I’ve been looking forward to this moment ever since FFG dropped the new print and play set – Transformations. FFG are getting a doffing of the hat for this set that has set alight the entire Destiny community. There is so much to come from essentially just 10 cards but by far the greatest (maybe, maybe not) is the inclusion of my namesake for this site, ARC Trooper Fives. He does not disappoint and his ability is just spot on and so fitting of Fives.

Fives has always come across to me, as the average guy doing what he has to do for either what he believes in or the greater good. This is why I think his ability fits perfectly, he rolls in average Clone Trooper dice on activation, 1 normally and 2 if elite. Which doesn’t sound great as every character at elite gets two dice (pretty much everyone), but the bonus is that he also then gets to re-roll each one if he wants and twice if you control the battlefield, giving you the chance to turn a bad situation into a good one. Sounds like Fives to me.

Okay, so here we go with my first attempt at a Fives deck that hopefully you’ll enjoy trying out. First up is a plot that seems to be rampant with the Transformations characters and I don’t think you are likely to see Fives without it. That is Fateful Companions. When you activate Fives, you can exhaust this plot and pay 1 to use Fives‘ after ability of rolling in Clone Troopers again so for just 13 build points of your character line-up and of course for the resource every turn you get 4 dice into your pool that benefit from a free re-roll or two. That’s a bargain, an absolute steal in fact.

This still gives us 17 points for other characters so an absolutely huge amount of options are available to us. Why not take one of the Anakins available which is nicely thematic and even flipping to Vader kind of fits. There’s an argument for taking Kes Dameron; with his trooper ability you should be able to keep the battlefield bonus of Fives as you’ll resolve everything in one go and he comes with some meaty Focus sides to get the best out of these clone dice. You can even get 3 more dice from 17 points giving you in essence a seven dice start. Wicket and Little Anakin, maybe. I’m not going with either of these options. I’m going to try and keep Fives on the table for as long as possible to get as many dice from his ability as we can.

I have paired Fives with the Kashyyyk Warrior for some staying power and Trooper synergy and Satine for more re-rolls on activation, focus for those trooper dice. She also has two resource sides which are going to help as we are essentially running on 1 resource a round as we’ll be paying to duplicate Fives ability.

Kitting out the Clones – Upgrades

We only have 6 upgrades in the deck and they all revolve around staying alive and keeping Fives on the table for as long as possible.

2 Riot Shields will hopefully stop a big hit and block 3 damage for us. 2 Tico Pendants which have never really made it out of the binder but with this free upgrade we can move a damage over to the Wookiee for Fives and 2 damage if we can get both down. This not only helps to activate the Wookiee ability but also gives us the option of Run To Safety to heal off two characters that share a subtype. I’ve also added a single copy of Fortitude which has two uses: take Fives to 12 health meaning he can use feat of strength if we lose the Wookiee and makes him harder to take down.

Lastly, I sneaked in a copy of Protection Suit as I think Mind Extraction with all these powerful activation abilities in Transformations it might get some more use. If this gets on Fives then we pretty much lose an entire round as unlike any other character that can just carry on and use their dice, Fives doesn’t have this option.

Following Orders – Downgrades

This was a last minute include with a single copy of Target Acquired. We have plenty of indirect sides and we are likely to be resolving them, even Satine throws some out there. We are likely to face some shield decks and this could go a long way to helping take down that initial character and put the pressure on [echo7: I’d also consider On The Mark. While it only works for 1 round, it’s free, speeds up dice resolution, and it doesn’t require the target to be damaged already].

Back Up – Supports

This section has a lovely balance of attack and defence.

The attack comes from 2 copies of Resistance Crait Speeder which has always been a super efficient vehicle and just gives us a little more offense. Possibly one of the most important cards in the deck is the Senate Chamber. This is great to get down as soon as possible. It’s 2 focus sides help to make best use of the dice we have and it’s Power Action let’s us mess with opponents dice or further optimise our own.

The defence comes from the 0 cost card, Armed Escort, that protects us for a round. It gives all our characters guardian allowing us to get the damage away from Fives as he goes to work. with all the clone dice.

Can’t Think of a Clever Title – Event Removal

No deck leaves the deck box without it so lets quickly go through what we have in this deck.

