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 rogue cards within the set. We will be reviewing these in numerical order giving each card a score out of 5. A few cards we have given the ‘Legendary’ status and are highlighted in Purple. Let’s begin!

26. Garindan – Information Trader – We start our yellow review with this Kubaz Imperial Spy and what a super fun character design this is. As much as I love a 2 discard side, Garindan is all about that special utilising whatever he can find to further your plans. The +2 resource side is a little awkward but there is potential for some serious ramp from that and you are going to want to have big cards in your deck to utilise that special anyway. At 14 cost elite there has potential to go three wide and get all colours so you have the pick of all the cards.
It goes without saying that dice cards with no blanks are going to be the best to ensure you get something from his special, though unlike many similar effects you can at least re-roll or focus the die. Cards like Death Field or any of the Masteries. It’s also super tempting to just have Blizzard 1 in your deck to keep rolling in without having to pay the full 8. To think one of your starting dice could be equivalent to any of those dice shows you the potential Garindan has. I’m surprised the card used by the special isn’t set aside after use; it means we only need one card in a discard as we can use it again and again. The detect ability is nice here allowing Garindan to find those cards to throw into the discard to abuse with the special for the rest of the game. Probably going to be paired with a blue character most of the time as they seem to have more desirable cards and more scope to special chain: (3.5/5)

27. Pirate Loyalist – we reviewed this with earlier yellow spoilers, and said he was very good at the time, suggesting that he could be extremely good if you could use his Power Action to give away a Zombie to steal a resource.
Fairly unsurprisingly, this character was the first casualty of the nerf gun, post-release. He now can only sell his own loyalty, which not only curbs him a bit, but also makes a lot more thematic sense. We’ve included the edited version above.
Despite this change, he is still exceptionally good, especially with all the pirate tech in Redemption. Before the release event, we were all talking about how good, perhaps broken, pirates might turn out to be. They’re still strong despite the change to this card and The Ultimate Heist. It’s tricky to value this character on his own, and I know it can sometimes backfire; but on-tap stealing is amazing if you build your deck around it. I think even with his change, this character is getting: (4.5/5)

28. Skreek – Warbird Enforcer – A very interesting character that benefits from the pirate love much like the loyalist above. His dice feels like one of the most basic in Destiny, just having the dice sides that are generally most favoured: 2 damage sides and a resource. Skreek also gets a very nifty 33% chance or 56% chance if elite of removing an opponents dice showing damage when he rolls in with damage, for the cost of a resource. Very handy potential extra removal. Overall though he is a little squishy for getting a 50% chance on each die of a resolvable side. You best keep some cards for re-rolls as this guy is going to need some.
He also packs piloting, which is a nice bonus in any deck thanks to the existence of Merchant Freighter (note, you cannot use the Freighter resource to pay for his in-built mitigation, as no matter how you order it, his ability enters the queue before the Freighter‘s): (3/5)

29. Ziro The Hutt – Crime Lord – also reviewed previously, this character is a tricky one to get to work. The sides and health feel a bit sub-par for the cost, but the ability is a godsend in a deck that thrives on downgrades, such as IG-88 or Witches. That double focus for 1 is also pretty punishing when combined with Rendezvous, for some free ambush focusing: (3/5)

30. Everybody Profits – Well, this is a super speedy Improvised Explosive. Costs a card, same, Costs a resource, same. Does three indirect, same. It just does it right now and the resource you pay goes to your opponent to make use of, so it is effectively a 2 resource swing. They could even play this card straight back at you. I can see that happening a few times in games. Three instant damage is very good though and can finish a game for you, and then giving the opponent a resource doesn’t matter: (4/5)

31. Salvage Run – This card may well be my favourite yellow removal of Redemption. Assuming the opponent has a resource to steal, this costs 1 to remove a die of 2 or less, meaning it is basically a situational Electroshock. However, since you’re stealing a resource, this is more powerful, as it represents a net 0 resource swing for removal. However, if the opponent has no resources, this becomes extremely overcosted, so it is a bit situational.
Nevertheless, robbing the opponent can completely disrupt their strategy, and the mere presence of this card means that if you’re playing yellow villain and sitting on 2 resources, the opponent isn’t going to want to roll out their dice while they still have a resource, for fear of this card being played against them.
I know a lot of people aren’t a fan, as yes, it is a bit situational. But it’s a nice concept, and great when you pull it off: (4/5)

32. Triple Dark Attack – a step up from Lure, this event seems to be aimed at Kragan decks, forcing the opponent to activate their character with the fewest damage sides, then rolling in Kragan to steal a resource back and getting an ambush activation in the process. But it can do more than that: you could use it set up a Salvage Run play before the opponent spends their resources, or just use it as a villain Instigate for your pirates, while messing with the opponent’s sequencing in the process.
Despite its versatility, it feels a bit too situational to see play. It’s just difficult to see it making the 30 card cut with all the other great pirate cards around at the moment: (2/5)

