Sabacc game mode Dune Sea decks

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Sabacc game mode Dune Sea decks are draft sample decks for the Dune Sea table of the Sabacc game mode outline. They are one Light Side and one Dark Side deck, a ladder of Jawa dealers with their decks, and a boss deck for each side. A dealer deck with three extra Jawas gives the house an edge of about 2.3%.

Status: planning and draft. Every card below is a real Decipher card; the decks are examples, not final lists.

How the decks are built

  • Target. Each deck has the same 60-card spread as the standard fair deck, Deck C. It holds 19 / 10 / 3 / 1 / 5 / 11 / 5 / 6 cards of value 0 to 7.
  • Values. A card's value is the destiny number printed on it. Location cards have a destiny of zero.[1] The pages of virtual cards often show no destiny number, so only Decipher cards are used.
  • Premise cards. Bill's starting premise is Jawas, sandcrawlers, Jawa weapons, and droids. Cards for these, and the locations named for Jawas, the Dune Sea, or sandcrawlers, are listed as premise cards. Other Tatooine locations and Tatooine- or Dune Sea-flavoured creatures, vehicles, devices, and characters fill the remaining slots and are listed separately.
  • Copies. The rulebook gives no copy limit that applies here. The drafts assume at most 3 copies of a card, and 2 of a unique (•) card.
  • No sabacc Interrupt. Dune Sea Sabacc itself (value 5) is left out, as it starts the game.

Cards available

Tatooine locations are the 0s: 26 Light Side and 22 Dark Side titles, counting the Tatooine systems and the sandcrawler sites. Premise cards other than locations are few and sit at 1 to 6. The only premise card worth 7 is the Dark Side Double Laser Cannon, a sandcrawler weapon. The Light Side has none, and the other 7s that fit the theme are weak.

Value Light Side premise cards Dark Side premise cards
0 Tatooine locations Tatooine locations
1 R'kik D'nec, Hero Of The Dune Sea Iasa, The Traitor Of Jawa Canyon
2 Kalit; Kalit's Sandcrawler; Sandcrawler Dathcha; Sandcrawler; Wittin; Wittin's Sandcrawler
3 Aved Luun; Droid Merchant; Het Nkik; Jawa; Jawa Ion Gun; Jawa Siesta; Magnetic Suction Tube; Thedit; Uutkik Daroe; Herat; Jawa; Jawa Pack; Magnetic Suction Tube; Nebit
4 Utinni!; WED-9-M1 'Bantha' Droid Jawa Blaster; Utinni!
5 – Dead Jawa
6 Caller; Restraining Bolt Caller; Restraining Bolt
7 – Double Laser Cannon

Light Side deck

Value Cards Premise cards Other Tatooine-flavoured cards
0 19 Dune Sea; Jawa Camp; Jawa Canyon; Sandcrawler: Loading Bay Jundland Wastes; Desert; Hutt Canyon; Hutt Trade Route (Desert); Beggar's Canyon; Lars' Moisture Farm; Anchorhead; Mos Eisley; Docking Bay 94; Cantina; Obi-Wan's Hut; Tosche Station; City Outskirts; Marketplace; Tatooine
1 10 R'kik D'nec, Hero Of The Dune Sea ×2 Sandspeeder ×2; Ben Kenobi; Luke Skywalker; Tamtel Skreej; Master Luke; Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padawan Learner; Qui-Gon Jinn
2 3 Kalit; Kalit's Sandcrawler; Sandcrawler –
3 1 Jawa –
4 5 Utinni!; WED-9-M1 'Bantha' Droid Vaporator; Racing Skiff; Rogue Bantha
5 11 – Eopie; Ronto; Scurrier; Mos Eisley Blaster; Luke's Hunting Rifle; Crash Site Memorial; Scanner Techs; The Camp; Old Times; Harvest; Cantina Brawl
6 5 Caller ×2; Restraining Bolt ×2 Spaceport Speeders
7 6 – WHAAAAAAAAAOOOOW! ×2†; I Thought They Smelled Bad On The Outside ×2†; Strangle ×2†

16 premise cards, 38 other Tatooine-flavoured cards, and 6 weak fits (†). The 7s are the weak spot: Light Side cards worth 7 have almost no Tatooine link. The text of WHAAAAAAAAAOOOOW! names the Sarlacc, I Thought They Smelled Bad On The Outside uses creature vehicles such as the Ronto, and Strangle is a Jabba's Palace card.

