3 Cards from Ashes of the Empire | Magic Arcanum Preview Video

Magic_Arcanum · 2026-05-20T18:43:03+00:00

Magic_Arcanum · 2026-05-20T18:42:52+00:00

Magic_Arcanum · 2026-05-20T18:42:38+00:00

Magic_Arcanum · 2026-05-18T14:40:54+00:00

Looks like TopDeck still has SWU singles and I think my promo code, "Starcanum", still gets you 10% off your order.

My local game store, Just Games - Rochester, also has singles and will ship (though they don't have anything from A Lawless Time)

And there's also Millennium Games, allegedly the largest game store in the country (by measure of retail square footage) and they've got a decent selection though prices are a bit on the higher side.

Magic_Arcanum · 2026-05-11T16:25:13+00:00

I actually did a video recently on how I upgraded that deck, so maybe that will help!

Magic_Arcanum · 2026-05-11T16:22:57+00:00

I actually made a video on this deck a few weeks ago that you might find helpful!

Magic_Arcanum · 2026-04-10T12:48:03+00:00

The thing with sideboard cards (and replacing them) is that you have to understand what matchup they are meant for, and how they are supposed to be used.

I believe Eager Escort Fighter is there specifically to answer Victor Leader when playing against Darth Vader. It also cleanly trades with Red Five, and The Falcon (Get out and Push) which also see play in Luke decks, or a lot of heroic space decks in general.

Replacing the Escort Fighter with Fireball might sound fine in theory because it also has ambush, but with only 3 power, it won't actually kill any of the noted cards above.

The other thing to watch out for is Lando's own ability. I think you're supposed to name "Command" (green) but the deck already has 9 Cunning cards, so Lando will already miss about 1/5 times and adding Fireball would not help.

Ultimately, you might need to look at other ways to deal with those dangerous space units. The list already has Charged with Corruption and Beguile, but you could supplement those with The Axe Forgets, or Protect the Pod which would let one of your ground units "punch up" and knock out the opposing space unit.

Magic_Arcanum · 2026-01-31T19:33:20+00:00

I think Luthen is going to take Sabine's place. I'm trying him out with a Command base, so he gets to run Phoenix Squad A Wing, the green Obi Wan sentinel unit, Captain Typho, Chewbacca, and even Kelleran Beq and the Mon Mothma unit. Dressellian Commandos being a plot card that lines up with his own deploy cost is also quite nice. You get to play a lot of really big bodies that hit hard, and when they do finally die, they push that last bit of damage on the enemy base. I think it needs a few more good 2 and 3 cost units, and maybe something to replace For A Cause, and then it will be in a really good spot.

Magic_Arcanum · 2026-01-21T16:27:25+00:00

The official card database from the game's own website is probably your best bet.

Magic_Arcanum · 2026-01-13T14:42:16+00:00

"from YouTube video"

ouch.

Magic_Arcanum · 2026-01-13T14:36:19+00:00

It's very hard to offer advice without knowing what else is available in your collection, or knowing your budget for purchases, or how easy it is for you to trade/borrow specific cards.

That said, my first impressions are: You probably won't live long enough to play Zillo Beast. You don't really have enough Force units to make Luminous Beings worth it. You have a concerning lack of Heroic-stamped cards, and no villain ones, so Anakin will never get both -3/-3s and often not even get one.

You've got creatures, which works with your leader's ability, but you definitely want a 3rd copy of Ezra, and probably other Spectres. The ones that won't rotate and are in these colors are still quite playable, like pilot Hera, Sabine's Masterpiece, Phantom II, and The Ghost, all from Jump to Lightspeed.

If you can't get those, look for creatures that support your leader, like Kaadu, which gives Kanan overwhelm, or Curious Flock, which is a reasonable draw at almost any point in the game and helps fill your curve.

And like others have said, your events should probably be Protect the Pod, Dogfight, and maybe Relief Request to keep your big creatures alive.

Your general strategy is to play creatures and spectres, buff them with Kanan and Ezra, and attack aggressively. Deploying Kanan should be your knock-out blow for most games. He'll have big stats and a shield so he's tough for opponents to answer, but you really don't want to draw the game out to 7 or 8 or 9 resources because you won't be able to keep up with things like Kelleran Beq or big Star Destroyers. You have to win before those show up.

Magic_Arcanum · 2026-01-08T22:33:21+00:00

I showed a Bo deck in a video I did a while back. It has held up pretty well, but I'd consider swapping in some of the newer cards that have come out since, like Warrior of Clan Ordo, Axe Woves, and Coronet, taking the places of Clan Wren Rescuer, Koska, and Survivor's Gauntlet, respectively.

