Written by Matt Evans
Hey, hey, hey, welcome to class. It's time to take a look at the Rebel Commanders (Non-Force users) and grade their command cards like they are middle school dropouts. These are opinions, however, and should be taken as such. Let's jump in and see who passes the class and who doesn't.
GRADING RUBRIC
S - Should always be taken, and often alters list building around it.
A - Usually always taken. Generally always good when played, regardless of matchup.
B - Generally taken, though a bit more niche. Solid effects, but often does not drastically affect the state of the game
C - Average. Can be taken or omitted, depending on the list and competing cards. Just as likely to be used for the card effect as it is for orders
D - Average, but often overlooked in its own pip slot. Possibly has an effect that is far too situational to be reliable, and the drawbacks of taking it are almost greater than the effect it provides
F - Never taken, whether it be the effect is simply not good enough and there are better options (even in the generic cards), or the effect is way too niche to ever be useful
PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA
First up is the princess of our hearts, Leia Organa. Once the go-to rebel commander, she now feels a little expensive for what she does in comparison to generic rebel officer, and some of her command cards don't have the same oomph as they did before. Nevertheless, she still has some tricks up her sleeve.
Goodbye Strike Teams, My Old Friends | Grade B | 1-Pip
This card is a classic long range alpha strike card, coming before the days of Iden Tactical Strikes and giant dice pools. It's great to take some strike teams off the board early, soften a couple of easy targets or even to play later in the rounds to pull an injured unit off the board at a clutch moment. This card has such great utility, ease of use and comes into play in almost every game. However, with dodge spams, armor and shields being a very prominent thing, it's lost some impact.
No Time for your $#@* | Grade A | 2-Pip
No Time for Sorrows is one of the few command cards in the game without a "issued by" restriction. Meaning that all you need to trigger this speed-1 move is a faceup order token. This 2-pip is either a clutch play or a nice speed 1 move on a couple of units to get in or out of combat. The setup can be a bit more questionable as you may want a way to get excess orders on units and when you need this card is timing sensitive. However, this card has some of the most rewarding moments of utility in the game.
Let's go boys! | Grade D | 3-Pip
Leia has some really great cards; this, however, may not be one of them. The issue with this card is that the unit that it is focused around must be Leia. Her range 2 pistol isn't bad, but she's often not at range to use it safely. That means the payoff for this card is minimal. The setup to make this card effective requires a skew list to be built around it and trying to pull it off just isn't worth it. You are most often better off just taking another 3-pip.
HAN SOLO
Everyone's favorite scoundrel is here. Han is an amazing gunslinger with Steady, Low Profile and access to the new Up Close and Personal training upgrade. He can be a sly and tanky sharpshooter that feels very on brand for our scruffy looking nerfherder.
HAN SHOT FIRST! | Grade S | 1-Pip
Being able to always go first is a major advantage in this game (*cough *cough looking at you Shadow Collective Maul). This card has even better synergy than at release with things like HQ Uplink, Seize the Initiative and Hacked Comms and gets better the more units with Cunning get released. Getting orders and guaranteed priority for key units like Operative Luke is a great way to take full advantage of this card. This card is easy to pull off, has major board impact and often leaves your opponent waiting to bait it out or play around it.
AHHHHHHHH!!!!!! | Grade C | 2-Pip
Of his three cards, this is easily his worst card. It's an alternate style essentially of the Distract keyword. However, this card can run into issues if units can easily move to ignore your face ups or simply nuke your faceup into the ground because of big dice pools or fire support. With all of that said, there are games and/or lists where this card can make some pretty clutch plays.
"You've activated my trap card!" | Grade S | 3-Pip
What's that you said?
You wanted to play that card?
HAHAHAHAHA.... NO
Han has the ultimate counter to most every command card in the game, which is just to tell their opponent to stick it back into their hand. The only limitation to this card is timing. You are trying to mess up the timing of your opponent's key plays, which might take some good prediction on your part. However, if you bring Chewie's 3 pip, you can get a second shot at playing this card. Another solid S Grade.
JYN ERSO
And now, one of my personal favorites. Jyn is a mission specific scalpel piece to help grab objective, dig into scoring zones and help win maintain the rebel charge.
A Better Standby | Grade B | 1-Pip
At first glance, this card might look like an un-strippable standby on a mediocre unit. However, if you've played many games against Jyn, you can see how great her utility ends up being and how long a good player can milk effectiveness from her.
Yeah, I know what you are thinking, some of you think it's a high grade at B. However, A free move when she's holding an objective, ability to charge or being able to shoot a unit before it rallies (especially with the suppressive gun) are all a big deal.
