Star Wars Unlimited - Post Suspension Metagame and Decks to Play
Star Wars Regional Qualifier Lille is quickly approaching, and we want to make sure you’re all ready to rise to the challenge. Recently, when we talked about Jango Fett and one of, if not the best, deck in the game, we mentioned how Jango Fett himself along with Triple Dark Raid and DJ have been suspended from competitive play. While some were saddened by this news, the majority celebrated as we stepped into an unknown new metagame. Fortunately for us, since the suspension, we saw large-scale success from a wide variety of decks, including at the first Sector Qualifier after the suspension: Sector Qualifier Richmond. So in preparation for Regional Qualifier Lille, here are some of the main decks to play or look out for to ensure your success!
Alex Kivitz
Alex Kivitz
Quinlan Vos - Sticking the Landing
Now when we talked to Jędrzej Sobota for his breakdown of Jango Fett, we did touch on the subject of some potential powerful contenders should Jango be suspended. One of the first decks we talked about was a personal favourite of mine since his release in the set Twilight of the Republic. That deck being Quinlan Vos paired with Tarkintown as a base. Quinlan – Tarkintown adopts a very tempo-based approach, with multiple avenues to gain advantage over your opponent. Not to mention Tarkintown synergises perfectly with Quinlan’s ability for instant board control. Let’s take a look at MikaelC’s deck and break it down.
Quinlan’s big strength is that his unique leader ability allows you to maintain strong board control while continuously chipping away at the opponent’s base. At first glance, one damage on a unit doesn’t seem that powerful. However, this enables quite a lot of synergies in your deck while simultaneously making positive trades a lot easier. The restriction of choosing a target of the same cost of a unit you’ve just played seems restrictive at first, however it ends up simply rewarding you for playing on curve, which is something Heroic decks like doing already.
Starting on two resources we have Crafty Smuggler, Green Squadron A-Wing, and L3-37 – Droid Revolutionary. These units offer a solid stat line on a unit that comes in shielded. Using Quinlan’s ability, you can ping one point of damage to your opponent’s 2-cost unit if they had initiative, creating a positive trade for your on board. This play pattern continues until the midgame.
The 4 resource turn is key because this is where the deck shifts harder into tempo by stripping your opponent of resources and increasing your lead. Ahsoka Tano – Chasing Whispers and Qi’ra – Playing Her Part allow you to either force an opponent to discard a card, or look into their hand, gain full information, and pinpoint a specific card to tax and impede their strategy. Ahsoka being a force unit also turns on Force Throw doubling as a potential removal option as well as more discard.
The deck aims to take advantage of limiting the opponent’s resources and closing the game out after controlling the field. Cards like Millennium Falcon – Piece of Junk, Surprise Strike, and Cassian Andor – Rebellions Are Built On Hope can help get that last bit of reach and end the game even from behind.
Sabine Wren - Galvanized Revolutionary
From early on Spark of Rebellion Sabine Wren has been a force to be reckoned with. Paired with the Command base Energy Conversion Lab, Sabine has been the top performing aggressive deck for many sets, but has seen less play while Jango Fett was around. It was already speculated that should Jango leave the game, Sabine would rise to dominance again, at least in some form. William O’Neil proved this by coming in first place at the Richmond Sector Qualifier with a Sabine Wren and Energy Conversion Lab deck.
Sabine Wren is all about playing aggressive units and overwhelming the opponent in the early game. Constant pressure on their base life total allows you to consistently get in for damage while forcing them to deal with your units. Battlefield Marine, Phoenix Squadron A-Wing, and Sabine Wren – Explosive Artist start off strong and already pile in the damage while trading favorably into whatever unit the opponent tries to remove them with.
Probably the strongest part about Sabine is that unlike many aggressive decks, it transitions very powerfully into the midgame with Poe Dameron – Quick to Improvise and Wrecker – Boom! having such potential to swing the game into your favour. Both units when combined with Energy Conversion Lab can remove almost any other unit or leader in the game that could have been played at this point. The deck packs a lot of aggression and power. To beat this deck you really need to ensure that you can trade favourably into their units, and two for one as much as possible, because sooner or later you will get overrun.
