Balance and confrontation in Cloud City

For the expansion, see Cloud City Limited.

Balance and Confrontation in Cloud City is Cory Herndon's Cloud City feature in The Duelist #23 (March 1998, pages 70–72). Page 72 is the printed Cloud City cardlist.

The Duelist #23, March 1998, page 70.

The Duelist #23, March 1998, page 71.

The Duelist #23, March 1998, page 72.

Balance and Confrontation in Cloud City
Up, Up, and Away (In My Tibanna Gas Balloon) by Cory Herndon

The Star Wars TCG reaches the bittersweet conclusion of The Empire Strikes Back with its fourth full expansion, Cloud City. The Rebel fugitives find brief refuge here as Lando Calrissian joins the good guys—or does he? Boba Fett and the other bounty hunters pursue and capture their quarry for Force retrieval payouts; cloud sectors provide tempting locations for Force drains; Vader and son meet for an Epic Duel in the clouds; Han and Leia grow in power and ability; and gamblers like Calrissian roll the dice and take their chances....

Star Wars CCG: Cloud City
Decipher Inc.
Norfolk, VA
FORMAT 180-card expansion set; 9 cards per booster pack. For two or more players; playing time 30–60 minutes.
DESIGNER Decipher Design Team
ART DIRECTION Decipher Art Team
CONTACT Decipher, 235 Granby Street, Norfolk, VA 23510-1813 <http://www.decipher.com>

Cloud Talk

The atmosphere of Bespin is collectively represented by new locations called cloud sectors. Bespin: Cloud City is one, of course, and the others are generic with a maximum of three per system. Unlike Dagobah's asteroid sectors, no capital starships are allowed in the clouds (except those that deploy and move like starfighters, such as the new Light transport ship Bright Hope). Starfighters' power and maneuverability are −2 here, so make sure you have Flight Suits or matching pilots to hold off your opponent. The effective new Cloud Car combat vehicle is power +1 at cloud sectors and has better maneuverability than most starfighters. Cards like Cloud City Technicians, Engineers, and Tibanna Gas Miners add to Force drains and generation in cloud sectors.

You'll need pilots to hold the clouds—pilots like Captain Han Solo. He's power 4, ability 3, adds 3 power to ships, and can use 2 Force to cancel one opponent's destiny draw and cause a re-draw. In the Millennium Falcon, he is a force to be reckoned with, even with the clouds' innate handicap. Lando's no slouch in the Falcon either, at last claiming the same immunity to attrition that Han and Chewie give to the freighter. Princess Leia, now a licensed pilot, adds 1 to ships but has a new higher ability of 4—enough to pack her father Anakin's lightsaber.

You Got to Know When to Hold 'Em

Like many of the best cards in this expansion, Cloud City Sabacc (a Used interrupt with moderate 3 destiny) comes in both Light and Dark versions. In the Star Wars universe, "sabacc" is a game of chance played by the less savory members of society; in the Star Wars TCG, it plays a lot like blackjack. Target a gambler, smuggler, or thief on Cloud City, put aside your hand, and both players draw two cards. Add up the destiny numbers on those two cards to get as close to 11 as you can without going over. Players can continue drawing until both pass or have six cards in hand. The winner takes one starfighter, weapon, or device card of his or her choice from the loser's sabacc hand, and this "stakes" card is placed in the winner's Used pile. If no stakes cards are in the loser's hand, the winner chooses any card from the hand to go to the Lost pile. After the sabacc game resolves, each player's sabacc hand goes to his or her Used pile, and normal play resumes.

Gambling scoundrel Calrissian holds his own in sabacc games. Lando, arguably the most anticipated card of the set, turns out to be two cards—he comes in both Light and Dark versions to represent his change of heart after Han is given over to Boba Fett. Dark Lando (power 3, ability 3) is stronger, but may be replaced by Light Lando (power 2, ability 3) since Calrissian has "no love for the Empire." Both Landos may also bump your sabacc score up or down one point.

A Trip to the Cooler

Bounty hunting is still the exclusive domain of the Dark Side. It involves capturing characters and playing the Dark effects Bounty or Vader's Bounty to retrieve the price on the Light targets' heads in the form of retrieved Force from the Lost pile. The bigger the bounty's forfeit, the bigger the retrieval; Boba Fett adds 5 to his escorted prisoners' forfeit. Boba and his fellow bounty hunters even receive their own "back" card in this set, Double Back—which enables you to grab a bounty hunter from your Lost pile or Reserve deck. It's cheaper than The Empire's Back, and, curiously, it's the only "back" card that does not feature a character's backside (just Boba aiming at you).

