Article 5B – Competitive Tournament Decks – Profit – by Chris Gogolen (Please note, this deck/article has not been updated since the Players Committee’s reset of all Virtual Cards)
Introduction
The Profit objective has been a fan favorite since the day it was released, as it captures the events surrounding one of the more popular sequences of the film, the rescue of Han from Jabba’s Palace. It was released in the Enhanced Jabba’s Palace expansion pack, which came out right around the Death Star 2 set. It can be picked up on CategoryOneGames for $.75-$2 , or something that you can probably trade for or borrow from another player. This decklist is slightly different from some of the standard versions that are posted in other areas of the PC site. As I mentioned in prior articles in the series, I have tried to avoid using many cards from the Episode 1 sets as well as the Reflections 2 & 3 Premiums. At the end of this decklist, you will find some cards from those sets that I recommend you try to acquire to help make this deck stronger.
Starting: 9
1. Anger Fear Aggression-V + Defensive shields
2. You can either Profit by this/…Or Be Destroyed
3. Tatooine: Jabba’s Palace
4. Jabba’s Palace: Audience Chamber
5. Han-V(originally from Jedi Pack)
6. Heading for the Medical Frigate
7. Seeking An Audience-v(from Jabba’s Palace Sealed Deck)
8. I must be allowed to speak-v
9. Quick Draw-v
Locations: 3
10. Tatooine: Lars Moisture Farm-v
11. Hoth War Room
12. Yavin 4 War Room
Characters: 15
13. Luke Skywalker, Strong in the Force x3 (virtual from A Jedi’s Concentration- a Tatooine expansion Common. If you don’t have access to this card, which can be bought online for about .50, you could try using Master Luke instead)
14. Luke Skywalker, Strong in the Force
15. Luke Skywalker, Strong in the Force
16. Obi-wan Kenobi-V x3
17. Obi-wan Kenobi-V
18. Obi-wan Kenobi-V
19. Princess Leia- v x2
20. Princess Leia- v
21. Lando with Vibro axe x2( another Jabba’s Palace sealed deck card)
22. Lando with Vibro axe
23. Yoda, Great Warrior x2 (Virtual from Yoda’s Hope, a Dagobah card)
24. Yoda, Great Warrior x2
25. Chewbacca-v
26. R2-D2-V
27. R-3po
Devices: 2
28. Luke’s Bionic Hand(from Bionic Hand)
29. Tatooine Utility Belt-V
Weapons: 4
30. Luke’s Lightsaber
31. Obi-wan’s Lightsaber
32. Anakin’s Lightsaber-v
33. Jedi Lightsaber- v
Effects: 9
34. Sai’tor Kal’Fas- V
35. Rycar Ryjerd-V
36. A Gift
37. Imperial Atrocity-V x2
38. Imperial Atrocity-V
39. Flash of Insight-V x2
40. Flash of Insight-V
41. Projection of a Skywalker
42. Lightsaber Proficiency
Interrupts: 18
43. Rebel Barrier x2
44. Rebel Barrier
45. Blaster Deflection x2
46. Blaster Deflection
47. Rebel Leadership-V x2
48. Rebel Leadership-V
49. Let the Wookie Win- V x2(if you don’t have these there is a V card Either Way you Win from another Tatooine common you could substitute)
50. Let the Wookie Win- V
51. Escape Pod-V
52. Houjix
53. Droid Shutdown
54. Don’t forget the Droids- V
55. Fallen Portal
56. Sorry about the Mess
57. The Force is Strong with this One
58. A Jedi’s Resilience x2(another Tatooine common)
59. A Jedi’s Resilience
60. Nabrun Leids
Cards to try to acquire:
Wesa Gotta Grand Army x2/Boss Nass’s Chambers- Theed Palace commons- replace the 2nd war room & two interrupts
Obi-wan’s Journal- Reflections 2
Corran Horn- Reflections 2
Padme Naberrie- Tatooine- play her Virtual version
Threepio with his parts showing- Tatooine
The Bith Shuffle/Desperate Reach- Reflections 2
Leia, Rebel Princess- Reflections 3
Cards to Consider adding:
Disarmed
Leia’s Blaster Rifle – instead of Anakin’s Lightsaber
Dodge
Run Luke Run
Advantage
We’re Doomed
It Could be Worse
Redeemed Apprentice(virtual from I feel the Conflict- a Death Star 2 card)
Strategy Section:
The purpose of this deck is to free Han from the Audience Chamber quickly, and to win by doing a combination of direct damage from your Objective and from force drains. This deck puts some pressure on the opponent early, has a little bit of retrieval, and focuses solely on the ground. Your opponent is highly likely to play Battle Order very early in the game, so expect to be paying to force drain all game. Fortunately your characters deploy for a reasonable cost(5 or less) and your goal is to set up on your sites, and only go to your opponent in special circumstances.
