Top Awakening Cards to Pick Up!

Hello readers!  I apologize for not updating as much recently, a combination of other things happening, along with the upcoming release of Spirit of the Rebellion, made it hard to put out a post that would stay relevant through the set release!  Now, with new cards to play around, a new set of characters, and many other factors, a lot of the ways we think about this game, and a lot of the cards that we are used to seeing, will change.

That being said, since starter decks have been restocked at many locations, and spirit of the rebellion booster packs coming out, with an awakenings reprint happening afterwards, I hope that this game sees many new players, and while I think newer players will be able to manage a competitively viable deck using the starter decks and cards from only spirit of the rebellion, I want to make note of some cards from awakenings that are, in my opinion, very important and something that every new player consider picking up on the singles market.  I've created a list of character and upgrade cards with dice that all new players should consider finding copies of.  As this list will cater to newer players, I have not included any legendary characters, as their price tag warrants a lot of investment in a single character that many new players may not want to make.  Without further adieu:

Top Characters:

1. Jango Fett- Jango was a very threatening part of the Awakenings metagame and the main strength of his effect is that it opens a window for being unable to interact with his dice.  While Spirit of the Rebellion introduces many other effects that open up a window in which your opponent would be unable to interact, Jango's ability will still remain relevant and I predict Jango will be playable for as long as he is legal in many lineups.

2. Rey- Although I recommend that players purchase multiple copies of the starter deck, for the starter deck specific cards, if you were to only purchase one starter, or perhaps two of the same one, I would probably recommend choosing the Rey starter over Kylo.  Rey's 9/12 cost is very unique, and while her dice aren't very good, her effect is arguably broken and gives hero decks that run her a lot of speed.  Rey will only get stronger as more powerful upgrades are printed.  Spirit of the Rebellion introduces Fast Hands, Force Speed, and Vibroknife, all of which complement Rey extremely well and may well place Rey on a tier of her own. 

3. Bala-Tik- Bala is an extremely cheap character with a powerful effect and decent die sides.  Bala was featured prominently in a very powerful lineup in the Awakenings meta with eBala/Jango/Stormtrooper and is a nice filler character for his cost.

4. Nightsister- Although I want to give this slot to the First Order Stormtrooper for it's cheap cost and its flexibility to fit in every hero lineup, I feel like Nightsister deserves a mention.  Blue cards are perhaps the most powerful cards in the game, and Nightsister provides a cheap way to splash blue in just about any villain deck.  This is extremely important, as it provides access to Sith Holocron, another card that will be mentioned later in this post, and any villain deck that can afford a blue splash can gain a lot by simply throwing in holocron with playable blue abilities. 

Top Upgrades:

1. Holdout Blaster- Perhaps the most played upgrade in Awakenings, Holdout Blaster is a simple, but very powerful upgrade.  Having both action efficiency in Ambush and Redeploy on a single card is extremely powerful and the fact that it is a grey neutral card allows it to be played in every single deck.  If your deck features ranged damage, it's probably using Holdout Blaster.

2. Sith Holocron- One of the most powerful cards in Awakenings, Sith Holocron makes every blue neutral or villain ability potentially free.  Sith Holocron is an extremely powerful card that enables anyone who has access to it the ability to essentially cheat, and is particularly lethal with cards such as Force Throw, Mind Probe, and pretty much any new 3 cost or higher blue ability, including the upcoming Force Lightning.  It's hard to have an unplayable deck if you're able to run Holocron and draw it, and even decks that merely splash blue can still be very powerful with Holocron.  This card has an effect that is very unique, powerful, and isn't likely to be replicated in future cards.

3. DH-11 Blaster Pistol- A neutral, 1-cost red gun, the DH-11 Blaster Pistol is the most basic of upgrades.  It's flexible in that it is very cheap, and it's sides are just about what you would want out of a weapon upgrade.  An extremely powerful and neutral weapon that I would not do without when playing a red deck featuring ranged damage.

4. Jetpack- A powerful special, and very relevant modifier sides, along with being neutral, puts jetpack on the must-have upgrades in Awakenings.  Although Jetpack is harder to fit into a deck than the previous three cards, it is still one of the most widely played upgrades in the Awakenings meta and ranged yellow decks will still likely include one or two copies of this card.

I hope this post is useful for newer players who are trying to get a start into this game and have a hard time deciding what to play or what to purchase!  I did my best to pick out cards that every player would want, assuming they want to have a variety of decks to play with.