Hey all-

I've run this Rebel Spies/Smugglers list a few times now, although not against anything super competitive. I'm curious what archetypes am I going to struggle the most against, and how can I optimally play against them?

Army 180 (0/0/40)

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[8] Leia Organa

[6] Lando Calrissian

[5] Jyn Odan

[7] Elite Rebel Saboteur

[7] Elite Rebel Saboteur

[3] R2-D2

[2] Rebel High Command

[2] Alliance Smuggler

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I created this list because I love spy/Smuggler command cards and with both R2-D2 and RHC I draw tons of them. I've also looked at swapping out R2 for C-3PO and taking out I've elite Sab group for Murne and Mak or Loku if I also take out R2. I realize this isn't a really competitive list, but it has been fun to play, and I've had good success against a couple pp ppl. One game I played Intelligence Leak 3 times... The power that the list does have is in command card usage.

You don't have Gideon or 3po, and you'll have some difficulty keeping Jyn alive. Focus makes your Sabs more reliable from a greater distance which keeps them alive (shoot and run) and gives them more surges which also helps keep Leia alive. White dice can be hot or cold, or just be not enough to keep important figures alive. 3po helps keep folks alive with his distracting rule. He also can focus figures.

You may add your command card list. I really like RHC, but you might be able to do without it as well. There was a huge discussion post on Jyn a couple of weeks ago you could look up. You may do a little substitution and try 3po and Gideon and Mak. I think it can be competitive, but you've got to hit hard and pull away to draw out the enemy. You've got better overall speed than a trooper list so I think you could do better than you think

Agreed with Buckero0: very first thing to do if you're trying to build a competitive list is swap out some combination of Jyn, R2, Smuggler, and/or High Command for Gideon and C3-PO. Focused Sabs are great. Also consider putting targeting computer on them for re-rolls.

Agree with what's already been said. I'm not saying C3PO and Gideon are auto-includes, but you should include them every time, automatically :-)

Options to fit them in are to swap Jyn out for Gideon and C3PO, or if you want the two targeting computers you could also drop RHC or the smuggler (but with spies it's important to have a command card edge so you can get to your comm disruption etc.). But then you have essentially four support units. I would think about thinking of dropping R2D2 to maybe upgrade Jyn to someone sturdier.

Also, it might help to see your command deck.

-ryanjamal

I'd be a little worried about pushing damage through on a figure like Vader. The two units of sabs provide plenty of damage, but the rest of your list doesn't have that much punch. Focus from the figures mentioned above would definitely help that (and allow your figures to stay at greater range).

Apart from the already mentioned Gideon/C3PO issue, I think Leia doesn't really have a good target for her ability. She doesn't hit vary hard by herself and she gets the most value out of Battlefield Leadership when she gives extra attacks to 3 dice people. Like Luke, or Fenn or something like that.

You currently don't have any 3 dice attacks and no way of giving out focus. I think you're just going to struggle to get enough damage out. eSabs are good but they can fluff their attacks without rerolls. Lando and Jyn hit hard for 2 dice characters, but they don't compare to 3 dice characters.

You seem to kind of be in between different types of lists. If you're going to go lots of lower cost stuff, you need lots of it. And you've still only got 9 figures, two of which do little to no damage. Maybe swap Leia for Davith+C3PO?
It's certainly a fun list but you'll struggle against some hard hitters. AT-STs and Banthas will eat you alive, fast melee stuff will hurt. HKs will hurt too.

It's a pretty big change, but you could swap R2D2 and one of your sabs for Luke or a different 3-dice-attack figure so you can get more out of Leia's additional attack.

-ryanjamal

R2 + Rebel High Command seems to be overkill. Usually one of them is enough.

eSabs want Targeting Computers or else their dice will be very inconsistent.

A good thing about Rebels is their ability to focus each other, but you have neither Gideon nor 3PO. Especially the eSabs rock when focused.

I think drop the Smuggler theme and go full fledge Spies:

Leia (8)

eRebel Saboteur x2 (14)

rRebel Saboteur x2 (10)

Gideon (3)

C-3PO (2)

Rebel High Command (2)

Balance of the Force (1) / On a Diplomatic Mission (1) / Targeting Computer (1) / Motivation (1)

You want to keep RHC in there b/c you want to be drawing 2 cards at minimum a turn. Leia will keep your cards replen'd, just make sure she's attacking each turn. Even if it's a door or a miss.

~D

You want to keep RHC in there b/c you want to be drawing 2 cards at minimum a turn. Leia will keep your cards replen'd, just make sure she's attacking each turn. Even if it's a door or a miss.

~D

I guess you spend the surge during the attack, I never thought of that. I have had Leia miss and recover and have her Battlefield partner hit, that's a great tip though for Leia's ability. Too bad she can't get re-rolls cheaply. She definitely needs 3+surges an attack.

Wow thanks for all the replies and suggestions, everyone!

A bit of an update:

I played this list yesterday:

Army 190 (0/0/39)

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[8] Leia Organa

[7] Elite Rebel Saboteur

[6] Lando Calrissian

[5] Jyn Odan

[4] Murne Rin

[2] C-3PO

[2] Alliance Smuggler

[3] Mak Eshka'rey

[2] Rebel High Command

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So basically the changes I talked about in the OP. Went up against my friend who wins more often than me and played an Imperial Trooper list on the USB Infiltrators map- the mission with the holocams, which has to be one of my favorites so far. Idk about the other mission but the one with the holocams is pretty anti-troopers but also doesn't have too much of a focus on objectives.

I'll post the command deck soon, but sufficed to say this list has a ton of power in command cards. I was able to stay ahead on command cards, use Murne's ability every round, which helped me to hide Mak and use his critical hit ability. Lando naturally dodged 2 attacks That would have killed him. Then I played Cheat to Win to dodge another. Murne also used False Orders to have a heavy stormtrooper kill another stormtrooper that was health. My surviving Rebel Sab stunned Kayn Somos. I was able to recycle Comm Disruption with Leia in case my friend drew his second Reinforcements (the first one also got Comm Disrupted).

Overall I feel like this is a really solid list. Spy/Smuggler cards are very situationally powerful. I don't think it would hold up to a Twins list very well, but thankfully no one on my local meta plays that right now (I used to) It could suffer to a Blaise list with ISB's because I'm going to be played command cards every round. Blaise would rip then from my hand, and ISB's could use Deadly. Out might also be as little weak to the Inquisitor, for that matter.

You should still try to find a way to get Gideon in there if you can IMO, but otherwise solid list.

-ryanjamal