Boba has had quite a week. He advanced to force a Boba-on-Boba finals in the TTI league. He took 2nd and 3rd in a French tournament. Most chillingly, it took all 8 spots at the Unlimited Launch Event in the UK. In the face of that kind of domination, it’s fair of people to ask if Boba (specifically Boba/Green) isn’t just Tier 1, maybe he’s Tier 0? Today, I’m going to argue that he isn’t and look at what we can do to counter this powerful and popular deck.

What makes Boba/Green Tier 1?

Simply, it’s all the good cards. Boba is the game’s first GoodCards.dek, combining the most powerful-in-class tools. It has the best ground unit (Vader), the best space unit (Firespray), the best event (Overwhelming Barrage), and the best overall leader (Boba Fett.) It combines all these with the powerful green tools of Superlaser Tech (the best ramp card) and Energy Conversion Lab (the best base.) There are some great videos out there about how to combine these cards and play this deck to its fullest.

Given that abundance of riches, why wouldn’t we elevate Boba/Green to Tier 0 and proclaim it the deck-of-decks? The answer lies in interaction. While Boba is really powerful it doesn’t restrict our ability to play the game in a basic way that we associate with a Tier 0 deck. Some of y’all might remember the Poe/Maz days of Star Wars: Destiny. That deck was so dominant precisely because it was nearly impossible to interact with. Everything just happened instantly with no chance to counter it. Boba/Green in SWU isn’t on that same level. So, let’s take a look at three things we can do to counter Boba in our games.

Disrupt their Ramp and Boba Flip

A large part of Boba’s power comes from his ability to ready up to 3 resources the turn he’s played. A powerful leader, a 5-drop, and a 3-drop can all hit the table the same turn. This often happens round three because the Boba player has successfully ramped. So, what strategies can we employ to counter that?

• Disrupt the Ramp. One option is to go to space early and deprive Superlaser Technician of a valid target. Since Boba has no way to self-kill the tech, he’ll just sit there as unrealized value. You can also make more niche plays like naming him with Regional Governor, playing Force Lightning to kill him without triggering his defeat ability, or playing Del Meeko to put Resupply out of turn 2 reach.
• Kill Boba Quickly. If he’s going to come out, you can copy one of his best plays by using ECL to play Steadfast Battalion to kill him. Another option is to use Force Throw and target yourself with a 7+ cost unit to deal the requisite 7 damage. Finally, you can play a reach event to give your turn 2 play the extra strength it needs to trade up to him. Suprise Strike works excellently for this.
• Counter with a 5+ Health Unit. Since much of the Boba turn relies on killing a unit to trigger his ability, dropping something difficult to kill can present problems for the Boba player. Some good options in this department are Lt Childsen, Ruhk, Chewbacca or Kanan.

Have a Plan for Firespray

Let’s assume things went well and you successfully used the tools above to counter the Boba player’s flip turn. Great! But you’re not out of the woods yet. The best closer unit in the game, Fett’s Firespray is right around the corner. How can we handle it?

• Play Blue Events/Upgrades. Blue has some of the best counters for Firespray. Vanquish can trade up to defeat it, Power of the Dark side will work if they’re short on boardstate, and Entrenched can effectively brick it in space.
• Play Space Sentinels. In this department, Bright Hope is the best option, but System Patrol Craft and Redemption are also good. They’ll all give you time to draw other counters or win on the ground.
• Use your Reach. Again, cards like Suprise Strike or Fleet Lieutenant can help to trade up into Boba’s powerful unit.

Get Under Their Shields

One final feature of Boba/Green is that it uses several shielded units to help close the game and maintain board – namely Crafty Smuggler and Seventh Fleet Defender. If left unchecked, these units can trade 2-for-1 into your units or push base damage. There are a few ways to counter though:

• Blue Removal. Make an Opening, Vigilance and Takedown all offer the ability to defeat a unit regardless of its shield. Make an Opening and Vigilance can also heal your base, making this a potent trade-up.
• Traitorous. What’s better than them having a shielded unit? You having that shielded unit! Since Boba/Green runs some of the best 3-drops in the game, having a traitor handy makes a big difference.

So how can we put some of these ideas into practice and achieve that elusive >50% win rate against Boba? Here’s an off-meta deck that combines many of the aforementioned tools to score some wins. Hope it works for you too!

Keep your eyes on our YouTube channel for some gameplay with these decks next week!