Soooo I won a Regional in DFW 6/2

I will update this post with a link to the report once the FF forums are less retarded.

I played:

Jedi
2xA Hero's Journey
2xIn You Must Go
2xForgotten Heroes
1xThe Secret of Yavin 4
1xA Message From Beyond
2xSelf Preservation

Navy
2xFall of the Jedi
2xCounsel of the Sith
2xEmperor's Web
1xImperial Command
2xKilling Cold
1xShadows on the Ice

Tournament was very well run, had a good time.  My playgroup dominated the tournament, 3/4 of top 4 were from Madness, and 4th spot was only missed on tie-breakers.

Yay me!

Resurrecting My Blog

Yes, going to post more here now.  Sorry for the lapse.  I am probably not going to continue the reviews, and just focus on decks etc. I may do reviews of new stuff, but I wouldnt count on it, since they take FOREVER to type up.

Retards?

Is it just me or are people horrible at understanding card games? Team Covenant makes me want to puke with their lack of understanding. Rebels are Awesome-sauce rofl rofl!

Seriously? Any decent DS deck can beat that shit. Into the ground. If you dont win 90+% of the time as DS right now, you have failed at Star Wars the Card Game. And it looks like it will continue. Rebels get a minor boost in desolation, but otherwise its all DS imo. Maybe once the hoth thing is fleshed out more we will see LS winning more, but I wouldnt count on it until Smugglers and Spies get their love in edge.

Desolation next week?

A little birdy told me to expect Force Pack 1 - Desolation of Hoth to be on sale next week. Can't wait!

Analyzing the Core Set - Sith - Fall of the Jedi

So going to jump to the Dark Side for a bit and review the Sith Objective Sets.  Light Side was getting boring no?

So Sith, the strongest faction out of the gate in the Core set in my opinion.  What makes them the best? Their simplicity.  Sith are about one thing: Killing and locking down your units, To supplement this, they also have some of the best card draw/deck manipulation in the game.  They are extremely efficient at both and can constantly put you in a bind.  A lot of people would argue they are kind of slow, which I think is total BS.  Espos really help them with this.  Even the Rebel vehicle blitz deck cant stand up to a few cheap guys supplemented by espos turn 1, especially if one of them is the Royal Guard.  To top it off they have really good force icon values, so good luck winning edge battles against them.

Onto the sets...

Objective Set 19 - Fall of the Jedi

Objective:
The first instance of the DS being able to quickly manipulate their deck to find the cards they need.  Standard 5/1 stats and the react basically means that even if you only play 1-2 cards a turn you can still see 3-4 new cards using this and the rulebook effect to pitch stuff.  While this ability is not all that strong on its own, it will mean when you need something, you can find it in a turn or two.  It also means that playing one guy and having no battles occur will not stymie your hand.  Really great for finding characters and those Sith events when you need them.

Darth Vader
The big man himself.  5 for 4(!) capacity, 2 combat icons, a blast icon, and an edge blast icon is one hell of a stat line.  Combine this with Elite, 4 force icons, and his react and this guys is a real beatstick.  The React is soooo annoying, compounding how powerful the Sith events already are. Important to mention that his react can target non-characters so you can do silly tricks to kill off those pesky Y-Wings with it.  Very commonly, you will play him, abuse his react while he holds down the force struggle and use him as a fat defender until you have broken the LS and are forcing the game end. Very strong character thats not easily removed.

Sith Apprentice
Gee, where have I seen this stat line before?  Pretty boring overall, but gives you a nice 2 cost guy that can attack or defend relatively well.

Vader's Lightsaber
One of the few Sith Enhancements.  So let me get this straight - makes Vader able to kill any LS unit except the Redemption? Check.  Compounds the killy power of Sith by keeping you down once they have a grip of the game when on Vader? Check. Costs only 1 resource? Check.  Has 2 force icons? Check.  Yea ok... Sith are terrible /sarcasm.  While not a great card in and of itself, on Vader it makes him one of the scariest units in the game, as if he wasn't bad enough.

Force Choke
Nice, an event so good they had to limit you to 1 per turn so Vader couldnt wipe out the LS board the minute he hit the table. Doing 1 point of damage may seem pretty unexciting until you realize most characters have between 1 and 3 hit points.  So at worst, you kill a weenie or finish off a medium/large unit.  At best you combo this with a 2 dmg strike to kill something fat.  Clearly better when Vader is on the table since you can kill a single 2 capacity guy or two 1 capacity guys (hurr card advantage). Also really good for poking protect characters so they cant protect anymore or removing those annoying shield tokens.  Its limited to characters only which is kind of annoying, but not necessarily enemy characters.  So Y-Wings beware, Vader will choke his own men (or himself!) to kill you if hes desperate.

Heat of Battle
Duplicated on both sides.  Except this one is better because DS has a whole theme about killing LS units.  See above. Weee I kill your guys before the battle even starts.  I guess I win when that happens right? Also helps you win edge in the off chance the LS isnt wiped out. Yay for duality!

As a Whole:
So in case you missed it, Sith have a theme of killing LS characters =P.  And they are extremely good at it.  This set is pretty much mandatory if you are going straight Sith, and can be ok as a splash.  Really no dead cards here, closest one is Vader's Saber and even that will pain train enough LS guys its worth having.  Obviously. the whole set gets better the more Sith cards you play and can only get stronger as more cards are released.  The LS has a hard time winning the game when they have no units /shockedface.