Until you free Han and flip your objective, you cannot force drain on Tatooine, unless you get Obi-wan Kenobi down. His game text allows you to drain despite the Objective restrictions, so if the Dark Side piles up 4-6 guys in the Audience Chamber, then set up with Obi-wan and friends at Jabba’s Palace. You can drain at that site and they can’t drain you in the audience chamber, so it will be up to them to match you by setting up drains somewhere else, or by moving some or all of their guys outside to you. Then you can decide to battle on your terms or shuffle guys around.
Turn 1– Activate at least 5 -use Quick Draw to get out Sai’tor, and while in your deck, look for the farm. If it’s in there, then use I must be allowed to speak to deploy it. If your opponent started two aliens in the Audience Chamber, then you want to set up a little slower and not rush into things on turn 1. If they did not, you can consider deploying Luke or Obi-wan if they were in your opening hand to the Audience Chamber(only if their matching Lightsaber was also in your reserve deck). If not, you can also use Seeking an Audience to deploy R2-d2 from your reserve deck to Jabba’s Palace(for a total of 3 force. 2 to use the effect to deploy him, but -2 force from your objective.) From there you can look to set up A Gift if your opponent is using a deck that is likely to have aliens in it. Most DS decks currently use at least Boba Fett/Jango Fett/Slave 1 for their space package, so A gift will at minimum reduce that force drain by 1. I wouldn’t bother with A Gift if you were playing against a deck like Walkers or Ralltir Operations, which are very Imperial-heavy decks.
R2-D2 has the word Heroic in his lore, so if you don’t need to put him Undercover with A Gift, you can use him to help protect Han.
Heroic characters must be targeted first by weapons during battle unless they are already hit or not allowed to be targeted. The total weapon destiny against a Heroic character is +1. So if R2 is at the site with Han, the dark side would have to try and hit R2 first, which can definitely come in handy. You can also then use Droid Shutdown to cancel the targeting to keep R2 alive. For more on the Heroic rules, check out the Advanced Rulebook, Appendix D page 2.
Turn 2– You will activate at least 7 force. If the Audience Chamber is weak, now is a good time to start trying to rescue Han(the most common way is to simply control the location. If you control, you can free him at any time you want to.) Luke & Obi-wan are your heavy hitters, Yoda and Leia work well also. Leia adds a destiny with Han, and you can use Anakin’s Saber to cancel a weapon destiny draw targeting anyone at her site(just as long as you didn’t swing the lightsaber already- so this is a good defensive weapon and can help protect Han.) Seeking an Audience can deploy Leia directly from your Reserve deck, and then you can use both Sai’tor to get her matching weapon, and I must be allowed to speak to take a card from your used pile. It can also get you Lando, who adds a battle destiny when he is on Tatooine, and who’s weapon can be used to try and exclude someone from the battle, and tilt things in your favor.
Rest of Game
Ideally you will get 2-3 guys into the Audience Chamber, and 2 others at the Palace. You put the Tatooine Utility Belt on Han, and now your damage from the objective can’t be reduced below 2, and must come from their Reserve Deck. Split up guys with lightsabers at each site, and you have drains of 2 and 2 also. As the game goes on, you might be able to stretch out to the 3rd site but I wouldn’t do that early on it the game. You have enough things working for you that you don’t need to rush this. If you are able to add Padme into your deck, that is another source of direct damage that will help grind the game in your favor. If they block one of your drains with an Undercover spy, you have Sorry about the Mess to kill them, or can use R-3po to cause them to lose the same 2 force a turn that you would be paying 3 to drain for. If you don’t need R-3po, you can also sacrifice him with Don’t Forget the Droids-V to really gain an advantage in a battle.
This deck does take a little adjustment to how you want to play your first 2-3 turns based on what your opponent’s deck is, but the basic premise and design is straightforward and most of the card interactions come from your objective and the effects you start on the table. It’s a fun deck, using many of the most popular characters from the franchise that is also competitive enough for tournament play.
Good luck, and don’t catch any hibernation sickness 🙂
