As Justin wrote in one of our first articles, the SWU starters feature a solid lineup of competitive cards. The Hero side of the starter has Luke Skywalker as its leader and the Administrator’s Tower as its base, which we wrote about last month. But what about other color combinations for Luke? Turns out the Energy Conversional Lab and the Green cards it unlocks are a powerful combination in their own right.

We’ll try and keep this deck updated as it evolves on our SWUDB account.

This deck doesn’t feature a singular power card that drives it, but instead relies on a solid cast of efficient units, augmented with Luke’s shields, to achieve maximum midrange value. It’s complemented by the ramp capabilities of Resupply to reach big payoff cards like Luke and Home One.

Play Style

The deck has a very even spread of unit costs, so you shouldn’t have to mulligan often. The one thing I will ALWAYS keep is a copy of Resupply. Being 1 turn ahead on resources makes a huge difference in how the deck functions. Don’t sweat the lost turn from playing the ramp event- even if you’re facing aggro- your large quantities of Restore will let you claw back the damage later. Energy Conversion Lab will also help you bounce back quickly.

Using Luke’s shield ability well is key. Unless you’re facing Vader and his damage ping, smart players will typically play under the current curve (i.e. play a 2-cost unit with 3 resources) and then supplement with a shield. A shielded 2-cost unit will give you a lot more opportunities to outplay your opponent, so don’t feel pressured to play on curve.

In the midgame, you’ve got great options for controlling either lane. Bright Hope or Entrenched can lock down a troublesome unit in the space lane. Energy Conversion Lab can allow Yoda or Kanan to Ambush their way into play, killing a unit and restoring base health at the same time!

The key to this deck winning or losing is whether your opponent can instantly kill Luke the turn he comes out. With Resupply, that happens Round 4 and your opponent will have a much smaller window to pull off the feat of one-shotting him. Ideally, the play to is protect him behind an Obi-Wan to prevent opponents from attacking him immediately. Backup options include having General Dodonna in play or having a Binds in hand to prevent shenanigans. Luke’s Lightsaber can also be an absolute blowout if Luke is damaged. Bottom line is that Luke needs to attack and produce a shield to control the board going forward. Once Luke is up and running, the game should swing in your favor. If the game does happen to go long, Home One can join the fight and give all your units Restore.

What cards are we looking to add?

• Cards that leverage the Force trait – The designers have teased repeatedly that the Force trait is the most powerful one in the set. Currently, we only have Binds and Obi-Wan to take advantage of it. I’d welcome a new event or upgrade that leveraged our four Force-users.
• Shield augmentation – Luke provides the shields, but we don’t have any units or events that key off of having said shields. Ideally, we get a card that lets us synergize off being shielded.
• A chump – The deck has room for a better 2-drop.
• Another way to ramp – A Hero version of DJ Deathstar would be amazing.

What cards are on the chopping block?

• Rebel Pathfinder – He’s the unit that fits the need in the 2-cost spot, but we’d rather have someone more synergistic.
• Takedown – Takedown is good, but I’ve noticed I rarely manage to trade up with it. When we have other events, I wonder if it will still be in the deck.
• Wedge Antilles – While there’s plenty of vehicle targets in the deck to gain value from his ability, I rarely find opportunities where I’m happy to drop him unless I’m already in a “win-more” state.
• Alliance X-Wing – The barebones 2 drop in space for Hero, I’d love to slot something in here that just does more.

That’s all for today! Have you gotten any games in with Green Luke? What’s your favorite deck to play so far? Check out some gameplay below from last week and keep an eye on our YouTube in the coming weeks if you want to more Luke in action!