Before going onto the decks, here's a good basic strategy article (written by Shadow Squadron member, Duane Bruun) for those of you needing a boost in building Premiere-only decks.

Okay, Premiere only. Time to have some fun. I'd been pretty excited about the upcoming promotion when it was first spoiled to Player's Committee members. I've never had to build a deck in such a restrictive environment, but thought I'd do pretty well considering making E1 only decks is not that hard and I've had plenty of practice in doing that.

First things first: let's decide on an objective. Sifting for purple cards?sifting, sifting, sifting. Hmm, that's odd, there are none. Okay, no problem. We'll just go to the second step of my patented deck building model...

Starting interrupt and effects. Hmm, there seem to be a few good effects to start with. Maybe I'll use the V Blaster Rack so I can have fun with Vader. Oops, there's no way to get out these effects because Starting Interrupts don't exist yet. In the back of my head I start to hear an old gravelly voice, "You must unlearn what you have learned".

All right. Before I go any further, let's sit back and evaluate the situation. No objectives or starting interrupts or starting effects or combo cards or enhanced cards or Expanded Universe cards. Man? this is going to be harder than I thought. Okay, time to do something drastic. I head to the almighty gaming desk and start sorting thru all the papers strewn hither and yon.

There, in the bottom drawer, shoved way in the back, with years of dust sits: The Premiere Two Player Game "How to Play" booklet. This will shed some light on the subject. Okay here we go: Each player must choose a "star-ting lo-ca-tion". Hmm, enlightening. Back in the days, people used "star-ting lo-ca-tions". Looks like I better find that glossary too!

Oh, I see. Each player only gets to put out one location. That's?interesting?! Looks like first turn Vader is a very remote possibility. So I guess I'll go with the location that gives me the most force, the Death Star. Oh, wait. That's still in the works. A New Hope is still a ways off. Time to take another drastic step. I head to the computer and print off the card list for the Premiere expansion from Decipher's site.

I start looking thru the list and wonder what type of wormhole I've stepped into. Who's this Gar-in-dan or Colonel Wulff Yularen? I look to make sure I've not printed a LOTR or Austin Power's set list. Nope, this is SWCCG. Wait a minute, I do see a few familiar faces: Darth Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin, Admiral Motti and Dr. Evazan. Okay, I have not slipped into some odd parallel universe; I do know these people. But how well?? The game text looks familiar, but I still have a few reservations.

Okay, I'll throw in a few mains and go from there. I seem to remember some talk of "The SAC Wars" in hushed tones by some of the older players in the area and decide this cannot be something I ignore. I look thru the list and discover I've got "SA" but no "C". Well, Control is really not coming anytime soon, so I throw in a few Alters and Senses and move on to some of that "Big Blue" that I've heard so much about.

I look thru the list and turn over the page to make sure I've not missed any printing on the back. Two Star Destroyers???? That's it?? What the heck. How was the Imperial Navy ever able to dominate with only two Star Destroyers? Time to roll with the punches. I throw in Devastator and a few Imperial Class Star Destroyers and decide to look at some of the "bitty blue" at my disposal. I like the two Black TIEs, so I'm thinking about throwing them in when I see an odd little card called "TIE Scout". Umm, never heard of it, but it does have a little star thingy by it, so I go back to Decipher's site and see what great wisdom is held in the card extra. After reading that, I decide to throw in some scouts for kicks and a few more pilot characters to boot.

Now on to more interrupts. There are a few good destiny adders that have good additional text. In goes a few "Your Powers Are Weak, Old Man". I also throw in a few "You Overestimate Their Chances" and "Dark Jedi Presence". "It's Worse" goes in, only because it describes my chances of this deck actually working and a few "Ommni Box" to keep my opponent honest.

Since I'm on a roll, I decide to skip over the effects and get me some locations, otherwise none of these other cards are ever going to even see play. Not a whole lot of choice in the matter, so I decide I'm going to concentrate mainly on Tatooine. I throw in both two copies of the Tatooine system and a Kessel and Yavin 4, just in case. I pick a few good looking Tatooine sites and decide to try to round out the rest of the deck.

I have a few slots left so I throw in some aliens for use on the ground and toss in a Luke Seeker and a Han Seeker, just for fun. I also thow in a Reactor Terminal, because I know I'm going to be drawing like a mad man. I have no idea how this deck will work because I'm a "newbie" to the "Premiere" style of play.

After a few practice games, I come to a stark realization: it's very difficult to change the way you play in a retrospective type of way. Being able to start a lot of cards and pull a lot of what you need to make your deck work is how I play. Tracking has never been a huge concern of mine, but now I see how it can be detrimental when you need a specific card. Having to play this way, makes me realize the huge advancements that each set has provided to this game I've grown to love.

As I sit here and ponder what the past was like, I cannot help but look toward the future as well. In a few weeks, the release of the Virtual expansion for ANH will arrive. It's almost like I'm actually back at the beginning, waiting for the first expansion to hit the stores. I am actually filled with a sense of awe at the depth that this game has acquired and looking expectantly to the future. Here's to the second beginning of SWCCG.

[DECKS COMING SOON]