Fantasy Flight and Star Wars. Two great tastes that taste great together!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > Fantasy Flight and Star Wars. Two great tastes that taste great together!

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

Is this the thread to talk Star Wars Unlimited?

I've got little confidence in FFG to not poo poo the bed; especially post-private equity.

I don't love CCGs, but I hear the rationales. FFG claims they could never get draft / limited formats to work for their LCGs, and they wanted Unlimited to have first class draft support. LCGs sound great if you stay current. You can miss a month. But missing a lot means you're out of the loop and can struggle to get back in due to cost / out of print. (I missed a cycle from Netrunner and never really recovered until Null Signal.) Also, local stores vastly prefer CCGs to LCGs, and it seems like with a focus on Organized Play, limited, and multiplayer as a primary option, FFG is really taking a shot at Magic by going for the FLGS support. Maybe? I don't know, it's not really my jam. But with WotC's new focus on mass market retail and Amazon and Arena, I feel like FLGS is a way to take a shot at the king?

I don't really care about the art one way or the other. It's started to grow on me but I never had strong feelings about it.

Anyway, I was on vacation last week and had pent up energy when the kids went to bed, so I made this: https://www.swudb.com. Obvious inspiration is Scryfall, but it's nowhere near that in quality.

# ¿ Jul 12, 2023 03:56

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# ¿ May 9, 2024 22:58

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

I have no sense if a game "looks cheap", but my confidence in FFG not being cheap is not high, so I believe ya'll.

If you look at some of the artist's portfolios, they look fantastic. The art seems pretty polarizing. FFG has stated they want the game to have a ton of variants and that alt-art should be the primary chase cards, that getting a deck of basic art cards should be reasonably affordable. So my theory is that the artists are hewing pretty close to the most neutral style guide imaginable, and then their alt-art will be cool.

Or maybe they're just not being paid very much.

We're (supposedly) going to see the first two variant alt-arts at GenCon, so maybe that'll be an indicator?

# ¿ Jul 12, 2023 13:51

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

Orvin posted:

I just got an email from my FLGS about Star Wars Unlimited. They are trying to gauge interest in it to probably figure out how much to order. Is there any chatter about it on the forums here? I couldn�t find anything obvious, but sometimes I miss very obvious things.

I wouldn�t mind dabbling in a new CCG, but I am hesitant due to FFGs recent track record on anything collectible, that initial release will be a train wreck that poison the long term health of the game.

Oh boy! I have so much pent-up energy to talk about this topic. (I really do need to start a Star Wars Unlimited thread.)

I am all in on SWU. Full disclosure � I run swudb.com, the current reigning �card database� site. I haven�t bought a randomized booster since Magic�s Onslaught block, but I have been swayed by FFG�s new promises. I�ve played almost every FFG LCG, and tuned in to the original announcements mostly with morbid curiosity, assuming the game would either be cheap or under supported, as is FFG�s wont.

I read a Polygon interview with Jim Cartwright on the announcement day that heavily featured quotations about how FFG has had a spotty track record in the past. That acknowledgement sparked my interest to look into it further, because I have a soft spot for a frank acknowledgement of past failures.

There has been almost no goon discussion about this game other than a few people mocking the art / graphic design.

Since May, the new team seems like a completely different FFG. It�s their biggest team in the company�s history (apparently by a margin), something like three times the headcount of anything they�ve done before. They�ve got Josh who is full time organized play coordination, and a full time community relations manager Xander (who is awesome). That feels newish. The communication coming out of FFG is almost daily, with near weekly streams where they answer questions from the audience[1], a regular presence of most of the employees on the Discord, and strong coordination with a whole slew of streamers (both focused on the game and focused on broader board games in general). They�ve telegraphed all kinds of information about the game, and when they won�t answer a question they�re pretty forthright about when they will answer it.

(Forex, over the weekend they sent a designer and Xander to TwitchCon, where they were partnered with a bunch of other people�s streams as well as running their own. That feels very �new FFG�.)

(And the organized play program sounds pretty good, with special packs that are only available at OP nights and can�t be sold that contain three variant cards only appearing in those packs. They seem to be aggressively targeting the LGS market.) They�ve also switched from their normal Asmodee-only distributor to Southern Hobby because Southern Hobby does a better job of reaching into small card stores.

