Imperial Admirals’ Organization

Title: Imperial Admirals’ Organization
Author: Travis "Com Igar" Rumans
Date: Aug 29, 2001 Rating: 4.5

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Cards:

‘Starting (7)

My Lord, Is That Legal/IWMIL

Senate

Blockade Flagship Bridge

Prepared Defenses

Prepared Defenses

You Cannot Hide Forever/Mob Points

Begin Landing Your Troops

Imperial Decree

Locations (5)

Executor DB

Sullust

Kashyyyk

Endor

Kessel

Characters (21)

Admiral Chiraneaux2

Admiral Piett

Grand Admiral Thrawn

Admiral Ozzel

Commander Merrejk

U-3PO

Keder The Black

Orn Free Ta

Yeh Yeh Adem&þ

Edcel Bar Gane

Passel Argente

Toonbuck Toora

Tikkes

Aks Moex2

Lott Dodx2

Coruscant Guardx3

Effects (5)

This is Outrageous (canceler)

Motion Supported (drain adder)

Lateral Damagex2

Do They Have a Code Clearance?

Ships (9)

Chimaera

Vengeance

Thunderflare

Devestator

Executor

Avenger

Dominator

Accuser

Zuckuss in Mist Hunter

Admiral’s Orders (2)

We’re in Attack Position Nowx2

Interrupts (9)

Payroll of the Trade Federationx2

Squabbling Delegatesx2

Imperial Barrier

Imperial Commandx4

Weapons (1)

Laser Cannon Battery

Devices (1)

Homing Beacon ‘

Strategy: ‘

Response to some reviews

IMPERIAL DECREE DOES NOT REFERENCE BATTLEGROUNDS…in theory I could hold a Coruscant DB, Coruscant, and the Death Star and all their force drain bonuses everywhere are canceled. Here obviously I’m holding the senate and two systems.

I’ll try it with only one guard…they’re invaluable against Senate decks because they can’t use forfeit fodder to keep the Senators safe and they themselves are good forfeit fodder…but since no one seems to be playing LS space I’ll probably cut them for a grabber and something else…either Overload or Bossk (Bossk gets Aks Moe’s power bonus, so he’s power 9 and adds a destiny).

Menace Fades doesn’t touch me because either I simple battle them out of space of use my Homing Beacon tech.

With Tikkes going, I activate plenty, and Ozzel, Piett, and Kessel all make my ships a little cheaper.

I admit my destiny isn’t amazing–this is Big Blue after all–but its higher than you think. Consider that generally I’m using Lot Dodd to grab ships and I use Chain of Command stuff to get out my non-senate characters. I’m also cycling my Senators most of the time, and, when flipped, the Senators are all awesome destinies and they’re very easy to track.

Passel Argente hurts X-Wing Swarm, and any other deck will have a hard time handling this much attrition. Thrawn on ISD+Imperial Command+Toonbuck will clear almost any system, especially if their ship has Lat Damage. You can use This Is Outreagoues and a trade agenda to try to get back stuff you lose, but on the off chance they do manage to kill something important you can tunnel for squabbling and get it back (sometimes its better to retrieve three important cards than six jank ones). I’m consdering adding the Destiny-3 political effect to keep destiny’s below the AO’s immunity…I’ll do some playtesting and see how it works.

I would certainly like to add a grabber, but I like my mix the way it is.

There are plenty of tricks in this deck…Imperial Command adds destinies, someone not playing the Senate will often be surprised by what you can do in the Senate. The Accuser reacts. Besides, although I get Thrawn after Piett and Chiraneau, I typically keep him in hand for awhile in case they try to mess with me in space. If you’re still not satisfied, the two green cards help a lot…if they’re improvising superfalcon with EPP Han, the gun hits it. Track a Senator, and the gun hits Home One. Ground decks generally rely on a pile of forfeit fodder to fight you in space if they try at all, and the gun just shuts that down. It also makes them lose a force, and Dominator fires the thing twice. And Homing Beacon is one of my favorite underplayed cards. If they get a decent ship in space, and you don’t feel like killing it, drop Homing Beacon and its almost like their ship isn’t there…they’ll usually content themselves to blocking one of your drains rather than risk the wrath of your massive fleet.

