So, those eagle-eyed spies among you will already be a little familiar with what we’re previewing today. If you regularly catch Isaac’s weekly stream on the IACommand YouTube, you’ll have seen an early playtest version of these preview cards. And if you don’t, hey, maybe check it out?
Cassian Andor is all about getting into the fight. Rushing ahead with a few select teammates who are rallied by his enthusiasm. Now this Strike Team ability may see Cassian frequently paired with Hera, to realize the full benefit, but there are a couple of other creative ways to trigger it. That doesn’t include Lie in Ambush, as the current ruling is that you can’t put power tokens on a figure that isn’t on the game board.
As a player who asked “Can I shoot my own guys?” in one of my first games, looking at my elite Stormtrooper, trying to get a focus on my own terms instead of waiting for my opponent to take that trooper out, Cassian’s ability to dome one of your own figures is super cool. It is the Rebel equivalent of Jabba’s Order Hit, where you essentially pay VP and an activation for an extra attack. Fun interaction notes with It Will be Alright, neither Greedo’s Parting Shot nor Dying Lunge will trigger and an unactivated Maul cannot be targeted with this ability, as he cannot be defeated. Otherwise, have fun shooting your own figures!
Cassian’s command card, Sniper Configuration, is a really neat interaction and can ~theoretically~ reach range 16 on the best possible roll. I really look forward to that magical turn where you can use this card, then It Will be Alright the figure you used as a spotter to get a second shot.
As anyone who played Fallen Order knows, the Imperial Security Droid is a serious melee bruiser (an aside, we’re not putting out an Imperial Security Droid deployment card this season, but I’m not going to blame you for expecting that card, and we’ll certainly be watching K-2S0’s performance and bringing that forward when constructing that deployment in the future). This particular reprogramed unit, K-2S0 for some reason has built-in accuracy and surges for range with his melee attack… because he’s Continually Unexpected and-with his teammates’ help, by using Cassian Said I Had To-you’ll end up trusting him with a blaster, and he can make ranged attacks! Finally, the Vague and Unconvincing ability makes K-2S0 an absolute beast to remove, his 9 health is guaranteed to take several attacks to chew through.
Finally, K-2S0’s command card, Blend In, provides him a distinct way to allow this melee unit to close the distance and successfully guarantee that he gets to make those attacks before he gets removed. It is a counter to the classic melee problem. [Checks Tuesday’s preview] Hey guys, Mara Jade can use this too, right? That’s how that is supposed to work? It is? Neat!