Darth Nihilus, from Champions of the Force





For just 44 points, you get Jedi Weapon Master stats with some weird force powers. Instead of the Jedi Weapon Master's very useful mainstream force powers like riposte, defense, and sweep, you get some weird stuff like Drain Life (10 damage to living enemy and 10 off you), Sith Hatred (20 damage to a living enemy and 20 off you), and Sith Hatred (10 damage to all enemies within 2 squares).

The ability to remove damage from you at the expense of your opponent is certainly interesting, but at the same time, they're limited in scope since they don't work against droids, and they're too low impact to justify spending 44 points on Nihilus. The v-set version is much scarier and more interesting - while it also struggles against droids or force immunity, it can at least lay down some serious hurt on other pieces. This Darth Nihilus is simply far too weak for the cost - while his Force Powers have a suitably sadistic flavour, it feel like he's tickling you rather than destroying you. 1/10.

Jango Fett, Assassin, from Scum and Villainy





I've never seen or heard tale of anyone running Jango Assassin in a tournament, which is surprising since he's an efficient and durable shooter. He's a neat design - he has the best synergies in Mandalorians and Separatists, which makes thematic sense. Both WOTC Jangos were dated and a long way outside the competitive sphere; while Jango Assassin is in the same price range and has similar stats, he has some significant extra power with some added abilities. Evade gives him some ranged defense, and allows him to pick up Greater Mobile from a Twi'lek Black Sun Vigo, Assassin gives him extra damage against living characters, while Mandalorian allows him to pick up Mandalorian CEs and SAs, like twin from the Captain and Resolnare from Kelborn.

Since he can get twin in Separatists and Mandos, doubling his damage output, those are the factions that you're likely to see him in. While he does benefit from Tarpals' CE in Republic, there are way cheaper options than paying 47 points for double Flamethrower. In Separatists he can pick up twin from Whorm, as well as evade from a TBSV. Assassin means that he's a big threat, able to do 120 damage on the move, but he is reliant on a Twi'lek Black Sun Vigo for mobility - since the TBSV costs 18 points and doesn't have much other synergy from the Seps, it probably isn't an optimised build, but there probably is a reasonable Tier 2 build using other pieces like Jarael and Han Gambler who also benefit from the TBSV and Whorm. But probably his best faction is Mandalorians - he can get Synergy +4 +4 from Jaster Mereel, Resol'nare and Coordinated Command from Kelborn, and Twin from a Mando Captain, making him a big start of the round threat - he can fly 12 with Resol'nare and his own GMA, and pump something for 120 damage at a high attack. He is facing some substantial competition from Mandalore the Vindicated, who brings more hit points and Disruptive in a similar price range, but Jango Assassin is still an interesting option as the main hitter for a Mandalorian squad. 8/10.

I played against him in a regional a few years back. It is the famous game where I brought in an MTB while running Yobuck because I couldn't afford to lose init. His squad was tarpals, JAngo, Zam, R2, Foul, and mice. End game came down to my Dash (without opportunist) taking out his foul to win the game as all I had left was Dash and the MTB and all he had was Foul.

^ Agreed 6/10. Can't justify using him over an R7

Mini of the Day #400!

Super Battle Droid, from Clone Strike





It's surprising that the Super Battle Droid hasn't come up on random until now, since it's been reprinted 6 times. It's an unusual choice to reprint - at 10 points it's expensive enough that it's not an army builder like Stormtroopers and Battle Droids are. While it does have the very valuable Charging Fire, 10 points is still a lot to spend for a 20 hit point piece that needs a lot of boosts before it can become a threat. They're not too bad as filler in a GGDAC/Battle Droid Officer squad - they can get up to a +10 attack, twinning for 20s, but at 10 points it's tough to include them over more efficient options like IG-86s or cheaper options like Battle Droids. It's telling that they've been all but remade in the v-sets as the cheaper and slightly more durable B2 Super Battle Droid, 4/10.

ARC Trooper Scout, from Command of the Galaxy





With reasonably low stats and some useful abilities - Pathfinder and Targeting are both helpful to have around - the ARC Trooper Scout feels primarily like a tech piece. I would have expected them to be a support piece for ARC Troopers in competitive play - with double/twin/GMA, the ARC Troopers are much more threatening. But at the same time the Scout can pick up twin and Verpine Shatter Rifle from Ordo; since it can also pick up attack boosts like GOWK, Gree's Squad Assault, or Yularen's Opportunist, it's not a terrible attacker. A squad of these won the 2014 Alberta Regional in Canada:

--The Munnilinst 10 2014 Canadian Regional winner--
55 General Obi-Wan Kenobi
33 Captain Rex
27 ARC Trooper Captain Fordo
56 ARC Trooper Scout x4
10 Rodian Trader
9 R2-D2, Astromech Droid
8 Mas Amedda
(198pts. 10 activations)

The ARC Trooper Scout is a useful attacker/tech hybrid piece. I wouldn't have pegged it as top tier, but it won a Regional, so what do I know? 7/10.

Yeah, I would have assumed their best build was as a support piece with Targeting that picks up synergies from the rest of the squad. Cloaked with twin and Verpine Shatter Rifle is a good combo, but I think I'd still build around Klat Assassins if I want a whole squad of cloaked guys in that range.

Nute Gunray, from Universe






Nute has a 4 rating on Bloomilk, enough to put him in the worst 50 pieces in the game, but he's really not that bad. His Commander Effect is detrimental, but doesn't affect droids, so if you're using a mostly droid squad, it's not a problem. And he has the very powerful Reinforcements, as well as Reserves - Separatist Reinforcements is especially useful for San Hill, as you can leave him on the bench if you outactivate your opponent without him. A Nute Gunray squad from Engineer did very well in the 2010 Regional season, with top 4 finishes in a couple of big Regionals:



Nute Gunray, however, has been replaced somewhat in the v-sets - Poggle the Lesser/Drones/Muun Tactics Broker with Lobot is the backline for the vast majority of competitive Separatist squads, and it allows you to sacrifice San Hill when you don't need him, which is often a more efficient way of doing things. At the same time. we're seeing a bit of self-destruct hate in the upcoming v-sets at the moment, as well as boosts for droid squads, so it's not impossible that Nute Gunray could step back into the limelight at some stage. With Poggle around, he's probably outside the competitive scene right now, but he's far better than the worst 50 pieces in the game. 7/10.

I'm Allusis, baby, so why don't you kill me?

Force spirit and noble sacrifice.