eVader/eKylo - Store Championship T4 (3rd/18) by ReadyToRole

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Why So Angry? - 30 Person Tournament Winner 216 167 32 3.0
Inspiration für
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Bring on the Pain 0 0 0 1.0
Emo Sith 0 0 0 1.0
Emo Kids - First Place, 12-Person Win-A-Box 1 0 0 1.0
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FRFC3S 159

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This deck was derived from a combination of joemasilotti's deck and /u/Bray182's deck. It's a fairly cheap-to-build, simple-to-play, mid-range aggro deck that is a great start for a new player who wants to dip their feet into competitive Destiny play.

I basically took both successful decks, put them side-by-side, and realized that they have 20-23 cards in common. The core of the deck is:
1 Force Push
2 Force Throw
2 Lightsaber
2 Makashi Training
2 Holocrons
2 Vibroknife
1-2 Meditate (which I strongly recommend as a two-of, as discussed later)
2 Deflect
2 Enrage
2 Feel Your Anger
1-2 Isolation (Basically a two-of if your meta has a lot of Poe or Palpatine)
1-2 No Mercy

That left 7-10 spots up to personal choice. Contenders that didn't make the cut for various reasons were The Power of the Force, Force Speed, Datapad, Dark Presence, Intimidate, Lightsaber Throw, Use The Force, Doubt, Kylo Ren's Lightsaber, Hidden In Shadow, Now I Am The Master, Rise Again, High Ground, Close Quarters Assault, Immobilize, Comlink, Mind Probe, Force Choke, Anger, It Binds All Things, and Lure of Power.

Force Illusion is essentially a removal event, spending one resource and a few cards to block 2-4 damage. Force Lightning is consistently more damage than Mind Probe. Manipulate is much-needed, albeit soft, removal in a mono-color deck that is limited in its choices. Overconfidence is useful to reroll one of your blanks and an opponent's good die, or two Poe/Palpatine dice. Finally, Trust Your Instincts is a free reroll that helps you dig for more removal.

After very minimal testing (4-5 days on TTS against randos), I found that the deck had favorable matchups against:
1) Poe Dameron - Ace Pilot/Maz Kanata - Pirate Queen (more on this later)
2) Unkar Plutt - Junk Dealer decks
3) Jabba the Hutt - The Great and Mighty/Director Krennic - Cruel but brilliant Villain Choke

Mixed bags were:
1) Palpatine - Galactic Emperor
2) FN-2199 - Loyal Trooper decks

and auto-losses to:
1) Hero Mill. Basically it came down to whether I could kill a yellow character per turn, force them to overwrite the Con Artist with Second Chance, or get them to use the Second Chances before they found their Ammo Belt, The Rebel Trooper version is much easier to beat than the Temmin "Snap" Wexley - Recon Specialist version.

Both of the articles linked earlier have a how-to-play guide. I urge you to review those articles in conjunction with this one. However, neither article focused on the actual die sides of the characters:

Kylo:
Use 'em!
2/ Use 'em unless you need the resource for Vader's dice, otherwise use them as Makashi Training-induced die removal or reroll them.
Keep 'em and put the shields on Vader or Kylo if they are focusing Kylo first.
His best side. Keep 'em.
Go for it. Use it as a chance to peak at their hand and maybe score a damage or two. Anything over two damage is a Godsend.
Don't forget that you can claim to use this as a special.

Anakin:
Reroll. You have a 2/3rd chance of the same or more damage. Reroll them URGENTLY if you are playing against an It's a Trap! deck.
2 Use 'em.
3/ Use 'em unless you need the resource for the other Vader die, otherwise use them as Makashi Training-induced die removal or reroll them.
This is a tough call. I'd say to reroll them unless your total discard sides showing from Vader, Vibroknives, or Force Push is equal to or exceeds half of your opponent's hand. In that case, let 'em rip. Especially against Poe/FN-2199 or if they have a lot of blanks showing and you expect them to discard to reroll.
His best side. Keep 'em.
Don't forget that you can claim to use this as a special.

....

18 people showed up the tournament. The store elected to structure the tournament as 4 matches of swiss with a cut to Top 4, best of one. Of the 18 decks, there were at least 5 Poe/Maz, ePalp, Kylo/Jango, Luke/Maz, Poe/Snap, Villain Choke, one other eKylo/eVader, an FN combo deck, and one Hero Mill player. I never found out / can't remember what the other 4 decks were.

Match 1 vs. eKylo/eJango: My opponent and I had met before in a match at a 28 person box tournament. He's a swell guy and a great player. I forget who won the roll, but we ended up playing at Mos Eisley Spaceport - Tatooine.
I got a turn one Holocron, but without any abilities. However, I was able to abuse the battlefield to bounce the Holocron to generate some much-needed resources in a usually resource-starved deck (courtesy of Anakin's lack of resource sides). He went for Kylo first, which I believe is a mistake. Jango went down either late round 2 or early round 3 which left me 2v1 against his Kylo for the win.
My opponent later explained to me that the deck was basically his deck from the Awakenings meta with Fast Hands thrown in. He hadn't gotten a chance to process his boxes of SoR which had arrived late courtesy of MM.
I also feel like Mos Eisley is no longer a "safe" battlefield with all of the Rey and 0 cost upgrades floating around.