And I’m going to find room for suicide Mauls with Saber once I get them =).

Imperial Command is one of those cards that lets you make decks like this work off of any platform. You grab the Executor and its DB, Imperial Command for Piett. You can get set up with Merrejk and Piett right away if they gave you an icon, but if you have Lott Dod (or Squabbling to grab him) going for the fast flip in the Senate is probably better. Lott Dod and Aks Moe are probably your best thing to put down first turn, with a combined politics of 7 and two great benefits to the deck.

Aks Moe’s power bonus rocks. Thunderflare is power 11 (for 7 deploy, reduced at Kessel or by Piett or Ozzel), the Dominator is 9 (and can fire the Laser Cannon Battery twice, good for getting rid of capitals with lots of forfeit fodder) for 7, and the Accuser reacts for 5 and is power 9.

Tunneling is good anywhere.

Toonbuck adds attrition, which will help you clear your opponent out of space.

Passel Argente helps hold the senate a lot and wrecks X-Wing swarms.

Orn Free Taa is mainly in because he deploys for 1 and is forfeit 6 with the effect.

Yeh Yeh helps manip their deck.

Edcel Bar Gane will keep you from getting beaten too badly on the ground if you get into a game where you try to have Ozzel and some Coruscant guards satisfy Battle Plan (late game, it may be your best option…). Often people won’t drop Battle Plan, though, because you’ll simply kick them out of space.

Tikkes makes your activation silly.

I don’t bother with the Naboo occupation guy.

Two Lateral damage rules…most people think they’re out of it because so many decks only use one…key card for delivering space beats

Homing Beacon is the main claw defense, but also shuts down Menace Fades. Most decks that set up Menace Fades only hold one system, and you can use this and park any ship in front of them to keep them from controlling. If they battle you, your entire fleet will react over (for free). Good to help you chase around that lone ship with the mains pile on it that Mains and Toys thinks will help them in space.

Do They Have A Code Clearance is an alternate start in the right situations…remember it makes Piett forfeit 9, which can get you out of a jam in the right circumstances.

Between the silly power totals, the good destiny of the Senators and some other tricks, this deck should be able to beat any LS deck in space. Imperial command, of course, rules.

No racer because if they want to win the race they will and the destiny here isn’t good anyway. I Did It can actually be used to your advantage as you can activate everything and then tunnel for what you want and still have a reserve for destiny on their turn.

So, anyway, after you’re flipped and you get a few systems out, put down Chiraneau and start draining them. You have 2 spies (tinkering to find room for Arica) and the political effect to stop what they have on the ground, and you get Decree going by controlling the Senate because it doesn’t refer to battlegrounds. With the political effect you’ll be draining for 10+ a turn in space, and although a ground deck may set up a little faster once you get going they’re simply shut down. This deck maximizes the benefit of your control in space and negates the benefits of your opponent’s control of the ground.

I could start Naboo but I don’t want to give my opponent three icons right away, especially if I’m only giving myself three. It (or Fondor) may soon replace Kessel, but I like the fact that I can convert theirs and Kessel has really bad gametext for them.

You can tunnel to get whatever you need, but typicall it will be ships (or more Senate stuff against a senate deck). Lott Dod makes sure you’re never without what you need.

There’s no Defensive Fire or Limited Resources in here, but you should still drop cards when you can…and always ask them how many cards are in their hand. The existence of that decktype is becoming well known and you should freak them out and make them keep more cards than they should in hand. Deploy the Executor after Chiraneau is set up and move Piett and Merrerjk to the bridge. It gives them one more thing to worry about, while the ISDs are grinding them down in space, all the while…eventually, each of your passing control phases will be your opponent’s death knell.

