Star Wars Galaxies™ Trading Card Game: Champions of the Force: Archetypes – Light Side

The Light Side of the Force™
By Joe "Palejo" Alread, Sr. Game Designer at SOE-Denver

Today, we're here to talk about the good guys! Who doesn't love them? The Rebel and Jedi archetypes in the Star Wars Galaxies™ Trading Card Game (TCG) both play quite differently and having an understanding of those differences will go a long way in mastering the game.

Heroes of the Alliance

The Rebel Alliance, by nature, relies greatly on its friends and allies in order to be successful. In a one on one matchup, Rebels would be no match for the massive Imperial war machine.

This is why in the Star Wars Galaxies TCG, Rebels depend greatly on their unit cards in order to generate an overwhelming force on their opponent. Their units specialize in helping each other, and tend to get stronger with each victory they earn. Perhaps one of the more powerful Rebel units in the game is Captain Sarguillo:

What's great about him is that once you win combat with him, he readies and you can then exert him for damage bonus, essentially doing 3 damage to an opponent in one turn via one card play. If you get attacked during your opponent's turn and manage to win, he can ready then as well and also exert for damage bonus.

Rebels also have the ability to be sneaky and get around opposing blockers via their ability cards.

Paint Target is a great example of this. Imagine a hard fought battle involving numerous Rebels and Imperials, with the Imperial avatar being near death. Paint Target will allow you to get past those annoying Imperial units and achieve victory. The slight drawback to Paint Target is that you are forced to use its game text once you play it, so be sure you actually want to attack and avatar with your units before you decide to play it!

The Jedi Order

Jedi, on the other hand, don't particularly care as much about their units. The Jedi are more about the power of their abilities, and the quality of patience and meditation. I offer a few examples of these themes.

Vaapad is a great example of the Jedi reaping benefits for being patient. Vaapad comes into play exerted, so you won't be able to apply it at a quest until you've waited for two turns. The benefit, however, is huge. Once applied, a boost of 5 power can easily swing the game toward your favor. Imagine what you can do with around 10 power in a turn: multiple big units played, maybe a lightsaber on the side?

Shien is a little more offensive in nature, but is based on the same premise. Shien comes into play exerted and can't be used initially. On future turns, however, it allows a Jedi player to initiate combat every turn against an opponent. And with an attack bonus to boot! This card is sure to be the cornerstone of many Jedi decks.

There are many other Jedi cards that function like this, along with unit cards that also come into play exerted and in turn exert for powerful abilities on future turns. If this isn't your thing, there's always the Sith, who prefer the quick and easy path over being patient. But that's another article for another time!

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