---------------------------------------
#72 Darth Sidious, Sith Master
---------------------------------------
Entry: 24 August 1999
The Unofficial Jedi's Guide to the YJCCG Galaxy.
Compiled by jinnandtonic, August 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@yahoo.com.au, and I will update it accordingly.
jinnandtonic's Grades:
Economy: B+
Darth Sidious, Sith Master is comparable in some respects to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Young Jedi, due to their similar Power and Deploy. Both cards have Deploy and Power of 5, and Sidious has a rather good Destiny of 4 and Power + 2 worth of location bonuses. The only real drawback to the Sith Master is his remarkably large Damage of 6. Sidious is no Aurra Sing in terms of economy, but edges out Darth Maul in terms of combined economy and Power.
Decipher: A
Some interesting things can be read into this card, in terms of the Palpatine/Sidious connection. As Sidious gains no Power bonuses from Coruscant / Galactic Senate, perhaps we are being lead to believe that Sidious is not as closely associated with Palpatine as we thought. Time will tell. Apart from that curiosity, there are no complaints for me. The Damage is apt (could even be 7, I reckon!) and the good Destiny is nice and certainly required to lift this card above the normal. The Power is possibly questionable, but Sidious has no *real* Power yet. In a hypothetical Episode II YJCCG expansion, he should have at least a base Power of 6 or 7, but for now he is consigned to wearing dark shawls and hiding in the shadows.
Overall Usefulness: A-
Well, it goes like this. In terms of the cards from the Menace of Darth Maul expansion, the Dark side has what I believe to be a clear advantage on Tatooine, but no other real advantages. Even after future Naboo-based cards are released, presumably the Light side will hold the balance of Power on Naboo, so Coruscant is and will be key. Darth Sidious is fairly mobile, can be protected with a weapon and has that all important location bonus on Coruscant (which will become more useful when the Dark version of Coruscant / Capital City is released). The Destiny is also a bonus, in a card category (red) that is often plagued by low-Destiny mains.
FLAVOR TEXT: "The Republic will soon be in my control." -- Darth Sidious
--------------------
CARD FACTS:
--------------------
RARE, RED-DOT, STACKABLE
Deploy: 5
Power: 5
Destiny: 4
Damage: 6
Power Bonuses:
Coruscant/Jedi Council Chamber: +0
Coruscant/Galactic Senate: +0
Coruscant/Capital City: +2
------------------------------------------------
SPECIFIC INTERACTING CARDS:
------------------------------------------------
Sith Lightsaber
[#107, Menace of Darth Maul, Rare, Orange-Dot]
The Sith Lightsaber grants either Sith (Maul or Sidious) a bonus of Power +1 and a Destiny ? draw in battle. While I can't imagine Sidious (or actually, using some creative license, Palpatine) wielding a lightsaber, this weapon is certainly welcome. A couple of these in a Sith-themed deck will increase the coolness factor of such a deck tenfold. Still, those Blaster Rifles are tempting...
-------------------
IN BRIEF:
-------------------
Darth Sidious / Sith Master is one gear-change down from Aurra Sing / Bounty Hunter, and one gear-change up from his red and black faced Apprentice. One of only two Dark characters in the Menace of Darth Maul expansion (one of only five characters in MoDM overall) that are based on Coruscant. This will obviously change in future expansions, but for now, Coruscant is pretty much wide-open. In any case, it is certainly a better option for the Dark side than Naboo, and Darth Sidious is the perfect card to lead your troops from the front. Unfortunately, the Dark version of Coruscant / Capital City (Sidious' only bonus providing location) is not yet available, though there are still lots of other reasons to include him. Good Destiny for a Power of 5, and can be protected with a weapon. Not much support in terms of Battle cards (e.g. none in MoDM), but this will shortly change. I personally expect many Sidious themed Battle cards in coming expansions, which will make this card even more powerful. Oh, and the foil version is nice!
-------------------------------
GENERAL PLAY TIPS:
-------------------------------
* The Sith deck? Not a lot different from the Darth Maul deck discussed in the previous entry, and the following is almost identical to that. Perhaps you will want a more even split between Maul and Sidious in the red-dot category for starters. Orange cards due for inclusion are the Sith Lightsaber and the trusty Blaster Rifle. Tough. I would settle for 2-4 sabers to 6-8 Blaster Rifles, remembering that you presumably only have 10 Sith in your deck. In terms of Battle cards, go for a combination of Opee Sea Killer, At Last We Will Have Revenge and maybe You Have Been Well Trained, although I wouldn't include more than 2 of each of the latter cards. Green is easy, with 10 Sith Probe Droid / Spy Drones both fitting your theme and providing some useful '6's for Destiny. As for blue, we have problems. Maybe Neimoidians, maybe a few copies of Sebulba / Bad Tempered Dug and some Battle Droids. I will leave it to you.
* Darth Sidious is not really the card you want to deploy on Tatooine if you can help it. That is where your opponent's Jedi can take the advantage, with their location bonuses there. Deploy a Battle Droid army or your Sith Apprentice instead if possible: keep that Damage of 6 + Sidious = 7 in mind when you are leading from the front with Sidious.
* Darth Sidious + Sith Lightsaber + Opee Sea Killer at Coruscant / Capital City = 11 Power + Destiny. Not bad, certainly enough to shake any pesky Light Tatooine-based Jedi.
* Darth Sidious / Sith Master has a Force Quotient of 9, which is the same as Yoda, Jedi Master, and the best in the game. Fantastic, and quite meaningful, actually...
* Style tip: Use your Sith to bring the galaxy under your control. Don't forget how you made it either: chances are some more Sith related Battle cards and Weapons will pop up in the future.
* Other style tips:
- Send Maul to help out those pathetic Neimoidians.
- Win the Coruscant / Galactic Senate location. (wink,wink)
------------------
ADDITIONS:
------------------
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. Why didn't Lucas go the real deal and call Sidious 'Darth Insidious'? It sounds stupid, that's why, though that is exactly what Lucas was implying with the name.
DarkJediMoose adds (27/8/99) : I lost Tatooine so when I went to the next planet I went to Naboo. This
was so that I would be assured of getting Sidious's awesome power of 7
at the light side Coruscant location if I won Naboo. If I lost Naboo I
lost the game anyway so it didn't matter. I went on to win Naboo, he
deployed the Coruscant location, I deployed Sid and a blaster rifle and
went on to win the game.
Back to The Unofficial Jedi's Guide to the YJCCG Galaxy