• 2 x Easy Pickings – Amazing removal when it hits even if it takes two blanks and it’s unlikely Satine gets targeted so our spot yellow should be active for a large portion of the game.
• 2 x Feat of Strength – Similar idea that the Wookiee is unlikely to be the target so we will have this available to remove damage for most of the game and we have a cheeky fortitude to make it live again if the Wookiee gets taken out.
• 2 x Measure for Measure – 0 cost and we should have plenty of Trooper dice to make good use of this
• 2 x Rout – We roll in 4 dice on activation making this immediately active and there will be times where it may even hit 2 dice although.
• 2 x First Aid – Pseudo removal as we can remove any damage we take on our red guys, well Fives anyway. Maybe the Wookiee at a pinch but essentially it’s Fives’ private doctor.
• 1 x Run to Safety – This neatly heals three from the Wookiee and Fives as they are both Troopers and we have the Tico Pendant to ensure we can use this. Sorry Satine, still doesn’t help you. (Could possibly be a 2 of)
• 1 x Garbage Chute. Removing two dice against our many feels good even if we have to exhaust the Wookiee or Satine. (Could possibly be a 2 of)

Battle Strategies – Tech Events

These are the cards that hopefully give the deck the cutting edge it needs to pulls out the wins.

• 2 x Focused Fire – Should have plenty of range sides to take advantage of this little gem. 2 extra damage at the right time can be just enough to take an opponents character off the table when it doesn’t look like you are showing lethal damage.
• 1 x Instigate – This has the potential to be amazing with Fives especially if you have battlefield control. Roll in 4 dice with re-rolls to optimise and then resolve again potentially defeating an opponents character. (Could possibly be a 2 of). Only 1 at the moment as it I’m unsure if it is needed at all but has great potential.
• 2 x Through the Pass – I’ve saved the best until last. For the cost of 1 you can activate Fives and as his ability is an after affect, you can re-set him for 0 additional resources. Activate him again and get a total of 6 clone troopers into the pool.

Left in the Barracks – Honourable Mentions

I think the deck above is a pretty good base to start from. There are always fringe cards that you may want to consider. I didn’t have many that I needed to trim down as I knew pretty much exactly what I wanted the deck to be. However, I think the following should be considered.

• Unshackle – Possibly replacing the Protection Suit as it can also remove bounties and they both cost one so seeing your opponent pay two for a Mind Extraction and think he’s safe for a round only for you to Unshackle and roll in 4 Troopers might be worth it.
• Logistics (or other resource making card) – The deck is pretty cheap to run and has no cards costed 3 or more and very few at 2. I think this will reveal itself as a need later if at all. For now, I’ll run the deck without it.
• Unfetter – Another card that can re-set Fives, I was only put off by it costing two but this could be another great card to reset Fives and get another two clones out.
• Vandalize – With so many character dice provided to us by Fives this could be a great addition to take some of their dice away permanently.
• Dex’s Diner – Is a nice way of repeated healing turn after turn.
• GH-7 Droid – This is a nifty little droid for this deck and I considered swapping out a Senate Chamber for one. It has a nice little heal ability that removes a downgrade, a 2 focus side and 2 resource sides. Even it’s last side is resolvable as it has no blanks.

The Barracks – Battlefield Choice

I’ve left this until last as we are never likely to win the battlefield roll off. Even Ewoks could beat us.

The battlefield choice is simply a nice bonus for us if they pick ours but is actually there in the hope that it makes them not choose ours so we get the two shields to buff up Fives to a starting effective 11 health. It is also a very thematic plot. I give you – The Training Room on Kamino allowing us more re-rolls of our clones.

For an opening hand – I think a Through the Pass, Measure for Measure, Armed Escort or First Aid, Focused Fire and a Senate Chamber would be the ideal.

I hope you give Fives a try. I’ve played 1 game so far with my own version beating a Kylo, Dooku, Rule of Two which is a pretty solid deck at the moment and he made it to the last 8 of the Artificery League recently piloted by Nick Cuenca from the Hyperloops so I have some hope that Fives, as per usual, won’t let you down.

“Thanks CT-27-5555, That was close”

“It’s Fives, the name is Fives!”

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