Decks - My DS Guantlet

Going to list the decks I currently need my LS deck to beat, since I consider them to be the best DS has to offer.  I will go more into detail on this later and in reviews.  There are obviously some variants to the below, but this is my take.  The Straight Sith deck is my preferred DS deck, which I don't think the LS can consistently beat in any form, but they are all nasty in their own way.

Deck 1

Affiliation:
Sith

Objectives:
2xFall of the Jedi
2xThe Emperor's Web
2xThe Heart of the Empire
2xCouncil of the Sith
1xReconnaissance Mission
1xCorporate Exploitation

Cards:
2xEmperor Palpatine
2xDarth Vader
2xCoruscant Defense Fleet
2xHuman Replica Droid
2xEmperor's Royal Guard
2xSith Apprentice
4xKuati Security Team
2xAdvisor to the Emperor
5xEspo Trooper

6xSith Library
2xVader's Lightsaber

2xThere is No Escape
2xForce Lightning
2xForce Stasis
2xDark Precognition
4xForce Choke

3xHeat of Battle
1xTarget of Opportunity
3xTwist of Fate

Deck 2

Affiliation:
Imperial Navy

Objectives:
2xThe Endor Gambit
2xDeath and Despayre
2xImperial Command
2xTaking them Prisoner
1xReconnaissance Mission
1xCorporate Exploitation

Cards:
2xDevastator
4xAT-ST
2xAdmiral Motti
2xHuman Replica Droid
4xHeavy Stormtrooper Squad
2xAT-ST Commander
2xImperial Officer
4xDeath Star Trooper
2xDuty Officer
5xEspo Trooper

2xOrbital Bombardment
2xControl Room
2xDefense Upgrade
2xAft Armor Plating

2xTrooper Charge
2xDetained
2xTear This Ship Apart

3xHeat of Battle
3xTarget of Opportunity
1xTwist of Fate

Deck 3:
Affiliation:
Sith

Objectives:
2xThe Endor Gambit
2xDeath and Despayre
2xImperial Command
2xThe Emperor's Web
1xReconnaissance Mission
1xCorporate Exploitation

Cards:
2xEmperor Palpatine
2xDevastator
4xAT-ST
2xAdmiral Motti
2xHuman Replica Droid
2xEmperor's Royal Guard
4xHeavy Stormtrooper Squad
2xAT-ST Commander
2xImperial Officer
2xDuty Officer
5xEspo Trooper

2xOrbital Bombardment
2xControl Room
2xSith Library
2xDefense Upgrade
2xAft Armor Plating

2xForce Choke
2xForce Lightning

3xHeat of Battle
3xTarget of Opportunity
1xTwist of Fate

Notice anything?  I'll give you a hint: The DS Neutrals are silly good and all three decks get MASSIVE card advantage.  Sith from their objectives, Navy from their people.

Decks - LS no Secrets Jedi

This is the deck I am currently running as my primary LS deck.  I currently consider Jedi-based LS decks to be superior to Rebel or mixed ones, because they can control more aspects of the game much more easily.  I'll get into this a bit more when I do the Reviews for Rebels, but I think Rebels struggle way too much with winning Edge Battles and contesting the Force Struggle because of a complete lack of force icons for the most part and absolutely no other built-in support for these parts of the game.

Jedi, on the other hand, have lots of tricks, force icons, and most of the really powerful characters readily available to them, making them much more well rounded.  The biggest issue facing the LS in the core set is overcoming the massive amount of card advantage the DS gets and winning early edge battles.  If you can't do this, you will get swarmed and will be put on the defensive.  It is particularly important that you kill a few of the DS's units he puts out in the first few turns, which is why, in my opinion, targeted strike is pivotal.  Having it early will mean your opponent will have no choice but to defend (since he will lose guys either way).

So to the deck.  This is my current experimental deck.  Has a lot of the LS staples but has opted for Last Minute Rescue over The Secret of Yavin 4 for a few reasons.  First, LMR has much better force icons spread over multiple cards, which helps immensely with early edge battles.  Since my intent is to force my opponent to fight me early in the game, I have to win edge battles to put the hurt on.  The next reason is because there is less detriment to the deck.  Secret of Yavin gives you 2 shielding guys per set (so 4) and no other guys.  This is a detriment to the ability of the deck to threaten without getting a fatty.  LMR on the other hand, gives you the Redemption, which is pretty big on its own, and it and the Engineer gives you a similar capability as the Guardians.Pairing that with Return of the Jedi and Force Rejvenation and I think overall its a stronger build.

Affiliation:
Smugglers and Spies

Objectives:
2xA Hero's Journey
2xForgotten Heroes
2xIn You Must Go
2xLast Minute Rescue
2xQuestionable Contacts

Cards:
2xObi-Wan Kenobi
2xRedemption
2xLuke Skywalker
2xHan Solo
2xYoda
2xJedi in Hiding
2xBeliever in the Old Ways
2xCorellian Engineer
2xTwi'lek Smuggler
2xTwi'lek Loyalist

2xTrust in Your Feelings
2xShi-Cho Training
2xJedi Lightsaber
4xDagobah Training Ground
2xCloud City Casino

2xReturn of the Jedi
2xForce Rejuvenation
2xJedi Mind Trick
2xCounter-Stroke
2xSwindled
2xCrossfire
2xEmergency Repairs
2xOur Most Desperate Hour

2xHeat of Battle

So obviously you avoid having to start with Questionable Contacts if you can.  Your best objective start is some combo of Hero's Journey, Forgotten Heroes and In You Must Go, preferrably 1 of each.

