The honor of the final Legacy slot goes to none other than the star of the upcoming Andor series: Cassian Andor! And of course, the best reason to make a Cassian deck is so that I get to make cards for his acerbic companion, K-2SO!
Cassian is a Rebel sharpshooter who’s given everything to the cause. He reprogrammed the Imperial security droid K-2SO and the two fight the Empire side by side. Cassian can line up a shot no matter what’s between him and his target. K-2SO keeps targets from getting to Cassian by blocking their path and knocking them down.
"We'd like to volunteer. Some of us...most of us. We've all done terrible things on behalf of the Rebellion. Spies, saboteurs, assassins. Everything I did, I did for the Rebellion."
Cassian Andor – HP 13 – Yellow Deck – Ranged
K-2SO – HP 14 – Minor Green Deck – Melee
Cassian Andor
Rebel Marksman
A4
Play this attack face-up. Before choosing the defender, turn any character on its side. For the rest of the game, Cassian and all friendly characters can attack through characters turned on their sides. At the beginning of any turn, any player may discard 2 cards at random to stand this character back up.
Saboteur
A5
Play this attack face-up. Before choosing the defender, place a RUBBLE TOKEN on any obstacle space. For the rest of the game, Cassian and all friendly characters treat that space as a pit instead of an obstacle. Draw a card.
Cover Our Backs
Special
Choose any character. Until the end of your next turn, that character may attack from a distance. If they attack through a character or over a pit, increase the attack value by 1. If they attack a character that is turned on its side, decrease that character's defense values by 1.
K-2SO
Programmed Protector
Special
Turn, or keep, K-2SO on its side. While on his side, he occupies all empty spaces adjacent to his character pawn, except during your team’s movement phases. If he was already on his side, enemy characters also receive 2 damage the first time in a turn they leave a space K-2SO can attack. At the beginning of any turn, any player may discard 2 cards at random for each "on its side" effect on K-2SO to stand him up.
Please Do Not Resist
A6
Turn any character adjacent to K-2SO on its side. If that character was already on its side, instead move that character to any space adjacent to K-2SO. At the beginning of any turn, any player may discard 2 cards at random to stand this character back up.
Grenade Catch
D6
Any time K-2SO would receive damage from a Special card, you may discard this card. If you do, reduce the damage to 0. You may discard an additional K-2SO card. If you do, choose any minor character. That character receives the damage K-2SO would have received.
3x Rebel Marksman
2x Saboteur
1x Cover Our Backs
2x Programmed Protector
2x Please Do Not Resist
2x Grenade Catch
Cassian is a sniper and the ultimate “bunker” shooter. His game plan is straightforward and passive, but his cards have enough decision points and synergy with K-2 and his team to keep things interesting.
Cassian is a Yellow deck with no movement or special defense, so his goal is to stay behind your battle line and whittle away at enemies from relative safety. Normally in Epic Duels, you can’t make a ranged attack through friendly characters, so you need to move up and then use a card to retreat back to safety.
But Cassian has a different solution for that problem in Rebel Marksman. This card lets him turn any character on its side, a mechanic introduced with Hasbro’s Yoda and used liberally by my Jango Fett. It then gives your entire team the permanent ability to ignore characters that are lying prone when making ranged attacks. Admittedly this makes his talents a little verbose, but I couldn’t pass up the thematic elegance of shooting over fighters on the ground.
It’s important to understand that turning a character on its side in this manner doesn’t apply any direct negative effects like The Child’s Instinctive Lift or Jango’s various Toxins. It just makes them eligible to be shot over by your team. This means it can be more valuable to turn allies on their side than enemies so that Cassian can hide behind them as he fires.
Saboteur is really an extension of the same idea. It does for walls what Rebel Marksman does for characters. It knocks out a section of an obstacle that your team then treats as a pit. A pit includes things like the water on the Kamino Platform and the blue mist in the Emperor’s Throne Room– spaces that you can’t enter but you can shoot over. This means that Cassian can sabotage a section of the L-shaped pillar on Geonosis and fire through it while using it for cover.
Cassian’s final trick, Cover Our Backs, can be used to recreate the moment he utters the line in Rogue One to make K-2SO ranged for a bit. Of course he can also toss it on another ally or himself since it carries some nice output buffs. It boosts any attack that travels over a character or pit and reduces any defense played by knocked-down defenders. Remember that no matter how many characters or pits you fire over, you still only get +1 attack, but you can boost attack and lower defense if you meet both conditions.