Dark Side deck

Value Cards Premise cards Other Tatooine-flavoured cards
0 19 Jawa Camp; Jawa Canyon; Sandcrawler: Droid Junkheap Jundland Wastes; Desert; Desert Heart; Desert Landing Site; Great Pit Of Carkoon; Krayt Dragon Pass; Tusken Canyon; Bluffs; Lars' Moisture Farm; Mos Eisley; Docking Bay 94; Cantina; Marketplace; Mos Espa; Jabba's Palace; Tatooine
1 10 Iasa, The Traitor Of Jawa Canyon ×2 Krayt Dragon ×2; Dune Walker ×2; Boelo; Imperial Squad Leader; Jabba The Hutt; Jabba
2 3 Dathcha; Sandcrawler; Wittin's Sandcrawler –
3 1 Jawa –
4 5 Utinni!; Jawa Blaster ×2 Racing Skiff; Sandwhirl
5 11 Dead Jawa ×2 Dewback ×2; Ronto; Womp Rat; Tusken Scavengers; Droid Detector; Mos Eisley Blaster; URoRRuR'R'R's Hunting Rifle; Ommni Box
6 5 Caller ×2; Restraining Bolt ×2 Tech Mo'r
7 6 Double Laser Cannon ×3 Aurra Sing's Blaster Rifle ×2†; Hunting Party†

21 premise cards, 36 other Tatooine-flavoured cards, and 3 weak fits (†). Double Laser Cannon is a sandcrawler weapon and fills the 7s.

Wild and clone cards

In Dune Sea Sabacc the wild cards (0–7) are sandcrawler sites, Magnetic Suction Tube, Jawa Siesta, and Jawa Pack. The clone cards are Tatooine locations, sandcrawlers, Jawa weapons, and Utinni!.[2] The Light Side draft above has 1 wild card and 21 clone cards; the Dark Side draft has 1 wild card and 23 clone cards. With the option button off, every card counts as its printed value and the odds below apply. With it on, more than a third of each deck becomes clone or wild, which changes the odds. That setting is not modelled.

Too many Jawas

The Jawa cards are worth 2 or 3, and Deck C has only three 2s and one 3. A deck that follows Deck C exactly can hold about four Jawas. A deck with many Jawas needs a different spread. One draft uses a Jawa-heavy spread of 14 / 6 / 5 / 12 / 6 / 8 / 5 / 4. About half of each deck is premise cards (31 Light, 32 Dark). This spread moves the odds a lot:

Player deck Dealer deck House edge Player win / push / loss %
Deck C Deck C −1.79% 49.4 / 3.0 / 47.6
Jawa-heavy Jawa-heavy −3.07% 49.7 / 3.7 / 46.6
Jawa-heavy Deck C −9.39% 53.5 / 3.6 / 42.9
Deck C Jawa-heavy 8.43% 43.4 / 3.7 / 53.0

A player with Jawas and a dealer without them is far ahead; the reverse favours the house heavily. Jawa Ion Gun is worth 3, so it appears only in the Jawa-heavy drafts.

Dealer's deck and the house edge

With the card game's rules (see Going over 11 and ties) and the same deck on both sides, the player is ahead by 1.8% against a committed dealer. The dealer draws on 7 or less. Giving the dealer a different deck, shown openly, can restore a house edge of 2 to 2.5%. The player keeps Deck C.

Dealer's deck Cards of value 0 to 7 Total House edge Player win / push / loss %
Deck C (no change) 19, 10, 3, 1, 5, 11, 5, 6 60 −1.79% 49.4 / 3.0 / 47.6
Add 2 zeros 21, 10, 3, 1, 5, 11, 5, 6 62 −3.14% 50.0 / 2.8 / 47.2
Add 4 zeros 23, 10, 3, 1, 5, 11, 5, 6 64 −4.49% 50.6 / 2.7 / 46.7
Remove 6 zeros 13, 10, 3, 1, 5, 11, 5, 6 54 2.17% 47.8 / 3.3 / 48.9
Swap 2 zeros for 2 fives 17, 10, 3, 1, 5, 13, 5, 6 60 1.93% 47.7 / 3.2 / 49.1
Swap 2 zeros for 2 threes 17, 10, 3, 3, 5, 11, 5, 6 60 1.08% 47.8 / 3.2 / 48.9
Swap 3 zeros for 3 threes (Jawas) 16, 10, 3, 4, 5, 11, 5, 6 60 2.34% 47.2 / 3.3 / 49.5
Swap 3 ones for 3 threes 19, 7, 3, 4, 5, 11, 5, 6 60 2.04% 47.4 / 3.2 / 49.4
Swap 5 sevens for 5 zeros 24, 10, 3, 1, 5, 11, 5, 1 60 2.31% 46.9 / 2.6 / 50.5

