TTS February Champion - Special Forces 1.0

• Versionen
• 2.0
• 1.0

I ran this deck in PearlYeti's Table Top Simulator tournament on 2/26. Recordings of the semi-finals and finals can be seen at twitch.tv/pearlyeti if you're curious how the deck plays.

In the current meta, ePoe/eRey is capable of being one of the fastest decks around, and greatly benefits from being able to claim the battlefield. Unlike other other popular decks like eVader/Raider, eLuke/Ackbar, and possibly eHan/eRey, this deck does not have a clear priority target. Going for Poe first allows Rey to invest heavily in upgrades, which can be very surprising late game when a sudden One with the Force or Force Throw is played on her just before her activation. If your opponent targets Rey first, I find it's often possible to insure most, if not all of her upgrades stay on the field in some form via redploy or One with the Force. Furthermore, every restricted upgrade is still usable with Poe's Special.

When taking your mulligan, I find it's important to get a 1 or 2 cost upgrade to put on Rey. This enables a One with the Force, Force Throw, or even Mind Probe overwrite in Round 2. It also enables free or cheap ambush-style rerolls of Poe and Rey's dice with a comlink overwrite, which can be very effective at dealing surprise damage to your opponent. Aim to have around 1-2 cards in hand to discard with Poe's special at any given time so his special sides aren't wasted. Don't sit on a hand with 4 events going into the next round unless you're sure they'll make you win that game for that reason, too.

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Card considerations and strategies:

Defensive Position and Dug in - with how fast this deck is, it's a crime not to include them. They are some of the best protection available to red heroes for the time being.

Comlink - This is the big one. Many people believe this card to be garbage. I was one of the non-believers. But after seeing it in Calvin Chang's deck from Twin Cities, I felt compelled to try it for myself. It's good. It's like a mass Unpredictable if you're overwriting equipment. You can also pull a slick trick by discarding it with Poe's special to flip up a special on a Force Throw or Mind Probe and immediately resolve it. If you want some evidence of some crazy comlink play, check out https://youtu.be/lveMCk6As8Q?t=3h14m38s

Mind Probe - If Throne Room is the battlefield, consider playing this on Rey if she is relatively healthy. Otherwise, look to discard it with Poe as soon as you can do a decent amount of damage with it. I tend to hang onto it if I have no resources and can't get more than 2 damage from the special side. I prioritize damage in this deck, so I don't think I would use the 2-discard side with Poe. If they only have 2 cards left in hand, and you think there could be something dangerous lurking there, or see a lot of bad dice sides on their side of the field, it's worth considering.

Hit and Run - If you have a mindprobe in hand, play this as quickly as possible. Otherwise, I often like to get this later in the game, where I can use Poe's dice to take out a character. Same can be said for Holdout Blaster.

One With The Force - Admittedly, I like taking the 3 range side on this one a little to much. Choosing that side definitely caused a misplay in the first round of the semi-final. Ultimately though, I hate leaving my damage dice exposed to my opponent's manipulation. It's part of the reason why I run 6 cards in my deck that let me roll & resolve dice in one turn.

Force Throw - I find myself playing this on Rey more often than I throw dice with Poe's special. If you have Throne Room out, this puts opponents on tilt. People are often afraid to roll out characters or use focus sides for fear of immediate reprisal.

Deflect - I think this card works on at least a couple dice in every commonly played deck. Even against blue, it's worth playing against the errant 1-range damage on a force throw die, and definitely worth playing against a 3-range damage on mindprobe.

Dodge - Meta consideration. Replace with Block or whatever makes you feel most comfortable.

Willpower - Some people say this card wins games. It can, but that doesn't seem to happen for me too often. It's a 2 point swing for 1 resource, which is efficient and occasionally just what you need.

Datapad - I'm starting to question this card's value in this deck. I'm definitely not opposed to earning more resources, but I can't say it's very easy to resolve it's modified sides. Every once in a while, it will provide a big dividend, which is acceptable. It also doesn't cost any action economy to play on Rey, and often enables an upgrade to Force Throw or a Lightsaber on the following turn. It's special is a neat trick with Poe, but it only shows up on one side. Don't expect it to happen too often, and take advantage of when it does.

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Card [in]considerations:

It Binds All Things - This card is powerful, but potentially a bit slow. The number of gray upgrades makes it not as desirable, and I'm looking to discard my blue upgrades just as often as I play them.

Rey's Staff - I think this will replace Force Training. It's actually a surprisingly versatile discard for Poe, and helps rey convert on her modified sides. Since It Binds All Things is absent, there's really no reason not to make the switch.

Jedi Robes - The spot was ultimately taken by Datapad and Comlink. You miss out on some crazy plays for putting 1 or 2 shields on Rey. Good at the beginning of the game, but not the kind of thing to win the game later on, which is where comlink can really shine.

Field Medic - Chose willpower over this for its game ending abilities. This deck doesn't need a single character to survive as long as possible, so it's not as necessary as it feels with luke. Could replace Dug in.

Anticipate - This card can give you a free turn if your opponent rolls badly. It's also kind of expensive and is something you probably wouldn't play for 0 if your opponent has focus sides showing, something which isn't exactly uncommon. If my opponent is already rolling badly, I like to press my advantage and continue applying pressure. This deck can often finish games in a couple turns if it's dice aren't dealt with. Let your opponent deal with their bad dice on their own and work towards killing them outright mass remove damage with force misdirection / defensive position. If you're claiming often, you'll be able to play force misdirection on many of the rolls you'd otherwise play anticipate on, and get a much better result.

Launch Bay - Bad with Poe, bad for deck speed, bad for how many cards I get rid of for re-rolls. I'd hate to reroll Poe after a Hit & run so I can get 2 damage out of a Launch Bay discard. If you ever manage to play it against blue, look forward to an 8 damage swing and lost tempo when they deflect it.

Black One - Just bad. It's a worse First Order TIE Fighter. There's a reason Poe was so excited to fly the Tie in The Force Awakens. It's because it was a better version of his ship.

Starship Graveyard - This battlefield is worth considering. If there were better ways to turn Poe's dice and others to special sides, I would run it to loop the many upgrades being discarded. Ultimately there are enough upgrades in the deck to discard comfortably without worrying about getting replacements in future hands.

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In closing, I'd like to give a shout out to /u/mikenuguy, Calvin Chang, and ScottExPa. Their previous work on Poe/Rey was really instrumental how the deck was built and played.