A Dark Time - Dark Side Review

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Serve the Emperor - 2/5

Basic properties of this card are unremarkable. The ability is nice; it forces the LS to commit more than a minor unit in order to win the force struggle. It is not amazing, but does create an annoyance for LS, and has obvious synergy with the other cards in this set. I rate it a 2 because, although winning the force struggle means that the Death Star dial goes up faster, a fast-moving dial is not always what the DS wants; it helpful to take a few objectives out while winning, and sometimes, especially with Sith, that can take some setup time.

Prophet of the Dark Side - 1/5

Turn one this card is largely useless, and if the LS manages to win the force struggle, this card continues to be almost useless. Running two copies of Serve the Emperor means drawing this card consistently, which is not appealing. With only one force icon, he is even bad as edge fodder. The problem is that he doesn't do anything in the very early game, and the late game will have you wanting to draw more significant threats than this unit.

Anzati Elite - 1/5

I review this card in detail in my column, so will keep this brief. The single unit of health keeps this card from being decent. She is way too expensive to risk playing.

Anger - 3/5

Enhancement-based removal that works around common LS save strategies. Great. The big downside is the cost, of course. Also, Anger must be played on a Character, which means that it is useless against vehicle-heavy LS decks. In that case, the two force icons make it decent edge battle material.

Force Push - 3/5

Great utility card. Best-played on turn two, since the DS player usually has no problem winning the force struggle at the end of turn one. Can target vehicles, which is nice. Can only target non-unique units, which is a bit of a bummer.

Overall - 2/5

Serve the Emperor (50-1) - 4/5

This objective puts a huge hurting on the light side by giving you a permanent +1 to the force struggle while it is in play. No longer will committing a C-3P0 to the force lock things up for a turn. In comparison to Self Preservation this objective is hands down more useful because it is a passive bonus that does not require a unit to be committed to the force to add to your total. While this objective in and of itself is not game breaking it does throw a new wrinkle into things and helps the dark side hold down the force to speed up the Death Star dial.

Prophet of the Dark Side (50-2) - 2/5

I always say that knowledge is power in a card game, so being able to look at the top card of your deck and then potentially draw it is a decent advantage for playing a unit card. However, I think the ability is very limited in scope. If you had been able to choose to draw the card or cycle it to the bottom of your deck I think for one resource this unit would be a bit above average, but the ability is too limited with the number of cards most decks will go through in a given game. Add to all this that the unit carrying this ability isn't anything special and you have a lower tier filler unit.

Anzati Elite (50-4) - 1/5

The first time I saw this card I glossed over the cost and thought to myself that this was a rather solid unit, then I saw the cost and all thought of playing it left my mind. Four cost is MASSIVE so you better expect to get something hands down amazing. Instead what you get is a one damage capacity unit with two tactics icons that has no other abilities and no way (currently) to lower the cost of. This is going to be instantly tactics down, shot to pieces, or played around in some other way. At three resources I would find this unit to be reasonable, but at four I just expect something more for my investment. I am also a bit disappointed because I really like the lore behind the Anzati people but in every card game they are depicted in their representation is just so boring.

Anger (50-5) - 3/5

This is a great counter to Obi-Wan's Spirit and the slew of protectors that Jedi/Smuggler decks are slinging around. If your opponent gets a beefed up Yoda or Luke out there with some backup all you have to do now is drop Anger on that unit and it puts all the pressure on your opponent to win the force struggle to keep from blowing up their own character. By forcing your opponent to win the force struggle on their turn it will mean they either have to hold back units or completely pass their turn in order to keep the enhanced character. At three cost Anger isn't cheap, but as a tech way to build against big character decks it is a silver bullet that works overtime.

Force Push (50-6) - 3/5

If only this could be played without the non-unique restriction, it would be hands down one of the best cards in the dark sides arsenal. Since it is limited though it drops the power of the card a bit and removes some of its utility. Oddly enough the "play only during your turn, unless you control the force" stipulation seems very fitting to me and fits how the card should be used. There are enough non-unique units running around out there to make this card still very powerful.

