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#4 Anakin Skywalker, Podracer Pilot
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Entry: 25 June 1999
The Unofficial Jedi's Guide to the YJCCG Galaxy.
Compiled by jinnandtonic, June 1999.
Thoughts? You like this? You hate this? Email me!
The Unofficial Jedi's Guide to the YJCCG Galaxy is THE card strategy reference for Decipher's Young Jedi CCG. Starting with the first expansion, 'The Menace of Darth Maul', each individual card will be discussed until it can be discussed no further. Nevertheless, if I have missed something, email me at jinnandtonic@angelfire.com, and I will update it accordingly.
jinnandtonic's Grades:
Economy: A
- Because of his destiny ? draw for Power, Anakin Skywalker, PP is best effective in a deck packed with high-destiny cards. Anakin has a good destiny of 4 himself, a deploy of only 3 and a *MASSIVE* location bonus at Tatooine/Podrace Arena. Although he has a Damage rating of 4, in the right deck he can be near impossible to kill. With a decent destiny draw, a power rating of 9 at the Podrace Arena (before weapons or battle cards) is the best possible in the game.
Decipher: A-
- I like the image, I like the Damage rating and the destiny ? Power. All these mesh nicely with the movie. I like *most* of the location bonuses. But a power bonus of +1 at Tatooine/Desert Landing Site? Without Qui-Gon, Anakin would have been slave sushi at the hands of Mr. Maul!
Overall Usefulness: A
- It would have been an A+, except for that destiny ? Power. In a deck full of Qui-Gon Jinns and Lightsabers, maybe Anakin would be a problem. But in a deck full of high destiny cards, Anakin is unstoppable. At this point in time, I think a light deck based around Anakin, his Podracer and the Arena, with lost of high destiny characters -- is the BEST you can possibly make.
FLAVOR TEXT: "You must have Jedi reflexes if you race pods." - Qui-Gon Jinn.
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CARD FACTS:
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RARE, BLUE-DOT, STACKABLE
Deploy: 3
Power: ? (Destiny Draw)
Destiny: 4
Damage: 4
Power Bonuses:
Tatooine/Mos Espa: +1
Tatooine/Desert Landing Site: +1
Tatooine/Podrace Arena: +3
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SPECIFIC INTERACTING CARDS:
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There are more cards specific to Anakin than any other single card in the set! I'll just take a deep breath and...
Anakin Skywalker's Podracer
(#36, Menace of Darth Maul, Rare, Orange-Dot)
- Anakin is absolutely awesome in this. Consider this combo: Anakin + Destiny Draw of 5 + Anakin's Podracer + Destiny Draw of 5 + Tatooine/Podrace Arena = 16!!! Need I say more??
Easily good enough to get rid of those annoying Mauls and Sidious's.
Eopie
(#40, Menace of Darth Maul, Common, Orange-Dot)
- If you are dead keen on having *nothing* in your deck but ultra-high destinies, this a good alternative to Anakin's Podracer. It has a destiny of 5, and since being modified by Decipher, has a deploy of 1.
Anakin Skywalker, Meet Obi-Wan Kenobi
(#47, Menace of Darth Maul, Uncommon, Yellow-Dot)
- This battle card allows Anakin and Obi-Wan to fight together. I don't think a deck based on Anakin would benefit from this (both this card and Obi are destiny 3...). But maybe you think otherwise!
Are You An Angel?
(#48, Menace of Darth Maul, Uncommon, Yellow-Dot)
- This battle card adds +3 Power and allows Anakin and Padme to fight together. This could be a nice inclusion in your high-destiny Anakin deck because it has destiny 4 (and Padme has destiny 5). You have to make sure you get the right balance - maybe one or two of these and 3-4 Padmes would work nicely.
Fear Attracts The Fearful
(#53, Menace of Darth Maul, Uncommon, Yellow-Dot)
- This one adds +2 Power and allows Anakin and Jar Jar to fight together. I prefer the previous card in an Anakin deck actually, but maybe you could get a nice Anakin/Jar Jar theme going.
