Episode I: The Phantom Menace is the full extent of my understanding of the Star Wars movies and luckily I didn’t have to watch the actual movie. I’ve seen the podracing scene several times without ever having watched the entire movie and the time has come for Star Wars Destiny players to re-live the hatred for that movie in card playing form. [These words are Joe’s; he hasn’t seen any of the Star Wars movies for some reason, I just don’t want to be included in that ridiculousness. ~ BobbySapphire]

Step 1: Find a sucker!

HonestlySarcastc: Sebulba’s stats are reminiscent of Mother Talzin since he comes in the form of 9HP and 1 die for 9 points or elite for 12. His die sides are a bit interesting since he has a 2 ranged and 2 indirect side to go along with the resource side to make you content with his die result 50% of the time. Disrupt can be useful at times and the blank is hated, but the question that we can’t answer yet is “How useful is his special?” As of right now, we’re only aware of two cards that it works with: Boonta Eve Classic which we’ll talk about soon, and Remote Stockpile. Remote stockpile becomes much more interesting if you are running Sebulba, because then we’re looking at 2 damage, 2 damage, resource, resource and that could get pretty out of hand quickly, but that also requires drawing the card. In general, if we don’t have a few good cards to use his special with that are also good on their own, then it’ll make the special a “blank” more often than not and detract from his usefulness.

BobbySapphire: Not much else to add to here that Joe hasn’t already. Two 2 damage sides for 9 is pretty great, but without Remote Stockpile or Boonta Eve Classic he has two blank sides. Everything about Sebulba will really depend on what else is in the set, and how many more cards can take advantage of his special. Right now, Sebulba’s biggest advantage will be to trigger Boonta Eve Classic by the end of round two. However, if we’re filling our deck with 2 podracers and 2 tutors we have to also luck into having something dope to do with the four resources we get off of it. That’s a tall order, but with the right build it could work out.

NJCuenca: This is my kind of scum! Even if the special doesn’t do anything its still reminiscent of Greedo’s die but we exchange a one range for a one resource and you get plus two health for the cost of one more deck building point- that’s value. He’s truly going to shine if his ability is relevant for the deck he’s in. We only know of the plot and Remote Stockpile right now but there is a chance more cards will be spoiled which will make Sebulba even better. [EDIT: Just to clarify, Sebulba adds money to racers which will help Boonta Eve Classic pop earlier since that triggers off of the 4th resource on a pod racer.]

HonestlySarcastc: Sebulba’s podracer seems to be a bit of a mess when looking at the die sides since they really aren’t things you want to pay 2 resources for and a pay side for 2 indirect seems terrible. Luckily the ability can make up for it a bit because it now changes the die sides to 2 Indirect, 3 Indirect for a resource, 1 indirect + 1 disrupt, 1 indirect + 1 discard, 1 indirect + 1 shield and if you have Sebulba the upgrade of it to just straight up deal 1 damage is really good. I could see this being used regardless of Sebulba being in the deck, but I really wish it had a resource side so I’d feel better about using it Round 1 and maybe being able to recoup the costs while getting in the free indirect damage.

BobbySapphire: Not only is this die trash for two resources, but it makes no sense. A shield side? Why? The whole podracing theme is supposed to be about stacking cash, and this does not do that. Considering all of the sic contraptions Sebulba’s Podracter had to easily murder his competitors this thing should do much more damage. As-is, I don’t think this card will ever see competitive play, and I think it’s a letdown for people who wanted to build a podracer themed deck. Let’s hope we get Dud Bolt and Ben Quadiniros to bring the goods in future sets.

NJCuenca: This card has a somewhat mopey die but it makes up for it with an insane ability that you need to consider in order to truly appreciate its dankness. There are decks I would test this out now in even if Sebulba wasn’t legal but in his deck its going to be even better. Take into account that in standard you can play it with Weapons Factory and you are looking at a Back-up Muscle that’s been taking a lot of steroids.

Step 2: Set the Stage!

