Destiny Analysis Series: Strategy Articles and Card Reviews

By JustPlayIan, in Star Wars: Destiny

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Hi Guys,

I'm currently writing a series of in-depth blog posts, analysing the set as well as giving strategy tips and deckbuilding advice.

These are written from the point of view of an experienced CCG player and gamer, so hopefully they should be of use to people, particularly those with less experience in this type of game. And if they're not, hopefully they'll inspire some discussion!

You can find our articles here:

Destiny Analysis Part 2: Villains

Destiny Analysis Part 1: The Value of Dice

Deck Lists:

Video Deck Tech: Mono Blue Sith

Video Deck Tech: Imperial Hyper Aggro

Destiny Videos on our YouTube channel:

"Younglings": Rey/2xPadawan Video Deck Tech and Gameplay

How to use Tabletop Simulator to play online

Live Deckbuild - Mono Yellow Thermal Detonator Deck

Hope you enjoy, and please do leave comments, very happy to talk about Destiny!

Edited by JustPlayIan
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Good read.

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As an avid Hearthstone player, I like reading (not watching) this kind of stuff. Keep them coming!

My vote for #2 has to be Poe.

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As for the cards, it seems like in general...

BLUE - big damage

RED - direct buffs

YELLOW - tempo

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As for the cards, it seems like in general...

BLUE - big damage

RED - direct buffs

YELLOW - tempo

I think there's a fair split of card types between the colours, but I think the themes are a bit different to that:

Blue - lots of "blue only" cards and cards that reward you for playing more blue, lots of dice manipulation, melee focused, extra damage (villain) and shields (hero)

Red - lots of cards that buff or multi activate, some resource support, shields+ranged focused, not so much dice manipulation

Yellow - lots of dice manipulation, the most resource support (and use), ambush, 70/30 split of ranged/melee

Very hard to categorise though, they're much more general themes than Magic-style colour identities.

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Love it.

Glad to see Jango getting love. I've been running elite Jango and elite Bala Tik to surprising success.

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Love it.

Glad to see Jango getting love. I've been running elite Jango and elite Bala Tik to surprising success.

I wouldn't be surprised at all by that! It's a great combo, and mono-rogue cards (on the Villain side at least) have so many great options.

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Loved the Villain reviews, and it definitely helps me get an idea of what villains I'll want to start building decks around. Especially glad to see that some of my personal favorite villains from this set are good (yay Grievous powerhouse!).

Can't wait to see the hero reviews so I can start getting ideas for deck archetypes to build around them.

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Loved the Villain reviews, and it definitely helps me get an idea of what villains I'll want to start building decks around. Especially glad to see that some of my personal favorite villains from this set are good (yay Grievous powerhouse!).

Can't wait to see the hero reviews so I can start getting ideas for deck archetypes to build around them.

Heroes is almost done, but I spent all day today opening packs of Destiny so I'm a little behind. I promise it'll be up tomorrow!

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Loved the Villain reviews, and it definitely helps me get an idea of what villains I'll want to start building decks around. Especially glad to see that some of my personal favorite villains from this set are good (yay Grievous powerhouse!).

Can't wait to see the hero reviews so I can start getting ideas for deck archetypes to build around them.

Heroes is almost done, but I spent all day today opening packs of Destiny so I'm a little behind. I promise it'll be up tomorrow!

As far as I can find... I think you're the first to be advertising singles for sale. It will be interesting to compare prices with the many on-line retailers soon.

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I've only played a little bit, but I get the impression there's more going on under the surface. As always, "It Depends" applies. It will be interesting to see people delve into various topics and discuss why certain plays are good, or in what situations. So far, here's my two cents. If I don't get laughed out of here, I'll keep discussing :P


Claiming the Battlefield: This is more of a dangling carrot to motivate players to meet the goal of the round instead of the goal itself. The goal being to just play better.


