WYS Podracing and the Goodyear Skate

Title: WYS Podracing and the Goodyear Skate
Author: Devon "Devonator" Clark
Date: Oct 3, 2001 Rating: 4.5

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Cards:

‘Starting (9)

WYS

New Tatooine

Cantina

DB 94

Podracer Prep

Podrace Arena

Anakin’s Podracer

Boonta Eve Podrace

Squadron Assignments

Locations (1)

Kessel

Characters (16)

EPP Luke x2

EPP Han

Capt. Han Solo

ECC Chewie

Dash Rendar

Mirax Terrik

RFC x2

Melas

Talon Karrde

Wedge

Naked 3po

Yotts Orren

Murr Danod

Theron Nett

Starships (5)

Artoo in Red 5

Outrider

Red Squadron 1

Falcon

Pulsar Skate

Epic Events (1)

I Did It

Admirals Order (2)

I’ll Take The Leader x2

Weapons (1)

X-Wing Canon

Effects (5)

Bacta Tank

Goo Nee Tay

Legendary Starfighter

Menace Fades

Battle Plan & Draw Their Fire

Interrupts (20)

A Step Backwards x3

Too Close For Comfort x2

We Wish To Board At Once x2

Rebel Artillery

All Wings Report In & Darklighter Spin x2

OOC & Trans. Terminated x2

Were You Looking For Me

A Jedi’s Resilience x2

It’s A Trap x2

Run, Luke Run

A Few Maneuvers

Lost In The Wilderness

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Strategy: ‘

Begin Update*****

MY APOLOGIES I looked over everything to avoid tags, but it added them anyway. What’s a guy to do. If anybody has any suggestions on how to avoid these in the future, please let me know. It annoys me, too.

Okay A few issues that came up in reviews

This deck NEVER goes for the quick flip. That’s the whole point of playing patiently. I know I don’t SEEM to have many characters, but Bacta Tank, Resilience, I Did It, and race retrieval (even if it’s only 4) can turn 16 characters into 30. Plus, with the added speed of Mirax and 3po, you’ll get those characters out. Then, I get to use It’s A Trap to protect smugglers who draw out my opponent’s characters. A small character base is not a problem at all.

Now, for those of you who are still worried about the senate. If my opponent plays a Coruscant Guard, I concede the senate drain. They can have that drain of 1, or even 3. With drains at Kessel and the Cantina, I’m draining for 5 and not paying for it. Even if they cancel the Kessel Drain, with I Did It retrieval, I’m breaking even . . . except, eventually, the DS will run out of Senators. Hence, the only real way that the Senate can beat you is if they deploy elsewhere, and this is where Battle Plan and Goo Nee Tay wreck.

End Update****

With this deck, your game is your opponent’s game. For that reason, this deck is incredibly solid. Play patiently . . . reactively . . . and respond to your opponent’s deployment by clearing sites. Then, by applying pressure with the Kessel drain and Battle Plan, you force your opponent to deploy into space unadvisedly. Hit them with Legendary Starfighter, let the force loss rack up, and report your victory.

Now, you may be asking, “But where does the Podrace fit in?” and the truth of the matter is, it’s secondary . . . a defense more than an offense. I hate Podracing I hate it so much that I’m forced to play it. Remember, “The best way to beat the race is to play the race.” And hence I play the race to take away the 22 point force swing. The race IS secondary . . . and that makes this deck even better, because I don’t have to win the race to win the game. Now, I’ve never lost a race in a tournament, and I don’t intend to start, but I’ve lost a few races in play test . . . and I still won those games. You see, there are 4 cards in this deck that win games Battle Plan, Goo Nee Tay, Legendary Starfighter, and I Did It If I get 2 out, I have a 60% chance of winning. If I get 3 out, I have a 90% chance of winning. If I get all 4 out, the odds of me winning are 99%. And that’s the idea . . .

Clear sites to minimize damage.

Play the 4 cards.

Drain, Damage, and Battle.

The strategy is simple, and that is why it works so well. It doesn’t appear overpowering, but it can be. My deck building philosophy is that I always try to build decks that have the tools to beat anything. This deck has the tools. It’s the player’s job to use them.

Card Choices

Mirax Terrik and Threepio These are your commentators . . . and they are the reason that the deck has its title. One of your first priorities should be to get either Mirax or Threepio to the Podrace Arena. There are 6 cards that lead to them (3po, Mirax, Pulsar Skate, WYLFM, and AWRI & DS) so statistically, you should get one on the draw. Deploy 3po to the Arena . . . or deploy the Pulsar Skate to Tatooine and land at the Arena (for 1 force). Thus, Mirax Terrik provides coverage for the Podrace in her Goodyear Pulsar Skate. Once you have these characters protected under the blanket of a podrace, use them to track and cycle.

EPP Luke Somebody’s going to say to me, “Devon, if you’re podracing, you should play Jedi Luke. He’s better because he’s destiny 6.” Well, I disagree. With the high destinies in this deck, EPP Luke clears sites by himself. That means no more drains there. And this is important since so much of my resources are dedicated to the race and to space. Also, he only deploys for 5 as opposed to 8. For my purposes, EPP Luke is definitely the better card.

