Game Theory Optimal – Escaping the Starship Graveyard

HonestlySarcastc here with the first of another series. Game Theory Optimal, which is commonly referred to in acronym form as “GTO,” is about looking at a game theory situation and determining the best actions to take to get to your desired goal. In this series we’ll look at certain unfavorable scenarios and how to best navigate your way to a win.

eHan/eRey is one of the most despised decks to sit across from. Part of it is because of their action economy with ambush weapons or yellow upgrades played off of an in-play Infamous. The other part involves the reoccurring life-saving tool that is Second Chance. Today we are going to examine this situation and how to combat it without wasting any deck-slots running questionable answers like Jedi Council or *insert mill card here?*

We start off asking several questions of the situation:

1.) Is Rey already defeated? If you haven’t defeated Rey already then you probably should. Instead of wasting turn after turn trying to take down Han through his shields and Second Chances, it’ll be easier to take her out first while you leave Han and his shenanigans waiting in the wings.

2.) Can you do 6+ damage in one action via split resolutions? Wait… What?!?!?!? How does that help me?? So here is the breakdown: the plan is to have Han with NINE (Eight might suffice) damage before you go to the next round. The reason is that you don’t want to deal the full 10 damage to Han allowing your opponent to bring the Second Chance back. Alright, so now that Han is “prepped,” the aim is to be able to resolve a single point of damage to trigger the Second Chance (or more if through shields), and then since you are still resolving that specific type of damage, you do 5 more and defeat him all in one stroke. Whilst it is easier said than done, and you still have to dodge dice mitigation, and not be defeated yourself in the process, it is the most efficient way of dealing with Second Chance. Way too often do I see people ping off the Second Chance with no follow up damage, allowing their opponent to pick it back up and place it on him again.

3.) Are they close to losing to deckout + no cards in hand?

If they are, and your deck is capable of forcing them to discard, then you may want to take that line in order to win. Obviously you need to figure out if you can discard the number of cards left in their deck before Han murders you, but you should consider this option. You might think “but if they claim, they’ll always have a card in their deck because of Starship Graveyard!!” This is a fine thought, but lets say you get them to discard, they immediately have to claim or you get to claim and they lose at the end of the round. A few cards that can more easily take this line are Vader, Dooku, Jabba, decks with Mind Probe, Thermal Detonator, Millenium Falcon, or Launch Bay. In less optimal scenarios you can include Rey, Ackbar, On the Hunt, Force Choke, Phasma, Cunning, and Nightsister, but those only have Discard 1 sides and you’ll be less likely to properly execute the strategy.

And last but not least when no other options are available, we use Brute Force!

I’m not a fan of this method, but if you can force-ably pop Second Chance, they have a tough decision regarding whether or not to claim, and if they don’t you can claim and go for the kill on the next turn. This is really just a last ditch attempt, and if your opponent claims, you’ll need to use the rest of the round punishing them for it. Even in this scenario, it’s best having Han at nine damage prior to the round and doing this so that even if it takes multiple actions, you’ll have the best chance at getting the damage that you need to win.