Hi all - This is the eDooku/eVentress list I have been running/refining for the past month or so. It is a very flexible deck that can choke your opponent out (the Asajj Ventress - Force Assassin two discards to reroll is nice!), turn up the heat for some serious aggro, or do a little bit of both. I like to describe this list as a Flex deck. I made it because I couldn’t decide if I wanted to play aggro or control and quite frankly I made this deck to combat Poe/Maz and ePalp (although that does not mean this is some magic cure for those decks!) Most people would be more familiar with the term Midrange deck which is also applicable. It’s very fun to pilot if you put in the practice! :)

OVERALL GOAL: Again, we are using a Flex deck here so your goal will changed based on the opponent. I’ll spell out some specific matchups/strategies later in this post, but basically you’ll decide your overall goal when your opponent sits down across from you and lays out their characters. You will likely be in one of three situations. You’ll want to heavily control dice (e.g. ePalp), you’ll want to just aggro as much as possible (e.g. eKylo/eVader), or you will be looking to do a little bit of control and then just chip away and burst as much as possible to keep the pressure on (e.g. ePoe/eMaz). Keep in mind that could totally change based on the opening hand. If you’re against ePalp and you pull Holocron, Force Push, Vibroknife and two other cards, welp, looks like you are going to try to burn ePalp as fast possible instead of controlling him. At least at the start.

DECK COMPOSITION NOTES: Below are some notes on specific cards in the deck.

Dark Presence - The MOST IMPORTANT card in the deck. This card is absolutely bonkers if you can get two of them out. You’ll want to mulligan for this in every match up. Cards with discard sides (Dooku, Force Choke, Force Push, Vibroknife, Interrogation Droid).

Makashi Training - Slotted for nice damage sides and its action/ability to mitigate against eVader/Raider, eKylo/eVader, mirror match. Deflect x2 - This card is still a must IMO with the current meta. It can be crucial to remove a misrolled Poe die or just get a pesky Palp die off the table.

Manipulate, Anger, Feel Your Anger - I’m sure many of you know the control/combo plays here. You can Manipulate your opponent’s dice to blanks. Then use Feel Your Anger to remove dice or (if you have the blanks) use Anger to resolve their own damage die against them. The latter is very punishing against Poe and Palp or anyone with high damage sides, really. By the way this plays very nicely with our Sith Holocron and Lure of Power blank sides.

Lure of Power - This card is the definition of Flex! The ability to add a + modifier to a die showing discard or a die showing damage etc. is a game changer. It makes your opponent very nervous not knowing how you will use this die. They will often need to remove it ASAP or pick their poison by removing a damage vs. a discard die or vice versa. Any time your opponent has to think and/or make a tough decision is good for you.

SIDE BOARD CARDS: Now I know there is no side boarding in Destiny, but what I mean here is that these cards (below) are ones that could fit in this deck if you wanted. I encourage experimentation! :)

Now I Am The Master, Immobilize, Meditate, The Price of Failure, Mind Probe, Force Strike, Use The Force, Rise Again.

INITIATIVE: You are ALWAYS looking to use your battlefield, Secluded Beach - Scarif, if possible. This location is all upside for you and no downside. It’s very useful against the current meta of ePoe/eMaz and ePalp since if you can get the claim in, you can remove one of their ranged dice. There is only one ranged dice in your deck, Force Push, so you have nothing to worry about if your opponent claims. The only time I would consider using an opponent’s battlefield would be if they were using something like Moisture Farm - Tatooine or they too had Secluded Beach. In those cases, it doesn’t hurt you much and you can gain 2 shields. That brings us to the next initiative point ALWAYS put the shields on Ventress. I’ve had one opponent go after Dooku first. Most opponents will see Dooku as a slow grind so they would rather take out Ventress first since she’s an easy target and they want to get rid of her ability (they must discard 2 cards to reroll) asap so she will need those two shields, if possible.

MULLIGAN: Cards to look for on your mulligan are (in order) - Dark Presence (both of them), Vibroknife, Sith Holocron, some type of mitigation, and an upgrade such as Force Choke or Force Push to go with the Holocron. Note that it’s okay to have a Holocron and no upgrades. Your opponent doesn’t know what you do or don’t have. The Holocron may scare them and become the target of mitigation.

1ST ROUND PLAYS: I can’t say it enough. Dark Presence. If you have it, play it or both of them immediately. Many times opponents will roll out a character with two dice, then you roll out Dooku, and you get one discard side showing. You can now exhaust Dark Presence and force your opponent to choose and remove one (or two if you have both DP out) of their dice. Often times this absolutely murders their turn. If you get this out early against Poe or Palp they may have no other dice to remove. A lot of times they just HAVE to remove both Poe or both Palp dice. This is, obviously a huge swing in your favor. As the game goes on and the opponent gets more upgrade dice out, Dark Presence becomes slightly less punishing, but is still mean. Not only is it removal, but your opponent has to make a tough decision on which dice to remove, this will also give you some idea of what dice are important to them and what they are trying to do.

Vibroknife. Get this card out early, if possible. Not only does it up your potential damage, it makes said damage unblockable, it has ambush so you can play it and roll out, and it has a discard side which plays nicely into Dark Presence. NEVER put this card on Ventress. She is likely going to be the first character to die and Vibroknife doesn’t have redeploy. Put it on Dooku for potential of 6 damage unblockable round 1 or 3 chances at a discard side for Dark Presence.

