Table of Contents
FFG has come to the rescue. The Jump to Lightspeed metagame looked dreadful with the absolute dominance of Jango Tarkintown. Well, the suspension of Jango Fett, Triple Dark Raid, and DJ came just in time and now the Premier format is looking a lot healthier, with a diverse number of leaders and bases posting top results.
Granted, the events held last weekend were quite small and the next major tournament, Sector Qualifier Richmond, is still two weekends away. This early look should indicate how the player base is adjusting to the now-open field and shows what you're likely to see in the coming weeks.
Check out the best performing decks in this post ban metagame below.
Tier List
| Tier | Deck | Top 8s (Wins) |
|---|---|---|
| S Tier | Quinlan Tarkintown | 13 (3) |
| Sabine ECL | 10 (4) | |
| A Tier | Anakin Colossus | 6 |
| Bossk Blue | 4 | |
| Gar Yellow | 4 | |
| Han1 Green | 4 | |
| Piett Blue | 4 | |
| B Tier | Han1 Yellow | 3 (1) |
| Cad Tarkintown | 3 (1) | |
| Kazuda Thermal Oscillator | 3 | |
| Cad Data Vault | 2 (2) |
Leaders & Bases
| Leader | Top 8s |
|---|---|
| quinlan-vos-sticking-the-landing-twi-18 | 14 |
| sabine-wren-galvanized-revolutionary-sor-14 | 11 |
| han-solo-audacious-smuggler-sor-17 | 8 |
| anakin-skywalker-what-it-takes-to-win-twi-12 | 8 |
| cad-bane-he-who-needs-no-introduction-shd-14 | 6 |
| admiral-piett-commanding-the-armada-jtl-5 | 6 |
| bossk-hunting-his-prey-shd-10 | 5 |
| kazuda-xiono-best-pilot-in-the-galaxy-jtl-18 | 5 |
| emperor-palpatine-galactic-ruler-sor-6 | 4 |
| gar-saxon-viceroy-of-mandalore-shd-1 | 4 |
| boba-fett-any-methods-necessary-jtl-9 | 4 |
| grand-admiral-thrawn-patient-and-insightful-sor-16 | 4 |
| han-solo-worth-the-risk-shd-13 | 3 |
| qira-i-alone-survived-shd-2 | 2 |
| luke-skywalker-hero-of-yavin-jtl-12 | 2 |
| poe-dameron-i-can-fly-anything-jtl-13- | 2 |
| iden-versio-inferno-squad-commander-sor-2 | 1 |
| luke-skywalker-faithful-friend-sor-5 | 1 |
| kylo-ren-rash-and-deadly-shd-11 | 1 |
| cassian-andor-dedicated-to-the-rebellion-sor-13 | 1 |
| obi-wan-kenobi-patient-mentor-twi-3 | 1 |
| darth-vader-victor-squadron-leader-jtl-6 | 1 |
| yoda-sensing-darkness-twi-4 | 1 |
| Base | Top 8s |
|---|---|
| tarkintown-sor-25 | 19 |
| Blue | 17 |
| energy-conversion-lab-sor-22 | 15 |
| colossus-jtl-21 | 13 |
| Yellow | 12 |
| Green | 6 |
| data-vault-jtl-24 | 4 |
| thermal-oscillator-jtl-25 | 3 |
| nabat-village-jtl-28 | 2 |
| Red | 2 |
| petranaki-arena-twi-28 | 1 |
| lake-country-jtl-31 | 1 |
Meta Overview
As expected, the next best decks unaffected by the suspensions would rise to the top with the meta bogeyman gone. Quinlan Tarkintown and Sabine ECL are well ahead of the rest in both Top 8 finishes and actual 1st place wins. These were already strong with comfortable play patterns so it's easier for players to gravitate towards them after sudden format changes.
What's more interesting are the next tiers of decks. It's full of archetypes previously held down by the Jango menace and are now able to compete again. There were 44 unique leader-base combinations with top finishes in the past week, with 23 unique leaders making their mark. It's definitely a promising sign that the bans had the desired impact.
Cad Bane Data Vault deserves some attention as both of its Top appearances were also 1st place finishes. The Tarkintown versions are still very much in the running but it would be fun to see which one ends up being preferred.
colossus-jtl-21, a new base from Set 4, has shot up in popularity. It's being tested paired with several leaders, though Anakin seems to be the frontrunner.
More leaders from Jump to Lightspeed are also popping up, an exciting development that seems to indicate players are exploring more without a clear best deck.
Tier 1
Quinlan Tarkintown
With its toughest matchup out of the picture, Quinlan Tarkintown is poised to become the new deck to beat owing to its solid win rates against the remaining popular decks. Hand disruption and the ability to take out units essentially for free is a strong combination.
Quinlan Tarkintown essentially takes the best Cunning cards and splashes strong Aggression cards such as force-throw-sor-167, sabine-wren-explosives-artist-sor-142, and poe-dameron-quick-to-improvise-shd-153. ahsoka-tano-chasing-whispers-jtl-201 makes a splash here, representing 2-for-1 value with the right trades.
red-five-running-the-trench-jtl-151 fits nicely with Quinlan's pings. shadowed-hover-tank-jtl-224 can trade with high HP attackers in boarded games. Maindecking some disabling-fang-fighter-sor-162 can be a risk but with pilots and hotshot-dl-44-blaster-shd-174 all over the place it can find targets in the first game.
