The Emperor's Hand (InQuest)

The Emperor's Hand is an article by Jerry Fredricks in InQuest #49 (May 1999, pages 44–47). It ranks ten Star Wars CCG cards then in print, with Darth Vader first.

InQuest #49, May 1999, page 44.

InQuest #49, May 1999, page 45.

InQuest #49, May 1999, page 46.

InQuest #49, May 1999, page 47.

THE EMPEROR'S HAND

InQuest Gamer reveals the top 10 Star Wars CCG cards

Stormtroopers were the Emperor's undoing. If they hadn't been so inept, they would have captured Luke Skywalker long before he became a Jedi and they certainly wouldn't have been overrun by a bunch of midget wookie-wannabes. Of course, this is no news to veteran Star Wars CCG players. If you want to obliterate your foes, you need the best of the best—and the men in white ain't it. So which cards should the Emperor have recruited if he didn't want to get the shaft?

We scoured through mounds of Star Wars cards—1,573 different ones to be exact—to pull the 10 best. But if you think the likes of Luke Skywalker and Boba Fett made the list, it is you who are mistaken about a great many things. Our list is based on more than just name recognition; they're judged on criteria like playability, power and usefulness in a wide variety of decks. Some cards may be considered better than another in some areas but have been left off the list due to one or more restrictions. Yoda, for instance, may have made the list for his usefulness and high ability, but got left off due to his lack of power and deployment restriction.

by Jerry Fredricks

10 HIDDEN BASE

Easily the best objective in the game, now that operatives have been errata'd, Hidden Base / Systems Will Slip Through Your Fingers turns good Light space decks into great Light space decks. The front side of the objective allows you to deploy one system per turn from your reserve deck, speeding any space deck up substantially. Once flipped, it creates a Force denial situation by demanding that your opponent spend one Force before drawing a card. As if that weren't enough, you can also cancel two of your opponent's Force drains each turn.

Hidden Base / Systems Will Slip Through Your Fingers is a strong card, but it's limited to certain kinds of decks. Also, a well-prepared opponent will know what to expect from one of these decks and will be ready to cancel your objective by probing at opportune times.

9 UNDERCOVER

This potent effect an be deployed on any of your spies at a site. While Undercover, your spy cannot be battled or targeted by weapons in a battle, and most importantly, this effect prevents your opponent from Force draining at that site. Is your opponent draining you for four or five at a site where Darth Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin and a whole crew of Imperials are present? One spy with an Undercover takes care of the problem without throwing half your deck at your opponent's horde.

This effect complements other strategies, making it more versatile than Hidden Base / Systems Will Slip Through Your Fingers. It's one of the top cards in the game because you don't have to change your basic deck strategy, but you do need to find room for both the spies and the Undercovers. Also, it does little against all-space decks other than supply a five-destiny.

8 GRIMTAASH/MONNOK

The ultimate counter for any deck type that uses multiples of key cards, Monnok and Grimtaash allow you to eliminate any duplicates in your opponent's hand for a measly four Force. Both interrupts can also be used to force your opponent to discard down to eight cards if he has 13 or more. However, these days most players take precautions against Grimtaash/Monnok during deck construction, making it less useful than it was a year ago.

7 NABRUN LEIDS/ELIS HELROT

The ultimate transport card, Nabrun Leids and Elis Helrot allow you to transport your characters to practically anywhere on the table at any time. They are best used to move a huge fighting force from a good Force drain site to any other site where your opponent can be easily beaten to death. Card for card, Nabrun and Elis will do much more damage than Grimtaash and Monnok, allowing you to control when and where a crushing battle takes place.

6 MILLENNIUM FALCON

The best starfighter in the game has it all: great hyperspeed, potential immunity to attrition and a boatload of interrupts and effects that make it better. Even ground-based Light decks would be wise to include this card in case a little firepower is needed in space. Load up the Millennium Falcon with Captain Han Solo and Chewbacca to get two destiny draws and control of your choice of one of your opponent's systems. However, most decks are ground-based, which limits the Falcon's usefulness at times.

5 EXECUTOR

Without a doubt, the Executor offers the biggest impact of any single card in the game. A whopping 12 power and immunity to attrition less than 12 make it a menace even when it's alone. Add one pilot to it for a destiny draw, and this beauty can control the system of your choice. It is only limited by its high deploy cost.

