that is hard to include (Last Minute Rescue also doesn’t have a resource). At least it’s a cheap set, which helps alleviate the resource issue somewhat. And it’s got great edge. I’m just not quite sure what to take out to include this in a deck.

yodaman (4/5) – An interesting addition to Jedi. The set has 3 units which is certainly helpful as most of the commonly played Jedi sets only come with 2 units. All 3 units are 2 cost or less which means this might be a good candidate to pair with Spark of Rebellion. There set comes with a whopping 10 force icons, but is a bit lacking on overall blast if you can’t keep balance for some reason to turn on the Gotals. Will probably be more of a good support set rather than the foundation of a deck.

Majestaat (4/5) – A bit of a weird pick. With three cheap units, it looks like a great fit for Spark decks. But that would make ROTJ and P&P pretty lackluster. In standard Jedi builds, which is where I think it has more opportunities to shine with all the utility it provides, it hurts from the lack of a proper main and really weak blast if you can't get the Gotal online. On the bright side, its 10 edge icons, overall low cost and the objective/Sarenda working with any kind of event, make this a decent competitor to very diverse decks.


A Legend Begins (242-1): 15 out of 15 possible points.


doctormungmung (5/5) – For the low low cost of just revealing a specific card in your edge stack, you can kick out the most troubling defender (or attacker) from the engagement. Even if that’s rather situational (you need both the objective on the table and one of the fate cards in your hand), the potential impact is astronomical. There are several DS units that can deal with multiple LS units in a single strike (Palpatine in many incarnations, Xizor, Chimaera, Golans, etc). These units are so effective that frequently they’ll just defend by themselves. Even if you lose edge, you still get to strike, which with the amount of black blast floating around these days can be significant. Or you can weed out the support that those big units were bringing with them for mop up operations. In short, control of who gets to strike during an engagement is probably the biggest effect you can have in this game.

yodaman (5/5) – The objective is Rebel only, which is a bit of a drawback, but the ability is incredible. If you reveal a Rebel fate card in your edge stack, you get to remove a target participating enemy unit. Since the reaction triggers upon reveal rather than resolve, this means you could remove an enemy unit even if your opponent plays a Twist. Play it and get rid of the Palpy before you get locked down or Golan Defense Platform before it can shot. It’s a good thing this is a limit 1 per engagement or it would be overpowered.

Majestaat (5/5) – This is bananas. Limited in that it requires Rebel fate cards, of which there aren't more than the ones provided here (and because this objective is so strong, I'm somewhat doubtful we'll see more anytime soon), but for those times you do to trigger it, you're getting an incredible effect. Not only are you dealing (temporarily) with the main enemy threat, you're also likely keeping your units around for longer, and one step closer to the unopposed bonus and victory. This covers really nicely for the Rebel ships' weak edge.
Worth noting this is 1 per engagement, not turn. So if you somehow got to draw several Rebel fates, you can get a really devastating turn.


*Wedge Antilles (242-2): 11.5 out of 15 possible points.


doctormungmung (3/5) – Wedge is a walking blast enhancer. He’s a more expensive Astromech that you can get double duty out of. The first ship he’s on will tend to be vulnerable because your opponent sees where he is and can take actions to make sure that that ship doesn’t get to strike, but then you’re free to move him to any other ship that’s about to strike to get his added icons. He does have the limitation of only working on Fighters or Speeders, though, so no getting a mega-Home One one shotting multiple objectives. And even if you don’t have a fighter to put him on, he’s a black blast with two health for two cost. There are a lot worse things you can spend two resources on.

yodaman (4.5/5) – The new version of Wedge is really good even if it isn’t the same as the original. He still costs 2, even as a pilot. Wedge gives any fighter or speeder he’s on an extra black blast and black gun and makes the ship elite. Also, he comes with a great action in that you can focus him to move him to another fighter or vehicle and give another ship his bonuses. Really, the only drawback with Wedge is Tarkin and Moment of Triumph are still prevalent in the meta.

Majestaat (4/5) – Original Wedge is hard to surpass, as he could pull sudden wins out of nowhere. New Wedge doesn't quite have the same potential for burst damage save for very favorable conditions. He does, however, tend to provide much more damage in the long run, as he's much harder to remove for the DS thanks to his in-built eject button (unless you're facing Navy. Seems like Tarkin will keep laughing at pilots forever). New Wedge also improves your strike economy, akin to the Astromech, which grants you a better chance at actually removing DS units. And like the Astromech, he also pairs really well with the Alliance X-Wings.


