Bardan Jusik, from Renegades and Rogues





Bardan Jusik is a solid affinity piece; he doesn't scream Tier 1 power, but he has a useful set of abilities and synergies that make him work in a range of Mandalorian and Republic squads. He featured in a DragonCon winning squad that Weeks ran in 2011 (http://www.bloomilk.com/Squad/109694/dont-stap-believin--dragon-con-winner-), and I feel like his potential in Mandalorian squads has yet to be explored in recent builds, although he did win the California Regional in 2012 - Jedi Mind Trick 2 can help set up Scouts, who are still a key part of lots of Mando squads, for their Opportunist attacks. He's not a big offensive threat, with only Double Attack and weak stats for his cost, but with Beskar'gam, he does have some survivability. Making up for this, he has neat tricks - like the Jedi Shadow, he's another hard to kill door control piece, and Force Sense and Jedi Mind Trick 2 are both potentially very useful. Nice piece, 8/10.

You left out the low, low cost of 15.

Cad Bane, from Galaxy at War (http://www.bloomilk.com/Character/876/cad-bane)





Cad Bane is the king of the new generation shooters from WOTC. The double/twin/GMA turrets quickly usurped the older generation of shooters; Dash Renegade Smuggler, Captain Rex, and Cad Bane were everywhere after they were released, and still haven't been cast aside even after seven v-sets. While Cad Bane has some limitations, with very low hit points for his cost, he's a potent attacker, with his ability to do four +16 attacks at 20 damage against uniques at any point in a round. While he can potentially work in a few factions - he's won a regional in Vong and New Republic squads as well - his best option is indisputably the Imperials, where they have the tech to keep him hiding out back, outactivate the opponent, and swap him in for a big end of round attack at +20 damage for 30s, with the option to use Admiral Gilad Pellaeon for Ysalamari to make his attacks unstoppable. I think he deserves a 10, as he's a potent part of some tournament squads; but at the same time I'd acknowledge that it's the control that Ozzel and Thrawn provide that deserve the 11s in Imperial Cad Bane squads. So he's not the power piece per se, but he is a very potent gun in a game where blasters rule supreme. 10/10.

I used him in a regional winning squad here:

--New Mandos On The Block (NW Regional Champion 2012 Portland, OR.)--
37 Cassus Fett
36 Bardan Jusik
24 Mandalorian Tactician
38 Mandalorian Scout x2
13 Czerka Scientist
12 Mandalorian Counter-Intelligence Officer
11 Death Watch Saboteur
8 R4 Astromech Droid
5 Salacious Crumb
9 Mouse Droid x3
6 Ugnaught Demolitionist x2

(199pts. 15 activations)

Good points Tim and HanSolo - I've updated my above entries to take them on board.

With Vong, they do now have the option of Peace Brigade Soldiers, who also have Stealth and are quite a bit cheaper - I'd take three of those over Cad Bane most of the time.

Flim, from Scum and Villainy





The Imperial triumvirate from Scum and Villainy was an attempt by the design team to break the stranglehold that the two Thrawns (Grand Admiral and Mitt'thrawn'whatever) had over the Imperial faction - every competitive build revolved around one of the Thrawns and their awesome game controlling powers. Unfortunately, the Triumvirate ended up too weak to challenge the dominance of the Thrawns, and it took the emergence of Admiral Daala and her trooper swarms in v-set 6 for non-Thrawn Imperial builds to see competitive table time.

Having said that, Flim is arguably the most useful of the three pieces in the triumvirate - I've seen him used effectively in pre-nerf Daala squads, as his CE allowed either a cannon attack or more movement from a Zygerrian Slaver - and he'd probably still see significant play if it wasn't for his rivalry with Pellaeon, who's another Imperial powerhouse. Flim does face some challenge for game time from the Imperial Officer's very similar CE, but if you're not running Pellaeon and Thrawn, Flim's Tactician + 2 and his more flexible CE makes him a stronger option thant the Imperial Officer. 4/10.

PS. It seems weird giving Flim a 4, since I've been destroyed by a squad featuring him only a couple of months ago, but I do think that the Zygerrian errata takes away a lot of his value.

Hmmm. You just said everything I wanted to say. I guess a simple +1 will have to suffice.

Darth Vader, from Revenge of the Sith (http://www.bloomilk.com/Character/178/darth-vader)





This Vader doesn't get played anymore, in lieu of the more popular versions like Lord Vader and Scourge of the Jedi, but for 47 points I don't think he's all that bad. He has great stats for 47 points, 140 hit points, and while he only has 4 force points, he has a nice portfolio of force powers. He has Force Burst, which is a great fodder clearer, Sith Grip for ranged offense, and Sith Rage for a damage boost on his attacks. Darth Vader arguably doesn't offer quite enough to really see play ahead of the sexier Vaders (although he might have a bench role getting pulled in by Pellaeon against Geonosian Drones just for his Force Burst), but on the other hand, he's still a relatively efficient piece with good stats and a nice suite of Force powers, who's not as badly dated as a lot of other pieces from his era. 4/10.

So true on the Rodian Trader. I'd rather use a Kaminoan Medic if I really feel the need to heal without Dr. Evazan.

I brought in not one, but two Rodian Traders through Lobot about a month ago. ( my opponent had Marn, and I wanted to make sure he didn't bribe anybody.)

Honestly the "immediate" reserves are something that can be relied on a little more, but other than that i tend to not build around them. They are nice to have and if i am going to Have the Choice of Ozzel or Moff Morlish Veed, i will pick Ozzel each time because there is that chance.

The only Exception to that is what tim Mentioned, about a reserves build squad. They can be fun to play but will never be competitive to me. Even iof you have several Pieces with Reserves and build around it.