Covert Operations

Title: Covert Operations
Author: Geoff "Loaf" Gallo-Cornell
Date: Dec 26, 2000 Rating: 4.5

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Cards:

‘Locations Endor Endor Back Door Endor Hidden Forest Trail Endor Landing Platform (Docking Bay) Endor Rebel Landing Site (Forest)

Characters (23) Wuta Chewbacca Of Kashyyyk Colonel Cracken Corporal Beezer Corporal Kensaric Corporal Midge Daughter Of Skywalker General Calrissian General Crix Madine General Solo Leia With Blaster Rifle Lieutenant Blount Lieutenant Page Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight Luke With Lightsaber Major Panno Nien Nunb Obi-Wan With Lightsaber x2 Orrimaarko Sergeant Brooks Carlson Tycho Celchu Wedge Antilles, Red Squadron Leader

Starships (7) Home One Gold Squadron 1 Green Squadron 3 Red Squadron 1 Tala 1 Tala 2 Tydirium

Weapons (2) Anakin’s Lightsaber Luke’s Lightsaber

Effects (15) Bacta Tank Battle Plan Close Air Support Honor Of The Jedi I’ll Take The Leader - Admiral’s Order x2 Insurrection Launching The Assault Menace Fades Squadron Assignments Strike Planning Wise Advice Your Insight Serves You Well What’re You Tryin’ To Push On Us? x2

Interrupts (7) Covert Landing x2 Sorry About The Mess Heading For The Medical Frigate The Signal Fallen Portal x2

Objective Rebel Strike Team/Garrison Destroyed ‘

Strategy: ‘

Response to Reviews – HuntaWarya.. well, lets see. i didnt copy your deck. this deck is based on cover landing. i told you in that d-mail that i was looking through my commons when i saw covert landing and it hit me, this deck rocks. so for all you guys out there, dont accuse me of copying @#$%, caust i didnt. (this used to be slightly more, umm, vocal, but i tuned it down since Hunter and i are cool now, later. –Loaf ———

Warning….This is very long, and very descriptive. Definetly a grade A strategy too. Its a BOOK.

This deck started out as something fresh for me to play while not using cards from other decks. Soon enough I saw how solid this deck was, even though it wasn’t meant to be.

First off let me explain the basis the ability to search for cards that search for cards (a chain) is unmattched and should be persued as an obsession. The rewards are unbeliveble

I’m going to split this into 3 sections with card by card explainations, a turn by turn explanation and finally the infamous deck match ups.

I. CARD BY CARD review

Rebel Strike Team / Garrison Destroyed (Started with)

Pulls Endor and Rebel Landing Site. Flip when you control 3 exterior Endor sites. Force drains may not be modified or canceled where you have a scout except by react (Beezer cancels reacts). Scouts are immune to attrition <4. Retrieves one scout of ability <3.

I’ll Take The Leader

Starfighters are immune <4 or adds 2, Starships without pilot characters are power -2, docking bays are force drain +1 and a starfighter lost may be relocated to docking bay.

LOCATIONS

Endor (Started with) - Strike Planing and Launching the Assault a 2/0 system with a drain of 2.

Back Door (Pulled with Wuta) and Landing Platform (Pulled with Wuta) - 2 drains of unmodifiable 3 where Fallen Portal may be played.

Hidden Forest Trail (Pulled with Wuta) and Rebel Landing Site (Started with) - 2 drains of unmodifiable 3, deploy -1 and move between any Endor site.

CHARACTERS

Wuta (Pulled with Chewbacca of Kashyyyk) - Searches for the sites. Shuttle him up off Endor as soon as he pulls all the sites

Chewbacca of Kashyyyk (Pulled with General Crix Madine) - Scout, Pulls Wuta

Colonel Cracken (Pulled with General Crix Madine)- Scout, Spy/Pilot, deploys -2 and Matching Pilot of Tala1

Corporal Beezer (Pulled with General Crix Madine) - Scout, prevents reacts, immune to Scanning Crew

Corporal Kensaric (Pulled with General Crix Madine) - Scout, adds 2 to deploy of opponents characters

Corporal Midge (Pulled with General Crix Madine) - Scout, adds +1 drain to sites

Daughter Of Skywalker (Pulled with Covert Landing) - Scout, Leader

General Calrissian (Pulled with Strike Planning) - Leader, Gambler, Matching Pilot of Gold Squadron 1

General Crix Madine (Pulled with Strike Planning) - Leader, pulls Scouts <3, shuttle up to Home One ASAP, adds 1 to immunity of all scouts

