It was a slow Tuesday. Once again the FFG Public Relations department dropped a super watered down X-Wing article on us, and any hope of getting a spoiler drop for a specific affiliation and color was crushed.

But then, like a beacon of light shining from a dark cave on Dagobah, Team Covenant dropped a video with Destiny designer Jeremy Zwrn in which three groundbreaking Ways of the Force spoilers were dropped.

I don’t say groundbreaking lightly; we got a freaking battlefield with a freaking die on it. Beyond that, we got a Red Hero plot that exhausts itself, and a Legendary 11/14 character that just happens to be one of the most important characters in the animated series, one of a small few from the prequel era to survive until Return of the Jedi.

I happen to love Star Wars, and no amount of fan service has annoyed me yet. When rumors started circulating a couple years ago when Rex showed up on Rebels bearded, that he was actually the bearded guy from one of the worst Star Wars CCG cards ever printed, Rapid Deployment, I loved it. Rex is the man, and Rebels could’ve done an entire story arc of Rex dealing with finding out that Vader was Anakin, but I digress. Enough Star Wars drivel, let’s get to the spoilers.

BobbySapphire: First off, this image is sick. Young Ahsoka and Rex, chilling with Anakin and R2; Rex is feeling all the feels. Not sure what this long term plan was or why it’s making Rex’s dice pop, but whatever, this card is pretty chill. We already have two pretty excellent three cost plots in Profitable Connection and Preemptive Strike, so Long Term Plan has to compete with those, especially since it’s hero red, the absolute worst color/affiliation combo in Destiny. If we look at round 1 as a “setup round,” and many of us do, we don’t really mind exhausting this plot to give us a +1 on any die, each round, for the remainder of the game. That we can use this on Damage as well as Resources or Discard, and there’s no character or upgrade die restriction, makes this a potent card starting in round 2. What I really love about it, is that if you don’t absolutely need the effect in round two, and can exhaust it again, it makes your dice absolutely filthy in the third round. Most competitive games don’t go many rounds, but you could certainly build around this card, playing into the long game, and ramping up its effect. I like it to get extra resources and shields in round 2 unless the damage will kill a character.

HonestlySarcastc : If we compare it to its plot predecessors, we are looking at it needing to beat out 2 indirect or 1 resource which isn’t too hard. Save for some silly card being available that can ramp it up faster (and likely out of control), then it does the equivalent to nothing Round 1 which is pretty scary due to how important that round tends to be on a game by game basis. The most common scenario we will be seeing is ramp to 2 resources due to the following math efficiency in a 4-5 round game which are what you can hope to expect:

1 Resource: 4 rounds – 3 value, 5 rounds – 4 value

2 Resources: 4 rounds – 4 value, 5 rounds – 6 value

3 Resources: 4 rounds – 3 value, 5 rounds – 6 value

As you can see, 2 resources had a better round 4 and matches up with round 5, what you don’t see is that the numbers are respectively 2 value, 2 value, 0 value for round 3 which means you can start trying to have that retirement plan work for you. Whether that ends up being good enough is questionable, but it at least seems valuable enough math wise. Start fearing 1 discard sides being used as 3 discard, heck any 1 base value side gets scary when you add 2 to it.

NJCuenca: I see HS did the number mapping for this which makes it seem like you want to put two resources on this card and then start resolving dice with it. The value doesn’t get better for three resources until round 6 and even then its only plus one. While that technically is better from a raw value perspective the speed at which you get the 4th number will usually trump that gain. Any further comparison in my mind is pretty much unnecessary because you should probably win the game if you can get that much value from this since your deck will be built with that in mind.

There is a weird world where you want to set this to 4 and make your opponent discard 5 cards from a one discard side but I think starting the 2 and 3 train will usually be better. I see this going into mill right away as this is arguably better than a Rieeken die in a Reeiken deck. Finally, we have a plot which makes us ask the question of whether it is better to have an extra die or this sweet ability. This ability will give you more of something that another other die might not have provided – like an extra discard side.

It being color coated will make hero red something you might actually want to play. I’ll be right away testing Aayla/Poe2. Before, Stairs was just better, but now…we got to test. That deck seems particularly intriguing since it has two excellent defensive specials which will let you drag the game out and that’s exactly what this card wants you to do.

Aside from being color restrictive the big negative thing about this card is that its very slow. If your deck wants to abuse a battlefield and use powerful claim cards you will be better off playing profitable connections. A great battlefield will create a powerful effect if you can claim it every turn which is a similar benefit to this card. The comparison isn’t 100% analogous as you can sometimes wiff on getting your battlefield and given enough time this card will surpass the power of a battlefield. The point is that it’s more than likely that most formats won’t support the use of this plot and a powerful battlefield.

BobbySapphire: IDGAF if he’s just Rex on the card, I’ll always call him Captain Rex as he deserves the respect. Captain Rex fills the precious 11/14 cost slot that has was rarely used before Legacies came out. Fourteen is an important elite cost because it allows Rex to pair with two 8-cost Clone Troopers to trigger his brutal effect. Captain Rex’s ability to take control of the battlefield with every activation allows us, for the first time, to reliably build around “If you control the battlefield” cards like Defensive Position and Dug In.

