Poe/Maz-DirectDamage 4.0

• Versions

Strategy
This one's fairly straight-forward. The primary concept to this deck is using Maz Kanata - Pirate Queen to Poe Dameron - Ace Pilot's dice into , then resolving those dice to "fling" a support or upgrade with dice at an enemy character dealing "direct damage".

Turn order

1. Each turn you will want to roll out Poe Dameron - Ace Pilot first. Play a Fast Hands on him Round 1 if possible. Resolve immediately with Fast Hands and leave one die on the table (unless you have a second Fast Hands or you used Hit and Run as it has Ambush).
2. Next roll Maz Kanata - Pirate Queen. If you can play a DL-44 Heavy Blaster Pistol on her first, that's excellent, then use the Ambush to roll her dice and use her ability to resolve two dice. Resolve one or two as needed to flip Poe Dameron - Ace Pilot's , and resolve his second die for additional damage if possible.
3. Then resolve any leftover or sides on Maz Kanata - Pirate Queen.
4. Now you will either pass to utilize control cards, play Planetary Uprising, or claim the battlefield to active Starship Graveyard - Jakku. That extra 2 DMG from Planetary Uprising really adds up over time. With two in play you are looking very good.

Always have a Plan B
As a backup plan if you roll high on Poe you can resolve it because it may outweigh what you can fling from your hand. You will chuck a lot of cards to discard this way but you will be able to utilize Starship Graveyard - Jakku to get them back. As this deck runs very high cost (and rarity) cards with sides, it is unlikely you will be able to afford to directly play them all anyway.

Claiming the Battlefield
You will try to claim as soon as you can no longer utilize Poe Dameron - Ace Pilot dice, have gained for the turn, and have resolved any of Maz Kanata - Pirate Queen's die for or . Getting Planetary Uprising out just before you claim will be clutch. Going first will definitely be an advantage.

Even if you cannot get your Battlefield into play, that's okay. There are a couple others that also help this deck out, such as Emperor's Throne Room - Death Star II. Optionally, you can run Emperor's Throne Room - Death Star II for this deck, in which case I would swap out a single Negotiate or Loth-Cat and Mouse for a copy of New Orders. Problem is that if you do not draw that New Orders it will slow this deck down considerably. For this reason I believe Starship Graveyard - Jakku to be a better choice, especially against 3- or 4-character decks.

Resources
will be used for control. The only upgrades you will actually play are Fast Hands on Poe Dameron - Ace Pilot) and DL-44 Heavy Blaster Pistol on Maz Kanata - Pirate Queen or Poe Dameron - Ace Pilot. Don't bother to try and their resources unless you have a very opportune time or are playing a deck you know it will really hurt; it's a waste of your limited dice pool. Utilize Negotiate, Loth-Cat and Mouse, and Electroshock for control. Toss Diplomatic Immunity for 4 divided however you wish. You'll want to reroll dice to get or sides. Feel free, again, to pitch cards you know you can get back with Starship Graveyard - Jakku later on.

Opening Hand
You'll want to mulligan your opening hand, ideally, into five cards that include at least one high damage vehicle such as Millennium Falcon, Rocket Launcher, Thermal Detonator, or U-Wing (two of these are ideal), Fast Hands and a Hit and Run if the gods favor you. Get those showing in any way you can and explode for 3-8 damage quickly. The deck can start off very fast and the start of each turn with a new hand will setup your action order for that round.

Strengths
The deck will rarely be hurt by since most of the time you'll be throwing cards to Poe Dameron - Ace Pilot . Play your upgrades early in turn to avoid being . If you do manage to accumulate enough on Turns 3, 4, or 5, don't be afraid to toss out a Millennium Falcon on the table either through Poe Dameron - Ace Pilot's or via resolving it's 3 side and using the extra 2 you start the turn with. These kinds of play with Millennium Falcon and U-Wing can be great against certain decks. The priority for your however is Planetary Uprising and the DL-44 Heavy Blaster Pistol to make Maz Kanata - Pirate Queen a little threatening. She can also finish the game with this weapon and some . Don't underestimate her.

This deck will claim very quickly most turns, assuming your dice are nice to you. If you aren't forced to reroll very much, you will likely win. Hot dice means nightmares for your opponent. This deck can finish a game in two rounds or at the very beginning of a third round with Planetary Uprising on the board.

Weaknessess This deck is going to be well-known after SoR hits so opponents will always know what you're going to do. Discard () decks are going to be a nightmare. it will be hard to fully lock you out entirely though with a good opening hand and with the speed of this deck.

The order and tightness of the roll resolutions are important in that regard with only Poe Dameron - Ace Pilot's and Maz Kanata - Pirate Queen's sides differing. These heroes make an ideal pairing. Maz Kanata - Pirate Queen herself is weak though and can be bursted down in the first turn if you are not prepared. Remember to analyze the meta and know when to play control or simply Diplomatic Immunity or Dug in for safety. While this deck is very aggro, keep in mind you're only working with 20 HP here and that is really not very much at all.

Probably the most obvious "weakness" of this deck is the list itself. This decks runs a TON of legendaries and is going to be expensive to put together. If you're really into it though, it can be well-worth it. Happy trading and stuff!

Sideboard options

1. Swap Starship Graveyard - Jakku for Emperor's Throne Room - Death Star II and then swap x1 Negotiate or Loth-Cat and Mouse for New Orders.
2. Against decks running Vibroknife consider swapping x2 Diplomatic Immunity for x2 C-3PO. This is not necessarily a great play when you can control the single Vibroknife die however, but can be viable in your local meta.