Icebreath To Be The Man...

icebreath To Be The Man... is a Dark constructed list published on Game Players Network.

Deck info

• Player: icebreath
• Published: 20 December 2003 (Game Players Network)
• GPN category: Standard
• Format: Premiere - Original VS1
• Side: Dark
• Starting Card: Endor Operations
• Strategy: Endor Operations
• GEMP Importable deck: Download (omits Black 2 (V) (Virtual Set 1: Legacy): not in GEMP)

Introduction

You've got to beat the man. Endor Ops.

Decklist

Objective 1x Endor Operations Character 1x Corporal Avarik 2x Corporal Drelosyn 1x Corporal Oberk 2x Sergeant Barich 1x Sergeant Elsek 2x Sergeant Irol 2x Emperor Palpatine 1x Janus Greejatus 1x Mara Jade, The Emperor's Hand 1x Lord Vader 1x Darth Maul With Lightsaber 1x Captain Bewil 1x Grand Admiral Thrawn 1x Admiral Chiraneau 1x Baron Soontir Fel 1x Major Mianda 1x DS-61-2 1x Zuckuss 1x 4-LOM With Concussion Rifle Weapon 1x Mara Jade's Lightsaber 1x Vader's Lightsaber 1x SFS L-s7.2 TIE Cannon 1x SFS L-s9.3 Laser Cannons Starship 1x Executor 1x Chimaera 1x Saber 1 1x Scythe 1 1x Black 2 (V) (Virtual Set 1: Legacy) 1x Mist Hunter

Vehicle 1x Blizzard Scout 1 1x Tempest Scout 3 1x Tempest Scout 6 Location 1x Endor 1x Endor: Bunker 1x Endor: Landing Platform (Docking Bay) 1x Endor: Forest Clearing 1x Endor: Dark Forest Effect 1x Fear Is My Ally 1x Combat Response 1x Location, Location, Location 1x You Cannot Hide Forever & Mobilization Points 1x Establish Secret Base 1x Ominous Rumors 1x Security Precautions 1x Imperial Arrest Order 1x Overseeing It Personally 1x Expand The Empire Interrupt 1x Prepared Defenses 2x Dark Maneuvers & Tallon Roll 1x All Power To Weapons 1x Trooper Assault 1x Force Lightning 1x Ommni Box & It's Worse 1x Trinto Duaba

Strategy

I'm sick and tired of people who say that Endor Operations isn't a good deck to play. It just happens to be one of the BEST decks I have ever seen played in this game, period! If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out the flipside's gametext.

While this isn't exactly a "standard" Endor Ops flip (I've put an emphasis on space because I'm thinking the current local meta is shifting towards a more space-based approach for light side), it's got all of the elements you need to make this objective WORK. Let's take a look at what we've got going on:

Before you start, pull the Executor and Security Precautions (V) with the Mob Points combo (if SecPrec is already in hand, go for Overseeing or IAO). Activate, pull Establish Secret Base or Ominous Rumors with the objective, pull a site with Location*3 (V), draw up. Next turn, activate, pull your other effect with the objective, pull a site with Location*3 (V) (you should have your locations played in the following order: system, Bunker, docking bay, Forest Clearing, Dark Forest. I'll explain later), and deploy Security Precautions (V) to Forest Clearing, and draw up. Third turn is when you flip. You should have three Biker Scouts or AT-ST's in hand by now (I'd be shocked if you didn't), as well as a chance to drop at least one ship (preferably Saber 1 or Mist Hunter). Drop your Bikers/AT-ST's to three sites, drop a ship to the system, and play Establish and Ominous, flipping your objective. Odds are you'll have to move your characters/AT-ST's onto the Forest Clearing to back each other up, but that's OK.

From this point on, just drop whatever you need to to hold your sites and system... keep in mind that with your flipside text, your opponent can't draw more than 1 battle destiny. Also remember that all of the AT-ST's can move as a 'react', giving you a chance to back up any site that gets hit fairly heavily.