Your best opening hand will have a resource and either Luke or Han.  If my first draw doesnt contain Luke or Han I will mulligan to try and get one.  In a perfect world youd have Han and either Obi or Yoda, so you can easily with edge after dropping him, but a couple 3s will also suffice.  You have to kill off early people or you will get swarmed.  If Han/Luke make it past their first attacks, digging for a buddy is what you want to do.  Obviously the best one is Redemption, since it is a threat to objectives and keeps your guys putting pressue on, but Returning an edged Obi can also be really big.  If they die, then hopefully you can follow up with another or Return of the Jedi or something.  If you can't you have to go defensive and try to win a defended battle or punch your way through.

This is why its soo tough to win as LS.  You have to put on early pressure but you can't afford to lose a battle on the attack since the ensuing battle will likely have you losing all your guys,

You also cannot afford to try and play defensively early either.  If you dont have a strong showing in the first 2 turns, you will see yourself being faced with 3-4 weenies and some kind of beaters from the DS to your (maybe) 2 big guys by turn 2.  The DS will drown you in small guys and try to make you lose a battle on the attack by camping the struggle.  This strategy is why Sith is soo hard to beat, they can do all these things relatively easily.

Feedback appreciated!

Analyzing the Core Set - Smugglers and Spies - Questionable Contacts

Alright so now that we are done with Jedi, I'm going to skip ahead a bit to the lone Smugglers and Spies objective set in Core.  I wont speculate as to what the themes of S&S are until we see more cards, just say that the faction is off to a great start if this set is representative of what we will see in the future.

Objective Set 15 - Questionable Contacts

Objective:
The usual 5/1 stats and a pretty strong, if very limited, ability.  Being able to heal your own guys while simultaneously killing your opponents is really strong, since 1 use can quickly swing the board position in your favor.  Downside is if none of your guys are hurt, you can't use it and that you have to also poke the objective for a damage, making it easier to kill.  While I have rarely used this ability for one reason or the other, the few times I have it was really critical.  Not bad overall; limited, but strong when useful.

Han Solo
Fanbois rejoice, welcome to the best unit in the Core set for LS. 4 cost for 2 damage capacity 2 combat icons, a tactics icon, and an edge blast icon is already pretty good.  Throw on targeted strike and his reaction and even Luke looks kinda average by comparison.  Obviously his react will mean one of your opponents units will either die or be damaged before the battle, then in the battle another will be killed while still another will be locked down.  So lets just say turn 1 play Han, attack, kill a 1 capacity guy with react, win edge and kill/lock 2 others is what hes all about.  This is a huge tempo swing for the LS, even if the DS ends up killing him afterwards, and very few units stand up to him.  Three force icons to top it all off.  Obviously, the 2 damage capacity is his weakness, and it helps if you can protect him a bit until he gets some backup.  Only things he has to be cautious about is Royal Guards, Darth Vader, and AT-STs, but all of those except Vader are managable depending. He gets stupid if you give him a way to remove tokens as well (like Trust In Your Feelings or Leia), since then he can attack multiple times, triggering his react several times.

Twi'lek Smuggler
Yikes, another strong character. 2 cost for 1 damage capacity but a combat icon and a tactic icon.  The tactic icon is what really makes her strong, since people cant just ignore her without having their best people locked down.  Really good price for her.  Obviously the 1 damage is her weakness, but can be very problematic for the DS if they let her swing.

Cloud City Casino
Standard limited resource with a new name. Yay!

Swindled
This card is pretty cool.  1 cost to bounce a cheap annoyance back to the DS's hand is really nice, and very strong in first couple turns.  Gets you by Royal Guards, Heavy Troopers and other annoying guys with lots of combat icons.  Alternatively, can bounce your own people to get rid of tactic tokens/damage or to trigger "leaves play" reacts.  Leia and the Xwing escort in Rebels really love this card since its cheap, dual purpose, and can result in game-changing effects.  Really strong/interesting card.  I am glad they didnt limit it to "enemy only' units.

Crossfire
This card is very situational, but can make all the difference in the right ones.  1 cost to add an icon mid-battle can really turn the tide.  Adding a combat icon to kill something outright, a tactic icon to lock out multiple units, or a blast to finish off an objective are all great uses of this card.  It fits alot of combat situations, and is very flexible.  Kinda meh if you dont need the icon when you get it because it only has 1 force icon, but those times are pretty few and far between.

As a Whole:
This set is why you will see a lot of people starting S&S affiliation.  Way too much good stuff to pass up, and if you dont play any of the neutrals (which I think all stink anyway, more later), you can take the affiliation and just make the Questionable Contacts the objective you always pass on if you can.  Han Solo alone is more than enough reason to take two of this set, and he gets a lot of backup from the twi'lek, the events, and also the added resource, which never hurts.  I consider this to be mandatory for the LS, he just does too much for you to pass on it.  No cards that will be dead or wasted here.

