The Good: Good playable set, Nice images, Collectible value
The Bad: Still some scriptlike elements to the game.
The Basics: The Star Wars CCG ends with Theed Palace and it was a decent final product for the game.
All good things come to an end and for Star Wars CCG players, that end came with the very popular Decipher release “Theed Palace.” The final full expansion set was underproduced by Decipher, which has kept its value high in the secondary market and continued the popular prequel mechanic that fans came to love as Decipher lost the Star Wars license.
"Theed Palace" was released after The Phantom Menace and focused on the newer elements from the earlier time frame of the Star Wars universe represented by Episode I. "Theed Palace" was a full set that recreated the Star Wars universe in the game and made it virtually impossible for the Dark Side to actually win, as they were drastically outnumbered by more powerful Light Side cards. Even so, Theed Palace restores some power to the Dark Side that the Coruscant set robbed it of.
Basics/Set Composition
"Theed Palace" was the final full set in the Star Wars CCG and it was focused on the prequel timeframe. The set focused on the role the Battle Of Naboo in and around Theed Palace played in The Phantom Menace, so it is full weapons, soldiers and Jedi who overpower the battle droids! The set is focuses on characters on Naboo during the first prequel film.
"Theed Palace" consists of one hundred twenty-nine gaming cards from Decipher, Inc. Packs consisted of nine cards and boxes had thirty packs. Each pack had five commons, three uncommons and one rare card. Cards were broken down fairly evenly between 66 Light Side and 63 Dark Side cards. The set consisted of forty common, forty uncommon, forty rare cards and nine rare Alternate Images. The nine alternate image cards are reprints bearing the same game text, but an alternate image of the character. As a result, there are two versions of the card for Artoo, Darth Sideous, and Mace Windu (among others).
The "Theed Palace" set is broken down into: 52 Character (cards focusing on the droids, aliens and Jedi, like Corporal Rushing or Darth Maul with Lightsaber), 4 Defensive Shields (cards that protect characters or ships like “I’ll Try Spinning” or Nothing Can Get Through Our Shield), 16 Effect (cards that change the parameters of the game, like Get To Your Ship or ordering your troops After Her!), 2 Epic Events (Longterm goals for the game, like the double-sided Invasion / In Complete Control), 18 Interrupts (immediate changes in the game, like calling a Cease Fire! or using Ascension Guns), 6 Locations (cards depicting places that form the "board" for the game, like Naboo: Boss Nass’s Chambers or Blockade Flagship: Docking Bay), 12 Ships (vehicles in space like Bravo 1 or the Blockade Flagship), 7 Weapons (cards to arm characters or ships with, like Amidala’s Blaster or an AAT Laser Canon), and 7 Vehicles (cards that depict transport or assault vehicles that are planetbound, like a Klatuu or the Trade Federation’s Armored Attack Tank) .
Playability
By this point in the game, the game needed a reboot to be playable. There have been so many rule changes and addendum that it is virtually impossible to play without owning each and every card Decipher put out for the game. As a result, "Theed Palace" was loaded with characters and more limited Effects and Interrupts intended to be playable on its own out of the box. However, there are still a few very scriptlike cards which require very specific counter cards.
The basic idea behind the game is to assemble a deck of locations, people, equipment and action cards and either embody the Dark or Light Side powers in the Star Wars universe. Using that side, originally, the concept was to have free play to either stand for order or rule the galaxy with an iron fist. By this point, though, the game follows more of a script. As a result, specific cards counter other, specific cards with little ability for the player to be creative within the field of play anymore. The boxes of Theed Palace cards do not come with a full guide to playing the game, but there is more freedom with this set than with some of the previous sets.
Rule Changes
The box of "Theed Palace" cards comes with a single sheet of rule changes and a checklist for the set. There are actually no fundamental changes in the way the game is played in this set.
Highlights
Fans of the Star Wars Saga are likely to enjoy the fact that this set gives them a wide range of Prequel characters. As a result, they can get Darth Maul, Queen Amidala, Darth Sideous and Panaka!
While most players root for the Darth Sideous cards, I put the highlight as Qui-Gonn Jinn with Lightsaber. With a Power of 6 and an Ability of 7, he is a formidable warrior. As well, his forfeit value of 8 makes him a valuable way to repower one’s deck, should he be killed at all. As well, despite the events of The Phantom Menace, this Qui-Gonn goes into a battle with Darth Maul more powerful! That makes him an asset for fighting Sith.
Collectibility
"Theed Palace" capped off the Star Wars Customizable Card Game very well. The Alternate Image cards turned out to be very popular and quite rare, which renewed enthusiasm for the set. Because the boxes were underproduced, this set quickly became a sellout and fans still have a tough time hunting it all down.
This was also severely short-printed and that gives it even more value. Investors seem to do well with this set.
Overview
"Theed Palace" was a strong conclusion Decipher and the secondary market for this set has illustrated that perhaps it would have been wiser for Decipher to try to renew the costly license. As it stands, “Theed Palace” ends the Star Wars CCG well.
This set was preceded by "Reflections III" (review pending!) and not followed by any other releases.
This set culls images from: The Phantom Menace, which is reviewed here!
8/10
For other card reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!
© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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