The figures are exact, calculated with endless decks. The dealer draws on 7 or less and never looks at the player's hand. The player hits or stands as well as possible at every step. A perfect sabacc pays double both ways, a hand has six cards at most, and wild and clone cards are not modelled. An endless-deck simulation of 1,000,000 hands with the same strategy checked the Deck C row and the bold row. It agrees with the exact figures within its margin of error (about 0.1 points). One finite 60-card deck was not simulated for these decks. A negative edge means the player is ahead. Details are on the talk page.

Adding zeros to the dealer's deck does the opposite of what one might expect: the player gains. The edge comes from giving the dealer fewer zeros or more mid-sized cards. The bold row replaces three locations with three Jawas worth 3, which fits the theme and brings the house to about 2.3%. If equal card counts went to the dealer instead of a draw, the same deck would give the house about 5.4%. That tie rule would need a weaker dealer deck.

Boss decks

R'kik D'nec (Light Side boss). R'kik D'nec, Hero Of The Dune Sea is a Jawa whose card says: "When he is playing Dune Sea Sabacc and wins, he wins double." His deck list is under Boss deck lists. It has the 16 / 10 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 11 / 5 / 6 spread, a house edge of 2.34% before his card text. The text is a large number if read literally:

How R'kik's double works House edge
No double (deck only) 2.34%
1 win in 20 doubles 4.59%
1 win in 10 doubles 6.84%
1 win in 4 doubles 13.59%
Every win doubles (card text read literally) 47.32%
Doubles only when he finishes on exactly 11 12.18%

Each 1% of his wins that double adds about 0.45 points of house edge. A boss that doubles every win is practically unbeatable, so the double would have to be a rare, visible event or tied to the stake.

Iasa (Dark Side boss). Iasa, The Traitor Of Jawa Canyon has a Dune Sea Sabacc text close to Lando's: "When playing Dune Sea Sabacc, may subtract 1 from or add 1 to your total." His deck list is under Boss deck lists. The table gives the house edge against Deck C if he may adjust on a share of hands. He moves his finished total one step toward 11, which is never worse for him. The numbers are therefore the same whether or not he sees the player's hand, as for Lando:

Share of hands where he adjusts Deck C for both sides Dealer deck with three more Jawas
0% −1.79% 2.34%
5% 0.27% 4.36%
10% 2.33% 6.38%
25% 8.51% 12.42%
50% 18.78% 22.47%
100% 39.19% 42.46%

Contenders and decks (draft)

Status: planning and draft, for Bill to review. The order of the ladder is a proposal and may be changed.

Every Dune Sea dealer below is a unique Jawa character. The decks follow Bill's rules. They use real Decipher cards, at most 3 copies of a card (2 of a unique card), and the dealer's own card. Where the pool allows, one contender's cards are kept out of the other contenders' decks. The boss decks may use the earlier contenders' cards.

All the decks here use the dealer spread 16 / 10 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 11 / 5 / 6. Its three extra 3s replace three 0s of the dealer's deck above. Against a player on Deck C, the house edge is 2.34% (exact, endless deck). This assumes the card-game rules, a dealer who draws on 7 or less, and a perfect sabacc paying 2:1. A simulation of two separate 60-card decks, each reshuffled every hand, over 4,000,000 hands gave 2.39% ± 0.06. Every deck has the same spread, so every deck has the same base edge. The cards differ, and the bosses add a perk. Wild and clone cards are not modelled.