Match 2 vs. ePoe/eMaz: This match was against the eventual winner of the tournament, fellow X-Wing player, and all-around-good guy BobbySapphire of The Hyperloops. We both brought the same battlefield, and I won the roll-off, so I took the 2 shields.
I had great success in testing this deck against randos on TTS. However, I was outmatched by a top-tier player who had made a split decision on the drive to the store to replace his Holdout Blasters with Cunnings.
After mulligans, my opening hand was 5 abilities with no Holocrons. Moreover, he got a first turn Cunning out, which for those who don't know, deals 3 damage to one of my characters and then 1 to Anakin, for a swing of 4 total damage. I believe I took somewhere in the realm of 15 damage by round 2. I hadn't tested against a deck that ran Cunning.
I followed my plan of racing Poe's damage output as the correct play, but perhaps if Maz gets a first-turn Cunning that changes things. Regardless, I was handed my first loss of the day. Thankfully, my opponent went on to become the #1 seed and helped me limp into the Top 4 via tiebreakers.

Match 3 vs. ePoe/eMaz:
In the third match, my opponent was a player who I had played against several times at GNKs before. He's a great guy and we always have a ton of fun playing. It was also my second chance of the day to do my best (read: terrible) C-3PO impression. "IT IS EYE, SEE THREE PIO. HUMAN CYBORG RELATIONS. U MUST NOT RECOGNIZE ME BCUZ OF MAH RED ARM."
Anyways, I was hot off a loss to the "same" deck and eager to redeem myself. However, my opponent, who is friends with The Hyperloops, was unable to locate Cunnings in time to replace his Field Medics. The battlefield was once again two Throne Rooms, I won the roll, and elected to take the shields on Anakin.
My opponent elected to focus Kylo first, presumably out of fear that he may Special-side a vehicle. Again, I would dissuade one from killing Kylo out of the FEAR of threeish damage when Anakin is basically a GUARANTEED 3-6 damage per turn. Especially, since Anakin helps kill himself.
When piloting this deck, my favorite moment is when an opponent plays Planetary Uprising. That changes the entire pace of the game. Instead of durdling around and taking 2 damage from Uprising, I just start to claim way too early to deal 3 damage and take 1. 3:1 > 0:2.
At one point, he claimed too early and I was able to reroll into lethal. He immediately lamented that he could have overwrote his weapon on Maz with a DL-44 Heavy Blaster Pistol so as to make me remove one of Anakin's dice. However, had he done so, I would have just claimed, rolled out Vader, and then claimed FTW in the next round. It would have only delayed the inevitable, but it would have made me earn it in real-time instead of unopposed rerolls.

Match 4 vs. the "mirror" match:
In the last match, I was 2-1, and knew that I had to win to make the small top cut of 4. My opponent was a local to the store who was one of the most welcoming and enthusiastic players I met when I first heard about the store a few months ago.
His deck was more upgrade-heavy than mine, which I believe is questionable. This deck, courtesy of Anakin's lack of resource sides, cannot afford to play cards like Lightsaber Pike.
For the third time of the day, I won the roll off and chose my opponent's Throne Room, giving my Anakin two shields. Throughout the day, whenever Anakin started the game at 13 health, my opponents focused Kylo first. This is your best-case scenario. That gives you time to put a redeploy on Kylo and prepare Anakin for the end game with a Vibroknife or Makashi Training.
Speaking of Makashi Training: it's NUTS in the mirror match. My opponent was discarding to reroll his Kylo's 2/ side while I was using mine to remove his sides.

...

After that win, I was 3-1 and the #3 seed. The top 4 decks were my match 2 opponent, another ePoe/eMaz deck, and ePalpatine!

Semifinals v. my Match 2 opponent (ePoe/eMaz):
As discussed in my article here, my goal for this Summer was to win a playmat. I had accomplished this at the very. first. Store. Championship. Anything further was gravy. But that didn't mean I wasn't playing to win.
Although I was able to draw some removal and put some serious hurt on Poe, this game went much like match 2. My opponent informed me that he had mulliganed hard for a first-turn Cunning and boy-oh-boy he got it. Regardless, I cannot give my opponent (who by the way won the whole thing in a hotly contested finals match against Palpatine. Congrats!) enough credit. I was outmatched and outplayed.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
-I never once used Force Push.
-I never once used Overconfidence, but maintain that it is a good one-of.
-Meditate is a MUST-HAVE 2x. Turning Holocron's die sides into 50% focus is insane.
-Force Lightning is good, but resource intensive. Although, it can help blast through those Second Chances.
-I never once used No Mercy. You can usually do 6-7 damage without discarding your hand and it is a dead card in the Hero Mill matchup unless you get the opportunity to erase a yellow character before the Second Chance hits.
-Force Illusion is on the chopping block if you switch Kylo for Jango or FN-2199. The addition of red or yellow gives you additional removal options which are much better.
-Palpatine is the tier 2 gatekeeper of the meta. If your deck can't consistently beat Palpatine: pack it up.

