Good... GOOD! 4.0

• Verziók
• 5.0
• 4.0
• 2.0
• 1.0

Synopsis

A midrange take on ePalpatine. I was tempted to call this control, but the inclusion of No Mercy and damage-oriented upgrades make it pretty solidly midrange.

There is a lot of mitigation here which certainly helps keep Palpatine's 15 HP intact. Turns are pretty easy to play most of the time - roll in, resolve things, and play removal whenever it's the best time. I recommend not being too fussy about what you resolve, it's usually better to get something resolved for Palpatine's 2 damage ability than trying to force perfect rolls. Usually anything you roll is relevant anyway.

Changes from version 2.0

• -2 Dark Presence
• -2 Deflect
• -2 Force Throw
• -1 High Ground
• -1 Maz's Castle - Takodana
• -2 Mind Trick
• -2 Use The Force
• +2 Doubt
• +2 Force Illusion
• +2 Force Speed
• +1 Lure of Power
• +1 Otoh Gunga - Naboo
• +2 Overconfidence
• +2 Rejuvenate

The Phantom Version

3.0 doesn't exist. I deleted it when I realized I had published it with the old battlefield still listed.

The Cuts

Dark Presence - Hard to trigger from Palpatine's lone . Your opponent's worst die is usually nothing you care much about removing. On top of that, the timing didn't often work out right, I was often wanting to activate before my opponent had any dice in pool.

Deflect - It's tough to use in this meta. There are several popular melee decks it's terrible against, and it's hard to get Poe's 2nd die with it once he has Fast Hands. I've opted for broader removal instead.

Force Throw - I only found room for 1 3-cost ability, and chose Force Push. Throw only has 2 sides you really want, and while it can do work with Emperor's Throne Room - Death Star II, I found it difficult to be both wanting to claim and still having something good to throw with it. It can make big plays, no doubt, I just find it too fiddly and unreliable. Push proves useful way more often in my games.

High Ground - It's a bit narrow, but still good. Down to 1x because sometimes you just don't want to see it.

Maz's Castle - Takodana - Tough to let go of this one, I've enjoyed having Maz's Castle. That said, Otoh Gunga - Naboo provides consistent healing which is more or less exactly what Palpatine wants.

Mind Trick - In a slower meta, this card works miracles. It's still good against some decks, just not enough. Very hard to use effectively in a meta filled with Fast Hands and Force Speed.

Use The Force - This sometimes closed games for me, but often it was hard to find a resource you didn't need for something else. Doubt took these slots, and probably offers more value simply by being free.

Additions

Doubt - A lot of value for 0. It takes some thought to use it well, but it's worth it to fit the extra removal into the deck.

Force Illusion - All-Star, no doubt. It's a must have, and in most matches will easily block 3-4 damage. Flush it against Mill since it advances their win condition.

Force Speed - Good value for 0. Helps you race to claim. Used to reroll->resolve, play 2x removal, or Force Push->Feel Your Anger

Lure of Power - Situational. Sometimes you aren't getting to spend all your and you want to play it. Others you're tapped out and it's useless. I settled on 1 copy because 2 was clogging hand too often.

Otoh Gunga - Naboo - It heals you in a deck that plays fast and loves healing.

Overconfidence - My mind definitely changed on this one. I most often use it on 2 enemy dice, but you can use it on a Palpatine die in a pinch or if you're desperate to reroll and remove a die at the same time. Especially good at removing dice with sides, since has value 0.

Rejuvenate - It can be tough to find a window to play this, but for 0 cost it fits right in with the plan.

Mulligan

Holocron->Force Ability->Premonitions/Rise Again (most matches)

You're looking for Holocron. It's usually best to throw everything back if you don't have one in your first draw hand. Even if you put back a force ability, you're likely to draw more. Next try to lock up something to cheat in with Holocron. After that, Premonitions and Rise Again are good in basically every match where your opponent will try to win by damage. You could value these ahead of Holocron if you're worried the enemy is super aggressive, but I usually don't, relying on die removal to blunt such decks. Other removal could also be reasonable keeps depending on the opposing deck's number and type of character dice. If opponent is likely to be mill instead of damage, you should ignore Premonitions and Rise Again entirely as you're likely to lose one of the Premonitions into the discard. In such matches I would look for No Mercy and play to do maximum damage since mill takes a bit of time to work and has fragile characters. A solid No Mercy turn can often end even a lightly damaged character in a mill deck.

Other Card Choices

Premonitions vs Enrage - I feel like these two cards compete for the same role in the deck - free resources. Premonitions doesn't damage you and can provide a much bigger payoff, but it also doesn't do anything unless you hit the 2nd copy. I personally prefer the big swing plays of Premonitions. In recent games I put Lightning or Probe here a lot more - the deck can afford to pay for Rise Again, and it's often too dangerous to put your only Rise under premonitions, risking having none when you need to play it.

Sith Holocron - If you're playing enough removal, you probably can't afford many upgrades. Holocron gets them for free instead. Lure of Power notably cannot be played by Holocron , but it is efficient and can do work against decks where it's harder to utilize removal. Prioritize removal and survival above Lure, but it's a fine play if you have not needed elsewhere.

Abandon All Hope - I have seen this in a few lists. I don't like it. Giving your opponent choice usually ends badly for you, and the two resource cost generally leaves you with no other removal for the turn. Your opponent will probably drop his resources and then destroy you with rerolls and 0-cost cards while you can't remove anything.

Force Abilities

There is some debate in the community over which abilities to run. Force Lightning creates a huge amount of threat and often closes out games, essential to have in my opinion. Force Push is probably 2nd if we were judging strictly by how useful it is overall. That said, Force Throw and Mind Probe are in favor right now because Emperor's Throne Room - Death Star II is the battlefield of several prominent decks. The specials of these cards can be quite game-changing, and since you can use them with Throne Room they tend to be popular. I like Mind Probe in this list, it works well with Premonitions and Holocron and likely represents the 2nd best value in getting an ability into play for free. The is great, and I value it's other sides above Throw. That left Throw as the least valuable of those 4 abilities to me due largely to its timing difficulties and poor sides in games that don't happen on Throne Room. I don't deny it can make big plays, It just hasn't been doing that enough of the time for me to justify its slots.

Lure of Power is another card some people hate, others love. I have found it to perform adequately. In some matches you won't find enough times to play your removal, or will grab an extra resource or two on an early turn. Often the best value then is play Lure and get those juicy +1/+2 over the next few turns. + and + are both high-value plays, and Lure just brings a ton of versatility to the table.

Conclusion

That about sums up the theory behind all this. If you have any questions or comments, by all means feel free I appreciate the discussion/criticism.