Now, as part of this, I really enjoy exploring the whole card pool. That card that no one ever throws in their decks? Yeah, those are the cards I like looking at, and seeing if I can't get some mileage out of. It's a big part of the enjoyment for me. So LCGs are really a natural fit- I always get a full playset of the cards with my purchases, and with no rarity, the companies should have a disincentive to printing 'bad' cards. Every card should have a role to fill in the meta and the card pool. Otherwise, what was the purpose of printing that card?
When the Star Wars LCG came out, I played a decent amount of it, especially when the only product out was the Core Set. Now that the game is 'complete', however, I look back and realize there were a LOT of gaps in my experience with the game, and I played a bunch at the very beginning, some after about cycle three, and a few games at the very end. That's great, but wouldn't it be great if I could take my time through the game, really get to enjoy it, and really get to explore the card pool?
Well, looks like I'm getting a good chance to. My friend Eric picked up the complete set after trying the game, and we've agreed to go through the game, playing it slowly, and deliberately. Spend a bit of time with each cycle, trying out some new decks, and actually getting to enjoy the game without the rush to 'solve' the meta, and without the need to play only the top tier stuff. So, I'm going to blog about this, as it'll be good to help me keep track of what I've done, and hey, maybe someone else will find it useful too.
At this point, he and I are playing with the Core Set, first deluxe expansion (Edge of Darkness), and the first cycle (the Hoth cycle). We've played a few games, re-invigorating my love of it, and hopefully giving Eric a lot of enjoyment, but as we prepare to play some more, I have decided to push myself to actually use EVERY objective set in at least some decks, so that I can explore the card pool.
This post, I'm focusing on the Dark Side decks I'm running. Also, I'm going to consider the Core Set objectives 'played' already- I played a lot of Core Set only games, and I guarantee I've used them all at some point. Also, just because I use an objective set doesn't mean I won't use it in the future. I just really want to force myself to look at all the cards, and give serious consideration to using them.
So, let's look at the decks I've used so far, and how they've done.
All of my decks, by the way, I've built using the CardgameDB Deck Builder.
Sith/Imperial Navy Capital Ships
Total Cards: (50)
Affiliation:
Sith
Objective: (10)
2x The Emperor's Web (Core 23-1)
2x Imperial Command (Core 26-1)
1x Death and Despayre (Core 29-1)
2x Deploy the Fleet (The Search for Skywalker 46-1)
2x The Executor Arrives (Escape from Hoth 66-1)
1x Imperial Blockade (Edge of Darkness 88-1)
Unit: (29)
2x Emperor Palpatine (Core 23-2)
2x Emperor's Royal Guard (Core 23-3)
2x Admiral Motti (Core 26-2)
2x Duty Officer (Core 26-3)
2x Heavy Stormtrooper Squad (Core 26-4)
2x Heavy Stormtrooper Squad (Core 26-5)
1x Devastator (Core 29-2)
1x Imperial Officer (Core 29-3)
2x Death Squadron Star Destroyer (The Search for Skywalker 46-2)
2x Death Squadron Star Destroyer (The Search for Skywalker 46-3)
2x Fleet Navigator (The Search for Skywalker 46-4)
2x Executor (Escape from Hoth 66-2)
2x ISB Liaison (Escape from Hoth 66-3)
2x ISB Liaison (Escape from Hoth 66-4)
1x Captain Needa (Edge of Darkness 88-2)
1x Imperial I-class Star Destroyer (Edge of Darkness 88-3)
1x Imperial I-class Star Destroyer (Edge of Darkness 88-4)
Enhancement: (10)
2x Sith Library (Core 23-4)
2x Orbital Bombardment (Core 26-6)
1x Control Room (Core 29-4)
1x Defense Upgrade (Core 29-5)
2x Death Squadron Command (The Search for Skywalker 46-5)
2x Sith Holocron (Escape from Hoth 66-5)
Event: (10)
2x Force Lightning (Core 23-5)
2x Force Choke (Core 23-6)
2x Admiral's Orders (The Search for Skywalker 46-6)
2x Aggression (Escape from Hoth 66-6)
1x Apology Accepted (Edge of Darkness 88-5)
1x Tractor Beam (Edge of Darkness 88-6)
Fate: (1)
1x Heat of Battle (Core 29-6)
I've played this twice so far, both times against Eric's Rebel Alliance Snowspeeder deck, and both times I won. I'm able to get at least one capital ship out pretty early, within the first two turns, and although I generally lose an objective, I usually have enough muscle to power through to the end game.
