The Mos Eisley Mafia: SWLCG "Ancient Rivals" Force Pack Review - Light Side

MEET THE FAMILY (aka - THE REVIEWERS):
-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.


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 (more because ties):
1 – *Han Solo (No Match for a Good Blaster), with 20 out of 20 possible points.
2 – No Match for a Good Blaster, with 19 out of 20 possible points.
3 – *Ahsoka Tano (A New Beginning), with 18 out of 20 possible points.
4 – *Sabine Wren (Explosives Artist), with 18 out of 20 possible points.

Top 3 DS Cards:
1 – Heartless Tactics, with 20 out of 20 possible points.
2 – *Dengar (Heartless Tactics), with 20 out of 20 possible points.
3 – Captured (Heartless Tactics), with 20 out of 20 possible points.

Overall best rated Objective Set:
Heartless Tactics, with 20 out of 20 possible points.


THE REVIEWS:

A New Beginning (231-1): 16 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (4/5) – Here we have an almost run of the mill two / four objective. And if you’ve read my reviews before, you know I tend to waffle between giving them a three or a four. Well, normally, with my current mood, I’d give this one a three, except it has a conditional rider that can turn it into an elite objective. Just reveal a Jedi fate card (note the reveal, not the resolve), and it’ll refresh. It’s a little hard to plan for that, but it’s a great way to bluff your opponent. Spend two, and let them wonder if you’re going to negate one of their edge cards. Or, you can spend one, then free it up mid turn for a surprise Unfinished Business. For those times that you can pull this off, the objective earned an extra point on it’s score.

yodaman (4/5) – This objective comes with a pretty neat ability. When you reveal a Jedi fate card you can remove the focus tokens from the objective. That means you can potentially free up resources for a surprise Unfinished Business, Yoda, You Seek Yoda or even Leia’s Command. On top of that there is no limit on the number of times you can remove the tokens each turn. Only 4 health is a bit of a liability though as is the relative lack of Jedi fate cards, but having 2 resources is always nice.

pantsyg (4/5) – Double resources are really helpful in Jedi right now, as you really want to get off to a fast start. 4 health hurts a little against aggressive DS decks, but the ability to free up 2 resources in conflict is pretty hot.

Majestaat (4/5) – I'd easily give this a 5 if we had more Jedi fate cards. The effect is just that strong. Not only do you get a better opening with those 2 resources, but you won't set yourself back for the next turn. Even better, you're opening resources to play an important event in combat (ex: Force Rejuvenation, Double Strike, YYSY) without sacrificing effectiveness during deployment. If you happen to have Hero's Trial out as well, then you also get the chance to drop a surprise enhancements like Trust Your Feelings, Shien Training, or any lightsaber.
All in all, I don't consider the 4 HP to be a big hindrance. As said, the problem is inconsistency due to lack of more Jedi fates.


*Ahsoka Tano (231-2): 18 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (4/5) – We get the poster child stats for a main (two guns, two blast, three health, elite) for four cost, which is very good. And on top of all that, you get a pretty easy trigger for card draw. In a Jedi deck, you’ll have plenty of Jedi cards to pitch in an edge battle. From the killer edge card of Yoda, to the lowly Believer in the Old Ways, or the Trust Me you just didn’t have the resources for, or even Luke’s Saber. Ashoka doesn’t even need to be in the engagement (which helps trigger it up to it’s limit of twice per turn). While I don’t think she’s the be all end all of units, she’s a welcome addition to the Main pool, and will be well worth her cost.

yodaman (5/5) – Ahsoka is a very solid Jedi main. She costs 4 so you can get her out turn 1 and has 3 health like most mains. Ahsoka comes with the same combat icons as Luke and is elite. Her ability to draw cards twice per turn if you reveal a Jedi fate card is great as it helps you get card advantage in future edge battles. 3 force icons help you keep the force with her, if needed.

pantsyg (4/5) – An elite big hitter and card draw. Not breaking the game, but nice to see a new Jedi unit with some bombs.

Majestaat (5/5) – Very solid stats all around. Two blast isn't particularly common in Jedi characters outside Luke, which helps to diversify your threats against objectives. Taking a look at her reaction, you get a reliable and strong draw engine, improving your edge significantly even when you must declare several important engagements each turn, and leaving some to defend afterwards.