Overall - 3/5

Serve the Emperor (3/5)
The objective itself isn't bad. That ability has always been annoying on Jedi Training and I could see the ability being helpful in a predominantly Navy or S&V deck.

Prophet of the Dark Side (1/5)
It maybe replaces itself in your hand, but he won't even do much of anything on the table once you do play him. And he's even only Force Sensitive, not a User, so he probably won't get as many new toys and tricks with future Sith releases.

Anzati Elite (1/5)
Yup, it's way over-costed. I almost think it could work because the LS doesn't have Force Choke, but they do have Lightsaber Deflections and plenty of Targeted Strike. She did help me keep some exhausted Rebels locked down for another turn once, but overall she's meant for the edge pile.

Anger (3/5)
One of my friends said this is just a worse Force Lighting and here's why he's not entirely right: It can't be cancelled like an event, so it's a little more resilient. If it's a unit you don't need dead right away, it makes your opponent play more cautiously and they have tougher decisions to make. It also says sacrifice, which if the Executor is any indication might become very mean for the Sith.

Force Push (2/5)
Pretty meh. Glad it can target vehicles, but it does feel like a worse Jedi Mind Trick.

Overall (1/5)
If the units in this set were playable it would add some nice Sith control flavor into non-Sith decks, but as it stands I think this objective set is pretty awful.

Serve the Emperor 4 out of 5.

A solid enough card. 1 point is all it takes to swing the force battle and so many times this will catch your opponent out. If you happen to see 2 of these the LS player will have a really hard time keeping the force. Really good card that will keep the pressure on the LS player allowing the somewhat fragile Sith builds to build a proper defence.

Prophet of the Dark Side 2 out of 5

Its alright. Nothing special here to be honest, just a cheap and pretty much useless unit. The 'card draw' is situational but appreciated and the lack of any solid combat icons makes this a little underwhelming.

Anzati Elite. 2 out of 5

1 Damage Capacity is what truly makes this card useless. Dying to a Heat of Battle sucks. If it wasn't so breakable this card would have a much higher rating as having 2 dedicated tactic icons is just awesome and well worth the cost of 4 resources. If you happen to have Emperors Royal Guard in play i'm sure the Anzati will wreak havoc, otherwise she will be killed oh so quickly. Shame really.

Anger 4 out of 5

This card will make the LS player really have to think about his game. Losing one of your powerful Jedi units can bring an early defeat, especially if that unit is tooled up with some of the powerful Jedi attachments available. Not only that but currently there are no real answers to this other than winning the force struggle and that can be difficult against Sith at the best of times. Also, I hear that sacrifice will be a thing for Sith builds...

Force Push 3 out of 5

A decent enough card but nothing game breaking. A weaker version of Jedi Mind Tricks but still allows a number of options. A couple of the LS none uniques are solid enough to want to deny them from attacking/defending. A reasonable control card and quite versatile as it can target both Vehicles and Characters.

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A Dark Time for the Rebellion - 4/5
This is nice. When you flip in your opening setup, the LS has to damage an objective, immediately turning on the added abilities of the cards in the set. Having two of these out can be amazing. True, your opponent gets to choose where the damage goes. But, nonetheless, this is a solid objective card; nice ability, Hoth trait, standard damage capacity and resource potential. It is not jaw-dropping good or even near broken, but it is certainly solid. Great card.

Colonel Starck - 3/5
In a vehicles-heavy deck, this guy is good, but also vulnerable to abilities that target characters, such as Jedi Mind Trick and the like. I love drawing him mid- to late-game. He is not amazing, but definitely not bad. I never mind drawing him.

MTV-7 - 2/5
These are bland, but at least they can gain a non-edge-dependent blast damage icon, which is nice. I wish that they were blast-blast instead of unit-blast. But, nonetheless, an average minor unit.

The Moorsh Moraine - 1/5
This card is bad. If you have an already established board presence, and just need an extra damage or two to seal the game up, and have a ton of resources sitting around, I can see dropping this into play. But, this thing screams edge fodder.