*Red Two (242-3): 10.5 out of 15 possible points.


doctormungmung (3/5) – Two of the big issues with the original Red Two are that its blast is edge enabled, and it has two health. So it’s fragile, and it needs to win edge in a faction woefully equipped to do that to get the most out of it. This version fixes those flaws quite well, but making all the icons black, and giving it a third point of health. It does lose the awesome readying ability, but allows you to let the new Wedge jump around more often, or even get another use out of Hoth Wedge. But, more often than not, the ability isn’t going to do much. You could lock out an opponent’s resource enhancement, which isn’t bad, though.

yodaman (4/5) – The newest version of Red Two is a decent upgrade over the original. It still has 3 cost, but it gains an increase in health to 3 and also has a black blast rather than white to go along with its 2 black guns. The new Red Two’s ability is pretty useful in that once you attach a pilot enhancement to it, you can move 1 focus token from an enhancement to another enhancement controlled by the same player. There are definitely great targets to free up with this ability, in addition to freeing up pilots like either Wedge or Keyan, but you could also free up a Resupply Depot to gain more icons for your vehicles or even get creative and use it to take a focus off a Trust Your Feelings allowing for a triple strike or a Shien Training to send more damage back. There are lots of options and the card will really have an impact if you can get enhancements out like Astromech Droids or most pilot enhancements that don’t have to be focused to use their ability.

Majestaat (3.5/5) – Solid stats, and not much else, as there are only a few pilots that can benefit from Red Two's ability: both versions of Wedge, Wes and Keyan. And barring new Wedge, you'll need several combo pieces to trigger this ability. Heck, couldn't this have worked with R3-A2? We could have used that extra control.


Pilot Ready Room (242-4): 12 out of 15 possible points.


doctormungmung (4/5) – Pilot resources are pretty good. If you have a pilot the turn you play them, they don’t cost you any tempo hit, and with getting multiple out, you wind up with a free pilot every turn you have one to play. There are definitely plenty of pilots and ships to put them on now that there shouldn’t be much of an issue with not getting multiple discounts out of this each game. Now you just need to get ahead of Tarkin killing a pilot a turn...

yodaman (4/5) – Nice to see the reprint here that reduces the cost of pilots. Resources never hurt either even though it’s a 2-1.

Majestaat (4/5) – Expanding the Fighters' resource pool may allow for some more expensive builds that don't necessarily need to burn their whole hand with DoY4 to be playable. And while you won't need 3-4 discount on your pilots, being able to draw your first one earlier is very nice.


Tactical Planning (242-5&6): 13 out of 15 possible points.


doctormungmung (4/5) – I like these fate cards. Although more situational than the Jedi/Sith ones, they do have three force pips, which go a long way to helping Rebels in general with their edge difficulties. The bonus vs Navy (or neutral units) is also pretty huge. Taking away Chimaera’s tactics or third gun can really help with strike economy. Things get really nasty when you can pair this with the objective, and remove a unit as well as an icon on the most dangerous one that still remains.

yodaman (4.5/5) – I really like this fate card. First of all, it has 3 pips so that’s always nice. Second, it pairs with the objective so when you reveal a Tactical Planning in your edge stack, even if it gets twisted, you can remove a participating enemy unit from the engagement. Finally, in a meta where Navy is still showing up a lot, the card itself lets you remove a combat icon from a Navy or neutral unit. That’s pretty good.

Majestaat (4.5/5) – Rebel fighters really needed some high-edge cards, and these will do the trick. They'll also give you a little bonus against Navy, which is fighters' worst matchup, though they don't really help against the big offenders: Tarkin and Moment of Triumph. Still, less Navy tactics means more Rebel blast damage. More importantly, they'll trigger A Legend Begins, and that's when you win the game.


Overall: 13 out of 15 possible points.

doctormungmung (4/5) – This is a solid set. Not only does it work well with pilots in general, but it’s perfectly splashable. Two units with blast, a resource, and two great edge cards that when the objective is out will really help with battles. It’s edge count is nine, which is very good. And if it’s being splashed, the Rebel only requirement isn’t much of an issue (especially since everything in the set requires a rebel resource). I’m going to guess that that’s where this set will see the most success, but it’ll be the most fun in a pilot deck.

yodaman (4.5/5) – A rebel set that really can add to pilot/vehicle builds. The set comes with 9 icons and a resource along with a great objective ability and 2 fate cards with 3 pips. Really the only drawback is the choice of units here, especially Red. The new Red 2 seems like a good fit for the original Wedge in Hoth Ops, but you probably don’t want 4 of Wedge in your deck. Similarly, most Rebel vehicle decks make use of Defense of Yavin 4, but do you really want 4 copies of Red 2. I kind of wish they had used a different pilot and ship in this set. Of course, if they did, it might have been too good.

