As is tradition here at echobase after the release of each set we review each individual card from the set. Today we will be taking a look at the Force cards within the set. We will be reviewing these in numerical order giving each card a score out of 5, with that score representing our opinion on their power level, rather than an opinion on how well designed they are. A few cards we have given the ‘Legendary’ status and are highlighted in Purple. Let’s begin!

1. Darth Zannah – Student of the Sith – There’s been fair amount of fan call to get Zannah into the game [echo7: not least of all from me. Thanks ARH!] and she comes in as the perfect partner for her Sith Master Darth Bane. Lore wise: Darth Zannah was trained in the Rule of Two, so this seems like the perfect plot to run with these guys. Given that for the cost of a damage you can roll out a Bane die, this seems pretty strong. However, if she does not have an ability, after Bane dies that special becomes effectively a blank.
Zannah is also a potential target for Watch Your Career With Great Interest; if you defeat your Sith with WYCWGI she will inherit the defeated Sith’s dice (a nicely thematic way of her inheriting the teachings of her former master) and she can also deal 1 damage to Vader to additionally roll in a Vader die. She’ll even inherit Vader‘s character dice if he goes on to die before Zannah giving her the potential to inherit 4 character dice. The ability on Zannah to inherit the defeated Sith’s dice can absolutely enable you to close out a game. (4/5)

2. Kylo Ren – Driven by Fear – The fact that this dude brings with him one of the most powerful mitigation cards this game has ever seen in the form of Feel your Anger makes me take a look at him. There’s a lot of blanks running around on those Pirate Loyalists, also on those FOST dice with Phasma and Megablaster Troopers, so this could enable you to get rid of quite a few dice out of your opponents pool. Let’s not forget the synergy of his ability and the fact he can also bring a copy of Anger to the game. There’s a mind game in this ability; naturally your opponents want to just blank both his dice [echo7: which they can do as he has two blanks, nice move there] this however turns on Anger. What to do? Turn one to a blank and the other to a resource? Maybe the modifier? Mini-mind games in Destiny are fun. Any character that can deal damage just for activating will be worth your time to explore and deck build with. A nod to the two player version of Kylo to deal damage on activation is nice. This time we’re dealing indirect damage compared to a potential two direct. The difference? You’re not going to miss. Kylo’s interaction with Pushing Slash could be clutch: activate Kylo, resolve one of his character dice and then an opponent turns the other. Nice. This guy sits on my one to watch list. (4.5/5)

3-4. We discussed Maul and Savage at length in our article The Zabrak Nightbrothers when they were first spoiled at the beginning of January. Now that we have the full picture of the set, these guys stand alone as the set’s ‘Flip’ characters; the first we’ve seen outside of Transformations. To summarize the article: both versions of Maul & Savage are playable. The lack of a resource on Savage hurts him, as your just not going to be able to ramp hard enough in a pirate meta. Both A sides are most likely where your starting with these guys and working towards that flip – I can’t see myself starting a lineup with the B side of either character [echo7: though I do like the sound of a Zannah/MaulB/WYCWGI lineup].
3A Maul – (3.5/5) 3B Maul – (3/5) 4A Savage – (4/5) 4B Savage – (3/5)

5. Tenth Brother – Tested by the Force – I really enjoyed testing Inquisitors during the Faltering Allegiances Meta. I do believe that Inquisitors are overlooked and with time the Inquisitors will find their place in the meta. Is that time with Tenth Brother? No. Tenth Brother’s issue lies with finding the right partner for him. He’s got a built in Cunning which is one of the best 2 drops from the Awakenings block but the rest of his stat lines fit a 12/15 character. Sitting at 16 points, I think he’s too expensive and won’t pick up a ton of play outside of Inquisitorious decks. (2.5/5)

6. The Haunted – If you’re running a Merrin or Old Daka deck you’re running this curse. Super simple, and really good value. Another little hint and boost for Witch decks that they are slowly building up quite an ensemble of supporting cards. Reviewed in a vacuum for Witch archetypes – (4/5)

