echo7:
Way back in the middle of May we had a theme TTS event in the UK. For the event, you had to bring a pairing of unique characters that had shared a scene in any canon Star Wars production.
The decks brought were many and varied, but the event was taken down by the made-for-each-other pairing of Skyguy and Snips (Anakin and Ahsoka):
Don’t let the fact that it was a theme event fool you. Sure, a lot of of the 28 players were out to have fun, but the majority were also looking to do well. In the event there were 3 Ani/Ahsoka pairings, and the final of the event was a mirror match. Out in the wild, I’m confident this deck can still hold its own, even if it’s not quite Tier I.
At first glance, Ahsoka’s many modifier sides looks problematic, but put a Knighthood on her, and pair her with a Jedi, and you don’t even have to take an action to resolve any of her dice, resolving one of them without the chance for mitigation from the opponent (or both if you include Loth Wolf Bond). If you pretend those sides are base sides, she’s starting to look like one of the best 11 point elite characters ever printed, even if she does only have 8 HP. And don’t forget her ability applies to upgrade sides too.
Anakin boats a beefy 13 HP, but has so-so sides. Roll hot, and that 4 melee side can cut through the opponent pretty quickly, but roll poorly and he’s starting to look overcosted. He’s no ATG Vader to be sure, but some focusing from Niman Mastery or Salt Flats can come in handy. You really need to be using his ability to steal shields and clean your hand though if he’s going to be worth the cost, and that’s where Pacify and Nullify become powerful additions to the deck. Wouldn’t it be great if he got balanced down a couple of points?
The eventual winner of the event was Keir Sweeney (again), and here he is to discuss his deck
Hello again!
As soon as this tournament was announced and had to be thematic, I knew I had to play mono blue hero. Blue hero decks have been my all time favorite, and Rey/Aayla was the cause of that. Sadly mono blue hero hasn’t been quite up to scratch with the current meta, but this thematic 2 wide only tournament was the perfect time to pull something together!
Having just finished The Clone Wars series, Anakin/Ahsoka was at the top of my list of contenders. Some other decks I had in mind were QGJ/Satine, Old man Luke/Yoda1 and Obi-Wan/R2. The Scottish players have been playing each week (online) during lockdown and it was the perfect time for testing these out. Anakin/Ahsoka became my deck of choice due to its power and fun to play, Obi/R2 was close behind.
I can’t quite remember all my pairings, but my only loss of the day other than game 2 in the finals was against a Yoda1/Tarrful/Valorous Tribe deck. It was an amazing deck, I really admired how it played and the thematic cards in the deck were a great addition, well played Iain. I played against Iain again in the Top 4, however I had a bit more knowledge of what was coming this time round. Game 1 was close, Fortitude is a ridiculous card for Tarrful and you either kill him fast, or take Yoda down to slow down all his shenanigans.
Due to the nature of Valorous Tribe, it doesn’t matter too much where you put the damage. I found it best to put damage consistently into Tarrful, but then switch targets when you’re able to take Yoda down in one action was the way to go. Game 2 I had some pretty lucky rolls. If I remember correctly, Yoda had 3 health going into round 2 but he still managed to hang in there valorously. Great games!
The finals were a mirror match, and I hadn’t played the mirror all day until then. I believe we had 8 cards different in our decks but round 1 was almost identical for both of us. I do believe that drawing Knighthood for round one does affect the flow of the game greatly, and we both knew that hard mulliganing for it was a must. The games were close and well played by my opponent. Both of our Anakins were having some bad rolls consistently throughout the best of three, but on the final activation of my Anakin in game three he rolled pretty hot and my opponent didn’t have enough removal to deal with it. If my Ani whiffed and my opponent rolled out into the big damage sides it could have gone his way.
Some adjustments I would consider making to the deck:
I’m still unsure if I need both Adapt and the Merchant Freighter; sometimes the Merchant Freighter wasn’t even played, typically vs aggro decks, but other times it’s so useful for the mid range/support decks. Adapt was perfect for when you needed that 1 resource to resolve Anakin’s 4 for 1 resource, I think I would have to test it more against a wider field of decks.
The upgrade suite was solid, I don’t think I would change any of them, Shien Mastery was played pretty much every game, and I think only taking 1 of them is the right call. My least played card of the day was probably Steadfast, I might take +1 Conflicted and -1 Steadfast.
There’s also the possibility of taking an extra Ataru Strike, but I’m not sure that’s the right way to go. If I remember correctly, my opponent in the finals played Loth Wolf Bond, and I think that might be worth trying out too.
Star card is either Knighthood or Anakin’s Saber (it’s just so good). Fluid Riposte is also a great addition from Covert Missions. Salt Flats was helpful as always, the extra soft mitigation or the ability to flip Anakin to the 4 for 1 is always nice.
Fantastic day, thanks to Mark for running it, looking forward to the next one.
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