Profit Viperstyle IS Anti-Reflections 3 Tech

Title: Profit Viperstyle IS Anti-Reflections 3 Tech
Author: Steve "BlackViper" Marshall
Date: Nov 25, 2001 Rating: 4.5


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Cards:

‘PURPLE (1)

You Can Either Profit By This… / … Or Be Destroyed

LOCATIONS (4)

Jabba’s Palace Audience Chamber

Tatooine Cantina

Tatooine Jabba’s Palace

Tatooine Mos Eisley

CHARACTERS (18)

Ben Kenobi x 3

Chewbacca, Protector

Corran Horn

Han With Heavy Blaster Pistol x 3

Lando Calrissian, Scoundrel

Lando With Vibro-Ax

Leia, Rebel Princess

Leia With Blaster Rifle

Master Luke x 3

Qui-Gon Jinn x 2

Tawss Khaa

WEAPONS (5)

Luke’s Lightsaber x 2

Obi-Wan’s Lightsaber x 2

Qui-Gon Jinn’s Lightsaber

INTERRUPTS (24)

Double Agent x 2

Fallen Portal

Gift Of The Mentor x 2

Lost In The Wilderness

Mandalorian Mishap x 2

Mindful Of The Future x 3

Narrow Escape x 3

Out Of Commission x 3

Someone Who Loves You x 2

The Signal x 2

Under Attack

Weapon Levitation x 2

EFFECTS (8)

A Tragedy Has Occurred

A Vergeance In The Force

Aim High

Do Or Do Not & Wise Advice

Goo Nee Tay

Order To Engage

Ounee Ta

Restricted Deployment ‘

Strategy: ‘

UPDATE 11-26-01

RYPCORD

Don’t do that to yourself or to me. Rate my deck based on whether it will win or not. Decktech points won’t make you a better player; they don’t make any difference. What you are asking me to do is not what I am about, and it’s not what Decktech is about.

DARTHIMORE

Yes, Maul’s saber does indeed fire repeatedly. Allow me to read from the Rules Supplement (formerly CRD) under weapons - firing (using)

Weapons fire

  • only during a battle (or when you are attacking a creature);

  • ony at a target which is present with the weapon.

  • only at your opponent’s cards.

  • no more than once per battle or attack.

The exceptions to these rules are

…

  • Some weapons can fire more than once per battle or attack. See fire repeatedly.

So therefore, any weapon that fires more than once fires repeatedly. This is directly out of the rules. This is a lawyer’s game, after all. ;-)

Okay, back to the strategy.

I don’t like Reflections 3. I didn’t buy my normal boxes of Reflections 3. I quit this game because of Reflections 3. I still have a pair of decks and play every once in awhile; this is one of them. The only Reflections 3 in this deck are those that I received in prize support packs. If I were still a competitive player, I would have 2 new Landos, 2 new Leias, I’d take out several effects (Tragedy, Aim High, Do Or Do Not & WA) and put in a Defensive Shield package, then take out the Double Agents and Someone Who Loves You’s and fill the 6 empty spaces with space. If Decipher would ever send Shaner his Ep1 Prize Support, I’d trade out the 2 Qui-Gons for EPP Qui-Gons and his saber for a Nabrun.

Start Goo Nee Tay 90% of the time (Ounee Ta vs. RalOps, Aim High vs. TIEs)

Now as you’re reading the card list, there are a few things that come to mind.

  • DEFENSIVE SHIELDS KILL YOU

No, they don’t. They see me and play A Tragedy Has Occurred. They see the objective and play Come Here You Big Coward. If they’re not playing Docking Bays, they also pull Secret Plans. That’s 3. Several Profit decks play Edges, so the Code Clearance becomes a viable choice. If, after all choices are made, they still have a shield left, they’re most likely going to pull Battle Order to make me pay for my drains. That’s fine - there are 5 very good shield choices right now. They’re probably not going to have room left for Fanfare to cancel my Order To Engage. If they do, then it’s a dead force - ONLY 1 CARD - and they’ve lost a shield spot. No problems. Narrow Escape still works, and the damage keeps coming. It’s just 3 less a turn.

  • WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?

I really don’t know how to put this, but I’ve found the coolest tech ever. Well, maybe not ever, but it’s close. And I’m sure I’m going to get a brand-spanking new errata. You saw Mandalorian Mishap in the card list, and it was important enough to add 2. What does it do, you ask? Let me tell you. Remember that annoying Fett who’s now more powerful than Vader and gets 3 battle destinies when the pair is together? Play this to draw a destiny and subtract from theirs. OR Cancel the game text of any weapon that fires repeatedly.

Wait a minute, Maul’s double-blade fires more than once, right? SWEET Mandalorian Mishap cancels the game text of Maul’s saber. Now Maul + saber + Dr. E doesn’t hold a site anymore. Try Mishapping the saber, initiate, Weapon Lev it away (it doesn’t have text, so now it can be stolen), and Narrow Escape Don’t worry about a round-about Weapon Lev from your opponent, because next turn it can’t be stolen back Corran Horn loves that little move. He initiates, steals sabers, and runs away. It’s just what he does when he’s not off cancelling Visage.

  • WHAT DO YOU DO AGAINST A SPACE DECK?

What space deck does DS really have? TIEs? Give me a break. TIE decks get destroyed by Profit damage + drains + Aim High + OOC (they can’t retrieve if it’s all out of play). Tawss Khaa endlessly battles the TIE at the DS DB to retrieve 2 (First Strike will always be on the table with TIEs), and if you don’t draw destiny, all they can do is retrieve 1. And they’ll have to if they want to satisfy their own Battle Order.

  • OKAY, SO YOU BEAT UP OLD DECKS. WHAT DOES IT DO TO REFLECTIONS 3?

Well, cancelling Maul’s saber tops the list. I also worry about other key cards and decks. If they’re playing the new objective and draining, A Vergeance In The Force hits the table. Cap the highest drain at 1 (it doesn’t cancel or modify it, so it’s legal) and lose the Force from next door. They won’t be draining with Maul’s saber if you keep your Mandalorian Mishaps in circulation. If they drain at the Naboo docking bay, Lost In The Wilderness works wonders. And if you see the opportunity, take out their Dark Jedi with a suicide strike (Luke or Qui-Gon with saber, or Lando and someone to break their immunity), then play your OOC like mad. Turns out the Lightsaber deck doesn’t like OOC very much. Under Attack works wonders against Blizzard 4. Goo Nee Ta and Restricted Deployment are absolute beasts against Ref3 decks. Lord Vader deploys for 11, for crying out loud They’re not immune to Alter, but that’s what DODN & WA is for.

STANDARD TECH

  • Double Agents are there to take out Mara at in-opportune times. She can epic duel Luke away, so destroying her before they get to play an interrupt is key (you get an action between her deployment and the Vader’s Obsession). Corran Horn and Lando are your spies. This is also your only anti-undercover spy protection, so 2 copies are there (one for U-3PO and one for Arica - no one plays Kedar The Black). Corran Horn also breaks cover, but this is easier and gives me an excuse to put a pair of destiny 6s in my deck.

  • Ounee Ta is your easy force back. Nobody plays RalOps anymore, but I suppose it’s a possibility. Now you can lose to Visage off the top and not worry about what it is, because if it’s vital, you can pick it back up. It also puts the hurt on that rarely seen None Shall Pass, making it a ’duh’ in this deck.

  • The old-skool Cantina shuffle is awesome in this deck. Put Ben w/saber, Han w/blaster, and Luke w/saber at the Cantina for 2 swings, a shot, and 2 destinies (4 with Gift). On your control phase, move Luke to Mos Eisley for the extra damage point and another drain, then move them together again. This tech is so important that it’s worth the 3 Mindful Of The Futures to get it working fast. You also need them for activation.

  • Narrow Escape & Order To Engage is simply one of the most amazing non-errata’d combos around. If they battle, Narrow Escape to the next site over in front of another character. They can’t battle those same characters again, so they have no choice but to lose the 3. Nice.

