Red Sabine - San Diego Regional Top 16 (5-3 Swiss)

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Redentor 109

Hey all,

Before the dust settles completely from last weekend, I thought I'd publish up the list I took my San Diego Regional tournament on 2/3. I'll try and do a more substantial write-up of the methodology + matchups in the next few days, but here's 3 quick thoughts as a short version:

1) Sabine (without Ezra) Can Compete:

Before I go into my take on Sabine, shout out to MatCouz's build which took down the Hamilton regional with eSabine/Yoda (https://swdestinydb.com/decklist/view/17600/swampthing-hamiltonregionalwinnerchancecubedeck-3.0).

Sabine got some major boosts with Legacies, the greatest of which is Hidden Blaster. 6 Ambush guns, one of them a 3-coster, made for much greater variability in terms of getting and keeping the Sabine-train rolling. The addition of ambush gun #4 vastly improved Sabine's consistency just with the keyword itself.

And what's not to love about this gun? I has 1-less base-damage side than Holdout or X-8, but it makes up for this by not featuring a single resource cost for any of its 3-damage sides and it's nifty shield-stripping ability, which the deck can rinse/repeat in the course of doing its thing.

Hasty Exit and Easy Pickings are excellent upgrades for any Sabine removal suite, and Pickings in particular tends to shine even when opponents try and play around it.

Lastly, the additions of plots help any Sabine build like mine that all-ins on our favorite Mandalorian with the help of a dedicated damage soaker like Rebel Trooper. I personally took Fortify for a guaranteed 12-hp Sabine (more like 19-22 depending on how much Trooper can soak), but the draw option might be worth testing.

The deck started 4-0, going toe-to-toe with and defeating the gracious and very skilled Tiny Grimes (who would Top 4 on eMom/eKylo2, here: https://swdestinydb.com/decklist/view/17626/kylo2talzin-sdregionaltop4-smugglersdendeck-1.0) before my decision-making fell apart and went 1-3 in my final rounds. 2 of my losses were to Kylo/Mom (1 player made top 4, the other placed #11), and 1 was to Obi/Maz (I believe he placed #12), while I was able to win vs the aforementioned Kylo/Mom, Quigon/Kanan, Yoda/Hondo, JabbaMill, and Hero Vehicles. Out of ~100 players, and with as shaky/new a pilot as me, this showing far exceeded my hopes. I believe the deck would have placed higher and had a definite shot at scrapping with the winning vehicles deck were it in the hands of a better player with more than a day's worth of practice.

The common question I got - where was Ezra? Don't get me wrong, Ezra is still a fine pairing to Sabine, but in my testing his impact was extremely limited and Sabine's death almost always heralded the end. As soon as I switched to Trooper and the red removal suite, Sabine was surviving through insane damage when coupled with the tried and true Second Chance. Which get's me to my next observation I'll make in this quick write-up...

2) Red Sabine Rocks

A speedy-deck that loves to claim over and over again? Red's defensive options were a perfect match.

The iteration I locked in certainly needs work, however. The most glaring omission (in hindsight) is the lack of Into The Garbage Chute, a card that did wonders in the Vehicle decks and would have slotted perfectly here. I also went a bit too deep on Battlefield-reliant removal/defense - the best opponents took notice and began to agonize over an early claim. I still think that this deck will out-claim the vast majority of the field, but if I had to do it again, Dug in would likely turn into Field Medic (the deck's sheer speed meant I often was passing while holding removal - Medic would have filled these actions much better), and some combination of Superior Position and Defensive Position would have made room for the 2x Garbage Chutes (Easy Pickings generally dealt with problem sides). These still are somewhat meta-dependent calls and in need of further testing.

Honor Guard is also in need of exploration, although I'm fairly confident in my choice of Outer Rim Outpost - Nal Hutta and the card isn't as bonkers without Docking Bay - Finalizer.

Red also makes room for Retreat, which I tested as a 1-of. This decision came from my testing conclusion that...

3) Hyperspace Jump is the Best Card in Sabine

The hijinks of Hyperspace Jump first came on my radar while reading the Hondo/Poe2 write-up that followed the Portland regionals, also alerting my attention to the (mostly unused) potential of Retreat. The implications were clear - if you can get consistent, speedy damage (or milling, I suppose) on your opponents, a well-timed Jump/Retreat can negate their entire round.

While these cards obviously shine brighter against Vehicles/OTK/slow matchups, they consistently saved Sabine's face from 4-8 dice worth of damage and other activation-based shenanigans versus a wide-variety of decks. Dealing a modest 3-6 un-interactable damage followed by skipping your opponent's round is absolutely and completely worth it, and I am still learning how to better play Sabine around these mechanics (more on that in subsequent write-ups...this deck is harder to play than it looks).

Never Tell Me The Odds + Running Interference is still a good enough combo to make the deck x2. But the real MVP of the weekend was Jump, without a doubt.


I have plenty of other commentary on the deck and how to play it (hold your $$ and over-write!), but that is for a later date. In the meantime, I welcome any and all feedback, critique, and questions.

Best of luck!

4 комментария

CodeBreaker (Mat Cousineau@Chance Cube) 1336

interesting! I love the options red give you here. A very different take on a Sabine deck here. relying more on good rolls from sabine for dmg but with a much stronger defensive suite. Congrats on the top 16 finish, a very strong showing at an event with a ton of great players!

biggy165 26

switch to lobot once he is legal?

Redentor 109

@MatCouz @ Chance Cube Appreciate it! There is definitely less inherent fixing with no Yoda on board, but even mediocre Sabine rolls are often ok when you're skipping/undermining your opponent's rolls!

@biggy165 Great question, and I appreciate you bringing Lobot - Cyborg Aide on my radar. Lobot's dice having focus and the special are solid, though not game-changing upgrades from Trooper, so the primary question in my mind is this - does having 2 more HP justify making your Guardian effect somewhat conditional? Since Sabine's HP is ultimately what matters in my build, not having Fortify means this is effectively a 1HP advantage. In non-mill scenarios, having Guardian active is necessary to protect Sabine's health every round, and depending on the speed of your meta, Lobot's "maybe"-ness may not make the cut.

The only other considerable change Lobot brings is uniqueness. I spent a grand total of 10 seconds considering Rose - Skilled Mechanic to give you a surprise Leadership round of damage, but losing guardian was way too much. Leadership obviously trades off with guardian/Into The Garbage Chute for a round, but could theoretically gain you an enormous amount of surprise damage that gets stronger later in the game. I can't give a pronouncement without testing, but you can bet I'll be giving Lobot/Leadership a try!

lengelmp 1152

No Planetary Uprising? why's that? The extra four damage on a claim is brutal and it acts as its own form of mitigation causing an opponent to claim early