Nordic Nationals 7th Place Rex’s Ragtag Regiment with Deck 1.0

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Rex's Ragtag Regiment with Deck Analysis

Since the release of Way of the Force, I have been excited to play Rex - Clone Captain. His ability allows for the consistent use of devastating mitigation and his die provides consistent damage. I initially played a more aggressive version of this decklist, but have since slowed it down dramatically to take advantage of Rex - Clone Captain's ability.

Tournament Report

Round 1 (W): Yoda/Hondo

Though my mitigation suite is not well suited for facing Yoda/Hondo, I felt confident that my high damage potential and ability to generate resources put me in a good position to win this match. I was able to ramp relatively quickly and utilize additional resources to mitigate my opponent's dice and pay off Hondo Ohnaka - Respected Businessman. By the end of round two I had dealt Yoda - Wizened Master 8 or 9 damage through a Force Illusion, but in an effort to bring into play a Force Wave, he Impersonated some of that damage to Hondo Ohnaka - Respected Businessman. I made a somewhat bold decision to switch targets at this point, and nearly killed Hondo Ohnaka - Respected Businessman in round three, had my opponent not called a Hidden Motive correctly on my C-3PO die. Thankfully my opponent did not draw into Second Chance and I was able to dispense of Hondo Ohnaka - Respected Businessman early the following round and Yoda - Wizened Master fell soon after.

Round 2 (W): Talzin/Mandalorian/Mandalorian

This is one of my favorite match-ups as typically this character pairing runs Fort Anaxes - Anaxes, which works very nicely with Rex - Clone Captain's ability. However, I won the roll off and chose my battlefield and proceeded to slowly kill off my opponent's Mandalorian Super Commandos. My mitigation suite is incredibly effective against any deck with primarily base damage sides. He managed to play a Force Throw, but I soon after defeated that Mandalorian Super Commando and relatively quickly dispensed of the remaining characters as well. Still a close match, but one I was comfortable with.

Round 3 (W): Snoke/Ciena/Sebulba:

This was the first of two matches I played that was streamed. Though it was nerve-wracking, I was comfortable with my match-up and knew my mitigation suite would be put to good use. I started off well by playing a Rally Aid and C-3PO early in the first and second rounds respectively, and was able to defeat Ciena Ree - Adept Pilot before vehicle reactivations became a major problem. I Then focused down Sebulba - Cutthroat Podracer, at which point the match was leaning in my favor. Thankfully with cards like Hasty Exit, I am able to inexpensively remove my opponent's larger vehicle dice, thus once Ciena Ree - Adept Pilot and Sebulba - Cutthroat Podracer are defeated, the threat to my character's is relatively low. Check out the game at https://www.twitch.tv/videos/328444738 (my match begins at 1:08:46).

Round 4 (W): Snoke/Aphra/Ciena

Facing another Snoke - Supreme Leader match-up and with the knowledge that this victory would guarantee me a place in the top sixteen, I was somewhat preoccupied and nervous. Even with these thoughts, I was able to focus on my game plan and defeat Ciena Ree - Adept Pilot early in the second round, though not before I took a fairly substantial amount of damage. I was somewhat concerned and knew that the game was going to come down to the wire, but thankfully I was able to ramp well and ended up winning by playing a Podracer and an ARC-170 Starfighter dealing two damage because I had a Hailfire Droid Tank on the table. It was going to come down to the last few actions and rolls, but for the Hailfire Droid Tank's ability. My opponent eventually went on to make the top four, which was well deserved.

At this point I knew I had made the top sixteen, thus was able to relax for my final two matches.

Round 5 (L): Kylo/Snoke Playing on stream against one of my destiny idol's, Claus Stall, was a great privilege and I thoroughly enjoyed our match. I was unable to ramp as well as I would've liked and he was able to get both of his Force Speeds down early, which hurt my ability to mitigate his Kylo Ren - Tormented One dice. We both made concurrent misplays partway through the game, which were somewhat costly and functionally ended the game for me. I had nearly defeated his Kylo Ren - Tormented One and had the opportunity to play Scruffy Looking Nerf-Herder to remove Dark Ritual or Rise Again, but failed to do so, even though I had ample resources. His misplay was not discarding an upgrade to re-roll, even though he would've been able to play it for free after playing Rise Again. This prevented me from being able to defeat Kylo Ren - Tormented One and gave him another opportunity to utilize the Force Speeds on Snoke - Supreme Leader to activate Kylo Ren - Tormented One and resolve his dice unmitigated. This proved disastrous for me and likely cost me the game. I still feel comfortable against this match-up, but feel substantially more comfortable against it when both Force Speeds aren't in play. Check out the game at https://www.twitch.tv/videos/328444738 (my match begins at 3:17:30).

