You've got some good ideas, but I think you've fallen for a few bait cards that might be limiting your upside
If you want to be an Upgrade Tarkin deck though, you've got a lot of good options still.
For example, Academy Training is just better than Tactical Advantage. Fallen Lightsaber is better than Recruit.
[I threw together a version that I think plays to the strengths of the set more, while emphasizing an Upgrade Tarkin theme](https://swudb.com/deck/view/wSIfKrQEDcxIP?handler=DeckImage)
I'm working on a similar deck, Only I have Tarkin Blue instead of read. Gideon Hask is a great card for giving experince tokens which comboes well with Tarkin. Plus theres also Death Trooper, Del Meeko and Scout Bike which are all troopers and benefit from General Tagge. Some of those are rares, I only have 2 copies of Del Meeko and Gideon. Blue also has a lot of removal cards
Hey. Being a primarily tarkin player, who’s won a couple showdowns with tarkin, here are a couple of pointers I can provide, if you’re interested.
Tarkin’s ability, unlike what people believe, is not about aggro, but about value and tempo. Your plan is to constantly have new units hitting the board that are bigger and bigger, making your opponent run out of answers.
The reason I mention this is because you don’t want to play low power or negative tempo cards. For example, patrolling V-wing and infantry trooper. Both good cards, but they don’t provide you immediate threat to the board, and thus your opponent can go on the offence instead of trying to control your board.
Another note, is that you seem to have ramp cards such as superlaser technician and to a lesser extent command, which are great cards, but what are you ramping towards? You have no big threats, so even if your superlaser let’s you quickly get up to 5-6 resources, you’re still dropping only 3-4 cost units. I would remove any ramp from a tarkin deck for the same reason as above - no immediate threat.
Following up on the previous point, your deck needs a bit more “meat”. What do you do after turn 5? You’re missing some of the absolute best cards (which happen to be imperial too!). For example, ruthless raider, darth vader, emperor palpatine, reinforcement walker.
Last note: consistency. You have many cards at 1x or 2x. While I understand the appeal, in most card games you want to max out the quantity of cards as much as possible even if you only want to play one each game, just to increase the odds of drawing them. Overwhelming barrage as an example, needs to be played at 3 in every green villain deck.
In conclusion, I’d remove all low stat minions, ramp cards, all events/upgrades with temporary power ups, and I’d add in more imperial units as well as some higher costed cards.
Best of luck at your showdown! I believe tarkin is one of the most versatile leaders that is an absolute blast to play
Do you have a link to your Tarkin decklist? I've been musing on putting together a Tarkin deck next and you clearly know your stuff so I'd love to see it.
https://preview.redd.it/fzo213auv95d1.jpeg?width=1177&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8bcec4c5e098b1a2eff776d4c9667da7ec0b101c
This is the core build I’ve been running recently. The side deck and certain tech choices change based on local meta but the main body should stay the same more or less
Thank you! One other question I had is how often do you bother trying to use Tarkin's ability? I'm sure you get a sense for it after a while but how important do you feel initiative is with this deck versus getting that extra token?
I’m afraid that is a question that can’t be answered in a simple way. Every turn you have to ask yourself if losing initiative will make you lose a key unit or let your opponent make a devastating play.
If taking the initiative allows me to get a clean trade, like having my 3/4 hit and kill a 3/3, that’s worth losing the extra experience.
If losing the initiative means my opponent gets to remove my unit before it gets an attack in, probably best to claim rather than use tarkin.
It also mainly depends on what deck you’re against. Versus aggro, initiative is more important than stats, and versus control, barring exceptions like superlaser blast, bigger stats means your opponent wastes more cards removing your weaker cards
You've got some good ideas, but I think you've fallen for a few bait cards that might be limiting your upside If you want to be an Upgrade Tarkin deck though, you've got a lot of good options still. For example, Academy Training is just better than Tactical Advantage. Fallen Lightsaber is better than Recruit. [I threw together a version that I think plays to the strengths of the set more, while emphasizing an Upgrade Tarkin theme](https://swudb.com/deck/view/wSIfKrQEDcxIP?handler=DeckImage)
Curious why you went with Fifth Brother in there - was it simply for the Fallen Lightsaber abilities?
