By: Krysis

 

​Greetings, all!  Welcome to the next installment of my Star Wars: Unlimited article series for Space Arena Ground Arena.  As always, be sure to subscribe to the SAGA YouTube channel, bookmark the website, and tell all your Star Wars friends and family about us!  In this article, I will begin examining the Villainy Vigilance/Command Control deck archetype.  This will be part 1 of a 3 part series in which I will be looking at 3 leaders/decks, within this specific archetype, that I believe should measure up reasonably well in the Shadows of the Galaxy meta.  As a disclaimer, I am not attempting to assert that the 3 leaders to be covered in this series are the only 3 that work in this archetype, but rather these are the 3 I have enough experience playing to speak on (so shout out to you Iden Versioand Emperor Palpatine players, I still see you!).

​For part 1 of this series, I will be examining perhaps the spiciest of the 3 leaders/decks to be examined, Moff Gideon (Formidable Commander).  Moff Gideon has been largely overlooked in the early meta, from what I can gather.  It’s entirely possible this is because he just isn’t as strong as the other 2 leaders I will examine in parts 2 and 3 of this series, but in the testing I’ve done so far, he offers some unique advantages and play lines that you don’t find in any other Villainy Vigilance/Command deck.  So, without further ado, I will start out with sharing my current deck list for him:

Why Moff Gideon?

The first question you may be asking yourself is exactly that, why Moff Gideon?  The most popular Villainy Vigilance/Command Control decks to date have been led by the likes of Iden Versio, Director Krennic, Emperor Palpatine, and, more recently, Qi’ra.  Moff Gideon offers a couple things, however, that none of these leaders can.  First, every one of his 2 resource units in this list represents a potential 3/3 stat line, thanks to his leader action ability (which reads: action/exhaust – attack with a unit that costs 3 or less.  If it’s attacking a unit, it gets +1/+0 for this attack).  Unlike heroism, villainy has access to very few 3/3 bodies at 2 resources.  The caveat of having to attack a unit does not matter here, as our goal is to simply control the opponent’s board state until reaching our larger, high impact units.  Secondly, Moff Gideon also gives us access to his ship, Gideon’s Light Cruiser (Dark Troopers’ Station).  As an 8-cost, 7/8 space unit with Overwhelm, the Light Cruiser is not likely seeing much play in the general field.  However, since we control Moff Gideon, we get to proc the bonus When Played effect of playing a 3 cost or less villainy unit from our hand or discard pile for free.  Being able to reanimate a valuable unit from our discard is an effect sparsely seen at this point in the life cycle of the game, so the ability should not be underestimated with access to sentinel units such as Pyke Sentinel or Black Sun Starfighter, the When Played impact of a Death Trooper, or the healing ability of The Client.

​Next, we’ll take a look at individual card choices within the deck build and discuss which cards represent our auto-include staples, what is a meta call, etc.  Keep in mind that this has been an ever evolving deck list for me, as it stands somewhere around version 15, if I had to guess, between small edits and full rebuilds, so it may not look the same a week from now!  And yes, I am aware the list is 51 cards.  What started as a bit of a joke within our play test team, I now just make many of my decks 51 cards to keep the joke alive!

The Essentials:

Pyke Sentinel: First amongst my essentials is the 2-cost 2/3 ground unit, Pyke Sentinel.  Like all of the 2-cost units in the list, the Pyke Sentinel represents a 3/3 body on attack, and naturally represents a 3hp sentinel.  Realistically, the natural 2 power is not clearing many units, but the Pyke achieves its goal of slowing down the damage flow and allowing us to control the opponent’s board state.  Pyke can also be pulled with our Darth Vader When Played ability, as well as played/reanimated with Gideon’s Light Cruiser.

Seasoned Shoretrooper: Next up, Seasoned Shoretrooper.  Again, like all the 2-cost units, Seasoned Shoretrooperrepresents a 3/3 attacking body early game.  Upon reaching 6+ resources, Shoretrooper then is naturally a 4/3 body, or a 5/3 when attacking via Moff Gideon’s ability, representing immense value at 2-cost.  Shoretrooper can also be pulled with our Darth Vader When Played ability, as well as played/reanimated withGideon’s Light Cruiser.