A Jedi’s Resilience Okay, those slots that you wanted to fill with Jedi Luke are actually filled with A Jedi’s Resilience (which is also a destiny 6). This way, Luke clears a site, and then A Jedi’s Resilience brings him to my hand, so he can do it again. And then from the lost pile. Now, do you see why EPP Luke is better? And it’s duel protection, too.

All Wings Report In & Darklighter Spin It pulls a low destiny starship from my deck, then Squadron Assignments pulls a low destiny pilot. For my troubles, I replace them with a high destiny interrupt. The Darklighter Spin text gets around Imperial Command and Guri. This card was MADE for WYS racing.

Rebel Artillery Used 7 . . . Damages opponent . . . Need I say more? (Used with X-Wing Cannons)

It’s A Trap With this card you can under-deploy to a site to flip your objective. Once flipped, it can’t be sensed and it plays from the lost pile. Lockdown that Cantina drain as you amass your ground smugglers for a beatdown.

Legendary Starfighter Your opponent has a choice. They can lose 3 to a Kessel Drain or they can lose 2 to Legendary Starfighter. Either way, that’s big force loss. Set up Legendary Starfighter early and you’ve won the game.

Goo Nee Tay As you clear their big characters with high destiny and EPPs, Goo Nee Tay completely restricts their options as they are forced to re-deploy characters. It’s simply evil in a deck that causes so much character loss.

Lost In The Wilderness Make Vader, Watto, Palpatine, Maul, etc. missing and cancel a force drain all at one time. This card is EVIL in Watch Your Step.

General Strategy

Early game During your opponent’s activate phase, search for I Did It Get your commentators (Mirax Terrik and/or Threepio) to the Podrace Arena. Draw up to 12 cards, start cycling, and get ready to play reactively. Don’t be afraid to lose a few cards early.

Mid Game Clear sites to keep your losses manageable. EPP Luke with his saber swing can easily kill 2 or 3 people in one suicide run. The same holds true for a pair of smugglers since they will be drawing 7+ in attrition. By continually clearing sites, you deplete your opponent’s character base as you WIN THE RACE You’ve been using Mirax and/or 3po to put the high destinies back in your deck, so you should have no problem here. When you anticipate winning the race, save 6 force so that you will be able to retrieve if they play Secret Plans . . . or don’t. It doesn’t matter, the real benefit of the race is playing I Did It

Late Game Play I Did It. Now, your opponent will have to take damage to save force. Play Battle Plan & DTF to limit their interrupts and drains. Play Goo Nee Tay to limit their deployment. When they deploy to space to avoid Battle Plan, play Legendary Starfighter to make them take damage. Battle, drain, and retrieve. Your opponent will have so few options that there will be almost no chance of mounting a comeback.

Match-ups

Vs. Podracing A wise opponent will start Allegations of Corruption to catch repeating A Step Backwards. Even so, you still track destinies and have repeating Too Close For Comforts. If your opponent does not start Allegations, you have free reign to play your podracing interrupts. You should have no trouble winning the race.

Vs. Big Blue Big Blue has always been one of the tougher match-ups for WYS . . . but it’s not invincible. Stall your deployment into space. Wait until they’ve left one of their systems under-protected. Deploy your space forces there, clear the system and set up Legendary Starfighter.

Vs. Ties Again, stall your deployment to space. If you can, wait until after you’ve won the race. Then set up DTF and they won’t be able to play All Power To Weapons. Use your admiral’s orders and Legendary Starfighter wisely. This is not as difficult a match as you might expect it to be.

Vs. Senate This is supposed to be a tough match-up for WYS . . . and it can be. However, there are 2 cards in this deck that eat Senate alive Battle Plan and Goo Nee Tay. Your opponent will have to prioritize all of their actions. Do they make you put 2 cards back, do they deploy, or do they drain. They can’t do all of them. Then, after you’ve flipped, you put 2 smugglers in the Senate and clear the site. It’s a winnable match-up

Vs. Watto Very tough match-up, but again, a winnable game. With EPP Han, ECC Chewie, EPP Luke, A Jedi’s Resilience, and Out of Commission, you can keep Watto off of the table. If you can accomplish this, you’re set. Against a good Watto deck, play the mind game. Save 2 every turn. Lose it occasionally . . . use it occasionally.

Vs. Hunt Down Trans. Terminated Visage. Out of Commission Vader. Stack destinies so that you can win the duel. If you lose the duel anyway, use Resilience to cancel the duel and try again. Not a difficult match-up.

Vs. BHBM Your opponent has just given you an endless supply of Suicide Lukes. You know what to do with him. Auto-Win

Vs. Brangus Use your Out of Commissions if they ever have a high-incidence-of-retrieval card on top of their lost pile. Use your EPPs to kill Brangus.

Vs. Black Sun Tough match-up. Keep Palpatine and Xizor off of the table. You can use It’s A Trap with Luke to keep your opponent from utilizing his stacked destinies and keep Black Sun on the 0-side. You can win this game.

Vs. Anything Else If they can’t control sites, they can’t damage you. Clear their sites, until you find Menace Fades and Battle Plan. Dark Deal, Occupations, Walker Garrison, etc. have no teeth if they can’t occupy sites. Set up Legendary Starfighter and your opponent will be eating 2+ damage a turn guaranteed.

If you have any questions, d-mail me.

Devon “Devonator” Clark

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