Last year on Epiphany, I ran through a few of the games that I’d been able to get to the table, and also briefly mentioned the first volume in the Uncanny X-Force series that I had picked up, The Apocalypse Solution. Over the course of that month, I actually read the first two books in the series, but came up against the brick wall of volume 3 being very expensive. Well, what a difference a year makes, as I’ve now been able to pick up not only volume 3, but also volume 4!
It’s the two-part Dark Angel Saga, presumably a riff on the Dark Phoenix Saga, though from my scant knowledge of Marvel Crisis Protocol, I think this is something to do with the fact they killed baby-Apocalypse in the first book.
Once I’ve finished my trawl through the 2020 Star Wars comics, I’m going to move on to these and catch up with everything, before then making a start on the second book in Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series. So that’s my reading plans taken care of until, oh, probably Easter…
It’s been twelve exciting days of Star Wars Destiny, as I’ve been looking at characters that I’ve been able to get my hands on for the game, and why I’m so excited to get them into decks. But while we’ve had twelve days of big names from across the galaxy far, far away, I wanted to do one more post, this time with a more generic character that I am nevertheless excited to see in a deck.
I just couldn’t help myself with this one…
I’ve kinda become obsessed with the Sentinel Messenger card since I learned it existed. The Emperor’s Messenger is first introduced in the comic miniseries Shattered Empire, I believe, where it tells the captain of a star destroyer to go shoot up Naboo. The idea is then greatly expanded upon in the Alphabet Squadron series, where we learn a whole lot about Operation Cinder and Palpatine’s plan to exact vengeance on the galaxy should he fall at Endor. While I’m not sure it makes a ton of sense for the Emperor to have a contingency plan that hinged upon his own death – surely he’d plan around it, instead? – I still love how in-keeping with his personality it is.
The character is very much a supporting, generic character that costs 8 points, has 8 health, and while it can deal some damage, its main purpose is as a support piece. Two sides of its dice have a focus, so you can turn another dice to any side, and he also grants a shield or a resource on the other sides.
The other thing he does is lets you look at the top card of your deck, and you can play that card if you want. You do have to pay the cost, which I guess is fine, but I like the fact he’s almost a +1 hand size for the team.
The whole package just feels really nice. It’s not necessarily too good that he’s going to pull fire, though I can totally see a situation where he continually rolls a focus and provides fixing for the team. The big challenge is going to be where to play him, of course, because 8 points is slightly annoying to fit in with two other characters. You could probably make a deck with the likes of Bala Tik and then still have 14 points to include an elite Ketsu Onyo or even Luke Skywalker, or a regular Baze Malbus or Aurra Sing. Just how good those decks would be, who knows – but you could get all three colours from a deck with the Sentinel, Bala Tik, and Baze Malbus. Maybe it’s time to go cooking up some jank…
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