General Solo (Pulled with Strike Planning) - Scout, Leader, Matching Pilot of Tydirium, Cancels Destiny

Leia With Blaster Rifle - Leader, only for off Endor

Lieutenant Blount (Pulled with General Crix Madine) - Scout, Spy/Pilot, Matching Pilot of Tala 2, Flips ISB

Lieutenant Page (Pulled with Covert Landing) - Adds 1 to destiny and deploy -1

Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight (Pulled with Covert Landing) - Scout, always alone

Luke With Lightsaber - For BHBM suicide attacks and off Endor

Major Panno (Pulled with General Crix Madine) - Scout, activate +4

Nien Numb (Pulled with Squadron Assignments) - Matching Pilot of of Gold Squadron 1, adds one destiny with General Calrissan

Obi-Wan With Lightsaber - Only for off Endor

Orrimaarko (Pulled with Covert Landing) - Scout, Leader

Sergeant Brooks Carlson (Pulled with General Crix Madine) - Scout, Makes landspeed =2, adds 1 to immunity of scouts

Tcho Celchu (Pulled with Squadron Assignments) - Spy/Pilot, deploys -2 and Matching Pilot of of Green Squadron 3

Wedge Antilles, Red Squadron Leader (Pulled with Squadron Assignments) - Leader, Cancels Destiny

STARSHIPS

Home One (Pulled with Launching the Assault) - Ability 4, Immune <8, Shuttle up Madine & Wuta

Gold Squadron 1 (Pulled with Squadron Assignments) - Matching Starfighter of Lando/Numb, Deploys -2

Green Squadron 3 (Pulled with Squadron Assignments) - Matching Starfighter of Tycho Celchu

Red Squadron 1 (Pulled with Squadron Assignments) - Matching Starfighter of Wedge Antilles, Red Squadron Leader, deploy’s Free

Tala 1 (Pulled with Squadron Assignments) - Matching Starfighter of Colonel Cracken & Close Air Support

Tala 2 (Pulled with Squadron Assignments) - Matching Starfighter of Lietenant Blount & Close Air Suport Spies & Scouts deploy +2

Tydirium (Pulled with Squadron Assignments) - Scouts deploy -1, deploys like Spy, Matching Starfighter of General Solo

WEAPONS

Anakin’s Lightsaber (Pulled with Covert Landing) - for Luke or Leia

Luke’s Lightsaber (Pulled with Covert Landing) - for Luke

EFFECTS

Bacta Tank (Pulled with The Signal) - for EPP’s and non ability <3 characters

Battle Plan (Pulled with YISYW, The Signal) - 3 to force drain

Close Air Support (Pulled with YISYW, The Signal) - adds 1 battle destiny and 1 power destiny

Honor of the Jedi (Pulled with YISYW, The Signal) - protects from COTVG, Visage, BHBM etc.

Insurrection (Pulled with YISYW, The Signal) - rebels forfeit +2, stops Elis Helrot, pulls Landing Platform

Launching the Assault (Pulled with YISYW, The Signal) - pulls Home One and Force Drain +1

Menace Fades (Pulled with YISYW, The Signal) - ignores force drain modifiers

Squadron Assignment (Started with) - pulls Matching Pilot and Matching Starfighter

Strike Planning (Started with) - pulls Generals

Wise Advice (Started with/Pulled with The Signal) - Sense/Alter protection and free immediate effects

Your Insight Serves You Well (Started wth /Pulled with The Signal) - pulls effects

What’re You Tryin’ To Push On Us? (Pulled with The Signal) - deploys free with Wise Advice

INTERRUPTS

Covert Landing - adds one destiny with Tydirium. Pulls ANY scouts and weapons when a starfighter lands to an a site unoccupied by opponent.

