“I came up with the Yoda deck first. If you notice, the Yoda deck is kind of the funkiest. It’s a little quirky. So we kind of used that to test, but then we realized, it should be simpler, probably a little more streamlined, but we never had the time to go back and streamline the Yoda deck. So it kind of is like the prototype deck that got published. So when I play the game I’m like, ‘This one is still a bit fussy.'” — Rob Daviau, creator of Star Wars Epic Duels
We created the Yoda, Defender of Kashyyk deck to better capture the whirling, leaping swordsman we saw in Episodes II-III. This one was then modified to make it more competitive, and really better reflects the Yoda of the later trilogy, not the fighter he once was but still a powerful force.
What does this deck do: Tanks. Neutralizes enemies. Reverses your attack against you.
“Master Yoda”
Modified deck. Original Epic Duels deck by Rob Daviau and Craig Van Ness (but I guess really just Rob)
Modifications by Geektopia
Yoda
15 HP
Melee
22 Cards
Green Deck
2x Clone Troopers
4 HP Each
Blaster
9 Cards
Weak Ranged Minor Deck
Yoda – 12 Talent Cards
3x FORCE LIFT
Turn any character on his side. While on his side, that character cannot move, attack or defend until the player controlling that character discards 3 cards to stand that character up.
2x INSIGHT
Look at opponent’s hand, and choose one card for discard.
2x FORCE STRIKE
A8. Draw a card.
2x SERENITY
D15. Draw a card.
2x FORCE PUSH
Move any adjacent character to any space, that character takes 3 damage.
1x FORCE REBOUND
D*. Yoda takes no damage. Attacker takes damage instead of Yoda.
Why Tweak Yoda? Rob Daviau calls him “a little fussy”. We find him a little underpowered for a character of his stature (though solidly Tier 2 overall) but a tad annoying due to his lack of movement. IanA Yoda player can really get shut down by bad dice rolling, so we’ve made some tweaks to alleviate that.
Tweaks:
Tweak 3x FORCE LIFT to allow Yoda to choose any character, not just an adjacent character, and to allow only the affected player to discard 3 cards, not any player.
Tweak 2x FORCE STRIKE from A6 to A8.
Themes: Defense and control
Path to Victory: Hold them off with defense, then FORCE LIFT + FORCE STRIKE
Strengths: High defense, forces opponents to discard, FORCE PUSH
Weaknesses: Low damage output, no movement, weak minors
Strategy: Use great defense to get into battle, use INSIGHT and FORCE PUSH to control the board.
Test Level: High
Tier: 2
Notes: The tweak to FORCE LIFT reduces the liability of lack of movement and the tweak to FORCE STRIKE raises his power level by giving him more punch. With those major problems addressed, Yoda actually borders on being fun to play.
Want more Yoda?
Plenty of versions of Episode III Yoda, including our own, and I’ll also give a shout out to the one by Robert Oyung since he made some nice contributions to Epic Duels that are oft overlooked.
There isn’t really another Dagobah version of Yoda, though I’ve seen him as Luke’s minor before. This one should probably get a face lift in terms of art, as the cards fit that version better than Episode III.
I really like the tweaks and will definately implement them. I tweaked many of the originals but not Yoda. Your tweak is the first I am seeing worth a try.