With the rise of the New Year, so too do we see a New Season of IACP! Season 5 started getting spoilers with a BANG yesterday, with the reveal of the new Creatures of Season 5. Today, however, it’s all about looking back and remembering the Legends who have brought us so much joy over the years, into which we breathe new life at the Imperial Assault table. And in this article, we look at one of the fan-favorites to come out of the Thrawn Trilogy.
Mara Jade – Lost Legend
Mara Jade is perhaps one of the most famous and most-loved characters in the Expanded Universe, and so it’s only natural that she would eventually show her face in IACP! And in Season 5, we see just that!
Throughout her journey in Legends material, Mara Jade (Skywalker) has taken on a multitude of roles. From serving directly under Emperor Palpatine as his Hand, to joining a group of smugglers lead by Talon Karrde, to eventually falling in love with the famous Luke Skywalker and joining his New Jedi Order. To represent this variety of allegiances in-game, Mara Jade is being introduced as Imperial Assault’s first neutral figure card! Mara also receives a third trait (In addition to Force User and Brawler) depending on what faction she is fielded in. Combined with her low points level, Mara Jade can join forces with almost any list, dealing immense damage with her Red-Red-Blue attack pool.
In addition, Mara has always been a keen and intelligent woman, learning from whoever she works with, whether she’s been a servant of the Empire, Jedi, or merely herself. Her Fast Learner ability represents this by letting her play the Command Card of any unique figure in her army. This means she can send a flurry of Whistling Birds into an enemy’s face, punish the opponent’s deck with Foresee, or even ready her deployment card with Son of Skywalker (Or Wife of Skywalker in her case!)
These abilities, combined with her high mobility, are sure to see her gain great use in the new Season, as players try her out in all 3 factions. However, we must not forget about her own Command Card…
Staying true to Mara’s Deployment card, ‘Reactive Loyalties’ can slot into any of her lists, in any faction, and changes the effect along with her allegiance. As the Emperor’s Hand, she can unleash the Empire’s Fury back at her enemies through dealing a whopping 3 damage back at her attacker! Yet as one of Talon Karrde’s Smugglers, she can use her wits to pull herself a 3 Victory Point profit, and as a Jedi of Luke’s New Jedi Order, she utilizes the power of the Light Side to heal herself from the blow, readying her up to take on the enemy once again. But bear in mind, Mara Jade must survive the attack to use this card, so use her with caution (or hope for a dodge)!
With incredible Deployment and Command cards, Mara Jade, Emperor’s Hand, Wild Card Smuggler, and Skywalker, is set to make a lasting impact on games in the IACP.
Feint
And on the topic of Command Cards, Season 5 sees the grand entrance of a brand new tool for Brawlers, one which is critical for any master duelist.
In addition to dodging and weaving, striking and parrying, any skilled fighter must learn how to trick their opponent through Feinting, thus sacrificing power behind one’s blow in exchange for mitigating the defender’s stance. This Command Card allows any Brawler to do just that, through removing both an attack and defense die from the results. While this may cost the attacker 1-3 damage, the ability to slice damage through a Dodge or triple-block can be very powerful indeed, and is sure to make a splash in your Brawler lists!
Clawdite Shapeshifter
After its initial release in Heart of the Empire, the Clawdite Shapeshifter was quickly moved to the backseat of competitive play due to its forms being average for an above average points level, compared to other support units. But in Season 5, this is all about to change!
As previously spoiled on stream, the elite Clawdite Shapeshifter has undergone a minor change: her health simply increasing by 1, as 8 health for 6 points is insultingly low for any semi-competitive figure. What really changes this shape-changing alien however, are the updates to two of her Form Cards, and the introduction of a brand new Form.
The Senator form is the one 99% of players will select round 1 for the ability to deal out Power Tokens to friendly figures. However, considering that Thrawn (Also 6 points) gives out 1-4 power tokens without spending an action every round, and Gideon Argus gives out a Focus token for a lower cost, we thought the best way to buff the Senator form is to have the Elite Clawdite hand out 3 tokens, and the Regular 2. This will allow the shapeshifter to be a consistent force to be reckoned with, as you will never whiff the roll to give out 0 power tokens any longer.
In addition, we’ve also mildly adjusted the Scout form! A shape with very powerful attributes such as being able to shoot at extraordinarily long ranges, and ignore figures when determining line of sight! However, this form just didn’t seem to pack the punch you would expect of it, and so Rifleman now replaces any attack die with a blue rather than the red die. This means that the Scout will be able to keep up its long range shots (Rivalling that of the Alliance Rangers and Weequay Pirates), while still managing to keep its damage output.
And last but certainly not least, IACP Season 5 sees the debut of a fourth, brand new Form for the Clawdite Shapeshifter: the Soldier. With access to strong surges and a reroll, the Soldier form is certain to be a favorite when the objective is to deal huge amounts of damage into a shot (Not to mention the potential splash damage from Blast 1!). But as if that wasn’t enough, the Soldier form also allows the Shapeshifter to place an Energy Shield token on the map! An object which completely blocks line of sight, planting on of these bad boys down in the map is certain to divert your opponent’s forces’ attention towards taking it out, particularly if a valuable figure such as Darth Vader, or IG-88 are hiding behind (or inside) the shield.
That’s all for today folks! IACP Season 5 may be off to a wild start, but trust us when we say this is only the tip of the iceberg. We’ll see you again tomorrow for another brand new article with Season 5 previews!