Sabine Is Overrated

CHANGE LOG:

-2 General Dodonna -2 Guerilla Attack Pod -2 Alliance X-Wing -2 Shoot First -2 Karabast -2 Sneak Attack -2 Open Fire

+3 Greedo +1 Leia Organa +1 Wing Leader +3 Medal Ceremony +3 Asteroid Sanctuary +1 Surprise Strike +2 Waylay

The list has been through quite a few changes since I published, but the above changes bring it up to date as of 04/02/24. The list is much tighter, lower to the ground and more aggressive.

I wrote off Cassian pretty hard during spoiler season like many others due to the presence of The 'Bine. Isn't Cassian's ability too slow tempo for an aggro deck? Isn't it too restrictive? Doesn't Cassian come in too late on turn 5? Isn't Sabine strictly better in every way?

After playing quite a bit of Andor since release, I've come to find that the answer to all of these questions is an emphatic "hell naw, bruther".

Cassian? More like Gas-sian.

Because card draw.

Gas. Fuel. This deck is fire. Burn...y'all get the picture?

Okay, enough with the terrible punny humor. Cassian Andor has seriously impressed me beyond all my expectations since launch and I think he's perfectly viable in the competitive landscape, a claim that is incredibly easy and risk free to make this early into the meta but I'm going to make it anyway dangit!

Here are some fun things you can do with this deck:

Have 11-12 cards in your hand at once way more often than you'd expect.

Sneak Attack a K-2SO to put 7 damage on the base for a net total of 3 resources and 2 cards (or pay 1 more to draw and replace that spent card)

Shrug off a Forced Surrender on Turn 5 like it never happened right before you play your own.

Keep resourcing and not run out of cards, allowing you to sustain higher quantities of aggression well past the time when other aggro decks would putter out.

Literally give zero effs about Sentinels and Shields.

Not play Sabine.

And probably several more things that I can't think of atm!

The key to this deck's strategy is to relentlessly insist that you're right and the hivemind is wrong. Believe with all your heart that Cassian is better than Sabine and that 30 health bases are underrated. Fake it 'til you make it or die trying. That's what has worked for me 18% of the time in my career as a card gamer. If you make any claim audaciously enough, someone will believe it.

There are other keys to this deck's strategy too, like knowing when to lead foot the accelerator and go face vs when to pump the brakes and start trading, knowing when the time is right to trigger Cassian's draw vs developing your position, etc etc...look, it may be a "thinking man's Sabine" but at the end of the day it's a red Rebels deck. Just try not to over commit and then watch it go brrr.

Alright, now that I've thoroughly convinced you that this deck is amazing without any evidence, empirical or otherwise, go have fun playing Not Sabine Aggro.

And remember, kids -- the meta is like birds. It's a hoax and you're being spied on by the government.