Heavy Fire - 4/5
I love this card. This is a nice surprise card; it requires no resources, so it is often difficult for your opponent to see it coming. When a Jedi deck holds back one resource, my mind starts anticipating their moves during conflict phase. But, things that have no cost are harder to predict. I almost rated this a 5, but it is not quite at that level. This card is amazing, however.

Overall - 3/5

A Dark Time for the Rebellion (51-1) - 5/5

Another version of Defense Protocol, yes please! This objective is perfect for the current Navy decks for two reasons. First it adds extra pressure in the form of free damage to either a unit or an objective and second it is active on turn one since it targets objectives as well as units. I dream of flipping two of these in my opening objectives and watching my opponent let out a sigh of defeat before the game even starts. There aren't enough words in the English language for me to adequately describe how much I like this objective.

Colonel Starck (51-2) - 3/5

In combination with the objective Colonel Strack comes with you are more than likely going to have early objective damage, couple that with how aggressive Navy decks are and more often then not you will have his bonus activated turning Strack into a beast. It is also key to note that he has three health capacity putting him out of range for a single Rebel Assault or Luke making it much harder for the light side to effectively deal with him. I foresee Colonel Strack being a royal pain in the butt for the light side player.

MTV-7 (51-3) - 3/5

The MTV-7 is no slouch of a unit as it fills that low end unit hole that Navy decks have few "good" units filling; TIE Fighters and TIE Bombers are good but since they rely on edge battles they can be thwarted. Since the MTV-7 doesn't require you to win the edge for its abilities to be active it will always be a pesky unit to get around. Paired with The Moorsh Moraine you should be able to spread out some quick and consistent objective damage.

The Moorsh Moraine (51-5) - 2/5

Yet another frustrating card that hangs right on the edge of greatness but falls just short. The extra unopposed damage means that all those pesky little attacks that most players would just shrug off and let through can add up quickly. No more will someone let an ISB Interrogator swing in lightly as two objective damage adds up very quickly. The downside is that at an investment of three this is on the pricey side of things and it doesn't provide a resource. Also since it doesn't stack and only counts once you won't get the same benefit from this as you do with an Orbital Bombardment. The card is good, it just lacks that little extra bit of utility to make it a truly great card.

Heavy Fire (51-6) - 4/5

A free version of Death from Above that doesn't have a requirement on it AND provides my choice of a unit icon or objective icon, sign me up. The utility provided by Heavy Fire is what makes this card sing in my books, it lets you skew the numbers of any attack and couples quite nicely with cards such as TIE Attack Squadron and other Targeted Strike units. A quality utility card that lets you be even more flexible with your attacks.

Overall - 4/5

A Dark Time for the Rebellion (4/5)
A very nice ability that starts kickin' from the get go. Especially good because it has no added cost to you. Also very nice for the Navy to start getting Hoth objectives!

Colonel Starck (4/5)
Solid card. Navy has enough ways to ping some damage that I think he'll usually get his bonus on offense and with 3 health and no dependence on edge his cost seems very fair. I hope they'll have a card interacting with the Officer keyword at some point.

MTV-7 (2/5)
These MTV's are not as ridiculous as the television channel. In fact, they're pretty basic chuds.

The Moorsh Moraine (4/5)
Now this may seem like a "win more" card because if you're in a position to reap the benefits you're already up. I think SWLCG is a game where you can have pretty sudden comebacks and if you give those Rebels half a chance they'll blow up all your objectives in a turn. So this isn't "win more", it's "win before they have a chance to come back".

Heavy Fire (3/5)
Very useful and for the low cost of 0! Especially like it with Talon Roll for even more goodness.

Overall (3/5)
The MTV-7's drag this score down. Everything else is solid and useful, but not spectacular. I think this'll be a good building block for many Navy decks to come.

A Dark Time for the Rebellion 5 out of 5

Awesome card. Between this and Defence protocol you have some serious damage dealing options. This card can get very annoying very quickly for the LS player. Also this card is Hoth which may or may not make a difference for the Navy builds out there.