Proposed ladder

Light Side

Level Dealer Card Why this place
1 Het Nkik A New Hope, value 3 Jawa scout whose lore is a stormtrooper assault on a sandcrawler, with a simple power-boost text. He is the starter table; theme: cheap and bad devices.
2 Uutkik Tatooine: Mos Eisley, Sandspeeder, Droid Merchant, Arc Welder ×3, Droid Shutdown ×2, Spaceport Speeders Mos Eisley and vehicles, from his lore – –
3 Thedit Special Edition, value 3 Leader of the perimeter patrols of Kalit's territory; adds a battle destiny with two other Jawas.
4 Aved Luun Utinni! ×3, WED-9-M1 'Bantha' Droid, Magnetic Suction Tube, Don't Forget The Droids Her text fetches Utinni! or Jawa – –
5 Kalit Jabba's Palace, value 2 Leader of the tribe; his text doubles Jawa Siesta and makes his Jawas stronger at the Audience Chamber or Jawa Camp.
6 R'kik D'nec, Hero Of The Dune Sea Jabba's Palace, value 1 Boss. His card says that when he plays Dune Sea Sabacc and wins, he wins double.

Dark Side

Level Dealer Card Why this place
1 Dathcha Premiere Limited, value 2 Adventurer and trader famous for taunting a krayt dragon; the starter table; theme: a trader's junk and the krayt dragon dare.
2 Daroe Tatooine, value 3 Jawa with an Imperial contact; his text works with Star Destroyers.
3 Nebit Special Edition, value 3 Leader who raids rival Jawa factions; the same text as Thedit, so he mirrors him.
4 Herat Jabba's Palace, value 3 Shaman who agreed to fan the Hutt for his help against Kalit; the same text as Aved Luun.
5 Wittin Jabba's Palace, value 2 Leader of a large tribe, plotting with Jabba against Kalit; the same text as Kalit, with Jawa Pack.
6 Iasa, The Traitor Of Jawa Canyon Special Edition, value 1 Boss. His card lets him add 1 to or subtract 1 from his total at Dune Sea Sabacc.

The two ladders mirror each other. Thedit and Nebit have the same text, as do Aved Luun and Herat, and Kalit and Wittin, apart from the Jawa Siesta and Jawa Pack difference. Het Nkik and Uutkik are cousins. That would let a Light Side and a Dark Side table feel alike at each level.

Level 1 decks

Draft, revised after Bill's review on 12 October 2026 (see deck design principles). Both decks use the dealer spread above, so the house edge against a Deck C player is 2.34%. Dathcha's deck mirrors Het Nkik's where a Dark Side match exists. Both are 60-card, one-side decks with locations to start from, so they could also be played as real decks (see the legality notes below).

Light Side Level 1: Het Nkik. Theme: cheap and bad devices. Het Nkik is a very early, low-level contender, so most cards are deliberately bad. Most cards are from Premiere and A New Hope, with the Jedi Pack Han and Leia and the Introductory Game Luke. The 0s, the 1s, and most of the 5s and 6s are Bill's own picks. Cards from later sets tie to the deck's characters: Luke's Backpack (Dagobah) can carry Jawas, and Luke is in the deck. Neither Premiere nor A New Hope has a Light Side card worth 7.

Value Count Cards
0 16 Sandcrawler: Loading Bay ×2; Desert ×2; Beggar's Canyon ×2; Hutt Canyon ×2; Hutt Trade Route (Desert) ×2; Lars' Moisture Farm ×2; Anchorhead ×2; EG-4 (Eegee-Four) ×2‡
1 10 Luke ×2; Han ×2; Leia ×2; Houjix ×2; Luke Skywalker; Obi-Wan Kenobi
2 3 Sandcrawler ×2; R2-D2 (Artoo-Detoo)‡
3 4 Het Nkik ×2; Jawa Ion Gun ×2
4 5 R5-D4 (Arfive-Defour) ×2; Remote ×2; Vaporator
5 11 Crash Site Memorial ×2; Eyes In The Dark ×2; Leia's Sporting Blaster ×2; Fire Extinguisher; Hidden Compartment; Don't Get Cocky ×2; Luke's Hunting Rifle
6 5 Caller ×2; Restraining Bolt ×2; Luke's Backpack
7 6 Bionic Hand ×3; I Thought They Smelled Bad On The Outside ×3

‡ Special destiny. The text of EG-4 says its destiny equals zero. R2-D2 prints "2 or 5" and is counted as 2. M-HYD 'Binary' Droid (worth 2) was cut for a second Don't Get Cocky, so the spread and the 2.34% edge stay the same. If R2-D2 counted as 5 instead, the spread would be 16 / 10 / 2 / 4 / 5 / 12 / 5 / 6 and the edge 3.64%.

