All The Maul Things: Building Maul in SWU

Twilight of the Republic is here, and with it comes the arrival of 18 new Leaders, all carrying fresh hopes to crack their way into the global competitive meta… well, maybe not Padmé Amidala, Serving The Republic (TWI 8), but pretty much everyone else.

We’re not here to talk about all that.

There’s only one Leader in this set that has commanded my near-exclusive attention (what can I say, I’m easily distracted…hey look, a bird!) and set fire to my imagination, and we’re going to talk about him today.

If you’re in the market for big damage swings, highly-volatile units, and an overwhelming board presence, then you know what time it is.

It’s Maul’s time.

Always Two (or More) There Are

Maul, A Rival In Darkness (TWI 9) arrives in Star Wars: Unlimited as an Aggression Villainy Leader, and yet he represents a different way to embody the spirit of the reddest aspect.

With the ability to give units the Overwhelm keyword, Maul is doing what all great Sith do: seek power.

The higher the Power stat is for the units in a Maul deck, the more flexible he becomes - you can either use your powerful units to launch an all-out base assault, or control your opponent’s board while still landing excess damage onto their base via overwhelm.

Some of my preferred synergistic units to play with Maul are what you’d expect: large Force-wielding baddies that deal a ton of damage.

Any unit named Maul will do, from the Shadow Collective Visionary (SHD 90) to he who seeks Revenge At Last (TWI 135). But probably my favorite so far has been Kylo Ren, Killing the Past (SHD 141).

Kylo’s ability to increase his own Power to a whopping eight, or add power to another unit’s attack, has proven to work like gangbusters with the Overwhelm granted by Maul… and it’s a fun way to snipe a Leader, also!

With the exception of a card like B1 Attack Platform (TWI 133), however, these high-power units are hard to come by without shelling out a pretty penny in resources. Maul himself deploys at 6 resources, and that’s when the party really starts.

I like getting to the party as quickly as possible, so naturally my first inclination was to pair Maul with the Command aspect, and open his hate-filled eyes to the beauty of ramping.  

We Grow In The Darkness

Click here to view this deck on SWUDB.com

Before we get started: yes, I have more than 20 revisions on this deck. No, I do not think this is the final version.

Command Maul is the deck that I am giving the most attention to because I think it has the highest ceiling. If you are able to get to your heavy hitters – and ideally deploy Maul – an extra step or two ahead of your opponent’s ability to deal with those threats, you’re going to put yourself in what I believe will be a winning position when all is said and done.

This aspect pairing allows you access to all the classics as well: both Maul units, the Resupply (SOR 126)/Superlaser Technician (SOR 83) duo, and in my book the two Green G.O.A.T.s: Energy Conversion Lab (SOR 22) and Overwhelming Barrage (SOR 92). In concept, this deck should rise to the level of the powerful Sith that make up the meat of the list itself.

In practice, I have other concerns. Have you ever watched a cooking show (shoutout the true best food program in existence, The Great British Bake Off) and one of the judges has referred to a dish as “one note”?

Yeah, that. That’s what I worry about with Command Maul.

Despite the fact that you can adjust your strategy to either go straight to base or attack units while piloting a Maul deck, your opponent knows that, too. So aside from a surprise OB, there’s not much mystery to what you’re trying to do: play big units, turn them sideways, repeat.

There are some plays you can make that will just flat win you the game, and they mostly incorporate ECL into the mix.

Ambushing in a TWI Maul unit to clear out two opposing units, and LIVE, means you will eventually have traded three of your opponent’s cards for just one of yours. Nasty work, that.

The aforementioned Kylo snipe is a good one, as well as an SHD Maul takedown of a freshly-deployed Leader.

But despite the potential, I’m still not convinced my version of Command Maul is the best it’s going to get, and that’s both exciting and frustrating at the same time.

That’s why I would encourage you, dear reader, when you’re building decks and testing them out - especially if they make use of your favorite characters as Leaders - don’t give up if you lose a few games.

If you can identify the root causes and tinker with them while getting in key reps with the deck, your process will pay dividends… or it won’t. But in either case you will have given the deck, YOUR deck, the best chance to succeed that you can offer.

Destined To Become So Much More

Remember that bit about being easily distracted? That includes having my attention wrested away from my Command Maul deck to try out other builds… of Maul, that is.

The next complementary aspect that caught my eye was Vigilance, which is not something you see consistently paired with Aggression too often, except in Rey, More Than A Scavenger (SHD 4) or Chirrut Îmwe, One With the Force (SOR 4), both notably Heroism decks rather than Villainy.

But what Twilight of the Republic brought to the table in the Vigilance/Villainy aspect is a core of what I consider to be incredible units that I wanted to find a place for.

These, combined with the most irritating upgrade I have ever encountered, led to a newer, bluer Maul.

Click here to view this deck on SWUDB.com

If you were wondering why I was main-decking three copies of Disabling Fang Fighter (SOR 162) in the previous Command build, it’s because of Perilous Position (TWI 70).

This fresh hell of an upgrade is an absolute blowout when played on Maul upon deployment.  learned two things from my buddy Mike employing that strategy over and over again: I have to be able to get rid of it, and I want to be able to do that myself.

Fortunately, Maul’s Overwhelm ability pairs well with the -2 HP given by Perilous Position, and it can take the heat off of your other units with the instant exhaust as well.

Similarly, playing an Overwhelm deck is a great spot for Supreme Leader Snoke, Shadow Ruler (SHD 37) to shine, making all of your opponent’s units crumble under the might of your power… and deal less damage back as a result.