You can set up cycling with your Senators late game pretty easily…with Tikkes and Lott Dod out you should almost always have two senators at the end of your turn so you can cancel one of his drains and pump one of yours.

It should be noted that your destiny is very ’wild card’; you either get a ship (low) or Senator/Red (high). A little bit of tracking can go a long way. I’m considering throwing in old skool Oppressive Enforcement to help balance it a bit and give some SAC protection.

Matchups

vs. WYS

Kill their stuff in space. Lat Damage+Imperial Command shouls make it easy. They’ll probably race and use DTF, so try to be on the offensive whenever possible which shouldn’t be hard because most WYS decks have some guy on the ground and a guy in space to flip. Lat Damage kills Outrider, and Toonbuck’s attrition will help clear out their guys. You will probably get into a war of AO conversion, but you can tunnel for yours so you will win. Code Clearance will slow down their retrieval. WYS often had a hard time against big space decks anyway.

vs. LS Space

Matching Pilots can’t compete with your power, Passel Kills swarms, LS Big Blue is vulnerable to the gun and lat damage, and Homing Beacon gives you an edge in each. And you’ll always be able to tunnel for what you need, and they won’t.

vs. QMC

Kick them out of the system to stop celebration, or, at the very least, use Homing Beacon to stop Fades. Mainly a damage race, and if you stop celebration, you will win. They will be able to tunnel, just like you. Get out Toonbuck because the extra attrition can be invaluable in clearing the system.

vs. LS Senate

The LS Senate package is weak…they will have to devote lots of card slots to really beat you out. The Coruscant Guards are key because they stop your opponent from using other guys for forfeit fodder and are themselves good fodder. The LS Senate gives lots of space bonuses so you’ll also be able to beat them up in space. If they really try, they can take over the senate by the late game, but by then it shouldn’t matter. They’ll probably have to commit all their senators to fightingg you so they won’t have as many for their effects (although the same is true of you).

Anyway, the key thing to stress here is that you can lose the Senate and still win the game. They need such a huge amount of cards to compete with the DS you’re already at an advantage. If you have a spare chiraneau or want to use Ozzel they both have politics of 2 and can show up in a pinch.

vs. Mains and Toys

They’ll do what they can to come to space. Command stops that. That and your typical ISD, with the +2 power, has nearly 20 combined power and forfeit….almost impossible to beat down. Might want to consider starting Code. They have to fight in space and the Senate, which are your theaters.

vs. Profit

Well, Profit vs. Space, espcially PodProfit vs. Space, is one of those matchups that the LS player claims he nearly auto wins and the DS player claims he does. Its just a damage race. With Decree and both effects out, if they have like 4 BGs they will do about 7/turn, but you will do 14/turn. They have about a 25 percent bigger deck with their retrieval, so you should have the edge in the damage race. If you aren’t convinced, there’s one major piece of tech to win against Profit. Your objective gives all Rebel Leaders of ability<4 politics of 2. Most people use Han who gets this bonus, so you can use Kedir the Black to assassinate him (you only need to draw a 2, track a Senator you cycled or something). They’ll have to dig out their spare Han, but a turn or two of shutting them down completely can be worth it.

vs. Jedi Testing

Endor and Sullust are still drains of 2. Older Code stops Edge abuse if/when they flip. Haven’t seen this in awhile, so you’ll want some cards like CYHBC and Naboo (instead of Kessel) if you’re afraid of this.

vs. RST

Boomracing is a really tough matchup because they do so much direct damage. If you can survive that, though, and use the spies and decree to stop their drains, you can outdrain them and win. Even if they kill your hand Lott Dod will grab what you need. Many players may wait until they have a decent sized lost pile, so you can ’forget’ to drain a few turns until you’re set up. If you survive the direct damage and control space you’ll probably win. Kedir can hit Crix if you want but is probably better staying undercover at the back door.

So, typically, just set up in the senate, then set up in space, shut your opponent down, drain for bundles, and smack them down if they come to space.

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