Shootout : Vader vs Maul

The battle of the heavyweights. The star from Mustafar.  The Darth burned in the hearth.  Vader, the one-time crusader and relentless invader.   Darth Vader goes up against the Sith with the scythe.  Maul who took a fall after the brawl with Obi Wan. Will this be a one-punch knockout or will they go the distance?

The tale of the tape shows a lot of similarities between these two top end bombs. Both villain command, both 7-cost and both have Ambush.  So what sets these guys apart and where might you choose one over the other?

Darth Vader has been one of the most powerful legendary cards since set 1.  Coming in at 5/7 with Ambush means he will generally be able to finish off an opponents unit while surviving for some net-positive tempo. This makes him, most of the time, an inherent 2 for 1, which would be pretty good if it ended there.  When we add in the ability to search the top 10 cards for another 3 cost or less villain card then he becomes a consistent 3 for 1, and possibly even a 4 for 1 in certain decks if you can find two smaller units.  The value he brings to the game is incredibly good against slower decks.  Control decks, for example, are often trading 1 for 1 with cards like Power of the Dark Side or Takedown.  It can sometimes be a challenge for them to catch up from Darth Vader’s on-board value. The Imperial tag also brings some synergy with cards like Tarkin and the real hero of the Empire, General Veers.

Maul, on the other hand, plays very differently.  He also comes into play with ambush, but pairing it with Overwhelm is a deadly combo.  He will most often be a 2 for 1 when you play him since his 7 power can take out the large majority of units in the game and he’s no slouch on the back end either with 6 health.  He has the benefit of being able to one-shot most leaders.  In a meta that includes a lot of Jango, Maul’s ability could be priceless since he can defeat Jango before Jango has a chance to exhaust Maul.  The overwhelm ability also lends itself to much more mid-range aggressive decks.  He costs 7, so you will still need to work to get him out, but he can swing a game by removing a unit and putting your opponent closer to death all in one action.  He also adds the Underworld tag, which can come in very handy in the right decks, like Cad Bane.

You can’t go wrong with either of the heavyweights if you are playing a villain command deck.  You’ll rarely be upset to play either one on 7 resources.  You may lean towards Vader if you are playing a slower grindier deck, like Qi-Ra Green.  If you are playing a more tempo-oriented deck, like Jango or Cad Green, you may prefer to have the fire power of Maul. 

Another consideration is $ cost.  Vader is legendary and comes in at $40 while Maul is only rare with a cost of under $5.  When you consider this, Maul may be the clear winner for someone getting into the game.

On a final note, Darth Vader does have an awesome Convention Exclusive variant.  If you are into bling, then Vader may be your villain of choice.  Either way, there is no wrong choice, so I would say this one goes 12 rounds and will probably be decided with a sequel in 3 years where they gain each other’s respect and become best friends.

Which Dark Side Force user are you picking to surprise your opponents with?