Vader wants YOU to join the ISB

Title: Vader wants YOU to join the ISB
Author: Blake "Zurai" Senn
Date: Jun 9, 2000 Rating: 4.0

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Cards:

‘Start (4) ISB Operations Coruscant Imperial Square Twi’Lek Advisor Imperial Arrest Order

Locations (10) Coruscant Docking Bay Executor Docking Bay Hoth Docking Bay Hoth Defensive Perimeter Yavin 4 Docking Bay Swamp Desert Forest Yavin 4 x2

Characters (18) Darth Vader x2 Mara Jade DS-61-2 DS-61-3 IG-88 w/ Gun Dengar w/ Gun 4-LOM w/ Gun U-3PO Lt. Pol Treidum Sergeant Torrent Officer Evax Corporal Vandolay Navvy Trooper Vesden Lieutenant Renz Admiral Ozzel Corporal Derdram Colonel Wulff Yularen

Vehicles (4) Blizzard 2 Blizzard Scout 1 Tempest Scout 5 Tempest Scout 6

Starships (3) Boba Fett in Slave 1 Bossk in Hound’s Tooth Zuckuss in Mist Hunter

Weapons (2) Vader’s Saber Mara’s Saber

Effects (5) Reactor Terminal Imperial Decree Secret Plans Organa’s Ceremonial Necklace Sunsdown

Interrupts (14) Snse x2 Alter x2 Ghhhk Twi’Lek Advisor x2 Masterful Move x2 Trample Torture x2 Imperial Barrier x2’

Strategy: ‘

NOTES This deck is a (heavily-revised) version of my previous deck, Imperial Intelligence Operations. I have sacrificed some space power for a significant upgrade in ground strength and a speed boost. Additions include 4 walkers, Trample, 2 Tortures, and 2 Hoth sites, in addition to a couple minor changes. Strategy remains mostly the same, with a couple differences; as such, I’m copy-and-pasting most of the IIO strategy section.

BEFORE THE GAME

I pulled this deck from one of my old designs, but with a new purpose and with upgraded weaponry. The purpose for this deck is to be a thorn in the side of all those throne room mains / revolution decks, but to also be viable against a wide variety of other decks.

The standard start is IAO, which lets you take the 4 docking bays out of the deck, serving 5 purposes a), it eliminates 4 zeroes from the deck, b), it gives early activation, c), the Y4 docking bay allows you to deploy generic sites to Yavin, your main objective, d), it boosts the forfeit of all of your ISB agents and a couple other characters, and e), it allows you to flip without drawing any locations (Hoth and Yavin DB). It also provides limited protection from Nabrun Leids.

CONCEPTS IN THE DECK

The big thing to remember with this deck is to take it slow. You can generally flip on the second or third turn, but doing so may not be wise. Wait until you can be sure that your objective will stay flipped and that you will not be vulnerable to battles. Third or fourth turn is usually the earliest that you should flip, unless your opponent has zero ground in his deck, in which case you’ve already won.

Besides taking it slow, there are a few other important things to remember. One is to always retrieve an ISB agent every draw phase; added up over the course of the game, it usually amounts to 15 or 20 force retrieved. This is one major, but subtle, factor of ISB Ops that is often ignored. Another thing to remember is that Imperial Decree is both incredibly easy to pull off and incredibly powerful against a large number of decks. It screws over Pucumir Thryss, reduces the effectiveness of sabers, and can even help against Hidden Base by reducing 2 key drain systems.

The choice of Yavin may not be obvious to some, so I’ll explain it. Point One ISB flips if you have 4 agents OR have an agent at 2 rebel base sites. Yavin is a rebel base (As is Hoth, thus the 2 Hoth sites). Point Two Imperial Decree operates if you control 2 systems and a planet site OR 2 rebel base locations. Again, Yavin is a rebel base (ditto). Point Three One of the best drain enhancers in the game, Organa’s Ceremonial Necklace, works only on Yavin.

PLAYING THE DECK

Pretty much play it like a normal ISB deck, with an emphasis on Yavin. Get out Decree as soon as you can; combined with a few free agents, your opponent will soon be draining for nil. Decree also ruins Revolutions. Don’t forget that Alter can also remove the Revos (usually only temporarily, but it’s better than not at all).

When you are losing force, try your best to lose ISB agents that you can retrieve later on. Don’t do so at the risk of becoming understaffed, but any excess ISB’s should do their duty by being recycled. When choosing which ISB’s to retrieve, I generally go for higher ability and higer destiny, then for forfeit, deploy, and finally power. As such, Officer Evax, Lieutenant Renz, and Lt. Pol Treidum are usually at the top of the list.

Don’t worry too much if you only find 1 or 2 generic sites to deploy to Yavin; that’s usually all you need. Just 3 turns of full drains at 3 Yavin sites (3 at each site due to agents and the Necklace) is nearly half the opponent’s deck. Add in saber bonuses and you’ve got a very strong position. An exception would be against Hidden Base, where you need all the drains you can get. Do your absolute best to keep high forfeit and 4 ability at all sites, but don’t be afraid to spread a little thin once you have a Ghhk in hand (just save that 1 force for Draw Their Fire). Also, it becomes much more difficult to hold sites once you have 4 or 5 out.

Once the opponent invades Yavin (and it will happen), you have 2 options. You could either just forfeit / Ghhk the battle, and play Dodge-The-Rebel-Scum, or you could come at them with walkers and Bounty Hunters. Track your destinies right, and Dengar and Iggie can destroy a very large force of characters. Either way, with Decree and your agents going, they will be unable to drain you, whereas you will be able to deploy lone wolf agents to your opponent’s unoccupied sites to drain them. For you, Twix sites are just a ticket for a free drain; even if they kill the agent there, they will have a character stuck at a useless site for the rest of the game, and you will be able to retrieve your agent back into your deck next turn.

DECK SPECIFIC STRATEGIES

Against Throne Room Mains When the mains come calling, show them a Ghhhk and spread out to their sites. You should have the upper hand if you refrain from killing the biggies (so that they stay on Yavin). Don’t worry if the start off Revolving your sites, that’s what IAO is for. Grab Decree ASAP and you’re set. If you can, set up Sunsdown on Yavin for free deploy and extra power in battles.

Against Hidden Base Decree will hurt them some, the drains will hurt them lots until they flip. Try to avoid deploying the system unless you desperately need the force. Essentially, just spread and drain everywhere you can.

Against MWYHL This could be a toughie, because you won’t be draining for much. Just consolidate your forces and use the ISB retrieval to your best advantage. Will likely be a long game.

Against Numbers If you see it early, just use your ISBs. All but Ozzel have somewhat decent destiny. Even 3 2’s will leave you much better off than 3 1’s. Spread and drain; the system is in there so you can get free drains from Battle Plan, so you won’t have to activate those nasty inserts. Vesden helps your numbers some, as long as his scomp link isn’t canceled by Shocking Info. Torture any inserts that threaten to do real damage.

Against RTP Not sure how this would go; removing ISB’s from play could really hurt your retrieval. Although, they do give you the ability to flip first turn, with some nice drains and an opportunity to ambush Leia with your spies.

Against Profit Don’t start any aliens. The good news is that the mains usually play on; bad news is that the 4 or 5 a turn from the objective REALLY smarts. Just do your best to drain them hard and fast.

Against EBO This game could be very tough. Save your walkers for Hoth, so you can get Decree going. Be wary of beatdowns under the shields, and try to keep everyone on board a wlaker for fear of Ice Storms. ‘