I�ve probably played about 50 games of SWU (~10 with my seven-year-old son in person, the rest on TTS with randos). You can try out the game right now � the creator of Flesh and Blood�s Felt Table has created ForceTable.net, where you can play the game against a reasonably simplistic AI.

The game is good. Its back-and-forth turn structure means it�s super easy to teach, but the sequencing can result in some serious brain burners. It plays really fast and teaches fast, but you walk away from games thinking back to that decision you made third turn and how that�s where it all started to fall apart.

They�ve been very clear that limited has been a primary focus since day one � sealed games at each set�s prerelease, weekly draft nights, etc. They�ve built the game with multi-player in mind from day one � the rules for multi-player are forthcoming but they�ve been referenced in some of the retailer-directed marketing they�ve been doing while sending the team to Spiel/GenCon/TwitchCon/PaxU. A bunch of cards are phrased with multiplayer in mind. And they seem to be taking pages from Final Fantasy / One Piece in putting the chase cards as (mostly) cosmetics, though obviously that can change set to set as the MBAs get their hands on things.

The art is somewhat contentious. It�s of mixed quality, but it�s grown on me. Most importantly, it�s nice to have a new art style � I�ve grown so tired of the recycled photorealistic paintings that FFG used in every Star Wars game ever. The comic art style really does it for me. Even if one of the Chewbaccas kind of looks like Grimace, I�ll take it [2]. It�s new.

The layout is� fine? People seem to think it looks old and cheap. But on the table, across the table, in sleeves � I find it really pops and makes reading the cards pretty easy compared to some other games.

Again, I haven�t played a TCG (as opposed to LCG) in twenty years (other than when a goon dragged me to some two-headed Magic set�s prerelease). FFG could still pull an FFG and gently caress it all up, but so far they�ve maintained five months of perfect coordination and hype-building, and the game�s fun, so we�ll see?

I can (literally) talk about this game all day if you have questions.

[1] Today's stream is about the competitive half of their organized play program; how regional/national/world championships will work, etc. 11 AM Pacific.

[2] I actually love Grimace Chewbacca, but I know I'm in a vocal minority.

CitizenKeen fucked around with this message at 18:09 on Oct 25, 2023

# ¿ Oct 25, 2023 17:13

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

HidaO-Win posted:

... omitted truths ...

FFGs development process does not result in a stable game. They tend to put their best designers on the rules and the base set. This is the easiest phase of the game to design and usually the initial play experience is good. After that the good designers are shuffled on to another game development and less experienced personal slotted into place. By a year into L5R, an intern was lead designer of the game. Playtest was nonexistent, to have a surprise for a Star Wars Celebration they had a guy secretly design a Star Wars Destiny starter in the FFG warehouse. Every character from that starter needed a ban or errata to balance later. They cannot sustain a competitive environment this way, by the time the first or second set is out, abusive cards will be repeatedly appearing in sets necessitating constant bans and restrictions. Players get cheesed off with this and leave. FFGs games are marked by a huge early player base which steadily drain away.

... omitted truths ...

Absolutely everything you've said is completely true.

I just wanted to highlight that one paragraph and note a distinction between past and present: The design team behind the core set launching in March is currently wrapping up design for Set 7 and is currently working on finalizing design goals for Set 9. Set 9 will release in November of 2026. Same core team, that they're currently growing.

Everything you said is true, but I wanted to note that I feel (subjective) like the last five months like I'm interacting with a completely different company.

Could still crash and burn, though.

# ¿ Oct 26, 2023 21:21

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

smug jeebus posted:

The thing about using a different distributor was the most surprising. Doesn't Asmodee own them? Why are they even allowed to do that?

Scuttlebutt is because the Asmodee distributor targets bigger stores and has certain requirements. Southern Hobby (apparently) has more support for smaller stores, so if your goal is to break into more of the small LGS community and establish a strong OP scene, ACD is not the right distributor. The recent announcement makes it unclear if they're going through Southern Hobby exclusively or in addition to ACD, but either way, that's a notable shift since it would indicate a prioritization of exposure and reach over direct profits to Asmodee / Embracer. Long game vs short game, etc.

# ¿ Oct 26, 2023 22:38

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

AndyElusive posted:

I had no idea, I thought that game was still getting supported. I wonder what the life expectancy of Unlimited is.

They're currently doing design steps for Set 9. I kind of feel like Unlimited is go big or go home for FFG.

