The Mos Eisley Mafia: SWLCG "The Forest Moon" Force Pack Review - Light Side

MEET THE FAMILY (aka - THE REVIEWERS):
-chunkygorillas, host to the Ion Control Podcast;
-doctormungmung, Massachussets' evil genius;
-yodaman, he who you seek when numbers are involved;
-pantsyg, jankmaster general (absent this time around);
-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 5 Cards (more due to ties):
1 – Rebel Fleet Command (Solidarity of Spirit), with 20 out of 20 possible points.
2 – Imperial Functionary (Dark Counsel), with 20 out of 20 possible points.
3 – *Executor (Moon Blockade), with 20 out of 20 possible points.
4 – Jamming Protocol (Moon Blockade), with 20 out of 20 possible points.
5 – *Home One (Solidarity of Spirit), with 19 out of 20 possible points.
6 – Hiding Among Friends (Sowers of Dissension), with 19 out of 20 possible points.
7 – Dark Counsel, with 19 out of 20 possible points.
8 – Administrative Detainment (Dark Counsel), with 19 out of 20 possible points.

Overall best rated Objective Set:
Dark Counsel, with 19 out of 20 possible points.


THE REVIEWS:


Matter under Mind (196-1): 11 out of 20 possible points.


chunkygorillas (2/5) – An unneeded reprint of Heroes Journey, 2 resources can be nice, but with more and more aggressive decks on the rise 4 health is a liability.

doctormungmung (3/5) – As far as blank objectives go, having two resources is pretty good. The lower health is a liability, although with all the aggressive DS decks out there, the difference between four and five health on an objective isn’t actually all that much. While it would have been nice to have some neat effect that also played off the units in this set, getting an extra resource is important, since there isn’t one in the command cards, and the good support sets these days tend to bring cash to the table.

yodaman (3/5) – 2 resources and 4 health. Having more resources is always good, but with Navy Star Destroyer decks showing up a lot of places, 4 health is a drawback.

Majestaat (3/5) – Weaker than your average 2-resource objective. Thankfully (?), extra resources are more valuable in a Tarkin meta, and still give some flexibility with your opening. On the other hand, Navy can demolish objectives extremely fast, but I don't think one less HP makes much of a difference with how hard the star destroyers hit already.


*Brainiac (196-2): 18 out of 20 possible points.


chunkygorillas (4/5) – Stats wise he is kind of lacking, but his ability is insane. It’s extremely versatile for a free action. He is going to spawn some kind of combo decks, where you get to change an effect of another card to just be insane. At the worst you are just upping the health of your own units, or decreasing your opponents. It’s a well designed card though, so far he can’t do anything actually broken, and he is easy to remove. (Insert giant list of cards that can deal with him)

doctormungmung (5/5) – Holy sweet mother of Odin! Brainiac is absolutely and totally nuts! Forgetting his text, getting a black tactics with two health for two cost is great. He can hold the force pretty well, and being force sensitive, he can start picking up lightsabers if necessary. But, really, he’s all about the text. There are a lot of numerals in the game. Cost, health (this is the big one), edge(values), card numbers (useful for the upcoming rebel GA stuff), plus the various ones that show up in effect text. Hey, look at that, core Home One does two damage to unopposed objectives! BtS Luke can ping for two, or remove two focus! Han can shoot first for two (and multiply that with a Bamboozle or two)! Note, though, that Brainiac does this at action speed, so things that fall outside of action windows are immune, like IE Tarkin, and Endor Leia. But the real kicker is the amount of direct unit damage that Brainiac can dish out. Any unit that only has one health left is dead at the action window of your choice. Did they just play an Advisor to the Emperor? Reduce its health to zero and the DS player is now out two resources. All the one health resources or support units just got lined up for the firing squad. Protect doesn’t help here either. I am leery about what’s coming down the pike, though, because if the design team isn’t careful, I’m sure that Brainiac will be at the center of several broken combos. Here’s hoping they can work with him well.

yodaman (4/5) – For 2 cost you get a unique Jedi unit that’s Force Sensitive and has the ability to manipulate numerals on non-objective cards. This new mechanic opens up a lot of possibilities. You can give yourself more resources, up bonuses like those on BtS Luke or Home One, or give yourself more of an edge bonus for Falcon or the Speeder Bike. You can also destroy any DS card that only has 1 health remaining or deprive your opponent of resources. The fact the action is free is incredible. At least you have to pay 1 to get Tarkin’s ability. Since he’s a unique Jedi unit, Survivors can help protect him. On the down side, his only combat icon is black tactics so he’s not really an offensive unit by himself. He only has 2 health so Vader and a Choke could take him out. And he’s also vulnerable to a Moment of Triumph. Overall, a pretty good unit, that is annoying to the DS and when he hits the board, LS needs to have a way to protect him and DS needs to take him into account.

