The Mos Eisley Mafia: SWCLG "Technological Terror" 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:
1 – Electroshock Prod (Tiny Robotic Sociopath), with 19.5 out of 20 possible points.
2 – Memories of Home (Running the Canyon), 18 with out of 20 possible points.
3 – Improvised Tactics (Tiny Robotic Sociopath), with 17.5 out of 20 possible points.

Top 3 DS Cards:
1 – The Emperor's Favor (The Emperor's Shadow) with 20 out of 20 possible points.
2 – Technological Terror, with 20 out of 20 possible points.
3 – *Death Star (Technological Terror), with 20 out of 20 possible points.

Overall best rated Objective Set:
Technological Terror, with 19 out of 20 possible points.


THE REVIEWS:

Running the Canyon (256-1): 14.5 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (4/5) – Pitching an event to make a speeder more potent is not bad at all. Considering you do this when you focus to strike, your opponent doesn’t really have any way to prevent this. You also get to save it for when you have the edge so you can get the blast, although an extra gun can take out a key defender. Sadly you can’t use this with Hoth Wedge to get multiple uses out of the bonus icons. Another limiting factor is that if you are going mostly speeder, you are likely to be thin on events to pitch. But in combination with Luke’s Landspeeder, you can really make short work of objectives.

yodaman (2.5/5) – The ability on this objective seems way too situational. I typically bury this objective if I see it. Really, it’s a bit steep of a cost (discarding an event card to get the gun and edge blast) considering you have to win edge to get the full benefit of it.

pantsyg (4/5) – Reminds me a lot of Resupply Depot. While you gain more icons for the cost of your card, its other requirements (Speeder or Fighter only for the buff, discarded card must be an event) make it more difficult to pull off. In a deck with more speeders and fighters this is a fairly solid effect, but I see this set shining primarily in a deck that looks to abuse Bull’s Eye and Luke’s Skyhopper, which don’t really point to a vehicle-heavy build. Still, you’ll occasionally use this to kill stuff with Luke’s Hopper or get bonus damage for unopposed attacks, so it gets a 4.

Majestaat (4/5) – Good effect, though it's unfortunate that a discard requirement is associated with edge-enabled icons. Limiting your hand makes winning edge all the more difficult. Still, builds heavy on fighters/speeders can swarm well enough to sneak an unopposed attack and leave this effect for such a time. More traditional Jedi builds have enough punch on their mains to force the DS's attention on them, allowing the couple speeders here to get the job done. In such a deck, however, this objective isn't all that tempting to play since you wouldn't have that many units to use it with anyway.


*Luke's T-16 Skyhopper (256-2): 17 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (4/5) – Two mixed black icons on a unit with two health is great at two cost, but three, you need something considerably extra to help out. The Skyhopper here has targeted strike, which is nice, but with only one black gun, isn’t game changing. Two gun TS with the objective is starting to get there. But the real winner is the passive. Free objective damage is great, particularly when you can actually do it on your opponent’s turn. And it’s free, because you still get the full effect of playing the event, so it’s not like you are giving anything up. Jedi with their massive list of events can really help speed up their game if they can keep Luke’s T-16 on the board.

yodaman (3.5/5) – On the surface, this unit seems like it should be good. Targeted Strike is always useful. However, on a 3 cost unit with 2 health and only 1 black gun, it’s really not much. Sure, if you can win edge and have the objective out, you at least get a 2nd gun and another bomb, but it’s a pretty lackluster main. The reaction is one thing the main thing that keeps it from being awful. When you play an event card, you get to do a damage to an enemy objective. This gives a way around Tarkin Doctrine and Entrenched Defense to turn off an annoying “while undamaged” objective like Enforced Loyalty or Imperial Blockade, but the low health makes it very vulnerable to being taken out quickly.

pantsyg (5/5) – This unit looks unassuming, but the reaction is completely nuts and changes the way you think about playing the LS game. Free objective damage for LS is huge (yuge?), especially if you don’t have to attack to get it. If you protect this unit, and have cheap events to trigger it each turn, you’re going to stack up a ton of damage. It’s also worth noting that this is one of the few ways LS can kill an objective after refresh, effectively denying DS 1-2 resources that turn. Obviously, insane with Brainiac.

