So dipping my toe into the Mercenary faction after playing mostly Rebels, then running Dewback lists for a while. Jawas & droids have my attention at the moment.

How important do Merc players find Devious Scheme? 2 of 3 of the Merc players I faced at Worlds used it (though I was down mid-pack, so hard to draw conclusions). I'm wondering if it's worth the one point, since in most of the lists I'm building it will cost me a Jawa to get it.

It is extremely powerful on Anchorhead Cantina, because it gives your opponent the good zone, in addition to the other initiative benefits. If you have it that can be huge, especially if you have 2 other elements in your squad: 1) snipers (eWeequays, rHKs, even IG88) and 2) the ability to give out beneficial conditions (esp Focus), and especially if you can do that multiple times (ie, with Gideon and 3P0 or Jabba and 3P0, etc). That allows for some very high powered attacks on your opponent's figures at the start of the 2nd round, and there's really not much that your opponent can do to avoid that, unless he's going to sit back in his own deployment zone until the start of Round 3.

The other maps are much more even, so it's not as big of a deal there.

So I think it depends on how well your squad would benefit from Devious Scheme. For me, I'd personally value the card at 2pts right now, even though it only costs 1. But even then, I think the best thing is to playtest a bunch, just to see how it works. With some squads it will be devastating, but on others it won't be quite as synergistic.

One of the most powerful cards in the game, though it can be played around to some extent.

I've never played with it yet, but have thought about it for initiative more than position. I think I'd rather use Salacious Crumb instead. I'm a go with the flow kind of guy so I'll play with what I'm dealt. Besides, Take Initiative is always there to mess with initiative anyway.

Once you go Devious scheme, you can never come back

If you don't run Devious Scheme then in essence you have to "deal" with it in some way. It changes how people build lists and how people approach gameplay without it. Even with the best planning you have to assume you are going to get stuck with a disadvantage right from the start when playing against it. Making play more predictable is a big part of not relying too heavily on dice and timely card draw to win you games. That's one aspect (aside from the obvious of being able to set up for round 2) of why it's so strong.

In short: no it's not essential, but it can save you a headache to just bring it.

I've honestly never really thought it was a problem at all, until the Anchorhead Cantina map entered the rotation of tournament maps. Before that, I saw it as a useful 1pt Skirmish Upgrade card, but in many squads not as useful as Black Market (great w Jabba!). Depending on the list, Salacious Crumb might be a better choice sometimes. But now, with Anchorhead part of the rotation, I think that Devious Scheme is definitely the more powerful choice, in just about any Merc squad.

I'm mixed on it. It's great for lesser skilled players like me, as you basically get to choose your side for each game. That's great because you can practice openings in advance. However, I find the maps relatively balanced as far as deployment zones, and also you never know how your opponent will open or what squad they bring, so your plans could go right out the window!

Devious Scheme: Don't Leave Home Without It! (tm)