I return after a short pause and because except new erratas there is nothing new to write about, I will have a look on one of the current decks. Specifically mono-blue villain deck, an archetype of deck which is mostly the same and uses just various options of characters (with exception of elite Palpatine). I think the best current option is a version with elite Kylo Ren and Darth Vader, DA and therefor let’s have a closer look on it now. Decklist is again accessible on StarWars Destiny database: link, and thanks to reader’s feedback I also attach the screen of it below.
CHARACTERS:
As for the characters, there is really a lot of options how to build mono blue sith deck, and they were pretty good even back in Awakenings. Back in time, elite Dooku was pretty common and he survived until today, but now he has a new optimal teammate – Asajj Ventress and I have to admit, that this team is also not bad at all. Another option is elite Darth Vader, Sith Lord and Royal Guard. However our option of Vader and Kylo is much more consistent in damage and is able to do much higher spike in damage. This advantage has to be offset somehow, and it is. Deck terribly lacks resources. Darth Vader’s die does not have any resource side and you can not expect much from Kylo’s dice, so you have to be careful about them and use them in a clever way. Darth Vader himself can make enough pressure on your opponent even without any upgrades and Kylo Ren despite having mediocre die, has a good special and good HP/cost ratio. Your opponent should and will target your Vader first, which means that all upgrades you have should be played on Kylo Ren. Total of 22 HP is not much, but there are other cards to compensate.
UPGRADES AND SUPPORTS:
As it was already said, most of the equipment should be played on Kylo Ren. If your opponent switch targets, than you can maybe load Vader, but except that time, the plan is pretty obvious. Deck is equipped with Sith Holocrons and force powers, as you really do not have too many resources. Mind Probe and Force Throw are pretty obligatory. Throw will help you with defense but it can be also used to resolve your paid or modified 3 melee sides for free and you can resolve both of them while claiming. Last force power is Force Illusion. This is the only card which can be played directly on Vader and it usually really helps you to prolong life of your character by 1 more turn.
Aside the Powers and Holocrons, you have two melee weapons. First is Vibroknife, which is vulnerable to Imperial Inspection but against any other deck really helps with unblockable damage. Second is Kylo Ren’s Lightsaber, which has to be usually played through Enrage or Rise Again thanks to its cost, but it brings one more consistent and dangerous die as soon as it hits the table. And thats it, we do not use any supports in this deck.
EVENTS:
Events take quite a lot of deck slots and it is caused mainly by the fact, that blue villains offers lot of useful tricks others than just plain dice removal. The most expensive one is Rise Again. This card is a key for blue elite decks, where characters usually has low amount of health and weak defense, like in this case. Rise Again brings apart from healing 5 HP a free upgrade from discard pile which further improves cost effectivity of the deck. Issue is, that Rise Again costs 5 resources so you will not be able to play it directly. Therefor we have other trick in the deck – Premonitions. When you play first copy, you can hide a card from hand below it and while playing the second Premonition, you can release hidden card for free into play. Rise Again is therefor obvious target, but any other expensive upgrade is also good. Just do not forget, that in blue mirrors, your Premonitions can be stolen by opponent and vice versa. You can also help yourself to resources via Enrage, which perfectly fits together with Lightsaber.
Premonitions alone are not a consistent card, therefor you have to cycle your cards quickly through your hand. Boundless Ambition and Trust Your Instincts helps with this task and they both increases the chance to draw to cards you need (Premonitions, Rise Again, Holocron, Powers, Enrage etc.). Just do not forget, that Force Illusions are somehow contra productive to Premonitions, so you should use them only as a last call for help.
The final trick in events is No Mercy. I do not have to remind you what is the game impact of this card, it really boosts your burst of damage in opening turns.
Last six slots are reserved for dice removal. The trio of removal consists of Overconfidence aside of popular Isolation and Feel Your Anger. Overconfidence is tricky, but Doubt is not blue card and will not help you against Palpatine and Poe. Other option instead of Overconfidence is High Ground, but I do not like condition of controlling the battlefield.
BATTLEFIELD:
The best battlefield for this deck is Emperor’s Throne Room. Thanks to Vader’s and Kylo’s special you can use it even with naked characters and the deck has also an enormous amount of specials on other dice. Speed-wise, it is somewhere in the midfield, so in case your meta is full of Poe or other decks which can use this battlefield and claim faster, you should maybe think about something else. Maz’s Castle further improves consistency of this deck and its claim ability opens you more options to get the key cards you need. Option is more dependable on player and his meta.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
This deck is heavily dependent on both rolls and draw, however at least with the second one he manages well due to event tricks. It is really aggressive variant of mono blue villain deck and it can surprise with the burst potential and sustainability. In most cases though Vader dies quickly and therefor you have to suite Kylo Ren well, otherwise he does not have a chance to succeed alone. It is not easy deck to play with and it requires a lot of tactical skills. It offers quite a lot of plays, but only a few of them can be paid through limited resources and therefor the pilot should not make mistakes during the game decisions.
As per strength, in ideal constellation it can be unbeatable, but in most of other cases, it requires wit and experience. It is however very enjoyable to play and it is thematically pure villain deck, which I can recommend. I expect that Force Speed would further improve this deck, but this card is the only one I do not have in my collection as per now, so I can not extensively test it. Should I have to fit it in deck, I would remove Trust Your Instincts.
In case you would like to try eDooku / eVentress, I recommend to change only the battlefield for Maz’s Castle for beginning and leave it as it is for few games, before you will do more changes.
