There Are No Good Rieekan Puns

Last weekend we got a look at some great new spoilers provided by the Chance Cube. You know, those guys that are tethered to the pulse of the game and provide great content and up-to-date price watch lists? Well if you don’t, you should check them out above. Anyway, I was super excited by one of their spoilers in particular. He made me take a second look at the new set and now I want to discuss how awesome it is to see the new characters in Empire At War who are giving purpose to seemingly terrible cards.

So first off let’s start with the man himself Rieekan:

There are two cards right off the bat that I think Rieekan will absolutely want hands down and both are cards that hardly see play at the moment: Diplomatic Immunity and Survival Gear. Both of these cards ally for maximum shield deployment onto your characters. If we pair enough removal with this (to get rid of those pesky Vibroknife dice) we could have a solid defensive strategy, which seems right up Rieekan’s alley for some reason… I really think putting this new card in a deck beside Han or maybe Make Rieekan elite and pairing him with Jyn would be a great idea. You will get access to all your good yellow control cards and be able to do some really nasty things with red/yellow ambush. But what would a Hyperlane Report be without a decklist, soooooo I made one!

Once and Future Generals

Hero
Rogue / Command

Sets: From Awakenings to Empire at War

BATTLEFIELD
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Echo Base, Hoth (Awakenings #166)

CHARACTER
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2x Han Solo, Scoundrel (Awakenings #46)
1x General Rieekan, Defensive Mastermind (Empire at War #24)

UPGRADE
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2x Survival Gear (Awakenings #34)
2x Diplomatic Immunity (Awakenings #50)
2x DL-44 Heavy Blaster Pistol (Awakenings #51)
2x Jetpack (Awakenings #66)
2x A280 Blaster Rifle (Empire at War #30)

SUPPORT
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2x Millennium Falcon (Awakenings #49)
2x Infamous (Awakenings #163)
2x C-3PO (Spirit of Rebellion #30)

EVENT
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2x Hit and Run (Awakenings #106)
2x Shoot First (Awakenings #133)
2x Flank (Awakenings #156)
2x Electroshock (Awakenings #159)
2x Unpredictable (Awakenings #162)
2x Confidence (Spirit of Rebellion #109)
2x Loth-Cat and Mouse (Spirit of Rebellion #114)

This deck centers around putting shields out and ambush actions. Since Han will usually have shields, you can keep putting light pressure on your opponent while Han’s dice do a lot of the work. Also, C-3PO lets you tool around with Diplomatic Immunity’s 4 value side to get a lot of value. I think it could be fun, but could also be tweaked a bit to make it more of a mill if you want to go that way.

The second character I was super excited to see was Hera Syndulla:

The best part about Hera is that she is a great combination of things all consolidated into one card.

• Her elite cost is 12
• She has 10 health
• She has an awesome special side!

My first idea was to pair her with Poe to get the bonkers dice cheating, but that sounded boring. Then someone on the interwebs said Finn so she has access to AT-ST’s and I was sold. This is what came out of that:

Wait, Who's Flying This Thing?!

Hero
Command / Rogue

Sets: From Awakenings to Empire at War

BATTLEFIELD
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Docking Bay, Finalizer (Spirit of Rebellion #153)

CHARACTER
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2x Finn, First Order Defector (Awakenings #45)
2x Hera Syndulla, Phoenix Leader (Empire at War #25)

UPGRADE
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2x Datapad (Awakenings #62)
2x Natural Pilot (Empire at War #48)

SUPPORT
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2x AT-ST (Awakenings #5)
2x Millennium Falcon (Awakenings #49)
2x Quadjumper (Spirit of Rebellion #58)
2x AT-DP (Empire at War #5)
2x Ghost (Empire at War #28)

EVENT
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2x Strategic Planning (Awakenings #111)
2x Scavenge (Awakenings #132)
2x Smuggling (Awakenings #134)
2x Firepower (Awakenings #140)
2x Logistics (Awakenings #142)
2x Reckless Reentry (Empire at War #93)
2x Pinned Down (Empire at War #124)
2x Recycle (Empire at War #149)

So this was me just kinda of having a good time building around vehicles. It may not be a very competitive build, but it sure has some crazy stuff you can do to have fun. Like reoccur quadjumpers after you recycle them with the Battlefield. Natural Pilot to ride an AT-ST would be great fun! I did not add astromechs because I think the deck has enough support and they are a bit slow. Overall, I think it will be fun to play!

Seeing FFG print cards that make older cards more interesting so soon into the game is very promising. I don’t know if vehicles or an upgrade that focuses on giving a character shields will ever be competitive, but having the inspiration to build around is what makes deck building games great! What do you think about the two decks? What would you change? Let me know in the comments. Time to Jump…

-Kyle