>> JPSD Home

New Dark Side Cards

• Mercenary Pilot
• Mighty Jabba
• Hutt Influence
• No Escape
• Power Of The Hutt
• Jabba's Palace: Lower Passages
• Tatooine: Desert Heart
• Racing Skiff
• Stun Blaster
• My Kind of Scum / Fearless And Inventive

go to the list

The Jabba's Palace Sealed Deck
Design Philosophy

Just as had been the case for the Official Tournament Sealed Deck, the Product Development team wished to reach very specific goals when they set out to create Jabba's Palace Sealed Deck.

"Our main intent," says Product Development team member Tom Lischke, "was to introduce objectives that would, for the first time, work in a sealed-deck environment." This vision took form as the Light Side objective Agents In The Court / No Love For The Empire and the Dark Side counterpart My Kind Of Scum / Fearless And Inventive. "The two objectives would obviously be more powerful in a constructed deck," continues Lischke, " but they remain functional as part of a sealed deck. Players have never had that option before."

collector's box prototypes >>

New Light Side Cards

• Lando With Vibro-Ax
• Palace Raider
• Ounee Ta
• Seeking An Audience
• Underworld Contacts
• Jabba's Palace: Lower Passages
• Tatooine: Hutt Trade Route
• Racing Skiff
• Stun Blaster
• Agents In The Court /
No Love For The Empire

go to the list

The PD team also wanted to include one main character for each allegiance. This would guarantee, for the first time, that sealed-deck players would be enjoying the benefits of at least one main character in their decks. For the Light Side Lando With Vibro-Ax was elected, while Mighty Jabba did the honors for the Dark Side.

"We also wanted to balance the sealed-deck environment," says Lischke. This was accomplished in two different ways. "First, we made sure that creatures wouldn't become the dominant card type," Lischke points out. "That's why Stun Blasters ( Light Side and Dark Side) get such a bonus when trying to hit creatures, and why Jabba's Palace: Antechamber says 'Creatures cannot attack here.' So you can still use creatures and they'll be effective, but we've also given players the tools to keep creatures in check. The other way we balanced the environment was by adding a card that provided Force generation for the Light Side - Underworld Contacts - and a card that gives the Dark Side a better fighting chance in the forfeit war - Hutt Influence."

Never losing sight of the metagame, the PD team used the opportunity afforded by this new release to craft two cards that will impact some dominant deck types. The cards are Ounee Ta for the Light Side, and No Escape for the Dark Side.

Obviously, nothing was left to chance during the design process of Jabba's Palace Sealed Deck. Everything was put into place to make this new product the best sealed-deck experience in the Star Wars CCG universe. As long as you don't stand too long on that trap door.

Francis K. Lalumiere
The Juggler (francisl@decipher.com)