Written By Tyler Liston
DECKLIST:
Characters (30 points, 4 dice):
eYoda – Wizened Master
eZeb Orrelios – The Last Lasat
Battlefield:
Outer Rim Outpost – Nal Hutta
Upgrades (16 cards, 12 dice):
Ancient Lightsaber x2
Force Illusion x2
Force Speed x2
Handcrafted Light Bow x2
Heirloom Lightsaber
Second Chance x2
Vibroknife x2
X-8 Night Sniper x2
Zeb Orrelios’ Bo-Rifle
Events (14 cards):
All In x2
Defend
Easy Pickings x2
Electroshock
Hasty Exit x2
Impulsive x2
Sound the Alarm x2
Synchronicity
Truce
Playing in a Regional Tournament is an awesome experience that I would recommend to anyone who is able, regardless of experience level. Getting to play against such a diverse range of people and decks is a fantastic way to improve your skill. A major part of playing in competitive gaming is, simply, learning to play at the competitive level. Conquering your nerves and learning to resist misplays is something that can only be learned in heightened competitive environments. This was my first major Star Wars: Destiny tournament, but I have played in several local events and many Magic: The Gathering tournaments. While I am not new to competitive gaming, I am certainly still just a padawan.
I didn’t even know that there was a Regional event near me until the Sunday before the tournament. I was playing at my local game store and some of the regulars mentioned that they were practicing for a big event. I decided that I would give it a try and began to search for a deck to play. Since Legacies released, I had only played eJango/ePhasma2 and ePalpatine2/Gamorrean Guard. I wasn’t confident that either of these decks would hold up to the excessive competition and continued my search for something else. I had always been impressed by eQui-Gon/eKanan and wanted to give it a try. However, with the recent emphasis on special chaining, I decided to swap Kanan for Yoda. On paper, eYoda/eQui-Gon sounds really good. Qui-Gon’s ability essentially adds the option to “deal 1 damage” to Yoda’s special. I took this deck to Tabletop Simulator to start playtesting. I spent the next 4 or 5 days playtesting to quickly realize that people were prepared for both heavy shield strategies and special chaining. eYoda/eQui-Gon folded under the pressure.
I took to the internet to find a character that was pairing well with Yoda (which apparently is everyone). I came across a list from the Portland Regional that put up good results: “Zoda/Yeb” (shout out to thejumpingflea). I put the deck together with a few changes. I dropped Maz’s Goggles, Scruffy Looking Nerf-Herder, and Friends in Low Places. In their place, I added Heirloom Lightsaber, Zeb’s Bo-Rifle, and 2 copies of Sound the Alarm. Sleeved, shuffled, and ready to play, I met with a roommate and friend for some playtesting. The only deck he had was the old R2P2(eRey2/ePoe2) deck. We played 7 games and eYoda/eZeb lost all seven. Bummed out, I had him play my eJango/ePhasma2 deck a few times. I only beat him once.
I was unhappy, but I felt that the deck wasn’t performing at its best. I know that it takes a few games to get comfortable with a deck, but this was ridiculous. The next morning was the tournament and I didn’t have time to test anything else. I went to bed upset with the results, but ultimately decided to take the deck to Regionals.
We arrived early enough to play 2 more practice games before the event started. R2P2 dealt 13 damage with 1 roll… things looked bleak. Round 1 pairings were posted and the tournament began.
TOURNAMENT WRITE UP:
Round 1: ePoe2/eAayla
This was a deck that I was expecting to see. I decided to go first for Poe. The only real reason for this is the existence of Poe’s Blaster. I’m not sure this is consistently a good choice, but I was able to do a large amount of damage early and finish Poe off before round 3. After that, Aayla struggled to put out enough damage to find a win .
WIN 1-0
Round 2: eZeb/eKanan
Honestly, I hadn’t considered this deck. When my opponent put his characters out, I was a little fearful that the speed from Kanan would be enough to consistently claim and deal the heavy Zeb damage quickly. However, it struggled to consistently show damage on the Zeb dice and often was without the requisite resources to do what the deck wants to do. These problems are perfectly solved by Yoda’s specials. Yoda outclassed Kanan with ease. I killed his Zeb first and my opponent conceded early with only Kanan left.