Inferno Four (Unforgetting): Last amongst our 2-cost units is Inferno 4.  Inferno 4 is arguably the most valuable and impactful of our 2-cost units, again representing a 3/3 body when attacking via Moff Gideon’s ability, which is even more valuable in the space arena than in the ground arena.  This allows Inferno Four to clear units such as Alliance X-Wing, Green Squadron A-Wing, Red Three, etc. and live to tell the tale about it.  Furthermore, the When Played/When Defeated ability of Inferno Four (look at the top 2 cards of your deck, put any number of them on the top or bottom of your deck) allows us to cycle towards the best or most needed cards (by matchup) in our deck.  And again, Inferno Four can be pulled with Darth Vader and Gideon’s Light Cruiser.

Death Trooper: Next amongst our essentials is the Death Trooper.  Death Trooper is a somewhat underwhelming 3-cost 3/3 unit, but offers an ever valuable When Played ability of dealing 2 damage to one of your own ground units (oftentimes himself) in exchange for dealing 2 damage to an opposing ground unit.  Death Trooper is also able to represent a 4-power attack with Moff Gideon’s ability.  And most relevantly, Death Trooper can be pulled with Darth Vader to setup some surprise kills on valuable units or leaders, such as Boba Fett (Collecting the Bounty), as well as come into play with Gideon’s Light Cruiser to clean up an opposing unit.

Superlaser Technician: Up next is the king of villainy ramp, Superlaser Technician.  First and foremost, and this one goes without saying, Superlaser Technician is a paramount card within our deck for the purpose of resource ramp to get to our big, high impact units as quickly as possible.  However, Superlaser Technician is better in Gideon than just about any other deck, given he can actually trade into many early opposing units thanks to the Moff Gideon ability that allows him to attack with 3 power.  Superlaser Technician can also be pulled with Darth Vader and the Light Cruiser, though it is not the ideal pull in most situations.

Darth Vader (Commanding the First Legion): The first of our big, high impact units is the Sith Lord Darth Vader.  Vader checks in as a 7-cost unit with a 5/7 stat line and Ambush, as well as the oft mentioned above When Played ability of bringing another body with him (search the top 10 cards of your deck for any number of villainy units with a combined cost of 3 or less and play them for free).  Vader will typically take control of the ground arena upon entry, and his 5-power attack can add up quickly if he is not dealt with.  Vader’s When Played ability is highly flexible within the deck based on game state, allowing him to pull a much needed sentinel, create a surprise kill with the help of a Death Trooper, bring in The Client for healing, or exert pressure on the opponent with a Seasoned Shoretrooper.

Supreme Leader Snoke (Shadow Ruler): Next up amongst our late game units is Supreme Leader Snoke.  Snoke is an 8-cost, 6/6 ground unit that packs an oppressive passive ability of giving every opposing non-leader unit -2/-2.  Getting Snoke on the table can represent an entire win condition against some decks, such as Cunning Grand Moff Tarkin or certain Boba Fett builds, that play several 2hp or less units such as Seventh Fleet Defender, Crafty Smuggler, Lurking Tie Phantom, Greedo, etc.  Snoke also dramatically weakens common ambush attackers, such as 4-Lom and Bossk.  Snoke is a unit that demands a prompt answer, which is what we’re looking for in our late game.

Gideon’s Light Cruiser (Dark Troopers’ Station): Sure to make an appearance in our essentials, given all the mentions above, is Gideon’s Light Cruiser.  As previously mentioned, Gideon’s Light Cruiser is an 8-cost, 7/8 statted space unit with Overwhelm and a powerful When Played ability (when you control Moff Gideon as a leader or unit) that allows you to play a 3-cost or less villainy unit from your hand or discard pile for free.  The Light Cruiser is a difficult to deal with space unit by itself, but really finds the extra value in this deck build by bringing another body with it.  Just like with Darth Vader, this ability is highly versatile depending on game state.

Avenger (Hunting Star Destroyer): Next up amongst our essentials is arguably our most impactful unit, the Avenger.  Avenger is a 9-cost, 8/8 space unit that sports a When Played/On Attack ability that forces the opponent to choose and defeat a non-leader unit they control.  Avenger is our biggest win condition, as it will oftentimes lock down the board state if not dealt with promptly.  Control the board state, ramp, drop Avengers, win games.

Power of the Dark Side: Not much that needs to be said about Power of the Dark Side, as it is a staple of nearly every Villainy Vigilance deck.  As a 3-cost event, Power of the Dark Side forces the opponent to choose and defeat a unit they control.  Especially in a control deck that is often trading card for card, Power of the Dark Side represents some of the most powerful removal in the entire game.  The threat of its existence will force opponents into suboptimal play lines that insure they have an expendable unit on board when at all possible.