Round 6 (L): Yoda/Ezra/Rey

Once again, I made a major misplay involving Scruffy Looking Nerf-Herder, failing to remove his All In before it was played, even though, once again, I had ample resources to play it. I believe at this point I was simply tired, but regardless, I can't say whether if I had removed All In it would've resulted in a different outcome, but I feel comfortable against this character match-up regardless.

I was a little disappointed that the cut wasn't to top eight, as I was in seventh place following the swiss rounds. And to make matters worse, the top sixteen was a best of three match, which added insult to injury.

Top 16: Aphra/Executioner/Executioner

Game 1 (W): Fairly uneventful game, I was able to ramp quickly and defeated Doctor Aphra - Artifact Hunter early in the third round, with the two Executioners following soon after.

Game 2 (L): I once again targeted Doctor Aphra - Artifact Hunter only to be punished by the Executioner's ability as my characters fell due to the substantial indirect damage.

Game 3 (L): Similar story as to the second game, but much closer. I ended up losing strictly due to a Climate Disruption Array activation, which put my opponent to one health and defeated my characters.

This was truly a demoralizing way to go out, having been leading the field after the first four rounds of swiss, then being knocked out in the top sixteen after winning my first game. Missing out on the playmate was truly saddening, but I had a good time competing and look forward to playing in more major events in the future. Also, a big thanks to the Your Destiny team for bringing coverage to the event and thanks to all the players, it was an excellent first Nationals experience!

Deck Analysis

Characters:

Rex - Clone Captain: Included for his inherent ability and die sides, Rex - Clone Captain is a very well balanced character.

Clone Trooper: Primarily a trigger for Rex - Clone Captain's ability, but also a provider of consistency through the re-roll ability.

Hired Gun: The difference between nine and eight health is massive and the resource sides on the Hired Gun make its die an excellent target for Logistics and Appraise.

Battlefield:

Weapons Factory Alpha - Cymoon 1: There are only a few battlefields that have inherent control abilities and this is one of them. Rex provides consistent control, which then provides an additional resource each round, to be used on your first vehicle.

Supports:

ARC-170 Starfighter: A slightly less powerful, but nicely balanced vehicle, the combination of direct and indirect damage as well as relatively high die sides make this support worth including.

C-3PO: can be used to push through unexpected damage or ramp and is very fast when Hailfire Droid Tank is in play.

Hailfire Droid Tank: one of the backbones of this deck, the Hailfire Droid Tank provides consistent indirect damage through its ability and a strong die.

Podracer: an excellent trigger for the Hailfire Droid Tank and a counter mill card.

Rally Aid: The best hero ramp card in the game, each Rally Aid is like a double It Binds All Things, which is a card that definitely sees play.

Resistance Crait Speeder: The ability combined with its consistent die side make it an auto-include. Playing this for one with the battlefield ability or zero with Rally Aid is one of the best feelings.

T-47 Airspeeder: This has been a flex card in my decklist and was once the Z-95 Headhunter, which I included because I liked its die; however I found the pay sides to be too expensive, thus switched in another two cost vehicle that has no pay sides.

Events:

Appraise: This card is the vehicles fast version of Logistics and gives me a fifth “ramp” card to look for in my initial mulligan.

Defensive Position: No questions, this is the best mitigation card in the game.

Easy Pickings: Excellent against aggressive match-ups, this card is excellent at pulling two of your opponent’s best dice. Especially when their decks has a lot of synergy

Entangle: Included to remove anything from resources to damage, this card allows me to remove multiple dice in a single action thus increasing consistency and hindering my opponents plans.

First Aid: First round being able to heal four damage changes the entire forecast of the game. This card has more than once swung a game in my favor.

Hasty Exit: Zero cost mitigation helps to speed the ramp while not sacrificing on the defense.

Into The Garbage Chute: Late game, trading a character for removing 3-5 damage is an excellent option. Especially when the table is flooded with vehicles.

Logistics: Another ramp card, this helps me afford mitigation and supports early in the game.

Pinned Down: A flex spot in my build, I felt I needed a generic mitigation card and this one works very well.

Scruffy Looking Nerf-Herder: I saved this card for last as it is both the most powerful and the most frustrating card in the game. Used effectively, it destroys your opponent's play strategy. Used ineffectively and it will be something you regret and may even cost you a match. As I mentioned, two of my games were lost due to poorly timed Scruffy Looking Nerf-Herders, but could have just as easily been won had I timed them better.