Fully Operational:

Scene, Theme, and Character Decks

By Mike Maloney (Vash the Stampede)

Loyal fans of Star Wars: Epic Duels have created hundreds of impressive decks and each new deck represents, at least in some small way, the evolution of deck design within the community. The single largest impact, however, must be attributed to the component design articles[1]. These meta-analyses form the lens that all decks are seen through and should be the starting point for every designer.

In the tradition of great designers like Thomas Baumbach, Scott Hagarty, and Rich Pizor, I have decided to share my observations, recommendations, and innovations about deck design in a series of articles entitled Fully Operational. These articles will offer operational definitions of terms that may be new to the Epic Duels community.

In this installment, my aim is to refine the way we talk about decks, specifically by classifying them into three types: Scene Decks, Theme Decks, and Character Decks. Previous authors introduced terminology that made it easier to dissect a deck and see how each card works within the whole[2]. I would like to examine this on a macro level, to see how each deck fits into the now-extensive collection of decks on the internet.

Scene Decks

The Scene Deck is so called because its primary strength is in re-creating scenes from the movies in board game form. Many of its talent cards are essentially “screenshots” and have little relation to one another. Boba Fett & Greedo and Luke & Leia fall into this category, as do the majority of custom decks. Thermal Detonator, Sudden Arrival, Desperate Shot, Justice, I Will Not Fight You, and Luke’s in Trouble all capture movie moments and aspects of the characters, but do little to further the goals of the deck. They sometimes make up “sub-themes,” such as Luke’s ability to scrap his own attacks along with an opponent’s or Boba’s ability to escape after attacking. These patterns comprise only a small portion of the deck, however, so cannot be depended upon. These decks tend to show some traits of the characters they portray, but lack a developed mechanic or a unifying theme. As such, they comprise the least sophisticated of the three categories, but are the easiest to build.

Theme Decks

The Theme Deck is named for its central theme. These decks have a unifying mechanic that can ideally be summed up with a simple phrase. Custom Theme Decks also occasionally introduce and revolve around unique card functions. Decks in this category are less common than Scene Decks and include Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, and Darth Vader in the Hasbro set. Obi-Wan employs a hit-and-run strategy, Mace relies on building up his hand and movement, and Vader sits back and uses direct damage. The Theme Deck is more advanced than the Scene Deck in that it always represents a recognizable style of play thanks to its larger card commitment to a single type of effect. Its weakness is that it sacrifices resemblance to the character it represents. The Obi-Wan deck’s hit-and-run strategy is clear and works well, but Obi-Wan was not known for his prowess in guerilla warfare. Mace Windu has ten cards related to building up resources and empowering his combat with them, but was not necessarily known as a conservative one-shot fighter. I would argue that this is the main reason for such widespread loathing of the Darth Vader deck. Yes, direct damage and a Red Deck is not a great combination, but it works reasonably well in team games. The real issue is that the Dark Lord of the Sith, the relentless villain of the original trilogy, should not be relegated to hiding behind a wall of stormtroopers. The Theme Deck takes more forethought in its construction due to its employ of an overarching mechanic, but is worth the extra effort for its more distinct feel.

Character Decks

Character Decks truly capture the character they are built around in both feel and strategy. Character Decks are essentially Theme Decks where the theme fits the character- they feature the character accuracy of Scene Decks and the unifying strategy of Theme Decks. This deck type is the most ideal and also the rarest. Hasbro Character Decks include Darth Maul, Emperor Palpatine, and Yoda. Darth Maul’s strategy is obvious: he ferociously attacks several times in a single turn. While the fan-favorite Sith has a small role in the Star Wars films, this style of play would seem to fit his aggressive personality and acrobatic fighting. The Emperor’s style could not be further from that of his Episode I apprentice’s. He uses direct damage from afar and resource limitation (discarding) to force damage through. This is a fitting strategy for the Sith Lord who manipulated his way to power, working behind the scenes to wear down the influence of the Jedi. The Yoda deck also uses discarding to push damage through and has a focus on defense. This is extremely fitting for the Grand Master, who explains that “A Jedi uses The Force for knowledge and defense. Never for attack.” Yoda’s deck can easily be summed up with “knowledge and defense.”

Themes make decks more consistent because you can plan on seeing certain card effects nearly every game. This is why all of the top tier Hasbro decks are either Theme or Character decks. I would urge all designers to consider the three types of decks and to try to move toward making more Character Decks in the future.

Thanks for reading and may the creative Force be with you!

For more of my work, check out my page at http://epicduels.weebly.com.