With 29 units, I usually can keep a good board presence, and with an objective reducer, 12 cards capable of generating resources, a few other cards that reduce the cost of capital ships, and the Sith Holocron to help get the Executor out... well, I seem to have the resource curve covered.
I don't really know what more I could do to improve this one, at the moment, but it does have at least some problems with the force struggle if Palpatine isn't on the board. I'll use it from time to time to see how it plays as Eric's decks change, but at least for now, I'm happy where it is.
Mono Scum and Villainy... Control?
Total Cards: (50)
Affiliation:
Scum and Villainy
Objective: (10)
2x Lucrative Contract (Assault on Echo Base 57-1)
2x Hive of Scum and Villainy (Edge of Darkness 80-1)
2x Jabba's Reach (Edge of Darkness 81-1)
1x The Tatooine Crash (Edge of Darkness 82-1)
1x Trandoshan Terror (Edge of Darkness 85-1)
2x Feeding the Pit (Edge of Darkness 86-1)
Unit: (30)
2x Outer Rim Space Pirates (Assault on Echo Base 57-2)
2x Corrupt Official (Assault on Echo Base 57-3)
2x Corrupt Official (Assault on Echo Base 57-4)
2x Greedo (Edge of Darkness 80-2)
2x Paid Informant (Edge of Darkness 80-3)
2x Paid Informant (Edge of Darkness 80-4)
2x Jabba the Hutt (Edge of Darkness 81-2)
2x Jabba's Pleasure Barge (Edge of Darkness 81-3)
2x Gamorrean Guard (Edge of Darkness 81-4)
1x Jawa Scavenger (Edge of Darkness 82-2)
1x Jawa Scavenger (Edge of Darkness 82-3)
1x Sandcrawler (Edge of Darkness 82-4)
1x Bossk (Edge of Darkness 85-2)
1x Trandoshan Hunter (Edge of Darkness 85-3)
1x Trandoshan Hunter (Edge of Darkness 85-4)
2x Bib Fortuna (Edge of Darkness 86-2)
2x Krayt Dragon (Edge of Darkness 86-3)
2x Gamorrean Guard (Edge of Darkness 86-4)
Enhancement: (7)
2x Bounty (Edge of Darkness 80-5)
2x Prized Possession (Edge of Darkness 81-5)
1x Bounty (Edge of Darkness 85-5)
2x The Almighty Sarlacc (Edge of Darkness 86-6)
Event: (9)
2x Explosive Charge (Assault on Echo Base 57-5)
2x Captured (Edge of Darkness 80-6)
2x Reversal of Fate (Edge of Darkness 81-6)
1x Utinni! (Edge of Darkness 82-5)
2x Spice Visions (Edge of Darkness 86-5)
Fate: (4)
2x Twist of Fate (Assault on Echo Base 57-6)
1x Twist of Fate (Edge of Darkness 82-6)
1x Heat of Battle (Edge of Darkness 85-6)
One nice thing about this idea of a progression series is that I can spend some time REALLY getting to know some of the stuff I didn't get a chance to before. One part of that is the whole Scum and Villainy card pool. I really didn't play a lot of green cards during the game's lifespan, except rarely when I threw things together. Now, I'm going to force myself to do so.
This deck has only been played once, against Eric's Rebel Alliance Speeder deck. I ended up winning, primarily on the back of the two Reversal of Fates. So I really need to get it on the table more before I try to tweak it any, so I can figure out exactly what it is good at. It does capture cards occasionally... but not super effectively. It has a lot of tricks, but it feels like it's lacking focus. That may be what I try to build into it, going forward.
It has plenty of units, and six resource cards. Eight units with Tactics icons. I feel like I do struggle with resources, thinking back... but yeah, really just need to play it again.
Okay, that's it for this post. Next post, I'll look at which Dark Side objectives I still need to play, and build a new deck using a bunch of them (something Imperial Navy or Sith focused, most likely).