He Was Meant To Help You
(#55, Menace of Darth Maul, Uncommon, Yellow-Dot)
- Allows Anakin and Qui-Gon Jinn to fight together in a battle. While the destiny of this card (2) and the destiny of Qui-Gon (1) won't do you any favors, the opportunity for a cool Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan/Anakin theme deck exists.
Shmi's Pride
(#59, Menace of Darth Maul, Uncommon, Yellow-Dot)
- Gives Anakin +3 Power in any battle. This is a good all-round card for you to have in your deck. The other option you have in terms of Anakin-themed battle cards is Cha Skrunee Da Pat, Sleemo, which gives you a +4 Power bonus to any character for one more destiny, but only at Tatooine/Podrace Arena. I am not sure which one I prefer - but you don't want too many of Shmi's Pride if you are trying to use high-destiny cards only -- this card has a destiny of 3. Okay, but not great.
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IN BRIEF:
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Well, I think this is my favorite card in the set, in terms of the possibilities in deck design. As you can see above, there are *many* cards specific to Anakin in the set, and you could build a cool theme about each of them! Anakin is also the most powerful character in the game. Let's play another hypothetical game: Anakin + Destiny of 6 + Anakin's Podracer + Destiny of 6 + Cha Skrunee Da Pat, Sleemo at Tatooine/Podrace Arena = 22 Power. That is amazing. A combo to base a killer deck on, there.
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GENERAL PLAY TIPS:
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* Here are the destiny 6 cards currently available for the light side:
1)Queen Amidala, Royal Leader
2) R2-D2, Astromech Droid
3) Blaster Rifle
4) Naboo Starfighter
5) Queen Amidala, Ruler of Naboo
You shouldn't need me to work it out. All you need is a stack of these and the average destiny in your deck skyrockets.
* The main problem with a high-destiny deck using multiple Anakins is that you will have to win *quickly*, before your deck runs out. You will be drawing destiny every time you battle, plus another destiny if Anakin's Podracer is out. You must be extremely aggressive when you play an Anakin deck. Go for the kill, ride your luck. If you think your opponent has a handful of battle cards -- it doesn't matter. Trust your instincts (where have I heard that before) and attack, attack, attack. No wonder Anakin becomes Darth Vader!!!
* Well what about Anakin in your everyday light deck? Well there are not many real low destiny cards in YJCCG so far, so he will probably slot in okay. He will just be a little bit more vulnerable, and you will have to protect him. Without all his add-ons and an emphasis on the Podrace Arena, Anakin is just another okay card. But watch that 4 Damage!!!
* Style tips:
- Win at the Podrace Arena against your opponent's army of Podracers. Sebulba, Gasgano, Ben Quadinaros -- make them all eat your destiny-powered dust.
- Don't forget to use Cha Skrunee Da Pat, Sleemo against Sebulba and co. Adopt your best Jake Lloyd accent and laugh.
- Don't let him 'die'. He has a big future, you know!
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ADDITIONS:
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Up to you. Think of anything else cool about his card, or combos that you have used to great effect? What about a particular game in which this card made you win? Send anything like that to jinnandtonic@angelfire.com and I'll add it here. Send me your killer Anakin decks - I know there are plenty.
* Thanks to Boothby and Wickets Revenge for the following combo:
Tatooine/Podrace Arena: Yousa Guys Bombad + Anakin Skywalker's Podracer + Anakin, PP + Anakin PP = possible 27 Damage! (with destiny draws of 6) That definitely should finish off Maul!
* DarkJediMoose (30/8/99) adds: There is a single problem with Anakin. His power of [?]. It is not something that you can count on like any other character. While his random power is definitely useful, it does run your deck dry pretty quickly. I will sometimes use Anakin as a breakthrough character just so that I don't have to draw his Destiny. This generally happens near the end of the game though. Remember if your opponent doesn't have a weapon and you do, (with a fairly good character) you don't have to use Anakin and his extra Destiny to kill your opponent.
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