33. Den of Thieves – On the face of it, this card is similar to Suppression Field. It costs two, and it gets discarded when it hits 3 damage. However, it is better in pretty much every way despite those stats.
First of all, its damage blocking is a before effect. This means you can play this card even when the opponent is showing damage and still take advantage of it. You can also use it on multiple dice in the same action. If your opponent has 2 dice showing 2 ranged right now, you can pop this one down, and use it to block both dice in sequence when your opponent resolves them (discarding the support in the process).
Secondly, when you disrupt or steal from the opponent, you take a resource off it. This is pretty easy in Redemption, giving extra value to Pirate Loyalist Power Actions or cards like Salvage Run.
And because it’s resources going on this support, you can activate your Raiding Party to remove one resource from it and gain 1 resource, which is pretty absurd value.
And finally, you might think that 2 resources for 3 damage is pretty on-curve. But the fact is, it would be a rare game where this only blocks 3 damage. In reality, this will only hit the discard pile when you block a big damage side, or when you block a moderate side while it’s already sitting on 2 resources. This card consistently stops 5+ damage in most matches, and for 2 resources, that means this card is getting: (5/5)

34. Painful Losses – First of all you are limited to playing pirates and scavengers to get the most out of this card. Then your opponent has to have money to lose and then it exhausts and just for a final kick in the face it rounds the number you spot down. It’s very unlikely to be doing more than 2 damage (unless you have a lot of pirate supports on the table) and probably gets worse as the game goes on. OK, you could have two Raiding Parties and two Pirate Crew Members out, to do 2 more damage, but that’s just unlikely. I can’t see this ever hitting a deck list. I’m happy for someone to prove me wrong but until they do, say hi to the binder where you’ll spend a lot of time: (0.5/5)

35. Pirate Crew Member – Simply a very good die for 1 resource in what is likely to be an all yellow deck. Although nothing stopping you from having a Pirate Loyalist which is a different colour from the rest of your team that you intend to pass across to steal a resource and then make your characters just one colour to boost the damage sides: (4/5)

63. Benthic – “Two Tubes” – This character is all sorts of good (which is evidently why I tried him out in the release event) for 15 points. You are immediately drawn to the PA – remove a die showing damage for the cost of an indirect damage. This is a powerful tool, not only for reducing the damage you are going to take but for leaving modifier sides stranded and you get to decide where that damage goes. On shields perhaps, or open up a Run to Safety play or activate a Wookiee ability. That’s pretty good already but there is more, we also have a passive ability of gaining damage if an opponent claims. They take damage or lose game tempo not to mention you’ll get to use whatever ability the battlefield has, but be careful not to claim too soon and leave yourself open to a flurry of activity from your opponent. Did I mention he was a pilot? This is a subtype with a lot of nice support cards already. I’m sure the idea to balance this was by giving Benthic indirect damage sides and it works somewhat but damage is still damage and 1 is a three side with no cost. Now let’s just add a 2 shield side to soak up some of that indirect from the Power Action and we are good to go. Pretty sure you are now asking yourself why you haven’t tried this guy out yet: (5/5) Legendary

64. Dash Rendar – Outer Rim Hotshot – reviewed way back in the beginning of January, we still like this character. Despite my general aversion to action cheating as it “doesn’t feel like Destiny“, Dash still seems to play fair. He’s expensive, so you’re dropping a lot of points on his fast paced style of play, and if he rolls poorly you’re going to struggle. Paired with Han, he made it to the Top 4 of the release tournament, but hasn’t made much of a splash since. A solid character who can do some pretty nasty and things, but not meta breaking so far: (3/5)

65. Lumpawaroo – Chewbacca’s Pride – the presence of this one in Redemption was sort of spoiled early after a pretty hilarious few hours on Discord. Lumpy is a 8/10 for 9 health, which is extremely cheap, though being hero yellow it puts him in the awkward position of competing with Satine. However, this character is completely different. 3 pay sides, let’s face it, is not good, though can be fixed with a couple of Rendezvous; but it’s in his ability that he really shines.
First of all, he’s got guardian, which is worth a lot. And secondly, he has annoying habit of biting back when he gets hit. If you guardian a 2 damage side onto him, he does 1 back. The fact he says ‘dealt’ damage rather than ‘takes’ damage also means this triggers even if all the damage was blocked on shields. This makes him a really good partner for blue, as you can shield him up, guardian a die for free removal, and deal damage in the process. Alternatively, he is of course made for the new Chewbacca and Valorous Tribe, as then you can do even more damage when he guardians dice and heal him afterwards. This ability is likely to add up to 4ish damage in most games, most likely more if you build around it, and is pretty frustrating to play against, especially if you have a character close to death. This makes him a solid support character in big-little or 3-wide builds: (4/5)