WIN 2-0
Round 3: eKylo2/eMother Talzin
This was not a deck that I was expecting, but it appeared to be the most common deck at the tournament. I was paired against this deck 4 times. My strategy here was to go for Mother Talzin first. If an opponent was able to get a Crystal Ball on Talzin, it appeared that she could consistently fix her dice and deal at least 4 damage. I took her out first and Kylo struggled to consistently roll damage. My build has enough Blue, Gray, and Yellow cards to keep Kylo’s ability guessing. Easy Pickings was an MVP in this matchup.
WIN 3-0
Round 4: eKylo2/eMother Talzin
This deck got the Crystal Ball on Mother Talzin immediately and started strong, killing Yoda within 2 or 3 rounds. After that, Talzin died and damage became an unreliable roll for my opponent. Zeb started to deal damage and my opponent’s rolls went down the toilet. At one point, he rolled 4 blanks. I guess that is Destiny.
WIN 4-0
Round 5: ePoe2/eHondo
I know now that I should have been expecting this deck. It had made a bit of a showing prior to Louisville Regionals. I, however, was unfamiliar with it. This deck is entirely oppressive. It chokes your resources while dealing heavy damage. With Poe’s ability to chain specials, Cunning’s additional special, and Emperor’s Throne Room, this deck hits hard. Yoda produces a ton of resources, but it wasn’t enough. I was rarely able to get any weapons out. Most of my resources went to Hondo or Second Chance. This game was a quick loss.
LOSS 4-1
Round 6: eKylo2/eMother Talzin
Having beaten this deck twice already today, I felt confident coming to another matchup. This time, however, I saw the true healing power of the deck. I came up against 2 copies of Rise Again, 2 copies of Witch Magic, and a Force Illusion. I wasn’t able to kill either character. My opponent killed Zeb first. After that my damage output was too low to catch up.
LOSS 4-2
Round 7: 5 Dice Villains (eBala/eCiena/Nightsister)
I started playing SWD just as this deck was losing in popularity. I had heard of it and looked over the decklist a few times, but had no experience playing against it. I was truly surprised at its ability to put out damage. I killed Bala-Tik first, then my Zeb died. From there, I put a Handcrafted Light Bow on Yoda and was able to kill off Ciena. My opponent had put 5 damage on Nightsister from her own ability. By the time Ciena went down, any unchecked Light Bow hit was enough to win. My opponent removed my Light Bow dice 3 turns in a row. On the next turn, he used Doubt. I rerolled a 2 ranged damage for the win.
Win 5-2
Round 8: eKylo2/eMother Talzin – WIN
Coming into the last regular match of the day, I had mixed feelings about this new “Mama’s Boy” deck. I had beaten it twice, but was blown out in my most recent encounter. This match started out feeling like the latter. My opponent played 1 Rise Again and 2 copies of Witch Magic. I killed off Mother Talzin. My opponent killed Zeb. Now it was Yoda versus Kylo and it felt like the odds were against me… until I noticed that my opponent’s deck was empty. He had only two cards left in hand and no dice in his pool. I discarded to reroll both of Yoda’s dice; 2 discards. My opponent said he could remove one of them, but not both. A mill win for Yoda/Zeb.
Win 6-2
Cut to Top 8:
- ePoe2/eHondo
- ePoe2/eHondo
- eAayla/eRose/Ezra
- ePoe2/eHondo
- eQui-Gon/eKanan
- ePoe2/eAayla
- eKylo2/eMother Talzin
- eYoda/eZeb
After all that, I was in 8th place. The event cut to the top 8 and I was paired against ePoe/eHondo (the same deck from round 5). It was a best of 3 match. In game one, we played on my battlefield and Zeb died almost immediately. With the resource draining that Hondo brings, I struggled to put anything on Yoda capable of doing damage. Hondo won game #1. In the second game (again, on my battlefield), Zeb was able to Kill Hondo before my opponent was able to play a Second Chance (or Fast Hands for that matter) and eventually Poe followed. I won game #2. Unfortunately, game 3 went about as well as game 1 and I lost a painful defeat to Hondo’s oppression. Thus ended my run at Louisville Regionals.
Final Finish: Top 8
CONCLUSION:
Being so new to the game, I am truly honored to have done this well at such a large event. I learned a lot and enjoyed using a deck that is truly fun to play. If you have the opportunity to attend an event like this, I strongly recommend that you do. You will come out a better player than when you went in, and you will have spent a whole day interacting with other players who love the game. I look forward to more of these tournaments in the future, and I hope to see you all there!
That’s all for now, Destiny players! Feel free to share your Regionals experience or thoughts on the deck in the comments!
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