Majestaat (5/5) – This guy has been discussed extensively. Super interesting and super frustrating at the same time due to all the possibilities. In particular, getting to reduce the HP of some resource chuds like Advisors and officers, effectively removing them from the game, is huge. Now I avoid such fragile units as much as possible.


Unhinged Astromech (196-3&4): 17.5 out of 20 possible points.


chunkygorillas (4/5) – Cheap blast, that can’t just get Force Choked, and with Brainiac out this cards become extremely versatile. Don’t know if I really want 4 in a deck though.

doctormungmung (5/5) – I initially rated these guys at four out of five, but having used them for a bit now, I’m more than willing to bump them up to top marks. One blast for one cost is really great, actually. Even though it’s edge enabled, I’m finding they get through more often than you’d think. You can also use them to bait out defenders, particularly if the objective only has two health left. On top of their cheap offensive capability, they work wonders with Brainiac. Sooooo many numerals to play with. If you have one on the board, after it strikes, or before it’s about to get shot to death, you can reduce the number necessary to activate it’s text to one and fire away, pinging a unit, or pitching a card. If you have two on the board, you get the same options with one and Brainiac. But if Brainiac is also out, hoooo boy. Spanning the end of a turn, you can kill a three health unit at the cost of a droid, significantly hurt their edge hand, or make sure that the likes of Rahn or Chewie are at full health. These little guys are the bees knees.

yodaman (3.5/5) – The set comes with 2 of these. You really need multiple Astromechs out or Brainiac on the table to make proper use of them. Still, 1 cost for a white blast with the potential to either deal damage, heal damage or make your opponent discard cards is decent for a secondary unit. If you can flood the board with these things, you can potentially get mileage out of them. But, if you’re really trying to keep up against an aggressive DS deck, they may not help enough.

Majestaat (5/5) – These could be blank and still be solid, mainly thanks to Choke immunity. With such a versatile ability they just go overboard. Factor in Brainiac and you'll be yelling "This is madness" like that guy in 300. With the new utility low-cost drops that don't need to see combat, getting some more direct damage is very nice. A Healing ability can be crucial for Jedi mains to stick around for longer. The discard effect I don't use that much unless The Brains is on the table, but even without him, it can win you those edge battles where every card counts.


Signal Scrambler (196-5): 15 out of 20 possible points.


chunkygorillas (5/5) – I think this set is really at it’s worst in mono Jedi, and this card really shows that. In non Jedi decks you can use this to completely screw over decks like Sith Control, to steal the force, and if their big units are already on the force it will be really hard for them to get it back.

doctormungmung (3/5) – This card is pretty situational, but in a way, it works very well with the direct unit damage aspect of the rest of the set. If you’re keeping your opponent’s board down, and if they’re contesting the force at all, they likely won't have many other units around. Similarly if they’re being aggressive they most likely won't have many ready units sitting around. In those cases, paying one to basically steal the force for a few turns isn’t bad at all. It does rather anti-combo with MTFBWY, though. If you don’t find yourself in those situations, just pitch it to the edge. With two pips, it’s not bad at that at all. It’s not great either, but it you can’t have everything.

yodaman (4/5) – This enhancement is pretty good for 1 cost. Switching which ready units count towards the Force Struggle can completely mess with your opponent's strategy. It comes with 2 icons so you can always pitch it into edge, but if your opponent has a lot of mains committed, putting this into play to steal the Force back is a nice option. If you’re playing a deck with this and MTFBWY, whether or not you have MTFBWY out will probably determine how you want to use this card.

Majestaat (3/5) – Seemingly counter-productive for more orthodox Jedi builds, this enhancements can be quite powerful in the correct builds. But since it also affects your opponent, it's matchup dependant as well. Two force pips and Sith's upcoming rise to power save this from a miserable score.