Weak synergies kept on purpose:

The rest is deliberately weak. R5-D4 is a "cheap astromech" with a blown motivator, and Remote is Luke's training remote. Bionic Hand needs a Disarmed character that the deck does not have.

Dark Side Level 1: Dathcha. Theme: a trader's junk, the Imperials hunting the droids he sold, and the krayt dragon dare. Dathcha (Premiere) is a "Jawa adventurer and trader. Famous for taunting a krayt dragon and escaping to tell the tale." The deck mirrors Het's where it can: the same Tatooine sites where a Dark Side version exists, EG-6 for EG-4, the Introductory Game Vader and the Jedi Pack Tarkin and Motti for Luke, Han and Leia, Ghhhk for Houjix, Sandcrawler for Sandcrawler, R4-M9 for R5-D4, two Dark Side Callers and Restraining Bolts, URoRRuR'R'R's Hunting Rifle for Luke's Hunting Rifle, and Vader's Obsession (Introductory Game) for Luke's Backpack.

Value Count Cards
0 16 Sandcrawler: Droid Junkheap ×2; Desert ×2; Lars' Moisture Farm ×2; Jundland Wastes ×2; Krayt Dragon Pass ×2; Docking Bay 94 ×2; Death Star: Docking Bay 327 ×2; EG-6 (Eegee-Six) ×2‡
1 10 Vader ×2; Tarkin ×2; Motti ×2; Ghhhk ×2; Darth Vader; Krayt Dragon
2 3 Dathcha ×2; Sandcrawler
3 4 WED15-I662 'Treadwell' Droid ×2; Krayt Dragon Bones; R1-G4 (Arone-Geefour)
4 5 R4-M9 (Arfour-Emmnine) ×2; Jawa Blaster ×2; Stormtrooper Utility Belt
5 11 Your Powers Are Weak, Old Man ×2; Charming To The Last ×2; I Find Your Lack Of Faith Disturbing ×2; Stormtrooper Backpack; Ommni Box; Boring Conversation Anyway; URoRRuR'R'R's Hunting Rifle; Dune Sea Sabacc
6 5 Caller ×2; Restraining Bolt ×2; Vader's Obsession
7 6 Double Laser Cannon ×3; Hunting Party ×2; Mournful Roar

‡ The text of EG-6 says its destiny equals zero.

Deploy paths: the Introductory Game Vader "must deploy on Death Star, but may move elsewhere", so the deck carries Death Star: Docking Bay 327. Vader's Obsession needs Vader to reach Luke on Tatooine, so the deck also carries Docking Bay 94, and Vader can use the docking bay transit between the two. They replace Bluffs and Mos Eisley in the 0s. The single Sandcrawler is worth 2, so R3-T6 left the 2s to keep the spread. Both Vaders stay as the deck's few decent cards.

Weak synergies kept on purpose:

The rest is deliberately weak junk from a trader's stock: Stormtrooper Backpack needs a trooper, Jawa Blaster can explode, and Ommni Box only shuffles a pile. Premiere and A New Hope have no Dark Side card worth 7, so the 7s come from later sets. Mournful Roar only works on a Chewbacca the opponent does not have, a deliberately dead card. Hunting Party is unique, so it is capped at 2 copies.

Legality notes. Each deck has exactly 60 cards, all from one side, with Tatooine sites to start from, and no objective. Every set used is a printed Decipher product, so the decks fit an open format. The Players Committee's Limited Resources format lists the Introductory Game and the Jedi Pack as "All Cards Legal". Because of the later-set cards, neither deck is legal in the Premiere - A New Hope format. The limit of 3 copies (2 of a unique card) is this project's own rule, stricter than the game. Decks for Campaign mode may later be cut to about 40 cards.

Boss deck lists

The two boss decks use the same spread, so each starts at the same 2.34% before the boss's perk.