7. Chant of Resurrection – At any stage during the life span of Destiny have you ever seen a 1 cost event that gives you 15 health for the round? An alternative way to look at this is this will most likely gain you a net 2 damage to a character with a curse, by activating each of your new Zombies (you have to exhaust a character hence 2, not 3). 1 resource for 2 damage is spot on curve. In a close end game, this card could literally come in clutch and keep you alive for the round and enable you to close out the game. Adds value to Weave the Ichor too. More love for Witches, keep it coming. (4/5)

8. Force Drain – I have not spent too much time thinking of ways to break this card. My initial thought is to run this in a Witch deck to A) reduce it’s cost for spotting a downgrade and B) Exhausting a Nightsister Zombie to then deal that Zombie 3 damage, to then defeat said Zombie to then heal 5 damage from my main character. Alternatively; exhaust the Zombie to deal 3 to an opponent’s character and if this triggers the kill on one of their characters you heal 5. Spicy. That’s a hell of a swing but it there really is only a very specific window within the game in which this is played. In summary, it’s part of a combo piece, which could be a really clutch card in the right build with some disposable characters but ultimately I don’t think it will see much play. (2/5)

9. Your Powers Are Weak – This card is basically Hidden Motive on steroids. Call a symbol, re roll up to 3 dice, if they hit that symbol get rid of them; if they don’t then turn the dice to a blank. This is really strong and powerful mitigation. This could a staple in Blue Villain decks if you can meet the spot requirements. (4/5)

10A –Watch Your Career With Great Interest – As far as plots go this one’s really easy to flip to get a 12 health character. Combo Salt Flats and a Niman Mastery first round; you should have gained 4 resources on this plot if you were able to resolve the special on the Niman to good effect [echo7: you can even flip the Niman just before it gets removed to trigger the plot if there’s no other upgrades to flip]. Basically you should be getting this flipped at some stage during round 2. The problem is you have to defeat a character… we have several targets to defeat to bring in the new sulky Vader; Darth Zannah, Little Savage or you could even call Apprentice when you activate a Clawdite Shapeshifter. Alternatively you run this as a ‘just in case’ in a mono blue lineup, when one of your characters is near defeat you can pull the trigger and get Vader in, though bear in mind you do need two characters alive when you trigger this or you lose the game before Vader appears. Cool design, but I don’t see it being meta defining right now. (3/5)

10B – Darth Vader – Unrelenting Apprentice – Cool to see the reuse of an old die, though the die itself is a mismatch of damage symbols, one of which has a payside. I feel like Vader‘s special is where you want to be with him. Additional ramp is always appreciated. Do note that the special allows you to play a blue ability on any of your characters, not just Vader, and if you hit the special side you can immediately resolve it. There are better characters to play at his cost, if not for less, so he’ll probably only see play as the flip side of the plot. (2/5)

11. Interrogation Chair – Only has a place in Inquisitor builds due to it’s spot requirement but it’s a pretty good 1 cost support. Ideal situation is that your opponent has rolled a blank so you then exhaust this to deal 2 indirect to that opponent as they can’t resolve the die. It’s also kind of a pseudo mitigation; if they rolled sub optimally you can exhaust this and choose a shield side for example. Sure they get the shield but it’s better than the die being turned or re-rolled into something better. Remember that with the plot the Inquisitorious you will be turning die sides to blanks, so this is a neat toy for Inquisitor decks. Drop this round 1 and the indirect damage from this little support may just add up to something significant over the course of the game. (3/5)

12. Nightsister Assassins – More love for Witches. If you’re running witches you’re running this support. What’s great about this support is that, which it requires a witch to be played, once your witch characters die typically your Possessed curses have to leave play. As this support has the witch subtype your Possessed downgrade stays in the game. That’s the main reason this is getting a high score as it will enable the Witch spot requirement to continue once your Witches are defeated in a non pure witch deck. Tidy. (4/5)

36. Burryyaga Agaburry – Saviour of Setzal – The most interesting part for me about this character is the fact that we have a blue Wookiee; he also does not have the typical Wookiee text of increasing his die showing damage by 1 if he has 6 or more damage. If he had the typically Wookiee text he’d be worth building around. As it stands I’m not looking to build anything with him any time soon. He has an interesting PA that could come in clutch if you’re out of resources and have a stranded modifier; but outside of this he just comes in as ‘OK’. (2/5)