Resupply: Next in our essentials is more resource ramp in the form of Resupply.  Resupply has been a meta staple since day 1 of set 1, allowing you to pay 3 resources to put Resupply into play as a resource (exhausted).  Some people may prefer to try out the new resource ramp bounty, Price On Your Head, given it costs 2 instead of 3.  However, given the availability of cards that defeat upgrades, I prefer to stick with the tried and true Resupply.  This could even bump up to a 3x in the deck depending on how fast or slow the popular meta is.

Vigilance: Next up in our essentials is Vigilance.  Vigilance is a double aspect 4-cost (meaning we are paying 6 resources for it, in this deck) event that allows us to select 2 of 4 available effects to use (defeat a unit with 3 or less remaining hp, heal 5 damage from a base, discard 6 cards from an opponent’s deck, or give a unit a shield token).  Vigilance is a highly versatile card depending on matchup and game state, though it will most often be used to defeat a unit and heal 5 damage.  However, the shield token option should not be underrated in this build with sentinels such as Lieutenant Childsen and Supercommando Squad, or with keeping The Client upright and healing.

Overwhelming Barrage: Truly, what really needs to be said about this card?  Overwhelming Barrage is a staple 3x in basically every Villainy Command deck and should probably be a step (or 2) rarer than Uncommon.  For 5 resources, Overwhelming Barrage allows you to give a unit +2/+2 for the phase, and then deal damage equal to that units’ power across any number of enemy units.  Board wipe, anybody?  With that said, it is slightly weaker in this build than some of the other Villainy Vigilance/Command control decks since Moff Gideon does not represent a particularly great target himself to use it on.  At that stage of the game, you will want to be targeting a use off of Lieutenant Childsen or Supercommando Squad as generally reliable options for 6 damage to enemy units.

Superlaser Blast: Last in our staples list is SuperlaserBlast.  For the cost of 8 resources, Superlaser Blast defeats all units on the board.  Superlaser Blast is a bit more essential in this deck than lists headlined by other Vigilance/Command leaders.  This is due to the deck having a weaker mid-game than the builds that can make use of Energy Conversion Lab and strong mid-game units such as Gideon Hask.  However, we have an additional high impact big unit in Gideon’s Light Cruiser, so casting a Superlaser Blast before dropping units such as Gideon’s Cruiser or Avenger will oftentimes equate to wins.

Meta Calls/Flex Spots:

The Client (Dictated By Discretion): First up in our flex list, The Client.  The Client is a 3-cost, 2/5 Shielded ground unit that allows you to exhaust him (as an action) to place a bounty on a unit that heals 5 damage from a base.  Like with most of our 3-cost or less units, The Client is strictly better with Moff Gideon than other leaders within this deck archetype.  With Gideon, The Client can be used early game as a 3/5 (when attacking) shielded body.  This is a perfectly reasonable use for him since Gideon’s Light Cruiser can reanimate him later to start healing and lock up the game.  The Client is going to play better into aggro and mid-range decks, and may side out vs other slower decks, making him more of a meta/flex call.

Lieutenant Childsen (Death Star Prison Warden): Next in our flex list is Lieutenant Childsen.  Childsen is a 4-cost, 2/2 ground unit with Sentinel that allows you to reveal up to 4 Vigilance cards from your hand and give him an experience token for each card revealed this way, potentially making him as strong as a 6/6 sentinel.  Childsen is a strong call into a Sabine Wren heavy meta, as it coincides with her deploy turn and with 33 Vigilance cards in deck, it’s not hard to make him a solid 4/4 or 5/5 Sentinel.  Childsen plays weaker into mid-range and other control decks, and may be pushed out entirely if hand-hate decks, such as Aggression Rey, rise to prominence.  Childsencan also be awkward at times given your proclivity to hold onto valuable Command cards in the deck build, such as Darth Vader and Overwhelming Barrage.

Supercommando Squad: Up next is SupercommandoSquad, or the Ginyu Force, as we like to call it here at SAGA (shout out to all my DBZ fans out there!).  The Ginyu Force is strictly in the meta/flex list, as its generally just an okay unit.  As a 5-cost ground unit, it checks in as a Shielded 4/4 that gains Sentinel when it is upgraded (meaning it enters play with Sentinel).  I have it in the current list mostly as an option to bog down the opponent for Moff Gideon’s deploy turn, and as an Overwhelming Barrage target.  In testing, I have found opponents oftentimes attack into him (due to Sentinel) to knock off the shield (and therefore remove Sentinel) and then move onto base, Gideon, or another more valuable unit, allowing him to live to the next round to be an Overwhelming Barrage target or to then cast Vigilance on curve to defeat or heal and re-shield Ginyu Force to reactivate Sentinel again.

