There are some fun leader designs afoot at the FFG headquarters…

Below are from FFG of course and also Underwhelming Barrage which is a good watch for things other than previews too.

Agent Kallus

We saw the other day how a new heroic leader could cheat on resources for out of aspect cards.  Now we get a spin on the villain side.

Being able to pay 1 and negate all aspect penalties could be very powerful.  The one extra cost for a double or even triple penalty could prevent up to 5 resource cost and make for some pretty interesting opportunities.

Designers seem to be learning.  A similar leader in prior sets could have easily been a 6 resource to flip 4/7 unit with no additional text on the unit side.  Now we get the earlier deployments plus an extra healing ability.  Hopefully this is a trend that continues

It’s hard to say exactly what cards may be good with him.  A quick look at some good stuff to use with him: Kelleran Beq, Zeb, Queen Amidala, Han Solo JTL, The Mandalorian JTL, Chewbacca, Rio Durant, Ahsoka, Sabine’s Masterpiece, Blue Leader, maybe Mace, Ki-Adi if you go force.  In the future eternal format it’s hard to argue against playing Vigilance and Cunning in the same deck for 5 cost each.

One question could just be which leader, Hera or Kallus, makes Sabine’s Masterpiece more ridiculous?

Lepi Lookout

Bunnies are now in SWU apparently.  First thought was that this was new to Star Wars, however it was pointed out that characters with rather long ears have existed in the galaxy for quite some time.

Crafty Smuggler was a 2/2 shielded for 2 cost Underworld unit that saw decent amounts of play in the past.  So it’s possible that 3/1 shielded for 2 may also be good.  Not sure how much the overwhelm will actually matter on something that small, but it’s there.

From the preview article we also had this tidbit “There is a cycle of six Common units with two non-hero/villain aspects and two different keywords (one for each aspect). What keywords do you think are paired together on each card?”  It’s very possible that this is the first card of that series which we are seeing.

Chewbacca

Luckily Energy Conversion Lab and Timely Intervention are rotating out of Premier.  Chewbacca doesn’t do anything other than add a pile of stats to the board that can be hard to deal with, but he’s a Wookiee.  We’re not looking for Thrawn levels of tactical intrigue from him.  Chewie, go beat up some little guys!

Chewie could easily end up being out-classed in the long run, but right after a rotation, when the card pool is most limited, a sticky 4-drop that can become more threatening as the game progresses could be just what Hero Vigilance Command is looking for.  The design is fitting for an angry Wookiee.

Lawbringer

We also got a big blue triangle in Lawbringer to help replace some of the other Imperial ships that are rotating out of Premier.  Lawbringer does what you want from an 8 cost capital ship.  Big stats, when played effect and on attack effect that both affect the entire board.  Significant potentially just because it’s a legendary card.

Fett’s Firespray

The next new variation of Fett’s Firespray looks a little overcosted by 1 resource based on its stats, but this is a case where it’s probably all designed correctly.  7 resources is typically a big swing point in many SWU games.  If Firespray cost 5, ramping you to 7 resources a turn early may be too impactful.  If its power was higher it would trade with too many units. If it cost less but with less power, then it would rarely trigger the credit.  Between the 4/6 stats, Ambush and the ramping, it’s likely designed correctly.  

Will it be good though?  That’s hard to tell.  If the meta has a lot of ships you are interested in ambushing on round 5 and then following up with something like Lawbringer, then it could definitely make the cut.  Firespray gets a rather vague “depends on the meta” rating.