When I first saw the new feature of the Den revealed right before all the marathons ended, I was VERY intrigued. I thought it was a huge opportunity for the app to bridge the timeframe between the end of Wave 1 and the start of Wave 2. There were so many ways it could be used, and for the most part, it went strong for a month or two.

As with any feature, things can get stale, and though some high value sets have had a Den element, its not what it used to be. I think there is still a ton of potential for the feature, even if it is a bit unorthodox of a way to introduce cards onto the sheet by removing others.

Im actually pretty sad that the value in releasing ships has dropped as much as it has. I thought that the build process would be something that could almost replace the gameplay that the game lacks compared to Bunt, Huddle and Kick. Then again, there is only so much interest that can be tied to ships that are so similar to others that have already been released.

Similarly, using the Den as an upgrade tool doesnt really sit well with me either. Sets like Path to the Dark Side use the den as a way for users to upgrade their sets to different parallels, but the cards are just variants and not added content. That is where frustration and resentment can build.

In my opinion, it would be awesome to see the Den generate additional elements to a set that werent available elsewhere. Instead of releasing another variant of a card that already exists, the Den should be a place where users can gain access to other parts of the set.

I have already posted suggestions for usage of this feature in a previous article, but I wanted to offer some additional options that would be interesting to me.

Building Fleets

As I have talked about recently, playing to the vanity and competition that naturally exists in the community to be the best, will result in huge volume. I would love to see a Den element where ships could be built, followed by the ability to shred them to build elements of a fleet.

Different awards could be generated based on the size of your fleet, and those awards could be cards signifying rank or even coins as a payout. Higher ranked fleet owners should get the opportunity to do things with their cards that other lower ranked people dont have. Whether its access to special cards,early access to certain packs, or a leaderboard that displays the people who own the best fleet in the game.

Multi Panel Cards

I suggested this before in a way, but I think its worth mentioning again. I think that if SWCT could release pieces of a card in packs that could be assembled to create the final insert would be awesome.

I would even think its a way to help diffuse those packs that have nothing in it but base. Think of a marathon card that has 1:80 odds like Vintage has had in the past. Sure you might get lucky and pull one in the first few packs, but you might also get shut out on a 500k investment. If pieces of the Vintage card could be released in packs at a 1:15 basis or something like that, a user could potentially trade with the community to get the other pieces that would be used to shred for the card they missed in packs.

It could also be used as a weekly chase leading up to the final payoff of the award card in a marathon situation. Think about pulling pieces of a card every week for 10 weeks, and then shredding them to get the award card. Make the puzzle pieces the marathon, with the reward being the the full picture that the different pieces form.

Bounties

The previous marathon was popular, and I think the Den could be used to do it again. This time instead of pulling the Bounty cards from packs, different Bounty payment cards would be inserted in Boba packs long term. In the den, the set of 5-10 cards would be available during the same period, where you would shred your bounty payment cards to pay bounties for the character you want.

Han Solo would cost 10 of the bounty payment cards, where Greedo may only be 2. The tiered structure would provide a chase that users would build towards, and if they eventually pay all the bounties, a Boba Fett award card would be given.

Golden Tickets

The same structure could be applied to a golden ticket type chase, where users could pull them in Boba packs and trade them in as currency towards a special base variant, or special card(s).

Offer Gold Monuments of four or five popular characters and require tickets to be shredded to get them. I could see some clamoring for the cards which all those master collectors would kill for.

This is a long term chase, so its not something that should be obtained within a few days, unless someone is going to break the bank. Make us work for it a bit.

Movie Casts

This is a place where the character cards from the different movies would be used to build a cast list for each individual movie. If the cast can be assembled at the variant level implied, they could be shredded for a special version of that movie’s poster or some card that is based on the cast that was shredded.

Weapon Construction

I have been waiting for the build a lightsaber program to happen eventually, and I am disappointed that Elegant Weapons remains the only lightsaber themed set in the game.

Like building a ship, it would be cool to be able to build lightsabers or blasters in the same way. You would need all the elements of the schematic, from the Crystal to the metal for the hilt. For more complicated sabers, you would need more of those resources.

Again, the Den has so much potential, if not only to bring to life the parts of the Star Wars universe we all have been waiting for. Base Variants and Ships is a pretty narrow look at this type of feature, and I am dying for the creativity to come back to the Den.