Capture rules have been revised thanks to three new prison sites—Cloud City: Security Tower, the Death Star Detention Block Corridor, and, we're told, Jabba's Palace: Dungeon (a teaser for the next set, Jabba's Palace). Characters are now either seized by a warrior or bounty hunter and brought to the prison, or, if they're at the prison site, simply locked up. Prisoners may be transferred from one character to another or simply left to rot.

As Han found out, prisoners might also be remanded to the custody of Ugloste and his Ugnaughts at the Cloud City: Carbonite Chamber. The typical Ugnaught (power 1, ability 1) adds 1 to Carbon Freezing destiny draws and allows Dark players to lose a Force to search their Lost piles to retrieve a weapon or device into their hands. Need to lose Force from a drain early on? Drop Boba Fett's Blaster Rifle or a pair of Binders, you can always pick them up later. Ugloste (power 1, ability 2) serves as a leader when present with at least one generic Ugnaught, adds 2 to that Ugnaught's forfeit, and doubles their freezing destiny bonus.

At the Carbonite Chamber, play the Carbon-Freezing Effect or All Too Easy to freeze an opponent's character. Carbon Freezing requires a destiny draw of greater than 10 (remember the Ugnaughts?) and may be used multiple times. All Too Easy, an Immediate Effect, captures and freezes without a destiny draw, but must be re-deployed to freeze another character. Frozen captives can be left unattended—but a Light character at that site can release them (frozen characters at a prison are considered attended even when the Dark side has no one there).

Dark Clouds on the Horizon

My favorite Dark card in Cloud City is Mostly Armless which reads, in part, "when you have been injured, don't panic." The card allows a character with a lightsaber to disarm an opponent after winning a battle, then keeps on hurting, draining the Light player of one Force at the end of each of his or her turns. Runners-up include Shattered Hope (blast Luke out of the window) and Weapon Of An Ungrateful Son (boomerang that lightsaber back into the deck). Paternity rears its ugly helmet with I Am Your Father, a 6-destiny immediate effect that cripples Luke when he's with Vader and causes repeated Force loss of 2 every turn.

Vader can also challenge Obi-Wan or Luke to an Epic Duel. Initiating this Epic Event requires a Duel card (there are currently three in the game). Losing an Epic Duel will deal you some ferocious Force damage for either side. Vader and Obi-Wan can be removed from play. Somewhat disturbingly, Luke may be either lost or, for reduced Force damage, "turned." Yes, Dark players may find themselves in a weird alternative Star Wars universe where Vader and Luke do rule the galaxy as father and son. Epic Duel is by far the easiest Epic Event to use consistently in your decks because almost everybody stocks Vader, Obi-Wan, or Luke.

The Son of Skywalker doesn't just hang around getting chopped, pummeled, and shocked with really surprising news. The Bionic Hand Light device (another 7-destiny card) re-arms a Disarmed character and adds to their power and weapon destiny. Although Luke lost his hand, the Alliance can rebuild it better, stronger, and faster. He can block attacks with Smoke Screen, Swing-And-A-Miss, and Clash Of Sabers, or just Dodge out of the way. If all else fails, Luke may drop off of Cloud City altogether onto the Weather Vane—either directly from the Cloud City: Chasm Walkway or by using the 6-destiny Fall Of The Legend interrupt.

The City itself is suited to many different styles of games. Like Tatooine, most locations provide Force to either side, and many key cards have counterparts for each side. This balance of the Force is also seen in cards that even out some one-sided advantages from earlier expansions (like the Dark Deal effect, a counter to the popular and deadly Echo Base Operations deck). Cloud City brings The Empire Strikes Back to a satisfying close while looking forward to the next rendezvous point on Tatooine. ■

Cory Herndon won his car (a convertible Lamborghini) in a game of sabacc that involved a poker jed, a longshoreman, an oyster knife, and human fingers. Don't ask unless you really, really want to know.

