ICYMI, FFG hit us with a stream on Wednesday explaining the third new mechanic of the set, Smuggle. You can also check out the written article here that lays out most of the stream in written format.

Smuggling is a new keyword that allows players to access cards they previously put down as resources, potentially multiplying the number of plays available at any one time. Each card with the Smuggling keyword will have a [COST] in brackets that the player must pay, ignoring the card’s normal color and cost. Typically, this cost is resources, but the stream also revealed it can be literally anything- including aspect icons, which opens up some interesting deckbuilding spaces.

A couple of rules clarifications from the stream:
-Yes, you can use the resource you are smuggling to pay for its own Smuggle ability. So, unless you have a very good reason, you should never use other resources to pay for the ability!
-You can pay resources to cover a missing aspect icon for a Smuggle ability the same way you would for a card played from hand. So go ahead and smuggle that Hotshot Blaster in your mono-red deck at 5.

We can see why the designers have been so high on this mechanic- it’s a ton of fun. Without further ado, let’s give our first impressions on the cards that were spoiled!

Justin – Crosshair is interesting. The first thought is to try him in a GI Green deck to take advantage of the big booty with multiple swing opportunities and a boostable body. There’s also a world where this guy gets Entrenched and just sits around as an OB/Strike True ability target each round. It seems likely Crosshair will see competitive play in some fashion.

Tyler – I’m a big fan of the synergies for Green here. Will it be enough to make Tactical Advantage or Attack Pattern Delta a thing? Probably not. But the use cases Justin outlined are powerful and I’m excited to get Crosshair into play. He’s also got the Imperial and Trooper traits so more potential fuel for Veers and Tagge.

Jayson – Entrenched Crosshair is going to be a wholeee thing, but I’m not positive he’s as nuts as the early opinions of have made him sound. What he’s got is flexibility, and I think that’s likely to earn him slots all sorts of places. Thanks to those perfectly distributed stats, he can be everything from a voltron hard control piece to a nimble shield-popper. Time will tell.

Justin – 1 cost is the standard for exhaust effects, so if the capture mechanic ever takes off I expect this card will see a decent amount of action. Giving Vigilance access to an exhaust card might also help it see some more play beyond that.

Tyler – Our general take from Set 1 was that 1 seemed low for an exhaust effect, but I doubt this will see too much play unless capture becomes a meta force. The 1-for-1 effect cards like Moment of Peace just haven’t proved lucrative enough.

Jayson – Potent, but perhaps a bit small scale and low tempo to see play in Vigilance decks as we know them today. There’s definitely worse things to be than cheap, though.

Justin – A 3/5 spacer with sentinel for 5 isn’t the most exciting, and you likely don’t love the position you’re in if you ever need to smuggle this guy in for 7, but more bodies at different costs/points is welcome.

Tyler – Yeah, this guy is under curve at 5 and waaayyy under at 7 (even when you factor in the “draw a card” equivalent value of Smuggle). Think this is draft fodder.

Jayson – This will go down as the first revealed Smuggle unit, so it’s a shame that it’s kinda bad 😂 Unlike some Set 1 cards that I banked on being underwhelming but ended up being played everywhere just because there weren’t better alternatives (StarViper, Battalion), we will surely have enough options to render this guy unnecessary outside of Limited. It doesn’t even stack up all that well to Corellian Freighter. Yikes.

Justin – A 6 cost 5/5 that can be played from your resource pile instead of hand isn’t terrible… but likely bad enough value it won’t see play outside of draft. You’re never going to be super happy dropping this as a 2/2 for 2 otherwise.

Tyler – Yeah, another under curve draft card to introduce the community to the Smuggling mechanic. Maybe if there’s a leader that globally reduces smuggling costs you’d want to stock it?

Jayson – Good point Tyler- Smuggle discounts could make this a lot of fun. I also think Underworld trait boosts could earn it slots somewhere, but yeah, on paper it’s just a dud.

Justin – ECL on a stick with an additional cost is pretty interesting. As the Set 1 meta has shown, being able to give units ambush that weren’t designed with ambush in mind has been pretty powerful. Adding an extra resource or 2 to that equation might slow it down, but you also gain access to it mulitple times per match. Jury’s still out, but I suspect this card may be powerful in the right decks.

Tyler – Given how powerful ECL has been in the Set 1 meta, the idea that we’d get it on a stick is kind of mind blowing. Are we all ready for multiple Steadfast Battalion per game? This card feeds the current meta-dominant decks in a way that makes me really nervous. Also, there’s no cost limitation on this version!

Jayson – My current bet is that this is substantially less busted than people are saying. Ambush is great, but tacking on additional costs to it isn’t always going to be a no brainer. This will for sure see play, and it should be hilarious in an “Oops, All Ambush!” shell that’s still running ECL, but I don’t really think it’s got great odds of being game-warping.

Justin – While I’m bummed we didn’t get more Han Solo art holding his iconic blaster, the card itself is quite welcome! A +2/0 1 cost upgrade is great for aggro, throw in the ability to play it for 3 from the resource pile and gain some tempo as well? I’m a big fan! The only thing currently holding this card back from being auto include in hero aggro is the lack of Heroism aspect (and potentially the need for Cunning to smuggle).

Tyler – I like the spot the designers have hit here. It helps aggro decks, but specifically the ones NOT running FACIBI. The introduction of cards that are extra good in a very particular color combo is super cool as well!

Jayson – This sucker is cool! 1 for +2 is pretty nice math, and the Smuggle portion is a nice piece of added flexibility and future tempo since you often want to resource upgrades early anyway. It could be a staple if things shake out the right way.

Justin – Cards that already have a Bounty on them with pushed stats was not something I expected to see when they were initially announced! I’m curious to see how far they push these units, as aggro decks and combo decks are always happy to see more powerful units that they can flog to win the game before the consequences kick in!

Tyler – I’ll take value now on a ship that you may or may not be able to kill in the future! Not too worried about the bounty penalty being a card draw either- improving my opponent’s hand from 4 cards to 5 cards is only 25% better.

Jayson – Yeah, this is instantly one of the best Cunning Hero cards we’ve seen, and should be a really fun piece of cheap aggressive decks. Really fun design space.

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That’s it for the smuggling mechanic spoilers! What are you most excited about for Set 2? With three new mechanics and a lot of fan favorites, there’s plenty of options!