Jedi tests tech (Mind What You Have Learned/Save You It Can)

Why Training Luke is still viable

Overall Rating: (4.70)
Author: Marcus "Joruus" Wood (Subscribe to this member)
Date Submitted: July 30, 2000
With Death Star II now well and truly released I thought, in my first article for Decktech, that I would take another look at training, and in particular training Luke.

Jedi training has always been one of my favourite strategies and even prior to the release of Special Edition I had a pretty solid training deck that got to Test 5 (with a 7 destiny) 9 times out of 10. So sick of it in fact were my regular opponents that all sorts of meta turned up specifically to combat it; the most annoying being the use of Bogwings. But that's a distraction.

It was the release of MWYHL in Special Edition that really turned Jedi Testing into a serious strategy, helping tune decks and (in particular) allowing both Luke and Yoda to deploy directly from Reserve deck - and Yoda for a reduced deploy cost. The speed training deck was born. Nevertheless, this deck had many problems, not least of which was having to leave one of the best characters in the game (namely Luke) on Dagobah for what could amount to a sizeable portion of the game. Meanwhile, of course, against the Hunt Down objective you were immediately hampered by having two of the three characters to flip back Hunt Down (Luke and Yoda) trapped on the swamp planet. A nasty force loss to Visage while searching in vain for Obi was particularly nasty.

Nevertheless, tournaments prevailed with the Objective, though in a new form; the Test 2 beatdown variant. As its name implies, this decktype involved training a character, normally one of the ability 4 characters, to Test 2 in order to hamper your opponent with the ability 6 required for Test 2. As all decks, however, this has gradually faded into obscurity, not least because of the release in the Endor expansion of Daughter of Skywalker.

DOS, as she is conventionally known, is like her brother an ability 5 character who can deploy directly to Dagobah, currently only the third character so to be able. She has a similar characteristic to Yoda in being able to add a force icon to the exterior site where she is located, and can deploy to Dagobah for one less Force than Luke. More importantly, though, her game text allows her to be deployed directly from Reserve with MWYHL and thus enable the objective to be flipped, while EPP Luke, one of the Light Sides powerhouses can be out wreaking havoc elsewhere. Nevertheless, the ruling that she could only deploy via the Objective from Reserve Deck and not from a starting hand, puts a dampener on proceedings. Training Daughter of Skywalker to Test 5 was dangerous. If you got her in your starting hand aside from a lucky draw of a Traffic Control or Yoda Stew early in the game, there was no possibility of flipping the Objective or that tasty retrieval of the 10 Force. Decks that relied on training Daughter were forced to put in two (or more) copies, a terrible waste of card space. Personally, I'm still waiting (dreaming I suspect) for errata.

With Death Star II on the shelves the situation is changed again, not least because of the release of the sixth and final Jedi Test, You Must Confront Vader. This allows either Luke or Leia to go that one stage further, confront their father and fulfil their Jedi heritage. Training Daughter is still possible, and for those obsessed with the number of Jedi characters on the table at one time, even a likely eventuality, what with the release of the Ultra Rare Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight. Train Leia, use the new Luke persona, Obi and Yoda, and then cross Vader for five simultaneous Jedi. That should be worthy of a tournament win in itself! Nevertheless, this faces the same problems as previously; a DOS (or even two) in your starting hand could really ruin your day. It is for this reason that I believe training Luke a more viable alternative.

The Death Star II cardset has effectively killed off the Hunt Down objective through the release of Honor of the Jedi. This card cuts the Force Loss from Visage from 1 to 0 unless the DS player occupies three battlegrounds. Since most Hunt Down decks rely heavily on multiples of unique characters, typically Vader, Mara and Tarkin, actually occupying three separate battlegrounds is difficult. Moreover, an early Obi will keep Hunt Down on its 0 side to which you, unlike the DS player, will be immune. Against Hunt Down, keeping Luke on Dagobah in the early game is no longer dangerous, and may even work to your advantage, since, with the advent of Mara Jade, he is more likely to be the target of any duel.

