Time for my first character review. Today I want to focus on one of the strongest and most talked about cards in the entirety of Spirit of Rebellion, TIE Pilot (SR4). How can a non-unique character be that good? Well, I’ll tell you.
Art
I like the art on this card. It really gives you a sense of the TIE Pilot him(or her)self. I can just imagine the smug look under that helmet, feeling so proud for taking out an X-wing. Great art for just how good this card is.
Die
TIE Pilot has an interesting die for a character. +1 Ranged, +2 Ranged, +3 Ranged for 1, 1 Focus, 1 Resource, and a blank. This die isn’t the greatest ranged die out there, but it’s still pretty good. All three damage sides being modifiers is kind of rough, and forces you to play other characters with ranged damage, as well as upgrades with ranged. While cards that force you to deckbuild a certain way aren’t always the best, this guy really just wants cards that you should be playing anyway. If this is one of your characters, you’ll already be maxing out on ranged damage cards, so it’s not forcing you to play bad or awkward-to-play cards.
Ability
To give a bit of perspective, this character is only eight points, which is a weird place to be as it can’t be played with some of the better ranged characters, like Jango Fett (AW21) at elite. The ability, though, is what really takes the cake here, “While this die is in your pool, your other dice showing ranged damage can’t be removed.” This is HUGE for villain ranged decks. It blanks Dodge (AW155) almost entirely, and makes it awkward with every other die control card, forcing you to spend cards and resources on such a cheap die. Being able to play two is obviously the dream for this card. Having two tie pilots both showing ranged damage, makes all of your ranged damage immune to control. This ability will really be a big factor in the upcoming meta.
Possible Combos
Literally anything with ranged damage, though preferably an elite character. My personal favorite is IG-88 (SR20), since he has a crazy good die. Turn one, action one being Holdout Blaster (AW63), then activating the TIE Pilot is a very good opening play. The other good combo that’s getting a bit of buzz already is Palpatine (SR11). Palp’s die is nuts as is, and preventing those dice from being removed ensures some explosive turns. The other reason is Training (SR125) and Cargo Hold (SR153). Training makes TIE Pilot elite, which is good in and of itself, but Cargo Hold allows you to cheat it onto Palp. Making him elite while having a partner is huge, provided there’s no errata to change that.
TIE Pilot is a huge game changer for Ranged Villain decks, and is something to keep an eye on, especially with Palpatine and IG-88. TIE Pilot also fits with anything ranged-based as well. Overall it’s an amazing card, and it’s surprising that it’s non-unique as well. If you have any super-secret TIE Pilot tech, feel free to post a comment below! I’d love to hear any deck ideas you guys might have.
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