Any reason NOT to play "Heart of Freedom" when playing rebels

By Mace Windu, in Imperial Assault Skirmish

Card text for reference:



Heart of Freedom , Any rebel Figure (2 points, restricted to 1-of in your command deck)


Use at the start of your activation to discard 1 Harmful condition, 2 damage and gain 2 movement points.



I look at the card more and more and wonder if I am missing something obvious , is there ever a reason you wouldn’t play this in a rebel squad?



At 2 points I can see this as being the only barrier to getting it in your lit as you can't have all the pricey toys in your command deck, but when a card offers so much and it does not consume an action to do so it seems like a no-brainer. Urgency is not a half bad card and this offers the same effect and more without it costing you an action!



I apologise if this has been discussed previously as I have only really gotten into the game in the last month or so, and perhaps I'm a little green, but am I wrong in my assumption of this cards?


No, you're correct: Heart of Freedom is an outstanding card. The fact that you play it without requiring an action is huge. I'll play it with all of my Rebel squads.

It's absolutely amazing. It's also brand new and hasn't seen a ton of play because of that probably. Literally came out a week or so ago.

It's absolutely amazing. It's also brand new and hasn't seen a ton of play because of that probably. Literally came out a week or so ago.

Yeah I wasn’t sure, coming from an X-Wing background where upgrade cards get spoiled upwards or 5+ months in advance and players tend to start testing them straight away I wasn’t sure if it had already been talked to death on the boards or not.

The card does seem very good, almost to the point where it seems unfair to be hoarding it all to the rebel players!

It is really good, but it does cost 2 points.

In most builds, it will be fantastic, though you might be straining for points in certain builds. Particularly if you're trying to include stuff like Grenadier, Reinforcements, Lock On, Maximum Firepower, etc., on top of the usually expensive hero cards.

It also increases in value depending on what list you are running. Removing a stun and moving on Chewbacca is much better than removing stun from a saboteur.

My rebel command deck is pretty tight as it is... it would be tough finding a space for it- even running Balance of the Force.

Son of Skywalker

Maximum Firepower

Squad Swarm

Lock On

Inspiring Speech

Slippery Target x2

Explosive Weaponry

Negation

I Can Feel It

Dead-eye

Take Imitative

Urgency

Hard to Hit

Element of Surprise

I see no reason to exclude it. It is a fantastic card. Compared to similar recovery cards like Emergency Aid it is just so much better. It may vary if you want to go more aggressive with your cards and boost your attacks, but otherwise, I'd find a way to include it. Particularly with Leia...

My rebel command deck is pretty tight as it is... it would be tough finding a space for it- even running Balance of the Force.

Son of Skywalker

Maximum Firepower

Squad Swarm

Lock On

Inspiring Speech

Slippery Target x2

Explosive Weaponry

Negation

I Can Feel It

Dead-eye

Take Imitative

Urgency

Hard to Hit

Element of Surprise

Depending on how dependant you list is for both slippery targts you could swap 1 out for heart, as others have said you basically have to have a really good reason not to run it

It's absolutely amazing. It's also brand new and hasn't seen a ton of play because of that probably. Literally came out a week or so ago.

Yeah I wasn’t sure, coming from an X-Wing background where upgrade cards get spoiled upwards or 5+ months in advance and players tend to start testing them straight away I wasn’t sure if it had already been talked to death on the boards or not.

The card does seem very good, almost to the point where it seems unfair to be hoarding it all to the rebel players!

Slightly harder (slightly) to proxy cards in a command deck rather than upgrade cards that are on table whole game without people getting confused.

My rebel command deck is pretty tight as it is... it would be tough finding a space for it- even running Balance of the Force.

Son of Skywalker

Maximum Firepower

Squad Swarm

Lock On

Inspiring Speech

Slippery Target x2

Explosive Weaponry

Negation

I Can Feel It

Dead-eye

Take Imitative

Urgency

Hard to Hit

Element of Surprise

Depending on how dependant you list is for both slippery targts you could swap 1 out for heart, as others have said you basically have to have a really good reason not to run it