# ¿ Dec 7, 2023 22:10

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

FishFood posted:

That feels insanely premature for a card game that hasn't even been released yet, but I am not a CCG designer.

No idea. They've announced the first three sets (which sound like they're all done). They've laid out initial plans for 2025 world championships and how it'll different from the 2026 world championships, etc.

I get the impression that if you want to go big, you need to have a long ramp in front of you (especially at first) to encourage buy-in? If there isn't a grand plan, how do you generate hype for _yet another_ FFG Star Wars card game? I'm an LCG fanboi, so I don't know how it's done in the TCG space either.

Game absolutely slaps, though. Really solid design, if not particularly novel. Borrowed a lot of good bits from a bunch of other games; whole is greater than the sum, etc.

# ¿ Dec 8, 2023 00:57

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

Finster Dexter posted:

This is a thing, I guess.

https://starwarsunlimited.com/how-to-play?chapter=how-to-play

I think I'm done buying booster packs for CCG, especially after Star Wars Destiny, but maybe if it's fun?

I can�t stop playing. I�m currently playing about ten games a week on TTS or webcam and I�d like to jam more.

# ¿ Feb 24, 2024 21:10

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

banned from Starbucks posted:

So I watched a learn to play video on Unlimited, and ok, it's basically a starwars reskin of Hearthstone. I'm not sure I like the separation of land and space minions, and the initiative thing is kinda weird. I think the appeal of Hearthstone was how goofy it could be which kinda carried its simplistic game play. I'm not sure slapping the Starwars IP onto its 6th, 7th?? card game at this point is enough to keep it interesting.

It bears very little resemblance to Hearthstone other than that they're both dude-bashers who exist in the shadow of Magic: The Gathering. The closer resemblance is probably Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn.

Edit: In other news, MJ is out.

https://twitter.com/NatsunoYoru/status/1762908403033149824

# ¿ Feb 29, 2024 04:00

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

Yeah, sorry, this art is dope.

Only registered members can see post attachments!

# ¿ Feb 29, 2024 15:09

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

alg posted:

I can't imagine why they used such poo poo art.

They have years of art they could have used.

And if we're going to be critiquing art and layout (let's!), maybe use the actual cards instead of fan recreations.

Double posting because apparently I can't SA in the morning.

# ¿ Feb 29, 2024 15:11

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

HidaO-Win posted:

FFG tend to lowball artists, then re-use their art several times so its possible that a lot of the higher end artists just feel its not worth the hassle to work with them.

They also aren�t using the official Star Wars symbols for Rebel Alliance and Empire, instead more generic inspired by symbols.
It�d be strange but possible that the license is a little weird and they can use the characters, but not the characters likeness from the films.

Also possible it�s just a slightly cartoony art style because the game is meant to be more Hearthstoney and they modelled the art style of it.

As noted, the Rebel Alliance and Empire symbols don�t make sense in the broader context of the game.

They absolutely have the rights to likenesses, but they need a style that can accommodate actors but also characters from shows like the early stylized Clone Wars and Young Jedi Adventures and also from the video games like Jedi Survivor and Battlefront and also from comic books and books, so hyper realistic doesn�t make sense.

The only thing they weren�t given permission to do that we�ve heard about is to define the looks of the fourth member of Inferno Squadron, who appears in the books but not the games, so they use her call sign and give her a ship.

# ¿ Mar 1, 2024 02:12

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

My closest local is doing 4 prereleases this weekend. ~20 people at tonight�s. I went 3-0 with Vader Green Good Stuff; didn�t get the big financial pack luck but got some good mechanical synergies.

Playing an FFG game with limited baked in at the beginning is such a new experience. Room was hyped.

# ¿ Mar 2, 2024 07:52

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

Orvin posted:

I was at a pre-release event yesterday afternoon and had a good amount of fun. Got a pretty good amount of games in, 3 rounds of 3 games each. But there really wasn�t quite enough time to finish the 3rd game. And my last round I won the first 2. So 6 full games, and two partial games.

The back and forth nature was good, in that it didn�t feel like there was a lot of downtime while waiting for your opponent to take their full turn. The card interactions did make for some interesting choices. Do I attack with this guy to do damage before my opponent can get it off the board, or do I do the other thing that is cheaper, more efficient, whatever because it is on the board. And some times I just had to put things on the board and hope my opponent didn�t just outright kill it so I could bring in something else with a synergy bonus.