Cloud City Cardlist

Light

• Access Denied — Effect — C
• Advantage — Immediate Effect — R
• All My Urchins — Effect — C
• Ambush — Lost Interrupt — R
• Armed And Dangerous — Lost Interrupt — U
• Artoo, Come Back At Once! — Used Or Lost Interrupt — R
• As Good As Gone — Lost Interrupt — C
• Beldon's Eye — Effect — R
• Bespin — Location - System — U
• Bespin: Cloud City — Location - Sector — U
• Bionic Hand — Device — C
• Blaster Proficiency — Used Or Lost Interrupt — C
• Bright Hope — Starship — R
• Captain Han Solo — Character - Rebel — R
• Captive Fury — Used Or Lost Interrupt — U
• Captive Pursuit — Used Or Lost Interrupt — C
• Chasm — Effect — U
• Civil Disorder — Effect — C
• Clash Of Sabers — Lost Interrupt — U
• Cloud Car — Combat Vehicle — C
• Cloud City Blaster — Character Weapon — C
• Cloud City Sabacc — Used Interrupt — U
• Cloud City Technician — Character - Alien — C
• Cloud City Trooper — Character - Alien — C
• Cloud City: Carbonite Chamber — Location - Site — U
• Cloud City: Chasm Walkway — Location - Site — U
• Cloud City: Guest Quarters — Location - Site — R
• Cloud City: Incinerator — Location - Site — C
• Cloud City: Lower Corridor — Location - Site — U
• Cloud City: Platform 327 (Docking Bay) — Location - Site — C
• Cloud City: Upper Plaza Corridor — Location - Site — C
• Clouds — Location - Sector — C
• Computer Interface — Used Or Lost Interrupt — C
• Courage Of A Skywalker — Lost Interrupt — R
• Crack Shot — Effect — U
• Cyborg Construct — Device — U
• Dark Approach — Lost Interrupt — R
• Dash — Used Interrupt — C
• Desperate Reach — Used Interrupt — U
• Dismantle On Sight — Effect — U
• Dodge — Lost Interrupt — C
• Fall Of The Empire — Lost Interrupt — U
• Fall Of The Legend — Used Interrupt — U
• Frozen Assets — Effect — R
• Gambler's Luck — Lost Interrupt — R
• Glancing Blow — Lost Interrupt — C
• Haven — Effect — U
• Hero Of A Thousand Devices — Effect — R
• Higher Ground — Used Or Lost Interrupt — U
• Hindsight — Effect — R
• Hopping Mad — Effect — R
• I Don't Need Their Scum, Either — Used Or Lost Interrupt — R
• Impressive, Most Impressive — Lost Interrupt — R
• Innocent Scoundrel — Used Or Lost Interrupt — U
• Into The Ventilation Shaft, Lefty — Used Or Lost Interrupt — R
• It's A Trap! — Effect — U
• Kebyc — Character - Alien — U
• Keep Your Eyes Open — Used Interrupt — C
• Lando Calrissian — Character - Alien — R
• Lando's Wrist Comlink — Device — U
• Leia Of Alderaan — Effect — C
• Lift Tube Escape — Used Interrupt — C
• Lobot — Character - Alien — R
• Luke's Blaster Pistol — Character Weapon — R
• NOOOOOOOOOOOO! — Used Or Lost Interrupt — R
• Off The Edge — Lost Interrupt — R
• Old Pirates — Used Interrupt — C
• Out Of Somewhere — Lost Interrupt — U
• Path Of Least Resistance — Lost Interrupt — U
• Princess Leia — Character - Rebel — R
• Protector — Lost Interrupt — C
• Punch It! — Used Interrupt — R
• Put That Down — Used Interrupt — C
• Redemption — Starship — R
• Rendezvous Point On Tatooine — Lost Interrupt — R
• Rescue In The Clouds — Used Or Lost Interrupt — C
• Shocking Information — Used Interrupt — U
• Smoke Screen — Lost Interrupt — C
• Somersault — Used Interrupt — C
• Surreptitious Glance — Lost Interrupt — R
• Swing-And-A-Miss — Used Interrupt — U
• This Is Even Better — Lost Interrupt — R
• Tibanna Gas Miner — Character - Alien — C
• Treva Horme — Character - Alien — U
• Trooper Utris M'toc — Character - Alien — U
• Uncontrollable Fury — Effect — U
• We'll Find Han — Used Interrupt — R
• Weather Vane — Effect — U
• Wiorkettle — Character - Alien — U
• Wookiee Strangle — Lost Interrupt — R

