First, Let's look at the pullable cards.
Anakin Skywalker V and The Force is Strong With This One V are so much better now and pack great offensive/defensive potential. Anakin Skywalker V provides some interesting strategic options which allows you to reliably pull your 2/2 site into hand and move Prophecy of the Force at anytime. For example: twice during a recent game, I was able to pull Anakin Skywalker V and move Prophecy to the DSII: Chasm before my control phase to set up a drain of 4 on turn 3 and 4. Later on, I used it in conjunction With TFISWTOv for 2 BDs and 1 AD in an important battle which site cleared my opponent. In Short, you don't have to rely on luck to get your 2/2, Prophecy is less of a liability, and you will always have two strong interrupts in hand for offense and defense.
Second, spend two force to cancel You are Beaten and Dark Jedi Presence. The former being popular in mains decks and the ladder a sneaky sleeper card; both can cause a big blowout if circumstances are right. This function was one of the better parts of the card but never was enough to justify running it because of how weak the rest of the text was...not anymore.
Third and most contentious, The activation path. Ok, so a little context before I dive into this point. When set 13 spoiler list dropped there was a lot of buzz surrounding the power of Anakin Skywalker V, TIUMv ability to pull both sites with no cost, and HITCO's ability to play both ep1 sites and the new sites to achieve a uber activation ratio. See below for original versions of said cards:
Spoiler
Show
•Twilight Is Upon Me (V)
[Death Star II - R]
LIGHT - EFFECT
Text: If He Is The Chosen One on table, deploy on table. While Luke with Prophecy Of The Force, your Force generation is +1 and opponent's is -1. Once during your turn, may /\ Yoda's Hut or a Death Star II site. [Immune to Alter.]
[Set 13]
•Anakin Skywalker (V)
[Death Star II - R]
LIGHT - INTERRUPT - USED OR LOST INTERRUPT
Text: USED: Relocate Prophecy Of The Force to a site. OR Cancel an Interrupt targeting Luke. LOST: If I Feel The Conflict on table during battle, place Luke's Lightsaber in Used Pile to choose: Add one destiny to attrition. OR Cancel the game text of a character of ability < 4.
[Set 13]
[Death Star II - R]
LIGHT - EFFECT
Text: If He Is The Chosen One on table, deploy on table. While Luke with Prophecy Of The Force, your Force generation is +1 and opponent's is -1. Once during your turn, may /\ Yoda's Hut or a Death Star II site. [Immune to Alter.]
[Set 13]
•Anakin Skywalker (V)
[Death Star II - R]
LIGHT - INTERRUPT - USED OR LOST INTERRUPT
Text: USED: Relocate Prophecy Of The Force to a site. OR Cancel an Interrupt targeting Luke. LOST: If I Feel The Conflict on table during battle, place Luke's Lightsaber in Used Pile to choose: Add one destiny to attrition. OR Cancel the game text of a character of ability < 4.
[Set 13]
Spoiler
Show
•Twilight Is Upon Me (V)
[Death Star II - R]
LIGHT - EFFECT
Text: If He Is The Chosen One on table, deploy on table. You may not deploy Ep1 sites. While Luke with Prophecy Of The Force, your Force generation is +1 and opponent's is -1. Once during your turn, may \/ Yoda's Hut [Immune to Alter.]
[Set 13]
•Anakin Skywalker (V)
[Death Star II - R]
LIGHT - INTERRUPT - USED OR LOST INTERRUPT
Text: If I Feel The Conflict on table: USED: /\ a Death Star II site OR Relocate Prophecy Of The Force to a site. LOST: during battle at a site, if Luke armed with DSII Luke's Lightsaber, choose: Add one destiny to attrition. OR Cancel the game text of a character of ability < 4.
[Set 13]
[Death Star II - R]
LIGHT - EFFECT
Text: If He Is The Chosen One on table, deploy on table. You may not deploy Ep1 sites. While Luke with Prophecy Of The Force, your Force generation is +1 and opponent's is -1. Once during your turn, may \/ Yoda's Hut [Immune to Alter.]
[Set 13]
•Anakin Skywalker (V)
[Death Star II - R]
LIGHT - INTERRUPT - USED OR LOST INTERRUPT
Text: If I Feel The Conflict on table: USED: /\ a Death Star II site OR Relocate Prophecy Of The Force to a site. LOST: during battle at a site, if Luke armed with DSII Luke's Lightsaber, choose: Add one destiny to attrition. OR Cancel the game text of a character of ability < 4.
[Set 13]
Second now that the DSII site pull is on Anakin Skywalker V you can now easily obtain your 2/2 on turn 0.
What I run at the moment is:
Aim High Combo w/ Docking bays +2
LMFBM+1
TIUM to pull/cycle Anakin Skywalker V +2
Wesa w/ Boss Nass Chamber,, +2
OG Yoda Master of the Force as an optional +1
Prophecy +1
Starting sites +4
Self +1
All said and done I'm looking at 14-4 ratio; pretty good. On the other hand, running TIUMv with a similar build, swap Wesa for Anakin Skywalker V, add Yoda's Hut, + generation modifiers that will net you a 15-3 ratio. So it seems TIUMv edges out an advantage in terms of activation. Is it enough to make a difference? You be the judge.
In conclusion, I think both cards are viable options. TIUMv is a thematic card that really helps fuel the activation engine of HITCO and frees up card slots for other cool stuff. On the other hand, TIUM offers a little less activation and lots of versatility. Prior to the changes to the above cards I would say TIUMv is the clear starter. However now, It is not so clear. IMHO, I feel TIUMv is very one dimensional when compared to the potential of TIUM. Thats why I favor starting TIUM because it provides me offensive and defensive tools, protects me against two big blowout cards, slightly expands deck building options, and nets me an acceptable activation ratio. So far, my game experiences have been pretty good and I look forward to playing more games to really test the build.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading! Tell me what do you think and comment as you see fit...