Sabine ECL
As we mentioned in previous reports, newer versions of the ever-present Sabine ECL have been leaning into the strong pilots and ships in its colors, such as chewbacca-faithful-first-mate-jtl-103 and black-one-straight-at-them-jtl-147.
r2-d2-artooooooooo-jtl-245 and phoenix-squadron-a-wing-jtl-95 are cheap and efficient plays to get attacking early. It's fantastic that all these new units are rebels, too, since it has several strong synergies with aggressive cards such as rebel-assault-sor-103 and wing-leader-sor-241.
cham-syndulla-rallying-ryloth-jtl-164 in the sideboard is great at trying to maintain parity with ramp strats.
Tier 2
Anakin Colossus
Giving anakin-skywalker-what-it-takes-to-win-twi-12 a 35 HP base lets the deck survive longer for the sand-hater to finish off the opponent. Restore units mitigate the cost of using Anakin's ability for that extra oomph when attacking. Lots of removal ensures you can usually take the most threatening one out and the Sentinel units offer enough of a hurdle for the rest.
Anakin Blue has been quietly performing even before JTL released, but this new base might be just what it takes for it to join the top tier. It needs a few more tools for control and ramp matchups, which the sideboard is mostly for. krayt-dragon-shd-172 is huge and annoying to deal with, and it must be dealt with.
Bossk Blue
Picking bossk-hunting-his-prey-shd-10 as the leader of a pure control deck offers a lot of payoffs when you can cash in on bounties twice. Drawing 4 cards or healing 12 damage from your base are exactly what a control players wants to do. Well, aside from defeating every and all units that stand in your way.
How you win actually win is of last importance, though emperor-palpatine-master-of-the-dark-side-sor-399-hyperspace and avenger-hunting-star-destroyer-sor-40 can mop up if the opponent hasn't given up yet at seeing your full grip and their empty board. Against other similarly slow decks, restock-sor-252 and bounty-hunter-crew-sor-183 can recur vigilance-sor-58 for the mill victory.
Bossk Blue lost a great matchup with Jango gone and isn't too hot against Quinlan Tarkintown, so it's future lies on how well it performs against the other top contenders.
Gar Yellow
Gar Yellow definitely got stronger with Jump to Lightspeed, gaining lots of Shielded units as well as pilots. director-krennic-on-the-verge-of-greatness-jtl-32, outer-rim-outlaws-jtl-65, and shuttle-st-149-under-krennics-authority-jtl-242 are exactly what Gar wants. iden-versio-adapt-or-die-jtl-36 and boba-fett-feared-bounty-hunter-jtl-189 are flexible as either ground units or pilot upgrades that can return to your hand with the leader deployed.
The incremental advantage of Shield tokens allow for favorable combats while Gar also enables lower power units to potentially trade up in addition to hitting just that bit harder on bases. Because of these tighter margins compared to other playstyles, Gar Yellow is not too easy to successfully pilot but it can be very satisfying when you squeeze every bit of value out of your cards in order to win.
Han1 Green
Han1 Green is an exciting alternative to playing with the audacious leader, which should be considered now that the DJ threat is gone. The featured deck below went hard with pilots and Millennium Falcons, which are excellent targets for the-marauder-shuttling-the-bad-batch-shd-102.
luke-skywalker-you-still-with-me-jtl-94, han-solo-has-his-moments-jtl-203, and chewbacca-faithful-first-mate-jtl-103 provide significant advantages that offset being played as an upgrade. The green ramp and Han himself let you play powerful 7-costs ahead of curve, including u-wing-reinforcement-sor-104 which can be a 3 for 1.
Reusing cards in the discard pile with home-one-alliance-flagship-sor-102 and salvage-jtl-121 along with the usual smuggle Han1 is known for makes this a midrange beast that can go the distance.
Piett Blue
Launching massive ships way ahead of schedule against hapless opponents is Piett's grand plan. Going blue gives access to a lot of control elements such as no-glory-only-results-jtl-43 and survival tools such as corvus-inferno-squadron-raider-jtl-38 and cr90-relief-runner-jtl-71.
Blue's capital ships are also more attractive now that Triple Dark Raid isn't an option. fleet-interdictor-jtl-40, avenger-hunting-star-destroyer-sor-40, and annihilator-tagges-flagship-jtl-41 can be backbreaking for some matchups, especially when played early.
If a capital ship manages to survive, wiping the opponent's board becomes easy with overwhelming-barrage-sor-92 and turbolaser-salvo-jtl-131. The trick is, of course, surviving. Ramping against aggro decks is risky and you're mostly at the mercy of how good your hands are.
Tier 3
Han1 Yellow
Cad Tarkintown
Kazuda Thermal Oscillator
Cad Data Vault
Notable Event Winner
There were a few decks that managed to win their event while also being its lone Top 8 appearance. Unfortunately, the Qi'Ra Blue, Palpatine1 Blue, and Han1 Nabat Village decklists are unavailable.
Kazuda Petranaki Arena
Final Thoughts
So far, the meta seems to be returning to a diverse field while people still test to find the next heir to the throne. Hopefully it won't be another era dominated by a single deck and that more leaders continue to post top results. That's up to you, though!
What do you think about the current state of the SWU meta? What are you planning to bring to your next LGS event?