66. Obi-Wan Kenobi – Rako Hardeen – spoiled by Parker Simpson, I love the concept of this yellow undercover Jedi. However, despite the ability to ramp quickly, 19 points is still 19 points, and it’s hard to justify spending that much on this character. If there was an easy way to make him a leader, we might be on different territory, but as it is, he’s getting: (2/5)

67. Wullffwarro – 16/20 for those dice and health, and lacking the usual Wookiee 6 damage text is not great value. However, the options to add another Wookiee to your team are many and varied, not least of all because you can distribute your damage such that your Wookiees with the 6 damage text start with that ability live.
Maybe you could add an elite Chewbacca to a Wullff/eTarrful build to come out of the gate with some pretty scary looking Chewie and Tarrful dice. Or you could swap Tarfful there for Kashyyyk Warrior and Valorous Tribe. Or you could try out the really interesting build published by Parker Simpson of double Vengeful Wookiee to have double on tap removal right from the get-go.
While there’s lots of fun options, the poor points to power ratio of Wullffwarro himself is a bit of a drag. Fun and good, but not top tier: (4/5)

68. Grand Theft Speeder – Well this is good fun. Ewoks on speeder bikes. Does it get much better than this? It’s in a bit of a strange spot as half the time your opponent isn’t going to be playing vehicles. Even with that said there are a lot of good vehicles in this set which could make this a canny include. I’m very tempted to dust off Wicket to get to recycle this downgrade onto opponent’s vehicles turn after turn. Let’s just hope he has a Blizzard 1: (2.5/5)

69. Let’s Make A Deal – Triple removal for 2 resources is pretty damn good, even if the opponent does gain a resource in the process. You really need to be removing 3 dice showing damage to make this worth it, but this could be literally game saving to have up your sleeve. You have to play it in mono-yellow hero, which does severely limit its playability, but it could be a great include for Han/Dash or even a Aphra build. If a good mono-yellow hero deck becomes viable in the future, expect this card to be a key include, but until then: (2.5/5)

70. Rallying Cry – more removal for yellow hero, this one should be fairly easy to trigger, if the opponent has mismatched damage sides, or is resolving damage before literally any other side. It’s probably worth playing on a blank too, give it’s free. I’m going to be including it in my yellow hero decks from now on: (3.5/5)

71. Sound the Horn – we’ve looked at this one already. It’s a really great and a fun idea, but just seems too situational and expensive for a relatively small benefit: (1.5/5)

72. Outrider – I really want to build a Rescue Han deck with this and Vibroswords as my 4 costs, but just haven’t got around to it. It’ll happen though. This card was also spoiled at the same time as Sound the Horn and Dash, and this ship is a solid replacement to the now rotated out Legacies Falcon. Huge sides and a potentially game swinging special, with a built in and highly efficient draw mechanic which may be the best thing about it: (4.5/5)

87. Doctor Aphra – Archaeologist – we promised an article about our favourite archaeologist when she was spoiled. We’ll get around to it eventually. In the meantime, we absolutely love this character, but find her points a little awkward. Her stats are good for her cost for sure, and that ability to include out of faction/affiliation droids and bust the usual 2 card limit has the potential to be massive, but until she gets a good 17 point partner, or some more droids that synergise better with her, she’s going to struggle to make an impact: (3.5/5)

88. Hondo Ohnaka – Ultimate Pragmatist – So he is “Phasma” big in yellow, rolling dice which are arguably better than Stormtrooper dice into the pool. He has a good chunk of health and two damage sides which will likely turn into 3 value damage sides, but as they are wrapped up in a special becomes a little harder to stop. He has a myriad of valid subtypes to let you play him in a lot of different ways. The additional two extra Pirate Loyalist dice just pushes him over the edge from being good to very good: (4/5)

89. Dark Memories – This feels like the downgrade version of Assassin Droid. You get a damage ping when they roll in and a very similar die. It even has redeploy so similarly to the support should be around all game unless some permanent removal like unshackle hits it. Unfortunately, I think cards like unshackle could become more popular in some decks as the Redemption meta unfolds limited the use of this card. Such a shame as I think it deserves more time to shine. (2/5)

90. Headstrong – There is a spot requirement of yellow and it makes it feel like a new Entangle but it is a step up from Entangle as it can hit any two dice just rolled in. Pick the best dice they have now or take the dice that have the most potential that just hit the pool. Either way you will see the disappointment on your opponent’s face as it feels so bad when this card hits. As bad as an Easy Pickings on two 3 damage sides? Yes that level of bad. Just about to put your dice to work but they immediately get shut down. I can’t work out why it feels so oppressive like you’re about to speak only to get slapped in the face before you can get a word out. I think I’ve said enough. This is just simply good: (5/5)