Majestaat (4.5/5) – It all comes down to whether you can take the tempo loss from playing this unit, because its stats are poor for its cost. If you're not punished right away for your weaker board and the DS doesn't have an easy way to get rid of the T-16, then it should be doing a lot of work for you. Targeted Strike allows it to finish damaged units or threaten fragile support ones, like Mouse Droids. Coupled with the second gun from the objective, the keyword becomes a serious threat.
But its reaction is the real appeal here. I can't stress how insane it is to deal damage to DS objectives without even having to initiate a battle, more so when you can repeat during your opponent's turn. Not much he can do about that with his units and hand. Things can get nasty if coupled with Brainiac. Yet another reason to hate him.


T-16 Skyhopper (256-3): 12.5 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (3/5) – This guy is almost as good as the core set’s X-Wing. You get two icons, including a blast, for one cost. That’s really efficient. Now, it doesn’t have the staying power of an X-Wing, but still, you’re getting a blast and a gun for one, which could quickly become a two gun two blast in conjunction with the objective. It’s not flashy, but efficiency counts in this game.

yodaman (3/5) – 1 cost unit with 1 health that has 2 combat icons (1 black gun, 1 white blast). There are worst 1 cost/1 health units so it’s an okay chud, especially with 2 force pips.

pantsyg (3/5) – 2-drop combat icons for 1, with the downside of 1 health. A solid enough unit to fill out your curve and sometimes get that extra unopposed in. I do find it funny that this has 2 force pips; I can see why from the set design perspective, but thematically it makes me giggle.

Majestaat (3.5/5) – Nothing to get excited about, but it does have good stats for its cost, especially if it can sneak unopposed when Running the Canyon is out. If its efficiency isn't enough to win you over, 2 pips still make it useful in edge.


Memories of Home (256-4): 18 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (3/5) – Well, look at what we have here. A free event that you can recycle. That sounds like it goes particularly well with this set. And it gives you a shield at action speed, which is good in and of itself. Now, the recursion isn’t super easy, although in a Jedi deck, it’s not much of a problem. Maybe Rieekan and his Hoth bonus could help with a more speeder centric recursion, but that’s probably stretching a bit.

yodaman (5/5) – It’s a free event (great for Luke’s Skyhopper triggers) that gives you a shield on one of your units. On top of that the card comes back to your hand from discard if you win the force struggle by at least 2 and Jedi decks usually don’t have any trouble doing that. That means you can get lots of shields throughout the game. The only downside is it has no force icons, but you want to play this free event anyway so it doesn’t really matter.

pantsyg (5/5) – I always say that shielding is one of the best mechanics in the game because they really mess with your opponent’s math about how much damage and tactics they need to kill you or lock you down. Shields at action speed are great, especially for free, and you can recur this! Obviously it’s designed to play well with Luke’s Hopper, and play well it does.

Majestaat (5/5) – Free shield in an event that can be reasonably recycled? Yes, please. Can easily feed the objective or Luke's T-16. Lack of pips isn't even an issue here because that shield should always prove useful.


Bull's-eye! (256-5): 16.5 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (4/5) – Farlander enabled vehicles to have some truly explosive turns. Here we get an event that does the same thing, but for targeted strike units. Just want something dead? Play this before defenders are declared to not even give your opponent a chance. Or did you just win edge? Strike with two units in a row. And while there aren’t many speeder units with TS, you can go the other route and include Luke and Han in your deck, and keep your opponent’s board clear. And the icing on the cake is that it’s free to play, and has two force pips when there aren’t any TS units around, but you need to win edge. The possibilities that this opens up are pretty impressive.

yodaman (5/5) – Another free event which is incredible since it lets your targeted strike units strike in an engagement at action speed. This is definitely a card to build around in order to make sure you get a lot of use out of it. Much like the trigger on Inexorable Destruction, this means you can strike first even if you lost edge and get the first two strikes if you win edge. Probably the best card in the set.

pantsyg (4/5) – Strike immediately is excellent, allowing you to not give one s**t about the edge battle. This event is situational, requiring a unit with Targeted Strike, which drops it down a notch in my rating as it will sometimes be a dead draw depending on the units you’ve been able to field. That said, striking before edge with either of the TS Hans, core Luke, or even guys like Zeb, Rebel Kyle, and Bren Derlin is extremely good.

