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Yoda of Dagobah Set: Champions of the Force #45/60 Date Reviewed: August 25, 2006 Image from Wizards.com Ratings:  Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale 1 being the worst. 3 ... average. 5 is the highest rating. 100 pt: 2.5 200 pt: 4

 

Sith Dragon	Yoda of Dagobah Rebel Cost: 36 HP: 120 Def: 20 ATK: +0 DAM: 0 Light Tutor (allied rebel gains a force point and has a force rating. IF it already has a force rating add +1 force. Force 2 Force Alter (reroll last attack, range 6); Force Defense; Force Renewal 2; Force spirit 6; Force Stun; Master of the Force 3 CE: Characters with a force rating can spend Yoda's force points Today we hit the ultimate in force manipulators. Hit Yoda is the best force battery there is in my opinion. He lacks any type of offense what so ever, but makes up for it with a plethora of force powers. For 36 points the HP and DEF are decent, and you really would not expect him to attack. You would expect Yoda to start out with more than force two, but his force renewal 2 makes sure that after turn two you will have plenty of force point for not only Yoda, but for everyone in your squad that has a force rating, to use. Force DEF is pretty much a Yoda trademark as is Master of the force 3, and this version of everyone's 'little green friend' also brings with him force spirit 6. With Ben as a possible recipient, his spirit will have a bit more use than Ben's. IF both should happen to be killed and you wish to give their spirits to the same character, then you would add both sets of force points to the target, but that character would still only be able to use the force one extra time per turn, essentially master of the force 2 - not 3. His new force powers are what really make him good. With Force Alter, your opponent will have a hard time scoring crits. This is nice, but his biggest force power is the force stun combined with master of the force 3. Most of the time stun is a so-so effect. It is great if you can get it to hit, but with force rerolls, its generally hard to get it to work, but with Yoda you can target the same person three times, or should you get an early one to stick, you can go after another character. I have only saved completely through the effect once. Light tutor has some very nice possibilities as well. If your opponent is running anti-Jedi, then its best to tutor someone with a force rating already so you don't give them a chance to do more damage then they can already do. Otherwise, there are two good choices for new force users. Chewie, RH makes a good choice as he can now reroll his attacks and saves, but the best choice is Wedge. He then becomes an evading, avoid defeat character that can now reroll his saves, making him extremely hard to hit. If he should get either of the force spirits he gets really sick. 100pts: While potentially good with his force stuns, it still requires you to win init. With his lack of DAM output, he simply is not a good choice. With the dominance of Bane, you have to do as much damage as fast as you can. 200pts: Here he gets all the help he could ever want, but the biggest downside is that he does no damage. The best way to fight him is to take out the damage inducers first. Once they are gone then its easy to take out Yoda. Plus it negates his force spirit. However if you have to get up close you will have to suffer through the stuns, but even then, its better to risk the stuns because all the defense in the world doesn't kill any characters, which is obviously the point to the game. As with the rest of the rebels, Yoda is a piece that likes to have the opening init to be effective. "Dude, the fat guy totally just blew up!" -Pink 5
Ten-Eyed Man	Yoda of Dagobah is very much a tactician's piece. He does a lot of different things, and several of them are either completely unique or shared by only one or two other pieces in the game. First off, he has zeros in both Attack and Damage, and no damaging abilities of any sort. If you're playing a "kill 'em all" game and he's your last piece, you are dead and don't yet know it (if you're playing a Gambit-scored game, Giant Yoda can theoretically still win by stalling tactics and gaining center points). The most straightforward usage of YoD is as a Force battery. He has the Commander Effect that lets him share Force Points and the completely unprecedented Force Renewal 2. Not a typo, not an imaginary story, this Yoda gains two Force Points every single activation, making him the best Force battery in the game (except for that elitist bit that he can only share with characters that already have Force ratings; Emperor Palpatine cares about everyone, because he's a nice guy). Not content to just share Force in life, this Yoda also has Force Spirit 6, giving one last gift before he shuffles off this mortal terrain map. Light Tutor is another crazy ability, unprecedented and unique in the game. It makes any allied Rebel character into a tiny Force-user with a whole Force Point of his own (and, moreover, the ability to share Yoda's glorious bounty). Chewbacca, Rebel Hero is a popular choice for this, but Wedge Antilles, with his suite of "I don't die until I fail some saving throws" abilities, makes for an entertaining choice. Personally, I like to give it to the Hoth Trooper with Atgar Cannon, because spending a Force Point can give that thing a 50% increase in speed. Note that any figure affected by Light Tutor is now also subject to Jedi Hunter, which can be a major detriment. Next, we get to Yoda's "neener, neener" abilities, Force Alter and Force Defense. You can't use Sith Lightning on him, and you can't attack him very well, provided he's still got some Force Points (Force Renewal 2, in case you forgot). Oh, and Master of the Force 3, did I mention that? It's actually really easy for Yoda to run out of Force Points despite the FR2, just because he has so many ways to spend them, and can spend them up to three times per turn. Finally, this Yoda's bread-and-butter move is Force Stun. By itself, Force Stun is a basic 50/50 chance (worse against most Force-users, who can reroll the save) to activate a character for the round. It's only extraordinary in this case because it doesn't replace attacks or turn, and Yoda has Master of the Force 3, allowing him to say, "Stun you I do! The save you have made? Stun you again, I do! Another save successful? Stun you I do!" Bear in mind you can make these decisions as you go, so you can keep at the one guy you really want to stun, or, if the dice are on your side, possibly stun three different targets on the same turn (remember that Force Stun uses the standard targeting rules, though, so you might have to move to get a new target). Yoda of Dagobah is a very cool piece (if oversized compared to the other Yodas), and absolutely worth the points, but is not a piece for new or inexperienced players. His collection of weird abilities and the Force Point decisions that he forces you to make put him firmly in the "difficult to play well" camp, but he's eminently worth it. Overall rating in 100: 3 (over a third of your squad not being able to damage anything is a tough pill to swallow) Overall rating in 200: 4.5 (extremely effective, especially if kept on the sidelines to build up some Force first).
