Ashes of the Empire doesn't hit shelves until {{set_release_date}}, but the drafting has already started. Across {{ash_draft_count}} drafts, {{ash_drafter_count}} drafters, and {{ash_pick_count}} picks logged on Protect the Pod — bots excluded — the earliest adopters have quietly settled a pecking order. No event has fired, no trophy has been lifted, and no win rate means anything yet, but there is some early signal.

The Leader Everyone Opens With

[[Cad Bane, Still Faster than You|cad-bane-still-faster-than-you]] is the runaway. When he's in the pack he goes first {{cadbane_fpp}}% of the time, at an average pick position of {{cadbane_avgpos}} across {{cadbane_drafts}} drafts — closer to an auto-pick than anything else in the set. [[Greef Karga, Gracious Magistrate|greef-karga-gracious-magistrate]] ({{greef_fpp}}%, average position {{greef_avgpos}}) and [[Ahsoka Tano, Trust in the Force|ahsoka-tano-trust-in-the-force]] ({{ahsoka_fpp}}%, position {{ahsoka_avgpos}}) round out the tier of leaders that drafters actively want at the top of their pile.

Sort the {{leader_band_count}} best-sampled leaders — each seen in {{leader_band_min_drafts}} to {{leader_band_max_drafts}} drafts — by first-pick rate and the back of the line is just as loud. [[Baylan Skoll, Power Beyond Dream|baylan-skoll-power-beyond-dream]] ({{baylan_fpp}}%), [[Ezra Bridger, It's Now or Never|ezra-bridger-it-s-now-or-never]] ({{ezra_fpp}}%), and [[Shin Hati, Eager Adversary|shin-hati-eager-adversary]] ({{shin_fpp}}%) sit mid-pack, and [[Sabine Wren, Bargaining on Belief|sabine-wren-bargaining-on-belief]] ({{sabine_fpp}}%) drifts lower. Then there's [[Moff Gideon, Indomitable Warlord|moff-gideon-indomitable-warlord]], the curiosity of the set: drafters take him {{moff_picks}} times — right in line with the most-picked leaders in the format — yet open with him just {{moff_fpp}}% of the time. He gets played. He just rarely gets chosen early. The Warlord is the leader the room is happy build a deck with, but almost never pick first.

The Rest of the Pack

With the leader settled, the rest of the pack has a clear favorite. [[Koska Reeves|koska-reeves-warrior-of-mandalore]] is the highest first-pick non-leader with a sample worth trusting: {{koska_fpp}}% first-pick across {{koska_drafts}} drafts, taken at an average position of {{koska_avgpos}}. (One footnote before the crown gets too heavy: [[Luke Skywalker, Answering the Call|luke-skywalker-answering-the-call]] posts a gaudier {{luke_fpp}}% — but across only {{luke_drafts}} drafts, under the {{nonleader_floor}}-draft floor where a hot few days still moves the number.)

Behind Koska it's a photo finish. [[The Mandalorian, Devoted Rescuer|the-mandalorian-devoted-rescuer]] ({{mando_dr_fpp}}%), [[Whistling Birds|whistling-birds]] ({{whistlingbirds_fpp}}%), and [[Jod Na Nawood, Keeping Secrets|jod-na-nawood-keeping-secrets]] ({{jod_fpp}}%) are all but tied — a near-tie cluster of cards the room treats as near-equally premium. Nobody's wrong to take any of the three.

The workhorse is [[Imperial Armored Commando|imperial-armored-commando]]. It's picked {{iac_picks}} times across {{iac_drafts}} drafts at an average position of {{iac_avgpos}} — one of the most-picked cards in the set.

First-pick rate tells you what drafters grab; inclusion tells you what they actually use. By that measure the format's most-drafted non-leaders sort themselves out — the cards that show up deck after deck, whoever's leading:

Color Theory

Add up every top pick by aspect — each card counted toward each color it carries — and a tilt emerges. Villainy leads the board at {{villainy_weight}} pick-weight, Heroism is close behind at {{heroism_weight}}, and Aggression brings up the rear at {{aggression_weight}}. It's a soft lean, not a lockout, but it points the same direction the leaders do: all {{top8_villainy_heroism}} of the best-sampled leaders carry Villainy or Heroism. The most-wanted captains and the most-drafted colors are telling the same story.

The exceptions are where it gets interesting. A few cards are good enough that drafters reach for them outside their colors entirely. [[Get Lost|get-lost]] gets splashed off-aspect {{getlost_offaspect}}% of the time across {{getlost_decks}} decks; [[Masterstroke|masterstroke]] does it {{masterstroke_offaspect}}% of the time across {{masterstroke_decks}} decks; even the Commando turns up off-aspect {{iac_offaspect}}% of the time. In a format the room mostly drafts on-color, those are the cards worth bending a deck for.

None of this is set in stone for the season. It's a small segment of early adopters making first guesses before the metagame has a vote, and {{set_release_date}} will bring far more hands to the table. But the opening read is in: open with Cad Bane, fight over Koska, and when Masterstroke comes around, color is negotiable.