HonestlySarcastc : Rex has a kickass die (almost Aayla) and a solid amount of health. His ability is amazing when you can spot a clone trooper, but only serviceable for clutch situations when you can’t. All of the amazing “while you control the battlefield” type cards become pretty shitty when you add a resource cost to them, so I expect him to not have builds around that save for when paired with a clone trooper. It’ll be nice to finally see a capable mono red guns It’s a trap deck …. oh wait, they murdered it. I’d mention the Finn pairing but Cassian already took that role in my heart. Rex should make some new sexy Trilogy team comps.

NJCuenca: I’m excited for Rex but Aayla is cheaper and has a better die. That is a completely different color with different damage side but its hard for my mind to not wander there. Poe2 only costs one more and has a better die but the difference in cost and his ability make him different enough. I do think that Rex is the best red hero 14 cost character we’ve EVER had but Akbar and Mothlady haven’t really been breaking formats. In Trilogies I see him having a huge impact because Clone troopers are pretty good in the format. In Standard using Clone Troopers is slightly embarrassing but you get some not so embarrassing claim cards, lets call that at least a push when comparing to other 8 cost characters like Padawan. Things get interesting when you start thinking about Rex with my favorite over the curve battlefield Weapons Factory Alpha. If you can play a Vehicle for 1 less every turn for lets say three turns… that’s great value. That’s Rex getting you two extra resources. In a deck like that Rex is going to have a huge target on his head which makes it likely that your other characters and spot color cards will survive later. In essence, Rex’s ability provides you with at least two extra resources if you expect him to survive until at least turn 3 which is obviously not crazy at all if you’ll be using power house cards like Defensive Position and Dug In.

Long-Term Plan and Rex do let you play the great claim cards while being slow as balls but that ends up being 3 dice if you are planning to use a clone trooper and if you aren’t then you’ll be spending 1 to grab the battlefield which isn’t good. I do like that the ability has a random add on for when a trooper dies which lets you grab it for a cost but I don’t think anyone will be building around that.

BobbySapphire: Bendu’s Lair’s Die’s sides are pretty dope. I especially love the 2 shield side, but the damage, focus and resource sides are all outstanding too. The bottom line is that this is the equivalent of a 13-ish point die (pre-elite), and I liken it to like a Poe2 die. What I really like about this die is what it could potentially do for faster 3-dice decks, potentially putting them on par with the four and five dice decks that you commonly see in a competitive event. Those decks have the potential to be faster, even with having to roll this die into the pool, than most decks in the format, especially if you look at something like an elite Poe2 with a single-die Sabine. It looks like this card was meant to be a great equalizer for those kinds of decks, which fits Bendu’s M.O. The implications of this card will be felt for some time, as it truly breaks the game we know. I expect it to be super-powerful simply because of that characteristic. Sabine is super powerful because she is the only card to recur weapons from the discard pile. Kylo2 is super powerful because he inflicts free damage upon activation; finding these game breaking effects and exploiting them are what make powerful strategies, and I look forward to making this card work.

HonestlySarcastc : Something I’m familiar with, it’s the guy from Monster Hunter! Okay so MAYBE it’s not, but man is the battlefield going to make me consider giving up my Tortoise beats the Hare mentality. Before you get all giddy in the pants with Rex + Bendu, do realize that if your opponent has the field, they can power action as their first action, then when you take control, the die is removed and you can’t get it back out (I double checked the rule book). Now that we got that out of the way, I think this field will be killer against me, but potentially detrimental against the fast decks and Rex, so i could see it not being used much at all. The card is sick nasty when you get to use the die and begs you to ask the day old question of “2 shields or not 2 shields? “. If we are living in a HonestlySarcastc deck meta of slow shit, then whipping it out can be great, but mirrors it would be all over the place and I can see it being avoided.

NJCuenca: I loooove this card’s design. It being slow makes it hard to reclaim although if you happen to be the fastest on the block it might be great since all of those black sides are a great as a reward for your speed. There are some tricks that let you get control of the battlefield after your opponent has claimed like Lockdown which will let you get the die on the next turn. As HS mentioned this card doesn’t work the way you want it to with Rex but if you have Rex they will be forced to Power Action as their first action in fear of you taking the battlefield with Rex on your next action. That’s actually very good for you since they will essentially be wasting an action just to prevent you from doing that. In a slow rex deck that’s a battlefield similar to Weapon’s Factory where you will get to use it on turn 1 but are less likely to use it in the following turns.

The thing about Rex is that you can use all sorts of battlefields with him that are beneficial but whether this is the best one is a big debate. In Trilogies I can definitely see Rex and this being a thing since there aren’t any ownership incentivizing battlefields currently and this one is huge. That format is slow enough and if you build a fast enough deck with Rex you should be using this often.

Thanks for reading. We hope you are as hyped for these spoilers as we are. Let us know what you think of these cards in the comments or on social media. Take care and as always…

May The Rolls Be WIth You…

-TheHyperloops

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