This week, its time we take a look at Probe (AW72), a red villain event that does not get as much attention as it perhaps should.
The Art: This is honestly one of the worst aspects of the card. While the image of the probe droid does stand out quite nicely against the snowy white Hoth background, the probe droid itself is very dark and nondescript. With its very dark grey and black color palate, it doesn’t look very detailed, or nice. It almost reminds me of an out of focus picture. There are so many great examples of card art out there, and Fantasy Flight Games has even outdone themselves with alternate art cards, that there is no excuse for this travesty.
Ability: This is, currently, the only Red Villain event that has any real form of card control. Sure, with cards like Cannon Fodder (AW68), The Best Defense… (AW75), and Sweep the Area (AW73), Red Villain does have a decent amount of dice control, but no card control. Also, and this is a side bonus, even if you don’t randomly pick 2 events from their hand, you still gain the knowledge of what 2 of their cards are, so you can prepare for their arrival in the fight. And, if you do manage to pick 1 or 2 events, those cards can’t do anything to hurt you or help them. Finally, it will be up to 2 cards that they can’t discard to re-roll dice.
Cost: With a cost of 0 this card should be an auto-include in any Red deck. Each deck has certain auto-include cards and for and deck with Red, I add these 2 cards first, and only remove them after extreme, careful, consideration, and with a very good reason. And, surprisingly for a Red Villain card, there is no need to spot, use, or damage one of your own characters to use it, another plus.
Deck Options: There are no downsides to this card, other than taking up one (or two) of the possible 30 cards in a draw deck. There isn’t a deck out there that can’t benefit from this card, especially at 0 cost. When Red is paired with Blue and/or Yellow, this is one more tool available that can be used to further control the game.
Final Thoughts: Currently underrated, underused, and underappreciated, this card will surprise many an opponent when you play it. Honestly, even for me, the first time it was played against me, I was like “what????”…. Red Villains don’t do that….
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“With a cost of 0 this card should be an auto-include in any Red deck.” – This is a very big statement about a card that is rarely seen. And the fact that it is rarely seen, should tell us something about how much players like this card, or how the meta is already formed. I do not agree with your statement that it’s an auto-include at all. Currently some of the Red villain decks are: Jango + Veers / Jango + Troopers / Grievous + Dooku / Grievous + Jango. Is there any specific deck that you would recommend it in?
The thing with this card is: It requires no only a card but also an action, which already is not ideally for every deck and match up, plus you only have a small chance to gain any benefits from it at all. Sure, you gain a little bit knowledge about their hand, but at the cost of an action as well, you might as well be too late: “Oh you see my Holdoutblaster and Electroshock? Sure I will have to discard the shock.. but I’ll play the Holdoutblaster now”. Even if you manage to hit two event cards from their hand, you still only gain an advantage of one card; which doesn’t make you win the game, unless you’re playing a serious mill deck. Sure it adds a little bit control, but I’m not convinced after reading your article. By the way, would you say Street Informants is an auto include in any Yellow-deck as well?
Today they will publish my tournament report that I went to last week. I took Elite Jango/Elite Veers. I had 2 probes in my deck. Did they help? Absolutely. I can tell you right now I wouldn’t have won one of my matches without it.
“And the fact that it is rarely seen, should tell us something about how much players like this card, or how the meta is already formed.”
There is a reason that I said that the card is underrated, underappreciated, and underused. One of the things I am trying to do with this card review is get people to understand just how powerful it can be. And, rarely seen by whom? Where I’m at, I only took notice of it because of its use against me, and it is still quite popular.
And, yes, I would say that seeing my opponents 2 cards in their hand, even in your example of an Electroshock and a Holdout Blaster, would be a great trade. They were probably going to play the Holdout Blaster anyway, but now they can’t remove one of my dice with their Electroshock. Just think of all the events out there that you would love to remove from a hand. Dug In? Armed to the Teeth? He doesn’t like You? All great cards to try to remove.
Finally, no, I wouldn’t say Street Informants would be an auto include in any deck. My Vader/Raider doesn’t have it, nor does my Trooper/Trooper/Nightsister/Bala. Now, I do generally put it in my Jango decks as its an action that I can use to help push my opponent to activate one of their characters so Jango can activate for free.
And, remember, you have your opinion, and I have mine. You might have cards that are auto include in your decks that I don’t agree with. I’m trying to get the word out on this card. Maybe change the meta a bit, get people thinking.
Hello again,
This weekend we tested the Probe a little bit; it works decently, but it seems to really excel in a Jango / Veers deck specifically. The ability to take away important things such as Deflect, Force Strike, Dug In, or Risposte is worth taking the shot. Also it provides the opportunity to not ‘pass’ in response to your opponent passing during the first round of the game, actually improving the usability of Jango.
Anyway, I think I’ll have to explain that it wasn’t my main point to argue with either the card was good or not, but more with the whole ‘auto include’-statement without decent information provided to back this statement up. But if you only wanted to get the word out on the card, this is what you managed to do; we played it in our group and in one of the decks it is a keeper.