Zeroph Zeal	Yoda of Degobah 08/25/06 Points: 36 Hitpoints: 120 Defense: 20 Attack: +0 Damage: 0 Abilities: Unique, Light Tutor Force 2, Force Renewal 2, Force Alter, Force Defense, Force Spirit 6, Force Stun, Master of the Force 3 Commander Effect: Characters in your squad with a force rating can spend Yoda of Degobah's force points. Finally the Rebels get a Yoda! And a force battery! And a woah, this thing would be amazing if it was for the Republic. But its not. But its still not BAD... on to the review! This guy is exactly how you remember him in Episode 5: Empire Strikes Back. He never ignites a lightsaber, but you just know the little guy is amazing. For 36 points, he can fit into quite a few squads, but is a character who cannot attack worth it? We will see. First of all, this guy packs a pretty wicked 120 hitpoints. While this is not godlike, this is certianly higher than most units of his cost. He has a pretty good 20 defense as well. His attack and damage don't really matter as both of them are 0. Light Tutor is a cool ability. It basically gives anyone, even people without a force raiting, a force point. I guess this prooves that Yoda can really teach anyone the ways of the force, including random Rebel Troopers, Chewbacca and even droids such as R2D2 and C3PO. This little guy has 2 starting force points, but renews 2 every turn. Basically when he first activates, he has 4 force and goes from there. Force Renewal 2 is great for a force battery, expessially sinse you can use the weakling that you gave Light Tutor to more points to reroll attacks or move extra spaces, and expessially Han Solo - Rebel Hero. But he does have force abilities of his own, however. Force Alter is one of my favorite force abilities. It may seem a tad useless at first glance, but if used correctly it is a Lightsaber Block and a Lightsaber Deflect in one, depending on the character that is attacking and who is being attacked. Honesly, I was never a fan of Force Defense, however. At 3 force points, it wastes alot of force points and usually the only thing it stops is Force Deflects and Blocks, which is the most commonly used abilities. Maybe a Sith Rage, but nothing really too deadly. Force Spirit 6 is definatly good though. I've always loved Force Spirit. Now you can give that random unit 6 more force points and can spend two force points per turn? I like it. The only downside to this is that Yoda of Degobah, being a force battery, you usually don't want it to die. To have an ability that activates in death makes it tempting to kill him off. My advice is to keep him alive as much as long as possible, as he is 36 points, but if he dies its really no big sweat. Anyone who knows me knows that I love Force Stun. It's just sooo good, expessially with that sexy Master of the Force 3. Just let Yoda keep stunning your opponent's big guns, and then finish them off with the rest of your Rebel units... fun. All in all, I have mixed feelings about Yoda in Degobah. He is a good support unit, but having 36 points that can attack can hurt you in the long run. I suppose it could be good with Han Solo or the new Luke Skywalker, it's really up to you to decide. 100 points: 2/5 Weeker here because 36 points of not attacking will destroy you, and you can't really take advantage of his amazing effects to thier full potential. 200 points: 3.5/5 Gets better here definatly. Maybe we'll get some uber-big Rebel unit in the future that can own with a force rating, perhaps the Snowspeeder coming out in Bounty Hunters? Even still, its abilities as a leader can help expessially sinse 36 points isn't all too much here. Sculpt: 1.5/5 I dislike this sculpt. He's much taller than the older Yoda. It would be perfect if it weren't for the height issue.