Sorry About The Mess - for undercover spies

Heading For The Medical Frigate (Started with) - pulls 3 effects

The Signal - pulls any effect

Fallen Portal - use on Backdoor and Landing Platform

REVIEW of Pulls

CHAIN

Starting Cards

Endor Sites

Scouts of ability <3

Wuta

Generals

Gold Squadron 1 / Tydirium

1 effect thru YISYW

DRAW

All Scouts and Weapons thru Covert Landing

Starfighters and Pilots thru Sqaudron Assignments

Home One thru Launching the Assault

All the Effects

NON PULLS

Leia With Blaster Rifle

Luke With Lightsaber

Obi-Wan With Lightsaber

General Calrissian / Nien Numb if the other is

I’ll Take The Leader

Covert Landing

Sorry About The Mess

The Signal

Fallen Portal

Thats 13 of 53 cards that cannot be pulled and have to be drawn to be used. That’s something to look into…

REMEMBER

Your Force Drains cannot be modified or canceled
Your scouts are immune to attrition <4, General Crix Madine adds 1 to immunity of attrition of all scouts when on Home One, and Sergeant Brooks Carlson adds 1 to immunity of attrition to the scouts at his site.
You can retrive one scout of ability <3.
With the 2 lightsabers, I’ll Take The Leader, and Corporal Midge you can set up 4 drains of unmodifiable 3 or a total force drain of unmodifiable 12
Launching the Assault adds 1 to the Force Drain at Endor when the Home One is there. The deck can now force drain for 14, 12 of it unmodifiable.
Close Air Support adds 2 destinys, 1 to power and 1 to destiny.
Use the EPP’s only for off Endor and suicide attacks.

II. TURN BY TURN review

STARTING

Rebel Strike Team/Garrison Destroyed

Endor

Endor Rebel Landing Site (Forest)

Heading For The Medical Frigate

Squadron Assignments

Strike Planning

Your Insight Serves You Well/Wise Advice

The deck actually starts during the opponents turn since DS usually goes first. During the opponents turn (before your first one) use Strike Planning to pull 2 of the 3 generals. Which 2 depends on your hand. If you were lucky enough to get one in your opening hand then draw the other 2 otherwise its almost always General Crix Madine and General Solo. Now show General Solo and pull Tydirium using Squadron Assignments(during your first turn, not during your oppenents turn). Now, depending on what the opponent is playign and what they did during their turn use Your Insight Serves You Well to pull an appropriate effect. The effects to pull are as follows in order if you happen to draw them

BHBM Start Wise Advice intead of YISYW, therefore you pull nothing.

COTVG If they dont start No Escape, pull Honor of the Jedi/Close Air Support

Endor OPS Close Air Support/

HDADTJ If they dont start No Escape, pull Honor of the Jedi/Close Air Support

ISB Close Air Support/Menace Fades

MKOS Close Air Support/Menace Fades

SYCFA Close Air Support/Menace Fades

TURN 1

Before you activate make sure you have General Crix Madine and either General Solo/Tdirium or General Calrissian/Gold Squadron 1. If you don’t (if you forgot) get General Solo and the Tidirium. If you didn’t forget it and had all 3 generals then you can pull both ships. Howevor, this is unlikely so dont count on it. Now if the opponent gave you at least 1 force you do the following Deploy General Crix Madine for 2 at the Rebel Landing Site. Pull either Cracken/Tala 1 or Blount/Tala 2 using General Crix Madine then Squadron Assignments depending which combination is in the reserve deck. Preferably it should be Blount/Tala 2 as Tala 2 adds 2 to the deploy of opponents spies and scouts. Now deploy the pilot/starship to Endor for 3 and deploy the Close Air Support that you pulled with YISYW. You should have at least 1 other scout in your hand and deploy that to General Crix Madine’s site for 1. Now you have established a pretty safe battleground site/system on your fiRebel Strike Team / Garrisson Destroyed turn. The opponent won’t come next turn to the Landing Site because you easily have 2 battle destinys and 1 more to power. If the opponent provided you with any extra force just draw them.

Now this scenerio isn’t rare at all, the only times you cant pull it off is when the opponent is playing BHBM, HDADTJ, ISB and doesn’t play a site that gives you at least one icon. HDADTJ and ISB will most likely provide you the icon as they need battlegrounds. With BHBM you almost NEVER pull it off since you start with Wise Advice and they’ll just deploy EMatching Pilot oferor to the Death Star 2 Docking Bay, but it can happen. With COTVG and HDADTJ if they didn’t start No Escape the case is the same, but they almost always start No Escape anyway. Now if they didn’t provide you that 1 force the turn goes as follows

Pull any cards that you can but make sure you don’t deploy anything that can be lost unless you have a matching pilot and starship to Endor. Draw what you can but leave 1 force. Onto TURN 2

TURN 2

If you did get the 1 force from the opponent then do the following

As always pull anything that you can before you activate. Now you have to play your own game until you flip. Pull Chewbacca of Kasshyyyk with General Crix Madine and deploy him to the Rebel Landing site. Pull Wuta with Chewbacca and then pull either the Landing Platform or Back Door with Wuta. Deploy any ship with its matching pilot to Endor (except General Solo) and then deploy any scouts to the Landing Platform/Back Door. Deploy anything else that you can like always.