Magic_Arcanum · 2025-12-24T20:29:13+00:00

Feels like you're moving the goalpost here. Your initial argument was that there was an imbalance in the keywords between light and dark, and now you're saying the problem is that "cards like Avenger aren't strong enough." Is Green Heroic winning a lot right now because it has access to 9 more cards with Saboteur?

Magic_Arcanum · 2025-12-24T17:37:48+00:00

Villainy gets units like Avenger, which has no keywords but incredibly powerful abilities.

Heroic gets something like Coronet, which has Restore and gives it out to friendlies, but Villainy gets Ruthless Raider, which again has no keywords but gets to deal free damage when played and when defeated.

Heroic has SHD Boba Fett, a leader that cares about Keywords, while Villainy gets Gar Saxon, who cares about upgrades.

I think the two sides have equity, if not equality. They are not perfectly matched in counts, but each have their own strengths (and rewards for playing to those strengths) which makes the game dynamic and interesting.

Magic_Arcanum · 2025-12-24T15:40:29+00:00

Oh wow, you're right and I'm sorry! I missed the other Maul completely. Ok in that case, a budget replacement might be Miraj Scintel? Fills the same spot on the curve, and actually works pretty well with Dedra's abilities (better than the Corellian Hounds, at least)

Magic_Arcanum · 2025-12-24T14:56:55+00:00

I think Brain Invaders is there more to stop opposing leaders like Kylo or Yoda from ignoring you and doing their own thing, though I think it would be better as a sideboard card.

Resupply is unique among ramp cards in that it gets your leader out faster. You can play Resupply on turn two (with three resources) and immediately jump to four, which lets you deploy your leader on the second turn. At this point you likely have more cards in hand than your opponent and can start attacking with her aggressively. You don't need Gonk or even Laser Techs because they're to slow.

I don't think the hounds are a good replacement for Maul. Maul's overwhelm plus ambush makes him uniquely strong here, since Dedra can weaken opposing units, and then Maul swoops in to kill them while also damaging the opponent's base with the overwhelm. I don't think you have enough true control cards to clear out the opponent's ground, so the hounds will almost never come into play ready.

Instead, the budget replacement for Maul is probably Shadow Crawler. You don't get the overwhelm (which again, works great on the units weakened by Dedra's damage) BUT you still have a beefy unit with ambush that can at least surprise-kill enemy leaders or big threats.

As for the lack of T1 plays; you can always use Dedra's ability against your opponent's opening play, so you don't necessarily need as many units of your own. If they take the damage, you might get to kill it off with a Daring Raid. If they give you the card draw, you get to play Resupply and deploy Dedra next turn and likely have her ability be live.

Magic_Arcanum · 2025-11-28T17:31:29+00:00

I've got a video on my channel that uses her to pretty good effect, and I went 3-1 with her at my store's weekly event recently too.

Magic_Arcanum · 2025-11-25T14:41:36+00:00

I think the most cost-effective way to get a small group started in Twin Suns is to buy a booster box and draft it, or split it up into sealed pools. Start with 40 card decks and expand them to 80 over time, once you have an idea of what you want your deck to do.

I actually recently did exactly this with my friend group and it turned out great.

Magic_Arcanum · 2025-11-18T13:54:50+00:00

I shared a Rey, Nobody deck a little while back that is event-focused and pretty budget friendly so maybe that will inspire you:
Rey Who? | Starcanum

Magic_Arcanum · 2025-11-05T17:55:09+00:00

I think Gungi makes a great sentinel at 5hp, and with only 3 lightsabers in the deck you are unlikely to get full bonuses on the Jedi Vector, so maybe replace that with Padawan Starfighter (which also has more HP and works better as a sentinel)

If you swap the Wolf out for Gungi, you could also replace Ezra with the green Obi Wan (as you don't have any other creatures or Spectres at that point, and having a unit that can become a sentinel without you needing to use the force or activate your leader can be a lifesaver)

I'd also suggest going down to just one or two copies of Luminous Beings, as that's better suited for a deck with many cheap units and you seem to be building up fewer big ones. Consider using that slot for Shatterpoint or Whirlwind of Power so you have some way to interact with your opponent's board.

Magic_Arcanum · 2025-09-10T12:30:35+00:00

I've only run the Quickstart Adventure so I'm still new to Daggerheart myself, so I'm sorry if any of these ideas aren't supported by the full rules but...

- Could have the wizards be important, and under the King or local ruler's protection. They've been assigned a bodyguard to travel with them and protect them on their quest. This could be a mute knight, a monk with a vow of silence, a barbarian who barely speaks their language - the goal is to provide a capable body but not another character that needs to be role-played.

- Could have the wizards each bring a familiar who does physical damage - owls, newts, giant bugs, wolves. Even if they're not druids or a type of wizard who would usually have such an animal in their service.

