The “Best” Pairing for Each Squad Box – Part 3 (Shatterpoint Buyer’s Guide 2025)

Barring any late-breaking surprises, we should be done with Shatterpoint unit releases until 2026. As such, I can go ahead with my fun-discussion-that-doubles-as-a-buyer’s-guide article: two box pairings!

For those interested in prior releases, part 1 and part 2 from 2024 are linked here. For the uninitiated, the overall premise is simple: what would I say if a new player asks “Hey, I just bought X box, what should I buy next?” Of course, if they had just bought an Xbox I’d tell them to try Cyberpunk 2077. Admittedly, I haven’t yet, but it’s on my to-do list this winter.

To answer a question long-time readers are wondering: yes, I will make that same joke every single year. Once again, we are assuming a player has bought the core set and we aren’t considering duel boxes. Ideally we want a two box pairing that gives a strong basis for building future lists, has strong theming, and is at least moderately competitive.

Without further ado, let’s get going! I‘ll start with all 2025 releases, then revisit some old releases with some new pairings.

2025 Releases

Wisdom of the Council

Ki-Adi and friends are a great addition to anyone looking to play a Jedi-focused Republic list. I don’t love padawans, mainly because they are melee-only, but 501st from the core set are also a 3pc support and they’re … fine. Anakin is one of the best Ki-Adi pairings, and he’s also in the core set (along with Rex). We could simply choose Mace’s box to get ARF and really super charge Ki-Adikin. Mace/Ki-Adi isn’t bad, but it isn’t super exciting. However, given that we can technically already play Ki-Adikin with just the core plus Wisdom of the Council, I chose a different direction: General Kenobi (he is a bold one).

We lean into the Jedi theme with Kenobi while also bringing some exciting hunker shenanigans via Knowledge and Defense. I also think 212th are a great addition to Ki-Adi lists for the addition of Coordinated Fire: Pin. Overall, we’ll have a list with lots of interesting (and fun) mechanics plus a very solid foundation for building Republic lists.

At the end of the day, it’s hard to go wrong with Ki-Adi. Pretty much any Jedi primary can pair well with him so the second box can be very much a “flavour to taste” scenario.

Requesting Your Surrender

This box was the opposite of Wisdom of the Council. Ki-Adi has tons of great pairings. Kit … doesn’t. That isn’t necessarily because he’s bad, but he’s fairly self-contained and doesn’t have many obvious units that he prefers to play with. I don’t love it, but I’m going to pair Kit up with Padme’s crew.

Big disclaimer: this pairing will be exceedingly mid, at best. If you are looking to play competitively then Republic has much better things to offer, but if you are starting with the Kit box then maybe competitiveness isn’t the main concern. There’s also two upsides: if you can win with Kit/Padme then everything else will seam easy, and you might have a great day whenever the next balance patch hits because these are some great candidates for buffs.

Competitiveness aside, this is actually a fun pairing. Padme can be a bit slow, so she loves Kit’s Supporting Fire: Dash. The rest of her squad is relatively mobile, but even more so with Kit. You’ll have a lot of situational Coordinated Fire type abilities which could create interesting decision points as you pick the best one for each attack. A 4pc support also helps if you want to get creative with some core set units, such as an Anakin/Fil/Handmaidens squad. Anakin likes Supporting Fire: Dash and brings a lot of force for Fil and his clones to move Jedi around. Heck, if you really want to be spicy (and don’t care too much about theme) then you can get Terror from Below to lean into the Aquatic tag. Paired with the core set you’ll have a bunch of Republic and Separatist lists available.

I feel like Kit doesn’t have an obvious two-box pairing partly because he can just fit anywhere. As one’s collection grows he can be a versatile piece so really you can’t go too far wrong with the second box here.

All the Way & This is Rogue One

How could I not put these two boxes together? It’s perfect thematically, strong competitively, and now you have one of the best unit pairings in the game: Cassian Andor with Baze and Chirrut. These two boxes will give you a great start not only on a rebel collection, but also a scoundrel collection. Honestly I don’t know if I have many things to say about this pairing because it seems so obvious. In the wise words of Sheev Palpatine, “Do it!”

Deploy the Garrison

Are we blind? Pair this with Vader! Krennic might not like work meetings with the Dark Lord of the Sith, but on the Shatterpoint table their boxes go well together. Krennic enjoys synergy with the Stormtrooper tag and so does Vader’s Stormtrooper Sergeant. The actual Stromtrooper supports are fairly underwhelming, but since Krennic brings two supports (and likes to keep Dark Troopers for himself) he can graciously lend Vader some Shoretroopers, which are basically straight upgrades compared to Stormtroopers. Vader brings force and loves wounding things, two qualities which complement Krennic well.

Previously, I suggested Veers as the two box pairing for Vader. However, Krennic also fits the “guy who likes Stormtroopers” mould and his box does way more than Veers’ does. As such, I’d also like to officially amend my recommended pairing for Fear and Dead Men to be Deploy the Garrison.

For alternate Krennic pairings, the Grand Inquisitor (Jedi Hunters) and Moff Gideon (You Have Something I Want) boxes make a lot of sense.

