Spectre Team Preview!

[brettpkelly 687]

Here are my thoughts on the spectre team archetype!

[buckero0 1,091]

Force user, smuggler command cards with some melee cards and you're set.

[Knallhase 28]

I'm with you. The buff is just to strong and the new figures individually too weak to be played any other way than  as the complete team. I still feel that kanan is pretty slow and might not be able too attack often before he dies. I guess tools for the job would be an auto include because Ezra Sabine and hera could use it. We'll see how it works out but I'm also afraid of having a lot of mirror matches when playing this list where only some ccs might be different.

[Fightwookies 988]

this is a list that everyone now has to practice and prepare for. it's a very solid - good squad with low barriers to entry for new players. Overall, i think this a good thing for the game.

Now, I'm just waiting for a 5 cost upgrade to make the 6 original core heros into a group of world beaters.

[Fourtytwo 1,108]

The new figures too weak to be played in any other way - what a timid, narrow and uncreative view on new cool elements in a game that has so much room for creativity and experimentation beyond the lame-gamer modus operandi of just looking for what's supposedly the most effective. Gideon-R2-C3PO in every list, that's the dead-end of this kind of thinking.

[MadFuhrer 515]

I still think that all of the spectre crew are usable in other lists.  maybe slightly over costed, but nothing egregious.  Kanan has really nice synergy with the upgrade as he can go, force your opponent to chose their next activation, and then use the upgrade to have someone else put damage into the group about to go.

[buckero0 1,091]

5 minutes ago, MadFuhrer said:

I still think that all of the spectre crew are usable in other lists.  maybe slightly over costed, but nothing egregious.  Kanan has really nice synergy with the upgrade as he can go, force your opponent to chose their next activation, and then use the upgrade to have someone else put damage into the group about to go.

I agree, Sabine, Zeb and even Ezra are good in they're own right. With the Spectre upgrade, they become really, really good though, in an almost too good way.

[TheWelcomeMat88 429]

Yeah to say that these figures are unviable outside of Spectre Cell feels like an insult to the designers and presumptuous (well maybe Kanan, but the other 3 new ones are fine). The designers did a great job balancing the cool and thematic factor of getting to run spectre team while also not overpowering the units. Idk how anyone can condemn them for "limiting" our listbuilding when they very much just gave us a whole new archetype to play with, and therefore competitive incentive to put these guys on the table together and not just the "cool" factor (for example, the fixes allow Luke Leia Han and Chewie which FFG mentioned and is awesome- but so so not competitive and therefore never seen at high level tournaments, and how much wouldn't we want to be able to actually run them together??).

[Fightwookies 988]

19 hours ago, buckero0 said:

I agree, Sabine, Zeb and even Ezra are good in they're own right. With the Spectre upgrade, they become really, really good though, in an almost too good way.

They are pretty good individually as figures, but the group itself may still have some problems. They are basically a team of individuals, which is fairly thematic for spectre crew.

6 figures isn’t enough to play a lot in the objective game. They’ll be ok on some control missions, but are not going to be good on any kind of crate retrieval mechanic. It’s going to hit hard when you do lose a figure.

Scattered traits will make the command deck a little disjointed. There’s not a way to enhance card draw either, so you may not consistently have cards to lean on. 

Popularity of spies is a detriment to them. They struggle for card draw so strat shift or intel leak will hit them hard, and they have absolutely no way to counter. 

[erlucius90 150]

Spectre Team Preview: a Bunch of individuals, and then there's Sabine. Oh lord, what the heck is Sabine. FFG has taken the Mandalorian trait **** seriously for how much she is OP.

[ManateeX 1,044]

46 minutes ago, Fightwookies said:

Scattered traits will make the command deck a little disjointed. There’s not a way to enhance card draw either, so you may not consistently have cards to lean on. 

Popularity of spies is a detriment to them. They struggle for card draw so strat shift or intel leak will hit them hard, and they have absolutely no way to counter. 

The one thing they do have going for them in terms of command deck/card draw is Heroic Effort.  I mean it's far from ideal (for one thing it requires one of them to die) but you don't have to feel quite as bad about including a card that only one member of the team can use.  

[buckero0 1,091]

◄(3) ▪ On the Lam
◄(2) ▪ Run for Cover
◄(2) ▪ Tools for the Job
◄(1) ▪ Black Market Prices
◄(1) ▪ Negation
◄(1) ▪ Strength in Numbers
◄(1) ▪ Force Push
◄(1) ▪ Deathblow
◄(1) ▪ Signal Jammer
◄(1) ▪▪ Pummel
◄(0) ▪ Toxic Dart
◄(0) ▪ Stimulants
◄(0) ▪ Element of Surprise
◄(0) ▪ Officers Training
◄(0) ▪ Rebel Graffiti

 

is where i'll start, you could a couple other cards in for a more specialized approach (like force user cards for Ez or Kanan or Hunter cards for Sabine) Hera should be fine for at least 2 attacks with her buffs. So the leader and smuggler cards are a must I think. Prepared for Battle would be good if you could draw it early.