Light Side boss: R'kik D'nec R'kik is worth 1 and has 2 copies. His own 3s slot holds four of the five earlier contenders: Het Nkik, Uutkik, Thedit, and Aved Luun. The 2s hold Kalit ×2 and Kalit's Sandcrawler, so all five earlier Jawas appear. The 0s add Tatooine: Dune Sea, the site of his lore, and the 5s and 6s use the strongest premise cards. The four 3s leave no room for Jawa Ion Gun, which his text would deploy free; that would need one contender swapped out. The Virtual Set 8 version, R'kik D'nec, Hero Of The Dune Sea (V), has no Sabacc text, so the deck uses the Jabba's Palace card.

Value Cards Premise cards Other Tatooine-flavoured cards
0 16 Dune Sea; Jawa Camp; Jawa Canyon; Sandcrawler: Loading Bay Jundland Wastes; Desert; Hutt Canyon; Hutt Trade Route (Desert); Beggar's Canyon; Lars' Moisture Farm; Mos Eisley; Docking Bay 94; Cantina; Anchorhead; Obi-Wan's Hut; Jabba's Palace: Audience Chamber
1 10 R'kik D'nec, Hero Of The Dune Sea ×2 Sandspeeder ×2; Ben Kenobi; Luke Skywalker; Tamtel Skreej; BoShek; Boushh; Lando With Vibro-Ax
2 3 Kalit ×2; Kalit's Sandcrawler –
3 4 Het Nkik; Uutkik; Thedit; Aved Luun –
4 5 Utinni! ×3; WED-9-M1 'Bantha' Droid ×2 –
5 11 8D8 Ronto; Eopie; Scurrier; Mos Eisley Blaster; Luke's Hunting Rifle; Crash Site Memorial; Scanner Techs; The Camp; Old Times; Harvest
6 5 Caller ×3; Restraining Bolt ×2 –
7 6 – WHAAAAAAAAAOOOOW! ×2; I Thought They Smelled Bad On The Outside ×3; Strangle†

24 premise cards, 35 other Tatooine-flavoured cards, and 1 weak fit (†); 48 different cards. With the option button on, 1 card is wild and 19 are clone cards. Weak fits: the 7s again, and 6 Tatooine people at 1.


Dark Side boss: Iasa Iasa is worth 1 and has 2 copies. The 2s hold Wittin, Dathcha, and Wittin's Sandcrawler, and the 3s hold Daroe, Nebit, Herat, and one Jawa, so all five earlier Jawas appear. His own text takes 3 from the target's defense value when he fires a Jawa weapon, so Jawa Blaster ×2 is included. Jawa Canyon is in the 0s because of his title. The 6s and 7s are as thin as in the Level 1 deck.

Value Cards Premise cards Other Tatooine-flavoured cards
0 16 Jawa Canyon; Jawa Camp; Sandcrawler: Droid Junkheap; MSE-6 'Mouse' Droid Jundland Wastes; Desert; Desert Heart; Great Pit Of Carkoon; Krayt Dragon Pass; Tusken Canyon; Bluffs; Lars' Moisture Farm; Mos Eisley; Docking Bay 94; Cantina; Desert Landing Site
1 10 Iasa, The Traitor Of Jawa Canyon ×2 Krayt Dragon ×2; Dune Walker ×2; Jabba The Hutt; Jabba; Boelo; Imperial Squad Leader
2 3 Wittin; Dathcha; Wittin's Sandcrawler –
3 4 Daroe; Nebit; Herat; Jawa –
4 5 Utinni! ×3; Jawa Blaster ×2 –
5 11 Dead Jawa ×3; Droid Detector Dewback; Ronto; Womp Rat; Tusken Scavengers; Mos Eisley Blaster; URoRRuR'R'R's Hunting Rifle; Ommni Box
6 5 Caller ×3; Restraining Bolt ×2 –
7 6 Double Laser Cannon ×3 Aurra Sing's Blaster Rifle ×2†; Hunting Party†

30 premise cards, 27 other Tatooine-flavoured cards, and 3 weak fits (†); 46 different cards. With the option button on, 1 card is wild and 20 are clone cards. Weak fits: †Aurra Sing's Blaster Rifle and †Hunting Party at 7.


Boss perks. Iasa's adjustment is modelled as the dealer moving his finished total one step toward 11 on a share of hands. Moving toward 11 is never worse for him, so the figure is the same whether or not he sees the player's hand. R'kik's double is modelled as a share of his wins that pay double. Proposal for a cap: one hand in ten for either boss, about 6.4% for Iasa and 6.8% for R'kik, against 2.34% for the contenders. One hand in twenty gives about 4.4% and 4.6%. The tables under Boss decks have the full range.

