With SoR being released and having played my first event, I want to sit down and make some decks....But I'm kind of paralyzed by options! There's a ton of stuff I want to try. So, I thought it might be fun to have some discussion about the new characters and possible decks, mainly those who haven't already had a lot of talk about them (e.g. Palp or Obi-Wan). In particular, looking at where characters fit in points/synergy wise, how they compare to other character options, and the 'optimal' choices (so not things like theme choices - people can work that out themselves, I'm sure).
Also, this is longer than I thought, so maybe a separate topic for Heroes and Villains.
Blue Heroes
Chirrut Imwe (12/16) - Four damage sides, good health for his cost, and a really solid ability that helps mitigate bad rolls. So what's wrong with him? Mixed damage, and half of it modifiers. No blue abilities. That makes it pretty hard to see where he fits in - not a deck running Force powers, so IMO his ability probably ends up being somewhat unimportant. But who wants his mixed damage sides? It feels like he wants to be the supporting someone, rather than being the focus of the deck. But currently no one really fits with him.
Jedi Acolyte (9) - His dice is actually pretty darn good by itself, and could be crazy with his ability (2/3 focus for 9 points? Hell yes). BUT....7 Health for 9 cost. That's really, really fragile, probably too fragile for him to play support for a heavy hitter. Maybe something like Acolytle/Maz/eRey? 2 x Acolyte and eRey? But is this really doing anything better than other decks?
Luminara Undali (13/17) - Okay, so first things first - I think she's terrible as a combat character. Using her special to increase damage by 2 or 3 is 'fine', but not something to build around when the character is otherwise fairly mediocre. I think the real goal will be to increase other dice by two or three, and increasing things that are otherwise hard to increase - so discard, or resources being big ones. Unfortunately, her restriction on being character dice only means it's hard to run her at 13 points, as it costs you a die. At the same time, I'm not sure running her in a two character deck with the smaller characters will be able to stand up to aggressive decks. She's actually got a ton of build options - I'm just not sure any of them are going to be great.
Red Heroes
Baze Malbus (14/18) - Baze feels like he's in a tough position. In comparison to other Red characters, he's essentially an upgraded version of Leia; or an alternative to Poe with more consistent ranged damage and a much, much weaker special. Unfortunately at 18 points, his build options are significantly reduced compared to Leia - he can't take everyone's favorite support character Admiral Ackbar, so he likely has to make do with Maz or Snap. Also, having the 3 being a pay side means he doesn't have that much of an advantage with Focus or cards like It's a Trap that turn your dice to ranged damage - he's often likely to be restricted by resources, nullifying one of his big advantages over Leia. Then you've got Poe, who's less shooty, but obviously has a game defining special. Still, it feels like Baze's niche is definitely the 'red ranged' deck, that doesn't want to worry about catering to Poe's special and just shoots stuff. I can see both Maz and Snap offering advantages to this, but not sure if they offer enough.
Mon Mothma (11/14) - I've seen people say that Mon Mothma is just a worse Ackbar, and I don't think that's entirely fair. I think they each have different advantages, and fill slightly different purposes. Mothma's non-elite cost is unfortunate; at 11 points she can't fit in with characters at the 20 price point, which I think is particularly disappointing for Luke and his search for a new girlfriend (Mon Mothma confirmed not Rey's mother?) In fact, at 11 points I'm not sure she really fits in anywhere - lets see if maybe Heroes get a 19 point character at some point. Elite is where she's challenge Ackbar, and I think it's pretty simple. Ackbar is a better choice if you're playing Mill/discard, due to his discard side and his ability might actually be relevant in more than one out of ten games. He's also the better choice if you're playing a deck with a lot of ranged damage - he may only have one ranged side, but it's relevant often enough to help you resolve modifers. I think in all other cases, Mon Mothma is the right choice - she's got a better support dice, and I feel like her ability is actually pretty amazing (in particular, due to the ability to control two dice with one action, which is often an issue for control decks). I'm particularly looking forward to trying her with variation of Hired Guns/Smuggler/Rebel Trooper, to hopefully generate lots of resources for playing the big vehicles.
Rebel Commando (10) - At 10 points, she's a little too expensive to be a 'filler' character, and most of her dice isn't exceptional - so I think if you're playing her, you're probably playing her for her special. And it's pretty good - expensive, but it's repeatable dice control with no restrictions on what you can hit. With some of the support card Red gets in SoR (Training, Wingman etc), it feels like three of these (or possibly two and another support character) could make for a 'jack of all trades' deck, with decent damage, health, speed and control.
Temmin "Snap" Wexley (9/12) - Whenever I see Snap, I can't help but think 'Man, I'd freaking love to be able to play this guy with Imperial Inspection'. Sadly, that's not an option. Instead, we get a guy who's very good at annoying you're opponent, and pretty terrible at helping you actually win the game. He's neither a fighter or a support character for fighters. As such, I'm not really sure where he fits - what are you trying to do with him? He can help your tempo with his ability, and I'm sure he'll drive some people nuts, but I'm not sure that's worth playing a character who otherwise doesn't really do that much.
Yellow Heroes
Chewbacca - (12/16) - Well, I might be a little biased with Chewie, but I think he's one of the best characters in the set for the likely meta. For a relatively cheap price, he's got a ton of health, he's Yellow so he can take Second Chance and gets you some other good non-shield defensive options (Lone Operative, Disarm), and he's got a lot of damage. He fits in perfectly with Ackbar for a Yellow/Red 'Tank and shoot' deck, or you can go Blue to try to take advantage of the special with things like Force Throw, or Force Speed to resolve specials and then remove the changed dice. Even with out those kind of shenanigans, there's plenty of tricks with the special- turning to modifer or pay sides they can't resolve, turning big damage into something more manageable, or of course using the damage to kill someone. And I think in some cases, simply hitting the opponent and taking the damage back is going to be the right choice, considering Chewie's likely to outlast a lot of characters.
Jyn Erso (15/20) - My general feeling is there are two main decks options with her - one being discard/mill, and the other doubling down on her ability to play lots of events - I think planning to use Never Tell me the Odds, with Infamous you can instant kill people if your max damage > their health. At 15 points, feels like Mill can look at Padme or Ackbar. At 20 points, Ackbar is probably her most viable option for the event heavy deck, similar to Luke/Ackbar with less damage output but more potential tricks.
Maz Kanata (8/11) - Welp, she's super cheap and makes decks fast. I think it's pretty obvious when decks will want her - any 18 coster has to seriously consider her, and she'll probably find her way into some weenie decks as well. With a decent gun and elite, she can also be a surprisingly effective fighter using her ability - using the first action for focus and the second to shoot. She's definitely going to show up a lot.
Outer Rim Smuggler (8) - I kind of hate that they killed the infinite money combo, because that felt like one of the main thing these guys had going for them. The dice is kind of bad - their discard or disrupt should probably have gone for something else. And 7 health for 8 points is unfortunately a little low for what you get. And what is it you get? An extra resource every turn - if you dump your hand. Something that is often sub optimal. I'll try these guys out, but my gut instinct is that they just aren't worth it compared to the existing options at that price of Hired Gun or Rebel Trooper. Or Maz.