Han Solo - Audacious Smuggler
Han Solo – Audacious Smuggler was such a powerhouse in the metagame prior to Jump to Lightspeed that it took a small hit in the suspension announcement that came alongside the Jango Fett suspension. DJ – Blatant Thief did what his name clearly suggested, and stole resources from your opponent. In Combination with Tech – Source of Insight this became a more oppressive gameplan where Han Solo would destroy the resource gained by DJ and then be permanently up one resource. Even still this is one of the best midrange decks we can expect in the game, consistently playing above curve and using superior units to control the board early.
What would Han Solo be without the Millenium Falcon? AlexanderTheGreatest showed us that you can never have too many falcons, running 8 cards called Millennium Falcon in the deck. One of the key pieces is Millennium Falcon – Piece of Junk, a 3 cost space unit that enters the field ready. Using Han’s leader ability allows you to efficiently remove other turn one space units and already start with space superiority. In fact space is most definitely the place with more units like Millennium Falcon – Get Out And Push, Stolen AT-Hauler, and Blue Leader – Scarif Air Support.
We’ve seen Han Solo be played with Cunning bases as well as Command Bases, both colours offering their benefits. Cunning in double yellow Han Solo is a very powerful tempo card, allowing for efficient temporary removal, or even higher damage output on a single turn. Alternatively, Command gives access to Chewbacca – Faithful First Mate and the previously mentioned Luke Skywalker – You Still With Me? Both turning those Millennium Falcons and various other ships into big damage beaters.
Developing strong units early and maintaining control is key to success, but a litany of potential 7 cost cards makes Han the midrange powerhouse that he is. If you can’t interrupt his deployment turn, you could be facing down a Han Solo – Reluctant Hero, Enfys Nest – Champion of Justice, or U-Wing Reinforcements as early as turn 4.
Cad Bane - He Who Needs No Introduction
When Jango got hit with a suspension, my mind went immediately to another Cunning Villainy Bounty Hunter. I felt that Cad Bane – He Who Needs No Introduction had a lot of potential when combined with Tarkintown as well. I believed it could fulfill the role of a midrange deck aggressive deck that sought to ping damage similarly to Quinlan Vos and remove early threats. I’m glad Moophisto had a similar idea and represented the notorious bounty hunter in the top 8 of the Richmond Sector Qualifier.
Cad Bane’s unique leader ability allows you to exhaust him when playing an underworld card, and then your opponent must assign one point of damage to one of their units. We see familiar cards like Crafty Smuggler as well as some aggressive underworld cards like Greedo – Slow on the Draw and Cartel Spacer. These underworld cards give good tempo, and similarly to Quinlan Vos, allows you to trade efficiently with your opponent’s units as Cad Bane forces your opponent to damage their units already.
One of the neat things about Cad Bane is that you can “force” your opponent to damage a certain unit occasionally. Underworld cards with Ambush like 4-Lom – Bounty Hunter for Hire and Bossk – Deadly Stalker allow you to resolve the Ambush on those units and remove an opposing unit, and then force your opponent to put Cad Bane’s damage elsewhere.
Cad Bane runs all of the iconic Cunning tricks like Bamboozle, Relentless Pursuit, and probably most importantly of all, Ma Klounkee. Being an Underworld card almost deals 4 damage when being played with Cad Bane. Overall the deck plays similarly to Quinlan Vos, utilising Tarkin Town and other damage based effects to control the early game and deal efficient damage when able. Eventually aiming to close out the game over a few strong rounds after establishing control, but not extending too late into the endgame.
Regional Qualifier Lille
With Star Wars Unlimited: Regional Qualifier Lille just around the corner, we hope that you have as much fun as you can and enjoy the event and the celebration of Star Wars Unlimited to the fullest. We know it will be an event to remember and we look forward to seeing you all there!
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