After eight years in exile, the map to my island planet has been discovered and I’ve begun work on a new Galactic Battles expansion: Legacy.
Legacy will feature ten brand-new decks for characters featured in Star Wars media since the Disney acquisition. The set is tentatively scheduled for release on May 4th, 2022 in celebration of Star Wars Day and the 20th anniversary of the original Epic Duels.
What characters will be included in Legacy?
I can’t play my entire hand on the first turn. The characters will be announced over time on this blog, along with associated deck previews. For those who like to speculate in the mean time, here are some hints:
Legacy will feature ten brand-new decks for characters featured in Star Wars media since the Disney acquisition. The set is tentatively scheduled for release on May 4th, 2022 in celebration of Star Wars Day and the 20th anniversary of the original Epic Duels.
What characters will be included in Legacy?
I can’t play my entire hand on the first turn. The characters will be announced over time on this blog, along with associated deck previews. For those who like to speculate in the mean time, here are some hints:
This is just a snapshot of the design as it stands today, so it is subject to change as development continues. I welcome any guesses and I’ll try to figure out a prize if anyone manages to nail all ten.
Why no decks from other Disney-era Star Wars material?
Apologies to fans of The Clone Wars, Rebels, The Bad Batch, Jedi: Fallen Order, and the various novels and comics. I just couldn’t get into that stuff, so I’ll only be pulling from the live-action canon for this set. Admittedly, I think the side films are a bit overrepresented at three slots, but it’s just the way the decks came together. I didn’t want to discard a good concept just to change the balance of source material.
Why so many Yellow Decks? Why so few Red?
I didn’t really set out to have a specific color distribution with this release. The current Galactic Battles set has enough decks of each basic archetype that I don’t think this will be an issue. If anything, I’m excited to get a few extra Yellows in the mix because Galactic Battles is a bit light on traditional shooter decks.
Is anything else changing with Galactic Battles?
Yes! Most notably, I am shaking up the Ban Phase. Historically, I have added 1 new ban per side for every 10 new decks. But this time, instead of going to 5 bans per team, I’m going to move 1 of the pre-selection bans to a mid-selection ban. What this means is that each team will ban 3 characters, then each team will select 1 character, then each team will ban 1 final character before choosing their 2nd deck. The updated Tournament Rules doc will include the following:
Team A bans a character.
Team B bans a character.
Team A bans a character.
Team B bans a character.
Team A bans a character.
Team B bans a character.
Team A chooses a character.
Team B chooses a character.
Team A bans a character.
Team B bans a character.
Team A chooses a character.
Team B chooses a character.
Having a mid-selection ban should add more strategy to the process. It also allows me to design new decks that could be degenerate when paired with one particular character, since that character can always be banned. This should also help address concerns in the existing metagame around dominant teams like Dooku/Grievous or Palpatine/Jabba. I’ll probably talk more about the significance of this rule change in individual deck previews.
Will the new decks be balanced with the previous 40?
In short: no. The longer answer is that it is absolutely my goal to make the new characters balanced with other Galactic Battles decks, but they probably won’t be on release. This is sadly because I am no longer spoiled with a regular pool of playtesters like I was eight years ago. Their data and feedback was crucial for getting the balance right. Additionally, I’m out of practice when it comes to Epic Duels tuning, so I’m more likely to miss the mark this time around.
When will Legacy be available to play with?
My hope is to have all ten decks designed and published by May 4th, 2022. That said, this date is subject to change based on the demands of my other design projects. It’s possible that it will be delayed or that the .PDF and VASSAL files won’t be available right away even if the designs are in a releasable condition. Apologies in advance if that is the case!
Will there be an online tournament to celebrate the release?
I’d love to do a tournament, but I can’t promise one yet. I’ll need to talk to my Vassal Guy, whom I treasure if he’s reading this.
How can I keep up with the development of Legacy?
Just watch this space! I’m going to try to post previews semi-regularly between now and release.
I hope you all enjoy Galactic Battles: Legacy! Let me know your thoughts below and what characters you’re hoping to see!
Why no decks from other Disney-era Star Wars material?
Apologies to fans of The Clone Wars, Rebels, The Bad Batch, Jedi: Fallen Order, and the various novels and comics. I just couldn’t get into that stuff, so I’ll only be pulling from the live-action canon for this set. Admittedly, I think the side films are a bit overrepresented at three slots, but it’s just the way the decks came together. I didn’t want to discard a good concept just to change the balance of source material.
Why so many Yellow Decks? Why so few Red?
I didn’t really set out to have a specific color distribution with this release. The current Galactic Battles set has enough decks of each basic archetype that I don’t think this will be an issue. If anything, I’m excited to get a few extra Yellows in the mix because Galactic Battles is a bit light on traditional shooter decks.
Is anything else changing with Galactic Battles?
Yes! Most notably, I am shaking up the Ban Phase. Historically, I have added 1 new ban per side for every 10 new decks. But this time, instead of going to 5 bans per team, I’m going to move 1 of the pre-selection bans to a mid-selection ban. What this means is that each team will ban 3 characters, then each team will select 1 character, then each team will ban 1 final character before choosing their 2nd deck. The updated Tournament Rules doc will include the following:
Team A bans a character.
Team B bans a character.
Team A bans a character.
Team B bans a character.
Team A bans a character.
Team B bans a character.
Team A chooses a character.
Team B chooses a character.
Team A bans a character.
Team B bans a character.
Team A chooses a character.
Team B chooses a character.
Having a mid-selection ban should add more strategy to the process. It also allows me to design new decks that could be degenerate when paired with one particular character, since that character can always be banned. This should also help address concerns in the existing metagame around dominant teams like Dooku/Grievous or Palpatine/Jabba. I’ll probably talk more about the significance of this rule change in individual deck previews.
Will the new decks be balanced with the previous 40?
In short: no. The longer answer is that it is absolutely my goal to make the new characters balanced with other Galactic Battles decks, but they probably won’t be on release. This is sadly because I am no longer spoiled with a regular pool of playtesters like I was eight years ago. Their data and feedback was crucial for getting the balance right. Additionally, I’m out of practice when it comes to Epic Duels tuning, so I’m more likely to miss the mark this time around.
When will Legacy be available to play with?
My hope is to have all ten decks designed and published by May 4th, 2022. That said, this date is subject to change based on the demands of my other design projects. It’s possible that it will be delayed or that the .PDF and VASSAL files won’t be available right away even if the designs are in a releasable condition. Apologies in advance if that is the case!
Will there be an online tournament to celebrate the release?
I’d love to do a tournament, but I can’t promise one yet. I’ll need to talk to my Vassal Guy, whom I treasure if he’s reading this.
How can I keep up with the development of Legacy?
Just watch this space! I’m going to try to post previews semi-regularly between now and release.
I hope you all enjoy Galactic Battles: Legacy! Let me know your thoughts below and what characters you’re hoping to see!