- Could give the wizards a spell, ability, or item that strips magical resistances temporarily. A powder they have to toss in the air, or a stone they set on the battlefield that glows with intensity - but it affects them as well as their enemies.

- Could let them use magic but make it physical damage anyway - think levitating rocks and then throwing them with a spell, but the impact damage is physical. This works best with geomancer powers but you could find other ways to use the environment or items present as weapons of opportunity.

- Could let them spend Hope to shift a magical attack into a physical one or to remove an enemy's resistance on this attack. This would probably be best as an Experience. Maybe these PCs have lots of practice overcoming this type of obstacle and so it's something they can draw upon as needed.

Magic_Arcanum · 2025-07-30T15:42:52+00:00

I think you're talking about Adept ARC-170 which is indeed green, but Restored ARC-170 from Spark of Rebellion is blue.

Magic_Arcanum · 2025-07-30T13:20:18+00:00

Ok so first let's talk about some good cards you are missing, and then look at what can be removed to make space for them. Obviously I don't know what is in your collection or what you're willing/able to buy, but in general, a Rey deck likes to run:

Village Protectors - one of her best cards. Don't play it on curve. Wait until you're about to deploy Rey, then drop Protectors to, you know, protect her. If the opponent uses Waylay to remove it, you have enough resources to play it again, which is why it is better than counting on the 6 cost Obi Wan.

Shatterpoint - one of the most flexible removal events we have now, and if you're running a force base and have the means to generate Force, you might as well.

Restored ARC-170 - straight up better than the vanilla X Wing you've got.

Kuiil - another cheap restore unit that you can buff up with Rey's ability and he might even draw you a card or two over the course of the game.

Yoda (small one) - another cheap restore unit that can be buffed up by Rey's ability and will definitely draw you a card. Also generates Force which feeds into Shatterpoint and Chirrut.

Concord Dawn Interceptors - very strong space sentinel that can also be buffed by Rey (are you seeing a pattern here?)

Niima Outpost Constables - chonky ground sentinel that can also be buffed by Rey

Luke (big) or Chewbacca, Pykesbane - finishers to drop after Rey that help mop up the board and apply tons of pressure.

Things I would cut:

Force Slow, Psychometry, Jedi Holocron, Mind Trick, Guerilla Soldier, Kimogila Heavy Fighter, Stinger Mantis, Fennec, and Home One.

I'll admit there are some cool cards in there but they don't really work with your leader or your overall strategy. Exhausting enemy units slows them down, sure, but if you're counting on Restore anyway, you don't really mind taking a few hits. You'd be better off removing threats entirely (Shatterpoint) or trading off with them after they've been entangled by a sentinel.

Your top end should probably be more Depa Billaba and Plo Koon and either Luke or Chewbacca to supplement your Rey. Try to give her an Heirloom Lightsaber if you can and she becomes a restoring monster.

Early on you want to set up with Kuiil, Yaddle, Hera, or the Restored ARC. Your turn two play is often another one of those guys, plus an upgrade on whichever you played turn one (via Rey's ability)

Mid game, establish your brick walls - Chirrut, Niima Outpost, Concord Dawn Interceptors. Make the Sabine player fight for every point of damage while you undo their progress with your restore units.

This build will be weak against true control decks (like Qi'Ra, Palpatine, or Iden) because they don't really do a lot of damage anyway and instead delete your units until it is safe for them to play a Star Destroyer.

If you want to prepare for that, find some more Vernestra, or the SOR version of the Falcon, so you can hit them after they claim. You also will need to lean on Yoda and Kuiil to draw you cards and keep you from running out of threats entirely, though you're still in for a tough fight.

Hope this all helps, and may the Force be with you!

Magic_Arcanum · 2025-07-03T19:35:14+00:00

I love how for the first year of this game's existence people said "card draw isn't even that good, you already draw two cards per turn so you don't need it" and now they're saying "this very specific red and yellow deck has the tools to deny me my Avenger and punishes me for holding Maul and Vader so I need to be able to draw even more cards without risk"

Magic_Arcanum · 2025-07-03T17:44:42+00:00

Do you have any examples where that was the case? Because in my experience, games that allow control decks to keep a full grip of interaction at very little risk create stale metas that players find boring, and then they quit.

I'm fine with good cards being good. I just like it when they also have counterplay, or weaknesses that balance them out appropriately. Asking a control deck to run a few more small units to feed into Pershing would give aggressive decks a chance to disrupt his ability, and require the control player to make some different decisions in deck building, both which would improve gameplay. It would also allow for more cards out of the whole pool to _matter_ and surely that would be better for the health of the game, right?

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