Removing a Threat

Standard Update

With the release rotation documents for Star Wars Destiny, I thought it was about time to take another look at each faction’s dice removal again. This article will follow a similar form as the previous removal review article I did a while ago, but I will be comparing what I said then to what I am saying now. So here we go!

Red (Command)

Villain

Old:  The Best Defense…

New:  The Best Defense…

I still believe this is one of the best red villain removal cards in the game. The costs are easy to justify when you need to remove dice in a pinch. Three damage may seem like a lot but the fact that you get to choose where it goes and you can deal it to a character that is nearly dead means you can put your opponent in a tight spot if they needed to kill someone else this turn. Mostly I like this card with Aftermath as it usually pays for itself this turn or the next. If you are running things like Endless Ranks it just makes this card work even better.

Hero

Old: Rebel Assault

New: Swift Strike

Rebel Assault was one of the one dice removal cards available when I made the list originally, but now we have more options. I was tempted to choose Rearguard, but the lack of red shield dice in most of the red meta decks made me feel like it wouldn’t fly. So I chose Swift strike because while it can only remove modifier dice, it can still remove damage, unlike Rebel Assault. So, easy choice here…take a card that lets you remove modifier dice. Against some of the cards in the meta, this is awesome, but still not a great removal card overall.

Neutral:

Old :Suppression

New: Crash Landing

Since Suppression was one of the only neutral cards at the time of the first article, it was pretty much my only choice. Since then, we got a lot of new red natural removal, but Crash Landing is the best by far. Zero cost is great to start, then we get to remove a damage die. The only downside is you need to deal indirect damage yourself equal to the die cost. Much like the Best Defense, putting the choice of who to damage in our hands is better, plus indirect can be dispersed more evenly than other types of damage.

Force (Blue)

Villain

Old: Isolation

New: Spell Of Removal

Isolation is still a great card, but it does only target character dice, so I went for Spell of Removal here. Still costs one, but you do get to discard a card from either player’s deck. Not the most reliable removal, but there are a lot of 1 and 3 cost cards people play in decks, so it will fire pretty often. If you end up building a deck with Mother Talzin around Nightsisters you can get it to fire even more frequently, so I think it is pretty great.

Hero

Old: Guard

New: Guard

This card just cannot be beaten. Especially if you are removing a modifier side to one or more dice for 0 resources. Nothing much more to say than that.

Neutral

Old: Mind Trick

New: Overconfidence

Overconfident is how I feel about the usefulness of this card. We see lots of play from cards like Doubt that cause an opponent to reroll a die and that is what this card does twice for one resource. In addition, we get to remove one with the lowest value! Seen it used and had it used on me and it worked well, so it is my pick at this moment!

Yellow (Rogue):

Villain

Old: He Doesn’t Like You

New: He Doesn’t Like You

This card maintains its functionality even amongst the new cards we have gotten over the past few sets. It just is an all-around helpful card. Got a blank side on one of your dice? Need to remove an opponent’s dice? Need to reroll? It is a card in your hand so useful that it is practically necessary. Need to push the game out one more turn? Use this card to use crappy left over dice to make your opponent’s turn end early.

Hero

Old: Loth-Cat and Mouse

New: Easy Pickings

It was “easy pickings” for this card in this category…get it! When I saw this card in Legacies I got super excited as it is probably one of the best removal cards in the game. One resource for two dice that share a symbol. This card can remove a regular die and a modified die as long as they share the same symbol, it can remove two special dice, it is just so versatile that I imagine it will be in every yellow deck it can.

Neutral

Old: Electroshock

New: Threaten

I think most people still like Electroshock for this spot, but I think Threaten is a bit more useful. I like that for the same cost the opponent has to take damage to keep the die. This arguable drawback actually lets you target more dice that can be more impactful to the game state. Yes, it is only character dice, but some of those are pretty brutal.

Common (Gray)

Villain

Old: Doubt

New:  Doubt

While I was a bit hesitant on Doubt before, I think it has really proved itself as a great removal card. Any villain deck can slide this card in as a 1 or 2-of to have a great basic removal option. That is probably why they have printed it in the two-player set, to keep it in rotation…for now.

Hero

Old: Daring Escape

New: Into the Garbage Chute

Not the greatest removal but I like it over Daring Escape because it unequivocally removes two dice. If you are running something with a lot of characters, maybe exhausting one isn’t so bad. Daring escape just costs too much.

Neutral

Old: Flank

New: Flank

Still one of my favorite cards as it makes not going first not suck so bad. I tend to personally run more than 2 characters (if I can help it) so this card fits into almost any deck I build. I was close to choosing Fight Back, but I don’t think the holocrons allow Rivals cards so I didn’t choose it. If they do allow Rivals in deck building, then Fight Back is a better choice.

Dems my picks for the newer cards. Some things age well and others do not. I really like doing these look-backs, so if you want me to reminisce on something else or maybe take a deck I made a while ago and retool it, I am down! Got a correction or a card you prefer over what I chose? Let us know in the comments. Time to Jump…