I played with Jyn leader (gives -1/-0 to opponent defenders) and kinda liked the survavibility she gave to my units. Made it nice to either ignore weak chip damage units, or keep some of my units alive with one health when they otherwise would have died. It meant I could be way more aggressive in keeping my opponents board clear of stuff.

I love Jyn Erso as a leader. I'm sad that I don't think she's super competitive in a constructed format. I've spent the last two months tinkering with a Blue Jyn deck trying to partner her with Jedi Lightsaber, and when you get it set up it's oppressive. But it's missing something to really push it over the edge / make it more reliable. Maybe next set?

But in limited she's a boss. Such a workhorse ability. Limited is such a less-optimized format, so being able to make competitive trades plays really well. How'd you fare?

Edit: As long as I'm asking people for trip reports...

First Prerelease posted:

18 person turnout at my LGS (Gongaii in Oregon). Staff were very friendly, crowd was enthused. Gongaii wanted to go best-of-1 which led to a relaxed atmosphere for learning.

My first two packs had Vader Unit, foil Superlaser Technician, and Overwhelming Barrage, so I was in on Vader Green. It was kind of decided for me by the pack gods. Spoiler alert: Vader Green Ramp/Good Stuff is what is colloquially known as a "good deck".

Guy at my table got the Hera showcase. Not sure if he knew how much it was worth.

First game I won by almost purely by luck. Played against Red Tarkin. I mulliganed a wonderful limited hand because I was on premier autopilot and forgot that the hand would be worse in limited. Second hand had all 5 of my events, so I was in rough shape out of the gate.

If Tarkin had realized he was the beatdown sooner, he would have won. He should have won, but he did not. He durdled and gave me time to come online, and Vader leader is a beast.

Second game was vs Blue Vader. Differing color matchups seem really fun in this game; not quite a mirror match but you both know your avenues of play. All of my red cards came out early and he didn't stand a chance. That game got locked down early and went fast.

I sat down against my 3rd opponent who was running with Red Leia. I audibly groaned; that beatdown was going to run right under me. I resourced Corellian Freighter and Gladiator Star Destroyer and he got out some good space units and I was on the ropes.

Then Round 6 I double Vadered which felt DISGUSTING. I will answer for that sin. He got me to 29, but I'd been sitting on an Overwhelming Barrage which Vader used to clear out the space arena. I never let him re-establish a board presence and he scooped a round before I won. That's a match-up I probably would lose in a Best-of-3, but in a Best-of-1 I lucked out.

The pack gods may not have been particularly kind financially, but they were very kind mechanically.

Prize support was underwhelming (compared to other stores), but I think I was the only person there who wasn't signed up for additional prereleases this weekend. The store's running "Prerelease on Release" events next week, so I get one more shot at sealed before settling into constructed and limited.

CitizenKeen fucked around with this message at 17:54 on Mar 3, 2024

# ¿ Mar 3, 2024 17:45

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

Yeah, FFG has often tried to be complex and novel and it�s often bitten them in the butt. Destiny�s dice were too much, L5R sucked, the Star Wars LCG has a lot of weird mechanics like pods that people didn�t like and the force dial thing was boring.

I think Star Wars is a mid IP anyway, so I�m happy with a refined, simple game made by clever people with a track record at FFG that just happens to be Star Wars.

But a lot of people feel it�s thematic, and the devs have been honest in interviews that when they come to a fork in the road between theme and good gameplay they choose gameplay and articulate why. It�s why the Star Wars CCG is just novelty garbage.

And sure, Jyn doesn�t feel thematic, but Han having natural synergy with the Millennium Falcon, or Palp and Vader always teaming up no matter which color you put them in feels quite thematic. Cards like Force Throw and Chirrut or Thrawn are dripping with theme.

Core sets have to put basic mechanics in. Which leader would you recommend for defenders get -1/-0? It�s a good gameplay mechanic, it should be there; for whom would it be thematic?

# ¿ Mar 4, 2024 18:25

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

canyoneer posted:

The Star Wars Deckbuilding Game (terrible name!) is a fun little 2 player dueler. Theme is very well applied there too.

That game was more fun than it had any right to be, though I do feel it can run a little long.

