So worlds is about two and a half weeks away as I start writing this article. That means people are grinding games to figure out what deck they want to bring to the biggest tournament of the year. Getting repetitions in against all the top decks is what you should be doing, which means you will know what to expect when you play against those decks. For this article I just wanted to put out there what are some of the cards you need to be on the lookout for when you are playing against certain decks. I will try go through some of the top decks and the cards that you need to be aware of when you sit down across from them.

eBoba/eSeventhSister

This deck is what you should be testing against as I have said, I think this will be the most popular deck at Worlds. It is a pretty straight forward deck so there aren’t too many tricks it has up it’s sleeve. There are a few cards you need to be prepared to deal with or play around though.

The first being Bait and Switch. It isn’t a oppressive card but I have seen too many people think they are out of range from dying but one Bait and Switch later. Boom their character is dead. If your opponent is showing a resource just assume that they have this card unless both are in the discard. It is tell-tale sign is if they are pitching to reroll but keeping Maul’s Saber on it’s resource side… Just beware of unexpected damage. If you have a chance to play your Force Illusion then do it.

Another card to lookout for in this deck is Feel Your Anger. This can be a useless card or a potential big blowout card all depending on how you roll. There are steps you can take to avoid them removing your biggest dice early on. If you roll out your first character and hit two blanks it might be better to pitch to reroll and get something other than a blank before you roll out your second character and potentially roll even more blanks. It sucks to reroll for less than max value but it can sometimes save you from losing an extra die or two.

eYoda/eHondo

So most of this deck is pretty straight forward and to beat it you have to learn when to pay and not to pay Hondo. That could be it’s own article. The one big card to look out for in this deck is Rebel. You can get burned by this card if you are not paying attention to what is in your opponent’s discard pile. Oh, my opponent played both Easy Pickings? I am in the clear. Well… Not when they are showing a discard side. They pitched Hyperspace Jump? Still be ready for it. I also want to say that PLEASE make sure your opponent sets aside their Hyperspace Jump when they do truly use it so there are no confusions as to if it was used late game. The main thing for this card is you need to realize it can create a third or fourth copy of ANY card in your opponents deck.

eYoda/eRieekan

This is one of the bigger reasons I decided to write this article as it popped up late in the meta but it is a force to reckon with. I personally find this deck much better than the three wide hero mill deck with Yoda, Rieekan and Partisan. Rather than single die mitigation this packs large amounts of removal while letting their shields block smaller amounts of damage. The big one? Emergency Evacuation. This is probably the first time this card has actually popped up in the meta so no one expects it sometimes. If this deck is sitting on 4 dollars, roll out your dice and resolve slowly. At least make them roll in a character to get them to remove their dice also. Sure this deck may have lost Hyperspace Jump but Emergency Evacuation is essentially it’s replacement.

Now the second card I want to point out is one I got burned by hard in my first game against this deck. I totally thought it read “resolve one of your focus dice as if it were showing a different symbol”. So I totally got burned thinking I was safe until C-3PO rolled out. Then boom. A 3 discard. This card can pack a punch and has even been slotted into some Yoda/Hondo decks because of it being a “C-3PO on a stick”. Just be aware and mitigate accordingly.

eAayla/eRose/Ezra

This deck has been around and most people probably know what its plan is. I figured I would just point out big that big plays can happen with the man with a red arm. Often times you assume people might just resolve the indirect as direct damage with him but that isn’t even his full potential. Late game you can remove his die to remove another one with a value of 2 or 3 and suddenly you are staring at 10 to 12 damage instead of 4 to 5. Just realize that this guy is the most flexible card in the game and there is a reason he sees as much play as he does. Just make sure you are able to recognize who he is when he is played, even if he has his red arm.

eRey2/eAayla

This is probably the last deck I feel the need to touch on at all and it is simply because of the big blowout removal cards it can be running. The first card is Force Misdirection. In a melee heavy meta this card can really kill your turn if you just walk into it. Again you want to limit it’s impact by either removing their melee dice or resolve yours slowly before rolling in a second character. Keep in mind this can be used on any die, even blanks. Letting them remove three to four dice for one resource is just a bad turn for you.

Another card to watch out for is Close Quarters Assault. Turns where you roll poorly and they roll well can destroy you as not only do you take a lot of damage, you lose your whole hand for re-rolls. If you feel it is coming either play that card you have been holding onto or pitch to re-roll to get some value out of the cards in your hand. This card is popping up in every melee deck it seems as Rey/Aayla can get several dice out quickly to make this effective. Boba/7th have found themselves running this also with a 5 die start. Just be aware your whole hand can be discarded very quickly.

Lastly I wanted to mention Mind Trick. Sometimes this deck runs it. Sometimes it doesn’t. You might even see Decisive Blow in it’s spot as the list above shows. Both can ruin your turn if you are not careful about how many dice you are rolling out. Sure if they remove 2 or 3 of your dice from an elite Rey with 3 upgrades, yeah that sucks but expected value of 2 resources. Letting them remove up to 4 or 5 from rolling out two elite characters with 2 upgrades on them, that is a very bad turn for you. This is something you can find in your Hondo/Yoda and Yoda/Rieekan builds also so it is a card you always want to be aware of!

Well that should just about do it for now. I hope some of this info was useful for you. I know most competitive players going to worlds already know about these but this information is going to be useful heading into Store Championship season (AKA people who aren’t going to Worlds). I hope you enjoyed it and check us out on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for more content and subscribe to us on iTunes/GooglePlay. Till next time. JustJack