Ahsoka's Informant (231-3): 15 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (3/5) – While a one cost chud with a black gun and two health is decent, it’s better for the DS than the LS, so there’s nothing special there. One pip isn’t going to win an edge battle or hold the force. But, this unit will help you win a key edge battle. Before you reveal an edge stack in a battle you need to have edge, sacrifice this unit and pull out the Yoda that you either edged earlier, or that was killed, and get an almost free five pips to the edge. It’s a great hedge vs a twist, as you won't actually lose one of your edge cards.

yodaman (4/5) – For 1 cost, this chud can really do some work. Sacrifice it to bring any Jedi card back from discard and put it into the edge battle before edge stacks are revealed. Sure that may mean the card might be twisted away sometimes, but the times you can bring a Yoda or Obi back from discard to win a crucial edge battle will make up for that. Still, as units go, this one is pretty lackluster on the board. He does have 2 health which means he’s more likely to stay on the board until you need to use him.

pantsyg (4/5) –The timing is a little weird as you have to sac this before seeing the cards in the edge battle, but usually tossing a Yoda or Obi into any edge battle where you’re not at a huge card disadvantage will net a win. Also gives you some insurance against Twists.

Majestaat (4/5) – Really liking how 1-cost units are actually becoming useful, and not necessarily because of absurd combat stats (looking at you, Hired Hands). For a cheap price, you're likely getting an important boost for a crucial edge battle. If you're in need of some money instead of raw edge prowess, them maybe retrieving Ancient Rivals is the way to go if A New Beginning is out.


*Ahsoka's Lightsabers (231-4): 16 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (4/5) – The original Lightsaber is still one of the best. Two black icons, one unit damage, on blast. Here we almost have the same thing. Two icons, but the blast is white. So slightly worse there. But when attacking a Sith objective, you get a black tactics. Now that’s a good saber! Unfortunately, the meta has shifted away from the days of Sith dominance, so it’s not nearly as close to a guarantee that you’ll see Sith objectives across from you. Still, I’d give it about a one in three chance, so a third of the time, Ashoka’s sabers will be fantastic instead of just good.

yodaman (4/5) – Ahsoka’s sabers have the standard 1 cost, but only 1 force icon. Unlike some lightsabers, Ahsoka’s text works no matter who is using them. They give a black gun and white blast and have the added bonus of having a black tactics during an engagement against a Sith objective. That’s a bit conditional, but having that extra potential bonus never hurts.

pantsyg (4/5) – More extra blast is alright by me. The tactics against Sith objectives is obviously not going to be relevant in every game, but gives the card huge value in that matchup. I like that these have a solid effect even when not matched with their named wielder, unlike some of the weaker sabers (Inquisitor’s, Obi’s).

Majestaat (4/5) – Useful combat stats for cheap. That'll do. Unique and single pip drag it down a bit, considering the blast is edge-enabled and the tactics somewhat situational. Still quite a welcomed addition, making most mains lethal threats against their DS counterparts. Absolutely devastating when facing Sith, especially when you can multi-strike to abuse the tactics.


Ancient Rivals (231-5&6): 13 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (3/5) – We’ve got a new fate card, and for the first time, it’s affiliated. That’s interesting. Anytime you get to search for a Jedi card, or bring one back from the discard, you now have a new and unique type of card to go get. But really, it’s the fate effect (as usual) that is the interesting part. Vs Sith, you get to discard the Vader or Palpatine they were planning on winning the edge with. That’s a two to three point swing in your favor. Or, because of the order of resolution, you can also pick out the Sith version of this card to protect your Yoda. Vs non-Sith, you can pitch out some of the more powerful event cards that like to win edge battles, like Tractor Beam or Chain Reaction. But really, most of the time vs non-Sith, it’s just going to be two pips, which is ok. Not bad, not great. There are definitely better edge cards out there, but this is no Gambler’s Trick, that’s for sure.

yodaman (4/5) – This is a really good fate card against Sith, but not as good against other affiliations. You can discard this fate card to remove a Sith card or neutral non-fate card from an edge stack. The timing of it means this goes off before the Sith version of the card so you can prevent a Sith player from using it to discard one of your big Jedi force pip cards.

pantsyg (3/5) – Major upside when you nuke a Vader or Palpatine, but otherwise the main value here is triggering A New Beginning.

Majestaat (3/5) – No need to say how incredibly strong this is against Sith, or what crazy moves it can allow when A New Beginning is out. Other than that, it only gets to shine ocassionally against Navy by discarding a Tractor Beam.


