Its been quite the season for suspending cards from play in popular trading card games. While Magic: The Gathering continues to grapple with the fallout from last years bans in the Commander format, Disney Lorcana made its first suspension by tossing beloved toymaker Hiram Flaversham (The Great Mouse Detective) out of the competitive play circuit. Now its Fantasy Flight Games turn to wield the ban hammer in Star Wars: Unlimited, which falls this time on none other than Jango Fett. He, along with two other popular cards, are now suspended from play — the same fate that recently befell his beloved son, Boba.
Gone, these Mandalorians are, from the games Premier format. On Wednesday, in a blog post, designers detailed exactly why.
Jango Fett (Concealing the Conspiracy) is a leader card with an unique ability to exhaust enemy units. Played well alongside other cards from the newly released Jump to Lightspeed expansion set, designers say he can repeatedly exhaust all enemy units on the table, thereby leaving opponents critically exposed. That, alongside his hefty seven defense, makes him “very difficult to defeat in combat” — which, yeah, that checks out.
Image: Fantasty Flight Games/AsmodeeTriple Dark Raid, a tactic used in close concert with Jango as a decks leader, is also out.
“Given the absolute dominance that Jango Fett and Triple Dark Raid have demonstrated in such a short amount of time after Jump to Lightspeeds release, claiming 15 out of 24 of the Top 8 spots in our Sector Qualifiers and representing 5 of the 6 finalists,” designers wrote Wednesday, “we feel that quick and aggressive action is required to preserve the health of the competitive landscape for future Qualifiers.”
Also added to the ban list, which Fantasy Flight refers to as the suspended list, is DJ (Blatant Thief). This one, however, sounds like more of an oopsie than anything else. DJ can smuggle, a mechanic introduced with the Shadows of the Galaxy expansion set. But he can also just take control of enemy resources and make them his own.
“DJs ability to permanently steal resources with such ease was simply not an intended use of his mechanic,” the design team admitted in the blog post, and while suspension isnt the best solution, if is effectively the only option theyre willing to take. “We do not intend to errata cards for balance purposes in any capacity; the card you pull from a booster pack should, if at all possible, do what the card says.”
As a result, youll still be able to play DJ — and Jango, and Boba, and Triple Dark Raid for that matter — in casual games. Its just that they wont be allowed in proper organized play any longer.
The next set for Star Wars: Unlimited, titled Legends of the Force, is expected in July.
Star Wars Unlimited - Jump to Lightspeed Booster Box
$85 at Miniature Market