Dark

• Ability, Ability, Ability — Effect — C
• Abyss — Effect — U
• Aiiii! Aaa! Agggggggggg! — Lost Interrupt — R
• All Too Easy — Immediate Effect — R
• Atmospheric Assault — Lost Interrupt — R
• Bespin — Location - System — U
• Bespin: Cloud City — Location - Sector — U
• Binders — Device — C
• Blasted Droid — Used Interrupt — C
• Boba Fett — Character - Alien — R
• Boba Fett's Blaster Rifle — Character Weapon — R
• Bounty — Effect — C
• Brief Loss Of Control — Lost Interrupt — R
• Captain Bewil — Character - Imperial — R
• Carbon-Freezing — Lost Interrupt — U
• Carbonite Chamber Console — Device — U
• Chief Retwin — Character - Imperial — R
• Cloud Car — Combat Vehicle — C
• Cloud City Blaster — Character Weapon — C
• Cloud City Engineer — Character - Alien — C
• Cloud City Sabacc — Used Interrupt — U
• Cloud City Trooper — Character - Alien — C
• Cloud City: Carbonite Chamber — Location - Site — U
• Cloud City: Chasm Walkway — Location - Site — C
• Cloud City: Dining Room — Location - Site — R
• Cloud City: East Platform (Docking Bay) — Location - Site — C
• Cloud City: Incinerator — Location - Site — C
• Cloud City: Lower Corridor — Location - Site — U
• Cloud City: Security Tower — Location - Site — C
• Cloud City: Upper Plaza Corridor — Location - Site — C
• Clouds — Location - Sector — C
• Commander Desanne — Character - Imperial — R
• Dark Deal — Effect — R
• Dark Strike — Lost Interrupt — C
• Despair — Immediate Effect — R
• Double Back — Lost Interrupt — C
• Double-Crossing, No-Good Swindler — Lost Interrupt — C
• E Chu Ta — Used Interrupt — C
• E-3PO — Character - Droid — R
• End This Destructive Conflict — Used Or Lost Interrupt — R
• Epic Duel — Epic Event — U
• Flight Escort — Lost Interrupt — C
• Focused Attack — Lost Interrupt — U
• Force Field — Used Or Lost Interrupt — C
• Forced Landing — Utinni Effect — R
• He's All Yours, Bounty Hunter — Lost Interrupt — C
• Heart Of The Chasm — Used Or Lost Interrupt — C
• Human Shield — Lost Interrupt — U
• I Am Your Father — Immediate Effect — R
• I Had No Choice — Effect — C
• Imperial Decree — Effect — C
• Imperial Trooper Guard Dainsom — Character - Imperial — R
• Interrogation Array — Device — U
• Lando Calrissian — Character - Alien — R
• Levitation Attack — Used Interrupt — C
• Lieutenant Cecius — Character - Imperial — R
• Lieutenant Sheckil — Character - Imperial — R
• Mandalorian Armor — Device — C
• Mostly Armless — Immediate Effect — R
• Obsidian 7 — Starship — C
• Obsidian 8 — Starship — C
• Point Man — Lost Interrupt — U
• Prepare The Chamber — Used Or Lost Interrupt — U
• Projective Telepathy — Used Interrupt — C
• Release Your Anger — Lost Interrupt — C
• Restricted Access — Effect — C
• Rite Of Passage — Used Interrupt — C
• Shattered Hope — Lost Interrupt — R
• Shocking Revelation — Used Interrupt — U
• Slave I — Starship — R
• Slip Sliding Away — Lost Interrupt — U
• Sonic Bombardment — Used Or Lost Interrupt — C
• Special Delivery — Effect — U
• Surprise — Lost Interrupt — C
• The Emperor's Prize — Utinni Effect — R
• This Is Still Wrong — Used Interrupt — U
• Tibanna Gas Miner — Character - Alien — C
• TIE Sentry Ships — Lost Interrupt — C
• Trooper Assault — Used Interrupt — C
• Trooper Jerrol Blendin — Character - Alien — C
• Ugloste — Character - Alien — R
• Ugnaught — Character - Alien — C
• Vader's Bounty — Effect — C
• Vader's Cape — Effect — C
• We're The Bait — Utinni Effect — U
• Weapon Levitation — Used Or Lost Interrupt — U
• Weapon Of An Ungrateful Son — Used Or Lost Interrupt — U
• Weather Vane — Effect — U
• Why Didn't You Tell Me? — Used Or Lost Interrupt — U
• You Are Beaten — Lost Interrupt — C

See also

• Magazines · Media · The Duelist · Cory Herndon · Cloud City Limited
• Hoth Limited · Dagobah Limited · Jabba's Palace Limited

External links

• The Duelist #23, Internet Archive (Wizards of the Coast, March 1998)