From this point on, you'll also be draining the heck out of your opponent. Because your drains on the ground where you have a biker/AT-ST can't be cancelled or modified by opponent (due to the flipside of your objective... isn't that thing great?!), you're going to use and abuse all the drain modifiers you can! You've got an Expand The Empire to use on the Forest Clearing (not only expands the "Drain +1" text, but also gives your AT-ST's a power boost at adjacent sites), Overseeing It Personally on Palpy, Janus, and two sabers. Just from your sites, you've got a max drain of a whopping 13... add on the fact that you'll be draining at the system for an additional 6 (2 natural, +3 from Establish, +1 from Chiraneau), and your opponent will be finished in no time flat.

That's how the deck is played. It does have it's weaknesses (as does every other deck out there), but it's a lot tighter than most people think. Anybody stupid enough to think they can match you in space goes the way of the dodo's. Anybody making standard ground attacks will get their butts kicked (and I won't be losing more than a couple of bikers to satisfy damage/attrition... and I'll be retrieving them back in no time, so no worries). Anybody running a drain deck will find this deck to be a tough match. Now for weaknesses: a concentrated assault on the ground will do a LOT of damage, as my ground crew isn't exactly the best in the world... the forfeit-enhanced bikers should be able to cover a lot of the damage dealt, but anything forfeited OTHER than the bikers is lost for good. Hidden Base can also be a problem, especially with Rebel Planners (V) being able to get rid of my biggest ground drain, and the objective still cancelling my humongous space drain... if a Hidden Base deck gets played, PROBE AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. Another thing that could be a problem is a heavy drain deck with a lot of retrieval. Use the anti-retrieval defensive shields as much as possible... but if they get a good retrieval loop going, you're screwed.

Let's take a look at some of the individual card choices I've made... a lot of this is either meta-choices, or suited towards my own style of play, so I'll try to explain as best as possible. Bear with me. >:)

Card choices:

Darth Maul With Lightsaber - possibly the ONLY offensive character in this entire deck. I wanted to have something in here that I could drop-and-beat with to take advantage of the battle destiny capper, and an EPP Maul was the best choice available.

Captain Bewil (V) - This guy is one of the BEST characters I've seen in a long time. 1) he's got an awesome deploy/forfeit ration (and that forfeit gets boosted by IAO and SecPrec). 2) he pulls ANY interrupt from my Force pile during my control phase... this is the only reason why I even bothered with All Wings and Trooper Assault. 3) in an offensive use, he screws over evasion tactics (a la QMC and LSC).

Scythe 1, Major Mianda, and TIE Cannons - I wanted one more matching-pilot combo in the deck, and Mianda and his super-TIE seemed the best choice. He's awesome as either a defensive or offensive pilot, has a good set of guns to shoot with, and is just plain cool. More of a personal preference than anything else...

Trinto Duaba - I've said it before, and I'll say it again: this card belongs in EVERY dark side deck. Period.

Imperial Arrest Order - Are you really gonna argue over a +2 to forfeit value of the majority of my Imps? I thought not. >;)

So... this deck matches well against a lot of the popular decks in todays meta (and will continue to do so as the meta changes), it's been the tried-and-true objective of one of my friends since it came out (ECF... you know him, you love him, you can't get rid of him), and it is, by far, the most balanced objective you can find.

And finally, one last thought. This is the one and only deck that I would ever dream of putting up such a detailed strat section for... a strat section that I intend to update frequently with a win/loss counter, deck matchups, etc. This is the one deck that's worth that much effort.

Enjoy!

David Kangas

Shadow 31

Ophidian Agent

Vancouver, WA

See also

• Game Players Network decks
• icebreath
• Game Players Network
• GEMP importable decklist

Sources

• To Be The Man... (Wayback, 20051102154456)
• GPN Star Wars Decks page 13 (Wayback, 20050430203312)