Asajj and Dengar // T3 Gaming 1.0

• Versiones
• 1.0

Hey everyone, Nick from T3 Gaming with a downgrade list - looking for feedback and discussion about 'em.

Asajj and Dengar both have abilities that play nice with Downgrades and they match up points-wise so I figured I would try em out together.

Downgrades

I decided to leave out Bounty Board after playing around with it, basically because there's only 6 bounty cards in the list and it slows you down considerably - 3 actions for 1 bounty (play Board for 1, use it, play bounty). Maybe it finds a home as a 1-of instead of something else, but this is what I've adjusted to for now.

I also left out Wounded and Shock Collar because they are kind of lackluster for their cost and they aren't bounties, so they don't mesh with Dengar or Hunt Them Down. I cut Secrets Laid Bare for the same reason, even though I think it's a decent downgrade since hand knowledge is very strong in this game. I think that's all the bounty-based cards in the set that I left out, let me know if I missed one.

I'm weirdly on the fence with Mind Extraction, in this list anyways. When your best damage side is a pay side, 2-resources can be costly. I will say that it's super impactful if your opponent can't deal with it, especially against Palpatine - Unlimited Power, Padmé Amidala - Resolute Senator, and Darth Vader - Terror To Behold, buuut it's cheaper to counter than to play (Unshackle, Breaking Bonds, and exhausting if it's played too early, since their later damage will still probably outpace this list). Best case is playing it against a loaded Palp with no Protective Suit and defeating him if he was over 10 health (I think that's how that'd work, since it shuts off his ability to gain health from upgrades?) but that's gonna take some luck and timing.

Anyways, I'm rambling. Point is, if people don't adjust to tech against it I think it's ultimately worthwhile so it stays... for now.

I initially went a little lighter than usual on the removal because Asajj has some built in and Grappling Boa should help too buuut I've rolled cold as ice with her and those dice have to stay out (leaving them vulnerable) so I've sort of adjusted it back out defensively.

Opinions after playing a bit...

I've played this deck ~10 times against a variety of strong teams and just thought I'd share my thoughts / maybe get some other people's ideas for a downgrade list. Note that some of these changes in this version are fairly new, but I don't think they'll solve all of my issues with the concept.

My initial take is that it hasn't impressed me (less than 50% win-rate) and it has a lot to do with the fact that there's this counter relationship between having a lot of downgrades that don't pay off right away versus having events and upgrades that do. It's a slower/delayed style that I think is harder to play into because you have less tools because they take up slots. It's a circle. I will say that it's very satisfying to collect bounty rewards and you can punish some of the wider lists with small characters, which can set you up nicely. So that's a strength... but it's not one that is exclusive to these characters and I think just having bounties in a better pair will reward just as much against those lists.

List-wise, I'd like to fit more upgrades in to up the threat on my own dice, but I'm sort of unsure of where to start cutting, assuming all 8 downgrades need to stay. I'm not sure they do, but if the game plan is centered around em I think I'd be hard-pressed to start cutting there. There also aren't a ton of one or two costs that I like here because of the heavily mixed damage, my shortlist is: Crossguard Lightsaber, Chain Sickle, Donderbus Blaster Pistol, and maybe Enfys Nest's Electroripper.

Asajj is an interesting character who I think falls under the category "Not Crazy Strong Therefore Not Super Competitive." Her health is good for her cost and her ability can be impactful, but it's hard to use well. A card out of hand can be costly if you've played an upgrade and downgrade in a round and the nature of it means that you need to leave her damage in the pool until your opponent rolls, so it's easily removed or countered by shields. Also her pay side is a real downer tbh and it's why I think Truce is a must.

And finally... Dengar. In my opinion, Dengar is not great. Bounties are neat, Hunt Them Down can be great when it works for 2 or 3 extra damage but Dengar just does not carry his weight in the duo, mostly down to a very lack-luster die. In a game where extreme aggro is carried by dangerous dice and a lot of heavy supports/upgrades, 'death by a thousand cuts' doesn't cut it.

What do you guys think? I love the idea of downgrades and collecting bounties and I'd like to dream that there's potential to this duo, I just don't think there's enough right now to center all of your play around downgrades - at least not in this iteration I've landed on. I'll come back to this concept eventually, but for now let me know what you think and if you've figured out better pairs/cards to use with downgrades. And if you do try this list, I hope you have better luck than me! haha :)

Thanks for reading! <3