There are several possible minor pairings for Rey. For my needs, the clear winner is BB-8. In the films, he consistently helps out in fights and doesn’t take too much of the spotlight from our protagonist.
Rey is a prodigy whose natural gifts reveal themselves the moment she is exposed to the Force. She is surprisingly strong when fighting breaks out, but her powers wane in a prolonged battle. BB-8 keeps opponents off-balance and guides Rey where she needs to go.
“I can’t explain it. And you wouldn’t believe it.”
Rey – HP 18 – Blue Deck – Melee
BB-8 – HP 9 – Strong Deck – Ranged
Rey
2x Stronger Than She Knows
A9*
*Decrease the attack value of this card by 1 for every card in the player controlling the defending character’s discard pile. Draw a card.
2x Awakening
D6
You may put the attack card on the bottom of the player controlling the attacking character's draw pile instead of discarding it. Any time a player with less than 6 cards in their discard pile plays a Special card or puts an attack card facedown, you may discard this card. If you do, put that card on the bottom of that player's draw pile without effect.
2x Spirit of a True Jedi
A5
Choose an opponent. Until the end of your next turn, that opponent may not play attack cards with an attack value greater than the number of cards in their discard pile and whenever a card would be put into their discard pile, it is instead put on the bottom of their draw pile.
2x Scavenger
A4
If a defense card is played, you may put it on the bottom of the player controlling the defending character's draw pile instead of discarding it. Until the end of your next turn, whenever one or more cards are put on the top or bottom of one or more draw piles, you may draw a card.
1x Dyad in the Force
Special
Choose any player. That player searches their draw pile for any card, shuffles the draw pile, then puts that card back on top. Then choose a different player. Take any card from that player's discard pile and put that card on top of their draw pile.
BB-8
3x Map in Memory
A2
Look at the top 2 cards of your draw pile. Put one in your hand and put the other on the top or bottom of your draw pile. Choose an opponent. Take up to 2 cards from that opponent's discard pile. Put up to one on top of their draw pile. Then put the rest on the bottom of their draw pile in any order.
2x Stronger Than She Knows
2x Awakening
2x Spirit of a True Jedi
2x Scavenger
1x Dyad in the Force
3x Map in Memory
One of the central threads in The Force Awakens is Rey becoming aware of her incredible connection to the Force. Everyone in the film, herself included, is surprised by her level of aptitude without any formal training. In Epic Duels terms, these innate abilities are best represented with a rush deck.
Those in my tournament scene are well aware, but rush decks are ones that aim to win quickly through early-turn aggression. They typically thrive in a low-resource game state. Interestingly enough, they were essentially an emergent strategy when players started pairing up decks like Obi-Wan and Artoo and going straight for an engagement, eschewing the usual slow grind of advancing battle lines and drawing to 10 (or beyond). I love this kind of gameplay diversity, so I leaned into this strategy with rush decks like Qui-Gon Jinn and Han Solo and flex rushers like General Grievous and Count Dooku.
I say all this to give a bit of context to Rey and to offer the disclaimer that I believe rush decks are among the hardest to successfully implement in Epic Duels. They typically need a lot of draw power to attack productively and rely on preventative defense to avoid getting burst down with a small hand. Luckily Rey and BB-8 have both in spades!
Rey’s abilities are linked with the past and the passage of time. Her cards are strongest when opposing discard piles are small and get progressively weaker as the game drags on. She just can’t let the past die.
Stronger Than She Knows is probably the clearest example of Rey’s path to victory. It can swing for a whopping 9 attack value, but is reduced for every card the defender has managed to get into the discard pile. While an opponent has a limited discard pile, Rey can also exert best-in-class control over them with her counter-spell Awakening. It’s similar to Emperor Palpatine’s Undoing and Future Foreseen, but without the option for the opponent to buy out of it.
Spirit of a True Jedi is her proactive defense, stopping an opponent from attacking using anything with an attack value bigger than their discard count. It also serves as a bridge to the rest of her suite in that it prevents cards from going into that opponent’s discard pile by putting them on the bottom of the deck.
The perfect companion for Spirit of a True Jedi is Scavenger. Whenever cards go to the top or bottom of a deck, it lets Rey draw a card. Note that the wording of the card’s effect is intentional. It counts instances of cards moving, not the number of cards or the number of decks they went to. So a card that forced all players to put five cards from their hands on the top and bottom of their decks would still only generate one card draw for each copy of Scavenger that is active. By combining Scavenger with Spirit of a True Jedi, Rey can easily replenish her hand with 4 draws just by attacking on back-to-back turns if the opponent wants to defend themselves. More if the target tries to strike back and even more if also coupled with BB-8’s Map in Memory.
Map in Memory not only provides a bit of draw, similar to Artoo’s Sensor Sweep, it also helps undo progress the opponent has made toward bulking up their discard count. BB-8 is ranged (justify it with the coin launcher on Canto Bight if you like), so he should have a fairly easy time integrating his small but resource efficient attacks.
Finally, Rey’s one-of is Dyad in the Force. This flexible card allows you get whatever you or your teammate need from your decks and let the other recycle their best trick. You could also choose to erode an opponent’s discard pile and make them re-draw one of their weakest cards. Since Rey is generally trying to win in the early to mid-game, the bump in consistency from Dyad in the Force can go a long way. And of course, since it puts cards on top of decks, it combos with Scavenger. “A power like life itself.”
Rey is a rush deck, albeit more controlled than someone like Qui-Gon. She isn’t completely reliant on early aggression, but she will typically pair best with other characters that can come out of the gate swinging. Qui-Gon Jinn, Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Artoo, General Grievous, and Count Dooku should make for solid partners. Depending on matchup, Durge, Darth Maul, and Galen Marek can also make for effective off-rushers.
Rey makes for a great counter-pick to anyone that relies on their discard pile like Ki-Adi-Mundi, Durge, Cad Bane, or appropriately, a young Luke Skywalker. Conversely, characters that have an exceptionally easy time filling their discard pile will prove to be a challenge. Rey players may want to ban decks like Mace Windu, Emperor Palpatine, or Komari Vosa.
Enjoy the possibilities and surprises of playing Rey! Come back next week for eleven new cards and one familiar one. May the Fourth be with you!
Galactic Trivia! – The first iteration of Dyad in the Force was conceived as a foil to Anakin’s The Chosen One. Instead of stealing a teammate’s turn, it allowed teammates to integrate their turns like never before. As design took shape, that idea no longer fit this card, but got recycled into an upcoming deck. It’s all grist for the mill.
Star Wars Day Trivia! – The current Galactic Battles Durge deck debuted at a tournament ten years ago today!