Epic Duels Deck Analysis

By MoonSylver

Deck Composition
Each of the decks in ED is based on the same standard composition as follows:

10 Basic combat cards for the main character

9 Basic combat cards for the secondary character(s)
12 "extra" cards total that are either Specials or Power Combat
cards

Major Character Types/Basic Deck Composition

Each of the major characters falls into 1 of 4 categories/Basic deck types:

Red -- good offense, bad defense. Aggressive/headstrong fighters.

Blue -- OK on offense and defense. Balanced fighters who were cautious
where necessary, yet bold when called for.
Green -- bad offense, good defense. Cautious fighters, who could wear an
opponent down with lots of blocks, then come in with limited attack at
the end.
Yellow -- Distance weapons. OK on offense and defense but lower in
value than blue, since they can attack from a distance.

Luke, Vader, Maul, & Anakin all have the same Basic combat cards (Red)

Mace, Dooku, and Obi-Wan all have the same Basic combat cards (Blue)

Jango, Boba, and Han all have the same Basic combat cards except Han has a
2/3 card while Boba & Jango have instead a 2/2 card. (Yellow)

Yoda and the Emperor have the same Basic combat cards. (Green)

Only Jedi/Sith have 5/1 combat cards.

Only Yoda & the Emperor have 1/5 combat card

When you add up the total amount of attack/defend points on the combat
cards you get this

Luke, Vader, Maul, Anakin = 56 total point

38 are attack points
18 are defend points

Mace, Obi-Wan, Dooku = 56 total points

32 are attack points
24 are defend points

Boba, Jango, Han = 46 total points (Han has 47)

27 are attack point
19 are defend points (Han has 20)
Yoda & the Emperor = 59 Total points
= 28 are attack points
= 31 are defend points

so it would seem that Jedi Knights and Sith have 56 total points to
create their combat cards with.

Sith masters and heads of the Jedi order have 59 points

while everyone else in the universe has 46 total points (47 in Hans’ case)

Minor Character Types/Deck Composition

The minors fall into 1 of 3 catagories/Basic Deck types.

Type A (Tough)--- Elite of the elite.

Type B (Personalities)--- Still quite tough.
Type C (weak)---Standard troops.

The Royal Guard & the Super Battle Droids are the same & worth 49 w/ a 24/25 split (Type A)

Leia, Padme, Greedo, Zam & Chewie all have the same basic combat cards worth 43 pts split 23/20 between A/D
(Chewies’ is actually 44 pts w/ a 5/1 attack card instead of a 4/1) (Type B)

The Troopers & Battle Droids are the same & worth 29 w/ a 16/13 split (Type C)

Basic Values
If you add together the values of the Major/Minor deck + their Damage you can get an idea of the Basic worth of
each deck.

Characters Basic Deck Value Damage Total

Luke/Leia 56/43 16/9 124
Vader/Troopers 56/29 19/6 110
Maul/Droids 56/29 17/4 106
Anakin/Padme 56/43 17/9 125

Mace/Troopers 56/29 18/6 109

Obi-Wan/Troopers 56/29 17/6 108
Dooku/SBD 56/49 17/8 130

Boba/Greedo 46/43 13/6 118

Jango/Zam 46/43 14/9 112
Han/Chewie 47/44 12/14 117

Yoda/Troopers 59/29 14/6 108

The Emperor 59/49 12/8 128

Of course these numbers aren’t all inclusive, as they don’t take into account the 12 “Extra” cards, (which is where
the real strength or weakness of each deck lies for the most part), but are useful for determining the Basic Value.

Summary
So there you have it. There are 4 types of Major Character 2 of them worth 56 (Jedi) & one worth 47/48 (shooters)
& one worth 49 (leaders) & 3 types of minors (I'll call them A, B, & C) A (tough) worth 49 w/a 24/25 split, B ( still
quite tough) worth 43 w/ a 23/20 split, & C (weak) worth 29 w/ a 16/13 split.
To use the playtest terms that Rob Daviau (co-designer of ED) told us about for the Majors, we have Red
(attack oriented 38/18 split), Blue (balanced 32/24 split), Yellow (shooters w/ a 27/19 split or 27/20 in Hans case) &
Green (defense oriented w/ a 28/31 split)

Putting It All Together

By using the Basic Deck compositions for the Major & Minor characters in ED you have a basic framework to start
with on construction of a custom deck. All that remains is to come up w/ a total of 12 “Extra” cards (which are the
real “meat” of the ED decks & is the aria where you will have a chance to get creative)

By using the Values of the Basic Decks of the Major & Minor + their damage, you can get a picture of the Basic
Value of the new characters/decks to make sure they stay balanced w/ other ED characters.

Hope this helps others w/ deck building/analysis (it's been educational for me!)
---MS