Majestaat (3.5/5) – Needs some building around to shine, but these are the kind of effects that are really painful to face. The DS can discard his whole hand in an attempt to win edge and get destroyed anyway. It's a shame that two of the most solid pods with TS units -Core Luke and Zeb- lack events to help the rest of the set.


Target of Opportunity (256-6): 16 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (4/5) – Free blast damage helps the LS win. Period. Just don’t let it get twisted away, and you’re good. It’s simple, but consistent. One card, one fifteenth (typically) closer to winning.

yodaman (4/5) – Targets are always good. Synergizes well with Luke’s Skyhopper in doing extra objective damage in this set.

pantsyg (4/5) – It’s boring, but it gets the job done. Especially with all the ping damage from Luke’s Hopper, I can see decks with this set closing games with chump attacks to throw a Target.

Majestaat (4/5) – Another free source of blast. Will help close games, and that's plenty. A nice inclusion in this aggressive set.


Overall: 16.5 out of 20 possible points.

doctormungmung (4/5) – This set has a little bit of an identity crisis. On one hand, it is a real boost to a speeder centric deck. But then on the other, you can really go to town with targeted strike units (of which speeders aren’t a key component). I think the set can go either way, and still have a significant impact, even if you wind up with a dead card or two. And even in a TS (read-Jedi/smuggler) focused deck, you still get a pair of speeders to make use out of the objective, so it isn’t a total bust. It’s not often you get a set that combines board control with objective damage that doesn’t set you back.

yodaman (3.5/5) – The units are a bit lackluster even though Luke’s Skyhopper can be situationally good at a semi-steep cost. The events and presence of Target are great, but there isn’t a resource and that hurts some in Jedi builds. In some ways it’s hard to see where this deck should fit in. The objective suggested using it with fighters, but the better units with targeted strike (to make use of Bullseye) are characters. Might be worth using as a support set.

pantsyg (5/5) – Without a big sturdy main, this set doesn’t look flashy at first. That said, it does allow you to play the game differently, pinging damage constantly while building a board, contesting the Force to recur Memories, and hitting with Targeted Strike units before the opponent can respond. This is a very interesting and powerful set, but you need to build around Luke’s Hopper and Bull’s Eye to get the most from it.

Majestaat (4/5) – Turned out to be better that I initially thought. A Hero's Beginning provides another speeder for the objective, an event to feed some of the cards here and Owen to mitigate Luke's T-16's rather high cost. You probably want that as the core of your deck, then you can go several different directions depending on what card here strikes your fancy. Want to abuse the objective? Mixing Rebels is an option. Luke's Skyhopper? Bring The Brain and/or cheap events, as if you were building for Core Vader. Bull's-eye? Core Han is your man.
Despite all the praise, at this point you probably noticed the set's main weakness: it's really hard to get the most out of every card in it, because they have different and rather specific requirements.


Tiny Robotic Sociopath (257-1): 12 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (4/5) – Restricting card draw can have a huge impact. Who remembers the good old days of seeing your opponent flop a double Vader’s Fist. This isn’t as big (but then, it shouldn’t be, as that was pretty broken). But if you can deplete your opponent’s hand, you can make sure they see less options the following turn. The objective works against you too, but you can build your deck with extra draw to work around it, which Specters seem to do. The other interesting thing about having the objective out is that it may force your opponent to play suboptimally to make sure they don’t get punished.

yodaman (3/5) – In my experience so far, this objective’s ability rarely ever comes into play as it prevents people from drawing more than 5 cards during the draw phase if a Specter unit is on the board. I can’t see ever wanting this on the board so I bury it when I see it.

pantsyg (2/5) – This effect is just OK, allowing you to have an easier time emptying the opponent’s hand for cards like Stolen Helmet, Chopper, Zeb, and Makeshift Repairs. That said, it’s far from busted enough for me to pick it at the start of the game. I wish it didn’t have the Specter condition, because I could see a neat little jank deck running just the discard Specter stuff with Gamblo. As is, if you need a Specter to activate the effect, you may as well build a better Specter deck.

