It’s a whole new Meta and I’m milking this thumbnail for all its worth. With the nerf having completely destroyed my previous budget Tuesday It’s a Trap article I decided to shift focus on to the new Meta. Today I will list what I think are the top 10 characters that got a boost from the nerfs. Some of these were affected by the rules negatively but are still powerful enough to have overall gained because others lost so much more. Tomorrow I will post what I think are the top 10 non-character cards. I tried to focus on cards that will drive archetypes that were previously oppressed by the power level of the old format. Some cards won’t necessarily drive archtypes but will become so ubiquitous that there influence will be undeniable.

Sabine Wren

The new overwrite rule nerfed her but you can now discard as your first action without the help of smuggling which helps her slightly. We suspect that Sabine/Ezra will be a serious player in the new meta since it was knocking on the door of the old one. Don’t count out Akbar with her either.

Darth Vader, Sith Lord

As an adult you thought you were safe from chocking hazards but these nerfs will have people bringing back their old Vaders in attempts to capitalize on the new balance to the force. His color has some goodies that have received a bump from the nerfs which adds to the intrigue. I’m not 100 percent he will be tier 1 but you’ll certainly have people trying to choke a bitch.

Palpatine

WIth Kylo2/FN nerfed the Emperor can teach us how to play catch…with LIGHTNING! He has some new toys that were underutilized in Indominable and Endurance but will that be enough? Palp players have surprised me in the past and this time I’m optimistic for his prospects.

Han Solo

Han-plosion wasn’t just a sex move Leia knew about it was also a deck that went under the radar before the nerf. While its true that Rey got a nerf with the overwrite rule change Han/Rey is still a very powerful duo with Riposte being a unique effect that it can run beautifully. Some are still faithfull to Snap Han which has some intriguing options with EAW.

Rey, Force Prodigy

Rey is so cheap and her action cheating is still very powerful. She was slightly nerfed with the overwrite rule but her cost will still make her a staple of Han/Rey and mono blue Hero decks. Kanan gets an honorable mention here and could very well surpass Rey in importance.

Jabba the Hutt



I didn’t like living in a world where Unkar Plutt was used more than the great and mighty Jabba, today’s a happy day! You’ll still see some Plutts but you’ll see more Hutts especially when pluts are legal, I mean plots. There is a world where Plutt and Hutt become the best Crime Lord/Buy-ut deck out there, watch out for that. Smoke it up big boy, you gut some work to do.

Captain Phasma, Elite Trooper

Somewhere, out there, Nick Obee is maniacally testing new Phasma1 lists. Guardian is a huge game in a world of decks looking to use modifers and big dice to do damage. That’s what the world is looking like and old Phasma isn’t just a joke anymore.

First Order Stormtrooper

FN was the top Stormtrooper but his oppressive time has passed and I boldly proclaim that the super efficient FO Stormtrooper will the one to shine in the upcoming format. Also, HAHA Ezra, Bazine and Rookie Pilot.

Mace Windu

Mace’s best partner was Padawan which wasn’t exactly exciting with the dominance of Kylo2/FN. Now with a much more open metagame it will be time for Mace to strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy his brothers.

Kylo Ren, Vader’s Disciple

Kylo’s not great and he even was slightly nerfed since people can just discard the most expensive card from their hand even before they have dice out. Still, he’s alone at his point cost and damage type. Maybe Emo Kids won’t be viable but Kylo is the only 2 die character that seems remotely reasonable with Vader2 and Vader2 is no joke.

While I could certainly use this Gif for many of the cards on this list he’s certainly king of the default.

Tomorrow I’ll discuss the top 10 non-character cards that I think got better with the nerfs. These characters certainly will be influencial to the rankings of tomorrow and vice versa. And as always…

-NJCuenca

Please consider signing up for our Patreon. Not only do you get this dope playmat after $20 worth of pledging, we’ve got a 90 person discord channel that boasts a near constant discussion of competitive Star Wars Destiny playing. In addition to that we release dozens of extra videos to our $10 tournament prep tier, as well as exclusive articles, decklists, and primers. It’s a wealth of information, and I challenge you to ask around among our subscribers to see if they think it’s worth it. I have an idea of what they’ll say.

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

Instagram