In general, dice are more valuable than cards. This is due to cards typically deriving their value from dice. Of course, there are exceptions to this.



Die faces: Why they're good. Why they suck.


Melee Damage: It hurts your opponent right in the face.

Why it's good: It hurts your opponent right in the face.

Why it sucks: Certain effects stop it. Consider ranged damage.


Ranged Damage: It hurts your opponent just as much as melee damage, although attacking from a distance may reduce the "right in the face" effect of melee damage.

Why it's good: Hurts your opponent right in the wherever it lands.

Why it sucks: Certain effects stop it. Consider melee damage.


Specializing in one type of damage is a good way to make use of bonus faces and allows for bigger swings than diversifying. It also helps keep up a faster pace. Diversifying damage types reduces bonus face effectiveness, but allows for a more controlled pace of the round with the potential for more action flexibility.


Resources: Get boxes to pay for things that cost boxes.

Why it's good: Boxes pay for everything. Occasional resource ramp is a good way to fuel attacks that have a resource cost.

Why it sucks: You need a damage face to close out the game and all you're rolling is boxes. I hate the bonus resource face right now.


Focus: Let's you spend an action and a die to change another die to a face you'd rather see.

Why it's good: Can turn that stupid box you rolled into a damage face to help close out the game, or literally anything else you need on an available die.

Why it sucks: It's pretty expensive, but it's 100% effective. It's cheaper to discard a card and reroll the focus die and the die you want to change even if it's a gamble.


Shields: Gives you non-thematic helmets to use instead of taking damage.

Why it's good: spending a helmet is better than taking damage.

Why it sucks: Using a shield is mandatory. I like the shield tokens from SWLCG better. A character can only have 3 shields. Shields have to go one one character per resolution(?). Qui-Gon's ability confuses people. Qui-Gon can have his shields ate up before he can use them.



Disrupt: Eats up the resources of an opponent for the cost of a die and resolve action.

Why it's good: Does just what it says. Can keep opponents from playing high cost cards for an extra turn or two and stagnate their hand.

Why it sucks: It costs a die and an action to use. The opponent might not have resources to eat up.


Discard: Forces a random discard from the hand of an opponent.

Why it's good: Random discard is always good. It can get rid of a powerful card, or get rid of the chaff your opponent was going to pay for a reroll. It helps mill.

Why it sucks: Mill rarely works. Not really a desirable result for aggro players. Feels expensive to only get one card.


Special: Does something special for whichever card it's for.

Why it's good: Pays for typically good effects.

Why it sucks: Less consistent than good ol' damage. Can only be played with the corresponding card.



TL;DR I probably don't know what I'm talking about.




I am liking the idea of building decks around these villain combos. Bala Tik/Veers/Trooper and Dooku/Jabba/Bala Tik

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Our latest article, this time an analysis of the hero characters, is up!

https://justplaygames.uk/blogs/news/star-wars-destiny-analysis-part-3-heroes

You've have a misunderstanding about how play works after a player claims the battlefield in your write-up on Rey:

Her ability is also very good. The value of action economy in winning the claim race should not be undervalued, especially since Rey has a great claim trick with Imperial Armory (claim, which lets you play a cheap upgrade, and you get a free action).

Once the battlefield is claimed, the player who claims the battlefield only has one option for all future actions: Pass.

CLAIM THE BATTLEFIELD (RRG, Page 14)

When a player claims the battlefield, they may use its claim ability. If they do not control the battlefield, they take control of it and move the battlefield card next to their deck. For the rest of this round, that player automatically passes all of their future actions. Their opponent continues taking actions until they also pass. Only one player can claim the battlefield each round. • A player can claim the battlefield even if they already control it in order to keep control of it and use its claim ability. • The player who controls the battlefield takes the first action each round.

So yes, Rey would get another action after playing an upgrade on herself, but that action (by rule) would have to be a Pass.