Of course, while Hunt Down may be 'dead', its replacement based around Bring Him Before Me can certainly expect to be seen at tournaments from now on. Like Hunt Down, Your Destiny (deployed with the objective) punishes players for not having Luke at a battleground in order to be captured and begin the duelling process, while the Force loss is increased from 1 force at the end of either player's turn to 3 Force at the beginning of the DS player's turn, while Vader is at a battleground site. Again, however, Honor of the Jedi is your friend. It may be more likely that the Dark Side will occupy the three battlegrounds, since BHBM is more solidly based around battling, but the Force loss only kicks in once Vader is deployed, which may take a few turns in itself. Meanwhile, since most training decks will be completed by turns 8 or 9, the 10 Force retrieved at the end will more than make up for the loss imposed even of a few turns at full whack. Once Luke is trained to test 5 he will come to Vader's site, complete test 6 almost straightaway and be almost guaranteed (with a 7 set up through Test 5) never to lose a duel. Combine that with I Feel The Conflict which, unlike the Dark Side version, includes wins via duelling and Our Only Hope to remove your cards from the opponent's stack when you win, and you begin to see why the LS player should not be afraid to confront the Father. Anakin Skywalker, a 7 for Jedi Test 5, and 2 cards for I Feel The Conflict is an automatic cross for Vader. You should, however, make sure that you can do everything that same turn. My deck uses On The Edge which I can intentionally fail, by choosing a 0 from Artoo in Red 5, losing Luke and then playing Anakin Skywalker to turn Vader. This should be performed immediately after completing Test 6.

We're not finished of course. The Death Star II expansion includes one final card, The Way Of Things. As soon as the apprentice is present with Jedi Test 3 it is completed. No bother about drains or battling, just completed. At the very least, this will probably speed you up one turn. And with testing, speed is vital.

For an example of a Testing deck see below. This is the same deck I posted yesterday, with one exception. The sharp-eyed among you will have noticed that I omitted one card from the list, Son Of Skywalker himself. I would suggest that this was a deliberate mistake to see who was paying attention, but that would be a lie, ;-)

Training Luke is finally a viable strategy through the inclusion of the cards I have referred to, principally Honor of the Jedi and The Way Of Things, as well of course as Jedi Test 6 and Anakin Skywalker, the key to Star Wars as a whole. I think even George Lucas might agree with that.

Thanks for reading, and here's the deck.




Training Luke is still viable


Locations (6)
Dagobah (S)
Dagobah: Bog Clearing
Dagobah: Jungle
Dagobah: Training Area
Dagobah: Yoda's Hut
Endor: Back Door

Characters (13)
Chewie with Blaster Rifle
Daughter of Skywalker x2
H'nemthe
Han with Heavy Blaster Pistol x2
Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight
Obi-Wan with Lightsaber x2
Orrimaarko
Son of Skywalker
Wedge Antilles
Yoda

Starships (7)
Artoo-Detoo in Red 5 x2
Lando in Millennium Falcon
Liberty
Redemption
Spiral
Tantive IV

Interrupts (9)
Anakin Skywalker
Effective Repairs
Heading for the Medical Frigate (S)
I Know
On The Edge x2
Our Only Hope
Smoke Screen
Weapon Levitation

Effects (14)
At Peace
Bacta Tank
Battle Plan (S)
Honor of the Jedi
I Feel The Conflict
Order To Engage
Projection of a Skywalker x2
The Way of Things (S)
Traffic Control
What're You Trying To Push On Us
Wise Advice (S)
Yoda's Hope
Your Insight Serves You Well

Weapons (2)
Anakin's Lightsaber
Luke's Lightsaber

Devices (2)
Landing Claw
Luke's Backpack

Jedi Tests (6)
A Jedi's Strength
Domain of Evil
Great Warrior
It Is The Future You See
Size Matters Not
You Must Confront Vader

Objective (1)
Mind What You Have Learned/Save You It Can