As an additional note, a lot of the S&S stuff that has been spoiled so far makes me think they really will be one of the strongest of the LS factions once they get support.  A lot of nasty tricks so far, looks really fun in my opinion.

Analyzing the Core Set - Jedi - Jedi Training

Objective Set 7 - Jedi Training

Objective:
This objective is pretty nice, basic stats with a really nice passive ability.  Getting +1 to force struggle all the time can be really good and very frustrating to the DS, because it means they cant out math you by commiting their weenies. Helps you keep the dial down and potentially throw out some random objective damage since its harder for them to take the struggle back. Silly good when you get 2 (if you are playing it), because the DS will likely have to commit his whole team to take it turn 1/2.  I won't go so far to say its a game changer, but it is really annoying and can force the DS into some tough decisions, which always helps.

Jedi in Hiding.
Same as from Forgotten Heroes.  Force User that really needed another damage capacity.

Believer in the Old Ways
Same as from In You Must Go.  Generic 2 for 2. Nice, but boring.

Ancient Monument
This card is really good.  1 cost enhancement (meaning potentially free if you have nothing else to play with In You Must Go) that compounds the objective bonus.  However, this card really shines for having 3 force icons, making it extremely flexible.  If you need it to control the struggle, then you play it for 0-1 cost.  Otherwise, you hold it and throw it to win you an edge.  Very few situations where this is not useful in some way.

Jedi Mind Trick
Just like in Forgotten Heroes (see review there).  Very, very good card and being able to have 4 in a deck is really frustrating. A bit better in this set because of the built-in force struggle theme here.

It Binds All Things
Yowza, a potential infinite combo card.  This card is really flexible.  Can get you back dead characters or return some nice events/fate cards to re-use again.  Can be 'infinite' (up to your resources) if you get both of them and have control of the force.  Have seen someone play Jedi Mind Trick 4 times without the combo in one turn using this card, which was crippling for the DS.  Being able to get back Jedi peeps, Mind Trick, Counter-Stroke/3PO, etc is all very strong and make you very difficult to handle.  A very nice card, especially since it doesnt require Jedi resources to play. Up there with Mind Trick and Counter-Stroke for best events.

As a Whole:
This set is really nice for all the cool support cards it adds.  Drawback is you dont get really any characters that are very helpful.  If you are already playing a lot of the fatties and dont need the slots this set is a huge boon, making your deck even more difficult to handle.  My problem is that I never feel like I have room for more than 1 copy, which always begs the question of 'why bother'.  I really like this set and feel it brings a great deal to the table, just wish it had one strong character instead of the same chaff people.  If it did have a standout, would be much more desirable.  As-is, you can try to fit it in, but is hard to keep over other stuff.  I really hope the 'force control' theme could be expanded to allow Jedi to further damage objectives or keep the dial down more so that they wouldnt necessarily need to attack.  Would be nice if this was a theme that kept the 'sit back and defend' DS decks in check a bit buy reversing the clock on them.

Analyzing the Core Set - Jedi - Last Minute Rescue

Objective Set 6 - Last Minute Rescue

Objective:
Standard 5/1 stats, and an ability that is pretty meh.  Kinda nice if shields prevented damage but your beater still took some damage.  A lot of times though, people will kill your guys in one turn, meaning the ability will not frequently be used.  More useful for taking damage off Guardians, but you really give up a lot of offense for it.  Not bad, just not great.

Redemption
I have mixed feelings about this vehicle.  5 for 4 capacity, 2 combat icons and 2 edge blasts is pretty decent especially given that it is a vehicle and not subject to the usual stuff that kills units.  Also has the reaction to "bounce" your guys when they die.  This can be really good if you get it out and then play Han or Luke repeatedly since your opponent cant really ever kill them and they are really troubling as it is.  Also pretty threatening on the attack itself and a good target for its own objective, since it has 4 capacity, which is hard to kill in one go.  I like the idea, but the cost can be prohibitive.  3 force icons is nice too, since in the event you dont want to or cant play it you can throw it as a solid edge card.

Corellian Engineer.
This guy is basically a downgraded Guardian.  2 cost, 2 capacity, no icons and shielding is a pretty big downgrade.  But I suppose really the only thing you miss out on is the protect, since frequently the guardian wont have her combat icon.  Is a neutral which is nice, but I think this card is pretty bad by comparison.

Return of the Jedi
Pretty nice card.  A little pricey at 3, but thats still cheaper than most of the best targets for it.  Keeping Luke in the game can be huge.  Another trick with this is to throw Obi or Yoda to an edge for their big value, then using this to get them into play.  If thats not an option, you can always thow this since it has a nice 3 force icons.  Really cool card and can save you games both due to its saving your characters and its edge value.  Wish it didnt have to be force users only, since there are only really a few good targets at the moment, but the drawback isnt horrible given what else you will likely be playing.

Emergency Repairs
This card is really just trolly.  Heals a damaged objective, but only on your turn. In most cases this will really just annoy the DS by healing 2-4 damage off an objective.  Can be kinda nice, but the cost and being only playable on your turn is pretty prohibitive, since this can often be too late.  Not really a game changer and with only 1 force icon is a dead card a lot. Not my cup of tea.

