Deck : The Ultimate Rebel Deck
The Ultimate Rebel Deck
By Matt Hyra
Columnist
This week I'd like to show you a fun Light Side theme deck based on the Rebels from the A New Hope expansion. All but one unit card in this deck is from A New Hope, so even if you're new to the game, this should be an easy one for you to build.
The Rebels are a tight-knit group, as they can't trust anyone but their own. There are rewards for this bond of trust. The Rebel Control Officer is probably the best "boost" Character in the game. In previous sets, we've seen rare Characters like the Clone Officer give all Clones +1 Power or the Geonosian Sentry give all Geonosians +10 Speed. The Control Officer, however, does the job of both of those, giving all Rebels +10 Speed AND +1 Power. And he's uncommon! I consider four copies of this card a good starting point for any Rebel deck.
There aren't too many dedicated warriors for the Rebels to choose from for the Character arena. The Control Officer can hold his own in a fight, but I guess being tethered to that headset is making him very slow to attack. The Rebel Crew Chief is very cost effective for what he does. He really pays for himself if you can keep him alive for a turn or two, which shouldn't be a problem as most attacks will be targeting the Control Officer. There are a lot of Rebel Starfighters, so this guy will spend most of his time tapped to make use of his special ability. The best fighting Rebel so far is actually Princess Leia (A). Her special ability can give a Dark Side player fits, especially if he's low on Force or using "swarm" tactics. With a B and C version available as well, she can stack up to become a formidable foe. Rounding out the Character arena are two Characters with good activated abilities, General Dodonna (A) and R2-D2 (A). General Dodonna has some pretty good stats for fighting, so his activated ability may not see much use, but it's there if we need it. Artoo, the only non-Rebel in the entire deck, is a great asset to give some extra hitting power to the Space units.
In the Ground arena, there are six different Rebel units to choose from. About the only one I don't care much for is the Rebel Marine Squad. My rolling is average, so when I use this guy, I just can't seem to roll more than one hit. I'm much happier paying the one extra build for a far more consistent Rebel Honor Company. A real heavy-hitter, he forms the backbone, really the only bone, of the Rebel Ground arena. The Planetary Defense Turret has some brittle bones with a Power higher than its Health. Its big punch will be nice on occasion, but it needs some help to stay alive. Enter the Intercept ability of the respectable Rebel Squad. Also needing help to stay alive is the Rebel Control Post. Not only do you get to discard your opponent's Space units, but you get to see and rearrange the cards that go back on your opponent's deck! You get to determine exactly which card your opponent will draw each turn. How good is that?! Adding to the overall durability of the Ground is the Yavin 4 Hangar Base. While pricey, it has staying power and is great in combination with the Crew Chief.
The Space arena has plenty of Rebel ships to choose from, but since the Crew Chief and Hangar Base abilities only work with Starfighters, let's just focus on those… within reason. The best of the Rebel Starfighters is Luke's X-wing (A). However, being unique, I think adding a single one to the deck will work best. The Hangar Base can grab it if need be. The X-wing Red Three will no doubt end up being a rather rude surprise for your opponent. With its 60 Speed, it's faster than most Dark Side Starfighters. After it attacks, it can Intercept to keep your slower units alive for their own attacks. X-wing Red Two is great if the Dark Side is running Starfighters, but he's not so good against Capital ships. What is great against the big stuff is the Y-wing Gold One with its Stun 3. Finally, as a heavy-hitter for the arena, the X-wing Attack Formation is probably the best Space unit of the whole set. Its Critical Hit 3 is a great way to tell the Dark Side that the freedom to assemble shall not be denied. But its Evade ability will see just as much use. Since the deck has very few units that use Force, you should always have some to spare.
As for Battle cards, this deck doesn't rely on them too much, except for one: Lull in the Fighting. All those great abilities in the Character arena can be used without a worry as long as you are holding a Lull. When there is fighting in Character, the units could use a bit of help. High-Force Dodge can be used to keep the Control Officer alive even against a fully stacked Vader. Anticipating large battles in Space, a couple of Stabilize Deflectors and the ubiquitous Pilot's Dodge will do nicely. Ok, fine, one Battle card combo for you: Anakin's Inspiration and Go to the Temple. Especially in Space, you should be able to attack with everything and then retreat it all to avoid any reprisals.
As for Mission cards, two Slumming on Coruscant should keep that pesky Unfriendly Fire at bay.
Here's what the deck looks like all put together…
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Strategy
In your initial hand, the only Battle cards you want to keep are all the Lulls you draw and one Inspiration. Mulligan the rest. A great opening setup would be two Rebel Control Officers, one Honor Company, and three or four Starfighters. If you don't draw any Lulls during setup, start focusing your build points elsewhere unless your opponent is weak in Character as well. A lot of the great Character abilities in this deck will tap the unit so it can't attack. Best to use them only when you have the Lull. However, don't be afraid to tap the Crew Chief or Artoo if the Dark Side Characters have Evade. They just don't do enough damage to bother attacking Dark Side Jedi.
This deck relies mainly on Speed to win. With the boost from the Control Officer and the Inspirations, the deck should get a lot of attacks off before any retaliations. Despite all the Speed enhancement involved, the deck can do one thing slowly: Recover. Especially if you are in firm control in the Ground. Bide your time, save those Battle cards, then come back into Space with a vengeance.