Majestaat (3/5) – It can be hit or miss, depending on how much extra draw is packing each deck. But as LS, you can also run more discard-tech to stay on top with this effect. It does require a gameplan and proper deckbuilding. On its own it's pretty worthless.


*Chopper (257-2): 13.5 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (3/5) – Chopper is a decent tactics chud with a conditional passive. Discarding cards, like drawing cards, is something Specters like to do. So getting a damage ping off of that is gravy. You can also use this during your opponent’s draw phase if they discard a card. Again, this can lead your opponent to making suboptimal plays. Or they could just keep getting the cards they want to see and never intentionally trigger this. If it weren’t for this ability, Chopper would fade into the background of all the other two cost one tactics units out there.

yodaman (3.5/5) – Chopper is an annoying little droid to play against. Once per turn, he deals a unit damage to your opponent if your opponent discards a card. This ability is great. He does have a white tactics and black gun for his 2 cost and 2 health. He also has 2 force pips. But really, he’s another lackluster main. Sure the extra unit damage is nice, but ultimately you need to get blast in when playing LS. He’s there to help clear the way for his more threatening friends like Zeb and Hera. Chopper is Specter so you can put him in for free with Spark.

pantsyg (3/5) – I like his icons for 2 and the art is awesome. His effect is obviously powerful, but hinges on how consistently you can force your opponent to discard each turn. Chopper’s probably best with Zeb on the board, basically blanking the downside of his reaction when he strikes, or if you can get Ezra to strike consistently. Subtly, he triggers if an opponent discards in their draw phase, allowing some hand choke. That said, I want something bigger out of the only real unit in a set.

Majestaat (4/5) – Cheap tactics are good. Better when they have double pips, a relevant trait and a good ability. Worst case, Chopper will be an annoyance when the DS wants to cycle his hand during the draw phase. Best case you have someone like Ezra out who can allow the ability to strike more often.
He's good for his cost, but may not prove to be particularly relevant in the grand scheme of things.


Captured Courier Droid (257-3): 12 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (3/5) – Heh, will you look at that, a unit that makes your opponent discard a card when it comes into play. Other than that, though, this unit is pretty inconsequential. It’s cheap, so it provides a warm (or cold) body on the field. The one persistent stand out thing about this droid is that it’s a Specter unit, which is a cheap way to turn on all the Specter themed abilities that this cycle has brought us. So in a Specter deck, this guy pulls above his weight class.

yodaman (3/5) – Another droid chud that is Specter so you can hit him with Spark too. But he’s pretty lackluster with 1 cost, 1 health and 1 white gun. He does get you a neat ability that synergizes with Chopper. When he enters play, your opponent must discard a card which means Chopper can hit one of your opponent’s for a damage he’s out when the Droid hits the field. That can give you some card advantage which is never a bad thing.

pantsyg (3/5) – Situationally, this card is going to be awesome. Choose and discard isn’t great, especially when you’re paying 1 for the privilege, but I’ve definitely been in positions as DS where I didn’t have a clear garbage card to sacrifice to this effect, and woe betide an opponent with just one card left in hand. Unfortunately the body just isn’t going to do anything for you until you draw Improvised Tactics, which I really like, or kill Call to Action and give him the bomb.