Force Rejuvenation
This card is pretty decent.  Lets your remove any negative effects from a character.  All damage tokens, focus tokens, and negative enhancements disappear in one go.  Can also let you "Double strike" or double attack since you can play it between strikes and battles and actually doesnt care if you are committed to the force since it gets rid of ALL the tokens, not just one.  This is really what Double-Strike should have been in a lot of ways.  A little more expensive at 2 cost, but the effect and its 2 force icons are well worth it.  Nice to have.

As a Whole:
This set is an alternative to Secrets in my opinion.  The difference is you get something that can actually beat down objectives and gives you several actions that are much more tricky/subtle (in a good way) than the Secrets ones.  I am currently in the process of trying this out over Secrets.  Only really kinda bad cards are the Engineer (which isnt much worse than the Guardian) and the Repairs.  Also has much better force icons than Secrets, which helps a lot in the early Edge battles.  I think this has a place and will obviously get better as more cards are realeased that are force users and the DS gets more debuff enhancements.

Analyzing the Core Set - Jedi - The Secret of Yavin 4

Objective Set 5 - The Secret of Yavin 4

Objective:
This objective is all about protecting you other, likely weaker, objectives.  Standard 1 resource, but 6 damage capacity instead of 5.  The reaction lets you change a DS attacker to be attacking this one.  Note that post FAQ this means they cannot attack the Objective they were originally assigned to again this turn and CAN choose to attack this objective again since this limitation is applied when they assign, prior to the react.  This can be very powerful, and keep the DS off their most common targets of Hero's Journey, Forgotten Heroes, or Jedi Training until this one has been destroyed.  This is a pretty nice ability to have, but honestly you would really much rather have your other objectives, so it will not be uncommon to pass this one up when given the choice.

C-3PO
So much better than his counter-bot its scary.  One cost for his reaction is solid gold.  This guy is like paying a Counter-Stroke in advance and having him stare at your opponent until he's needed to stop something nasty. As an added bonus he has one force icon, meaning hes great to commit to the force since he never needs to go to battle (he can use his ability from outside it), and kills himself, freeing up the commit marker when he does.  Incredibly frustrating if you get him early since it means their first attempt to do something meaningful will be cancelled and he will likely buy you time to find a Counter-Stroke too if you are playing it. Another card that make me lament R2-D2, since if R2 could have 'repaired' him (fluff ftw) back to your hand they would have been one of the most frustrating combos in the game.

Guardian of Peace
Two cost for 2 damage capacity and a edge combat icon doesnt sound so great, but she has Shielding and Protect Character, which makes up for it to some degree.  She helps keep your fatties and objectives alive, which is nice, since giving them +2-3 Damage Capacity can mean they dont go down so easily, if at all.  My biggest problem is the severe lack of combat icons means shes dead weight in helping you kill objectives and isn't really even very good on defense aside from giving out shields.  I think you need a few of these in a deck to help with Force Choke and the like, but its a balancing act I havent found yet.  More on that below...

Guardian of Peace
..and you get two.  This is what I mean.  You want to have a few, but I'm not sure you need 4.  I'll get more into this in the set as a whole section, but this card is the hardest question for Jedi in my opinion.

Lightsaber Deflection
A really fantastic card, especially early in the game.  Can swing a battle quickly, especially if you win edge.  Creates 'I strike and kill a guy, you strike and kill one of your other guys, then I strike again' situations that really frustrate the DS,  This card is also free, which helps allow you to keep the resources for Counter-Stroke or Jedi Mind Trick.  Throw on 2 force icons for giggles and this is a really good card.  In my opinion, this is probably the 3rd best event for Jedi in the core set.

Twist of Fate
Alllllrighy,,,This card is a doosey. I don't want to say its a great card by itself, because it isnt.  However, it can be a game changer in the right situations and that in and of itself is important. Just having this card in your deck will make your opponent play carefully.  I'm not going into all the possible situations since there are way too many for me to cover in one post, but suffice to say this is probably the single most important fate card that exists, especially because both sides have it (although the DS version is slightly 'weaker').  I think this card is generally better on the defense since you can pretty easily get your opponent to throw 2-3 cards before you pass up since he has to start the edge, but can be good in many situations.

As a Whole:
This set is the single hardest question for Jedi decks.  As Light Side, you do have to at some point attack and kill your opponent's objectives, and this set offers basically no direct help towards that goal.  It has basically no combat icons of any type and nothing that gives you any real force multiplier.  It does help protect your characters and cards very well, especially against Sith, and that has some value in Jedi since most of their characters are well worth protecting. Luke and Yoda in particular.  I could see skipping this set entirely if you had a lot of 2 capacity people and ways of resurrecting your big guys, but I think that as of now you really cant do that since Jedi in Hiding and Twi'Leks have only 1 capacity.  Of course if you go 2 of this, you have a lot of cards that dont directly help you win and can cause your deck to sputter.  Finding the correct balance, which in my opinion right now is 1 of these, is the hardest part of this set.  You get a lot for taking it;  C-3PO, Deflection, 2 shielding/protector guys, AND the twists, but you also miss out on some offensive power, which you will need to win.