Overall: 16 out of 20 possible points.

doctormungmung (4/5) – Ashoka comes in a pretty powerful set. Great main with a good enhancement. Some edge tricks and a total edge count of nine. It does have one significant weakness, and a couple minor weaknesses. Not having a resource outside of the objective makes it a bit hard to fit this into a standard Jedi deck, as they are rather lacking in resources, so the optional sets all fight for a position. Although the objective here has two resources, and is occasionally elite. The minor weaknesses are that the chud is effectively not a unit, but an event you keep on the board. Thus it’s very unit light, with only the one. And lastly, not being a huge fan of the new fate card, I’m not super keen on having four in a deck, as all it is good for are edge battles. But it helps with making the objective elite,

yodaman (4/5) – A decent Jedi set that may struggle to find a place in Jedi decks simply because Jedi still have so many good options. Being Jedi affiliation only is a bit of a drawback as is the fact Ahsoka’s Informant is not much of a board presence. Having 2 resources on the objective makes up a bit for not having a real resource and 9 Force icons is solid considering the fate cards are always going to end up in edge battles.

pantsyg (4/5) – A solid addition to the Jedi stable, though Ahsoka’s text and the objective’s Jedi-only restriction somewhat pigeon-hole her into mono-Jedi builds. I’ve been really enjoying her in aggressive Jedi decks, where she functions well as a big threat.

Majestaat (4/5) – Another great addition to the Jedi arsenal, with many different sources to help with edge battles. Because we're still lacking in Jedi fate cards, no standard resource is a relevant flaw here. One more pod with Ancient Rivals in it, upping its count to 6x, should do enough to push the objective's consistency in a way that won't be a glaring issue.


Explosives Artist (232-1): 14.5 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (3/5) – At first glance, this is just about a blank one / five, but it does have a few key things that pulls it out of the muck. First, and most importantly, it has influence. So it’ll count as a resource match for anything you need it to. It’s easy to overlook this, so try to keep it in your mind that you have one resource of x-affiliation more than you thought you did. Secondly, you get to search for a Spector unit. Ten cards is a fifth of your deck, although if you don’t have more than a few Specter units (of which there are only currently two), it’s still not likely to get you anything. So most of the time you get a vanilla one / five. It’s floating around the two to three score, and since we haven’t seen much in the way of influence yet, I’ll give it the nudge and let it be a three.

yodaman (4.5/5) – This objective seems crazy at first since when it enters play you get to search the top 10 cards for a Spectre unit and put it in your hand. It also comes with the Influence keyword which means the objective can be used to provide a matching resource for all affiliations. This will make tri-color decks a lot more viable and as more Spectre units are released during this cycle, the objective itself will really carry its weight.

pantsyg (3/5) – Influence is really cool, and makes some of my wackier decks much more consistent. The Reaction isn’t huge yet, but probably will add a lot when more Specters arrive.

Majestaat (4/5) – Tutor for mains in your initial flop, guaranteeing you'll have a relevant unit in play from the get go. That's great. You're limited in that you can only search for a Spectre, but by the end of the cycle we should have up to 12 (2x of each), making this objective super reliable, and most likely a 5/5.
Gonna play a slower game and build up? You may want Kanan. Gonna set up some combos? Sabine is your gal. Raw firepower? Zeb is the right alien for the job.
Then we've got the Influence keyword, making the set an easy fit in almost any deck, even tricolor ones!


*Sabine Wren (232-2): 18 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (5/5) – I think Sabine is great (minus the art). For three cost, you get two blast and a unit damage, three health, a pair of force icons, a resource, and a solid ability. She’s a utility piece that has a lot of punch. Her ability can be great. For a single resource, she’s adding a black icon, and if she uses it on herself (or Kanan) she also dishes out edge one. Getting two blast, a unit damage and black tactics with edge 1 for four cost is a fantastic deal. She has several combo pieces in this set as well, which only boosts her usefulness.

yodaman (4/5) – Sabine is a very solid main. Unfortunately, she’s the only unit in the set. She only costs 3 and has 3 health. She also has a built in resource. However, the lack of elite hurts a bit. Her ability, however, is great. You can spend any resource to give a Jedi unit a black gun, a Rebel unit a black tactics or a Smuggler unit a black blast. If the unit is Spectre they also gain Edge 1. Her combat icons of 1 black gun, 1 black blast, 1 white blast are really good value. Pump her up by spending a resource on her and she’ll do some work.

pantsyg (4/5) – Sabine is a power card. Her icons are solid for the cost, and her ability to pump other units at action speed (assuring they’ll get to use the buffs) is really good—especially if you can land them on units that can strike multiple times in a phase, like Endor Han, Bright Hope, Pulsar Skate, Luke or any character if you have Bamboozle.

