C-3PO, THE PROFESSOR
(Introduced in the Premiere edition)
by
Daniel "Yarua" Holmes
Destiny: 2
Rebel Allegiance - Han Theme
Keywords: Rebel * Droid
Deploy: 1
Power: 1
Defense: 5
Game Text: May not use weapons. While C-3PO is supporting Han, Han
is power +2 for each character supporting him. While C-3PO is
supporting, once per Weapon Step you may discard a tactical bonus
from under an opposing character.
Lore: C-3PO thinks that sometimes he doesn't understand human
behaviour. He is wrong. He just doesn't understand Han's behaviour.
* * * * *
At first glance, C-3PO may seem a fairly weak card: he's only got a
power of 1, his destiny's a 2 and he's a Han theme card, meaning he
costs more to use in a Luke theme deck. But on a closer look, C-3PO
is a very handy card to have a copy or 2 of in your Han theme decks.
First of all, he has a defense of 5; this makes him the equal of both
Han and Leia, and harder to hit with a weapon than Vader, Luke or
Palpatine, who all have a defense value of 4. So, while he might be
bantha poodoo if your opponent decides to make him the defender, when
C-3PO supports anyone he will make a hard target for your opponent to
hit. But never forget that you can play a tactical bonus; if C-3PO
is the defender, slip a copy of They Came From Behind under him and
he becomes a 5: enough to beat most troopers.
C-3PO can come in handy too if you decide to play the event Droid
Detector: every time you have C-3PO on the table and you have to
draw cards in your Draw Phase, he allows you to draw two extra cards,
which can be very useful with the lower Force cards.
C-3PO's game text is the best thing about him. Han Solo, Unlikely
Hero can have two characters supporting him. Make one of these two
characters C-3PO and Han gets a power boost of 4. In addition, Han's
game text allows you to add a destiny draw to your attacker or
defender's power if they are a smuggler - which, of course, Han is!
The second part of C-3PO's game text is a real lifesaver, especially
when Han faces Darth Vader, Sith Warrior, who has a whopping power of
9. If you only have Han and C-3PO alone without a weapon, you will
have a power of 7 with a destiny draw from Han's game text. If your
opponent decides to play a tactical bonus, you may find that your
destiny draw is no longer enough to overcome Vader. But that's where
C-3PO comes in: you can use your turn in the Weapon Step to get rid
of that tactical bonus, which can really hurt your opponent if they
decided to use their larger tactical bonus first. And remember, this
works during any battle where C-3PO is supporting: it doesn't have
to be Han that he's supporting, so he can really help out Leia and
Obi-Wan as well.
Overall, C-3PO is pretty much a must for any Han deck!