Majestaat (4.5/5) – I though this set would replace Defense of Yavin 4 in fighter builds. It doesn't. You just play them together. You lose a bit by having 4x Red Two, but it's not that bad. Having more resources and enhancements that grant extra damage is really big, making the deck more consistent. That aside, it provides with much needed edge cards and control options, so that you won't instantly lose the game if you can't seal the game real quick.


Resistance and Rebellion (243-1): 10 out of 15 possible points.


doctormungmung (2/5) – There aren’t that many transports in the game, although there are a few. The most notable one is the Falcon, although frequently the version getting run isn’t one you want to put a pilot on, as it’ll be leaving the board shortly. Still, protecting it from a three gun strike may be crucial at times. Otherwise, most transports have two health. Bumping that up to three can be a significant increase in survivability. You still generally need a way to make sure they strike, don’t get locked down, and have icons that are worth striking with, which are all doable things, although some easier than others. Those other things would be higher on the list of “special modifications” than an extra point or two of health.

yodaman (4.5/5) – Extra damage capacity, even one that comes with a condition, is always welcome. This one gives your Transports +1 damage capacity for each pilot on it. The fact this set gives you a way to get around the pilot limit of 1 per ship helps. There are lots of transports that can make use of this, give Sleuths a 3rd health to keep them alive against 2 cost units that tend to have 2 guns max, or Falcon a 4th so it really becomes hard to kill in one shot from any DS unit unless it’s been enhanced. I also really like that this doesn’t have the “while undamaged” aspect so it’s harder to turn off.

Majestaat (3.5/5) – While most transports don't need the extra health, it's always a nice thing to have. Where else are you gonna play your pilots anyway? Can be especially valuable for Sleuth Scouts. They will still get wrecked by tactics, but hey, they'll survive for a while against defensive chuds.


*Nien Nunb (243-2): 11 out of 15 possible points.


doctormungmung (3/5) – A cheap unit/pilot with tactics is really not a bad thing. Nien costs two no matter how you put him in (ignoring pilot reductions). Giving a transport a black gun is meh, but giving it a white tactics is something to consider. Sleuths are transports (but not Blockade Runners). So if you can get one in unopposed, that’s a free tactics to lock out defenders from your non-sneaky ships. And he doesn't count against the pilot limit of one, so you can pair him with other pilots for their abilities, or to get extra health from the objective. Sadly, Nien only adds his icons to transports, which is pretty limiting build-wise. No tactics generating Home One, or RSXs. He still earns a three rating because he’s just as good with that tactics if played as a unit (even baring their focus shenanigans, Cloud City Operatives are very annoying to see across the board).

yodaman (4/5) – Nien Numb is an interesting character. He’s a 2 cost, 2 health unit with cheap tactics, albeit white. He’s a pilot, but he costs 2 as a pilot too. He doesn’t count against the pilot limit so you can actually add him to something that already has a pilot if you want. He does have the advantage that he gives the transport he’s piloting the same combat icons he’d have a unit, namely 1 black gun and 1 white tactics. I almost wonder if he’d be better off being played as a unit though since that makes him less vulnerable to Tarkin. Then maybe if you have Bucket ‘o Bolts out, you could put him on a ship during conflict.

Majestaat (4/5) – Same statline as Leebo. I already liked him... as a unit. Nien is actually good as a pilot as well, though a bit boring in that he's pretty much the same whether you play him as a unit or as a pilot. Evaluate if you need better strike economy or more bodies in the field.


Loyal Co-Pilot (243-3): 11 out of 15 possible points.


doctormungmung (3/5) – Another transport pilot (sigh) that doesn’t count against the pilot limit. Now we’re starting to see some crazy health buffs from the objective. But more importantly, he grants shielding (to only transports (double sigh)). So you can make sure that the sleuth doesn't’ get locked down after it’s initial run. And if you get a second pilot on said sleuth (or transport in general), elite makes it extra hard to lock down. That’s actually a pretty good deal. Although it’s also at least a three card combo, which is tricky. Outside of a ship, though, these guys are pretty worthless.

yodaman (4/5) – For 1 cost, you get a Loyal-copilot as a unit or as a pilot who doesn’t count against the pilot limit. If you put him on a transport you give it shielding and if there are other pilots on the transport it also gets unique. That’s pretty good for just 1 cost.

