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Card Dissection: Vibroknife (SR57)

I haven’t actually done a card dissection for a while, and the most wonderful time of the year upon us, so let’s take a look at some new cards. Today I’ll be going over one of my favorite cards revealed so far for reasons we’ll discuss today. So, let’s look at Vibroknife (SR57)!

The Art

While I’m not much of an artistic person, I do like the simplicity of the art. It clearly shows what it is, and with that wicked curve on the blade, you can imagine how much it would hurt. The only issue I have is that the colors on the blade make it hard to see the features of the knife. That’s a pretty small gripe, though. Overall I like it.

Cost

Two cost upgrades are the bread and butter of most decks, and this card isn’t any different. Being able to drop it on turn one, action one, is always good tempo.

Die

Vibroknife’s faces are: 1 Melee, 1 Melee, +2 Melee, 1 Discard, 1 Resource, Blank. Which overall, is pretty solid. No sides have a resource cost, and +2 is always nice. It’s pretty similar to Holdout Blaster (AW63). I’d say this is an auto-include in melee-based decks, just because of its die along with its cheap cost.

Ability

This card is nuts, and the ability is why it’s one of my favorite cards in the set. Well, besides the fact that Vibro-anything makes me hopeful that The Old Republic will be canon. Let’s start with Ambush, because this keyword is really good, as you probably already know. That extra action is very useful and synergizes very well with its second ability.

“While this die is in your pool, melee damage dealt by your dice (including this die) is unblockable”. This ability is insane, but not overpowered. I’ve been impressed with the balance in this game so far, and this card is no different. The ability is very good, and will keep it playable for a long time, but it isn’t impossible to deal with. A simple die removal event is all it takes to turn off that effect. Ambush help it out a lot though, being able to put it into the pool right after paying it is very good. It effectively saves another die in the pool from being removed, since your opponent will probably be more afraid of Vibroknife’s effect than of some damage. You can also try and slow roll the turn to try and avoid removal.

Deck Options

Literally any deck that uses melee damage will want this. More specifically, this will make melee-based aggro decks a lot better. FN-2199 (SR2) is probably the absolute best choice, though. His ability plus the ambush on this card allows you to put it into the pool and then resolve the damage without allowing your opponent to remove the Vibroknife die.

The other notable deck is obviously Han/Rey, which I don’t think will really get much use out of this. While yes, Ambush is crazy good in that deck, Rey (AW38) is the only melee character in the deck, and her die is terrible. The damage may be unblockable, but you’re still better off using all the ranged damage the deck uses to do something. I do feel like it will give Rey a new partner though, since a melee-based version of the deck would do pretty well. I’m looking at you, Qui-Gon Jinn (AW37).

Final Thoughts

Overall, this card is pretty big for the game. It gives melee decks a way to really compete. Even a bad die, like Rey’s, will do decent damage if it’s all unblockable. The only thing is that I feel it won’t fit in mixed-damage decks, as you really want to maximize that unblockable damage. I do know I hope to pull at least one this weekend. Good luck to all of you going to a pre-release event!


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