Do you like teamwork? | Grade C | 2-Pip
At first glance this card is a little underwhelming until you realize how much rebels like dodges. This card has amazing applications for hero hammer lists. It loves to build up dodge support with other Teamwork characters, Nimble characters, Jedi, etc. This card is often overlooked as it may need a bit of a list built around the skew to maximize it. The efficiency of the card however brings it to a C Grade in my book.
Never give in! Never Surrender! | Grade A | 3-Pip
This is a very strong card. Period. Two of the biggest things that differentiate Jyn from other rebel commanders are: Courage 3 and this card. A turn where anything with an order isn't losing actions or panicking can wildly swing a game. Plus, Jyn gets the new and improved version of Low Profile. I've got this card up at an A Grade. Why? Because whenever I build a list with Jyn this card feels like an auto-take. It's always getting played either to tank up Jyn, give some cover or to stop a unit from running away.
CASSIAN ANDOR
I've been in this fight since launch day!!! Hehehe. All jokes aside, Cassian is a go-to Swiss army knife. Get ready for some high scores class.
Jyn, look out! | Grade A | 1-Pip
Pew Pew. First thing to note is this card works on both sides of Cassian's configurable gun. Meaning you can get a double sniper shot and possibly an extra 2 with the standby at the end of Cassian's turn. There is an argument to push this up to an S. It's an easy way to get some strike teams off the board or soften up some squishy targets. The sniper config also has High Velocity, which has immensely grown in value with all of the dodge spam lists going around, and this allows you to use the keyword at least 2 times in a round (if not 4). However, I think I'm going to save my S Grade for the next card in his arsenal.
"I am indomitable" | Grade S | 2-Pip
Okay so the trigger for this card getting tokens is your heroes having damage. This means EVERY hero will be available to use this card at some point in the match. The applications for this card are top notch. It has synergy with Han/Chewie for teamwork sharing, Jyn and Sabine for their Nimble and Jedi Luke for, well, Luke stuff. I have added Cassian to lists specifically for this card. The efficiency of the card, the benefits and the plays you make with it outclass most all other 2-pips in the rebel faction.
This is for you, Bistan | Grade A | 3-Pip
Cassian lists are often built around hero hammer or special forces heavy armies, and this card is the main reason for both. A recover action on a Pathfinder with Bistan or even something as small as a recover on Wookies to get their Offensive Push back is great. It can also be used to get back Sabine's shield/whip or Luke's force powers. This card has a lot of applications plus it's always a perk to get extra Danger Sense, especially on red dice. There just isn't a reason not to give it an A Grade.
LANDO CALRISSIAN
Sitting at the back of the room, feet up on the desk. We finally arrive to Lando Calrissian, whom lots of people have mixed opinions on. Let's dive in.
Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner | Grade B | 1-Pip
Lando allows you to take 9 command cards due to his Contingencies 3. Because of that, most of his cards get a slight boost because you can include more of them. This card has some solid applications. Lando's flaw sometimes keeps people from taking it but coming from someone who has played Lando at a handful of high tier tournaments, I can say that this card comes out most every game. Gunslinger and Marksmen almost guarantee you to push out 4 wounds. The dodges from this card are also extremely helpful if he is a little more vulnerable than you wanted.
Deploy the Lando | Grade A | 2-Pip
This is a wonderful way to get standby tokens (before activations), extra dodges if needed OR just use as a discard to grab that one order token that keeps sinking to the bottom of the bag that you want to fish out. The utility of this card means I am taking it in every Lando list I build. There is always an application for it, it's super versatile and can help seal key moments in the game to push for victory.
Full House or Bust | Grade C | 3-Pip
Setting aside the fact that this card is themed around gambling and the image is Lando undercover (AMG give us an alternate promo card), I think this card is one of the most fun cards to play in the rebel army. If you can set up Lando to use Fire Support in conjunction with a Mark 2, it can force up to 8 saves or completely whiff and force nothing. More often than not you are playing this card for his defensive gamble and the observation tokens. This card is anything but reliable. The setup is a bit harder, and its results are varied. Therefore it can be a take or leave depending on the army.
I don't believe there are any Rebel Commander cards that are deserving of a Grade F. Every commander has cards that are exceptionally good, and though some are more situational than others, they all have a place in Legion somewhere.
What you think? Am I crazy, spot on, close but no cigar? Leave a comment or email us your thoughts at indianapolisgarrison@gmail.com. Or come discuss it in our discord.
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