Majestaat (4/5) – Shielding for 1 (free with pilot resource), nuff' said. Pulsar Skate and Sleuths love this, though any transport will be happy with the extra survavility/defense against tactics. If you're willing to put even more eggs in that same basket, you're also gaining elite, and potentialy a ton of HP from Resistance and Rebellion.


YT-2000 Freighter (243-4): 12.5 out of 15 possible points.


doctormungmung (4/5) – Now here’s a unit I can say I like flat out. Three cost for two blast and three health, three icons in general (two black) and a couple of force icons. Stats alone you get a solid hitter for the cost. On top of that, it gets edge 1 for every pilot on it. Edge in a vehicle deck (particularly smugglers) is huge in helping it perform. And with the wonky pilots in this set, you can have up to edge 4 on this guy (although that’s a five card combo). As implied, it pairs well with the other pilots in this set, becoming a five icon monster with tactics, shielding and elite. Just watch out for Tarkin…..

yodaman (4.5/5) – This ship is pretty cost effective. For 3 cost you get 3 health with 1 black gun, 1 black blast and 1 white blast and multiple blast is always worth looking at on any LS unit. Keeping with the pilot synergy, this transport gains edge 1 for each pilot enhancement on it and that can help you make use of all its icons. 2 pips isn’t bad either.

Majestaat (4/5) – Solid body on its own with its 3 HP and two blast icons. The synergy within this set can make it pretty absurd for real cheap. Not much else to add. Stack dem pilots and go to town.


Spacer Cantina (243-5): 12 out of 15 possible points.


doctormungmung (4/5) – Pilot resources go well with pilots. Putting a unit with tactics on the board for one (or no) cost is worth a mild tempo hit in playing the resource. This is a card that we all know well at this point. Resources are good. Discounts are good.

yodaman (4/5) – Another reprint in this set of a pilot enhancement, this time for Smugglers. Resources are always welcome as is the discount.

Majestaat (4/5) – Smuggler vehicles where in desperate need for stable resources. This will do nicely, especially with a couple pilots in the same set.


Stay on Target (243-6): 12 out of 15 possible points.


doctormungmung (4/5) – Also another staple of pilot decks. Getting double use out of pilots, after they have been edged (some are pretty good edge cards), or have been discarded due to Tarkin or whatever. If you can keep things on the board, getting them back for free can be just as good, if not better, considering the surprise factor.

yodaman (4/5) – I've always thought that Stay on Target is one of the few ways you can get around Tarkin when playing a pilot deck. It’s got 2 pips and it’s a nice way to try to get pilots in for cheap and turn on the objective. Good addition here.

Majestaat (4/5) – SoT might just be my favorite fate card in the game. Pidgeonholed to a certain type of deck for sure, but the more pilots you have, the more options and effects you can get. I love that versatility. You have two pilots here, one that boosts your offense and other than boosts your defense, so I'd say that's neat, though the Co-Pilot won't work for the very same engagement you're using SoT.


Overall: 11 out of 15 possible points.

doctormungmung (3/5) – At a high level, I really like this set. It’s got a lot of great internal synergy, and helps with vehicles in general, and smuggler vehicles in particular. But it is too combo reliant, with you wanting at least three different cards on the table to get the best results. What’s worse, those cards tend to all be crammed into a single unit, which once it’s gone, so are all the combo pieces. And while Smugglers have a decent number of transports, some of their key vehicles that play into this deck type aren’t transports (Blockade Runner, Blastboats, Stolen AT-ST), and thus have zero synergy with this set. Then there’s the ever looming presence of Tarkin. I’m not quite in the camp that Tarkin kills pilots. But he certainly hurts them, forcing you into a war of attrition where you just flood the board with too many targets for him to deal with, which in turn is challenging as Smuggler vehicles (and Smugglers in general) are kind of light on the resources.

yodaman (4/5) – An interesting addition to Smuggler vehicle decks. Can really see it pairing well with Sleuths and either Falcon. Add in Breaking the Blockade for some free pilots, along with the ability to double strike potentially and see what happens. It has a resource which is always good and 8 icons for Smugglers is actually more than usual. I can definitely see people trying to craft something with this set.

Majestaat (4/5) – At first, I thought this set was trash. I was pleasantly proven wrong, definitely being a step in the right direction for Smuggler vehicles. That said, I still feel that archetype is far from being competitive. I'm okay with stuff here working only with Transports. That's a way to give Smugglers sort of their own identity. I just wish the Blastboats from Calling in Favors had that trait. Suddenly, everything would start to make sense. As it stands, it feels like we still need another good set.