What is going on everyone? My name is Jack, and I am from Golden Dice Podcast.
There is a lot going through my mind at all times when it comes to Star Wars: Unlimited. Some might call it an obsession even. One of those topics recently has been the power of the double aspect legendary events that we have gotten with Vigilance (SOR 58), Command (SOR 107), Aggression (SOR 155), and Cunning (SOR 203).
These have had mixed reactions but most have settled on “Great at cost, meh at paying an aspect penalty”. A reminder that you have to pay two extra resources for each aspect symbol you are missing. So to play these cards at cost you need to run them in a double-color deck, like running leader Boba Fett, Collecting the Bounty (SOR 15) with base Jedha City (SOR 28).
Currently, I don’t think you can assess how good each aspect will be as mono aside from Cunning since we don’t have every aspect’s double aspect cards yet. In Cunning we have seen three with Catina Bouncer (SOR 202), Bodhi Rook (SOR 201), and the Cunning event (SOR 203). Command has two with Attack Pattern Delta (SOR 106) and Command event (SOR 107), while Vigilance and Aggression just have their namesake events. I’ve gotten a chance to play with and against all these cards in recent months so just wanted to share my experience with all four of them!
Cunning
Starting off, I wanted to touch on Cunning. This is a clear favorite for me right now between these four cards. I have only really pushed mono Boba so the perspective of this card comes from that deck, which usually makes this card more busted.
All four of the choices on Cunning have a huge impact, with the discard likely being the least impressive. Paying four to exhaust two units and return another to hand can completely shut down someone’s turn. This has proven insane against aggro decks like Sabine Wren, Galvanized Revolutionary (SOR 18) and Leia Organa, Alliance General (SOR 9) -- just double check you aren't fueling their Fighters for Freedom (SOR 143) with the bounce, lol.
Playing this card with Boba and bouncing a unit effectively makes this card cost 3, as you get one back from Boba’s leader ability, and this can be especially insane on turns that Boba deploys. When first looking at this card, you assume that you will always exhaust and bounce, but the +4/+0 has been absolutely clutch for me as well. Outside of blue and units with saboteur (which you likely exhausted), most decks don't have a direct way to deal with a shielded unit getting +4. There are many times I slap the +4 onto a Crafty Smuggler (SOR 207) to swing in for 6.
The flexibility and power of each option on this card is insane, and it is the only double-aspect card that I have debated running out of aspect because at 6 it might still be a decent play.
Aggression
Next up we have Aggression! Now this is the card I have seen played the least out of the four double-aspect legendaries, but that mostly comes down to a lack of card pool for double red. That said, Hero has gotten enough spoilers lately that Sabine could even try out double aggression decks!
As with Cunning, I think all four options here are solid, but three really stand out to me and likely will be used the most. Defeating 2 upgrades, readying a unit with 3 or less power, and dealing 4 damage to a unit are all usually relevant throughout the course of a game.
Defeating two upgrades might sound not amazing off the bat, but with experience and shields counting as tokens you will likely have some good targets to hit!
Upgrades have seen more play recently with ones like Jedi Lightsaber (SOR 54) making Yoda, Old Master (SOR 45) a beastly 5/7 that does -2/-2 to its defender, essentially letting him snipe a 7-health unit/leader. Even just destroying that upgrade will leave you feeling really good.
I do still think drawing a card is nice and a very good last resort to use if you can’t use the other options on the card. I have just found card draw to be mediocre at times and enjoy blowing up the board more and more.
As for the readying a unit, this really depends on your board state, but there are A LOT of good targets! Right off the bat we have Grand Inquisitor and Sabine leaders that both can be readied by this as they have 3 and 2 power, respectively. From there, you want to look for units with Raid X keywords, so even though they have 2 or 3 power they end up swinging for 4+.
A perfect example of this is Fifth Brother, Fear Hunter (SOR 131). If you can ready him multiple times and swing in for 4 each time, you are going to be very happy. Other units that fit this category are Green Squadron A-Wing (SOR 141), Benthic "Two Tubes", Partisan Lieutenant (SOR 156), and Partisan Insurgent (SOR 159). All of these buff themselves, or, in the case of Two Tubes, you can hand out Raid 2 to another friendly unit twice. I have also loved resetting a unit like Fifth Brother, slapping a Fallen Lightsaber (SOR 137) on him and then swinging again. That is a 7-resource turn play but still a solid one!