Analyzing the Core Set - Jedi - A Journey to Dagobah

Objective Set 4 - A Journey to Dagobah

Objective:
So at first blush this is A Hero's Journey Advanced.  Same 4 Damage Capacity, same 2 resources, and an ability! Sorry, not really.  The ability is nice, ensuring that once it dies (and it will) you can replace it with whatever you like.  Unfortunately, this has the 'Jedi Affiliation only' drawback.  This is a major problem because it means that if you are playing it you can't splash Rebels or Smugglers in very well (if at all) because the deck building mechanics making it easier to have your affiliation be your splash as opposed to your main faction. In other words, if you are playing this objective you went straight Jedi, or are splashing this in a Rebel or Smuggler deck, neither of which is currently advisable.  On the plus side, if you are going straight Jedi, this gives you another way to get 5 resources turn 1.

Red 5
To me, this card makes no sense as a Jedi card.  Fluff reasons aside, its a vehicle and cant have the usual Jedi enhancements, and has 3 blast damage.  This is really odd since most Jedi cards suffer from having few blast damage so the only reason I can see why FF put it in Jedi is to somehow offset that fact.  Its pretty cost effective at 3 for 3 blasts and 2 damage capacity, and is a vehicle so not subject to Choke, Stasis and the like.  Elite is kinda meh on it, although it does allow you to commit it to the force or just keep it from being easily tactics'ed out.  Ordinarily, this guy will live for maybe one attack, then be toast.  Its a really obvious 'kill or tactics first' if your opponent wins the edge though, espcially if your opponent has royal guard or heavy stormstroopers (so like every DS deck...).  Pretty meh overall, but can be annoying to deal with..

R2-D2
I was really disappointed when I saw this card because I expected more from the droid that basically saves Luke/Han/Leia from certain doom at least 4-5 times in the movies.  Hes an always free unit that generates 1 neutral resource.  Pretty meh.  He is a non-limited resource and always free regardless of whether you have In You Must Go or not, meaning he also helps with the 5 on turn one deal, so thats something.  No force icons also sucks, since would have been trolly to drop him and commit for 1 like you can with his partner.  Just not overly impressed with him. Sadface for one of the most dynamic characters from the movies =(.

Twi-lek Loyalist
Same as the one from Hero's Journey.  Good for a 1 drop.

Double Strike
Another card that looks really good on paper but is not all that its cracked up to be.  Obviously, this card is supposed to let you strike twice with your powerhouses (Luke being the best) in 1 battle.  Realistically, you are constantly faced with 'should I throw this in the edge battle?' and have to because the card is pretty pointless if you lose edge (hi, I kill the guy you wanna double strike as my first strike).  Another issue is that if you already had to commit the guy you are striking with to the force, it only gets rid of one token so no double-strikey. Oh, and you have to play it on characters so Red 5 need not apply.  Kinda feels like this one wasn't playtested enough, since it also requires a resource and has only 1 force icon, totally killing any hope it had of being a really strong card right now.  Maybe in the future we will see cards that combo well with it, but right now theres just way too much your opponent can do to mess it up.  Every once in a while you'll see someone drop Luke turn 1, win the subsequent edge and drop this on the DS, but thats about as likely as being struck by lightning.

Target of Opportunity
Another fate card, this one focused on poking the objective.  This does nothing on the defense, which makes it a little less awesome as a card.  It is nice to jack up your math to kill an objective and/or maybe win you an edge battle (as it is a 2), but not a total rockstar for Jedi.  Nice, but not great.  Pound for pound, Heat of Battle is much better.

As a Whole:
The objective set is pretty lackluster as a whole.  I personally feel like it doesnt boost Jedi in any of the ways it really needs it and doesnt synergize very well with the rest of the cards available to Jedi.  This set actually synergizes better with several of the Rebel sets, which makes it a nice splash for them (especially since you will want to start Jedi affiliation anyway in that case).  Aside from the resources and a semi-scary objective beater, you dont get much here, so I usually don't include it in my Jedi decks.

Analyzing the Core Set - Jedi - In You Must Go

Objective Set 3 - In You Must Go

Objective
Standard 5/1 stats, but a really strong ability.  Yes, thats right, REALLY STRONG.  Why? Because it makes all your Limited resource-generating enhancements free if played as the first enhancement.  Welcome to the backup plan for making 5 resources turn 1 if you dont get a 2-producer from your objective deck.  Also lets you toss out Lightsabers without locking up your resources and makes the cost of Trust in Your Feelings very managable.  This Objective makes R2-D2 look like a 'more of the same', which is saying something, in my opinion.

Yoda
Another powerful Jedi character.  You don't get a whole lot for 3 resources initially with only 2 damage capacity, 1 tactic icon, and an edge combat and blast icons.  His innate trait makes him have the potential of being a real beating.  Gaining an additional edge combat and blast icon for each enhancement can make him monstrous quickly.  Shi-Cho and a Lightsaber makes him have 4 combat icons he can split amongst enemies in the battle and kill an objective by himself if he wins edge.  The only issue with this you absolutely have to protect him once he gets an enhancement or two because he becomes a huge target, and his 2 capacity and no innate way to avoid Force Lightning doesn't help.  Obviously, he works really well with A Hero's Journey because it provides two really powerful enhancments.  And I havent even mentioned the 5 force icons or elite yet.  Hes's also a force user, helping with Forgotten Heroes.  He can be the biggest beating Jedi have if you can protect him.  He will become stronger and stronger as Jedi get more enhancement variety.  Personally I'd like to see a healing/shielding/preventative enhancement, or one that gives him targeted strike as thouse would make him nutty.