Edited by Stone37
Posted at

Our latest article, this time an analysis of the hero characters, is up!

https://justplaygames.uk/blogs/news/star-wars-destiny-analysis-part-3-heroes

You've have a misunderstanding about how play works after a player claims the battlefield in your write-up on Rey:

Her ability is also very good. The value of action economy in winning the claim race should not be undervalued, especially since Rey has a great claim trick with Imperial Armory (claim, which lets you play a cheap upgrade, and you get a free action).

Once the battlefield is claimed, the player who claims the battlefield only has one option for all future actions: Pass.

CLAIM THE BATTLEFIELD (RRG, Page 14)

When a player claims the battlefield, they may use its claim ability. If they do not control the battlefield, they take control of it and move the battlefield card next to their deck. For the rest of this round, that player automatically passes all of their future actions. Their opponent continues taking actions until they also pass. Only one player can claim the battlefield each round. • A player can claim the battlefield even if they already control it in order to keep control of it and use its claim ability. • The player who controls the battlefield takes the first action each round.

So yes, Rey would get another action after playing an upgrade on herself, but that action (by rule) would have to be a Pass.

Except that's not what was clarified during the live stream of Destiny during Worlds. I believe it was the lead designer who said that Rey can take any actions in this situation (and it was done multiple times on camera with FFG commenting).

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So the lead designer needs to change the rules as written then - or hard errata Rey. Taking the rules for "claiming the battlefield" and "the queue" together clearly shows that Rey would have to pass her additional action (and indeed an Ambush one too).

Furelli

Edited by Furelli
Posted at

Our latest article, this time an analysis of the hero characters, is up!

https://justplaygames.uk/blogs/news/star-wars-destiny-analysis-part-3-heroes

You've have a misunderstanding about how play works after a player claims the battlefield in your write-up on Rey:

Her ability is also very good. The value of action economy in winning the claim race should not be undervalued, especially since Rey has a great claim trick with Imperial Armory (claim, which lets you play a cheap upgrade, and you get a free action).

So yes, Rey would get another action after playing an upgrade on herself, but that action (by rule) would have to be a Pass.

As the poster above me has clarified, this is incorrect. Rey can do anything legal as with a normal action after attaching an upgrade.

Edit: You're correct, as written that sentence does actually prevent Rey from using her ability. I think the intent of:

"For the rest of this round, that player automatically passes all of their future actions."

Is referring to action opportunities after the claim ability and any resultant triggers are fully resolved. Clearly that's how FFG are playing it too, so we'll wait for that errata but continue to play it like this for now.

Edited by JustPlayIan
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Now, if the Claim rules included the word "cannot".. that'd be different. A simple fix would be to change future actions to future turns... I think. TL;DR I probably don't know what I'm talking about.

Posted at

Our latest article, this time an analysis of the hero characters, is up!

https://justplaygames.uk/blogs/news/star-wars-destiny-analysis-part-3-heroes

You've have a misunderstanding about how play works after a player claims the battlefield in your write-up on Rey:

Her ability is also very good. The value of action economy in winning the claim race should not be undervalued, especially since Rey has a great claim trick with Imperial Armory (claim, which lets you play a cheap upgrade, and you get a free action).

So yes, Rey would get another action after playing an upgrade on herself, but that action (by rule) would have to be a Pass.

As the poster above me has clarified, this is incorrect. Rey can do anything legal as with a normal action after attaching an upgrade.

Edit: You're correct, as written that sentence does actually prevent Rey from using her ability. I think the intent of:

"For the rest of this round, that player automatically passes all of their future actions."

Is referring to action opportunities after the claim ability and any resultant triggers are fully resolved. Clearly that's how FFG are playing it too, so we'll wait for that errata but continue to play it like this for now.

So I went back to the wording being used...

Rey's ability is "after you play an upgrade" and the Claim on the battlefield is "Play an upgrade". I see the argument and recant my own. It seems Rey SHOULD be able to gain another action after claiming the battlefield and then playing the upgrade. Complicated wording but it is there.