# ¿ Mar 4, 2024 20:16

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

Cease to Hope posted:

Contrast this with the other four Star Wars CCGs, where being a Jedi or a droid was something with an inherent game effect, or where (even after the first set!) your deck would be something like "battle droids" or "characters you'd expect to find on Tatooine" or "Luke, Han, and X-Wings." This seemed to have very little of that; at best I saw a few cards that wanted to be with other rebels or imperials, and a penalty for playing good guys with bad guys. (Even then, it felt weird that Han and the bounty hunters were as good/evil-locked as, say, Darth Vader or Leia.)

This seemed very lacking thematically by comparison. The rules seemed to fit soldiers and war materiel well - bounty hunters fighting mercenaries, fighters attacking ships - but having R2D2 or Tarkin be a character you play, get an effect, then trade immediately for chip damage in a fight in the ground, that felt weird and lousy.

I did not love how even in the premiere set we had per-card damage tracking and two kinds of per-card tokens already. This is a lot of crap to stack on a card, especially when two of the token types have an effect that offsets but does not eliminate the effect of wounds.

Upgrades were a mess. I played Devotion on a Star Destroyer multiple times, and Entrenched a TIE fighter. Even more than the characters, the upgrades didn't feel like they meant anything. They were just lumps of numberwang. I'm not sure there were any space-specific upgrades even; I didn't see any.

Rares and Legendaries were often draft-ruining bombs. I drafted Tarkintown and Dooku and they were consistently a free card's worth of tempo for too little. If you drafted a couple good rares/legendaries and could consistently play them, they frequently would come down and just blow out the entire board. There were rares that just sent every unit killed this turn back to your hand, stole units with no restrictions, or just had a solid body and killed something when they entered/left play. The worst I saw was Avenger, which killed a unit when it entered play and every time it attacked.

For a game with two lanes, space seemed very undercooked. I drafted that TIE, a raider, a Z-95, and a rebel capital ship and generic star destroyer, both of which I just ate the cost penalty on. Frequently I just beat my opponent to death in the space lane with those! It felt very easy to race face in space due to a general shortage of spaceships in the set, plus everyone's leader was a ground unit. I saw Leader Tarkin and Han, and it felt strange that neither of them helped with space combat very much. (On the other hand, Thrawn was very impactful and just rocked my poo poo overall.)

Events all seemed to be removal except for Search Your Feelings. I saw a ton of minor variations on "destroy unit," "deal n damage to unit", "unit attacks (out of sequence)", "unit deals damage to unit," etc. Occasionally there were MTG-style +n/+n combat tricks or "draw card" too but they seemed to be consistent tempo losses. I also saw some "choose two (of four)" cards, always played to kill a unit and do something else.

There didn't seem to be any sense of place or condition to the game. People had base cards (and I drafted a rare one with less life but a one-time effect, which was neat) but it didn't feel like you were attacking Cloud City or anything. The characters just seemed to be in the same nowhere arena as MTG or Hearthstone, with no cards that represented advantageous or detrimental conditions except as attachments to one character or else one-time effects. Leaders did provide this effect, but there were a lot of officer-commander-type characters with static effects that did not survive long enough to feel like they were having a significant effect overall.

I did actually like the stripped-down Hearthstone feeling as a game. It still works as a struggle to build enough tempo to convert some of that tempo to face damage. That's still fun!

On the other hand, I didn't love how often I was just going face. I drafted Iden/Tarkintown and while I didn't love Iden - basically every blue commander I saw looked better except Chirrut, who was a joke - but by drafting with an eye for Restore and removal effects, I was able to win games just playing face hunter more often than not. That's not fun. (In fairness, this may be a pre-release teething issue. People drafted cards that looked cool, while I drafted thinking I wanted to curve out. A lot of people showed me neat-looking expensive cards but few people played them against me.)

I did like, for drafting, how many of the cards are just Star Wars stuff and not locked to good/bad. I had a Cloud City guy with a 70s porno stache and he felt like someone who could just get mixed up with anything. Sadly, he did not have an ice cream maker. I had a couple cross-side cards and having the option to play them felt good, although I only really played one.

I like just going ahead and doing the MTG commander thing. It's nice that the game starts with a limited announcement of your overall plan, and it felt neat that, usually, you had your leader meddling every turn.

