Thrawnkar Aussie Nationals testing 1.0

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How many games have you played using this list? Locally we have maybe 1-2 players running Thrawnkar using different lists. If Unkar dies early, does the deck fold? I'm running a list with AT-ST. I do like your heavy emphasis on cracking off Crime Lord early.

@RSanchez@TheChanceCube I have 15 Tourney Games (winning 11 of them) with this and probably around 30-40 more in testing under my belt.

I like the ATST lists but feel they are a different deck. They also open you up to dice control cards that are otherwise dead completely due to lack of damage sides on the rest of the dice.

I find Unkar does usually go down early ( round 2-3) most games against melee decks but if you played it right you have usually generated such advantage that you have set yourself up to win. The reason why Electro was dropped in favor of OQP is because the spot yellow is very relevant. Unkar can defend himself more adequately against ranged decks where inspection and personal shield seem to have more impact.

The crime lord is pretty important but not necessary every game. Even if it comes in t3 or T4 it is relevant for solidifying the choke. I find that i'm not usually casting buyout for more than 7 either. The Choke is the win con, buyout and crime lord are just how you make it official.

1 card i would like to find room for is Lying in wait, The hardest point at closing a match is when you have milled their deck but they still have cards you cant pick. you can just discard down then play lying in wait as you last card to kill their hand.

The biggest downfall of the list is Kylo/Fn, hence why Bouncewithout took that instead of this to aussie nationals. The match is hard because they get so much value out of Kylo but you are forced to use your crime lord on Fn because he doesn't let you mitagate him. Need to find more non yellow cards that fit the game plan to make that match up easier.

@stranglebat I will test this deck out tonight in my playtest group.

I still think Thrawnkar is a top tier deck but we all know it has a weak matchup against Kylo/FN and Vader/Phasma2p.

I'll update you on how I do and versus what decks.

Definately a top teir deck. Vs vader 2p phasma give them their bf to shut off New orders tricks unless you can be sure you can get it with a thrawn roll in. Personal shield and hounds tooth shields do a lot to help the match too.

definately let me know how you go :)

@stranglebat I was able to test on Wednesday and the deck faired really well. I'll post my notes soon.

@stranglebat

Thrawnkar testing

ePoe/Sabine Vs Thrawnkar

Game 1

I won the roll. Chose shields. Used Prized possession early and used mitigation to finish off with Buy Out. Detention Center was key for this win. No issues once one character was rolled out. I always took the character die away. Interrogation Droid helped out late game.

1-0.

Game 2

Was milling and choking throughout the game. He was able to drop a Planetary Uprising early and late. Fired off a Heat of Battle and I wasn't able to recover. I gutted his hand out but that was the last card. Unkar dropped on that play.

1-1

Game 3.

I won the roll. Had Prized Possession, Detention Center and mitigation in opening hand. Was able to Turn 1 PRPO his Poe die. Turn 2 played DCenter and spent rest of the game mitigating. Choked out resources and cards.

First time I was able to Crime Lord and I took them both out that way.

2-1

Overall thoughts:

I think this is a FAVORABLE matchup for this deck. Only having three character dice helps Detention Center especially once Prized Possession is out. Most important cards to get from their hand are Hit and Run as well as Heat of Battle. Disrupting resources helps as well as Imperial Inspection early. If opponent plays Planetary Uprising, the clock starts ticking. Soaking up the damage on Thrawn will only last so long.

@stranglebat

Vs. eAhsoka/eKanan

Game 1

I Made a few mistakes. Missed a Thrawn trigger once or twice. I was rusty playing this deck and it showed. Kanan can action Cheat by resolving a Die and it speeds up the deck. Manipulating his dice are key to this matchup. Ahsoka doesn't tend to get too many upgrades so the resources are crucial for this deck to win. Almost every activation my opponent used her ability to ready the card again.

I spent most of the game manipulating Kanan dice, eating the cards from his hand, and using Imperial Inspection to return upgrades to his hand. I eventually wore out his deck and won using a Buy-Out.

I did choose his battlefield, Obi-Wan's Hut, which when I claimed helped me quite a bit since I had the resources to pay for the extra shield.

Personal Shield didn't do too much but help with shields since this matchup has melee damage against us.