Exclusive card pools (draft)

Updated 12 October 2026 for the reworked Level 1 decks. Caller and Restraining Bolt moved from Uutkik to Het Nkik, and Luke's Backpack from Aved Luun to Het Nkik. The Dark Side Restraining Bolt moved from Daroe to Dathcha, and the Dark Side Sandcrawler from Nebit to Dathcha; Nebit gets Skiff instead. Ronto and Ronto (Dark) are reserved as a mirrored pair for a later Light Side and Dark Side contender matchup. The distinct-title and borrowed-card counts for contenders 2 to 5 predate the change and are marked –. A draft allocation, not built decks. It shows which cards each contender could keep for himself, and where the pool runs out.

The hooks come from each contender's lore and text. The drafts for contenders 2 to 5 were built by an allocation program only to measure how much variety the pool gives; they are not proposed lists.

Light Side

Contender Reserved cards (besides his own) Hook Distinct titles Cards borrowed from another deck (of 60)
Het Nkik Everything in his Level 1 list except the 7s, including Caller, Restraining Bolt, and Luke's Backpack (moved to him) Cheap and bad devices; Premiere and A New Hope 32 0
Uutkik Tatooine: Mos Eisley, Sandspeeder, Droid Merchant, Arc Welder ×3, Droid Shutdown ×2, Spaceport Speeders Mos Eisley and vehicles, from his lore – –
Thedit Tatooine: Jawa Canyon, Jundland Wastes, Jawa ×3, Rogue Bantha, Krayt Dragon Howl Patrols; his text wants two other Jawas 41 23
Aved Luun Utinni! ×3, WED-9-M1 'Bantha' Droid, Magnetic Suction Tube, Don't Forget The Droids Her text fetches Utinni! or Jawa – –
Kalit Kalit's Sandcrawler, Jawa Siesta, Jawa Camp, Jabba's Palace: Audience Chamber His text names Jawa Siesta, the Audience Chamber, and Jawa Camp 44 25

Tatooine: Dune Sea is reserved to R'kik. The boss decks may reuse everything above. As a sixth Light Side dealer, if Bill wants one, Sergeant Doallyn (a gambler on Tatooine) with Tusken Breath Mask, which his text names, would fit; neither is a Jawa.

Dark Side

Contender Reserved cards (besides his own) Hook Distinct titles Cards borrowed from another deck (of 60)
Dathcha Everything in his Level 1 list except the 7s, including Caller, Restraining Bolt, and Sandcrawler (moved to him) Mirror of Het Nkik: a trader's junk, the Imperials hunting his droids, and the krayt dragon dare 36 0
Daroe Sandtrooper, Imperial Squad Leader, Droid Detector, Informant (Restraining Bolt moved to Dathcha) His Imperial contact – –
Nebit Jawa ×3, Dead Jawa ×3, Tusken Scavengers, Sandwhirl, Skiff ×3 (Sandcrawler moved to Dathcha; Ronto is reserved) Raids, with Jawa raiders on skiffs; his text wants two other Jawas 36 –
Herat Utinni! ×3, Jabba, Bib Fortuna, Well Guarded, Jabba's Twerps, Tatooine: Jabba's Palace Fanning the Hutt; her text fetches Utinni! or Jawa 43 27
Wittin Wittin's Sandcrawler, Jawa Pack, Jabba The Hutt, Jawa Camp, Audience Chamber His text names Jawa Pack, the Audience Chamber, and Jawa Camp; plotting with Jabba 41 30

Jawa Canyon is reserved to Iasa. A sixth Dark Side dealer could be Vedain (a gambler who "plays sabacc with his fellow Nikto") or Klaatu (also a gambler); neither is a Jawa. R'tic H'weei is left out because it is a virtual-only card.

Where the pool is thin. For each value: titles that fit, the copies they allow, the slots five contender decks need, and how many slots would have to borrow a card from another contender's deck.