Playing your leader, however, generally felt bad. The ones I saw were not very interesting units, even by the already low standards of the game overall: generally just the same effect as their passive ability. Plus, my opponents tended to prioritize punching them out again. It was neat that they're a free Ambush unit (and this is most of the value I got from Iden), but it felt bad to see people play Luke, Grand Inquisitor, or IG-88. They'd get one attack before immediately getting their leader's teeth kicked in.

Speaking of, the most impactful characters felt like the worst of modern MTG creature design: characters with middling-high stats who generated value immediately or when they left play. Ambush and When Deployed/Defeated were just too much better than characters with actions, On Attack, or static abilities, because they were so difficult to protect and it took so long for them to get any value. This makes a lot of characters feel even more like generic game pieces. The Emperor is a removal card on a stick. An AT-AT is a burst of healing(?). This actually feels thematic for the Rogue One characters (K2 was a literal suicide bomber as I recall) but it isn't like the R1 characters are any more likely to be designed this way.

Anyhow I didn't much like it and ditched my cards to another player for the cost of my buy-in. It's not a game I would stick with or recommend to anyone. If what you want is a Hearthstone clone, that's actually the most fun thing about it, with two lanes and the same struggle back and forth to curve better than the opponent and get tempo. But as a Star Wars game or something you'd play long-term? Super generic and indulges in some of the worst design failings of Heathstone and MTG both.

That�s a very compelling write-up! I disagree with nearly all of it but it�s well-written and subjective so it doesn�t seem worth getting into it. Thanks for taking the time to write that up!

One note: Iden is generally considered to be one of the top two leaders right now after a number of tournaments.

# ¿ Mar 4, 2024 21:27

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

Cease to Hope posted:

Oh I can definitely see how. She's consistent value for something you are going to do every single turn, sometimes even without taking a specific action to do so, and she's a very impactful character just as 4... whatever-they-call-power with Shielded and pseudo-Ambush. It felt like even the low-power, high-toughness leaders could only survive two hits from on-curve units at best anyway.

She felt weaker for draft, though. Krennic would have been even more obnoxious going face. Chewbacca slowed the game down a lot, which would make high-cost bombs a lot more useful. I saw an Andor that drew for going face and had IG-88, but it would've meant using a generic blue base instead of Tarkintown. Maybe it's just thinking the grass is greener, though.

Which was the other top-tier leader in constructed?

Emphasis mine. For each Aspect Pairing (Morality / Color), the Common leader is generally better for limited, while the Rare leader is generally more build-around. You can certainly play them in limited, but they require a little more luck in sealed and skill in draft. Krennic > Iden, Chewie > Chirrut, Sabine > Cassian Andor, etc.

Current meta is a little wonky; the three archetypes are all well-represented, but Energy Conversion Lab is just such a good base to get value out of that people haven't quite figured out the answers. So I'd say the top 3 decks right now are Sabine Green (aggro), Boba Green (mid-range), and either Iden Green or Palpatine Blue for control. Iden Green and Palp Blue basically play the same card pool (Villainy, Green, and Blue); Iden gets ECL and Palp doesn't, though, so that might push her over the limit. But a skilled Palp is really good because his leader ability is just so good. Sabine Green is as strong as the other two in the first game of a match-up, but it's harder for her to tech in her sideboard to fight mid-range then it is for mid-range / control to tech against Sabine, so she's probably in third place.

It's all very fluid right now, though playing "not green Leader + ECL" does seem to be prevalent. We're starting to see more exploration beyond Leader + Green, though, so we'll see.

# ¿ Mar 4, 2024 22:07

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

The Black Stones posted:

Well one thing I didn�t realize is that Leader Showcase cards were a thing.

I was playing in a draft tonight and a bunch of guys were buying boxes (one dude there is nuts. He was literally just giving away any card that wasn�t a foil or alt art as he was looking to get a full set of all cards in the game) so I broke down and bought a second box.

I got Boba Fett showcase. Turned it around on the spot to the owner for 400$ in store credit. I looked at my other box and my other Showcase is Sabine Wren who also is apparently worth a ton of money.

If I got out right now, I would be on top. Haha. I don�t think I�ll buy another box, but I�ll save the credit for when the next boxes come and probably use it to buy 2 sets there.

I�ve opened half of one of my three boxes and I got a Showcase Tarkin. He�s right there on the line of leaders I�d definitely play and keep the Showcase vs. Not interested in and sell the Showcase. It�s a really pretty card. Had unit Boba in the same pack so that was nice.

Showcase Boba and Sabine is an incredible pair. Congrats on your luck.