Squad Swarm is not that good anymore. Great when it works, but with just the 2 squads exactly in a build, it's not reliable enough. Worked better when grey sabs were in there for redudancy (which also led to comboing it with strength in numbers). Not a huge fan of speech with Gideon. After turn one, everyone leaves him (though if you use diplomatic mission to actually move him instead of scoring a useless vp or two, it might work slightly better). Guess it could be good with leia if she doesnt need to move and you're using her. Slippery target is weird. Every once in a while I wish I had it, but more often than not (including when I did have it and in the old meta) it isn't that helpful. I guess banthas might cause it to make a bit of a comeback. Also if RGC is super popular in your area. Explosive weaponry is OK only. Was the card I liked the least at world's (though blast math was a bit different then). Less so even now with fewer sabs in the list. I can feel it is meh. Focus should be auto include in a list with luke and sabs (and pretty much any list). I kinda like single purpose more than speech since gideon or 3po can still use it after turn 1, but I don't usually play leia. Gotta get that Tycho card in there though, it's a monster. Planning is still super good for Gideon as well.

Do you have to fulfill the criteria in order to play it? What if you do not have any harmful tokens or damage?

These are not criteria. Read it like remove damage, if you have any, remove a condition, if you have one.

My rebel command deck is pretty tight as it is... it would be tough finding a space for it- even running Balance of the Force.

Son of Skywalker

Maximum Firepower

Squad Swarm

Lock On

Inspiring Speech

Slippery Target x2

Explosive Weaponry

Negation

I Can Feel It

Dead-eye

Take Imitative

Urgency

Hard to Hit

Element of Surprise

Depending on how dependant you list is for both slippery targts you could swap 1 out for heart, as others have said you basically have to have a really good reason not to run it

Squad Swarm is not that good anymore. Great when it works, but with just the 2 squads exactly in a build, it's not reliable enough. Worked better when grey sabs were in there for redudancy (which also led to comboing it with strength in numbers). Not a huge fan of speech with Gideon. After turn one, everyone leaves him (though if you use diplomatic mission to actually move him instead of scoring a useless vp or two, it might work slightly better). Guess it could be good with leia if she doesnt need to move and you're using her. Slippery target is weird. Every once in a while I wish I had it, but more often than not (including when I did have it and in the old meta) it isn't that helpful. I guess banthas might cause it to make a bit of a comeback. Also if RGC is super popular in your area. Explosive weaponry is OK only. Was the card I liked the least at world's (though blast math was a bit different then). Less so even now with fewer sabs in the list. I can feel it is meh. Focus should be auto include in a list with luke and sabs (and pretty much any list). I kinda like single purpose more than speech since gideon or 3po can still use it after turn 1, but I don't usually play leia. Gotta get that Tycho card in there though, it's a monster. Planning is still super good for Gideon as well.

I'll respectfully disagree on Squad Swarm, for me it is still a game winner. Especially vs Trooper list. I have never run more than 2 Saboteurs.

Inspiring Speech is one of the cards I could see taking out- while the troops do move away from Gideon after turn 1, they usually aren't that far away because of the way I play.

With Banthas running wild, I think slippery target will be a lock in the deck. It will help save Leia and Sabs.

I can feel it is another card that could be swapped out. It's a re-roll for Luke and that's it.

Thanks for the feedback.

These are not criteria. Read it like remove damage, if you have any, remove a condition, if you have one.

The card doesnt imply if you have any or you may do this and that...

It simply says remove x. Unless there is a rules reference or something.. it sounds like you have to remove x or else you cannot resolve the entire card's effect.

The same discussion has been done for the Vader's Finest upgrade (can you .. .even if you have no condition ...?). Yes, we can.

Search for that in this forum, and you will get all the answers you need.

Or just believe me: These are not criteria. Read it like "discard up to 1 Harmful condition, discard up to 2 damage and gain up to 2 movement points.", if you like that better.

The same discussion has been done for the Vader's Finest upgrade (can you .. .even if you have no condition ...?). Yes, we can.

Search for that in this forum, and you will get all the answers you need.

Or just believe me: These are not criteria. Read it like "discard up to 1 Harmful condition, discard up to 2 damage and gain up to 2 movement points.", if you like that better.

True.

Just for anyone who would like confirmation from FFG:

Rules Question:

Hi there, I just wanted to get clarification on the recently released "Heart of Freedom" Command card, do you actually have to have a harmful condition and at least 2 damage to be able to play the card or could you for example play it without a harmful condition to only recover 2 points of damage and gain the movement points? Thanks

Hi Blair,

Yes, you do not have to have a Harmful condition in order to use “Heart of Freedom.”

Thanks!

Paul Winchester

Game Developer

Fantasy Flight Games

[email protected]

On Feb 29, 2016, at 1:32 AM, [email protected] wrote: