Komari Vosa, from Bounty Hunters





This isn't quite a case of strictly worse, but you'd be fairly silly if you weren't prepared to pay an extra 2 points over Komari Vosa for Maris Brood; Maris gains 30 hit points, an extra point of defense, force renewal, force repulse 2, and force push 2, and only loses the very jankly Control Minds. And given that Maris Brood isn't exactly a competitive piece either, that leaves Komari Vosa as a clear 1; why play Komari Vosa when you can get Dash Renegade Smuggler for 19 points less - they have similar stats once Opportunist kicks in, and Dash can shoot, and has GMA and ranged defense. Komari is only useful as a Celeste Morne proxy, 1/10.

Nope. 1/10. The Zabrak Enforcer from command of the galaxy is much better for only 3 points more. It offers more HP more defense and grenades, EMP grenades grenade launcher and overload in addition to flamethrower.

Actually, if I have 11pts left in a Tarpals squad then I'll take a Gungan Artillerist every time. Maybe I'd go with the Zabrak if I had no other use for my Lobot reinforcements...even then Momaw is only 4pts more and is more effective in every way.

*Sighs* Fine! A 2 it is.

My main basis for the 2 is that Flamethrower 10 is actually a really good SA - it's much better than stuff like Heal 10, Repair 10, or Grenades 10. And she's the cheapest piece with Flamethrower 10.

Sorry about the lack of updates - I've been sick the last few days.

Darth Vader, Jedi Hunter, from Universe





Once upon a time, Darth Vader, Jedi Hunter shaped the meta - back in 2006, at 150 points, Black and Blue was a gatekeeper, which other squads had to adjust to; Vader had access to boardwide swap, and with Thrawn's Master Tactician and the old initiative rules he could attack again at the start of the next round before being swapped for safety.



At the time, it was hard for most squads to keep up with the movement, and San Hill squads, which could outactivate Thrawn, evolved as a counter. If I understand it correctly, Vader Jedi Hunter quickly had to cede the majority of the time in Black and Blue squads with Lord Vader, when he was released in Bounty Hunters - while Lord Vader isn't as defensively stout, he's much more of an offensive threat, with his ability to do damage on the move with Lightsaber Assault.

It also feels like Vader Jedi Hunter has been replaced by the recent Vader DLotS, who has identical stats, Djem So, and a wide range of offensive force powers, and who's also slightly cheaper, although I haven't seen him played much. Vader Jedi Hunter had his time in the sun, but as a competitive piece he's ridden off into the sunset - I've never seen him on the table, as Thrawn squads favour more mobile attackers like Cad Bane and Lord Vader. 6/10.

* still struggling with flu - it took me an hour to write three paragraphs on a piece that probably deserves more coverage - feel free to input anything I've missed.

Yes, I'm aware of that. If I had 11pts left over in my base squad build, I'd use an Artillerist. I'd only consider the Zabrak if I had 11pts to spare as a Lobot reinforcement option...but Momaw is a far better option there, especially with Tarpals.

I made a gorgeous little squad with this guy to utilize light saber assault. It had jorus, tarpals, luminary JM, baris, and possibly ferus.. But it was pretty fun, eeth could double assault, baris could double heal, and with synergy, EoP and jorus commander effect, there were some crazy stats flying about :) was fun!

Lieutenant Page, from Destiny of the Force





Elite Rebel Commandos were clearly the strongest non-unique Rebel Commandos that WOTC released, and Lieutenant Page feels like an effort to bring some of the other commandos up to speed. Page's Commander Effect gives non-unique Commandos Squad Cover and Twin Attack. The Fringe Wookiee Commandos, the Bothan Commandos with deadeye and intuition, and the Commando on Speeder Bike are all good options for twin - and once they're also boosted with Crix Madine's Cunning +20, there's potential for some hard hitting commandos. Wookiee Commandos with Charging Fire from Han Solo in Stormtrooper Armor enjoyed some play in the Destiny of the Force era.

Rebel Commando builds certainly aren't the be all and end all - with low attacks, all of the Commando options get down to popguns quickly once they run out of unactivated targets to shoot at, so they need to be complemented with some good opportunist attackers as well. In a competitive game it's still probably easier just to use Elite Rebel Commandos, rather than drop the 22 points on Page. But Lieutenant Page is a great idea for a piece - he brings some underused pieces back to the table, and opens up some new builds, and he's a well thought out Tier 2 piece. 6/10.

Darth Sidious, from Clone Strike





Considering how dated most of Clone Strike looks through modern eyes, Darth Sidious just looks like a colossus in comparison, notching up masses of Regional wins. His key ability is Pawn of the Dark Side, which allows a non-unique to take an extra turn - while it's useful with a variety of non-uniques, such as pawning Geonosian Drones to trigger their self-destruct, it's seen the most success with the IG Lancer droid, which gains incredible range, as it can go 48 squares in a single phase, strafing everything along the way. Here's an example of a successful Sidious/Lancer combo, from greentime.



And here's the squad that was top after Swiss at GenCon last year, from TimmerB123:



Sidious has been at the centre of almost every successful Separatist squad since forever - his Pawn of the Dark Side has been the best movement breaker that the Separatists have been able to access, while he's also respectable otherwise for 36 points, with 130 hit points and force lightning to help with cleanup. Perhaps with the recent Lancer hate, and recent alternatives to the Lancer with the higher cost Unique strafers that Sidious can't pawn, he's not quite as central as he was, but Darth Sidious is still a colossus of the game, astoundingly amazing compared to almost any other piece from the game's early days, 11/10.