Stunning Leader

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Info

Title	Stunning Leader
Side	Dark
Type	Interrupt — Lost Interrupt
Set	A New Hope
Rarity	C2
Uniqueness	Unrestricted
Destiny	4
card_uid	2_140
Version	printed
Printings	A New Hope — this page

Stunning Leader is a Dark Interrupt (Lost Interrupt) from A New Hope.

Card Text

If a battle was just initiated at an interior site, use 1 Force; for remainder of battle all characters of ability > 2 and all leaders (on both sides) are simultaneously excluded from that battle.

Lore

Stormtroopers are trained to stun, not kill, priority targets in order to split enemy forces and hold the leaders for interrogation. Stun effects wear off, requiring efficient action.

Strategy

By Andrew Kato, Red 54

This is another equalizer for you anti-Mains and Toys players

out there, especially with the release of Cloud City. Two things in

Cloud City made this card especially great: interior draining and

Trooper Assault.

Since Stunning Leader only works indoors, most people found

little use for it before Cloud City. After all, the best draining

sites for the Dark Side were almost exclusively exterior! Virtually

every Dark Side site with a drain for two or more was an exterior

site like the Lars' Moisture Farm, Jundland Wastes, or Defensive

Perimeter. No longer. With the release of Cloud City, the Dark Side

now has a set of interior sites with decent draining opportunities.

Unlike the Death Star or Executor sites, these have Light Side icons

allowing a modest drain. Adding Dark Deal to a Cloud City deck could

be devastating to an ill-prepared Light Side deck. With lightsabers

and Dark Deal, Cloud City is an okay place to drain for the Dark Side.

Oh, and don't forget about Bounty Hunting opportunities.

Along with Cloud City's interior sites came a nice Used Interrupt

called Trooper Assault. This card simulates the endless hordes of

troopers the Imperial Army seems to muster by making all Dark Side

troopers in a battle power +2 and immune to all attrition. This one

interrupt almost single-handedly made troopers viable again.

So where does Stunning Leader fit into the equation? Well, consider

a Cloud City draining deck with troopers as its primary site defenses.

Every site (don't use the Docking Bay) is interior, meaning Stunning

Leader can be played at a site battle anywhere. All troopers are ability

2 or lower, so they won't be excluded from the battle when Stunning

Leader is played - this interrupt isolates your troopers against the

Light Side's non-mains. Sound good?

Suppose the Light Side deploys Obi Wan (and lightsaber), Han Solo

(and heavy blaster), Wedge Antilles, and Major Bren Derlin to attack your

squad of 4 Stormtroopers and General Tagge (with lightsaber) in hopes of

a massive slaughter. Dark Side reacts over 4 Stormtroopers from another

site via a Lift Tube to increase to 8 Stormtroopers. Dark Side plays

Trooper Assault to boost all 8 Stormtroopers. Dark Side plays Stunning

Leader to exclude Tagge, Obi-Wan and Han Solo from the battle. At this

point, things look grim for Wedge and Bren, who must face 8 immune, power

+2 Stormtroopers by themselves. On the Dark Side player's turn, Disarmed

is played on Obi-Wan and another battle is intiated, hopefully with a

big power win as well.

These are the kinds of mismatches you can set up with Stunning Leader,

especially since the Light Side relies heavily on Main Characters and

other high ability characters most of the time. With the newfound power

of troopers and interior sites on Bespin, a well timed Stunning Leader

could give you a massive battle victory.

Combos:

Cloud City Sites + Lift Tubes + Stunning Leader = A great point defense system that'll allow you to spread a bit thinner than normal and still be able to bring all your low ability characters to brawl in a mainless battle.

Ability > 2 Imperials + Stormtroopers + Trooper Assault + Stunning Leader = This is awesome because you get a speed gain and a defensive gain; the Stormtroopers deploy for free and Stunning Leader excludes the high ability Imperial, leaving only totally immune troopers in the fight. Add a Comlink for more fun.

Cloud City Troopers + Imperial Trooper Guards + E-3P0 + Stunning Leader = Bring out the odds cards! With this kind of Cloud City defense force, you could have a blast with Light Side Mains. Trooper Assaults would make the power here obscene. Don't forget the E Chu Ta for maximum insult to injury.

IT-0 + IG-88 + Probe Droid + Stunning Leader

How about a droid strike team? Exclude all their mains and send your

droids on suicide missions. Retrieve with the Cloud City: Incinerator and

repeat ad infinitum. With a spy on the team, it can't be kept out of the

action.

Combos

• Stunning Leader + Cloud City sites + Lift Tubes A great point defense system that'll allow you to spread a bit thinner than normal and still be able to bring all your low ability characters to brawl in a mainless battle.
• Stunning Leader + Ability > 2 Imperials + Stormtroopers + Trooper Assault This is awesome because you get a speed gain and a defensive gain; the Stormtroopers deploy for free and Stunning Leader excludes the high ability Imperial, leaving only totally immune troopers in the fight. Add a Comlink for more fun.
• Stunning Leader + Cloud City Troopers + Imperial Trooper Guards + E-3P0 Bring out the odds cards! With this kind of Cloud City defense force, you could have a blast with Light Side Mains. Trooper Assaults would make the power here obscene. Don't forget the E Chu Ta for maximum insult to injury.
• Stunning Leader + IT-0 + IG-88 + Probe Droid How about a droid strike team? Exclude all their mains and send your droids on suicide missions. Retrieve with the Cloud City: Incinerator and repeat ad infinitum. With a spy on the team, it can't be kept out of the action.

Rulings

• Any additional characters of ability > 2 or leaders who arrive at the battle after Stunning Leader has been played are also excluded.
• To initiate this Interrupt, there must be at least one character targeted to be excluded.

Canceled by

• Impressive, Most Impressive (V)

Also known as

• SL

Counterpart

• Blast The Door, Kid!

Underlying card for

• Supremacy: Throne Room

See Also

Sources

• Star Wars CCG cardlists index at Decipher.com (archive, 25 December 2008)
• Complete Card List (Decipher PDF, archive 28 September 2007) — Dark Interrupt: Stunning Leader, A New Hope, C2

References