Majestaat (5/5) – This is what the future of combos looks like. A bit weak on the force deparment, compensating with a resource instead, and you may have to use it a lot due to her ability. Pay one and gain extra combat icons. Jedi is arguably getting the weakest icon, but with several of their mains having 2 guns already, that third one is actually a pretty big deal. Rebels and Smugglers have nothing to whine about, gaining tactics and blast respectively. Huge.
In the case of Spectres, they're also gaining edge. What's not to like? The crew will be pretty happy every time Sabine hits the table.
If you don't need Sabine's resource and can afford to put her at risk, she is more than capable of handling herself with 3 HP and double blast. Add the tactics and edge from her ability and she'll do some work.


*Sabine's Armor (232-3): 14 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (3/5) – Mandalorians do like their armor. It’s not quite Boba Fett’s armor, but two extra health goes a long way to keeping a main alive. Yoda or Luke all of a sudden can survive a Mara plus Saber targeted strike. There are a lot of three unit damage sources these days, and if you don’t have protectors, this will really help get some value out of your main investment. It also has a nice rider ability protecting Sabine from being targeted by effects. Tarkin has to pop the armor before shutting her down. She can’t be lightninged. Or choked for that matter. And if you aren’t seeing your mains or you don’t have the resource to spare, two to the edge is solid.

yodaman (4/5) – For 1 cost you get to give +2 damage capacity to any unit and if you put Sabine’s Armor on Sabine herself, she can’t be targeted by enemy card effects. Now you can help keep one of your powerful mains around a lot longer. Give it to core Chewie and he can now potentially send 8 damage back on something! Her armor, not surprisingly, is unique so it’s good that it has 2 force icons if you already have one out.

pantsyg (3/5) – Used to be I wasn’t sold on enhancements that only buffed HP, but lately I’ve been noticing that being able to tank damage on units like Yoda or Luke is actually fairly useful. Still, most likely edged if a better play is available.

Majestaat (4/5) – Decent HP boost for a cheap price. When DS is having an easy time dishing out 3 unit damage at a time, this can be quite valuable, and I'll take it
In Sabine's case, she's also getting protection against targeted effects. That's big with all the direct removal DS has gained.
If you don't feel convinced about playing it, its two pips will still keep it useful.


Custom Paint Job (232-4): 17 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (4/5) – Now here’s an interesting card. It’s got a great edge count, and is free. But in general, giving all affiliations doesn’t do much other than help with resource match. Although there are some sneaky things it can do, like turn on BtS Obi’s and Yoda’s objectives. Or give edge to Dodonna if Flight of the Crow is on the board. But really where this shines is in conjunction with Sabine. Put this on Luke, and then Sabine can turn him into a three unit damage, three blast damage one tactic multistriking monster. Or just give it to Sabine, and let her go to town with edge along with a ton of icons. Maybe I’m rating this one too high for what’s effectively a combo enabler, but the things you can get out of that combo are pretty nuts.

yodaman (5/5) – I pretty much love almost any card that has 0 cost and gives great bonuses. Custom Paint Job is no different. Enhance your affiliation card and you make every one of your non-neutral units in-faction and no longer vulnerable to Snoova. Plus that helps tri-color decks. Give it to a unit and then Sabine gives that unit all 3 combat icons. It’s not unique so you can have both out at once if you’re playing Sabine’s set as a 2 of. Also, with 3 pips it’s always going to be good in an edge battle.

pantsyg (3/5) – Obviously nuts if you can get this on someone and hit them with Sabine’s reaction, but I’ve been finding this is mostly a solid edge card, or occasionally mana-fixing on my affiliation card. The draw condition is super rarely met.

Majestaat (5/5) – It's free, it's got 3 pips, it makes it even easier to run a tri-color deck, or more commonly, get a crapton combat icons from Sabine's ability. While it will be pretty unusual, it can even grant you extra draw to boot. Won't win you the game (or will it?), but it does a lot for being a free card. Can't complain.


