She’s expensive but is she worth it? That’s the big question that still needs to be tested out. The first list I have is mono red which would usually make me shudder but there seem to be enough cards to try that will yield a reasonable deck.

This is full YOLO mode with a 2 dice Phasma. We’re hoping that The Best Defense will carry us to the promise land by making Piett take the beating. The format also contains enough indirect where Piett will be a focusing meat sack.

Piett is pretty great here giving us reliable access to resource sides from Phasma’s Power Action. This bumps us up two resources allowing us to play Megablaster Troopers. It’s also important to note that this is probably the best Logistics deck ever because of Piett’s ability.

Currently the list is on the Tie Fighter plan since Piett can focus to its resource side and the extra cards are welcomed when we are playing A Sinister Peace. I’m not sure about Tie Fighter since it might just be worse than a lot of things we could be doing but conceptually its just setting up for future damage by investing in the supports in round 1 and 2. Megablaster is head and shoulders above the rest with cards like Quicksilver Baton and Handheld L-S1 Cannon being a close 2nd. Tie Fighter has an admittedly weak die but I’m hoping that Pietts ability and the focus will elevate it. The question will come down to: Are you happy keeping Tie Fighter in your opening hand? If the answer is no you need to cut it. You could only play 3 tie fighters which some people have done and swap that with the 2nd Handheld Canon. If its not good enough you could try a Second Imperial Officer and when, Allies of Nessecity becomes legal, you can try out Sniper Team. If you want to get cute you can try Grand Moff if you can find a battlefield that works well with it and your gameplan.

None of the events are embarrassing, some are situational but provide solid rates for their return. Rout and Browbeat could end up being great or unplayable so I decided to split the difference until I feel confident one way or the other. Intense fire can resolve dice at a plus 2 for 1 resource which can lead to unexpected KO’s. Tactical Mastery seems like a no brainer in a mono red deck but we need to make sure we can use it well, I suspect that this deck will take a lot of actions but there are a few cards that auto focus as an action which can lead to some guaranteed kills when characters are at high damage.

Overall I think this deck could be competitive and the biggest question is whether we should be playing Tie Fighter or not. Secondary questions involve some of the events since Doubt and Scorched Earth have been left on the sidelines.

Next up is a yellow deck with better kill conditions and incredible support killing power.

One of the special things this deck is doing is providing a 5 character dice start so that we can Vandalize big AND if you so happen to draw Megablaster Troopers you are looking at 7 potential dice you can Vandalize with. This can be potentially back breaking for an opponent who has invested a bunch of resources into Vader’s Fist or Megablaster Troopers. In the later game Watto’s dice are more expendable which keeps it relevant longer. That’s the theory at least.

This deck has a higher upside than the previous one but it also has some serious problems like its inability to protect Phasma – well, besides just using mitigation. We’re just conceding that in many games Phasma is going to die and are hoping that our supports will carry us home to victory. When she dies Megablasters could be shut off which is a reason why we might want a second Imperial Officer. Entourage is better than anything in the mono red version but it comes at a price since the deck feels a little more chaotic. There are more options with a second color and this needs more refinement than the other deck.

Quicksilver Baton almost feels like a must play with Phasma but if she’s going to die are we really going to get a good rate of return from it? We’d probably need to get at least 6 damage from it before she dies to be playing with something above curve. We can overwrite it with Riot Shield if we draw it in time and but still it isn’t great. The other question is mulligan priorities. We obviously keep the big power cards like Megabalster and Entourage which begs the question of Tech Team’s role when we only draw Quicksilver Baton: Do we mull Quicksilver if its our only offensive card? Do we even keep it if we have one of the big cards like Entourage or Megablaster? And if the answer to both those questions is no do we think it’s good enough if we play it in round 2? I think its a bit of awkwardness that might be a hindrance but testing will hopefully show us the light. We could end up swapping out Tech Team for logistics again but I felt the higher upside was worth it. If we thing Baton is really that good then we should consider it so its not so awkward.

Next up is a Blue pairing that I didn’t make but was the one that I liked the most from the DB.

This list by Shuffman is YOLOing even harder because you aren’t playing best defense to move the focus over to Messenger but you do get Crash Landing…let’s just say its a downgrade. In addition you are likely to never play Vader’s Fist in this deck unless you happen to roll a bunch of resources naturally. At the risk of sounding negative I like this deck the least of the three.

Retribution is the big draw here as it triggers from all of the character dice, not just the starting ones which makes Megablaster even better. Messenger is one of the better 8 cost character to pair Phasma with because he has solid text. There are a lot of 0 cost cards so cost has been considered when building with Messenger’s ability and theed can turn one of your blanks to a resource so you can reach for Vader’s Fist or Megablaster. I think the list needs to go cheaper and top out at Megablaster. Cards like Energy Bow, Hand Cannon and Fickle Mercenaries would work well in something like that. I’d probably cut the tech team since it doesn’t synergize with the cheaper upgrades. If we are playing Messenger we should play Automated Defense since Messenger is probably going to be around for the whole game.

One character that might deserve a closer if you want to explore Retribution is Executioner. He’s a trooper which gives us obvious synergy with certain cards and can take The Best Defense on the chin like a pro. His ability is likely to be better with cards like Imperial Officer as we are more likely to get two good uses from it. It could certainly be better than Piett, its obviously more aggressive.

There’s a lot to try with Phasma and I’m excited to see what we can come up with to make her the best she can be. Thanks for reading please let me know in the comments or on social media if you have any ideas when building with Phasma. Take care and as always…

Protect the Queen!

-NJCuenca