Outwit (196-6): 13 out of 20 possible points.


chunkygorillas (2/5) – Too situational, and not a very strong effect. At least it draws you a card.

doctormungmung (4/5) – This is another situational card, but this situation is far more common. If you suspect a twist, this is great insurance. After you see that twist, play this card, get your Fate cards to resolve, then draw another card for the second edge battle. Actually getting a Seeds or Heat to go off without worrying about it getting twisted away is sometimes all you really need, and the rest of the edge battle can go either way. This card allows that to happen. Or you can get your Heat or Target Damage in before Protection drops a shield. The versatility is pretty great here.

yodaman (4/5) – This is a good 0 cost event, but it may be a bit situational . Making fate cards resolve in reverse order means you no longer need to worry about that Target, Heat or Seeds getting twisted away before it goes off. Then, to top it off, you get to draw a card after you play this event. A great play is to use your own twist after you have your other fate cards resolve, then you get to draw a card for the next edge battle. But sometimes, it won’t do much for you so that’s a drawback. Being free though means it’s decent.

Majestaat (3/5) – While situational, it's a free way to get some of your fate effects off despite Twists. Worst case scenario, you simply play this after any edge battle to replace it for another card. Such low opportunity cost likely make this better than it should be.


Overall: 17 out of 20 possible points.

chunkygorillas (4/5) – This is a well designed set, not broken, but it can do a lot of interesting things, and it will probably spawn a few new decks.

doctormungmung (5/5) – I absolutely LOVE this set. The amount of utility, offense and defense you can get for the total cost is phenomenal. Personally, I think this set rivales Fall of the Jedi in terms of raw unit clearing potential. And that potential is not limited to characters! The DS should be afraid to invest any resources into one health units if they see that they are facing this set. I’ve only really begun to scratch the surface on what you can accomplish with Brainiac at the table, and I’m sure that there are multiple ways to really abuse this set. Straight bang for the buck, you aren’t going to find a more powerful set out there.

yodaman (4/5) – A very good Jedi set, which will most likely be used as a support set. It can slot into different deck types including mixed affiliation decks. People will try to abuse Brainiac as much as possible, but he might end up being a bit inconsistent if you base your entire deck strategy on having Brainiac out. The icon count for the set is on the low end for Jedi.

Majestaat (4/5) – Really high-quality, low-cost units, getting black tactics and some blast (plus a plethora of other effects) from them. The rest of the set doesn't quite match to those high-standards, but no card is downright bad. You can really fit this in about anywhere. The droids can be especially good if you have some recursion tools, like Hyperspace Marauder, and Brainiac can do some silly things.


Solidarity of Spirit (197-1): 15.5 out of 20 possible points.


chunkygorillas (4/5) – If you are playing a deck with high blast damage capital ships, I don’t think you care if your opponent might get a free unit if you get a big ship for free. There have been a couple games where I got Independence with this and it put me so far ahead, my opponent got a good unit for free, but I didn’t care since I just wanted to attack as much as possible.

doctormungmung (4/5) – Potentially getting a free unit is pretty big in terms of tempo. It’s possibly to live the dream starting with Home One on the board. But then you’re also running the risk of seeing a free Vader drop down as well. I think this objective will live or die by the amount of options the LS can fill their deck with. Crix is a fantastic drop. Personally I think a four drop is the key, as you won't see the five cost DS units, and there aren’t that many good fours out, so you’re likely getting a resource advantage out of the deal. Still, having Tarkin come out for free is a losing proposition. What I do think this objective will do is force the DS to go mono faction even more than they already are, because if the DS can’t counter the LS unit, that’s a pretty big hole to start in.

yodaman (4.5/5) – This objective’s text is great as it allows you to put a Rebel unit into play for free when the objective enters play. Your opponent can then put an in-faction unit of equal or lower cost into play for free as well so depending on what they have, things could end up being pretty even. However, with 2 of these objectives out at the start, you can have explosive starts. It’s possible you could start with something like Home One and Independence. Even though it can be a bit of a double edged sword, anytime you can get cards into play for free, it can help accelerate your board state and also allow you to keep resources open to pay the “Tarkin Tax”, if needed. People will most likely try this objective with Rebel capital ships, but it’s possible there’s a good Rebel character deck just waiting to be built as well.

Majestaat (3/5) – I haven't seen this being as strong as people initially though. You get a free unit.; yeah... DS is getting one as well. Don't get me wrong. I think this is good, I just can't seem to get enough advantage with its ability over the DS to give it a better score. Low edge and lack of shields could be the main reason, as even your biggest units will be susceptible to tactics. The Capital Cover set in GA should help mitigate that.


