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Darth Tyranus Set: Rebel Storm #29/60 Date Reviewed: May 30, 2006 Image from Wizards.com Rating: 3.0 Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale 1 being the worst. 3 ... average. 5 is the highest rating.

 

Sith Dragon

Darth Tyranus Separatist Cost: 48 HP: 120 DEF: 20 ATK: +15 DAM: 20 Dark Inspiration (At the start of the skirmish, choose an allied character with a force rating. That character gains lightsaber duelist; Double Attack; Lightsaber Duelist Force 5 Block; Sith Lightning We kick off Lightning Week with a very solid Separatist Sith. In taking Tyranus over Dooku, you are giving up a point down his major stats, but you are being more of a team player by helping out someone like Asajj or Maul if they run into a adjacent character with a force rating by giving them Duelist. Tyranus' stats are still very good and puts him among the elite of the Jedi. Grunts are going to have a hard time overcoming his 20 DEF, but Jedi aren't going to have that easy of a time either. With Lightsaber duelist he will be a 24 DEF, so most Jedi will be rolling at best an 8-9 to hit. Lesser Jedi will need a 12 or better, so that's not too shabby. Tyranus can also give this ability to someone like Maul, Asajj or Grievous. Tyranus also has double attack, so he can dish the damage as well. His force powers are where Tyranus really shines. Block is a great thing to have when facing other Jedi, but not so hot when facing the Fetts or Aurra, but having one of the two is always a plus. And of course, being Lightning week he has sith lighting. There are two forms of lightning out there. This is the weaker of the two, but it really doesn't matter. Any time a Jedi can pull up short of basing his enemy and doing damage is a plus, whether it be lightsaber throw or lightning. The plus to the weaker lighting is that you will never have to worry about who is based to who, or if you are going to fry yourself like you have to with Force Lighting. This allows him to stay back from Jedi Hunter's triple and still do damage. 100pt: Here you will most likely always run Dooku over Tyranus as he has better stats and at present there are only three characters you can team either version of him up with at 100pts, and that is either Asajj, Grievous or Aurra. Aurra with force defense can be pretty wicked. But running him with one of these will leave you with few activations and no real serious shooters, which may be fine depending on how well you can run low activation squads. He will do well in 100pt, but will not dominate. 200pt: Actually I almost say he is worse in this squad than in 100pt. Sidious is a real help, but the good characters that go with Tyranus are all very expensive and he gets little help form the droid Seps. He is still good here, but at the moment he has little real support. After Bounty Hunters releases late this year, we shall see if he gets any more mid range help. The lack of support makes him more of a fun squad over a competitive squad at this level even though he really is a very solid piece. "Dude, the fat guy totally just blew up!" -Pink 5

Ten-Eyed Man

Darth Tyranus has the problem of being a really great figure for just the wrong faction. The Separatists suffer greatly from the fact that they’re currently divided into the droid army and the Sith, and the two elements of the faction have almost nothing to do with each other. Consequently, pieces like Darth Tyranus are very difficult to support properly. As a standalone piece, Count Dooku’s alter ego has a solid suite of abilities and strong numbers to back them up. While he sacrifices one point each of Attack and Defense and ten hit points from his Clone Strike version, Tyranus maintains essentially the same beatstick-plus-Sith Lightning character of the original piece. Other than the stat loss and four-point discount, the other critical difference between the Dookus is trading Lightsaber Precision for Dark Inspiration, a fantastic trade in the right squad. Dark Inspiration lets you grant Lightsaber Duelist to another Force-using character in your squad to do with as they see fit. For example, they can use it to improve their Defense in melee. This looks great on paper, and it really is pretty good, except that it sort of commits you to another Force user in your squad. If you’re running a 100-point squad, you’ve probably tied up most or all of your squad now in two characters, given the options available to the Separatists and Fringe for Force users. If that other character is Aurra Sing, you’re golden; take a well-deserved nap for your hard work. Otherwise, you’ve got a tough row to hoe, since you’re probably getting Darth Sidious or Asajj Ventress, which now means you’re overcommitted to melee. In the competitive scene, all melee is essentially suicide (which is funny, because Darth Tyrannus and Darth Sidious used to be the basis of a major squad called “Shock Therapy,” but that squad died with the advent of Ysalimiri and Force Immunity). In 200 points, you’ve got it a little easier, but the essential problem about the Separatists comes up again. Frankly, if you want to add a major ranged component to a 200-point Separatist squad, the droids are your answer. And if you’re putting together the machinery of a droid squad (Battle Droid Officer, Supreme Commander Grievous, etc.), you should probably take the fifty or so points you’d spend on a Sith lord and spend it on a Destroyer Droid and a Bodyguard Droid. As I said before, Darth Tyranus is a great piece, he just needs to belong to a different faction in order to be truly effective. But if you’re playing casual games, he can be blast to play (team him up with General Grievous, Jedi Hunter for some movie-accurate lightsaber-training fun). Overall rating in 100: 2.5 Overall rating in 200: 3.5