Stele Open Top 8: ePoe/eRey - Swiss 2nd seed finish

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Aquaphe5 244

This is the deck I piloted to a second seed Swiss finish ending 5-1. I ended up losing in the second round of top cut (in top 8) to the player who won the entire event. *I had defeated him previously in round 4.

I'm a fairly new player with a lot of background experience in other TCG's. At the same time, it's hard to dismiss that I had the strongest bracket in the tournament. I managed to still ended up 2nd seed. . .

Key Notes:

  • Strength of schedule was the hardest with 4 out of my 6 opponents advancing into the top 16 cut.
  • Only loss in Swiss came from Jango/eBala/Trooper (Oh boy, did he really go off that game)
  • I strongly feel this deck is the strongest in the current meta, but it's very tough to pilot

The Hardest Match-Up:eHan/eRey It's a match up that can go either way. I feel it's still favored for ePoe/eRey as long as the eHan/eRey player does not have (2) copies of Second Chance in their deck. It's still winnable with 2 copies of Second Chance.

Action Economy: (+) Holdout Blaster: Provides Unexpected 2 turns of intiative. If Rey's going to die, at least she'll still do something. (+) Hold unto your Hit and Run for opportune moments. Usually it's not good to use frivilously.

Resource Economy: (+) Commlink: Feel free to overwrite your 1/2 cost upgrades freely to disrupt their dice. This usually comes down to a free reroll on their dice. (Then overwrite with One with the Force) (+) Rearm provides a free Pistol (free dice is solid) which you often overwrite later anyways (+) Don't feel the need to hold unto your cards. Overwriting is usually a good option.

The deck has the option to just go super offensive with a lot of burst, especially if you are able to pull in your throne room.

Combo: Instant Blowout

  • Discard One with the Force with Poe's special die to use the 3 Focus side. Turn your other Poe's die into a special and any of your equips on Rey to Special sides. You can resolve all of your 3 Specials immediately for a quick burst of a lot of damage. If you also have Mind Probe, the damage can quickly add up.

That's a quick run down. It's a very technical deck, but also rewards players that have a high skill cap.

This deck in addition to having a lot of utility and very good action/resource economy can explosively win out a match on the first or second turn if you get your pieces.

12 comments

Luke 1

do you think Poe/Rey will be still better than Poe/Maz?

Aquaphe5 244

Hey Luke,

I think it's a very good question. Realistically we would have to evaluate how the "meta" environment looks post SoR. I think having access to the following cards are extremely powerful in blue.

  • Destiny
  • Caution
  • Gaurd

Poe/Maz doesn't have as much of a health pool and typically focus's more on its offensive capabilities early. If the "meta" field turns out to be explosive and attempts to push in at least 8 damage turn 1 to outright snipe a Maz, then I strongly feel the Poe/Maz deck will fold.

It's definitely possible as Quigon/Rey gains a lot, FN-2199 is entering the meta, and new Vader tools are available. There are a lot of aggro tools available to hit that lucky number 8.

This deck can also be tweaked to also explosively go off turn 1.

rmohler 591

Changes I would make: -1 Black One -1 Lightsaber -1 Dodge +2 Rey's Staff +1 It's a Trap

You lose redeploy from Lightsaber, but you gain a much better chance of pairing Rey's modified melee sides. Rey's Staff is also a great card to get rid of with Poe, usually doing 3 damage for a resource but occasionally removing a critical die from your opponent.

It's a Trap is going to be just as devastating to an opponent as Dodge against most decks since you can usually kill off a character before they can resolve damage. It's much better to have in hand when your opponent rolls out a random blaster as well.

In my experience, Black One is not very good. I know it seems like Poe should have at least one target for the second half of his ability, but unless you get extremely lucky with your resources, Black One will rarely be played. Instead, I often found it sitting in my hand turn after turn while I waited for the opportune moment to play it.

pantsyg 15

Cool list! I've been running a version that doesn't include the Red blasters, Rearm, and It's a Trap (favoring more Blue damage mitigation like Defensive Stance, Force Misdirection, and sometimes Mind Trick), but I've been contemplating making the change toward Red and it seems that it's serving you well! I like how your version is less dependent on Poe's special, since you've got the ability to stack up ranged damage and go for It's a Trap plays. I'd never even considered the One With the Force blowout special turn, that's excellent!