A big part of why Cassian is able to attack from safety is that he’s got a huge Imperial KX-series droid blocking for him. K-2SO serves as a tank similar to Kyle Katarn. He’s got a custom Minor Green Deck formed by removing a 1/4 from the Major Green, which gives him 35% more total points of defense than a Strong Minor. He can knock down characters for Cassian to shoot over and even turn himself on his side for strong passive abilities reminiscent of Kazdan Paratus’ droid modifications.
Programmed Protector allows you to give K-2SO upgrades inspired by some classic Dungeons & Dragons mechanics. Once you turn him on his side with it, he essentially uses his large size to take up multiple spaces at once. This means he can attack from more positions and block off a larger area to prevent enemies from getting to Cassian. The effect is suppressed during your team’s movement phases. This means his increased size doesn’t prevent him from moving through crowded areas or prevent allies from ending adjacent to his pawn. Since he occupies more spaces, this also creates more spaces that are considered adjacent to him for effects that rely on that. That’ll be important later.
If K-2 was already on his side, either due to playing an earlier copy of Programmed Protector or using Rebel Marksman on him, he also gets a passive akin to D&D’s Attacks of Opportunity. When an enemy character leaves a space he threatens, that character takes 2 direct damage. This can only trigger once per turn on the same target, so a character walking all the way around him isn’t hit repeatedly. Of course, if he happens to have ranged capabilities thanks to Cover Our Backs, he can threaten a huge portion of the map and really punish opposing movement.
One last note on Programmed Protector is the importance of the “Turn, or keep” phrasing. I am going to update Jango’s card text to use this phrasing as well because as a general rule with all these “on its side” effects, I don’t want them to stack. This is to prevent really confusing game states. This means that a “Turn” card that doesn’t say “or keep” can’t double up on a character that’s already down. The Tournament Rules doc will be updated to reflect this distinction.
In addition to turning himself on his side to get new abilities, K-2 can also knock people down with Please Do Not Resist. And just like in the film, he can even throw a friend to the ground this way. If the chosen character is already on their side, he can move them to any space he’s adjacent to. And that can mean a decent distance if he’s enlarged by Programmed Protector.
Cassian is a Rebel sharpshooter who’s given everything to the cause. He reprogrammed the Imperial security droid K-2SO and the two fight the Empire side by side. Cassian can line up a shot no matter what’s between him and his target. K-2SO keeps targets from getting to Cassian by blocking their path and knocking them down.
"We'd like to volunteer. Some of us...most of us. We've all done terrible things on behalf of the Rebellion. Spies, saboteurs, assassins. Everything I did, I did for the Rebellion."
Cassian Andor – HP 13 – Yellow Deck – Ranged
K-2SO – HP 14 – Minor Green Deck – Melee
Cassian Andor
Rebel Marksman
A4
Play this attack face-up. Before choosing the defender, turn any character on its side. For the rest of the game, Cassian and all friendly characters can attack through characters turned on their sides. At the beginning of any turn, any player may discard 2 cards at random to stand this character back up.
Saboteur
A5
Play this attack face-up. Before choosing the defender, place a RUBBLE TOKEN on any obstacle space. For the rest of the game, Cassian and all friendly characters treat that space as a pit instead of an obstacle. Draw a card.
Cover Our Backs
Special
Choose any character. Until the end of your next turn, that character may attack from a distance. If they attack through a character or over a pit, increase the attack value by 1. If they attack a character that is turned on its side, decrease that character's defense values by 1.
K-2SO
Programmed Protector
Special
Turn, or keep, K-2SO on its side. While on his side, he occupies all empty spaces adjacent to his character pawn, except during your team’s movement phases. If he was already on his side, enemy characters also receive 2 damage the first time in a turn they leave a space K-2SO can attack. At the beginning of any turn, any player may discard 2 cards at random for each "on its side" effect on K-2SO to stand him up.
Please Do Not Resist
A6
Turn any character adjacent to K-2SO on its side. If that character was already on its side, instead move that character to any space adjacent to K-2SO. At the beginning of any turn, any player may discard 2 cards at random to stand this character back up.