Believer in the Old Ways
Ahh the first of the 'Grizzy Bear' characters in Star wars.  2 for 2 damage capacity with a combat icon and an edge blast.  This is as generic as the Star Wars LCG gets, you see this exact stat line in a lot of places.  For Jedi, she gives you a needed blast icon, but is otherwise unimpressive.

Shi-Cho Training
I have mixed feelings about this enhancement,  Really good for Yoda, as noted above, but no other Characters can really make much use out of it otherwise since it doesnt work with Targeted Strike.  It has 2 force icons, which is really nice.  Right now is really best to throw during edge or put on Yoda to make him a monster, and not much else.  Hopefully, we will see more Jedi Characters that can make better use of it.

Dagobah Training Ground
Standard Limited recource.  Nothing exciting to see here.

Counter-Stroke
Wow.  Counter-Stroke is really nice and the reason you will always leave 1 Jedi resource open, even if you dont have it.  Makes your opponent sweat, since it basically means all the most bomb Dark events will be cancelled against Jedi.  Superlaser blast? Nope.  Force Lightning? Forget it.  There is no Escape? lolno.  Early it will protect your fatties and late will protect the game state.  Add on that it has 2 force icons, so can swing an edge batle if you absolutely have to and its up there with Jedi Mind Trick for best Jedi Event in Core.

As a Whole:
The second Objective Set that I think is mandatory if you are going mainly Jedi.  The fact that this set has a way to have 5 resources turn 1, a resource, a potential fatty (or 5 in edge/force struggle), AND Counter-Stroke makes it way too good to pass up.  On top of all that, the weakest card in the set has 2 force icons and it combos well with the first required set, and you really can't go wrong here.  This set really covers Jedi in so many ways, you really cant avoid taking it.

New X-Wing Figs

Well the new X-Wing Minis are out and I must say, WOW. The Falcon and Slave 1 are fantastic! I bought both, and 2x a-wing and Tie interceptor. Really excited to get some games with them.

Dark Side Wins?

Played a whole bunch of games yesterday.

I don't think it possible for Light Side to win with just the core set if it doesn't see Han Solo or Luke turn 1 against any decently constructed Dark Side deck. Sometimes, even when you do see them you will still lose. The DS gets wayyy too much card advantage from its cards, primarily its objectives, and will just defend and camp the force struggle until you attack, fail, and lose half your stuff. Then they will attack objectives 1 at a time until the dial caps.

I am currently unbeaten with Straight Sith because of this, and while I can occasionally win with LS using Jedi against similar decks, its less than a 10% chance. The feared 'Rebel Fleet' deck has never beaten my sith, in any incarnation.

Light side really needs some help in the form of a innate way to overcome early edge battles and more targeted strike-type of effects to keep the DS from swarming. Common starts for DS right now are stuff like AT-ST, hvy Stormtrooper squad and another small dude, or Kuat security force, Royal Guard, Espos keeping 4-5 cards in their hand because of the card draw from Council of the Sith, Recon Mission, AT-STs, etc. You really cant just balls into that with scrubs. Even with Luke/Han it can be scary because the game degenerates quickly if they die right then/there.

Just my 2 cents right now. Looking forward to the force packs.

Analyzing the Core Set - Jedi - Forgotten Heroes

Objective Set 2 - Forgotten Heroes

Objective
Standard 1 resource, 5 Damage Capacity. The ability on this Objective gives you a slight amount of card advantage, varying in strength based on how you build your deck. In most cases, it will mean roughly half of your characters give you the ability to draw 1 additional card a turn. This amounts to most turns resulting in an additional card. This is fairly important, since if gives you a distinct advantage in Edge Battles and helps the deck stay aggressive early in the game. That all being said, the benefit when compared to some of the other possible objectives is really just average, but expect it will be more important in the future.

Obi-Wan Kenobi
The headliner. For a cost of 5 you get a decent cheracter, but not really a heavy hitter like Luke. Elite, 3 damage capacity, a combat icon, a tactic icon, an edge tactic and an edge blast is nothing to sneeze at, and his trait is pretty strong. He just doesnt have same oomph as Luke or even Yoda, expecially at 5 cost. The 4 force icons is pretty nice, and he will likely be committed to the force regularly. Hes good, and can really help when people are a little twist happy, but probably wont hold down a game for you by himself, especially if you lose the edge battle.

Jedi in Hiding
First of the 2 cost guys, this one has decent stats. Damage Capacity of 1 kinda stinks, and I would have gladly given up the edge blast for another HP, but what can you do. Force Choke and Darth Vader really take it to this guy. Nice that he is a force user, since it helps trigger the objective's react. The two Combat Icons is the real selling point, since he kills most non-unique characters by himself and isn't overly threatening for the most part. A pretty average unit. Having 2 force icons instead of 1 would have also helped this guy a lot.

Jedi Mind Trick
One of the most annoying events Jedi have. You really want to play it during your opponent's turn before he can take the force struggle back and put 2 tokens on. Costs one, so may eat up your reserved resource if played too early, but can be a game changer. Locking down Vader, the Emperor and other nasty stuff can be huge. One of the best reasons to play this set.