Improvised Explosive (232-5): 11.5 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (4/5) – At first glance, seeing the explosives, I thought “meh”. But they are really very useful. Getting a damage on a pair of defenders can really help thin your opponent’s board. But really what it does is mess with how your opponent defends. Put it on a high value objective, and either they have to over commit, or they let you go in if they can’t spare the units. So even if you wind up never triggering it, it’s still done work for you. Putting both on the same objective provides the DS player with some pretty tough choices, as having Vader with only two health before going into conflict is a much riskier proposition.

yodaman (3/5) – An interesting card. For 1 cost you can enhance any objective and then
discard it to damage 2 enemy units participating in an engagement against it. Being able to deal the damage is always nice, but often you might have better things to spend the 1 resource on. Also, it’s a bit situational as your opponent can play around it a bit.

pantsyg (1/5) – I’m never happy to draw these. Their biggest upside is probably enhancing an objective to make it a Well Equipped target, but that’s just not enough value, and 1 telegraphed damage doesn’t really excite me.

Majestaat (3.5/5) – Fair card on its own. You usually want to play it on an important DS objective and bring the pain if he dares defend. Properly supported, it can do some work. Brainiac to buff damage here, Junk Dealers for recursion there and defense can become a nightmare for your opponent. Would have liked a second pips here, but hey, the set's already got an insane amounf of force icons.


Well Equipped (232-6): 14.5 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (3/5) – Here’s our second new fate card of the cycle. Being able to pull off a token of any kind is pretty powerful. Give a unit or objective back a point of health, or get some extra strikes in by freeing up a unit that’s focused out. And while there are decks out there with a good number of enhancements, between the target needing to be enhanced, and having a token you want to remove, actually getting the effect to work for you can be difficult. Still, those times that it does, it can have a significant impact.

yodaman (4.5/5) – The more I’ve played with Sabine’s set the more I really have become a fan of this fate card. It is extremely versatile as you can use it to remove one token of any type from a unit or objective that has an enhancement on it. Time it right by attacking with a enhanced unit in a first engagement, playing Well Equipped during the 2nd engagement and then freeing up the unit to strike in the 3rd. This means you can get an extra strike out of BtS Luke or Endor Han or even live the dream and get an Astromech or other enhancement on new Home One and get a second shot off with that. If you’ve got an enhancement on an objective you could clear off a damage to heal it or a focus token to allow you to play some other event.

pantsyg (3/5) – Any refresh or heal effects are obviously solid, and if your deck features a good number of enhancements that are worth using, you’ll probably get some value out of this. Because it’s a fate card, getting units set up to swing multiple times in a turn can be a little tricky owing to timing.

Majestaat (4/5) – Powerful and versatile new fate tool. Love how much this buffs the otherwise unimpressive unit enhancements. The best possible play is likely refreshing your heavy hitter. That'll usually require some units and several engagements to pull. Can be somewhat harder to pull, but if you can't do that, you can keep your main around for longer by removing damage. In case you have an enhanced objective, open a resource and play a surprise event.
While I think this can actually earn a perfect score, the fact it's so useless early game when you need to build your board forces me to play it safe this time.


Overall: 15 out of 20 possible points.

doctormungmung (4/5) – This is a super combo set that can do some crazy things. Since the objective has influence, it can fit into a lot of different decks. Sabine is fantastic all by herself, and the extra utility and durability that her set brings is pretty good. If you haven't noticed, there are a lot of numerals in this set, which means that she pairs pretty well with Brainiac (improvised explosives dishing out three to four damage is a thing). But there is a major drawback to this set: lack of units. Even with the search off of the objective, having only one unit will thin your deck out significantly. So you better make sure you can either live with that, or have a bunch of extra draw built in to alleviate that. There’s nothing worse than a handful of events and fate cards, and nothing to play them on.

yodaman (4/5) – Sabine’s set has some really good cards. The main downside is the lack of units. In general, the fact that Sabine is the only unit in the set knocks this down a peg despite the great tricks, 10 force icons and built in resource on Sabine. However, I suspect this set will become far more powerful and useful as the cycle progresses.

pantsyg (3/5) – I like Sabine a lot, and Influence is a very useful keyword when deckbuilding, but the set has only one unit and too many mediocre enhancements. Building around Sabine, and making sure the rest of your deck covers her unit deficiency, is crucial to finding success with her.