Colonel Starck 4 out of 5

I really like this guy. Combined with the Objective he can be a real workhorse. Throw a Target of Oppurtunity into the edge stack and this guy is terrifying. Hes well costed, can take a punch and can deal some serious pain. Just what the Navy like.

MTV-7 3 out of 5

Cheap and dirty. Weeny versions of Starck but thats fine. thats just what the deck needs and these guys can make for some very solid attackers. I like these a lot.

The Moorsh Moraine 1 out of 5

I want to like this card, I really do. But the cost of 3 resources seems a little high to me. I feel it perhaps should have had some Resource generation on it to be truly worth its cost. I know it will affect the game and will allow the Navy to keep the pressure on, especially if the LS player doesnt play around it but more often than not I will probably want it to be another unit. Im not sold on this one just yet.

Heavy Fire 4 out of 5

Cheap, simple and effective. I like it.

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The Hunt for Han Solo - 2/5
This will likely get better as more S&V cards are released. In the few games that I have played with it, I have enjoyed being able to play Get Me Solo for free; there is no downside to revealing the captured unit, since the LS player just watched you take it, and removing the focus token from a S&V objective makes Get Me Solo free. If S&V gets more 1-resource capture cards, this could be a nice objective. Right now it is merely average.

Ugnaught - 2/5
I don't know what to make of this one. Its worth will depend on how many more excellent droids and vehicles we see in future S&V decks.

Z-95 Headhunter - 4/5
This is a nice card. Since it has a nice damage capacity, its ability is highly likely to happen, unless it gets hit by a LS unit with a tactics icon, of course. This card has a nice damage capacity, a great ability, and the objective set contains two of them. Good stuff.

Cloud City Incinerator - 1/5
Upon first read and after a few rounds of testing this objective set out, my opinion is that this card is edge fodder. It could get better later on, but for now it seems like pure filler.

Carbonite Chamber Activation - 2/5
A decent control card. Largely useless against vehicle-heavy LS decks, however.

Overall - 2/5

The Hunt for Han Solo (52-1) - 2/5

Another setup card for Edge of Darkness in my mind, the ability is good as it will let you refresh either your double focused objectives or units faster but since there are few effective ways to capture a card currently it seems like a rather hit or miss ability. Also since you have to capture the card at this objective it means that your opponent can just focus on taking it down to return a slew of cards to hand if you had actively been trying to trigger this ability. The second part of the ability seems somewhat odd as well, with only two Han Solo cards able to be played in a deck the most benefit you would ever gain from that part of the ability is two ticks on the dial. Thematically it makes sense, but in a true game play situation it just feels odd.

Ugnaught (52-2) - 3/5

If capture becomes the bread and butter of the S&V deck then this little guy will be an integral part of that combination. We will have to wait and see if a Vehicle/Droid based capture deck is viable, but if it is Ugnaught could fuel it to great heights as its ability is not limited so you can trigger it more than once per turn. Also it provides a S&V affiliated resource which always helps smooth out resource management in a deck.

Z-95 Headhunter (52-3) - 4/5

This card screams useful to me for so many different reasons. First it is a reusable capture mechanic, second it has a decent damage capacity, third it has non-Edge dependent icons, and lastly it has internal objective set interaction. Even if you reveal a non-unit card from your opponents hand you are still gaining knowledge of what they are playing and what tricks they have up their sleeves. I am eagerly looking forward to S&V decks being playable mainly so I can use this card to steal countless cards from my opponent each turn.

Cloud CIty Incinerator (52-5) - 1/5

Why o why FFG must you tease me with all these cards that have so much potential but just fizzle out with an unneeded restriction. Only being allowed to trigger this ability while you control the force doesn't make the card unplayable but it makes it just that tiny bit worse to shadow it in my mind as being not what I want it to be. At least this isn't unique so if you are able to get two into play you can trigger them separately. It would also have been nice if this had provided a resource or some way to help win the force struggle. Having so much limit to when and how this ability can be used really dampens the effect this card would have on a game.