  • Fallen Portal works at Jabba’s Palace, and since you’re not playing Docking Bays, nobody ever sees it coming.

  • Ben keeps Han alive. Qui-Gon and Chewie are cool together (reduce power and cancel Mara’s game text, or someone else). The new Leia retrieves Han turn 1. Period. With Goo Nee Tay on the table, they most likely won’t be able to drop a non-alien on their first turn. Mara + Dr. E start? Master Luke bounces Dr. E, Mara’s not so scary anymore.

  • Remember that Aim High adds 5 to your power when you fire 2 weapons That includes Leia’s Blaster, Han’s Blaster, and Lando’s Ax. Unless Leia and Lando get changed out for Ref3 versions, this is a better version than the Defensive Shield.

This deck doesn’t like losing. You can use a speed variant to rescue quick, screw retrieval, and start the direct damage from the word go. Wait until you lose a podrace to retrieve and take a net damage of 1, which can be fixed by Ounee Ta if you need that 1 card. Drain quick or take the battle to your opponent. This deck is also capable of a game-altering beatdown. You generate 10 Force on your own (all 4 sites and Qui-Gon), and you can usually expect at least 2, even from a choke deck. If they’re holding the Chamber with an iron fist to keep you from doing damage, drop Master Luke, Lando, and Ben, battle, Gift Of The Mentor, and clear everybody out with your 2 swings and 4 destinies. OR Drop Master Luke, Leia, Chewie, and Ben, play Someone Who Loves You to free Han (wait until DVDLOTS chokes Chewie if he’s there), and take your 2 swings, 2 shots (which add 5 to power), cancel some game text, and draw 4 destinies (5 with EPP Leia). Again, the site is easily cleared. And since you play multiples of your important mains, whoever dies (except Chewie) returns again next turn. The 1-turn hit can hurt, especially with a free Luke. Remember he drops for free at Jabba’s Palace as well as the Audience Chamber.

Out Of Commission is your friend If their deck revolves around a single character (Hunt Down, Queen Capture, BHBM, etc.), spare no expense to send that character to the lost pile and play OOC. Here’s how it works - have them shuffle their deck upside down and fan the cards out to you. Pick the character you want to get, and concentrate hard on the weapon. Imagine you’ve got the actual weapon sitting in front of you (Palpy’s weapon is Force Lightning, by the way. Pretend you can do it). Then float your hands over the cards until you get a feeling about one of them. Take the card and shout out the persona you want as you violently flip it over and throw it face up on the table in front of you. I don’t know how, but it works. Ask Girard sometime. (Pre-Tatooine, I picked out Vader on turn 1. Turn 2, Palpy went Out Of Play. He started losing I Have You Now, sabers, Lightnings, and all sorts of support cards in later turns.) I also take Glenn’s Maul out of play turn 1 EVERY SINGLE GAME WE PLAY Somehow against him, I’ve always got someone with a saber in hand and an Out Of Commission waiting for the sith lord. It’s amazing.

Cards I’d like to add are posted above space and Nabrun. I’d use the Home One, Red Leader in Red 1, a Landing Claw, Dash in the Outrider, Wedge & Cannons, and maybe even an R2 in Red 5 since Luke is already in the deck. Hey, it’s a 7. I wouldn’t even bother to play a system - the card slots are better filled with ships than systems. If they don’t give you a system, you’ve got 2 dead cards (Home One and Landing Claw). The ships provide forfeit cover at Docking Bays. If they don’t give you systems or docking bays, smack them for playing a bad deck, lose them as easy dead Force, and beat them easily because they don’t know how to build a deck.

Most importantly, try to have fun. I’m stuck with it as my last LS deck, and above all else it was designed to be interactive, to battle, to have tech, to use tracking, and to be exciting and fun to play with and against. When this game is dead 10 years down the line, I can still pull out my last 2 decks and have a great game between them. I can find a couple friends who still have cards and have fun playing interactively. I don’t care if it wins worlds because frankly, I don’t think this game will have another worlds. Enjoy yourself. I expect to see a lot more Mandalorian Mishap in the future. ;-)

-Steve ‘