Sith Holocron - Pretty much everyone is familiar with this card. However, it’s used a little bit differently in this deck. You’ll notice that this deck doesn’t have a lot of high cost cards. Actually it only has one, Force Push at 3 cost. I did this because I wanted the deck to be flexible. I don’t want to have to rely on Holocron to make plays or be stuck with high cost cards. You still want to get Holocron out early. If you can get it’s special and drop a Force Push that is great, but it’s good for getting a Force Choke or Makashi Training out too. If you don’t have those upgrades with your Holocron early on that’s okay. The double blank sides play nicely into Anger. Not to mention Holocron just makes your opponent nervous. They don’t know if you’re packing a Mind Probe or just absolutely nothing. Note: If you’re playing against Kylo or Unkar you may want to play this card last just keep a zero cost card in your hand to counter their abilities. Also don’t be afraid to pitch Holocron to reroll! I know, it’s weird, but remember we are flexible. We don’t need it to win.

Early on roll out Asajj first. If you can get 2, 3, or 4 damage for her don’t hesitate to use it immediately before rolling Dooku or playing other cards. If you roll disrupts early with her don’t be afraid to use them. It’s a solid trade to sacrifice the possibility of getting a damage side on a reroll for choking an opponent’s resources and thus their ability to play cards. Every player mulligans for their opening hand with one constant truth in mind. They will start the game with 2 resources. If you can change that with an early disrupt, it can really throw off their plan and then you go in with Dooku and upgrades if possible.

MID/LATE PLAYS: In the middle of the game you’re going to want to slow down your play a little. Meaning, don’t be so hasty playing or discarding cards. You may be getting to the point where you will need to discard them for Dooku’s ability. Depending on how the early game went you’ll either be wanting to choke your opponent out or just burst damage. If things are looking grim for you I suggest slowing the game down. Use Force Choke, Force Push, and (if applicable) Makashi Training to manipulate dice and slow your opponent down while chipping away with 1 or 2 damage here and there. Choke them with discards as necessary.

If you got the upper hand throughout first portion of the game then start bursting. You want to see Lure of Power, Makashi Training, Vibroknife, and Lightsaber Throw. If you get damage sides use them asap. Punish opponents with unblockable melee damage, but stay flexible with Lure of Power to hit them for large discards or disrupts as necessary to throw them off their game.

BLOWOUT CARDS/PLAYS: This deck has decent potential for blowout plays that come out of nowere or hit really hard.

Interrogation Droid/Dark Presence - Yeah this is just downright nasty. Let your opponent roll out a character and then use Interrogation Droid. You have a 50% chance to hit discard here. If you do, not only do they have to remove 1 (or 2) dice from Dark Presence, but you can also pluck their hand in hopes of discarding an event card. Losing a card and 2 dice right off the bat in the round is absolutely brutal.

Manipulate/Angeror blanks/Anger - This one is kind of obvious. You want to get your sides showing blanks and drop Anger on the opponent to use their own damage dice against them. Many opponents think it’s great when you roll blanks and may forget about Anger so this one can come out of nowhere. It’s removal and damage.

Now You Will Die - This card comes out of nowhere. Your opponent will mitigate your base damage dice and leave a 2 discard side or a disrupt showing. Use Now You Will Die to give them some surprise damage.

No Mercy - I feel like every knows this one, but in case you don’t you can maximize this by playing it then discarding the rest of your hand to resolve a 2 melee damage for 6 damage instead. This type of play can come out of nowhere or at the very least be very depressing for your opponent. We’ve all been there lol

MATCHUPS: I’ll try to cover some high level strategy for a few of the more popular decks out there right now. I’ll add more as they become relevant and as I get time.

ePoe/eMaz - You know what a Poe Dameron - Ace Pilot Maz Kanata - Pirate Queen player wants to do. Rolle Poe, resolve specials if any, roll Maz, resolve focus to specials, claim. Keys to success here are: Try to get your battlefield; Mulligan for both Dark Presence cards, Deflects, Vibroknife, other mitigation; Burst damage Poe as much as possible. Oh and hope they don’t get fast hands early. You WILL get hit by at least one Poe special. Don’t go full tilt and crack under pressure. You can sustain a few specials. You have 8 potential melee damage just on character dice alone. Burst, burst, burst. Chip, chip, chip. Any time you have damage throw it down on Poe. ALWAYS go after Poe first. Even if you roll out 8 damage, don’t be tempted by a Maz kill. You don’t want to deal with late game Poe with fast hands and hit and runs, etc. This is a very winnable matchup. Put the hurt on Poe and control his dice when possible. Play fast.

ePalpatine - This is a much slower game. You really need to focus on mitigating those Palpatine - Galactic Emperor character dice early. You’re looking for Dark Presence, Manipulate, Anger, Isolation, Deflect, and Force Choke. Start the game very slow by just controlling Palpatine, disrupting when possible, and dropping upgrades here and there. Then start to speed up. Start bursting for as much damage as possible, but still remain cognizant of those Palp dice. If you do get those two Dark Presence very early on Palp he almost guaranteed to hosed. Keep an eye on those resources. If you see the opponent is willing to spend money to play cards then they probably don’t have Rise Again. If they are a little hesitant and their money is piling up try to get a disrupt in there or force their hand (make a play to make them play a card against you). This matchup is tough but fun. You really need to be flexible against Palp, knowing when to control and when to burst, so this deck is perfect for playing against him, but you have to pilot it well.

eKylo/eVader - This deck can be tough to play against. The best strategy is to ALWAYS go after Vader first. He is very dangerous and bursty. He essentially has 3 damage sides and two of them are for 3 so he can hit you for 6. You don’t want to be messing around with Kylo and then see Vader full health in the late game. I like to play very fast against this. I’m looking for Vibroknife, Makashi Training, and some mitigation. Just keep pecking away and bursting at Vader even if your opponent is upgrading the heck out of Kylo. Stay cognizant of the Kylo special. Pitch high cost cards like Force Push for rerolls so you don’t get punished.