Aquaphe5 244

@rmohler -

Things I can get behind:

  • Lightsaber has been underperforming, but it's used primarily for the special option. The card pool is small, and I really do not like Rey's Staff. So, for the time being I'll stick with the lightsaber.

Points I don't agree with:

  • Dodge was a meta call. It's a single silver bullet. With all the range damage floating around it's a way to mitigate almost an entire turn's worth of damage in certain match ups. It's a silver bullet - against Phasma, and a few other range decks out there. A lot of times one turn is all it takes.
  • Black One deserves a lot more credit than given.

Black One Analysis:

  • This card is very expensive, and rarely used. The kicker, when it's actually cast it brings incredible offensive value to your field. Simply, it's a threat. It's a very powerful die unto the field that mirror's Vader's strength.
  • In the late game match ups, if you drop a special with Poe, you can drop Black One for 3 damage, then roll it in for upwards to 6 damage. The additional powerful "die" provides a lot more than most utility cards. When it comes through, this card breaks the field when both players are left to their final character.
  • Early to mid game, this card can be used for 3 damage in the early to mid game off Poe, or to just reroll. There are better options for the early game, but in the end game this "safety" trigger puts in A LOT of work. It's worth the one-of slot as an investment option when you are forced to fall back on it.

Aquaphe5 244

@pantsyg - Hey thanks for the compliments. I can't take all the credit for the blowout combo. I tried to optimize the build to be less dependent on Poe's special, and more focused on the overall game state.

I ironically found that It's a Trap! Not quite as powerful in most of the Hero match ups in the current meta.

Why exactly is that the case?

  • While It's a Trap! is indeed very powerful, but there's a catch. Hero's have been falling back on Action Economy with Rey as their supplemental character. Rey often expediates the process and resolves before you can get your It's a Trap! to trigger. This happened numerous times.
  • I think it's great against Villain decks, but can be situationally unreliable against hero decks. I found myself navigating the current board state to be more important than having a second copy of It's a Trap!.

I think It's a Trap! is a great card, but also can be situational in hero match ups. I personally feel there is some bias behind the card. It has strengths and it holds a weakness in the inconsistency with certain match ups.

You can only have so many silver bullets in a deck.

rmohler 591

@Aquaphe5 What you're saying about a second It's a Trap also applies to Dodge

  • Dodge won't work against Hero decks that resolve damage before you can play it

So why not run a second copy of It's a Trap? It's half the cost, and guarantees wins just as often as Dodge, apparently. It's not even as "situational" as dodge because it can give you a blowout turn if the opponent rolls a special, too.

If you draw Dodge, are you always keeping 2 resources available in case you need to play it?

Aquaphe5 244

@rmohler

You are correct, in that both are situational. As you noted, they are similar - but "It's a Trap!" is used offensively while "Dodge" is more defensive.

Forcing off an entire turn when it comes down to a single character is more prudent than attempting to push in a bit more situational damage. If you don't need it you can toss it, but you maintain the insurance of having it throughout the turn.

If you're behind and "It's a Trap!" won't show lethal, you have an additional turn to push your damage + the following turns damage which could add up to lethal.

At the end of the day, I think they're both strong cards. You can only have so many silver bullets in a deck.

Just an FYI - this is simply an analysis from my point of view. Please don't feel that I'm personally attacking you. I feel there are merits to both.

Kampfer_SWDHK 14

@Aquaphe5 Love your analysis and your build. I can see that the deck is built with a 'let's put all the good cards into this deck' mindset. Personally, I find Rey Staff to be such an explosive upgrade that there is no way I am leaving it out of the deck. Spending the 2 resources on it turn 1 onto Rey makes Rey a legitimate threat. The 3 damage for 1 side is just as good as saber anyway.

BigMac826 7

Rey's staff is just too good to not include in ReyPoe decks. If you equip the card it makes dealing damage with Rey so much more consistent, and it's also a really great card for chucking with Poe's special because it can be used both offensively and defensively.

Also feel like dodge could be replaced with another It's A Trap! It costs half the resources as dodge and often times ends up killing a character, removing their dice anyways.

That being said your build is certainly strong as is. Thank you for sharing and congrats on performing so well in such a competive bracket!

rmohler 591

@BigMac826 Totally agree with your points. Rey's Staff and It's a Trap! are extremely good in this deck.

m4lk4v00 14

@Aquaphe5

Did you ever played with this against the Bala/Sister/2xTrooper deck? The Poe/Rey deck is fast, but there is a lot more of health in this particular match