Our Most Desperate Hour
This card is pretty meh. Kinda nice early if you put out Luke or Han or something turn 1 and wanna be sure he lives to turn 2, but in general is pretty boring, especially because it only has one force icon. Cute that you can double up a shield, but that rarely comes up. The weakest card in this set for sure

Heat of Battle
A nice fate card. Can punk something before the fighting begins and adds 2 to the edge which is nice to have. Im not huge of overdoing fate cards because they can be dead if you get them at the wrong times, but this one can turn a battle for you pretty easily and is nice to have.

Objective Set as a whole:
On the whole, you are taking this set for 2 reasons. The first is you want some more beef outside Luke, Yoda, and maybe Han, and Obi wan is next best option. Hes decent and can bring some pain, taking some pressure off your other uniques. The second is Jedi Mind Trick. Having the trick (or 4) can be really frustrating to the DS and help your uniques pain train the DS characters. As an added bonus to either, you get some random card draw and a couple other situational cards. Far from a bad set, but I do not necessarily think its a blinking "must have" like Luke's set.

Analyzing the Core Set - Jedi - Hero's Journey

Going to go through each faction's cards one by one and give you my breakdown and experience with them, starting today with the Jedi faction.

Generally, Jedi appear to have a few main themes:
1) Big Jedi - The thing that will make you want to play them.  Luke, Obi-Wan, Yoda; all the big names are here and they are all powerful in their own way.
2) Shielding/Protecting Cards - Several Jedi Cards are based on Shielding, moving damage around or protecting your other cards, which helps keep the big Jedi beating down the dark side. Examples are Guardian of Peace, Counterstroke, The Secret of Yavin 4, and Last Minute Rescue
3) Character Enhancements - Jedi have more character enhancements than any other faction, and some of the most powerful pound for pound.

Jedi are very good once they are established on the board since their big named characters are all very annoying and it can be incredibly frustrating to remove them once they are out.  However, Jedi really are desperate for extra resources, especially early in the game, since a vast majority of their Events require at least 1 resource to play.  This can be a problem, because it can leave your big guns open to reprisal by the dark side if you dont constantly leave 1 Jedi resource open.  This makes getting to 5 resource right at the start of the game really important, since 5 allows you to play Luke, Yoda, or two other guys (since a vast majority of non-named Jedi cost 2) and still be able to Mind Trick or Counterstroke if needed or to simply put out Obi-Wan or the Redemption.  Jedi can also struggle early in the game if they dont get an early big character, since their smaller guys are really support and struggle with winning you edge battles and the force struggle since most have only 1 force icon and dont really have a lot of combat icons like other factions do.  If it starts off slow, its unlikely you will be able to recover without a dark side mistake.

Onto the cards themselves.  I will do each card in each Objective Set as a separate post, with general comments about the set as a whole.

Objective Set 1 - A Hero's Journey

Objective
A lot of people look at the 4 Damage Capacity and shudder, but you desperately need the 2 resource generation.  If this objective is one of your first 4, it guarantees you start with 5 resources, which is very needed for the reasons I already mentioned.  Also, this objective benefits a bit from other objectives protecting it, which I'll get to later.  I have seen Jedi decks that try to opt out of this objective, but I don't really see that as feasable, given the rest of the cards in the set.

Luke Skywalker
Your first and best beatstick.  A bargain at 4 cost for what you get.  Targeted Strike, 2 combat icons, 1 blast, and 1 edge blast makes him a serious threat whether your opponent defends or not.  His reaction ability is ultra-elite; it is better in most situations.  You can attack, remove the token and defend which is really nice, and his removing it on your opponents turn prior to refresh means he is hard to kill with Force Lightning unless he has defended already.  Alternatively, you can commit him to the force, and any time he gets tokens by attacking they will both be gone again by next turn, just like Elite.  The only time the ability is not as good as normal elite is when you need him to defend and be committed, since he wont get rid of the final token until your opponents turn, meaning he cant attack. Throw in 3 Damage Capacity, 3 force icons, and the Force User keyword and hes one of the best Jedi Characters available.

Twi'Lek Loyalist
A very cheap guy with two pretty nice edge-enabled icons.  This guy can be really annoying if unchecked, but is really mediocre if your opponent can be bothered to choke him out or simply dedicate a little trooper to put him down.  Nice to have that tactics icon though.  Is unfortunate that he didng get a force-related keyword, since it means some of the enhancements are not playable on him.

Jedi Lightsaber
A nice, cheap enhancement that really helps Luke and Yoda out a lot.  Its unfortunate that it can only be attached to Jedi-types, but is worth the cost and the card. In my opinion is best on Luke/Yoda since they make good use of the extra icons and arent as easy to kill, but can be played on most Jedi guys to help you take an objective

Trust Your Feelings
A little pricey at the cost of most of your characters (before reductions), but really strong on a lot of characters, particularly those with targeted strike.  The action can be used mid-battle to allow a character to strike twice or simply to allow you to attack twice by using it between battles.  Very strong card that can compound Jedi dominance or help you establish it.

Dagobah Training Ground
The standard limited resource.  Needed for all decks, but nothing special about this particular one.

Objective Set as a whole:
I view two of this set as required if you are going mainly Jedi affiliation in your deck.  Gives you everything you need in a Jedi set - Resources, a potential auto-start 5 resouces,  a big beater that can level the playing field early on against the dark side since they can't just ignore him, and some nice support cards, particularly Trust.  Also, this set is the only set that has 2 character enhancements in it, which is really important if you are planning on playing Yoda in any meaningful way, since he needs good enhancements to be effective.