Terror from Below

In my opinion, Riff is the star here, and he can work well in scoundrel lists. However, if someone is buying Terror from Below as their first box I’m guessing they are going to be interested in developing Separatists first. Scoundrel lists also need more boxes, generally speaking. As such, the choice is between the General Grievous and Count Dooku boxes.

While Grievous and Riff is a fun “murder everything” list, Dooku has to be my pick here. He brings a lot of force, which can help tide you over until Riff starts regenerating it. Riff and Nossor Ri are both juicy targets for opponents to wound, so Dooku’s identity provides you with at least some recourse. You’ll probably still have a bit more force than you need, so Jango is a great secondary to plop in. He is extremely mobile and adds some dice-less displacement with Capture Wire, giving the list another useful tool. One note here is that I’d use B1s from the core set rather than MagnaGuards. B1s lean into potential reserve shenanigans, which is fun, but more importantly, they can leave targets exposed before Riff does his follow up attack. Finally, Dooku and Jango (and to some extent even B1s) getting extra dice from Nossor Ri are super scary!

Riff with Grievous will fit some playstyles, but I think for someone starting out I want to prioritize variety when possible. Riff with Dooku brings a lot of different flavours and can be one of the more competitive Separatist options around, so I think it’s a great start for someone looking to get into the faction.

Delta Squad, Form Up

There are a few good options here, but I simply must recommend Delta Squad with the Bad Batch. I heard you like clones, so here are some more clones! Both squads bring clone synergy that works great when the strike team is 100% clones. The Bad Batch also brings two secondaries for a bit of variety. I personally prefer Wrecker here, but Crosshair has many admirers and a new player should obviously give both a try. Tech and Echo might be a weak point here, but as one expands their collection more 4pc clones will become available to swap in (you could use 501st if you want to play a point down, but I’d still go with Techo).

As an honourable mention, I think Mace is a great pickup if you don’t want to do the all-clone route. Mace/Rex/ARF pairs very well with Delta Squad and let’s you spam all your fancy force abilities. ARF are an upgrade for the Anakin/Rex/501st squad, which is another fun pairing. Finally, Ponds opens up room to take Sev & Scorch under an 8sp primary. More than that, he gets them further up the board to open up more options for their follow-up attacks in the early game.

2024 Releases

This Party’s Over

Hey, remember last section where I was talking about how I liked Mace with Delta squad? Well if you don’t, scroll up because I ain’t gonna copy and paste it here! Not only does it create some strong lists, but I do think those two boxes will give a great foundation going forward as one grows their Republic collection.

Lead by Example

At first glance, Plo Koon brings a very similar kit to Ki-Adi Mundi. However, they are different enough that they can coexist in a list, and oh boy is it a fun list! Having played many games with it (to decent success, I might add) I can certainly say it starts a little slow, but one things get rolling, it is a beast. Lots of movement and dice-less displacement.

From Ki-Adi’s perspective, Padawan Ahsoka is a great unit for his lists since she’s a strong secondary with the Jedi tag. She can be run alongside Shaak-Ti or replace the Jedi master if 4pc is all your budget allows.

This is Some Rescue

This is a box that I struggled to find a pairing for last year. It includes a lot of named rebel characters which eliminated many of their boxes at the time. However, Cassian’s squad doesn’t include a single Leia, Luke, Han, or Chewie, so we’re safe. Cassian also brings three Spy units to the table, so that’s a plus.

When Cassian was first revealed, I got a few games in with this pairing. It was fine, but honestly I expected a bit more. Now that Jyn’s box exists I’d say that’s the route to go if you are trying to optimize. I find Leia to be an upgrade over Jyn, but Bodhi and B&C are upgrades over Luke and Han & Chewie (the latter two have their fans, though, this is just my opinion). However, this section we are assuming the Death Star box is what you’ve got, so Cassian is the obvious next step to me. At that point you’ll be set up well for rebel lists, scoundrel lists, and maybe even some funky rebel-imperial hybrids!

Real Quiet Like

You might be noticing a trend here – the Cassian box is pretty good. It combos well with most rebel lists, but Pathfinders can be a bit of a weak point. Getting your hands on Rebel Commandos is a big win for Captain Cassian. However, from Han’s perspective, I like Cassian more than Kanan, my previously recommended box pairing. Cassian’s revenge trigger is a bit more versatile, and he really likes having Han around since Han can be force efficient (which is good when Cassian only brings two force of his own).

I think this can be a trap sometimes, but Cassian does unlock Han’s revenge trigger a bit. When a friendly unit gets wounded, Han can attack the wounder, but he isn’t often in the right spot to do so. Cassian can fix that by moving Han first. I don’t love combining two identities to get one useful identity, but it is a bit of synergy that can be quite useful.

Wrap-Up

Well, would you look at that! Another year, another set of two-box pairings. The low barrier for entry is one thing I love about Shatterpoint. Two boxes (plus all the necessary gameplay components) and you are ready to jump in and play. Even for experienced players, I think restricting yourself to some “right out of the box” strike teams can be a fun time. I also find it enjoyable as a thought exercise, which is partly why I write this article.

What do you think, did I mess up on any of these pairings? Let me know!