Introducing Squadrons Over Corellia

By Joe "Palejo" Alread, Game Designer

We are closing in on the launch day of Squadrons Over Corellia™ and I want to share some of the new and exciting mechanics coming up in the set. There are a lot of things to talk about, so let's not waste any time!

Starships
It is Squadrons Over Corellia, right? It would only make sense to include starships in the set. Starships in the TCG are similar to items, with one extra bit associated with them: they have health.

The KSE Firespray is actually the most expensive starship in the set, so don't think you'll always have to spend an entire turn just to play these things. But the KSE Firespray is a good example of a starship that uses health to power its abilities. Other starships may have to exert to use their abilities (along with burning health), while others don't even use their health at all. On those cards, the health is simply a vulnerability to text that deals damage to starships. Starships may also have drawbacks when they leave play (however, the rewards for playing these kinds of starships are much more powerful in return).

There are pilots in the set who will also benefit when you have a ship in play. Some of the unique ships even let you get their matching pilot out of your deck when you play them. ("You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought…")

There are a lot of good abilities and powers being used on the ships, and it should be interesting to see what starships players gravitate towards when the set releases.

The Art of Precision
A goal of Squadrons Over Corellia was to bring more importance to certain units "surviving" on the board over prolonged periods of time. We wanted players to be in situations where if they didn't kill a certain unit quickly, they might end up paying for it in the long run.

Our good friend Rune here shows an example of a card who, if ignored, can end up generating massive power for somebody. The fact that he can't take damage outside of combat also means that a single Spark isn't going to get rid of him either. But just in case units like Rune proved too hard to kill, we also wanted to create a way for players to be able to go after them in combat. This is how a new keyword, Precise, was born.

Precise means, "Whenever your opponent is about to assign damage from combat involving this unit, you assign that damage instead."

Precise allows players to eliminate the units they want to eliminate in combat instead of allowing their opponents to divide it up however they please. This means that when Darth Vader has one health and a Dark Jedi standing next to him, your Precise unit can get the job done. Instead of allowing your opponent to soak up damage with the Dark Jedi, you can assign a point of damage to Darth Vader and get rid of him. Here are some examples of Precise units for your viewing.

 

Permanence
I talked above about the concept of units that have a major impact if left untouched for a while. In parting, I'd like to share one last bit about permanence, which takes this point even further. The idea is simple: some cards can have a permanent impact on the game board, even after the card leaves play.

Jabba the Hutt, if left unattended, is going to really leave a dent in any kind of questing deck. We've had quests reach double digits during playtest games with this guy out on the table. He definitely changes the landscape of the game once quest levels get out of control. There are a fair number of cards in the set that deal with this mechanic -- not too many that you're gonna lose track of where certain stats came from, but just enough to pique your interest.

Enjoy the spoilers, and we'll see you on launch day!

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