91. – Unfair Trade – The reverse of our old friend “Fair” Trade. I originally put this card down as not going to see much play or be much use, falling into the re-roll fodder category. It could be awkward as there are a few hoops to jump through to get maximum potential out of this card. First, you need to spend your own resources so you are swapping away 0. Second you need to have a disrupt to resolve and third they actually need to have also not spent their resources, and if you are showing a disrupt side they probably already have spent them.
I have started to look at this to counter pirates a little. Let them steal my money and then I’ll take it back at gunpoint with Unfair Trade. There will be that odd occasion where it all falls into place and it will change the course of a game but I can’t see it happening very often to see this card holding onto a spot in a deck list: (1/5)

92A. The Ultimate Heist – A flip plot for pirates. I wish the pirate element was just for the discount to include the plot so it could have wider usage but maybe there is something crazy that I’m not seeing that makes it limited to Pirates. This was hugely popular in the release event and has since been errata’d to 6 resources in order to flip instead of the original 4. It was so easy to flip before that it had to be amended. I think 6 works well meaning the pirate decks out there will have to work for it to get the flipped upgrade coming up next. Still a very solid pirate plot though that will see plenty of play especially as with three wide you can actually get this plot to a negative point value [echo7: I kind of feel this should have been 4 points, in line with Team Up plots like Closing In and Relentless Advance. As it is, you don’t even have to think about including it with the right line-up, which was one of the criticisms of United pre-balance]: (4/5)

92B. Master of Pirates – This is what you do all the stealing in the above for. The only thing any pirate wants – fame and glory. As the Master of Pirates you get to steal a resource every round from your opponent which is going to do so much work for you. Allow you to ramp more. Stop your opponent’s paid removal, protecting your dice in effect, or simply use their money for the special. Use their money to use their dice. Is their anything more cut-throat and pirate-y than that. Every side on this is desirable making it a great bonus for the pirate decks: (4/5)

93. Black Market Arm – Hey Jango! Hey Man-with-Bandolier! Apparently this is an equipment, but I find it very hard not to call it a weapon when looking at it’s die sides but that is something very different in game terms. Imagine if it was, it could be combined with Jar’kai and then is a beast of a card. 3 cost seems spot on for 50% damage and two other useful resolvable sides that also gives a health boost to anyone, and a +2 health boost to a pirate or bounty hunter. Anyone could be a bounty hunter, you just need a mask (very appropriate at the moment). Combined with the Black Market Arm gives you three additional health if on the same character. Boost a character to 15 health for the full effect of Feat of Strength with this combo. I’m sure there are a few other cards that target health of a character too. If nothing else it will hopefully give your character a little longer on the table to make an impact. One of my favourite new cards: (4/5)

94. Hustling – A solid 1 cost upgrade with no pay sides is always nice. You’ll be happy to resolve any side of this dice. The special has a nice dual use of getting a resource or removing a resource from a non-plot card which is very useful. You could clear a resource off an opponent’s Merchant Freighter, L-37 Combat Droid, Force Storm or even Maul. It also combos nicely with Den of Thieves to remove a resource and keep it protecting your yellow characters a little longer: (3/5)

95. Syndicate Electrostaff – This hasn’t seen much play yet as far as I have seen anyway. I’m sure people are put off paying 3 and getting 2 blank sides. It also is a little limited as to who can use it with the play restriction of all characters having to share a subtype . Being Yellow this probably means it fits into Scoundrel, Pirate and Bounty Hunter decks more than anything else. Then it’s a case of managing to take advantage of the reduced cost of the attached character die sides.
I can think of tons off places where this is useful: Chewbacca, Han Solo (TFR), Enfys Nest and her Marauders, Jango, IG-88. It gets a little more difficult to find a spot for this when your characters are a mix of colours but not impossible. The only one that comes to mind is Kragan and Pyre or some Wookiee combinations who both have pay sides on their dice and share a sub-type. Although Kragan and Pyre does render the +3 melee side an extra blank though. I’m sure you’ll be able to find more cross-colour use for this and if you do let us know. There is one deck that loves this card though and it is a pair of Haxiom Droids. When they get this on the table it pretty much wipes away their downside and gives them more resources to play some removal or more ramp.
I’ve not even discussed that it can boost upgrade dice too and echo3ofclubs rightly points out that getting this and a Pulse Cannon down makes that Pulse Cannon way scarier. Its use will be limited but it has a lot of potential: (3/5)

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