10 Kommentare

joemasilotti 1377

Wow, glad my deck gave you the inspiration to run this in a SC! Congrats on the finish - and awesome writeup.

I've been tinkering with my list since v3 and agree with you on a few things:

  1. I totally agree on 2x Meditate. Such an overlooked card until recently.
  2. Force Push isn't worth the cost. The is too "soft" of a control to be relying on. I've since dropped the copy from my deck.
  3. I think you are underestimating Force Illusion. Eating 4-8 damage on Vader is huge - and this deck doesn't really struggle with going through its cards. Also, it can be cheated in with Sith Holocron! I'm running 2x in my latest version.
  4. I'm excited to see you got Force Lightning to work! I always felt I would never have enough s to pay for the damage sides, but I could be wrong. How did it feel in play?
  5. Ouch... Cunning is certainly rough against this deck. Makes you almost have to focus Maz in that scenario.
  6. How many times did Kylo's his Poe in the face for big damage? My favorite opening against him is to roll out and try to immediately resolve before my opponent can resolve more than one of theirs.
  7. Makashi Training - agreed - amazing card against the mirror or any -focused deck in general. Especially for, as you said, eating -costed you couldn't resolve anyways.

FRFC3S 159

@joemasilotti
2) What are you running in Force Push's place now?
3) I wouldn't say that I underestimate Force Illusion. My point is that if you swap Kylo for a red or yellow character then you gain access to better removal for the same cost. I will try 2x and see how it feels.
4) I didn't get Force Lightning out during the tournament. I actually didn't do a whole lot of Holocronning during the tournament at all. But in testing it hit like a truck for those late-game pushes.
5) I tend to agree with you. However, both of my losses were in the second round of the match, so I don't think it would have made much of a difference. It's certainly something to consider if the Cunning hits later than turn 1.
6) None. Again, both games against ePoe/eMaz were over in two rounds.

MaxMcNugget 103

In the Poe/Maz matchup, who would you kill first? I am currently thinking Maz because of all the consistency she adds.

FRFC3S 159

@MaxMcNugget, up until Saturday I would have disagreed with you. This deck can race Poe's damage output and hopefully leave you with Maz vs. your remaining 5 health character (after having been Thermalled twice).

Even if she is equipped with a DL-44 Heavy Blaster Pistol, Holdout Blaster, or Rocket Launcher before/shortly after Poe dies, your fully decked-out remaining character complete with a Lightsaber and maybe a Holocronned ability or two should be able to take her

However, further testing needs to be done to see if you should ditch that game plan and focus Maz if she gets an early Cunning. In the long run, a Maz with Cunning can deal more damage to our deck overall than Poe can.

MaxMcNugget 103

Thank you. I am going to try to run a variant list with 2x Force Illusion, No Force Push, keeping Force Lightning at 1x, and dropping Trust Your Instincts to 1 so I can run 1x Anger. Also not running It Binds All Things. I am also looming around the idea of using Force Training, your thoughts?

FRFC3S 159

@MaxMcNugget

Cutting a Trust Your Instincts for a second Force Illusion seems perfectly fine on paper.

However, in testing, I was not fond of Anger, The deck doesn't run enough dice to roll blanks and make effective use of it. Even if you satisfy the play restrictions, it is still situational in that it requires they have an unmodified damage side showing and requires you to satisfy any resource costs on the die face. I could see running it if you also run Force Speed, which I do not think is necessary and therefore do not run.

The deck is not very upgrade heavy. Most games it was Enrage into Lightsaber and that was it. Even if it were, the speed of the current meta renders It Binds All Things as a net-neutral/net-1 resource over the course of a 2-3 round game. We don't have Padawans and we aren't chaining together overwrites for action economy or into a One with the Force. It could be good in a less agressive version of this deck. However, its aggressiveness is what makes it par.

I had not tested Force Training, mostly because I do not own any and this was an IRL tournament, but if you can find space for it I think it could fit in quite nicely. I like that idea.

The main problem with the deck is its lack of removal. I would probably remove the 2x No Mercy for 2x Doubt.

MaxMcNugget 103

I'm going to test out 2x Doubt and the 2x Force Training (which I should have). Taking out the Force Lightning, No Mercy, and Anger. And see how they feel.

FRFC3S 159

@MaxMcNugget Let me know how it goes. I intend on making similar changes. Feel free to report back or, better yet, reach out to us on one of our social media platforms and I'd be happy to jam a few games.

Kharack 1

How do you feel about Doubt? It's definitely going to mess up some no mercies, but it is really solid for messing up damage chains.

FRFC3S 159

@Kharack I am currently testing Doubt instead of No Mercy and I have not noticed a lack in damage at the expense of more control. I think this may be the correct route. Youre dice are able to deal 6 or so damage per turn with a reroll or two, so there is no need to discard your whole hand to accomplish this.