Grenade Catch
D6
Any time K-2SO would receive damage from a Special card, you may discard this card. If you do, reduce the damage to 0. You may discard an additional K-2SO card. If you do, choose any minor character. That character receives the damage K-2SO would have received.
3x Rebel Marksman
2x Saboteur
1x Cover Our Backs
2x Programmed Protector
2x Please Do Not Resist
2x Grenade Catch
Cassian is a sniper and the ultimate “bunker” shooter. His game plan is straightforward and passive, but his cards have enough decision points and synergy with K-2 and his team to keep things interesting.
Cassian is a Yellow deck with no movement or special defense, so his goal is to stay behind your battle line and whittle away at enemies from relative safety. Normally in Epic Duels, you can’t make a ranged attack through friendly characters, so you need to move up and then use a card to retreat back to safety.
But Cassian has a different solution for that problem in Rebel Marksman. This card lets him turn any character on its side, a mechanic introduced with Hasbro’s Yoda and used liberally by my Jango Fett. It then gives your entire team the permanent ability to ignore characters that are lying prone when making ranged attacks. Admittedly this makes his talents a little verbose, but I couldn’t pass up the thematic elegance of shooting over fighters on the ground.
It’s important to understand that turning a character on its side in this manner doesn’t apply any direct negative effects like The Child’s Instinctive Lift or Jango’s various Toxins. It just makes them eligible to be shot over by your team. This means it can be more valuable to turn allies on their side than enemies so that Cassian can hide behind them as he fires.
Saboteur is really an extension of the same idea. It does for walls what Rebel Marksman does for characters. It knocks out a section of an obstacle that your team then treats as a pit. A pit includes things like the water on the Kamino Platform and the blue mist in the Emperor’s Throne Room– spaces that you can’t enter but you can shoot over. This means that Cassian can sabotage a section of the L-shaped pillar on Geonosis and fire through it while using it for cover.
Cassian’s final trick, Cover Our Backs, can be used to recreate the moment he utters the line in Rogue One to make K-2SO ranged for a bit. Of course he can also toss it on another ally or himself since it carries some nice output buffs. It boosts any attack that travels over a character or pit and reduces any defense played by knocked-down defenders. Remember that no matter how many characters or pits you fire over, you still only get +1 attack, but you can boost attack and lower defense if you meet both conditions.
A big part of why Cassian is able to attack from safety is that he’s got a huge Imperial KX-series droid blocking for him. K-2SO serves as a tank similar to Kyle Katarn. He’s got a custom Minor Green Deck formed by removing a 1/4 from the Major Green, which gives him 35% more total points of defense than a Strong Minor. He can knock down characters for Cassian to shoot over and even turn himself on his side for strong passive abilities reminiscent of Kazdan Paratus’ droid modifications.
Programmed Protector allows you to give K-2SO upgrades inspired by some classic Dungeons & Dragons mechanics. Once you turn him on his side with it, he essentially uses his large size to take up multiple spaces at once. This means he can attack from more positions and block off a larger area to prevent enemies from getting to Cassian. The effect is suppressed during your team’s movement phases. This means his increased size doesn’t prevent him from moving through crowded areas or prevent allies from ending adjacent to his pawn. Since he occupies more spaces, this also creates more spaces that are considered adjacent to him for effects that rely on that. That’ll be important later.
If K-2 was already on his side, either due to playing an earlier copy of Programmed Protector or using Rebel Marksman on him, he also gets a passive akin to D&D’s Attacks of Opportunity. When an enemy character leaves a space he threatens, that character takes 2 direct damage. This can only trigger once per turn on the same target, so a character walking all the way around him isn’t hit repeatedly. Of course, if he happens to have ranged capabilities thanks to Cover Our Backs, he can threaten a huge portion of the map and really punish opposing movement.
One last note on Programmed Protector is the importance of the “Turn, or keep” phrasing. I am going to update Jango’s card text to use this phrasing as well because as a general rule with all these “on its side” effects, I don’t want them to stack. This is to prevent really confusing game states. This means that a “Turn” card that doesn’t say “or keep” can’t double up on a character that’s already down. The Tournament Rules doc will be updated to reflect this distinction.