Behold the powers of civilized debate and referencing to the rules! ;)

Edit: Furelli reminded us of how stacked events resolve in this game. The civilized debate continues bellow.

Edited by Stone37
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So I went back to the wording being used...

Rey's ability is "after you play an upgrade" and the Claim on the battlefield is "Play an upgrade". I see the argument and recant my own. It seems Rey SHOULD be able to gain another action after claiming the battlefield and then playing the upgrade. Complicated wording but it is there.

Behold the powers of civilized debate and referencing to the rules! ;)

That's pretty funny. I actually went back and edited my post to agree with you :) Clarification plx FFG!

In other news, today's article is up! I discuss how to choose a Battlefield for your shiny new deck. Happy release day everybody!

https://justplaygames.uk/blogs/gaming-articles/star-wars-destiny-how-to-choose-a-battlefield

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I agree that if you just take the Claiming the Battlefield rules into account and ASSUME a stack trigger resolution system then you would be able to take whatever action you want as part of the claim because you would still be resolving the battlefield.

HOWEVER and this is the main point, that is not how this game works. In most games you would resolve any triggers before finishing resolving the initial - what games would refer to as the stack or a first in last out system, Destiny employs a queue system and a First in First out system.

QUEUE After abilities enter an imaginary line once they meet their trigger conditions, known as the queue. They wait in the queue until the trigger condition is complete. If the trigger condition was part of another ability, that entire ability is completed before the after ability resolves. Abilities in the queue are resolved in the order they entered it. Each one must fully resolve before the next one resolves. If, during the resolution of an ability in the queue, another ability is added, it moves to “the end” of the queue and is resolved last.

• Abilities enter and leave the queue in chronological order, based on a “first in, first out” principle.

• If two or more abilities have the same trigger condition, the player who controls the battlefield decides the order they enter the queue.

So in the Rey situation what happens is:

Rey's player claims the battlefield and is therefore allowed to play an upgrade. They add the lightsaber to Rey. This triggers Reys ability giving the Rey player an additional action.

So the Queue now has in it:

Battlefield

Rey Extra action

We now finish resolving the battlefield and then move on to Reys extra action. Reys extra action must be to pass as the battlefield is fully resolved and Reys player must pass all future actions one they have claimed.

Furelli

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I agree that if you just take the Claiming the Battlefield rules into account and ASSUME a stack trigger resolution system then you would be able to take whatever action you want as part of the claim because you would still be resolving the battlefield.

HOWEVER and this is the main point, that is not how this game works. In most games you would resolve any triggers before finishing resolving the initial - what games would refer to as the stack or a first in last out system, Destiny employs a queue system and a First in First out system.

QUEUE After abilities enter an imaginary line once they meet their trigger conditions, known as the queue. They wait in the queue until the trigger condition is complete. If the trigger condition was part of another ability, that entire ability is completed before the after ability resolves. Abilities in the queue are resolved in the order they entered it. Each one must fully resolve before the next one resolves. If, during the resolution of an ability in the queue, another ability is added, it moves to “the end” of the queue and is resolved last.

• Abilities enter and leave the queue in chronological order, based on a “first in, first out” principle.

• If two or more abilities have the same trigger condition, the player who controls the battlefield decides the order they enter the queue.

So in the Rey situation what happens is:

Rey's player claims the battlefield and is therefore allowed to play an upgrade. They add the lightsaber to Rey. This triggers Reys ability giving the Rey player an additional action.

So the Queue now has in it:

Battlefield

Rey Extra action

We now finish resolving the battlefield and then move on to Reys extra action. Reys extra action must be to pass as the battlefield is fully resolved and Reys player must pass all future actions one they have claimed.

