While I’ve always thought they were a bit silly in the movies, Ewoks have held a place near and dear to my heart since their inception in Destiny. Whether it’s independently designing the Plowoks burn deck right at the beginning of the Spark of Hope metagame, or bringing Wicket and Yoda to our local tables and frustrating the hell out of folks, I’ve been rocking the little yellow monsters from Day 1.
So, when I was asked which Smash Phase 3 deck I’d like to spoil, boom; no brainer. Gimme fur. Please allow me to introduce your newest spoiled Smash Phase 3 deck, Wicket – Crafty Scout and Ewok Warrior.
Teamed up with this illustrious pair of furry half-pints is the oft-maligned battlefield, Main Plaza – Vashka. Main Plaza is an interesting choice given that there’s actually an Ewok Village battlefield they could have chosen. If they didn’t go with that one, why not? The only thing I can come up with is that Main Plaza’s damage moving ability both avoids shields and allows you to add targeted damage in a deck that would otherwise scatter it around with indirect.
There are not a lot of instances where I’d choose this over my other battlefield, but there are some:
- Ewoks paired with a character that will let you use the Claim ability of battlefields outside of just the claiming action.
- Playing against a team with three or more characters that will be slower at claiming than you.
Main Plaza puts tremendous pressure on the Claim portion of the round, so choose carefully.
Onto the Deck!
We’ve got fifteen cards left to spoil, so let’s get to it. The first three come as a group and are possibly the easiest inclusion in a Smash deck ever. Wicket uses traps? Well then, include the Downgrade – Traps.
Rolling Logs and Net Trap are outstanding removal that doesn’t take an action to use. Wicket makes them repeating. Bonkers. Ensnare is one of those cards that totally turns the game on its head. You’re rooting for a nut roll when they activate their guy, and they’re deathly afraid to even turn him sideways. So much brutality in so small of a package.
After the traps come the cards that might as well have come from the printer stamped with “For Use With Ewok Decks Only” on them. Chief Chirpa’s Hut, Ewok Bow, Ewok Ambush, and Glider Attack are all meant to soup-up the power of a base Ewok to help it compete with more powerful teams. One thing to remember, you may want to pick up some extra Ewok Warriors for when the Hut starts humming that Special tune.
The next two cards weren’t specifically designed for Ewok decks, but they play really strong roles in making them good.
- Easy Pickings is the most obvious of this pair and is In the running for the best removal ever printed, any Hero Yellow deck that can will choose to pack this monster bullet. Spending a card and a resource for back-breaking removal? Yes, please.
- Diplomatic Protection is a card that didn’t see much play when it first came out, but became an instant staple once Ewoks became a thing. By giving all of your characters two shields, the wider your team is the more health this puts in play. Couple this with some of the damage moving cards we’ll see later and your tiny little Ewok Warrior can use its death to super heal the rest of your guys.
Nine cards down, six to go. Those first batches of cards went a long way towards building the deck themselves. Here’s where the choices get more difficult and more interesting.
The final two dice cards are sticks that feature some interesting interactions with your Ewok Bois.
- Rey’s Staff is a basic weapon with three damage sides from a time when cards didn’t really have three damage sides. Add in a special that keeps your guys alive longer and you have a solid 2-drop you’re never unhappy to see.
- Vibrocutlass is one of those ginaormous sticks where you get giddy when it sticks. Once it hits the table it’s going to be there for the rest of the game. Redeploy in this deck means you have multiple Yellow Bois to tote is around regardless of who you’re paired up with. It’s also downright hilarious to see a fuzzy little bear bonk someone on the head for four damage.
As I mentioned above with Diplomatic Protection, this deck features some cards that don’t necessarily heal damage but do keep your guys around longer by moving things around. They’re reasonably strong on their own, but Dangerous Maneuver and Draw Attention get super-powered when DP adorns your diceless Ewok.
Our final two cards are great utility cards that will push your team closer to victory no matter who they’re paired up with.
- Smuggling Ring is a utility common that generates a great advantage if you can overcome the initial outlay of landing it on the table. It works best in a deck that can survive Round 1 on only one resource, and this deck has plenty of options for doing just that.
- Improvised Explosive is a great way to use that one resource from Smuggling Ring in Round 1. Put it out there and eventually, Pop!, three less health on the other team.
And that’s it! That’s the Ewok deck for your Smash Phase 3. Like everyone else, I’m looking forward to Friday and getting my hands on the full list.
