Ok, topic #2. Darth Vader (Sith Lord). I'm going back and forth on Raider and Royal Guard. I like the Guard's dice more, but the addition of yellow is just so good. Mono blue has a lot of great new cards too, so I feel either build is viable. Anyone have an opinion?

I think either build is viable. The Royal Guard will help keep Vader alive better and has (arguably) a better die. While the Raider can be more offensive and can be prone to blow opponents out with Mind Probe. It think you'll find that it is more of a style preference than anything. Personally I prefer the Royal Guard, but that is because he fits my style.

I think Bait and Switch single-handedly makes Vader/Raider the better choice. Hard to beat the damage fixing potential there, in my opinion.

I think Vader/Guard will start to take over as more cards enter the game. There's already a plethora of great blue villain cards, and we'll just see more as time goes along.

Vader/Raider does benefit from Force Speed, Fast Hands, and other cards that mitigate the annoyances of mixed damage, but I just find it hard not to love the Guard's Guardian ability and thematic appeal.

2 hours ago, gokubb said:

I think Bait and Switch single-handedly makes Vader/Raider the better choice. Hard to beat the damage fixing potential there, in my opinion.

Did not even think of that splash, as I was too excited to immediately throw "Royal Vader" together.

... Might have to but my Vader Raider back together...

I switched to Vader/Guard just for the fun factor. So many interesting force villain cards now and I want them all. I started out light side with Luke and Rey then went to Han/Leia, mono red and Finally Vader/Raider. Now Vader/Guard. I have turned completely to the Dark Side.

Vader/Raider, i can't see giving up Backup Muscle,Electro Shock,He doesn't like you,Bait and Switch and now i've added Vibroknucklers and Fasthands

16 minutes ago, Darth evil said:

Vader/Raider, i can't see giving up Backup Muscle,Electro Shock,He doesn't like you,Bait and Switch and now i've added Vibroknucklers and Fasthands

What blues are you running?

Royal Guard arguably makes for a better melee oriented deck, and pulls a lot of weight when it comes to protecting your main win condition. Splashing yellow instead opens the door for a less direct approach, one more specifically geared towards dice manipulation. I guess the major questions you have to ask yourself are "how do I want to protect Vader? (guardian/shields vs events)" and "do I want to be more aggressive or more interactive?".

11 hours ago, WonderWAAAGH said:

Royal Guard arguably makes for a better melee oriented deck, and pulls a lot of weight when it comes to protecting your main win condition. Splashing yellow instead opens the door for a less direct approach, one more specifically geared towards dice manipulation. I guess the major questions you have to ask yourself are "how do I want to protect Vader? (guardian/shields vs events)" and "do I want to be more aggressive or more interactive?".

The color consistency has some additional benefits as well, such as never losing out on a place to drop Kylo's Saber or Isolation, I guess.

I like the Guard's dice if he's the last one alive, too, where I've never cared for the Raider's (despite the ability being pretty potent when it comes to late game shenanigans).

12 hours ago, WonderWAAAGH said:

Royal Guard arguably makes for a better melee oriented deck, and pulls a lot of weight when it comes to protecting your main win condition. Splashing yellow instead opens the door for a less direct approach, one more specifically geared towards dice manipulation. I guess the major questions you have to ask yourself are "how do I want to protect Vader? (guardian/shields vs events)" and "do I want to be more aggressive or more interactive?".

Dice manipulation is powerful. So much so that I think yellow is the way to go.

Glad to see everyone else is as indecisive as I am, haha! But seriously, I've been switching between the two versions and winning a lot of games both ways, so I think both options are strong right now. One thing I am finding I don't really like is the holocron package. When it works it is insane, but I find that often it just flops miserably. I have been trying Makashi Training and Lure of Power out instead (and a couple more events) and I am finding that you have less "Oh WOW!" moments, but more consistency. Anyone else tried these out? Thoughts?

3 hours ago, Counthermula said:

Glad to see everyone else is as indecisive as I am, haha! But seriously, I've been switching between the two versions and winning a lot of games both ways, so I think both options are strong right now. One thing I am finding I don't really like is the holocron package. When it works it is insane, but I find that often it just flops miserably. I have been trying Makashi Training and Lure of Power out instead (and a couple more events) and I am finding that you have less "Oh WOW!" moments, but more consistency. Anyone else tried these out? Thoughts?

I don't know why you'd play either version of the deck without Lure of Power. It's just too flexible to not be an auto-include, and it gets bonus points for circumventing RG's play restriction.

For me, it's always guard. Raider just brakes the story for me, Vader would never run with a Tusken Raider in my mind. It is one of the few combinations that really bugs me in the game, for story reasons. I know it's a weird reason but for me, it's just not right so I cannot bring myself to run it. Oddly enough I am totally fine running other odd teams it's just this one that bugs me.

I've heard of Destiny quite often referred to as Star Wars Smash Brothers. I find it difficult to be hung up on thematic pairings for a game that could just as easily be Marvel Destiny, Harry Potter Destiny, or anything like that.

Vader/Guard may not make sense, but neither does Kylo/Dooku, Bala-Tik/Jango or any other number of combinations.

Access to two colors, regardless of thematics, is pretty much always going to make Raider better than Guard. As the card pool grows this will likely be more evident.

1 hour ago, gokubb said:

I've heard of Destiny quite often referred to as Star Wars Smash Brothers. I find it difficult to be hung up on thematic pairings for a game that could just as easily be Marvel Destiny, Harry Potter Destiny, or anything like that.

Vader/Guard may not make sense, but neither does Kylo/Dooku, Bala-Tik/Jango or any other number of combinations.

Access to two colors, regardless of thematics, is pretty much always going to make Raider better than Guard. As the card pool grows this will likely be more evident.

I think it's more that Vader HATES Tuskens, and any 'team up' between them would probably involve Vader murdering the hell out of the Tusken, then worrying about actually fighting the other team. 'Boba Fett teams up Han Solo' is more thematic. 'Rey turns to the Dark Side and hangs out with guys who are dead 40 years before she was born' is probably more thematically appropriate than Vader Raider.

On 5/8/2017 at 11:29 PM, DJRAZZ said:

What blues are you running?

2 Force Choke, 2 Force Speed, 2 Force Throw, 1 Kylo Saber, 2 Force strike, 2 Deflect, 2 Rise Again , 1 Light saber throw and 1 Price of Failure. i took out the holocrons and most upgrades with modified sides, it's too easy to manipulate your rolls when you need that 2 melee to connect the +3 and +4 .

My initial testing of the deck has skipped Holocron as well, opting for It Binds All Things instead. I still include a few blue ability upgrades, but focus mainly on melee tools (Vibroblades, Lure of Power, Makashi Training, Lightsabers, etc.). I also tried to maximize "damage from hand" cards: 2x Lightsaber Throw, Force Strike, No Mercy, Now You Will Die. The goal is a more consistent damage deck that keeps Vader ticking by virtue of Guardian; but it lacks the dice control of Vader/Raider. If the consistency doesn't pay off (or the damage simply isn't high enough), then it's back to the drawing board... either for a more control/attrition oriented build (that uses dice control, Rejuvenate, Rise Again, and Guardian to keep Vader marching forward) or back to Vader/Raider for the hybrid control/damage.