# ¿ Mar 10, 2024 14:13

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

My LGS is kinda sus, so I�m moving over to another one for SWU OP. They�re doing a Sealed Escalation League, which I didn�t know was a thing, and which sounds perfectly my speed. Not sure where the OP variants go in my binder but excited to grab some this week.

# ¿ Mar 10, 2024 20:24

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

Yeah, it�s that. You get a pack a week and can rebuild your deck in between weeks as your sealed pool grows.

Though my store is starting at 4 packs which feels like a train wreck but whatever.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2024 01:49

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

You can say what you will about the art, the layout, or FFG�s viability, but SWU is good. Three different stores in my area had events firing tonight, looks like two more stores tomorrow.

Went 2-1 and claimed some store credit. Lost my first match against an upgraded starter; as Green Iden playing against a Relentless just broke me.

Second two matches were against Blue Thrawn and Red Thrawn. 55 minutes doesn�t feel like enough time for two control to face off, even with each player going fast. Even so, Iden just dominated.

# ¿ Mar 15, 2024 07:35

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

uncle blog posted:

What does goldfishing mean?

Bought and opened my sixth display yesterday. Got a Sabine showcase. But I'll probably buy another box or two in hope of more showcases.

If you weren�t aware, Showcases are 1 in 12 boxes.

Goldfishing means playing your opening turns against nothing. You�re playing against a goldfish. You�re just trying to see how the opening lines of play feel.

# ¿ Mar 16, 2024 14:34

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

The Black Stones posted:

Oh really? I am 2 for 2. Lol.

I played against my friend yesterday with a Vader deck I made. I absolutely crushed him. I really like Vader as a Leader. Constant chip damage is good to pull off. Deck is all about smashing guys and also exhausting or sending back to hand.

Hopefully will do better than I did the draft. I also built a Spectre deck for fun. I don�t think it will be as good but still looks fun to play.

Yeah, I�ve opened 3 boxes and 2 Showcases but some other content creators have opened 50 boxes and gotten zero.

# ¿ Mar 16, 2024 19:24

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

Plan in place, clearly communicated to fans in a timely manner.

CitizenKeen fucked around with this message at 17:29 on Mar 20, 2024

# ¿ Mar 20, 2024 17:12

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

Hyperfoil Unit Vader is going for more than some showcases.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2024 21:01

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

Macdeo Lurjtux posted:

I wonder if they're not doing the old Magic thing of printing certain more copies of some legendaries per sheet than others.

I bought two boxes and two of the three legendaries in each box was Superlaser and Home One.

I've got 5 Black Ones (two in Hyperspace) and zero Home Ones. I think Random Variance is gonna Random Variance.

# ¿ Mar 22, 2024 16:38

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

Shadows of the Galaxy preview season is upon us. First cards are Mando-centric, but looks like we're getting Aphra (!), Mando, and Bane this set as well.

https://starwarsunlimited.com/articles/shadows-of-the-galaxy

https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/s...oda-mandalorian

# ¿ Apr 3, 2024 18:20

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

Cease to Hope posted:

is it harder to grasp that Moff Gideon buffs guys who cost less than 3 than that he, I don't know, buffs troopers and bounty hunters? encourages a playstyle where you freely sacrifice pieces to pursue an obsessive end? i realize he's not exactly a deep character! but i look at that card and you could change the name and have it 100% work for any stormtrooper commander or any tie squadron leader or half the various imperial villains in the spinoff cartoons or that squad of stormtroopers han runs away from on the death star or tim russ's character from spaceballs.

if you swapped moff gideon's name and stats with director krennic, iden versio, or grand moff tarkin persona cards from the first set, would anything at all be amiss? it's not that this particular card is too simple, it's just that it has no distinct personality. the vast majority of them don't.

Out of curiosity, what�s a modern Star Wars game you think got theme right?

# ¿ Apr 4, 2024 00:20

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# ¿ May 9, 2024 22:58

CitizenKeen: Nov 13, 2003; easygoing pedant

People talk about it like it's the end-times, but Embracer had $2billion in debt if I recall correctly.

Also, the Asmodee unit had something like $40million in profits last time they reported (again, IIRC). Given even conservative servicing costs, Asmodee might not be making a ton of profit but that's more than enough to cover the servicing costs.

# ¿ Apr 23, 2024 18:58

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