*Home One (197-2): 19 out of 20 possible points.


chunkygorillas (5/5) – I think this is an upgrade to the old Home One, what is saying something. The card also synergizes well with the other capital ship sets.

doctormungmung (4/5) – Big ship, four health, elite, five combat icons, what’s not to like? If LS wins edge, then this version of Home One is doing as much splash damage as the core version, although only if there isn’t a mission out. Sans edge though, it’s definitely less of an impact. But, the splash damage can be boosted by Resupply Depots and Astromech Droids. And when GA comes out, the event from the capitol ship set will allow this version of Home One to pop two objectives in one swing! That’s just asking for a quick game.

yodaman (5/5) – The new Home One is amazing. It retains the 5 cost and elite, but the new version has 4 health rather than 3 so it’s harder to get off the board. Also, it has a different spread of combat icons and an ability that can be amazing if you get it set up. The original Home One does an extra damage to each objective while this new version lets you resolve its blast damage against another objective when it strikes. If you can get Home One out with along an Astromech Droid and Resupply Depot, you can almost take out 2 objectives in one shot if you win edge. Very powerful card.

Majestaat (5/5) – All-around strong stats, and while it indeed can deal less damage than its core counterpart when losing edge, it deals just as much when winning, with the potential to completely wreck the DS when comboing with things like Astromech Droid Upgrade or Resupply Depot.


MC80 Liberty-type Cruiser (197-3&4): 11 out of 20 possible points.


chunkygorillas (4/5) – Super efficient, with all the reducing cards Rebels have now they will really be able to fill a board full of blast damage scarily fast.

doctormungmung (2/5) – Ugh. These guys are very underwhelming. They do follow the theme of Command and Control of chaining unit deployments to get a cost reducer, but they just cost too much for the board presence they provide. If their icon spread was two black one white instead of the other way around, it would be alright, but having to win edge in a capital ship deck is tough business. I think these units are best suited for defense while the rest of your ships swing for the fences, which isn’t a terrible spot for them. Particularly with Dark Genocide really putting the hurt on to capital ship decks.

yodaman (3/5) – On the surface these cards look like they could really help with getting ships out since they reduce the cost of the next vehicle you play by 1 after they enter play. However, they cost 3 and their combat icons leave a lot to be desired (1 black gun, 1 white gun, 1 white blast). They only have 1 icon each to so they won’t do much for you in an edge battle or the force struggle. Having 2 of them in the set may actually not be a good thing and you'll have to time your deployment right to get the most bang for your buck.

Majestaat (2/5) – After seeing the units in Command and Control, I didn't expect LS Capital Ships with such weak blast damage. Okay, so they've got bad stats. How about the ability? Unless you're flooding with resources (save me, Independence!), the discount will only allow you to play an already cheap vehicle, like a fighter (but you can't get them for free!), making them especially weak turn 1, when you don't have a established economy.


Rebel Fleet Command (197-5): 20 out of 20 possible points.


chunkygorillas (5/5) – It’s a free, affiliated resource, so ya super good, especially with all the capital ships costing 3 or more.

doctormungmung (5/5) – Rebels get their free resource for big stuff! This is a great resource in Navy, and it should also help out Rebels quite a bit. Still, you do have to watch out for those low cost Rebel units clogging up your hand from time to time, denying you a resource. Also Rebels tend to have slightly more neutral units floating around, which hurts this as well. Still, a free resource is worth a lot.

yodaman (5/5) – Like its Navy counterpart, this resource is great It costs 0 and you can only use the resource on Rebel cards that cost 3 or more, but if you’re playing this set, your deck is most likely going to have lots of cards to use the resource on.

Majestaat (5/5) – One of the best resources in the game, plain and simple.


Battle of Endor (197-6): 14 out of 20 possible points.


chunkygorillas (3/5) – Can be a high edge fate card, but with Rebel vehicles I fear it will be a 1 Force icon card too often.

doctormungmung (4/5) – This card works a lot better in a LS deck than a DS one. Rebels have several more Endor objectives that see play, and there are also a handful of Endor enhancements floating around as well, thus making the usefulness of this fate card less matchup dependant than its DS counterpart. Not many people think a single card in a edge stack is going to have four pips, which this can have not infrequently. That’s going to throw people off in some key conflicts.

yodaman (4/5) – I rated this card a little higher when it first came out. I still think it’s a good fate card, especially in this set since the objective and resource are both have the Endor Trait and will help get the card the bonus. However, if DS has Endor sets, they’ll probably have copies of this fate card too, which makes it a wash.

