Grievous/Commando Droids - Convergence Starter // T3 Gaming 2.0

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• 2.0

Hey guys, Nick from T3 Gaming with a list we are featuring in a Learn-to-Play type video using just the cards/characters from the two Convergence starter kits. We'll also post the the Obi-Wan/Satine list that this was played against and I'll link it here: http://swdestinydb.com/decklist/view/27501/obi-wansatinekryze-convergencestartert3gaming-1.0?fbclid=IwAR3WjZW7uGYXg98X7Bvu9QT4G8IJzEvya0j2wAGsb_DXPQR6dC_CBtSQnXQ

This list is an example of combining two copies of the General Grievous starter kits and this write-up is meant primarily for newer players. So, welcome!

No other cards were used from Convergence or previous sets, so if you're just getting into the game then this is one place you could start if you don't want to get packs or singles. This write-up will include a short How to Play This, a Next Steps on what cards can improve it, and a Review of the starter at the end.

So how should you play this?

• Mulligan for Tech Team, as this will be the core of your support ramp. It will stay on the board for the rest of the game and makes Stap Droid free when you draw it and free dice are always good. To me, this would be priority almost to the point of ditching all 5 cards to try again. If you don't draw it, it's not the end of the world. Other target cards are either the Grievance Striker or the E-5, to get some more dice on the board round one.
• Remember to activate as many Droids as you can with your Commando Droids. Their ability does chain to the next Commando so you can basically activate all of them at once, plus one more Droid support - this is what will let you flood the board with dice.
• Use General Grievous - Droid Armies Commander's Power Action after you roll in all of your droids to fix any poor rolls. I would recommend doing this before you discard any cards from your hand to re-roll, since this doesn't cost you anything and having cards in hand is a good thing.
• Early on, I would recommend keeping any resources () you roll in order to pay for upgrades/vehicles. Going into round two with 3-4 resources can let you play a big support like the Defoliator Tank - which is terribly destructive and basically your "game-changer."
• For the most part, the rest is up to you. Use removal when you want to, but keep in mind that you do have a LOT of health so sometimes saving that resource to play a support might be an okay decision instead of saving one droid from a few damage.

You can see the list in action here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfUlOCbE5-E&fbclid=IwAR0I5neaYmQ7k7-eHTsk7CbaAVUYfe5QKjSYtnq6HEwrD0CbVlORBmpiliM

Where to go from here?

• I think the best written article about this starter is this breakdown written by Jared Pine on the Golden Dice Podcast site: https://thegoldendicepodcast.wordpress.com/2019/04/08/road-to-trilogy-general-grievous-starter/

• The write-up includes a well thought out "Next 10 Cards" section which will elaborate on the next bit I wrote here. Read theirs for a LOT more detail and specific ideas.

• They recommend trading for / buying someone's Sentinel Messenger and I 100% agree. This should be a relatively cheap non-unique character and only a Rare, so it's likely someone in your local game shop has a spare. Use this character instead of one of your Commando Droids to get blue into this list. The Sentinel is also a Droid so you can still chain activate him with the other Commandos, plus you get his neat activation ability. With a Sentinel on the team, you can add any blue neutral/villain cards you pull from packs or trade for to give you some more options!

• Read the Golden Dice article for a bit more about what cards should be priority for you going forward! It's a great read anyways so check it out.

• The other, more expensive route to upgrading the Droids list is Doctor Aphra - Artifact Hunter and Battle Droids. Aphra, as of April 2019, is about $15. There are a couple of lists you can search for using these characters. That kind of list is the most direct upgrade from this list because Aphra makes good use of the Droid supports, but know that some of their key options can be expensive, like Hailfire Droid Tank ($25 each). All-in-all it'll probably cost you about $75-100 dollars in singles to get to those kinds of lists from here.
• Personally, if these are your first couple decks, I would recommend spending that money on some other starters and experiment with a few other styles rather than committing to just Droids. Just me, though.

Starter Review

So I wanted to wrap this list up with a couple of things to note which I think are important to mention. If you don't care about a review, you can pretty much skip the rest of this, just wanted to write my thoughts somewhere.

• First off, with just the Grievous starters together I think the best way to play them is with no elite characters, despite having a spare General Grievous - Droid Armies Commander dice from purchasing two starters. Grievous' ability to lower the cost of other droids makes this a fairly uncommon 4-wide character list.
• This is because the points to play elite Grievous with just the Commando Droids are a bit awkward and would leave you with 12/7/7 at best for 26 points. This is certainly a way you can play and if you owned cards from last set would leave you room for a 3-point plot (like Armored Reinforcement), but on their own I would recommend just going for more health as it means you can survive long enough to play your big toys.
• I also find that these characters don't lend themselves well to fitting into many other teams. If you aren't playing Droids, neither of these characters mix well so they are a bit... I think the word I want is 'rigid.' Playing Grievous without Droids is wasteful of those free points and his Power Action and playing these Commandos without each other doesn't make full use of their ability. Also, in my opinion, the Commandos are over-costed without Grievous lowering their points.
• Next thing to mention is that this list is entirely one color. Every other starter set in this game features 2 colors so getting two copies of this starter does limit you in that way in terms of how many cards per pack will be available to add right into this one (you can only add Red/Grey neutral or villain cards to this exact team). But if you're committed to playing Red, then this is a great product.
• This also means that if you get one Obi-Wan and one Grievous starters to try out, they aren't going to mix very well... like, almost not at all. Of the five grey cards, they share two of them and one of the others is pretty poor. So if you had both, you could use a second Grievance Striker, a second Punch Dagger (which I'll mention is a bit out of place in this particular list, more useful in Obi's), Dodge, and Electromagnetic Pulse and that's about it... even if you used every card you could from that deck, with one of each starter you really wouldn't be able to make a standard 30 card deck. So just be aware of that.
• These starters are about as different as any two starters we've ever had. The Obi-Wan/Satine list focuses more on Melee damage and probably has a bit more versatility in general than this one. This list is about getting down some decently big vehicles and abusing your 4-wide army's health pool (30 health, which is a lot) with weapons/equipment that include the Redeploy keyword. The Commando Droids ability will keep your speed decently on par, but your ramp will most likely be slower and your damage a bit more chippy rather than dramatic like Obi-Wan Kenobi - Ardent Avenger's big, scary die sides - at least until the Defoliator Tank hits the board!

That all said, I do think that this two-starter list on it's own is decent. It won't be top tier, but it's definitely playable on it's own and it includes a decent base for Red villain.

Overall, I think this is reasonably close to a playable deck for the $26-30 price of two starters but, in my opinion, it isn't really all that flexible when it comes to what you can really build it into. It won't be top tier by any means, but if you're lookin' to just hang out at your local shop and play some casual Droids this could probably be tournament worthy with just a little love.

I encourage other players to add their thoughts about these starter decks and how to build on top of them. If you notice I omitted something key, let me know and I'll edit this to recommend it OR if you have questions, ask em! Myself or others will be glad to help. This is meant mostly for newer players looking to make the most of their starters and hopefully it accomplishes this.