The following is a guest post by Drew Warren from Arrowbrook Gaming. If you have any interest in writing a guest post please send us a msg at thehyperloops@gmail.com. With rotation looming Drew wanted to talk about possible reprints and omissions. Here are the 18 Cards that Drew either wants to see re-printed or killed!

With the release of Across the Galaxy only two weeks away people have started to talk more and more about the topic of set rotation. The yet unnamed set 7, which should release around March or April, will officially rotate out the Awakenings block of cards and redefine the meta as we know it.

Discard to Reroll did a great podcast last week where he discussed with CX3 which cards he wanted to see rotate and which cards should be reprinted so I thought it would be fun to continue that discussion and share my opinions on rotation. The main criteria I am using: cards that create a negative play experience should be destroyed and cards that are essential to the success of their color or are otherwise fun and balanced should be reprinted.

Disclaimer: The game is going to change vastly and this article probably just touches the surface of what needs to be looked at, but this is my first take on the subject. Let me know your thoughts on what you want to see reprinted or killed!

Cards That Need to be Killed!

Bait and Switch – Bait and Switch to me is a guessing game card that potentially can bait you into using removal on dice that typically would not require it.

Probe – Of all the cards listed that I want to rotate out, probe probably has the highest upside. For cost 0 the ability to remove high cost events is unparalleled in the game of destiny. Paying 0 to remove a Hyperspace Jump or Rise Again at the correct time is priceless and probably borders on broken. There is no other 0 cost card that in my opinion can swing a game from lost to auto-won like Probe. There is a certain aspect of skill that comes into play on when to play Probe and is arguably the

card that got me into the Round of 8 at US Nationals but I will be happy to see it go.

Backup Muscle – 3 unblockable damage for the cost of 1 resource is very strong and 2 of it can basically come before you have a chance to respond if sequenced correctly. My issue with backup muscle is that there is really no way to deal with it once it has been played, especially after it has been used once. Trading a dice and a resource for what is left on a backup muscle feels bad. My gut tells me that with the printing of ammo reserves we probably are not going to see another version of this card.

Ancient Lightsaber – See Guard and Lightsaber pull. Ancient lightsaber is an auto include in basically every lightsaber package deck and even has seen played in vehicles decks to help combat mill. The heal mechanic of this card is extremely strong and the +3 side creates situations that can be extremely frustrating to deal with early in games. One of the strongest aspects to this card is its ability to push damage focus away from a specific character. For example, If you take shields on Kylo Ren and play this on turn 1 he essentially becomes 16 health character, for many decks such a thing can just be backbreaking.

DH-17 Blaster – Of all the upgrades and supports in the previous block DH-17 is probably the pound for pound best upgrade in the game when plugged into a support deck that has the ability to focus dice. A similar card that came in the legacies block “Hunting Rifle” is far more balanced for a cost of 1 and will likely see more play once DH-17 has rotated out.

Sith Holocron – Probably the highest variance of all the cards on my list, Sith Holocron is the 1st of two 0 cost upgrades that have the ability to completely change the game. Being able to swap out a holocron for a cost 4 force power is pretty ridiculous and you are almost forced to remove this dice if it rolls a special even with the possibility that your opponent is not holding a force power. If they were to reprint this card my suggestion would be to have it discarded instead of returned to your hand after it is used. The ability to play 2 or 3 force powers across your characters is just way too strong for a 0 cost upgrade, not to mention rolling in a force power for 1 and immediately being able to resolve a special side.

Force Speed – I am still on the fence about this card because I feel like a single copy of force speed is fine, but the “OP” part of force speed comes from having 2 copies in play and being about to take your entire turn if your opponent does not remove your cost 0 upgrade dice. Compared to the other cost 0 upgrades we have gotten lately it seems like it’s unlikely we will see this reprinted but you never know. If this were to be reprinted I would be happy to see it as a unique upgrade or 1 copy per character.

Feel Your Anger – If anything, Feel Your Anger might be the most thematic card in all of destiny because you can literally feel the hate coming out when you play this against me after I roll 5 blanks. For me this card is simply too high variance and its ability to either do absolutely nothing or be blowout mitigation in a color that is already loaded with great removal makes it easy to leave this card in the rearview mirror.