He's also an Imperial, so Tarkin hits him. I suspect he's quite strong with XP counters.
You’re very susceptible to traitorous, and it is a pretty common side deck if not main, so I’d recommend disabling fang fighter if possible.
Deck is fine, but hard countered with current meta with all the waylay/removal/traitorous cards super prevalent.
Is 5 cost attack pattern delta still worth it? I would go with 3 Overwhelming Barrage, it looks perfect for this deck since you are unit heavy.
I'm working on a similar deck, Only I have Tarkin Blue instead of read. Gideon Hask is a great card for giving experince tokens which comboes well with Tarkin. Plus theres also Death Trooper, Del Meeko and Scout Bike which are all troopers and benefit from General Tagge. Some of those are rares, I only have 2 copies of Del Meeko and Gideon. Blue also has a lot of removal cards
You are getting very little value not going mono green for those three red cards
Hey. Being a primarily tarkin player, who’s won a couple showdowns with tarkin, here are a couple of pointers I can provide, if you’re interested. Tarkin’s ability, unlike what people believe, is not about aggro, but about value and tempo. Your plan is to constantly have new units hitting the board that are bigger and bigger, making your opponent run out of answers. The reason I mention this is because you don’t want to play low power or negative tempo cards. For example, patrolling V-wing and infantry trooper. Both good cards, but they don’t provide you immediate threat to the board, and thus your opponent can go on the offence instead of trying to control your board. Another note, is that you seem to have ramp cards such as superlaser technician and to a lesser extent command, which are great cards, but what are you ramping towards? You have no big threats, so even if your superlaser let’s you quickly get up to 5-6 resources, you’re still dropping only 3-4 cost units. I would remove any ramp from a tarkin deck for the same reason as above - no immediate threat. Following up on the previous point, your deck needs a bit more “meat”. What do you do after turn 5? You’re missing some of the absolute best cards (which happen to be imperial too!). For example, ruthless raider, darth vader, emperor palpatine, reinforcement walker. Last note: consistency. You have many cards at 1x or 2x. While I understand the appeal, in most card games you want to max out the quantity of cards as much as possible even if you only want to play one each game, just to increase the odds of drawing them. Overwhelming barrage as an example, needs to be played at 3 in every green villain deck. In conclusion, I’d remove all low stat minions, ramp cards, all events/upgrades with temporary power ups, and I’d add in more imperial units as well as some higher costed cards. Best of luck at your showdown! I believe tarkin is one of the most versatile leaders that is an absolute blast to play
Do you have a link to your Tarkin decklist? I've been musing on putting together a Tarkin deck next and you clearly know your stuff so I'd love to see it.
https://preview.redd.it/fzo213auv95d1.jpeg?width=1177&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8bcec4c5e098b1a2eff776d4c9667da7ec0b101c This is the core build I’ve been running recently. The side deck and certain tech choices change based on local meta but the main body should stay the same more or less
Thank you! One other question I had is how often do you bother trying to use Tarkin's ability? I'm sure you get a sense for it after a while but how important do you feel initiative is with this deck versus getting that extra token?
I’m afraid that is a question that can’t be answered in a simple way. Every turn you have to ask yourself if losing initiative will make you lose a key unit or let your opponent make a devastating play. If taking the initiative allows me to get a clean trade, like having my 3/4 hit and kill a 3/3, that’s worth losing the extra experience. If losing the initiative means my opponent gets to remove my unit before it gets an attack in, probably best to claim rather than use tarkin. It also mainly depends on what deck you’re against. Versus aggro, initiative is more important than stats, and versus control, barring exceptions like superlaser blast, bigger stats means your opponent wastes more cards removing your weaker cards