Majestaat (4/5) – Again playing it safe, though I think I'm pretty close to the proper score. However, this set has huge potential to become a perfect 5/5. This cycle seems to be doing a good job at making enhancements relevant, and as said, the objective will be huge once we get the full Spectre crew. Sabine herself is a beast and the pod's got 10 force icons. I don't mind the lack of proper resource given it's a cheap set and Sabine's got one anyway. The only clear weakness I see here is having a single unit. Guess that's where Kanan comes in, with his extra chuds.


No Match for a Good Blaster (233-1): 19 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (5/5) – I’m going to start off saying that I love this objective. I’ve always been a fan of the unit damage game, but for the LS, it usually meant giving up on blast damage, which is what you need to win the game. Well, now you can tie your unit damage to free blast, so long as you kill a unit during the strike. You can do that directly, with your unit damage, or you can use targeted strike to kill an unprotected character outside the engagement, or you could use things like Lightsaber Deflection (which is a reaction to taking damage (potentially form a strike), and thus is part of that strike (a strike consists of resolving all icons and all interrupts and reactions associated with that strike). And this objective lets you do this three times a turn! That’s up to three damage on a single objective, or spread around. That can add up. You can now send your Renegade Squadron Operative on an attack and possibly get some damage out of it, as well as thinning your opponent's board.

yodaman (4/5) – On the surface, this objective’s ability seems awesome. If you destroy a unit during the resolution of a strike, you get to deal a damage to the engaged objective. In practice, the ability has been a bit harder to trigger than it might seem. The DS player can often play around this to avoid getting hit with the extra blast if LS doesn’t have units out with targeted strike.

pantsyg (5/5) – Extra objective damage is sweet. Targeted Strike dudes, or anyone with lots of guns, become super dangerous on offense.

Majestaat (5/5) – Yikes. This is a serious threat for the DS, somehow turning unit damage into blast damage. If your opponent doesn't defend... well, not like LS has ever been upset about that. Note the opposing unit must be destroyed via a strike. No getting clever with Heat of Battle, Let the Wookiee Win, Brainiac et al.
But if you include enough units with targeted strike, that won't even matter. So core Luke, Derlin and/or Zeb may be high in your priority list.
Must say, I'm curious to know if someone has actually been able to get all 3 triggers in a turn. Know what would be fun? Voltron Yoda with Shii-Cho training destroying 3 units in a single strike.


*Han Solo (233-2): 20 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (5/5) – This Han harkens back to his roots as a unit to be feared for his board clearing potential. He’s got the same cost, and icons, but he gains a couple of important factors. First, he’s elite, so he’s much harder to lock down, and second, he has three health, which is a HUGE improvement. Even without protectors, he’s much more challenging to get off the board than his core version. He still has targeted strike, so he can pick off whatever unit he deems fit (and usually get a blast from his new objective in the process). He does lose his “I shoot first” damage ping, but instead he’s more of a leader, and passes a black gun around to all other Smuggler units, which makes even the lowly Cloud City Operative into a unit that’s dangerous to block. So in the end he’s more of a team player, which has both advantages (larger overall effect) and disadvantages (much more combo oriented). Still, your opponent should be rightly scared when Han comes to town.

yodaman (5/5) – The newest version of Han is really good. He keeps his traditional combat icon spread of 2
black guns, 1 black tactics and 1 white blast. While he costs 4, like the newer versions of Han, this one also gets 3 health. On top of that he’s elite and has targeted strike which pairs well if the objective is out. He also has the ability to give all your Smugglers units an extra black gun which can help clear the way for your blast to get through.

pantsyg (5/5) – Two guns, targeted strike, elite, and tactics are a recipe for success in my book. A little light on blast, but Smugglers have ways to remedy that be allowing him to strike twice (Bamboozle) or buffing damage (Echo Caverns, Bo Rifle). The bonus unit damage for Smug units makes the upcoming Zeb very attractive.

Majestaat (5/5) – And here I though Commando Han would be his best incarnation ever. He's still the best if facing those annoying Navy flops, but in most other scenarios, targeted strike will trump that. With how big an impact units like Doole, Ephant and 4-LOM can have, you need ways to get them off the board. Han will certainly help with that.
And we're not even considering his passive. One extra gun for every other Smuggler unit increases your chances to quickly remove DS units, and thus, makes it easier to trigger No Match for a Good Blaster or Renegade Squadron Mobilization. Really useful, though it can easily go unnoticed.