Command
In the third slot, I have Command, and I still go back and forth on this every single time. Like the other double-aspect legendaries, it has typically three good abilities and one situational one. For Command, I have loved using the 2 experience tokens, dealing damage, and putting the event into play as a resource. Returning a unit from the discard is a bit situational, but it feels better end game to help keep your hand stocked with units to play.
What drives me crazy at times with this card is the “non-unique” requirement to deal damage to an enemy unit. I understand that if this could hit leaders it would likely be too good, but with how many decks use unique units it feels like there are rarely any good targets for this ability. It usually results in me hitting space units, but even now we are seeing unique space units like Red Three, Unstoppable (SOR 144) and Bright Hope, The Last Transport (SOR 99).
If you play against decks like Luke Skywalker, Faithful Friend (SOR 5), pretty much their entire ground package is all unique units. There are certainly some good non-unique targets still in the game, such as Battlefield Marine (SOR 95), Seasoned Shoretrooper (SOR 81), Rogue Operative (SOR 194), etc. But as the game goes on, it will be frustrating not able to use this against units like Count Dooku, Darth Tyranus (SOR 38) or Han Solo, Reluctant Hero (SOR 198). Even early game, not being able to hit a Yoda, an Ezra Bridger, Resourceful Troublemaker (SOR 192), or a Kanan Jarrus, Revealed Jedi (SOR 47) can leave you very frustrated at this card.
Having said all that, Command still offers ramp, which is arguably the best thing to do in this game. Getting your leader out early – even if it is with someone as vanilla as Hera Syndulla, Spectre Two (SOR 8) – is still a very good play. Mono Command is a little bit weird as both Leia Organa and Grand Moff Tarkin, Oversector Governor (SOR 7) lend themselves to wanting a more aggro playstyle, and the Command event card works a bit slower. Still, ramping and giving out two experience tokens will be very valuable for both of them. This likely sees the most play currently in a Hera deck, though, as she lends herself to a mono-color deck and she can bring in all the spectres anyway.
Vigilance
Lastly we have Vigilance! I think Vigilance gets a lot of heat, but I do think it's just consistently good but not as flashy as the exhaust/bounce in Cunning, the resetting/damage in Aggression, and the ramp/experience in Command.
As with all of these legendary events, Vigilance gives solid options, but I find myself using its healing ability, defeating a unit, and giving a shield token the most. The discard 6 is not currently relevant that much, but it isn’t a terrible option if you really only have one of the first three to do. I don’t view it as a mill win condition, but rather just hoping to hit their good stuff at the top of their deck.
The nice part of Vigilance is that it can be played on curve without needing anything on your side of the board. Being able to heal for 5 and defeat a unit with 3 or less HP is a great move against aggro decks. It helps you stabilize from their early attacks and defeats one of their scarier units.
Vigilance is the aspect card that just gets work done but isn’t flashy about it. This event card has been solid in each mono Vigilance deck I have played, and I love it, especially with Luke and Director Krennic, Aspiring to Authority (SOR 1).
So Where Do They Stand?
So as we close out I am more impressed with the dual-aspect legendaries than I was to start. Part of that is we are seeing these mono-colored decks flesh out and become more viable. Those decks will continue becoming more viable as the game rolls into future sets and we have access to more cards.
For now, though, I rank them in the order I talked about them:
- Cunning
- Aggression
- Command
- Vigilance
All are easy 3 of’s in their respective decks, and you will love being able to jam these each time! If you haven’t tried out a mono deck yet, my first suggestion is Boba Fett with Jedha City or Hera with Energy Conversion Lab (SOR 22).
Boba is a legit contender, while Hera still struggles a bit but is fun to play! She also just got help with the recently spoiled Zeb Orrelios, Headstrong Warrior (SOR 146), so she has another toy to mess around with! (Quick aside: Zeb is arguably tied with Energy Conversion Lab as the best card in the set – or at least Top 5.)
Best of luck in your gaming, and I'm excited to hear what you all think of these legendary cards! Are you excited to pull them in March? Or do they feel like they will be a wasted Legendary slot in your box? Let us know!
Jack
Golden Dice Podcast
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