It was mentioned on the SHN podcasts (I forget by whom) that they are striving to have a game without erratas (which as it stands with the revert back to the original SSM, it has none). That way anyone can play easily and anyone can just follow what a card says without needing extra knowledge. So, I guess that's their reasoning. It's better to have counters to abilities rather than exceptions and rule changes.

That makes sense. Maybe the new set will have better counters. More Makashi Style Mastery?

What do you mean by that?

I'm not so sure that it is sooo easily beatable. And I am most certain, that playtesters didn't count in the scoring change into 3/2 points system. I've played with GOWK under new rules 5 times past this week and EVERY game took longer than 1 hour, and I only killed GOWK once.

Well, you are indeed most certain. Most certainly wrong, we did indeed factor the 3/2 scoring into it.

Mea culpa then. Too bad that, You only commented on partial of my post. Was it by any chance in purpose (I don't mean to start flamewar anyway)?

SSM back to old - card written rule I can bite. But GOWK....well that's a problem. He's seriously undercosted ( but I'm aware that this has been discussed here many, Many times). My main problem with him is his survivor skills. I was able to eliminate whole of opponents squad without him, games were taking much more than 1 hour, and opponents wouldn't still back down (and why should they? they had a character who in time and luck could kill the rest of my squad, taking and avoiding damage like a champ)

I'm still not convinced that we have enought direct damage dealers/SSM bypassers, but this may change, all in all we haven't seen all Vset 3 pieces, so maybe there will be some in there ;)

If you look at the pieces that have already been spoiled for the new set (as well as pieces from other V-Sets), I don't think there are clear counters to GOWK, but there are definitely strategies in place. I see at least three or four different elements.

Turn to the Dark Side: So far, the Seps and the Imps have this. Direct damage or the risk of flipping to your opponent's squad. If GOWK plays against a character with this and decides to try to ignore the damage, keeping a Force point in reserve is a necessity.

Crack Shot: With two pieces with Crack Shot (one as low as 7 in cost), the Mandos now have a definite role as GOWK-deterrent. As added incentive, Cassus Fett's commander effect is another thing where, if I were playing GOWK, I would be VERY wary of running out of Force points. The difference between 60 HP and 10 HP is a very good reason to consider not using Mettle.

Force Suppression: Two different factions (at least?) are getting this one. Doesn't do anything about SSM, but SSM on it's own isn't the problem. SSM + Mettle is the problem. With Force Suppression, GOWK's ability to use Mettle is cut in half.

Direct damage: There's already a ton of it in the new V-Set pieces we're seeing. Although a lot of them have saves, that also works against GOWK's Mettle in the long run.

Does any of that add up to a GOWK-breaker? No, probably not. He's still likely to be one of the most powerful pieces in the game, but if you're using any of these tricks against him, he gets harder to play effectively. And, tpo be honest, I'm a mediocre SWM strategist at best. :) I'm sure better brains than mine will come up with much better ideas.

I can't speak for others, but I wasn't offended in any way. In fact, it made me take a look at what we know of Vengeance in light of GOWK/SSM... and I liked what I saw.

I'm actually excited about bringing back the old SSM. For one, it makes Flobi so much better (he's one of my favorite pieces, and i feel less guilty playing him than GOWK). I think it shows that the V-sets have broken the mold of the game. I like that we are in, and continue to move into, a time where all factions can be played competitively. I think the game is only going to get more interesting.

Now I just can't wait for a new beatstick dooku ;)