Hyperspace Jump – Yoda Hondo was one of the biggest abusers of this card and combined with force speed made it straight up broken in certain situations. I was not around during the “Hyperloop” phase of the game thankfully and I can see how the card errata to a set aside helps, but overall the ability to end the turn is too powerful. I think one of the most OP aspects to the card is that even though it costs 3, you immediately regenerate 2 resources off from the upkeep phase of the game leaving you in prime position to find another resource and jump again. Losing Force Speed will certainly be a blow to this card in the current meta but overall I think it’s just better for the game as a whole if we throw this one to the wolves.

Cards That Should be Re-printed:

He Doesn’t Like You – Before writing this article I asked my discord their thoughts on this and this was the first card mentioned and it was mentioned by multiple people. He Doesn’t like you is a powerful card that to me feels very fair. Since Yellow Villain does not have access to a card like Easy Pickings and is generally fairly poor at generating resources outside of the supports, I think this is an essential reprint.

Lightsaber Pull – A card that creates consistency and reduces variance in your draws is something I am a fan of. It also shortens your deck and can be dead in a later situation, another reason I this as a very fair card. Not to mention that FFG has been handing out these promos at Galactic Qualifiers for well over a year and it would be a shame for them to go to waste. The only really abusable mechanic with this card is centered around Ancient Lightsaber, a card that is going to be rotated out.

Guard – I am really a huge fan of this card because of the competitive implications of this being in a deck. Having to choose between dealing damage or removing dice always creates interesting situations and you see a lot of people misplay around those choices. It’s not really difficult to play around Guard if you are aware that it is a possibility and also creates the need for first action initiative if you know this is a piece of removal you or your opponent are running. While there are many cards that Guard is powerful with, the most obvious and seemingly overpowered situation is again centered around Ancient Lightsaber. The +3 side has blowout potential early in a game and having Ancient rotate out will solve that problem.

Docking Bay – Finalizer – Docking Bay has always been one of my favorite battlefields because the decks that are best suited to take advantage of it are medium speed decks, which makes for really interesting decisions when you win the roll against it.

Weapons Factory Alpha – Cymoon 1 – We still have about a set and a half worth of cards left to see before rotation but I feel like vehicles really need a battlefield because what we currently have available for them other than Weapons Factory Alpha feels kind of bad. This is the perfect battlefield for a vehicles deck and is also very thematic so I would put my vote forward to simply reprint this.

The Best Defense/Defensive Position – Red removal has been the laughing stock of Star Wars Destiny for as long as I have been playing and at the very least I think it is worth reprinting the best cost 1 version for each side. Both cards are extremely effective and while Defensive Position is potentially blowout removal for 1 resource the rest of the red removal suite is so bad that I don’t think it really matters. With the addition of Rex I think it makes sense to have this reprinted. I will need to see what else is printed between now and rotation but these cards are essential reprints if there isn’t a slew of red removal coming our way.

Shoto Lightsaber – Shoto Lightsaber has been a staple of the “Blue Lightsaber Package” for a long time and I really hate to see this card go. The concept of a card that is slightly weak for its cost (compared to the new cards at least), but becomes great for its cost when paired together is a fairly unique mechanic that I am a fan of. With a new Qui-Gon that feeds off of shields and Ataru Strike being a block 2 card (i.e., it won’t rotate out when set 7 is released) it makes sense to keep this card from a competitive standpoint. This is also a very fair and thematic card that I think deserves to move onto the next phase of Destiny.

Force Illusion – There is a fair amount of flack coming my way right now for this opinion but I think force illusion really needs to be reprinted especially with the announcement of AtG Vader. I am concerned for blue/blue decks that bank on this as a key piece of mitigation to survive the early rounds without it. My suggestion would be to reprint it as blue only which has been a popular opinion in the community for some time to help balance. This would make it less of an auto include in all decks but still serve a more niche purpose in mono blue decks.

Second Chance – This is probably another unpopular opinion but I think 2 wide decks that feature a yellow hero are in deep trouble once Second Chance rotates out (Try playing Yoda/Hondo in trilogies for reference). The real issue with Second Chance is not the card itself but the ability to bring it back into play via Starship Graveyard or Rebel. Similar to Force Illusion my suggestion would be to reprint it with additional text making it a set aside card once it has been used.

I am really excited for set rotation and think this list just scratches the surface of what we can discuss between now and then. If you enjoyed my thoughts on set rotation, check out Arrowbrookgaming.com or our YouTube channel. You can also find me in the Hyperloops discord as Drew W.

– Drew Warren

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