*Chewbacca (233-3): 13 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (3/5) – Here we get a very interesting and different take on Chewie. We lose all intrinsic offensive potential (baring No Match being out), but we gain a heap of help in an area Smugglers have long had difficulty with: the force struggle. Chewie makes it so that instead of counting force icons, you instead count black unit damage. That turns core Palpatine into a super wimp. Vader is half as good as he used to be. Smugglers get a boon because they usually have a good number of black guns available (see the Renegade Squadron Operative again). And with Han out, they all get that much better. Still, Chewie here is a big investment for some force help at four cost, so it might not be worth it, depending on what your economy is like. If he cost three, like his other incarnations, he’d be a no brainer. Still, there’s enough utility there to make him worth a look, particularly if you’re going for the long game. And as a side note, he really loves his Bowcaster….

yodaman (3.5/5) – Unlike Han, this Chewie is a bit disappointing. He has a steeper cost than his other versions as he costs 4. He does still have 3 health and unlike the other versions of Chewie, this version is elite so he’s harder to lock down. The issue comes with his combat icons – 3 black guns are nice, but unfortunately, LS needs to get in objective damage along the way to win games and Chewie does nothing by himself in that regard. He does have an interesting ability to change the way the force struggle is determined by counting black guns rather than force icons when we he’s committed. That could be great if you have MTFBWY Yoda out and the dial is ticking up, but that ability isn’t really worth his increased cost.

pantsyg (3/5) – When this Chewie was spoiled, there was a lot of talk about how he would warp the game. While his effect on the Force Struggle is cool, his complete lack of blast for 4 cost is a little tough to swallow. I do like having someone around on defense to make the DS think twice about attacking me, but I’m not convinced the LS yet has the cards to play that slower gameplan.

Majestaat (3.5/5) – Very interesting one. More expensive than previous Chewies, yet he loses all his blast. Compensates by gaining elite and an ability that alters how the Force Struggle is played, making our furry friend himself quite a Force Holder. More importantly, it affects many effects that rely on force icons, like most cards in Power of the Dark Side, but also some of your own, like Gamor Run (you still get the draw if you win) and Gardener's Secret. This and the fact that DS isn't on short supply of units heavy on black guns means this Chewie isn't very reliable, though all in all I'd still say he contributes to the Smugglers's Force game, since it was particularly weak when played on fair terms.
In the end, he's just one white blast away from being a really impactful unit. No LS unit in this price range should have zero objective damage. Sure, he has synergy with the objective, but if Chewie is attacking alone, I'll just let him go unopposed, as the consequences will be minimal.


DL-44 Blaster Pistol (233-4): 16 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (3/5) – A cheap enhancement for some extra unit damage combos well with every card thus far in the set. It’s not zero cost for a black icon like the Scum’s Blaster Pistol, but it’s also got a pretty nifty rider effect. You can pitch it back to your deck to save the unit it’s attached to from a targeted effect. That can save Han from being captured via just about every method out there (the event, Ephant Mon, Bossk, Snoova, etc). It can also save him from Force Lightning, or even Force Choke if that one damage would be lethal. That’s pretty good. And the blaster goes back into your deck, so it might show up again later. Although that’s a bit of a counter to what you’d want if you had a Junk Dealer out, but you can’t have everything.

yodaman (4/5) – This cheap, 1 cost blaster gives any character it enhances a black gun but also comes with a great ability if the unit is Smugglers. Being able to discard the blaster and shuffle it back into your deck to cancel any DS card effect that cancels the unit it’s attached to is really good. You can use it to avoid being hit with a Heat or Seeds in an edge battle, or having your unit go to the DS if Endor Palpy is out and an objective is destroyed. You could also use it to keep the unit from getting captured or hit with Force Lightning. It’s a very versatile card. The only thing that really knocks it down some is the Smuggler restriction for the interrupt.

pantsyg (4/5) – I don’t like that it doesn’t grant blast, but a recurring card effect cancel is pretty handy in my book. This represents protection from Seeds, Tarkin, Force Choke/Lightning, and a host of other nasty effects at a reasonable price.