Black Sun Starfighter: Next on the list and firmly in the meta/flex position is the Black Sun Starfighter.  Black Sun enters play as a 3-cost, 3/2 space unit with Sentinel.  Overall, Black Sun is a somewhat underwhelming unit, but makes my current list as a thorn option against early space arena plays by aggro decks or Lurking Tie Phantom decks.  Black Sun can also be pulled by Darth Vader or played/reanimated by Gideon’s Light Cruiser.  Even at this stage of the game, this can force 3 damage into high impact space units like a Fett’s Firespray, setting up a Vigilance play on them the next round.

System Patrol Craft: Next up, another space Sentinel via System Patrol Craft.  Entering play as a 4-cost, 3/4 space unit with Sentinel, System Patrol Craft serves similar purpose and achieves similar outcomes as the Black Sun Starfighter above.  While System Patrol Craft cannot be fetched by Darth Vader of Gideon’s Light Cruiser, it does represent a sturdier Sentinel option, as well as a Vigilance card to help proc a stronger Lieutenant Childsen play.  In a slower meta, a higher impact unit such as the Clan Saxon Gauntlet could be considered here.

Takedown: The first of our non-unit cards on the meta/flex list is Takedown.  Takedown is a 4-cost Vigilance event that allows you to defeat a unit with 5 or less remaining HP.  Takedown has made my current mainboard to help combat Sabine Wren aggro decks and clean up valuable units in mid-range decks.  In a slower meta, this will side out for other removal events such as Fell The Dragon.

Rival’s Fall: And now our last card in the build, Rival’s Fall.  Rival’s Fall is a 6-cost Vigilance event that simply reads “defeat a unit”.  I have a token Rival’s Fall in the mainboard of this list as a catch all for problem leaders/units that I’m unable to reach with an Overwhelming Barrage or setup for a Takedown/Vigilance play.  Think: Darth Vader (leader), Emperor Palpatine (leader), Boba Fett (leader) with his armor, any large high impact unit, etc.  Even at just 1x, this feels like a near staple, but fell into more of a meta/flex spot given cards like Overwhelming Barrage exert so much control, and Superlaser Blast is a staple play of the deck anyhow.

Sideboard and Other Card Considerations:

​I’ll just touch briefly on the sideboard I have developed for this deck, as well as other card considerations, as these things will change drastically at times as the meta evolves.  Currently, I do like to have 2x Make An Opening in the sideboard, which can be brought in vs aggro, Boba, and Lurking Tie Phantom decks.  On the opposite end of that spectrum, I have 2x Fell The Dragon to bring in vs other control/ramp decks.  I also have 2x Palpatine’s Return for these slower decks, as well as the blue/red hero mid-range decks that thoroughly outclass my own mid-range units, making my big units indispensable.  Palpatine’s Return adds a layer of protection against removal events these decks play (e.g. Fell The Dragon and Rival’s Fall).  I also have an additional Rival’s Fall for slower matchups, and 2x Relentless/1x Devastator for control mirrors.

​Some other cards you could consider testing depending on the state of your local meta could include additional low cost sentinels (e.g. Phase III Dark Trooper), Embo (acts as a 3-cost 4/4 via Gideon ability), Incinerator Trooper, Devotion for additional healing, Traitorous (especially in a Lurking Tie Phantom heavy field), Clax Saxon Gauntlet (especially in a Boba/Firespray heavy field), Doctor Pershing as tech against hand-hate decks, Scanning Officer as tech against DJ decks, Regional Governor, Colonel Yularen + other officials + Emperor’s Royal Guard, Del Meeko into event heavy/control fields, Lom Pyke, etc.  If you have other exciting tech for this build, be sure to engage with the SAGA team on our Discord channel!

​This concludes part 1 of my examination of the Villainy Vigilance/Command Control deck archetype, focusing on Moff Gideon.  Be sure to tune in for my upcoming parts 2 and 3 of this series focusing on builds with 2 other leaders within this same archetype.  Thank you for your time and patronage!