HonestlySarcastc: I don’t like this plot at this time. Outside of getting a Sebulba special, you’re looking at not getting a single profit from this until Round 4 at the earliest and as the stacked resources crank up, you are notifying your opponent of the impending windfall that is coming to you. If some other cards come out with a secondary ability to help you crack this earlier then it can definitely be great, but I could see this being garbage because the current podracing decks are likely to be 5 die starts.

BobbySapphire: This just seems too slow to be effective. In a podracing themed Sebulba build, fine, you run it. But competitively I think there are easier and more efficient ways to ramp. I would hope that my local league night did a podracer week, because then people could really have some fun with this stuff, but as this picture comes together I’m not liking podracing from a competitive standpoint.

NJCuenca: When this triggers its insane if you can use all those resources effectively. The timing of all that seems tough though for a few reasons. First off each side of the force only has one pod racer and they are both unique, I think they would need to release at least one more for this to be playable and two more just to make sure you have two that go with what you are trying to do (warm take: there will be a generic pod racer). As of right now this doesn’t seem playable for Heroes but for villain/Sebulba decks this seems like an auto pairing (I’ll show myself the door.)

HonestlySarcastc: Tutors are great cards …. often they are TOO great. If enough solid podracers come out, this is going to give them the consistency that they need. Jamming down the Unique podracer Round 1 to go along with their pilot so you can get an ability upgrade is going to be very common due to this.

BobbySapphire: Tutors are great, but having to water down our already small decks with things like this just so we can run a sub-optimal theme makes me cry a little bit inside.

NJCuenca: I like tutors and without knowing which cards you will be getting I like the idea of getting podracers more than blue upgrades because they, so far, tend to be unique and your deck is going to be slow anyway. The problem with this is that we only have two podracers right now. I’d imagine we will at least get 2 more and then this card will have a lot more mileage. (I’m sorry that I’m not sorry)

HonestlySarcastc: I’m expecting this card to be the one that has to get explained to unaware players the most. Having both “Force an opponent to choose” and “Spot” are going to cause arguments for those that don’t know the rules as well as losses potential losses as they realize that the podracer players get to bone the opponent with this. One sided Moisture Farm seems pretty great, you’ll just have to spend your money first to remove and drawbacks from the opponent being able to claim. For those that don’t know, You can choose to “lose 1 resource” even if you don’t have one.

BobbySapphire: Now this is podracing. This battlefield, if you’re running a podracer, is sick. It’s so strong it will immediately go into that category of battlefields that make you think, “oh shit, maybe I should give them the shields.” If you aren’t running a podracer it’s a little weak, especially if your opponent can get rid of all their resources, since they can just choose to lose 1 even if they have 0, so it also falls into that do-nothing battlefield a little bit as well. Overall I think it’s a solid new addition to battlefield options.

NJCuenca: Even though Podracers have ambush those decks will still be slower than upgrade based decks. If you are fast to claim there are better battlefields because you won’t be playing podracers. This card comes in last place today.

HonestlySarcastc: The current statistics have this maxed out at 66% chance to hit on the vehicle dice with better odds which is definitely a risky game for only getting 1 additional resource. Both spoiled podracers on the other hand are still 66% but you are instead gambling 1 resource to get 2 additional which could be a pretty large swing.

BobbySapphire: Worst. Card. Name. Ever.

NJCuenca: Actually, this card comes in last place. There has to be some weird rerolling support that would make this be even worth it. I hope that doesn’t become a thing because that just sounds miserable when you don’t hit.

Step 3: Make Profit!

HonestlySarcastc: Oh yeah, that is the only Anakin that I know. I don’t think he’ll ever overtake the One True Gos (Ezra) in Bobby Sapphire’s and my heart, but my god is he much studlier than Jar Jar. The only time I’ve seen a triple resource side on a character die was at a local when my buddy didn’t know he had a misprinted Han die (the 2 Ranged was replaced). I wouldn’t call him “broken” at this time, but only having to dedicate 10 points to get access to an entire resource engine and color makes the 3-wide builder in me very happy in the pants. I’ve had a lot of ideas where I went 3-wide 5-die starts with Ezra but the incompatible die sides with most blue characters made him feel pretty awful, but I very much like the idea of being able to feed out big upgrades Round 1 in a pairing with elite Aayla and a Padawan. 3 Cost Darksaber anyone??? The “auto focus” on your droid or podracer side is also going to be stellar, but if it’s too good then it definitely puts a target on his head. For now, I’ll just dream about flipping R2-D2 to specials or Anakin’s Pod to double shield sides.

