She is the Aphra of Hailfire! 1.0

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My play testing group have been working on Doctor Aphra - Artifact Hunter and Droids for a while now.

Our initial line up was elite Doctor Aphra - Artifact Hunter and single Wat Tambor - Techno Union Foreman and First Order Stormtrooper. With what i feel is becoming a standard suite of droids and resource generation. 2x 0-0-0, 2x BT-1, 2x Assassin Droid, 2x Bubble Shield and 2x Tech Team with events such as Reprogram, Dangerous Maneuver, Automated Defense and By Any Means for example, becoming staples.

So with slots limited and an initial suite of cards that doesn't leave a lot of room for tech cards and innovation. The next logical step if the deck didn't compete was to look to change the line up for the betterment of the decks win condition and with the 2 die Doctor Aphra - Artifact Hunter or 2 die Wat Tambor - Techno Union Foreman still raging on. We were happy to talk around a deck design that saw potential in a rainbow line up and afforded the option to build a sustainable board more quickly.

Therefore we began the process of redesigning the line up to include Armored Reinforcement, Sentinel Messenger and General Grievous - Droid Armies Commanderto ensure board development through sustainable supports that can influence win condition speed by their inherent nature. Namely Hailfire Droid Tank! With the Tutor ability and decrease playing cost from Armored Reinforcement and Doctor Aphra - Artifact Hunter aligning to play a Hailfire Droid Tank turn 1 for 2 resources. This adds great value not only for an efficient die side. But the Hailfire Droid Tank's inherent vehicle and droid abilities mean it sets you up for a fast paced route to an aggro win condition. Dependent on the remainder of your deck.

It is in this area that personal choices definitely influenced our final decisions and therefore it can be argued that these slots are flexible. However, i suggest you give these additions a go for the below reasons.

Ark Angel - a Favorite of my testing partner. Not only for speed of roll out. But also for speed of threat, which in general causes your opponent to have to pause and react to you. As opposed to playing through their game plan unhindered.

Slave I - Less for the additional damage dice. [Slave I] (/card/05025) has proven itself time and again as a great on board mitigation source that can roll an Doctor Aphra - Artifact Hunter die if your attacking an opponents die showing 2 or 0-0-0 if showing 1. The toolbox nature of this card makes it a great addition. Especially when you consider that against mill this can assist you in non-discard a card rerolls for yellow dice. Specifically for trying to get to a better side as opposed to being used as mitigation.

General Grievous' Wheel Bike - I know i never thought i'd be writing this either. But with Convergnece Grievous. Wheel bike finds revitalized and realistic usage in a deck such as this. With star aligning synergies of damage sides with Sentinel Messenger. Free repeatable use of this under utilized Legendary card. Has really shown signs of promise in testing. 'Hay' don't just take my word for it. Give it a go!?

So with obvious benefits in dealing more indirect through the play process whilst Hailfire Droid Tank is out early. The 4 vehicles in our list (2x Hailfire Droid Tank to be clear) have really enhanced the standard droid suite. With my favourite Assassin Droid dropping to a 1 of to make way for other cards as its usage is not as efficient when unable to pair its play with a Wat Tambor - Techno Union Foreman Power Action!

Finally the addition of Force Blue caused us to make the tough call of dropping Crash Landing for Forsaken an up and coming card from the Convergence block. With addition of adding Hidden Motive for Doubt. Hopeful for more favorable situations where hard mitigation is realised. As opposed to the potentially risky, falling into soft mitigation of Doubt.

Any way there we are give it a go? One of our team from The Garbage Will Do A STAR WARS Destiny Podcast will be using this at the Milton Keynes GQ (13 to 14 April 2019) and we'll report back on how it went. With other Content Creators also highlighting this line up as potentially strong. We are assured in our current thoughts but the true test will be the GQ!?