If you didn’t get the 1 force than do the following

As always pull anything that you can before you activate. Now follow what you would have done for turn one if you got that 1 force. Onto TURN 3

TURN 3

If you did get the 1 force from the opponent then do the following

Pull Cracken and Tala 2 if you coudln’t deploy a starship last turn and deploy it to Endor, if you did deploy a starship then pull Major Panno to add +4 activation next turn. Pull a site with Wuta and deploy any scouts. Now you have 3 sites and have the ability to flip. If the opponent isnt on Endor then you’ll flip during your move phase. If he is then you’ll have to deploy the other site and move around untill you control 3 Endor sites. From now on you play your game as it develops. Just read your cards and don’t forget what they do.

If you didn’t get the 1 force than do the following

Follow the TURN 2 outline and then on your next turn follow the TURN 3 outline.

Some things to accomplish

Get Wuta & General Crix Madine off the Endor sites, preferably to the Home One. If you don’t draw the Home One then you can pull it with Launching the Assault.
Deploy I’ll Take the Leader. It will make the Tydirium immune <4 and all the other ships add 2 to their immunity. When you lose one the starfighters you can relocate it to the Landing Platform and if the pilot was Cracken or Blount you can retrieve him, pull him and re-deploy him to his ship and take off back to Endor. The Landing Platform gets a +1 force drain. Finally, any ship without a pilot character is power -2. TIE’s and the Bounty Hunter ships wont be as powerful.
Play Covert Landing. You will most likely play this card on turn 3 and later and it will break the game. You’ll have General Solo on the Tydirium and then land it to the Landing Platform or any other site that isn’t occupied by the opponet and continue to deploy up 7 scouts and their weapons to the Tydirium. All of the scouts deploy -1 and you’ll pull Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight with Luke’s Lightsaber for 4, Daughter of Skywalker with Anakin’s Lightsaber for 3, Orrimaarko for 4 and Lieutenant Page for 2 along with any 3 other scouts that deploy for 1. Move the characters out and your set. If you can’t accoMatching Pilot oflish it with the Tydirium then Gold Squadron 1 can acoMatching Pilot oflish it by the same time but you’ll only get 3 instead of 7.

As you have read this is all so easy to pull off due to the pulling. Your activation is good and you only give 5 force to the opponent when you can drain for up to 14. I’ve made the deck as solid as I can to take on as much as it can. This is where I need you to make your reviews and comments. I don’t want reviews that are short and unhelpful. Try to make your reviews at least 2 full sentences. Onto the Deck VS Deck.

III. DECK VS DECK review

Deck Matchups Vs. BHBM Give him Luke ASAP That extra force he’ll be losing each turn will be the death of him. Other than that, just go about your normal business, using your cards to make sure that you dont lose battles, but with a jedi luke, it is very unlikely that they would win enough battles to turn him.

Vs. Hunt Down Dont Blind Duel. If you can, get Jedi Luke and his saber out, and set up some decent destiny, the 3 that luke subtracts from their total should finish off vader. When reflections 2 comes out, I’ll add in two of the new TT/OOC cards. If they dont get ephant mon out first turn, use madine to get a spy there, but be careful, as they will probably beat you down, so use caution, and common sense. Just sit and drain, and maybe drop a beatdown crew on vader, but be careful of barriers and you are beatens, they can ruin your day very fast.

Vs. MKOS Drain Race With all your drains that are uncancelable by their Obj and Den Of Thieves, they’ll just be plain screwed. Menace Fades will also ruin their day since the mosep/gailid combo doesnt work. Abyssins may be a slight problem, but they wont be able to clear you off your sites, and the drains will overcome their retrieval with scum.

Vs. Prodigy Ha. Although this deck is good, since you can pull whatever card you need (just about) for any situation, you can handle this, as well as many other decks. I haven’t played this yet, but I would assume the drains would quickly overcome their pitiful retrieval with scum and brangus.

Vs. Big Blue Drainer This should be called the Big Gray Out-Drainer. Puh-Lease, this decks drains are special because they are fast, and they can’t be cancelled or modified. That, and the immunity is insane, all your characters might as well be jedi with that nice immunity to attrition <5.

Thanks for looking, –Geoff ”Loaf” Gallo-Cornell, Author of Saber In Your Eye v3.0 (shameless plug -)

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