4 SENSE

There are 379 interrupts in the game—more than any other card type—and Sense cancels all but 17 of them. This ultimate interrupt is a staple in every Star Wars deck, despite several magic bullet cards that have tried to limit its usefulness. In a control-oriented game, the player who wins the Sense/Alter wars is almost assured of victory.

3 OBI-WAN KENOBI

What's not to love about the old man? He's one of three characters with an ability of six or higher—perfect for all those Senses—and one of five characters with a power of five or better. He's immune to attrition less than five, and his ability to send characters away is awesome. Most importantly, he gets to use the potent Obi-Wan's Lightsaber to cleave through opponents.

2 HAN WITH HEAVY BLASTER PISTOL

Since the Enhanced Premiere set offered up this Light side gem, players have used one word to describe this card—"broken." The frosty Han has card economy like no other card in the game. He's got great power for deploy cost and a built-in weapon. He can pilot the Millennium Falcon as well as Captain Han Solo. He's got the ability to draw extra battle destiny when hanging out with Luke Skywalker or Chewbacca. Most importantly, he can deploy anywhere. He doesn't have immunity to attrition, but then, neither do the other versions of Han.

Han beats Obi-Wan Kenobi out for the number two spot because of his versatility, adding the piloting skill and built-in weapon the old man lacks. With no drawbacks to speak of, there's only one reason Han isn't numero uno; his outfit doesn't include a black cape and weird-ass helmet.

1 DARTH VADER

The moment Darth Vader is deployed, he changes the entire scope of the game. With a power of six and immunity to attrition less than five, he can go anywhere he wants to go. His ability to add one to each battle destiny drawn guarantees you never drawing a zero and makes your opponent's immunity to attrition that much easier to overcome. Best of all, Vader comes in more than one flavor: the Darth Vader, Dark Lord Of The Sith from Special Edition has the ability to choke Light characters in a battle, and Vader with Lightsaber gives the Dark player an easy way to Hunt Down And Destroy The Jedi / Their Fire Has Gone Out Of The Universe. He also has six ability, and Vader's Lightsaber makes him a Force draining machine. What more could you ask for?

Jerry Fredricks plans to use the Jedi mind trick to get into "The Phantom Menace" on opening day.

Phantom EXPANSION

•Darth Maul

Dark Lord of the Sith. Allied with an unknown power. Interfered with secret mission led by Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

POWER 5 ABILITY 6 DARK JEDI

Once per game, may deploy Maul's Lightsaber from Reserve Deck; reshuffle. When present with a Jedi Knight at same site, may lose two Force to initiate an Epic Duel. Immune to attrition < 5.

MAUL SHOPPING Since the new prequel game isn't going to be out for months, we'd love to see Decipher put out a few of the more popular "Phantom" characters as Star Wars CCG cards. Kinda like this one.

You probably know by now that Decipher has obtained the "Phantom Menace" license, and with it, the right to produce any number of products based on the characters and events in "Episode One." A starter-level product named Young Jedi has been announced, but mum's the word on how the advanced game will work. If we were working on developing the prequel game, here are some of the things we'd be sure to include:

• COMPATIBILITY WITH THE EXISTING STAR WARS CCG. We can't stress this one enough. Who wouldn't want the opportunity to have Darth Vader take on young Anakin Skywalker or have Jar Jar Binks and Chewbacca hang side by side so they can compare notes on being lovable sidekicks?
• MORE THAN ONE VICTORY CONDITION. The only way to win in Star Wars is to run your opponent out of cards. While it's still an original victory conditions, it would be nice to have others. For example, maybe a Trade Federation player could win by economic domination.
• POLITICAL ACTIONS OR VOTES. Since the Jedi Council and the Senate are important parts of "The Phantom Menace," why not create card types or mechanics similar to Babylon 5's voting or Vampire's political actions? It should be just as important in the prequel game to control the politics of the table as it is to control the characters.
• LOTS AND LOTS OF JEDI. Lots and lots of lightsabers. Most importantly, a way for Jedi to initiate duels without requiring specific cards.

See also

• Magazines · Media · InQuest · Jerry Fredricks · Star Wars: The Phantom Menace CCGs
• Enhanced Premiere · Special Edition · Decipher

External links

• Inquest Gamer Partial Collection, Internet Archive (file inquest.049.-.may.1999.-.classic.6th.edition.pdf)