Majestaat (3/5) – 2 Endor cards in the set make this somewhat decent. While not optimal, Crix's and Han's pod can be played with Solidarity for more Endor cards.


Overall: 14.5 out of 20 possible points.

chunkygorillas (4/5) – Super solid addition to Rebel capital ships, and Rebel vehicles in general. The worst part of this set is that it’s hard to run it with the Core Set Home One.

doctormungmung (3/5) – I originally had this set pegged at a four, but the MC80s and the slight iffiness of the objective made me reconsider and drop it down to a three. I still think the set is solid, but seeing it in play a few times now, it’s not the game changer that I had been hoping for. I love big ships, and hope that the Rebels can pull out a tier one list with them soon (crossing fingers for GA doing the trick). But right now, they’re still not there. I am interested in seeing where this set fits in with a more generic Rebel build, dropping in Crix or Han for free, although you lose some synergy there.

yodaman (4/5) – The 2 copies of the Liberty-Cruisers bring this set down a bit and actually balance the power of Home One and Rebel Fleet Command. You’re going to want the new Home One to be able to strike which means you either need to win edge or have shields to keep it from being focused first. Only 6 icons (although Battle of Endor could potentially be more) doesn’t help.

Majestaat (3.5/5) – Really love Home One and the resource. The objective is probably better than I give it credit for, but I really dislike the rest. The Liberty-types are too underwhelming to come in pairs, while Battle of Endor has some serious consistency issues.


Sowers of Dissension (198-1): 10.5 out of 20 possible points.


chunkygorillas (3/5) – Too often will it be blank, but if you do get a free damage or two with it off the start I guess you will get some good value out of it.

doctormungmung (3/5) – This objective is either pretty great, or blank. And with the current run of DS decks these days, most likely it’s blank. I have been seeing some sith/scum or sith/navy decks floating around, though, so if you run into one of those, you’re likely turning a couple of objectives into Emperor’s Web. Just be wary, because this reaction will hit your objectives as well. At least in that case, it’s not forced, so you can choose not to trigger it.

yodaman (2.5/5) – More out-of-faction hate, but I’m not a fan of cards that are so situational and depend entirely on the make-up of your opponent’s deck rather than your own. You get to do damage to each out-of-faction objective when this objective enters play, but so many people seem to be playing mono-affiliation decks, this will most likely be an objective you’d want to bury if you see it.

Majestaat (2/5) – A little help towards your main goal as the LS, and with some luck, an easy way to deactivate several "while undamaged" objectives.However, it can be almost blank in the current metagame. Scum plays mono decks, so does Navy. Sith has some more flexibility currently, but they will likely will go mono with all the juicy stuff in GA. If multi-colored decks become more popular, this is an easy 3/5.


*Lobot (198-2): 12 out of 20 possible points.


chunkygorillas (3/5) – His stats are really bad, but he his good in a Mission deck, since Missions are always out of faction.

doctormungmung (3/5) – Lobot is pretty close to the objective. Either he’s having a big impact, or he’s an overcosted shielding unit. But just like the objective, when he’s on, he’s HUGE. If you have both out, and you’re facing a multi-affiliation DS deck, a couple of your opponent’s objectives are effectively three health. And in the more typical situation where you’re facing a mono-deck, you get a unit with shielding, a couple of black icons (which includes an objective damage), and health that’s not insignificant. So while not the most efficient, he’s not terrible either. If he cost two, he’d be a steal.

yodaman (3/5) – Everyone seems to want a good Lobot card, and we’re all still waiting. 3 cost is kind of steep for his limited combat icons (1 black gun, 1 black blast), shielding, and a passive ability like Core Tarkin’s that may often be blank. He does have 3 health, but it doesn’t make enough of a difference. Not a great main.

Majestaat (3/5) – I wish this version had kept the tactics or resource from the original, perhaps at the expense of his gun or even a point of HP. Shielding is nice, but he doesn't hit hard and is a bit expensive to play alongside a heavy threat you want to protect from focus (or is he?). His text, while powerful, is also fairly situational. I would have liked to see what would have happened if his text affected in-faction objectives only. A nice way to spice things up and shake the meta.
In any case, Lobot is just a fair unit, becoming good under certain circumstances that don't really depend on you.