Majestaat (3/5) – Sacrifice a card and a resource to get rid of an enemy card. Not the best of deals. That just shows how lackluster this droid is on its own. Its environment can make it much more relevant, however. If Chopper is out, that discard means damage. Thanks to the Specter trait, you can get it for free with Spark. Also, thanks to that very trait, it can be used with Electroshock Prod and Improvised Tactics, both of which are amazing cards. Just hope you see this little guy when you have other combo tools in play/in hand.


Electroshock Prod (257-4): 19.5 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (5/5) – Mini-Tarkin on a stick! Seriously, though, this is an awesome addition to a Spector deck. Unit damage is good with Zeb, and combined with Hera, your Specters can keep a board mostly clear. But the real kicker here is getting a toned down version of Tarkin’s ability that doesn’t actually cost you a resource. Everyone knows how powerful Tarkin is. Well, the LS now can get some of that power. You can’t blank enhancements (so no killing pilots or ditching sabers), but you can make sure a key unit isn’t elite in the refresh phase, or that you can significantly reduce the threat of someone like Dengar or Vader (take your pick of version). Sure, you have to focus the Prod, but that just means that it’s a once per every other turn type of thing. So you have to put some thought into when you want to use it (your turn vs theirs). But, there are also a few tricks the LS has that removes focus from an enhancement, which means you could get this going every turn.

yodaman (4.5/5) – I really like this card. Blanking is a powerful effect and you get it in limited form here for 1 cost. The Prod lets you blank the textbox of an opponent’s unit at the beginning of the phase. This means if you’re the active player, you could actually use the Prod to turn off Tarkin or Dr. Evazan. The Prod can only go on a Specter unit or droid, but chances are you’ll be using this pod in a Specter heavy deck anyway so it’s not an issue. The only thing that keeps this from being a 5 is that Tarkin is still in the meta so he could blank the Prod and have it discarded.

pantsyg (5/5) – Mini-Tarkin for the low cost of 1. While it only hits units, it’s non-unique, so you can get pretty good control over annoying opposing unit effects like Chimaera, Sith Executor, Vader, etc. Only attaching to Specter or Droid is a slight bummer, but you’re probably running a decent number of Specters if you’re running this set. It also activates Well Equipped as a bonus, great when stuck to Zeb or Hera.

Majestaat (5/5) – Wow. Repeated blank effect for a single resource. Neat. Even though it's limited to target units, early game it can often be better than Tarkin himself as it's not as costly over a few turns. Later on, nothing really compares to Tarkin, so whatever. This remains an incredible utility card.
Put it on your fighters like Zeb to get the most out of the extra gun, or on something more or less useless like the Courier Droid who doesn't have a reason to enter combat, increasing the longevity of the enhancement and forcing the DS to use removal on a really cheap body.


Makeshift Repairs (257-5): 13.5 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (4/5) – Card search is as powerful, if not more so, than draw restriction. Making sure you have the right card when you want it goes a long way to maximising your turn. We’ve seen enhancement search before, which is useful in making sure you have your resource base set up, or having a key weapon to put into play. But if you can time this right on when your opponent’s hand is empty, just get whatever card you feel like! And it only costs one! Now, most often you’ll just be getting an enhancement, but that is still nothing to sneeze at.

yodaman (4.5/5) – Card searches are always good although searching for enhancements is not as powerful as searching for a unit. The event only costs 1 and does have a secondary function which is situationally incredible. If your opponent is out of cards when you play this, you can actually search for any card in your deck.

pantsyg (2/5) – Better than it looks once you remember resources are enhancements, allowing this to bail you out if you don’t see one early, but you’re still taking a tempo hit to dig for it. In decks that are likely to run this set you’re most likely using this to dig up Bo Rifle or Electroshock Prod, or possibly Custom Paint Job if you’re trying a Sabine combo deck. You could use this to fetch BTS Luke his Saber, but I don’t know what the rest of that deck looks like and you’re still paying for the privilege. In most cases, unless you’re flush with cash, this feels slightly weak. Obviously, it’s totally nuts if your opponent is out of cards.

