Why there are no additional dice from upgrades? That's easy. The first few games with the standard version of Vader/Raider I had really crappy draws and ended up playing the whole games without single upgrade on the table. And I've still won all of them. The one loss I've had, was when I played some upgrades. So I thought - who needs them. So I dropped all the upgrades, and put in all the dice control cards I could find. And you know what? It actually works! I've lost only one game with it (and it was behind my mistake).

The key card is reversal, especialy if you're playing against Vader or Luke - reversing 3 damage is gold!

You also want to put Hidden in Shadow and Hunker Down on Vader as fast as possible, as he's your go to guy and you have to protect him at all cost.

I tried to use Holocron x2 just to lure opponent into using his dice control cards on in and have something to use for He Doesn't Like You, but most of the games I couldn't even draw in until late in the game, when every action counts, so I don't really see the point.

Anyway, this deck is a lot of fun and can really be dangerous. Besides, your opponent might not see in coming, so enjoy!

UPDATE! As this deck keeps delivering for me (it came on 3rd, 2nd and 1st place in my last three tournaments), I decided to write a little more in terms of strategy.

First of all - I still think this is the best Vader-Raider deck out there - at out last tourney I played 4 games against different, more standard versions of Vader-Raider and lost only once (behind opponen's perfect hand and insame dice throws). But I undestand you might not see it at first ;)

I also tried using On the Hunt, but it just didn't work out, and I ended up discarding it first chance I got.

So how to play this deck? There are a few guidlines you should follow in order to succed with this build.

1 - activate your Vader first chance you get.

In his first action your opponent will probably deploy some upgrades which will leave him short on resources and without any dice in the pool. That will make disrupting you vader dice very difficult.

2 - resolve your damage sides first chance you get

It should be obvious and true for every deck, but here, with only three dice in play it's crucial to maximize your damage output and not giving the opponent the chance to disrupt your dice.

3 - reversal

This is by far, my favorite card in this deck. It's huge against Vade/Luke decks, and any other which like to get 3dmg symbols. It's additional 3 damage your opponent won't see coming. So when I get Reversal in my hand, I start cumulating resources (hence Enrage x2).

4 - dice disruption

As you can see there are quite a lot events that can mess with opponent's dice. Don't be afraid to use them. Hell, use them the first chance you got, you will always get new ones next turn, and it's very important to keep both of your characters alive as long, as you can.

Of course this deck is not without it's limitations. Control decks might sting a little if you don't get rid of Jabba fast. Rainbow aggro deck (Bala/sister/2xFOtrooper) is very hard (hence Dodge x2) as well. But I believe this deck can prevail :)

And like I said - it's just fun!