Secrets of Power spoiler season began before Gen Con but with the set looming, it's time to look at some new content. As a foil to the more recent Legends of the Force this set takes inspiration from the more grounded, political storylines in the Star Wars franchise. There's plenty of prequel trilogy characters and callbacks as well as from the more recent run of Andor. One of the most prevalent motifs in political thrillers is the spy, and with that Secrets of Power brings us the Spy unit token. A neutral 0-cost unit made from effects and abilities on other cards, the Spy can be an interesting attacker with built in Raid 2.

Several cards in Secrets of Power create and care about Spy tokens. To create the most of these little guys we look at Command Villainy with I Am the Senate; a 6-cost event that creates 5 Spy tokens which comes in the Chancellor Palpatine Spotlight deck (which makes sense alongside the iconic line from Revenge of the Sith). It also synergizes well with Chancellor Palpatine - I Am the Senate (subtitle same as the card) who creates 2 Spy tokens when played. He also takes advantage of the new Plot keyword I talked about in the past to play when you deploy your leader - and even gives those Spy tokens Sentinel temporarily if you control your leader.

Spy tokens are pretty bad defenders since they innately have 0 attack, but if you're in a rough spot it's worth wasting some of your opponent's actions to get through. Other cards such as Convene the Senate allow us to create a Spy token as a little bonus while digging for Official units which see a lot of play in the set so far. However, it's Dedra Meero - With Verifiable Data that seem on curve enough to see play. For 6 resources you can ambush with this 5/5 and create a Spy token and with a smart pilot you might end up getting another Spy token or two out of her. This package, and the Chancellor Palpatine Spotlight deck, tells us that Spy tokens will be prevalent throughout Command which feels thematically appropriate.

On the other hand, if we look at the game at large there's a significant place that Spy tokens can fit in already. I'm talking about my favorite Raid leader; Grand Inquisitor. Dropped in the first set, he was overlooked at the competitive level with Han, Boba, Sabine, and others that brought more consistency. You might be thinking that the Inquisitor's ability will kill the frail Spy tokens, which is correct for the leader side. But while deployed the Inquisitor only deals a single damage to ready a friendly unit. Paired with large Raid valuesm, Grand Inquisitor becomes a hammer for the enemy base. Secrets of Power gives us several Aggression options for Spy tokens as well, and at a slightly better cost. Imperial Occupier, Ambition's Reward, and It's Not Over Yet are all 2-cost. The first two also offer an increase in board presence while It's Not Over Yet is more of a niche effect to counter an opponents exhaust effect or to get a second use out of an exhaust action. Then at 3-cost we have Unauthorized Investigation with the possibility to make a pair of Spy tokens to feed into the Grand Inquisitor.

With our leader at the core of our strategy we'll need some ways to protect him; enter the Plot keyword. FN Trooper Corps can bring the Inquisitor to 7 Health with an Experience token. Topple the Summit and Cinta Kaz both have the ability to clear some enemies that could be threats to the man in charge. However, if we feel safe from removal we can play Hondo Ohnaka as a Plot as well to give all our Spy tokens an additional Raid bump.

There are some other ways to build this deck without Command we might dabble into Cunning with Trade Federation Delegates who will create Spy tokens and has a large enough butt to attack again with Grand Inquisitor. But the most interesting card to run Cunning for is Undercover Operation. Readying a freshly played unit without attack or health restriction is a powerful tool that we didn't see the likes of in the first few sets - but providing a benefit if it's within a certain cost certainly begs to be played here.

We'll have to see the rest of the set before making a call on whether Spy tokens can be competitive, and whether this pairing with Grand Inquisitor makes sense. It sure seems like something worth checking out as a way to explore the new mechanics and themes of the set. So far, this set seems comparable to the same shake-up Legends of the Force gave us to the meta but in a more compelling and less straightforward way. The puzzle pieces in Secrets of Power pose deck-building questions like this one with the Spy tokens, unlike adding Force-related bases and units that eat those tokens.

If you're looking forward to Secrets of Power you can preorder it now for a November 7th release. This set, along with the Force Throw suspension, promises to make another fun, challenging meta for us to play around with. Check it out, play your spy games, and may the Force be with you.