Tyler: Today, we’re joined by our guest author, Matt! @fattyg_

A big thanks to Matt for sharing with us all. We hope y’all enjoy his off-meta decks!

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To Meta, or Not to Meta…? That is the question that you will hopefully have answered for yourself after delving into these three off-meta decks. Here, you’ll find a quick synopsis of the deck as a whole, key cards, any results, and my personal opinion. Without further delay, let’s take a look at our first deck:

Vonreg Yellow

List: https://swudb.com/deck/DHoIrIUsWVTlX   

Who it’s for: Players who prefer aggressive, fast-paced styles, playing cheap units and rushing the opponent down.

Who it isn’t for: Players preferring longer, value-oriented styles, playing cards that give multiple effects in one action, and outlasting the opponent.

Synopsis: Vonreg yellow is a variation of most basic aggro decks found in Cunning, with a few exceptions that make it stand out. In the past, if you wanted to play a beat-down style deck, the most optimal strategy was to use a variation of Aggression, Heroism, and Command, most notably the Sabine ECL deck. However, Set 4 has brought a few new tools that Vonreg uses quite well compared to other aggro leaders, allowing some more flexibility for other colors outside of the tried-and-true to flex themselves a little bit. This list has most of the normal cards you’d expect with this combination, but there’s the addition of a few cards, particularly…

Key Cards:

Vonreg’s TIE Interceptor: This aptly named ship fits perfectly for Vonreg’s game plan and is an unusually well-statted unit for an aggro deck. Unlike the other units on this list, this is a unit that you want to keep around for as long as possible. The scaling effects, corresponding with its power, pairs perfectly with the new piloting system, and especially with Vonreg as he comes out at the same resource Sabine does and boosts his Interceptor to its threshold while giving a generous buff of 3 health. On turn 3, this combo can be a menace and destroys most roadblocks, save for bounces and exhausts, the latter of which can be solved by our next key card…

Koiogran Turn: We’ve already seen multiple forms of readying exhausted units in the past: Grand Inquisitor, Keep Fighting, etc. This event stands out as being the same cost as Keep Fighting with greater reach- while sacrificing flexibility. Coincidentally, the upper limit of this event is right at the threshold of a fully-powered Vonreg’s Interceptor, making these two quite the nice pair. This event can be an exhaust counter or a finisher and has proven itself to be a powerful addition.

Results: At the time of writing, this decklist took home 7th at the Bothan $2k Invitational in Atlanta. For a deck with major competitors in the same space like Sabine, Quinlan Tarkintown, and Cad Tarkintown, this is an impressive feat and a sign that there may be more than meets the eye. (Note: This result was pre-TDR suspension, please keep that in mind and reference our list instead of the tournament’s in the future.)

Final Thoughts: Major Vonreg can have MAJOR issues when lined up with its aggressive counterparts. His action isn’t all that great, his stats are good, but nothing to write home about, and his Villainy aspect can be limiting in some of the better cards he’d love to have access to. But what he loses in these areas, he makes up for in his unique choices that differ from other aggro decks that can completely change a matchup others would normally have no way of dealing with. If you’re looking for an aggro deck that takes some higher-level decision making on each action, this may be a list worth considering.

Rex Factory

List: https://swudb.com/deck/jwgnGDcQLMeha

Who it’s for: Midrange enjoyers, like myself, getting some sort of value out of most units or events played, building up to a large and overwhelming board state.

Who it isn’t for: Players who prefer controlling approaches, using removal, ramp effects, and stalling techniques to outlast their opponent to play large, unstoppable units.

Synopsis: This deck isn’t new, in fact the idea of it has been lurking in the background for quite some time. Multiple variations of Rex had been tried and failed in multiple different aspects, but unfortunately for the objectively coolest Clone to exist, the tools needed to set him apart from the rest just didn’t exist or weren’t good enough. Mono Command as an idea is also not new, Emperor Palpatine most notably was the best user of it for a while before too many options found in Vigilance and Cunning became too appealing for him to stay. No access to Overwhelming Barrage is a huge hit to any Command leader as well. All of these reasons can explain why Rex was never mainstream, but what could have possibly changed? What on Earth could have possibly sent Rex over into the upper levels?! What could possibl-

Key Cards:

Unity of Purpose: This seemingly underwhelming introduction to Set 4 is exactly what Captain Rex had been searching for, and what makes Mono Command finally viable. +1/+1 on all of your units may not sound super appealing at first, especially as there are a million and a half ways of buffing your board in a similar fashion. But this effect stacks with every unit, not just giving a flat buff that doesn’t deserve its resource cost like other events do. I’ll be honest, I didn’t think that this would be the make or break for Rex. That was until I got smoked by my opponent throwing down a board of 5 units having at least 6 power and 7 health. On turn 4. Deploying Rex on turn 4 and getting at minimum 3 units on board that are all buffed by him and managing to keep most of them alive into the next turn means this card guarantees at least a +3/+3 buff to everyone. And that’s assuming you have no other units on board as well. Do not make the mistake I made and underestimate this card. It is an absolute sleeper.