In addition to turning himself on his side to get new abilities, K-2 can also knock people down with Please Do Not Resist. And just like in the film, he can even throw a friend to the ground this way. If the chosen character is already on their side, he can move them to any space he’s adjacent to. And that can mean a decent distance if he’s enlarged by Programmed Protector.
[In this example, K-2SO occupies 7 spaces using Programmed Protector and is moving a Clone Trooper to his opposite side with Please Do Not Resist.]
K-2’s last card is Grenade Catch. It’s a vanilla D6 if played as a defense card, but it can alternatively be discarded whenever K-2SO would take damage from a Special to negate it. If used in this way, he can even throw the damage back at an enemy minor by discarding an additional card. Grenade Catch will most often be used as a big defense card, but its presence serves as an important deterrent for minor hate like Vader’s Apology Accepted.
With K-2 tanking, Cassian should be able to spend a lot of time firing at oncoming opponents. You’ll typically want to let the opposing team come to you as you harass from safety. While the deck’s offense isn’t impressive for a shooter, it’s consistent. In addition, most of it can be sent at opposing majors since you can put their minors on their sides and ignore them.
The Rogue One Rebels will complement basically any shooter deck since Rebel Marksman and Saboteur give added flexibility to all ranged characters. Jango Fett and Commander Bly are stand-out teammates since they are ranged and also use the “on its side” mechanic to potent effect. Shooters with high damage and discarding like IG-88 and Cad Bane can also wreak havoc if they can hide behind K-2 for a while.
When playing against the deck, think carefully before paying the discard cost on any “on its side” card. While it can be tempting, the deck has 7 cards that charge that cost and paying repeatedly will quickly deplete your hand. Cassian wins through targeting efficiency more than attack power or card efficiency, so if you get through K-2SO, you’ll be in a strong position. Decks that can bypass the front line like Maris Brood, Galen Marek, Asajj Ventress, General Grievous, and Count Dooku are strong counterpicks.
I hope Cassian Andor and K-2SO can breathe new life into the shooter metagame or at least provide some fun at your kitchen table. I can’t even begin to predict what Galactic Battles tournaments are going to look like with the introduction of Legacy!
Galactic Trivia! – This was one of the first decks I concepted, but the last completed. That’s mostly because the original version didn’t offer enough gameplay until I pivoted to using the thematic on-side mechanic. Once I did, I found myself with the welcome problem of too many card ideas I liked and the challenge became paring them down.
K-2’s last card is Grenade Catch. It’s a vanilla D6 if played as a defense card, but it can alternatively be discarded whenever K-2SO would take damage from a Special to negate it. If used in this way, he can even throw the damage back at an enemy minor by discarding an additional card. Grenade Catch will most often be used as a big defense card, but its presence serves as an important deterrent for minor hate like Vader’s Apology Accepted.
With K-2 tanking, Cassian should be able to spend a lot of time firing at oncoming opponents. You’ll typically want to let the opposing team come to you as you harass from safety. While the deck’s offense isn’t impressive for a shooter, it’s consistent. In addition, most of it can be sent at opposing majors since you can put their minors on their sides and ignore them.
The Rogue One Rebels will complement basically any shooter deck since Rebel Marksman and Saboteur give added flexibility to all ranged characters. Jango Fett and Commander Bly are stand-out teammates since they are ranged and also use the “on its side” mechanic to potent effect. Shooters with high damage and discarding like IG-88 and Cad Bane can also wreak havoc if they can hide behind K-2 for a while.
When playing against the deck, think carefully before paying the discard cost on any “on its side” card. While it can be tempting, the deck has 7 cards that charge that cost and paying repeatedly will quickly deplete your hand. Cassian wins through targeting efficiency more than attack power or card efficiency, so if you get through K-2SO, you’ll be in a strong position. Decks that can bypass the front line like Maris Brood, Galen Marek, Asajj Ventress, General Grievous, and Count Dooku are strong counterpicks.
I hope Cassian Andor and K-2SO can breathe new life into the shooter metagame or at least provide some fun at your kitchen table. I can’t even begin to predict what Galactic Battles tournaments are going to look like with the introduction of Legacy!
Galactic Trivia! – This was one of the first decks I concepted, but the last completed. That’s mostly because the original version didn’t offer enough gameplay until I pivoted to using the thematic on-side mechanic. Once I did, I found myself with the welcome problem of too many card ideas I liked and the challenge became paring them down.