The Rest of the Galaxy

Hello and welcome to The Rest of the Galaxy! This brand new article series on Star Wars: The Card Game will cover all those wonderful neutral cards on both sides of the force. I go by RedSuadronK on most forums and have been playing CCGs and collectible miniature games for most of my life.

Each week, this article series will focus on a different neutral objective (or set of cards) and examine what cards it works well with and what cards will give you trouble. Everything written here is merely my own opinion (unless it's an actual rules clarification) and is meant to just be a starting point for your imagination and discussion! Without further ado, let's begin!

I wanted to start with an objective set that is the favorite of many, but used by few. You know them, you love them, iiiiiiiiiiit's the Ewoks!



Tribal Support:
Keyword: Endor. It's certainly not as obvious as with the first Hoth objectives, but I have high hopes for maybe even a whole cycle of Endor themed cards. Right now this keyword, like many others, is mechanically meaningless, but gives us a juicy taste of possibilities (I hope Ewok decks become a reality).
Limit 1 per deck: This is something I plan to write an entire article on, but suffice it to say this is a common phrase that you should keep in mind, but not worry too much about. This phrase is both the strength and weakness of neutral objectives!
Reaction: I really like this ability because it has multiple levels of usefulness. The most obvious use is Ewok recursion. If you aren't familiar with recursion, it means being able to get cards back (usually from your discard) in order to play again. This alone would make the objective terrible right now because there are so few Ewoks, but the ruling in FFG's first FAQ gives the objective a second use: a free discard. In Star Wars discard leads to draws, draw lead to card advantage, card advantage leads to winning.



Ewok Scout x2:
Ability: If you've played Game of Thrones Living Card Game, then the Ewok Scout has an ability that is almost the same as Stealth. If you haven't, I'm sure you can already see how good this ability is. Big units can swing games hugely, so a little Ewok neutralizing (see what I did there) a big ol' Palpatine, Vader, or even Stormtrooper Elite is in itself a huge swing. It's also great because it does not have any keyword limitations (character or vehicle only), so remember to always* use it, just in case they decide to Talon Roll that TIE FIghter and defend.
*Never always do something, use your discretion.
Health: We talked about the glorious triumph of the Ewok, and now for the downfall. They only have 1 health. They are fragile as any unit in the game and we'll discuss all their predators below.



Yub Yub! x2
Cost: I love 0 cost events! They are fast and fun and easy to play (unless your opponent has Lord Vader's Command)!
The problem is, Yub Yub! Is not really a 0 cost event; it is a 1 cost event that can only be paid for with Ewok readiness. Now that is a very specific and very difficult cost to pay, because not only are Ewoks rare to get in your hand and keep in play, but if you have an Ewok scout in play, you probably want him attacking to use his own ability.
Ability: Now for all that naysaying, if you can pay for Yub Yub!, it can be brutal as all get out. Prime targets: Command Center or Sith Library in the early game or Orbital Bombardment (26-6) any time.



Log Trap:
While it's pretty expensive at 3 cost and it’s not much of an actual trap because your opponent sees it on the board, this card can force them to over commit to their attacks. No more Devastator wrecking havoc on its own—now you force them to also bring in a wingman to take the focus. But there’s the other downside to the ability: your opponent gets to choose who gets the focus. Not a great card right now, but provides some neat tricks, especially with the new Subzero Defenses and the new emphasis on aggressive DS decks.

Now for a section I hope to do each time called Best Friends and Bitter enemies where I describe which cards will help your neutral buddies succeed and while cards will foil your plans.

Bitter Enemies:
Sith Events: Enemy number 1: Force Choke (19-5). They just paid 0 resources to discard what you spent 2 resources on, and they won't give you a chance to make use of the Ewok either. If I see my opponent has Ewoks in their deck (memorize your objective set numbers!), I'll often save a Force Choke just for the furball. A corollary of this is Darth Vader (19-2)'s reaction. He's a jerk and he hates Ewoks.
Troopers: Less of a hard counter than Sith kill events, but trooper swarms (and maybe one day vehicle swarms) make it harder for the Ewok to choose one big guy to mess with. When an Ewok Scout says your Heavy Stormtrooper Squad (26-4) can't defend, you probably shrug because you have 3 other troopers on the board to defend with.

Best Friends:
Guardians: Especially the Guardian of Peace (5-3), but anything to save the Ewok's hides like Lightsaber Deflection (5-5), Fleeing the Empire, and Counter-stroke (2-6). I suppose you could even go so far as Old Ben's Spirit (37-2), but it would be much better on basically anything else if you have the choice.
Big Hitters: The paradox of Ewoks: they can win you games and will draw a lot of hate from the DS, but they are nearly useless alone. If you can get a big hitter like Luke Skywalker (1-2), Obi-Wan Kenobi (3-2) (for the tactics icons), or Rouge 3 on the board and attacking with your Ewok as wingman, you will be wrecking objectives. Especially with Luke and Han, the Ewok can keep a scary defender far away, but always within reach of your targeted strike.

Overall:
Tribal Support is a fun objective set! If you can get an Ewok on the board with the right support at the right moment in the game, that little Ewok can quite literally win the game for you. But above and beyond any downsides discussed above, you have only one copy of the set in your deck, which means only 2 of your 50 cards are those cute, powerful fuzzy guys. I'm not playing Ewoks right now in competitive decks, but don't let that stop you if you think you can beat the odds!

Thanks for staying with me through this article. Feel free to comment below with other ideas for this objective set or ideas for other neutral faction topics you'd like to explore! And if you want to play a game or two on OCTGN, my name there is also RedSquadronK. Join me next week as I jump to the other side of the force and continue dreaming of a future with an all neutral deck!