Furelli

Correct, and I agree as per my post above, but as we've seen that that is not how FFG are playing it on stream it's reasonable to expect that the "must pass" rule is the badly worded part and is likely to be changed - probably to a better-written version of "Once this turn has finished, for the rest of this round, that player automatically passes all of their future actions"

So I think it's safe to continue to let Rey continue doing this for now.

Edited by JustPlayIan
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I agree that if you just take the Claiming the Battlefield rules into account and ASSUME a stack trigger resolution system then you would be able to take whatever action you want as part of the claim because you would still be resolving the battlefield.

HOWEVER and this is the main point, that is not how this game works. In most games you would resolve any triggers before finishing resolving the initial - what games would refer to as the stack or a first in last out system, Destiny employs a queue system and a First in First out system.

QUEUE After abilities enter an imaginary line once they meet their trigger conditions, known as the queue. They wait in the queue until the trigger condition is complete. If the trigger condition was part of another ability, that entire ability is completed before the after ability resolves. Abilities in the queue are resolved in the order they entered it. Each one must fully resolve before the next one resolves. If, during the resolution of an ability in the queue, another ability is added, it moves to “the end” of the queue and is resolved last.

• Abilities enter and leave the queue in chronological order, based on a “first in, first out” principle.

• If two or more abilities have the same trigger condition, the player who controls the battlefield decides the order they enter the queue.

So in the Rey situation what happens is:

Rey's player claims the battlefield and is therefore allowed to play an upgrade. They add the lightsaber to Rey. This triggers Reys ability giving the Rey player an additional action.

So the Queue now has in it:

Battlefield

Rey Extra action

We now finish resolving the battlefield and then move on to Reys extra action. Reys extra action must be to pass as the battlefield is fully resolved and Reys player must pass all future actions one they have claimed.

Furelli

Correct, and I agree as per my post above, but as we've seen that that is not how FFG are playing it on stream it's reasonable to expect that the "must pass" rule is the badly worded part and is likely to be changed - probably to a better-written version of "Once this turn has finished, for the rest of this round, that player automatically passes all of their future actions"

So I think it's safe to continue to let Rey continue doing this for now.

Wow this is a cluster! I've seen FFG play this game wrong on video a few times. (And many other people.) So I don't think we can go by video. I might have to retract my retraction. I was not thinking correctly about the order in which things resolve in this game. Furelli hit the nail on the head. I'm inclined to believe Furelli is correct, but I do believe FFG should visit this one as many will take a video of the very company that made the game as gospel.

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Agree, but it's cool. Let's just wait for the erratas. And maybe discuss it in the rules thread if you guys want to carry on the discussion!

Back on topic... new article up. Open to thoughts or comments as always.

https://justplaygames.uk/blogs/gaming-articles/star-wars-destiny-how-to-choose-a-battlefield

Also now up: live deckbuilding video, featuring villains, yellow, and Thermal Detonator!

https://youtu.be/VSAGNFtiTos

Edited by JustPlayIan
Posted at

Hi Guys,

I'm currently writing a series of in-depth blog posts, analysing the set as well as giving strategy tips and deckbuilding advice.

These are written from the point of view of an experienced CCG player and gamer, so hopefully they should be of use to people, particularly those with less experience in this type of game. And if they're not, hopefully they'll inspire some discussion!

You can find our articles here:

Destiny Deckbuilding: How to Choose a Battlefield

Destiny Analysis Part 3: Heroes

Destiny Analysis Part 2: Villains

Destiny Analysis Part 1: The Value of Dice

Destiny Videos on our YouTube channel:

How to use Tabletop Simulator to play online

Live Deckbuild - Mono Yellow Thermal Detonator Deck

Hope you enjoy, and please do leave comments, very happy to talk about Destiny!

Random question; are you Ian from London, that I used to play VS with back in 05'is on a hotel near Russel?

Thats all :)

Steph

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They just clarified that Rey cannot use her ability post claim in the new RR. I guess they decided that they were playing it wrong on stream!

@Steph; no, that isn't me, sorry!