Duros Saboteur (198-3&4): 18.5 out of 20 possible points.


chunkygorillas (5/5) – Great stats, plus a amazing bonus if your opponent has 2 of the same resources out. I can’t believe this only costs 2.

doctormungmung (5/5) – These guys, on the other hand, are a steal. Two cost for two health and two blast is great. Getting to mini-Home One that damage on potentially another objective is jaw dropping. Add to that that you can have four of these guys out on the table, wow. These guys are kind of like Blastboats that don’t double focus, and can be bamboozled in the good way, or get buffed by Crossfire

yodaman (3.5/5) – You get 2 copies of this secondary unit and they give cheap blast for only 2 cost. They do have 2 health so that’s a drawback. You’ll get more out of them if your opponent has multiple copies of an objective out and that conditional aspect seems a bit more likely to happen than out-of-faction objectives. The fact you can potentially do damage to 2 objectives at once, like the new Home One, makes these cards good, but the restriction brings them down a bit. Still LS always needs blast and these come with 2 (1 black, 1 white). Ideally, you’ll want them to be able to strike unopposed to get maximum use out of them and if you can have them strike unopposed while an objective like Against All Odds or Across the Anoat Sector is out, they can almost take out an objective in one shot.

Majestaat (5/5) – Dang. That's an insane amount of damage in quite the cheap package. Sith like their double Counsel, Navy their Doctrines and Scum their Manipulations. You'll want to use some Smuggler tricks and tactics before swinging with these guys to maximize damage without worrying about edge. Even when their text is blank, 2 blast at 2 cost is pretty good for the LS.
One of those rare ocassions in which I'm pretty happy with double chuds in a set, and wouldn't mind having 4 in a deck.


Paid Off (198-5): 6 out of 20 possible points.


chunkygorillas (2/5) – The effect is lack luster, and it’s too situational.

doctormungmung (1/5) – This card, on the other hand, is just utter garbage. Neutral units lose two force icons. Sure. Most of the time, it’s not the neutral units holding the force. Or, if you’re in the lucky situation where Lobot and the objective are “on”, you might get something decent. But then, Smugglers aren’t really winning the force anyway. So this is an edge card ninety percent of the time, and with one force icon, it’s doing you squat.

yodaman (2/5) – Sure it’s a free enhancement, but this card is way too situational for my taste since it relies on your opponent playing an out-of-faction unit. Even if you reduce the force icons a unit has to 0, it’s not as though the card will be destroyed like happens with Deadly Sight. Only having 1 force icon doesn’t improve the card any.

Majestaat (1/5) – Okay, there will be some times where you can get some benefit from playing this, but generally speaking it won't do anything. I don't get why this is more restrictive and weaker than Containment Field. If you're going to do this as a designer, use the super useful leverage for balance that are force icons. There's no reason for this to have a single icon.


Hiding Among Friends (198-6): 19 out of 20 possible points.


chunkygorillas (5/5) – There it literally nothing wrong with this card, 2 Force icons is good, a free instant shield is awesome, and drawing a free card, wow! Such value.

doctormungmung (4/5) – On the other hand (Majestaat's note: just how many hands do you have?!), Hiding Among Friends gives all your character units a free shield and a card, and at action speed. That’s pretty great for a filler card. It isn’t going to blow anyone away, but it’ll help your big characters get to strike, or live a bit longer, while digging for that important card that you really need.

yodaman (5/5) – I love this card and think it is the best one in the set. For free you get to put a shield on a Smuggler unit when your opponent might not be expecting it AND draw a card. This can really change the math for an edge battle and coupled with the right unit, it can be game changing.

Majestaat (5/5) – On the other side of the spectrum we have this card. Decent pips, free and a very useful effect. Shielding at action speed is extremely hard to deal with.


Overall: 13 out of 20 possible points.

chunkygorillas (3/5) – Mediocre set, bad edge, bad main. The chuds and event can’t make up for it.

doctormungmung (4/5) – This set is a bit of a roll of the dice. If you are facing a mono deck, it loses quite a bit of oomph. But even then, it’s sporting five blast over three units for seven cost, which is a pretty good bargain. And four of that blast might actually be eight blast. That’s worth a look in just about any deck, synergy or not.

yodaman (3/5) – This set has too many situational cards and no resource. The Duros Saboteurs are decent. Hidden Among Friends is great, but the rest of the cards are not that impressive. It’s a shame Smugglers is continuing to wait for good sets.

Majestaat (3/5) – This set has some very good pieces, and the weaker parts will gain a decent boost if we ever find ourselves back into a multi-color meta. But until then, I doubt we will see this much.