Majestaat (5/5) – Gets a 4 in a vacuum. The strong synergy with the rest of the set pushes it to a 5. That extra damage is huge on Han, allowing him to one-shot some of the most annoying DS mains; Chewie becomes an unmatched force holder; and in general, more unit damage is potentially more objective triggers/less DS units defending.
Now on to its most interesting feature: it cancels targeted effects. That's super valuable against Sith and Scum. In Navy, Tarkin will eat it, but then again, Navy doesn't have a whole lot of targeted effects.


Don't Get Cocky (233-5): 14 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (3/5) – This objective set has ways to buff unit damage, mess with the force, and add blast. Well, here’s more blast. Having to win edge by two can be challenging and is usually never a guarantee in a contested edge battle, but where you can always do it is when your opponent doesn’t block. That can be because you’ve locked down their board, or you have enough guns to make it not worth blocking. In which case, for the cost of one and an edge card with two pips, you get two blast. That’s not bad. Still, since you have to spend a card (at least) in the edge, I’d have liked to see the cost be zero. Particularly since you have to get some serious setup to even play the event. And if you don’t want to try for the setup, then you have a bad edge card. So sometimes this will be great, other times significantly less so.

yodaman (4/5) – A reprinted card from the Hoth Cycle that fits really well here. You have to win the edge battle by 2 to trigger the event, but when you can you’ll get 2 extra black blast and that never hurts. It only costs 1, so while it may be telegraphed, it’s worth it.

pantsyg (3/5) – This is a very situational card. If you actually have to win edge to trigger it, it’s pretty bad. If you can roll in unopposed with a cheapo unit and pitch 2 pips to edge, it’s handy extra damage.

Majestaat (4/5) – With a set so light in the blast department, this is a godsend. It's not too hard to trigger it, especially with how dangerous all the Smuggler units can get with their high unit damage and the threat from No Match from a Good Blaster. So you go unopposed, play something in edge and then proceed to hit like a truck with this.


Heat of Battle (233-6): 16 out of 20 possible points.


doctormungmung (4/5) – Heat’s are great. Particularly in a set that wants to kill units. Now, you’re not going to trigger the objective off of a heat since, Fate cards don’t resolve during a strike, but it can set you up so that you can kill a particular unit when the strikes do happen.

yodaman (4/5) – Having a heat in this set really fits the theme. You want to be able to destroy DS units during a strike to trigger the objective’s ability and this can help you achieve that.

pantsyg (4/5) – I love Heat, especially with units that have lots of guns and an objective that transforms dead units into blast damage.

Majestaat (4/5) – Good ol' Heat. You won't get free objective damage if you finish someone off with this, but it will soften a target to then remove it with a normal strike and get a NMFAGB proc'.


Overall: 16.5 out of 20 possible points.

doctormungmung (4/5) – When I first saw this set I though “five all the way”, but the more I thought about it, and the more I got to test it out, the more I realized that too many of the cards were just a bit too situational to warrant a full five rating. But between Han and the Objective, I can’t in all consideration go below a four rating. If the event or the gun were replaced with a resource instead, it’d be back to a five in a heartbeat. The lack of a resource is actually a bit of an issue, in that it falls into the category of sets that you really want in a deck, but have to make room for because non-resource objective slots are limited. Still, this should help put a variety of Smuggler deck types back into the competitive mix. I know I’m excited.

yodaman (4/5) – A decent set that just seems to be lacking a little something. 9 force icons is great for Smugglers, but the lack of a resource hurts. The objective ability seems like it would fit in well with Wookiee Life Debt and that Chewie to really take advantage of it, but since WLD doesn’t have a resource either, it might make building such a deck more of a challenge.

pantsyg (4/5) – Han props up this set. This would probably be a much better pod with a resource, but I think Han and Zeb are going to be good buddies in mono-Smuggler.

Majestaat (4.5/5) – This one has played great in mono-Smugglers and mixed decks with Jedi for me. Asteroid Sanctuary, Renegade Squad Mobilization, Hero's Journey and MTFBWY are all incredible sets to pair this with.
You're getting two mains -though one is almost always left to defend at home-, a fantastic objective that can make poor defensive choices from the DS go VERY wrong, some protection/damage buff, surprise blast and strong edge.
Only the lack of resources bring it down a bit. I don't think it's such a big issue, actually, but objectively speaking, a 10-cost set should always have a resource, even if all their cards are playable just with your 4 starting ones. All in all, a step in the right direction for Smugglers. Much appreciated.