Otherwise, there are some cheeky cards that fit in nicely with what Maul is trying to do in blue. If your opponent takes out your Pyke Sentinel (SHD 29) with their turn-one unit and survives, Rune Haako, Scheming Second (TWI 31) can slide in…second… and add that last bit to finish it off.

With all the units you hope to be defeating, Gideon Hask, Ruthless Loyalist (SOR 36) can just keep getting more and more scary. If your units are absorbing some damage with repeated Overwhelm attacks, Covert Strength (SHD 75) can come in very handy to preserve and buff said units.

Finally, you might be wondering about the inclusion of Malevolence, Grievous’ Secret Weapon (TWI 39). I think Malevolence is one of the best rares in Twilight of the Republic, even at 9 resources.

But if you can play it even for two resources less by Exploiting? While making one of your opponent’s units easier to crash into? Nutty. Then, of course, you have a 7/7 in space with a Leader that can give it Overwhelm. Seems good.

This Is Getting Out Of Hand

So once I had put Maul into TWO aspect pairings, I had to go for all four, right? I mean, probably not, but that’s pretty much how my brain works, so onto Cunning!

Click here to view this deck on SWUDB.com

The biggest challenge I faced when putting this together is not making it perform like a carbon copy of the previous two decks. At some point, you get the idea that Maul wants to be constantly on the attack, but with Cunning I feel like the deck relies less on Overwhelm and more on sheer damage output.

This is partly because of the inclusion of “Attack with a Unit” events that buff the power of the attack, like one of my favorite new cards from Twilight of the Republic, Breaking In (TWI 224).

Breaking In not only gives a boost to one of your attacks, but gives your unit Saboteur when doing so, freeing you up to attack wherever or whomever you wish.

That, combined with Surprise Strike (SOR 220) puts more pressure on your opponent’s base, at the cost of not being able to utilize Maul’s Leader action. If Maul has been deployed, though, knock yourself out!

You’ll also notice that Kylo has been replaced by Savage Opress, Monster (TWI 137). While Savage doesn’t threaten the damage output that Kylo does, he holds one very important trait, which you’ll find almost everywhere else in this deck: Underworld.

In maximizing our Underworld units, we have plenty of targets for one of the hottest TWI cards on the block, Now There Are Two Of Them (TWI 225).

Now, if you’re rocking just one unit, chances are it will be an Underworld unit, which means you can play any other Underworld unit from your hand at a 2-resource discount with NTA2OT.

That means a Bossk, Deadly Stalker (SOR 182) or a Zuckuss, Bounty Hunter for Hire (SHD 190) on Turn 2, or a Savage on Turn 4. And if you’re really outnumbered, you can also get an early discount on Cad Bane, Hostage Taker (TWI 187) to make way for even more attacks!

Ultimately, a lot of the Cunning/Villainy decks that come out of Twilight of the Republic will be looking to utilize this same strategy: play big scary things earlier than they should.

In theory, though, the additional threat of Overwhelm from Maul may make those units that much more difficult to deal with, which will be the driving force behind this version of the deck.

Seeing Red Again

If you’ve made it this far, through a Command, Vigilance and Cunning list, you’re probably thinking, “here comes the mono-Aggression list!”

Well, you’d be wrong.

And here’s why: I happen to think the Mono Maul deck is the least exciting way to run Maul, and it’s not particularly close. I would be thrilled to be proven wrong, but the deck seems very straightforward… insert your desired copies of the double-aspect cards to taste, and then fill out the rest of the list with most of the same units we’ve seen throughout this journey.

If your heart is set on getting use out of your Wild Rancor (SHD 158), though, two things: One, don’t let me stop you! I’m just some guy who pretends to know about Star Wars: Unlimited. And two, as penance for my previous haughtiness, might I suggest a couple of cards that I do find intriguing in the Red/Red build?

Here’s one you weren’t expecting… Hunting Nexu (SHD 168). For 4 resources, you have the potential to attack for 6 damage, and all you need is one other Aggression unit in play. This makes the Nexu much easier to trigger than Hevy, Staunch Martyr (TWI 164), although I like Hevy as well if you’re confident you can keep Coordinate online. 

You want another combo? Here’s one I really like: Death Watch Loyalist (SHD 136) and Twice The Pride (TWI 155).

Sure, if you’re playing against ANY cards that can ping even just one damage, this will be a lot more difficult to achieve. But watching your 3/3 ground unit magically transform into a 9/1 with native Overwhelm is something to behold, and one that can instantly back your opponent into a corner. Definitely consider giving this combo a shot if you’re looking to play mono!

At Last We Will Have Revenge

Just like the epic and unforgettable character from whence he came, the Maul Leader is not without flaws.

The tradeoff of 6 HP for his 6 Power makes him all the easier to defeat, often with cards that may already be in the arena when Maul deploys (see: Poe Dameron, Quick to Improvise (SHD 153), Aayla Secura, Master of the Blade (TWI 96), Zuckuss).

And if you’re not able to ramp, waiting until Round 5 to bring out your biggest threat may not be enough to swing the tide in your favor against heavy aggro decks, of which there are likely to be several.

Finding the right balance will be key with Maul, because on paper, he has one of the most useful abilities in Star Wars: Unlimited. Overwhelm has proven to be quite valuable, and I don’t see its relevance diminishing anytime soon.

Whatever aspect or form your ideal Maul build takes, the goal should be to try to play to all directions. If Maul can toe the line between outpacing the aggressive decks and overpowering the control decks, he may find a place on plenty of tables as we get closer and closer to the Galactic Championship.

You’ll very likely see him on my table, at any rate! 

Kevin
Roll On Gaming
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