Carbonite Chamber Activation (52-6) - 2/5

Yet again overly restrictive abilities that don't make cards bad, but keep them from being truly good. I just don't know where to start in my frustration with this card, you are restricted to a non-vehicle with a printed cost of 3 or less (that means no Luke, Han, or Obi-Wan). Sure you can choose two units, but their combined cost has to be under 3 which isn't as easy as it sounds as light side only has nine units with a cost of one. C-3P0, R2-D2, Hoth Scout, Tauntaun, Munitions Expert, Rebel Sympathizer, Rebel Trooper, Rookie Pilot, and Twi'lek Loyalist. Of those only 6 see much play, two of those can still activate their abilities while they have tactics on them. So you have four units with a cost of one that you are likely to see and that will have any benefit of being locked down. So really in most cases Carbonite Chamber Activation will read "Place a tactics icon on a unit with cost 3 or less" and oddly enough if it read like that I wouldn't have any problems and I would have rated it higher. The fact that they tried to build in perceived value just makes me sad.

Overall - 3/5

The Hunt for Han Solo (3/5)
Anything S&V sets my heart a flutter and I can see the future usefulness of this objective, but it's not super helpful right now. Once S&V gets some good units that you want attacking a bunch or ways of capturing on defense, the ability will be great. And the part with Han is cute.

Ugnaught (3/5)
I've been really impressed with him in the current environment. S&V sets don't have a ton of resources so far, so to have a guy with a decent ability and 2 health giving me another resource? I'll take it.

Z-95 Headhunter (3/5)
Overall, I like them. You have to get lucky with their ability to really make them worth it, but that seems like how capturing will work. I'm glad they work on both attack and defense. Plus the Fighter keyword might give them extra mileage in a Navy deck.

Cloud City Incinerator (2/5)
The requirement of controlling the force kills it for me. Also having it limited once per turn doesn't help its case, though it's non-unique. And after all that, it can still be a tough call as to whether to use it, mostly against Jedi. Don't want to discard Luke just to have your opponent Return of the Jedi or It Binds All Things.

Carbonite Chamber Activation (2/5)
For this one it's the non-Vehicle requirement that kills it for me. I think this would be a bomb LS card, but doesn't seem to do all that much for S&V.

Overall (2/5)
We keep seeing hints of what will be (I hope) the fun, strong, combo-y S&V faction. But too many of the pieces are still missing. Once there are strong units to benefit from the objective's reaction and cool combos off of capturing with the Headhunters it could be really great. Just not yet...

The Hunt for Han Solo 3 out of 5

I like this card, I really do. the ability to remove focus tokens from your cards is awesome. Currently there are few ways of capturing units but that will change very soon with the upcoming expansion. When that is released I think we will see just how awesome this card actually is. The added bonus for capturing Solo is interesting and flavourful but kind of odd. Its just fluff but still a nice touch.

Ugnaught 4 out of 5

He's just effecient. Well costed, decent damage capacity with a none edge dependant combat icon. Then a half decent ability and resource generation to boot. Hes a very cool little character. Hopefully SV will see more droids and ships in the future but I think that is a natural progression for the deck.

Z-95 Headhunter 4 out of 5

There is nothing bad about this card. Good cost, good ability, decent damage dealing capabilities and moderately resilient. Having 2 of these in this pod is a real bonus. It has good synergy with the Ugnaught and as its neutral will help the SV resource curve which is currently a little lacking.

Cloud City Incinerator 3 out of 5

I'm not sure how good this card will actually be in the grand scheme of things. Having the option to discard those captured units is very cool but having it require you to be winning the force struggle seems a little harsh. Not only that but with cards such as Return of the Jedi or It Binds all Things available it could bite you on the behind sometimes. Interesting card but only more testing will show just how useful it actually is.

Carbonite Chamber Activation 3 out of 5

I like this card. Locking down a couple of cheap units for a turn can be awesome. Shame you can't target vehicles with it but it still has some uses. The more cards released for the game the better this will become.