I would take this squad to beat almost any of the Daala builds nearly 100% of the time.

It's surprisingly similar to NPE Extreme. It basically drops Grievous for some self-destruct damage that you can't disrupt (specifically for the purpose of killing enemy disruptive) and more door control.

Darth Caedus, Sith Lord, from Galactic Heroes





Movement is crucial in this game, so it's not surprising that most successful Sith squads center around one of the two Sith Lords that provide movement - we covered Revan Sith Lord last week, and Caedus Sith Lord is the other Sith cornerstone in the modern game. He has a ton of great stuff - Embrace of Pain, Makashi, Aing-Tii Flow Walking - but his signature ability is Sith Battle Manipulation. Sith Battle Manipulation allows him to move pieces around the map - this allows Caedus to pull off all sorts of shenanigans, such as lining up a bunch of Drones to set off, dropping pieces into pits, or pulling Cloaked pieces out of cover. Aing-Tii Flow-Walking is also a useful trick, as it takes precedence over other forms of initiative control, so it allows him to potentially thwart other initiative affecting abilities like Master Tactician and Tactics Broker. Of course, both of his key force powers are very expensive, so he can easily run out of force points, even with Force Renewal 2 - it's worth considering running him with Marka Ragnos Force Spirit so that he can access more Force Points if necessary. His reliance on force powers mean that he's a little vulnerable to Ysalamari and Vong, but even then he can still use Sith Battle Manipulation to move his own pieces around.

Caedus SL is also a competent melee beatstick - with Makashi he can stand up to other melee pieces, Cunning ups his damage, while Riposte allows him to hit melee strafers like Lancers. He also has a balancing ability in Force Ascetic, where he can't spend force points to reroll saves - although he can use Sith Recruits for that. He's seen plenty of success in competitive play, especially in the 2013 season.

sthlrd2 won the 2013 Regional with this:


While this was one of the most talked about squads of 2013, with the Caedus/Malgus combo:


Even after playing against him on Simulation Deck numerous times in casual play, and often getting virtually my entire squad tipped into a pit, I still think Caedus SL is a great piece. He's very competitively costed for what he brings to the table, and brings crucial movement and initiative control abilities to the table, in really interesting and unique ways. 11/10.

Here was my Caedus squad I placed 2nd with in the 2013 Wisconsin regional.

--A Caedus of Immortality--
54 Darth Caedus, Sith Lord
48 Darth Zannah
30 Vergere
27 Darth Bandon
27 Lobot
14 Exar Kun, Dark Force Spirit

Preferred Reinforcements:
(Lobot) 14 Ugnaught Droid Destroyer x2
(Lobot) 6 Ugnaught Demolitionist x2

(200pts. 10 activations)

This is probably one of the most fun squads I've ever played. It was able to beat a Naboo Trooper deathshot squad in the finals, which on paper would almost seem like an auto loss, but the squad is so tanky that it can handle even swarms. Caedus is my second favorite piece in the game! Such a fun piece to use. SBM is extremely useful. He can't quite compete with Celeste Morne tho as my favorite piece in the game, cause nothing is cooler than spawning Rakghouls and watching the opponents squad succumb to the Rak hordes.

Thanks. Mira would be a great addition here. Zannah can be dropped. She is there as melee interference, and mainly just because she's so powerful - not because she actually fits with the squad all that well (other than the squad name). Mira (28), another Klat (12), and another R7 (8) would probably work better. That frees up Lobot to bring in pure activations or Momaw, or whatever else is really needed instead of needing to bring in door control.

--Rigged Caedus--
54 Darth Caedus, Sith Lord
44 Zam Wesell, Bounty Hunter
28 Mira (Vset 8)
27 Lobot
36 Klatooinian Assassin x3
8 R7 Astromech Droid
3 Ugnaught Demolitionist

Preferred Reinforcements:
(Lobot) 5 Salacious Crumb
(Lobot) 9 Rodian Brute x3
(Lobot) 3 Mouse Droid
(Lobot) 3 Ugnaught Demolitionist

(200 pts. 15 activations)

I may be biased here, (because I had a large part in the design of this piece, or because I won my first regional with him) but Caedus SL is one of the best pieces the design team has introduced to the game and it just so happens to be in the best set the design team has shown us. 10/10

Qyzen Fess, from The Old Republic





As much as I love the v-sets, not every piece can be a winner, and Qyzen Fess is a contender for the worst v-set piece out there. He has a lot of unnecessarily complex and largely insignificant abilities - Scorekeeper's Blessing is unlikely to come into play, as he will rarely knock over a more expensive piece, and all the interactions with Jedi Shadows and Consulars are insignificant. If he was a bit cheaper, and had some extraneous abilities removed, Qyzen could be a good piece, but a melee attacker with double at +9 attack for 36 seems very expensive, even if Shields, Resilient, and Regeneration make him vaguely tough. It is good to see a Trandoshan with enough hit points to potentially benefit from regeneration, and he does benefit from the Trandoshan Hunt Master's Ambush CE and bounty hunter bonus, but he's still a very mediocre piece. You're unlikely to play Qyzen when you can get Satele Shan for just one extra point, 2/10.

Jon "Dutch" Vander, from Renegades and Rogues





Seeing them next to each other, Jon "Dutch" Vander looks eerily similar to Princess Leia - very similar cost and stats, and another great Commander Effect. The Rebel Pilot subfaction keeps getting better and better, and Vander, perhaps along with the Klatooinian Captain, is the lynchpin commander behind them. A lot of strong Rebel pieces now have access to Pilot CEs, with Biggs granting it to allied Lukes and Lando granting it to allied Hans, as well as v-set options like Chewie and Red Squadron Aces, and perennial favourites like Dash Renegade Smuggler. His Commander Effect encourages Pilots to get up close and engage, as he grants +4 attack and +10 damage against adjacent enemies. Vander also bumps up the 6 point Green Squadron Pilots from Grenades 10 to Grenades 30, and they're well worth considering for Rebel Pilot squads. If you're feeling adventurous, you can also bring him into New Republic with Tycho Celchu, and turbo-charge pieces like Corran Horn JM.

Jon "Dutch" Vander is a really strong piece - Rebel Pilot squads are certainly good enough to see competitive play, and he opens up lots of builds for the Rebels. 9/10.

The biggest issue I have with this piece is the fact it has 30 hit pts. I mean seriously!?! Why the heck does it have 30 hp? There is no other NU shooter in the game with 30 hp at 7 points or less. And with the ridiculous ways you can boost him it's just a huge mistake.

He really shouldn't have deceptive either.


Bottom line is - with Naboo squads - the real issue is Panaka of Theed. Without him they'd be just good

It's hard to know what to give the individual components sometimes - Panaka is probably an 11, but 30 hit points, deceptive, and a potential cost of 5 is enough to get the Trooper to a 10 in my book.