Majestaat (3/5) – Specters sport some very nasty enhancements and enough copies of Well Equipped to make them all the more dangerous. You can also dig for resources if desperate or in a slow game. You shouldn't count on getting the universal tutor, but even if your opponent is consciously sticking with at least a card to avoid that, you're indirectly gaining an edge advantage.


Improvised Tactics (257-6): 17.5 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (4/5) – This card is the reason that the Courier Droid is rated a three, vs a two. Being able to swap out any Specter for a one cost unit that isn’t doing anything for you anymore (mostly) is well worth two resources. Again, this is all about having the right answers at the right time. You do have to give up a unit, so you aren’t gaining board presence, but timed well, you could cheat presence. Play this after the first unit has struck, or when they’ve been buried under tactics. Then get another unit to sneak around and hit your opponent where it hurts.

yodaman (4.5/5) – A potentially powerful card that comes with enough of a cost and condition that it could be a bit tough to pull off the card search effectively. It costs 2 to search for any Specter unit in your deck and put it into play. The tradeoff is that you then have to shuffle a Specter unit back into the deck. This means you need a Specter unit on the field already otherwise the search does you no good. The best scenario is to trade out the Captured Courier Droid for a main like Zeb or Hera. Another option is to take a Specter that’s already focused down to get another attacker, even if it’s the same main.

pantsyg (5/5) – Now here’s an event. Yoda, You Seek Yoda is super powerful when played during conflict, after defenders are tapped out, and this allows you to bring in potentially more damaging characters. Any event that brings in new attackers at action speed is excellent, and this turns your Specters into pseudo-Falcons. The downside, of course, is needing to shuffle another Specter back in, which makes this sometimes dead if you haven’t drawn a Specter to play yet, or they’ve all been removed. Obviously, this is best done with the Courier Droid, though Chopper and Ezra also make good candidates with their low costs.

Majestaat (4/5) – Strike with a Specter, play this to get a fresh one and get a shot at another objective. That's what game winning plays look like. It has some flexibility thanks to how diverse the roles of the different Specters are.
As amazing as it can be, it has high potential to be unplayable because you do need a Specter in play in the first place (hopefully a cheap one, like the Courier). Good thing it has 2 pips.


Overall: 14 out of 20 possible points.

doctormungmung (4/5) – This is a pretty cool set. It’s not going to be blowing up objectives, but it should be disrupting your opponent’s play while giving you some impressive tricks to get the most out of your deck. It really wants to have some other Specters around to play with, but because of the search options, you don’t technically need that many. And while it doesn’t have a resource, it can search for one for you, helping you smooth out your resource base in a decktype that is rather light on them. But really, it’s got Tarkin on a stick. How can you not like that?

yodaman (3.5/5) – Like the Jedi set in this pack, the units are probably the weakest part of the set. The card searches can be awesome if you plan and set up things properly, but the fact this set had absolutely no blast is a big drawback. Definitely a support set for Spark and I personally think it’s probably better as a 1 of in a deck. Stick with the tried and true core 8 for Spark decks, (Spark of Rebellion, Haunting the Empire, Last Warrior and MTFBWY) and then maybe use this as a 1 of along with something else that has multiple Spark targets.

pantsyg (3/5) – This is a set that I really wanted to like, but I haven’t been able to get it to do much for me. The combo potential is really interesting, especially with things like Freeholders or Dash that encourage opponents to get cards out of their hand, or Gamblo, who helps further the discard agenda. Unfortunately the most powerful things this set does all need other pieces to work and aren’t hugely busted, and that usually spells bad news for LS decks in the current meta.

Majestaat (3.5/5) – I'm not quite the jankmaster to have tried this in a filthy discard deck, so don't let it surprise you if my score is way off. In a proper Specter deck, it felt like an okay 1 of, admittedly with the temptation to run it as 2x for another Electro Prod. That thing is nasty, and the reason I'm giving this an extra 0.5.
With Chopper as the only real unit here, and no blast whatsoever, it seems hard to go heavier on this set. I know Chopper can be real annoying if you're dedicated to discard-tech, but you still need the firepower to blow up objectives. Can't say I'm sold on this.