Shadows of the Galaxy introduced the dark underbelly of Star Wars to the game in some interesting ways. Between the Smuggle and Bounty mechanics players got to hide their goods from their opponent and target specific units for special bonuses. But one of the most exciting reveals for each set are spoilers for the Leader cards. Let's rank the Heroic Leaders from Shadows of the Galaxy.

Finn - This is a Rescue

Much like in the sequel trilogy films Finn was setup to be a unique point-of-view. This card was split down the middle when spoiled; some people expected cards to build around his engine of destroying upgrades, while others dismissed him right away. Unfortunately, it seems that he was made as an anti-Bounty leader, and Bounty isn't as prominent as expected. This leaves Finn near the bottom of the Leader pool.

Hunter - Outcast Sergeant

The idea of being able to rescue your good resources seems great. It provides security in putting your good cards into resource early in the game, but still be able to grab them late in the game. The downside being you need to have one of those units alive and on the board to grab it from your resources while you also have an available resource. The narrow timing here proves difficult. However, Hunter's unit side clears this up while also having incredible combat stats and Overwhelm. While this unit side is an incredible machine, Hunter flips at 7 resources, which is far too late for his spectacular stats.

The Mandalorian - Sworn to the Creed

Cunning contains a suite of crowd control events. Sticking one of those effects on a Leader seems like a good idea. Unfortunately, it was stuck onto a leader with a very specific trigger that doesn't gel well inside Cunning.a Many of the Mandalorian cards and their associated upgrades were placed in Aggression and Vigilance, leaving this leader behind to play with his Cunning son Grogu instead.

Lando Calrissian - With Impeccable Taste

With impeccable taste comes impeccable cost. Lando lets you smuggle your favorite cards for a little discount, while also permanently putting you down a resource. His unit side doesn't offer any more with middling stats and a 'once each round' restriction. If you're looking for Cunning Heroism leaders, there are better strategies unless you're committed to looking at this sharp art of Donald Glover.

Fennec Shand - Honoring the Deal

When Fennec was spoiled I was exhilarated by the idea of a deck filled with Ambushers. Secret unit removal that came out of nowhere to even the playing field. While the deck is a lot of fun, adding an extra resource to your key unit plays puts you wildly off curve. This gets fixed on her unit side, and she comes out fast enough - however she also has no survivability and dies almost immediately every time.

Boba Fett - Daimyo

Any keyword will do. That means there's not a lot of direction to build these decks around. Thankfully the Daimyo is in an aspect with lots of units with keywords to trigger this ability and the small boost is something that's always helpful. Basic stat boosts like this are easy to benefit from, and can create enough of an advantage to edge out a win. Deploying at 6 resources feels like an average now, and while Boba Fett isn't Shielded he does have a large 7 health to keep him around for a little while.

Bo-Katan Kryze - Princess in Exile

Vader and Palpatine Leaders both excel with the ability to lob a single damage at a unit. Vader has to pay a resource, and Palpatine has to sacrifice a whole unit. Bo only needs you to have attacked with one of her people. She deploys late for an aggro leader, but she comes in with 7 health that allows her to miss some crucial removal cards. On her unit side she effectively doubles her ability by handing out two separate instances of 1 damage, which is useful against Shields. Pigeonholing Bo-Katan into a deck archetype that needs a little more support keeps her from being higher on this list.

Rey - More Than a Scavenger

Having an outlet for a stray resource when you're playing off curve can be immensely helpful in the early game, and handing out stat boosts is an amazing way to take advantage of that. Rey offers those boosts in such an efficient way it's a shock she doesn't see more play. Her unit side creates the same benefit without having to spend the resource, and also bring in the same incredible, powerful Restore that Luke does. She deploys at the average of 6 resources, and comes in with 6 health; not great, but at least she can't be immediately dealt with by Takedown.

Han Solo - Worth the Risk

Young Han has seen some play in recent tournaments - and for good reason. Like his Cunning counterpart, this leader makes sure you hit on curve every time. The concession you make playing this leader is that having a body on the board is more important than how tough that body is - and with some fun shenanigans along the way. You can take advantage of Shields and Grit, allowing this deck to regularly save you resources while making your units just as sturdy as they should be. On the deployed side, Han gets even better as this ability doesn't cause him to exhaust and isn't restricted by once per turn. The only thing to be concerned about is running out of cards in your hand.

That wraps up our look at the Heroic leaders for Shadows of the Galaxy tune in next time where I'll be talking about the Villainy side. Until then, good look at your Store Showdowns and Planetary Qualifiers as October comes to an end.