Pilots: Risk vs. Reward
With Jump to Lightspeed we can now relive some of the most exciting scenes in the Star Wars universe have been the epic space battles with the outnumbered heroes fighting against the might of the villains. The most impactful cards that allow this are the new Pilots. These units have a ton of versatility and flexibility, but those upsides are not without potential risk and pitfalls. Let’s take a deeper dive into how we can approach these cards.
Are Pilots Worth Their Cost?
Many have pointed out in various forums that pilots are not worth the resources spent on them when cards like Confiscate exist. This is potentially short-sighted and a bit of a flawed view. Yes, pilots can be defeated for that one cost event. However, there are easily seen instances where it’s beneficial to put those pilot upgrades into play anyway. For example, BoShek can possibly draw two cards just by playing him as a pilot. This does not mean that cards like Confiscate aren’t a problem, or that we shouldn’t worry about them. We just need to look at the full picture when deciding what Pilots to play.
R2 – ARTOOOOOOOOO!
The R2-D2 pilot seems to have tremendous value. Most things that don’t have a cost probably appear that way. No resource cost for a +1/+1 and does not occupy the pilot slot. The only pseudo cost here is the action and the card. If your opponent immediately uses a Confiscate to defeat him, then they’ve also used an action and a card, plus the resource which may now have them off curve for that round. You, on the other hand, still have your full resources available. The risk for playing R2 is very low and with his unit side being a 1/4 Rebel for 1, he seems like an easy inclusion into many decks.
Chewbacca – Faithful First Mate
For three resource cost as a pilot, Chewbacca gives +3/+3. If the baseline for a stat increase is one resource for a +1/+1, then Chewy is a very efficient card. He also grants an incredible ability granted to the piloted ship of “This unit can’t be defeated or returned to hand by enemy card abilities.” That ship is now really tricky to deal with since it cannot be spot removed so you are looking at cards like Bamboozle, Power of the Dark Side or Superlaser Blast. The downside to playing Chewie as a pilot is the investment you have to make into him. If your opponent can respond with a confiscate or other Upgrade removal, then you could end up being down in the early tempo game significantly. You’ll win and lose games by playing him in round two, but it certainly seems like the reward is higher than the risk. Just be careful and fly casual.
Luke Skywalker – You Still With Me?
With the same three resource deploy cost as Chewbacca, Luke gives only slightly less of a bump on the hit point side with a +3/+2 and does not provide his ship with nearly the level of immunity. Where Luke shines is his own survivability. If he is defeated as a pilot, then he gets deployed on the ground as a 3/2 unit. This makes the risk of playing him nearly zero. If your opponent wants to use one resource and one card to Confiscate Luke away as a pilot, well now Luke is running around on the ground probably looking for AT-ATs to topple as a 3/2 unit. With all of that being said, Luke is not going to dominate either arena. It’s his stickiness and flexibility that may make him a safe pilot to play.
Interceptor Ace
General consensus is that this is not a good card. So why is it on our list? It’s good to understand what makes something potentially bad, so we can have this type of information when evaluating other pilots. The Ace has a pilot cost of 3 resources, adding +2/+3. This stat bonus is ok, but still slightly inefficient. He also adds Grit to whatever ship he is piloting. The Ace doesn’t add any survivability beyond the extra health. Beyond that, if he is defeated with something like a Confiscate or even a Disabling Fang Fighter, then you are left with nothing and your opponent is either ahead on board or on tempo. The risk is very high, with fairly low reward. For the Interceptor Ace, most people would likely agree he is not worth the risk.
General Notes
We’ve seen many people compare a pilot to something like a Lightsaber. Iden is a 3 cost pilot that gives +3/+3, so it must be equivalent to a General’s Blade, right? There is one distinct difference in that General’s Blade, and other non-Pilot upgrades, can be attached to your leader, which is much harder to deal with. Pilot’s can only go on non-Leader units, which is a fairly big discrepancy from a regular upgrade. Just something to keep in mind.
The piloting mechanic is some very fun and versatile design space. Hopefully when we get our hands on these cards in a couple of weeks they are equally fun to play with. Also hopeful that the mechanic is one that is here to stay and that we continue to see cards with pilot abilities in future sets.
Final Thought
Pilots, their versatility, and their impact as upgrades is helping the Jump to Lightspeed set in its goal of “making space matter”. Just be careful as it is important to keep in mind the risk versus reward when deck building and using this series of new cards.
Which pilots are you excited to start playing with? Do you think they will be “worth it”?