Command: The classic Command, this event provides juuuust enough flexibility to make it worth its cost. Ramp is a strong addition to this deck, but the problem I often find myself having is that it usually isn’t outweighed by the value of playing a unit instead. That’s why the higher cost of Command actually works as a benefit sometimes, disencouraging earlier turns being dedicated to ramping. Plus, it works quite well with the curve Rex is looking for; turn 3, play Command, ramp, buff or strike, deploy Rex, get all of your units from that, turn 4, play Unity of Purpose, turn 5 ??? (hopefully the opponent is defeated before this). For all the downsides in opportunity costs this event may have, it fits the right niche here and is an integral part of the deck.

Droid Manufactory: Ok, ok, this may not be a playable card. But the synergy of the previous two mentioned can really only shine if this is your base. Rex coming down and making a Clone is good. Rex buffing said Clone on the same action is also good. But Rex doing the same thing with three units? You’d be surprised how ill-equipped people can be against this action. This is one of the most value-oriented deployments one can make as of now, doing four things at once while also putting down a reasonably-statted leader for the cost. Ignore the 24 health, you’ll likely be closing games out before that becomes a real issue.

Results: As of now, Captain Rex has not taken any names. Yet. There has been a small growth of his presence in locals, and I suspect that we may see one put up numbers in a tournament after all.

Final Thoughts: I’ve had high hopes for Captain Rex ever since he was released in Set 3. I thought the simplistic nature of his abilities would open doorways for my favorite playstyle in any card game: midrange. Sadly, that style is not very welcome in this game as control has too many tools to stop your tempo, and aggro can outpace you too quickly. But the style had been close to viability for a while. A good finisher was all that was missing. Thankfully, my prayers were heard, and it’s looking like Rex is here to stay. If you’re looking for something fresh, consider giving him a shot. I haven’t regretted it since I started.

Ventress Green Ramp

List: https://swudb.com/deck/mTVpvQPpr

Who it’s for: Finally, control players rejoice! This deck aims to control the board as much as possible while slowly building its own with strong, beefy units.

Who it isn’t for: Anyone that doesn’t like games going over 10 minutes lol.

Synopsis: Okay, okay, before you raise the pitchforks after looking through this list and finding it very similar to other Command, Vigilance, Villainy decks, hear me out. I played Qi’ra for most of the last two sets to decent success, and a lot of the cards here line up with that deck. However, the one thing that a deck of this type is supposed to excel at just never felt great to me. That thing is ramp, and this deck can do it better than any other control deck. The goal here is to ramp as fast as possible, get Vader down and bring out the small grit units packed here, and bring swing big with the buffs Ventress can pump out with little resistance.

Key Cards:

Darth Vader: You know him, you love him (or at least some of you do), this is the classic ramp target in almost all Command-Villainy control decks. Bringing a 5-power ambush with that amount of health is already great, but tutoring out a cheap unit on top of it just pushes the value of this unit through the roof. Hit a Death Trooper and this is effectively a 7-power ambush. Hit a Client and you put immediate pressure on your opponent to deal with him. The potential combinations are seemingly limitless, and this is an auto-include in any control deck that I play.

Overwhelming Barrage: Much like Vader in the sense that this card needs no introduction and is always in my control decks, Overwhelming Barrage still stands the test of time as the best removal tool printed so far. The ability to board-wipe at seemingly any state of the game past 5 resources will always put pressure on your opponent from developing too hard and give you the safety to progress your own state. Pair this with the high-power grit units that Ventress buffs as the game progresses, and you’ll unlock this event’s true power.

No Glory, Only Results: This is a new addition from Set 4, and man is it a banger. This is a straight upgrade to Vanquish. The distinction made that control over the selected unit is given to yourself opens a host of possibilities. Now, you can potentially steal a “When Defeated” ability away from your opponent and claim it for yourself. It also bypasses most ability blocking effects, namely pilot Chewbacca and Lurking TIE Phantom’s effects. The ability states specifically that enemy abilities cannot defeat the unit with this text, meaning that once control is taken away, there’s nothing stopping you from doing what you want with them.

Results: Like Rex, this deck hasn’t seen much tournament play, if any, and you can thank the menaces that were Jango and Han/DJ for that. Similar decks have gotten high placements and even won tournaments in the past, but none with Ventress currently.

Final Thoughts: This deck has a surprising amount of mid-game in it compared to other decks of this shell. With Qi’ra, I often felt like I was playing on the backfoot with my opponent, answering whatever they played and setting up turns for ramp rather than ramping in one phase. However, with Ventress’s ability not needing a resource to use, she is the only Villainy leader that I’m aware of that can play Superlaser Technician and defeat him in the same phase. This alone raises the consistency of this deck past the competition, and while she may be off-meta now, I’d wager a guess that she’d be on top of the ladder if this shell becomes popular again.

In Conclusion

All of these decks are decent on their own, but they suffer from drawbacks that others of the same just simply don’t. Sabine can outrun Vonreg on the ground, Rex can tap out after turn 6, and Ventress’s ability isn’t always as impactful as other Command/Vigilance leaders. But the one thing holding all of them back the most is the meta, or metas, they’ve been thrown in. Jango and TDR destroyed these decks. A board-sweeping exhaustion was not healthy, and these decks suffered harshly from it, sometimes with little to no counterplay. The environments these decks existed in were not conducive to experimentation, meaning that there was no space for them to stretch their legs and improve. But now with this meta shakeup, a large vacuum is left for the next deck to take. Could it be one of these? That’s for you all to find out!

Hopefully I’ll be back to bring you some more hidden gems like these in the future!

-Matt