1-0

Game 2

I made at least one key mistake in this matchup and it might have been my downfall. I had Crime Lord in my hand with Ace in the Hole as well. Ahsoka had a focus and a discard side showing. I thought he would focus into damage. I was wrong. My Crime Lord was discarded. I was debating the turn before to play it but I wanted to wait and mitigate dice first. Apparently that was a bad call. I eventually lost to damage. I had him down to 3 cards in deck and hand before I lost.

1-1

Overall Thoughts:

I feel as if this needs more testing. I'd like to get at least 8 more games in before I feel comfortable with how this matchup goes. I should get that in a week or so. My win was a good solid win but my loss may have been a key error. I Will see how it goes after more testing.

@RSanchez@TheChanceCube

Thanks for the notes! Here are my thoughts on those matches.

Sabine. Sabine in general (not just the poe version) the primary concern is going be getting a prized possession down, and then keeping the upgrades off her so she cant chain activate into resolve for massive damage. Every card that generates a shiled is a massive boon. The other reason you want to keep bouncing the upgrades is to make it harder for her to overwrite into a Second chance. If you set it up you can crime lord her and then breath easy. 1 Dice Sabine lists crimelord hits the other character then just prized possession her. Crime lord is the most likely way to close these matches in my experience but if you maintain the choke you can grind it out in around 6-9 rounds.

Heat of Battle is a problem card for this deck, because its totally 1 sided tech vs us. Up against a sabine list after turn 1 id be looking to name 2 nearly every round because the things this deck loses to is damage that isnt mitagatable (PU) and mass damage sides. It does well dealing with threats as it comes in but rolling out damage against where we can only really deal with 1 die in most circumstances hurts Heat and Planetary are the 2 main threats hence the 2 but more over always remember to use thrawns ability with an aim to 1 check their hand and 2 remove threats to your charcters first and the game plan second a distance 3rd is calling a number your sure of to just get a card.

@RSanchez@TheChanceCube

Kanan Ashoka.

I haven't played against this deck exactly, i have played against Quigon/kanna

Some thoughts however. If you get to go first again id be naming 2 early to take out big threats and key upgrades. Ancient saber/Shoto Saber/Vibroknife. Later id be naming 1 to hit removal or 0 to hit damage and tricks. Droid does a lot vs blue decks as they tend to be very event heavy.

The shields are still very good, if you get shielded up you can then focus your removal on vibroknifes to keep your shields relevant. Regarding when to use Ace for crimelord, if they have discard showing id probably use it. Its a 2 card combo which really increases the chances that they hit either card and ruin it. vs Hero if you have a hand where you can pull this combo off id name 1. Overconfidence is the main threat to the combo, as its the only dice control they can use that doesn't require them to have rolled in. Confidence or Guard are the other 2 threats to your combo but vs guard you can play around it by holding until they roll out the melee (in your case you ace, they focus, you resolve and they are too late to guard) Confidence you can ignore if you have the 5 resources.

The choice of battlefield is key alot of times. In this id probably follow your logic and take the hut, for quigon i took the hut as well. The matches where you take your BF are ususally going to be ones where it is critical they dont have the first turn X play. An example would be FN decks where you want to pinch the 2 cost weapon before they have a chance to use it and potentally step up to a 3 cost weapon. That said in this deck the shields choice is only a 2 point swing and not a 4 point swing like with damage based decks.

Id definately prized possession kanan as he is where the surprises come from, keep the upgrades off him and then your golden. Use the crimelord to remove ashoka and then you can det lock them out.

@RSanchez@TheChanceCube

Anything you are looking at as needing tweaking yet.

For myself i wanted to add another chance cube, possibly swap a one quarter potion back to an electro and add 1x lying in wait as a closer, the idea being most people once you buy them out start holding their cards and claim early. You can just mill down your hand then lying in wait to make them discard completely what they are holding and win without giving them that extra turn.

@stranglebat I am not sold on Chance Cube in this deck. I think generating resources isn't too much of an issue and with Interrogation Droid out discarding cards are not a problem. I removed Sound The Alarm because I want the dice gone not rerolled. I added one The Best Defense... in its spot. Tomorrow I will be playing again in a mini tourney. Here is what I'm changing from the initial list:

-1 Chance Cube -1 Sound the Alarm -1 Ace in the Hole +2 Best Defense +1 Electroshock

I'll let you know how it goes:)