37. Jaro Tapal – Selfless Master – This guy is really, really strong. The downside is he finds himself in the unenviable position of being 16 points elite. Team up 1 with Cal Kestis means you’re looking at a very strong 4 dice line-up with these two in play. Guardian is a strong ability right now which goes quite nicely with his ability. Guardian an opponent’s die upon activation, and as he has taken damage you may then resolve one of Jaro‘s die showing damage upon activation – a mini Hit and Run if you will. As technically you resolve the die before he takes the damage from Guardian, this little interaction may come in handy to sneak in some unmitigated damage throughout the game. (4/5)

38. Jedi Apprentice – This guy is going to find himself in an A tier list sooner or later. 9 points elite for two of this die is pretty amazing. I think an obvious pairing is to team him (or two of him) with Luminara for the +1 health. Weapons on this character gaining redeploy is an extra incentive to squeeze him into a build outside of the obvious pairings [echo7: I’m looking at cards like Chewbacca’s Blaster Rifle, Enfys Nest’s Electroripper, Sonic Detonators, Kanan’s Lightsaber, Yoda’s Lightsaber, Cal’s Lightsaber and DC-17 which would look much better with redeploy]. I’m looking forwards to seeing what the community come’s up with to get this guy to reach the pinnacle of the game. (4.5/5)

39. Leia Organa – Adept Student – For me, Leia Organa is the best character within the set. We discussed her at great length in a previous article when she was spoiled by iRebel back at the end of December. In summary you will not find a more complete offensive and defensive character than Leia. (5/5) Legendary

40. Luminara Unduli – Patient Master – To get the most from Lumi you’ll be wanting to pair her with an apprentice to gain value from her special. The best apprentice right now is undoubtedly Leia Organa. As an alternative you could play Anakin or Mace and mulligan hard for that Padawan Braid to give them the Apprentice subtype. Don’t underestimate her ability to gain shields or discard random cards from your opponent’s hand – limiting rerolls and stripping key cards is not to be undervalued. If she loses her partner though, she will struggle to close out the game.(3.5/5)

41. Qui-Gon Jinn – Venerable Maverick – He has the unmistakable die sides of Vader TTB with the exception of a single resource instead of the double resource. Roll hot with Qui-Gon and you’ve got yourself a very aggressive character, albeit without Vader’s built in dice protection. Having a +1 shield and upgrade limit is a great passive ability and it basically allows for you to auto-include Bacta Therapy to get more value from the heal once he’s loaded up. His Power Action to remove a shield from one of your character’s with 3 or more shields to gain a resource is a tidy ability to assist with ramp. I’ve played a lot of Qui-Gon but I’m yet to be convinced he’s better than Luke -Fulfilling His Destiny. (Although he does roll the melee sides more consistently than Luke…) (4/5)

42. Force Mirage – This, for me, is an auto-include in a mono blue hero deck. Resolve that double shield side on that Anakin Lightsaber as 2 melee; or if you’re looking to ramp: 2 resources. A lot of upgrades and characters are carrying a double shield side right now. If you’re hitting an upgrade die and you have Jar’Kai in play, as the ability on Jar’Kai is always on, this hits a net value of 3. Amazing. (5/5)

43. Force Reflexes – Multi-die removal isn’t missing from Hero blue as we have the mighty Jedi Mind Trick. An awkward spot requirement though because you have to have a die in the pool, which historically has proven tricky, plus if you’ve not rolled particularly strong you may not get to remove the opponents dice that are threatening (though it’s great against specials). I welcome multi-die removal, however Force Reflexes is not the strongest multi-die removal the set has to offer. (2/5)

44. Move Along – If you can meet the spot requirement you’re running 2 of these in your deck. You can exhaust an Entourage, an Ackbar X-wing or a Megablaster Troopers, or you can remove pesky non-unique upgrade dice. Versatile one for one removal is very welcome. Also, note on the artwork – Perfect. (5/5) Legendary