 

question :: can Zeb use Pummel and get an extra attack? Does he have the melee type or because its not printed in the corner of his card, no?

Edited August 22, 2018 by buckero0

[brettpkelly 687]

Urgency is an auto-include in this list for me. Force Rush is really good as well. Take Initiative is good enough even though you only have 6 acts. I'd probably upgrade Signal Jammer to Heart of Freedom, drop toxic darts, strength in numbers and stimulants, and add in force rush, urgency and take init. 

i'd also think about dropping run for cover for second chance or dying lunge

[brettpkelly 687]

24 minutes ago, buckero0 said:

question :: can Zeb use Pummel and get an extra attack? Does he have the melee type or because its not printed in the corner of his card, no?

Zeb can't use pummel. Bo-staff strike is a special ability that gives a melee attack. Pummel doesn't allow you to do two bo-staff strikes. I still think it's a good card with Kanan/Ezra though

[Weatherwax2099 6]

22 minutes ago, buckero0 said:

question :: can Zeb use Pummel and get an extra attack? Does he have the melee type or because its not printed in the corner of his card, no?

 It's a little weird thematically that Zeb is a ranged attacker not melee and thus is vulnerable to the melee stuff that hits ranged attackers harder and he can't use a lot of brawler cards. If anything, reversing his abilities to let him do a ranged attack would seem much more logical.

[buckero0 1,091]

1 hour ago, brettpkelly said:

Urgency is an auto-include in this list for me. Force Rush is really good as well. Take Initiative is good enough even though you only have 6 acts. I'd probably upgrade Signal Jammer to Heart of Freedom, drop toxic darts, strength in numbers and stimulants, and add in force rush, urgency and take init. 

i'd also think about dropping run for cover for second chance or dying lunge

definately. Urgency is a must.

I knew I'd forget something. There are so many good cards now, you can really pick a core of about 10 cards with this list that are a must, and the rest are "suit to taste"

Balance of the Force if you want to fit Assassinate or something in, I like the Extra Armor just to make your figures last a little longer. Card draw will be a problem which is why Officer's Training and Black Market Prices might be good picks.

[Fightwookies 988]

2 hours ago, brettpkelly said:

Zeb can't use pummel. Bo-staff strike is a special ability that gives a melee attack. Pummel doesn't allow you to do two bo-staff strikes. I still think it's a good card with Kanan/Ezra though

Could be really good with Ezra’s Brash movement. 

[TheWelcomeMat88 429]

2 hours ago, Fightwookies said:

Could be really good with Ezra’s Brash movement. 

Also it works on Chopper, if need be. 

[erlucius90 150]

4 minutes ago, TheWelcomeMat88 said:

Also it works on Chopper, if need be. 

[TheWelcomeMat88 429]

13 minutes ago, erlucius90 said:

I literally just watched that episode a few days ago. Chopper's a boss!

[erlucius90 150]

I hope you are on your second run and you have already seen the finale because that's just legen...wait for it...DARY!

That famous comment every fan Made "Filoni is a Genius"? Nothing more true. Oh, if he only had the strains for episode IX instead of Jar Jar Abrams...

Edited August 22, 2018 by erlucius90

[buckero0 1,091]

12 hours ago, erlucius90 said:

That famous comment every fan Made "Filoni is a Genius"? Nothing more true. 

Im glad you enjoyed it. But it was far from "legendary" or "genius".

Better than average for a cartoon.

[erlucius90 150]

1 minute ago, buckero0 said:

Im glad you enjoyed it. But it was far from "legendary" or "genius".

Better than average for a cartoon.

Hundred times better than Episodes 1,2,3,7,8 and the first season of CW

[DerBaer 1,154]

On ‎8‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 7:40 PM, Knallhase said:

I'm with you. The buff is just to strong and the new figures individually too weak to be played any other way than  as the complete team. I still feel that kanan is pretty slow and might not be able too attack often before he dies. I guess tools for the job would be an auto include because Ezra Sabine and hera could use it. We'll see how it works out but I'm also afraid of having a lot of mirror matches when playing this list where only some ccs might be different.

Sabine, Hera and Chopper are REALLY strong in my book ... Kanan, Ezra and Zeb are just good, but not great. But I wouldn't call them "too weak".

[a1bert 3,722]

I see Spectre Cell more as compensation for poor trait synergy than just boosting underpowered figures.

If the individual figures were A-tier by themselves (in a vacuum), they would simply be snatched into a mercenary hunter list (or another suitable meta list), and that doesn't promote list variation in the meta...