Value Light Side (titles / copies / slots needed / borrowed) Dark Side (titles / copies / slots needed / borrowed)
0 27 / 56 / 80 / 26 24 / 51 / 80 / 31
1 12 / 25 / 50 / 25 10 / 22 / 50 / 29
2 18 / 40 / 15 / 0 21 / 48 / 15 / 0
3 27 / 66 / 20 / 0 22 / 52 / 20 / 0
4 20 / 51 / 25 / 0 13 / 37 / 25 / 0
5 14 / 34 / 55 / 23 13 / 35 / 55 / 21
6 12 / 30 / 25 / 1 9 / 23 / 25 / 5
7 4 / 9 / 30 / 22 4 / 9 / 30 / 22

The 0s, 1s, 5s, and 7s run short; the 2s, 3s, 4s, and 6s do not. The 7s are the worst: each side has only 3 titles worth 7 with a Tatooine link, allowing 7 copies in all. The fourth title in each column is an artillery card with no Tatooine link. Only the 3s, with the Jawa characters, have room for real variety. Every contender can still have its own cards at 2, 3, 4, and 6, and the 0s differ by the location sets.

How the number of decks changes this (borrowed cards over all contender decks):

Contender decks Light Side Dark Side
2 4 (all 7s) 4 (all 7s)
3 17 (10 at 7, 5 at 1) 21 (10 at 7, 9 at 1)
4 53 60
5 97 108

With 3 contender decks plus the boss, nothing but the 7s and a few 1s repeat. With 5, each of the later decks repeats roughly 20 to 30 cards, mostly 0s, 1s, 5s, and 7s. That is the trade-off for keeping all five Jawas.

Jawa-heavy drafts

Light Side

Value Cards Premise cards Other Tatooine-flavoured cards
0 14 Dune Sea; Jawa Camp; Jawa Canyon; Sandcrawler: Loading Bay Jundland Wastes; Desert; Hutt Canyon; Hutt Trade Route (Desert); Beggar's Canyon; Lars' Moisture Farm; Anchorhead; Mos Eisley; Docking Bay 94; Cantina
1 6 R'kik D'nec, Hero Of The Dune Sea ×2 Sandspeeder ×2; Ben Kenobi; Luke Skywalker
2 5 Kalit ×2; Kalit's Sandcrawler; Sandcrawler ×2 –
3 12 Jawa ×3; Aved Luun; Thedit; Uutkik; Het Nkik; Jawa Ion Gun ×2; Droid Merchant; Magnetic Suction Tube; Jawa Siesta –
4 6 Utinni! ×2; WED-9-M1 'Bantha' Droid ×2 Vaporator; Racing Skiff
5 8 – Eopie; Ronto; Scurrier; Mos Eisley Blaster; Crash Site Memorial; Scanner Techs; Luke's Hunting Rifle; The Camp
6 5 Caller ×2; Restraining Bolt ×2 Spaceport Speeders
7 4 – WHAAAAAAAAAOOOOW! ×2†; Strangle ×2†

Dark Side

Value Cards Premise cards Other Tatooine-flavoured cards
0 14 Jawa Camp; Jawa Canyon; Sandcrawler: Droid Junkheap Jundland Wastes; Desert; Desert Heart; Desert Landing Site; Great Pit Of Carkoon; Krayt Dragon Pass; Tusken Canyon; Bluffs; Lars' Moisture Farm; Mos Eisley; Docking Bay 94
1 6 Iasa, The Traitor Of Jawa Canyon ×2 Krayt Dragon ×2; Dune Walker ×2
2 5 Dathcha ×2; Wittin; Sandcrawler; Wittin's Sandcrawler –
3 12 Jawa ×3; Daroe; Herat; Nebit; Jawa Pack ×2; Magnetic Suction Tube Bantha; URoRRuR'R'R's Bantha; Krayt Dragon Bones
4 6 Utinni! ×2; Jawa Blaster ×2 Racing Skiff; Sandwhirl
5 8 Dead Jawa ×2 Dewback; Ronto; Womp Rat; Tusken Scavengers; Droid Detector; Mos Eisley Blaster
6 5 Caller ×2; Restraining Bolt ×2 Tech Mo'r
7 4 Double Laser Cannon ×3 Aurra Sing's Blaster Rifle†

See also

References

  1. ↑ Players Committee Advanced Rulebook (2023): destiny draws (PDF page 30) and Appendix C, Sabacc.
  2. ↑ Dune Sea Sabacc and Dune Sea Sabacc (Dark) game text.
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