45. You Will Go To The Dagobah System – Well this is a fun card. I’m not sure this will ever be a win con for a competitive build as it’s quite easy to read for an opponent due to the setup that Jedi Trials requires [echo7: though if you do sneak 3 abilities and have character dice totaling 3 on your apprentice out, without the opponent doing anything about it, kudos. I just wish this could have cost 2 so that you could include it just for the shields and then just every once in a while pull off a coup]. I do however, absolutely love this card – oozing with theme, this is for the more casual and fun Destiny decks. Reviewing from a competitive stand point this card scores (2.5/5)

46. The Jedi Code – If you have the spare point you won’t go wrong in running this plot. Removing a weak die showing a shield to remove an opponent’s die will feel good. Having access to on-tap removal every round is not to be underestimated. (4/5)

47. Force Heal – Pretty decent 1 drop upgrade and could see play in a big/little build. Damage the small to heal the big. Alternatively if your running a shield heavy deck this could see play. (2.5/5)

48. Leia Organa’s Lightsaber – In a shield-heavy build whilst running Jar’Kai this upgrade is great. Not necessarily an auto-include for every blue deck which will bring the score down as this could potentially hit for 0 if your opponent has stripped the character’s shields [echo7: though it’s one more reason to include the amazing On Guard in your deck for some extra surprise damage]. (3/5)

74. Harness The Force – If you are running an ability upgrade package this card is an auto-include. The ability to turn and resolve is very strong, especially with upgrades like Shien Mastery around. We’ve seen a similar design in Apt Lesson which has been a great enabler for blue hero. (5/5) Legendary

75. Rising Whirlwind – I’m on the fence with this one as if you draw this in your opening hand you’re pitching this to re-roll as you’re not hitting the spot requirement in round 1. As the game goes along the spot requirement comes online but I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s worth the wait [echo7: Overconfidence, which operates in exactly the same way but without the spot requirement, was one of my favourite cards from the Awakenings block. I’ll probably be including this just for the nostalgia]. There are better and more reliable removal cards available to blue, especially now. (2/5)

76. Force Valor – Incredible. Heal, deal or turn. brilliant design, awesome artwork, and great versatility, especially since you don’t even have to play it on a blue character. The fact that a 2 drop ability can exist and see play whilst Niman Mastery is around should say it all. (5/5) Legendary

77. Jar’Kai – How do you create a form that could possibly rival Niman Mastery or Shien Mastery? Well, you design this card. Jar’Kai serves a totally different purpose to Niman and Shien. Jar’Kai takes you down the weapon upgrade suite when deck building and it is absolutely worth building around. Redemption has given us a great collection of weapons for each faction which only adds to the power of this upgrade. As a before ability it increases the value of each weapon die by 1. This is not limited to just damage, you can ramp or shield up with this in play. We’ve seen over previous metas the power of Salvaged Arm to boost dice; with Jar’Kai the upgrade does not exhaust so the ability is always on. Oh, and let’s not forget you also get a +2 upgrade limit, so this provides an alternate path for a Fatal Blow/Bacta Therapy deck. (5/5) Legendary

78. Lightsaber Tonfa – Really cool design space on this 1 drop lightsaber. If you’re running a Jar’Kai package you’re fine to play this for 1 cost, if you’re flush with cash it’s worth getting on your character for the effective 2 resources, where it’s fairly on par. It’s the versatility upon play that impresses me. A solid lightsaber. Oh and it’s non unique with no play restriction too. (3.5/5)

79. Quilloned Lightsaber – The same sides as an Heirloom Lightsaber with the exception that the 3 melee is a modifier. A welcome and playable 3 cost redeploy lightsaber with a twist on a on play ability. Which on play ability triggers will depend if you are playing a hero or a villain team, healing one damage or dealing one damage. But notably, for the first time, we see an upgrade that has an ability that triggers when moved between characters, incentivizing the opponent to target a different character. Excellent design. (4.5/5).

Overall, blue have been gifted with an excellent array of cards, which I believe provides a welcome boost to the faction, hero especially. Given these cards, it is no great surprise that blue hero took down the release event last week.

Watch this space for our next faction reviews, which should all be dropping this week.

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