Welcome to THE GAUNTLET!!
The Gauntlet is a static page on www.TheHyperloops.com that features what we consider fairly “stock lists” to test with and against. It’ll be updated regularly as the meta evolves with each new release and major tournament result.
Playtesting is difficult, and one of the most challenging parts of the process is testing against the right decks and decklists. Throwing 30 cards into a deckbox that are probably decent in a given archtype is not the best way to test a match up. Choosing the right list from the bevvy of lists posted on www.swdestinydb.com is no easy task either, so we’ve done it for you here.
When it comes time to build some decks and really playtest, these are the decks we think you should use. They represent an excellent baseline for which to try out an archtype to see if you like it, or an accurate representation of what decklists you’ll face at a competitive tournament. Because everyone has different opinions on what cards/decks/etc are best, we aren’t trying to sell you on playing these lists at any of the various championships, we just want to make your playtesting easier. Playing against these lists will help you figure out a matchup and allow you to make tweaks to your decks.
ON THE ROAD TO WORLDS 2019 - 10/2/2019 Update by NJCuenca
Here is a list of 10 decks you will want to test against. I ordered them from what I think is most important to least important.
Reylo
Every hardcore Reylo player has their own take on what the ‘right’ list should be. There are some universals like Niman Mastery, 1x Rey’s Saber, 1x Yoda’s Lightsaber, Forsaken, Hidden Motive, Pacify and Polarity just to name a few. JMag from Destiny Council did write up on his list, you’ll see that it differs a bit from this one.
Jabba Supports
With the nerf to Wat it might be wise to consider other pairings but with his PA still working with Megablaster Troopers, Umbaran Hover Tank and Senate Chamber this line up is still under consideration. Tie FIghter is a card I would consider testing if you truly want some more Wat value but admittedly the die is kind of meh. I posted a list that keeps Wat’s PA in mind while still playing the good Boom Booms!
Palpatine and Watto
Palpatine and Motti
These decks do play out differently but the end goal is pretty much the same. I suspect they have slightly different match ups/strengths and weaknesses as well. I personally like the red version better because Admiral is a really gross end game play but I’ve lost to the yellow version enough and respect it. I placed the yellow one higher because I think that one will be more popular but this could go either way.
Chopper Droids
This deck was hit hard with nerfs. This is a random list that I got from the DB but its pretty reasonable. It is not as good as it was before but its still worth putting in your gauntlet.
Ramp Droids
I pretty much just took Satine Droids and put Han in there. If you are just looking for something to test against this wouldn’t be an awful list to play against but its certainly worse than Satine. If you are looking to play something like this I would certainly be testing/tuning this.
Aphra
This is a random list from the DB but one of the more obvious pairings that you can go to after the Wat nerf. Aphra is in a weird place since there really isn’t a stock list you can test against but something like this is a good place to start. There is plenty of space to innovate with Aphra since all you really need is 11 points of her and then add whatever you want around her. Not sure many will care to experiment too deeply except for those already into playing Aphra.
Kylo and Phasma
This list is all over the place - I feel you should commit to admiral or not and this seems like its doing a halfway measure. Regardless, this seems like it would do good work vs Reylo and an endgame admiral on Phasma would be pretty baller. I’m intrigued with an approach like this but the question is… how we gonna pay for it all? I do like that hes playing 3 three cost redeploys in order to make the admiral plan more viable with Phasma since Niman and Crossguard saber are real good on Kylo. The biggest issue this deck has is againts 3 wide rainbow decks but perhaps admiral gives it that much needed late game punch? Against those decks they will probably go for Phasma since Kylo’s ability will only probably hit once in the game
Ewoks
This list is pretty interesting since it uses Preemptive Strike - a card that has mostly been forgotten. This puts your opponent in kind of a rough spot since it makes playing around Target Acquired difficult in the first round. Your opponent can choose to give you the battlefield and take shields to soak it up or take theirs and have to expose a character to target aquired. Let’s not forget you have Hoth Trooper which can damage a ready character so if they let you go first they will pretty much be damaging one of their characters massively. You aren’t going to always draw Target Aquired but its just something else your opponent has to plan for. Having said all of those things that are interesting none of that compares to the raw power arena of death had. Petrenaki Arena is fine and its unblockable damage can set up some Target Aquires under shields which is certainly a play to look out for.
Vader/Fost, Greedo or Retribution/Battle Droid
Vader somehow gets worse due to the nerfs. How you ask? Her name is Rey and her power action blanks Vader’s die once per turn. Still, its better against the field in general now and Its definitely the kind of sea of jizz deck that I hate facing because when your opponent is rolling hot with Vader he is nearly unbeatable. If you haven’t faced off against Vader, TTB its good to at least get a few games in but I suspect that most players will look elsewhere.
There is this version, Retributions Battle Droid and the yellow one with Greedo. Both have their pluses and minuses. The red ones do a better job of protecting Vader due to The Best Defense while the Greedo one gets access to Desperate Measures.
There are certainly other characters that are good to look out for but for the most part this does a pretty good job of representing the meta. If you think your deck or a deck in particular was snubbed please let us know in the comments or on social media. If we hear it enough we will be glad to add it to the Gauntlet.
-NJCuenca