BobbySapphire: Okay, now we’re talking. Once again the heroes seem to dominate the villains in Star Wars Destiny as Anakin and his podracer are much better than his Sebulba counterpart. Three resource sides is insane (but watch out for Hidden Motive), but the tradeoff is no damage sides. We do get auto focus on any droid or podracer die, so Anakin can just straight up fuel whatever you need as long as it isn’t damage. That means whatever this resource generating package is giving you it has to fuel your win condition. I’m always skeptical of support characters who do a bad job of that, as I like to pour on damage (this is also why you rarely find me playing a Yoda deck). Also, +1 for his flavor text, that’s freaking amazing. I don’t know if I’ll ever actually play Anakin, but if I do I’ll be saying that shit literally every time I activate him.

NJCuenca: Baby Anakin! You have to right away compare him with the one true god and its somewhat close since it will be deck dependent. I think in general Ezra will be better as a two die character but Anakin at 1 die I think will be better because his pseudo-focus ability will be worth about half a die. I’m already looking forward to playing him in classic Hero Vehicles

HonestlySarcastc: The shit sides continue to go along with the other unique podracer that’s been spoiled. We got a resource side this time but unfortunately it’s a modified side. The best side here is definitely that 2 shield side, but unlike Sebulba’s racer which has a damage effect that can be used in any damage based deck the extra ability here is a mill based one. Anakin’s pod could definitely become a mill deck staple for the slow grind, but if you happen to run Anakin then the ability upgrade is completely monstrous since NO ONE likes to lose cards in their hand at random. Getting 2 shields and nabbing a random card from hand seems pretty disgusting and since Anakin can “auto focus” the die, it is likely to be what is going to happen until you can take that pesky youngin off the table. Tutor it up, jam it down, and start shielding Anakin while making your opponent hate life.

BobbySapphire: The awful podracer sides continue, but at least we get a 2 shield here. More importantly, Aanakin and his podracer have an objective, to mill you. What I really hate about this card is that if you run it with Anakin you HAVE to take the card from their hand. That rigidity seems ridculous, and you would think that being able to spot Anakin would give you the choice; but, as written, it won’t help us deal with an Ancient Lightsaber loop. Allowing us to save the podracer die until the end of the turn would help contribute to a mill win against Ancient or any other loop technology like Starship Graveyard. Once again we see mill have some potential to be good, but Lukas finds some way to screw us in the end. The +1 resource side is kind of annoying, but also kind of cute since it pairs so well with Anakin. All in all it’ll be interesting to see if Anakin podracing mill can get there, we will watch its career with great interest.

[Note: Upon investigation, apparently anything that has “or” in the text allows you to choose either. So even if we can spot Anakin we can choose to discard off the top. That’s not how it reads to me, but a reliable judge said that’s the case. I’m going to try and get that added to the next RRG update, because OR sounds like an important word to track.]

NJCuenca: I think in mill decks with Anakin this will be very good, by action 3 you can make them discard two cards because Anakin can flip to the racer 1 discard, that’s reliability that they don’t always have. The two shield side does work in decks like that and even in aggressive decks it can help win offensive races. When you get to Rally Aid it into play and have your opponent discard a card every turn then this will be great. I can definately see that Darth Vader type effect getting old very fast, I’d personally hate to play against that. Its not offensive at all but I can see it taking the spot of something like Republic Cruiser in a damage based vehicle deck. That card was a stone blank vs mill and I can definately see this being insanely tilting to play against if you are playing mill. I have this weird feeling that this card along with Anakin are going to be getting played a lot.

~Hyperloops Out!

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