A large part of Eve: The Second Genesis is spent fighting over Outer Regions. Some regions see play often (Stain, Sansha’s Nation, Lonetrek) while others are rarely used (Serpentis Prime, Eve Gate, Kyonoke Pit). Many of these regions can be used together to produce a better effect for our decks. This article shows how all regions have their uses, even if they don’t appeal to us the first time you read it. Because some regions have unique abilities, they will be examined individually, while others will be grouped together.

While all regions give us an advantage, we always have to be careful because an opponent may force a retreat and claim the territory as their own. So how do we protect our regions? There are a few regions that make this easier on us like The Tierijev Pocket, Insmother and Scalding Pass. However, if we’re playing with a lot of ambushing ships we may want to consider Kyonoke Pit. While the Kyonoke Pit reduces normal damage, ambush remains the same. This makes ambushing all the more useful. Kyonoke Pit also has the potential for a good mining income. A drawback to these regions is that there is no good way to defend them early in the game.

A Hoarder makes an excellent defense ship early on as it has high shields, and we receive a trade income. Better yet, if we have a Hoarder and Forgotten Paradise in our opening hand, we can claim Ginnungagap or Sansha’s Nation the first turn, jump-starting our economy. Metropolis is effective in defending our home region from attacks early on, but it rarely helps our economy. Molden Heath reduces the cost of upgrading our starbase, and has economic potential with 5 location slots and +2 isk income; however Molden Heath does not make a good first region, as its cost is a bit high. The Khanid Kingdom effectively shuts down early-game ambushing and patrolling, and has a good amount of location slots, making it fairly defensible, if we have Crokite or Ancestral Homeland. Society of Conscious Thought makes a great addition to a Caldari deck, where other cards allow extra drawing as well (or it makes a great combination card with Sansha’s Nation for cycling the scrapheap); however, its high cost, and lack of isk income, Society of Conscious Thought is best used as our second or third Outer Region. Next, if using many low-cost low-assembly ships, the Moon of Ndoria can give us an edge with the isk.

The last 7 Outer Regions' are primarily used to enhance a decks’ focus. Serpentis Prime can be used to play cards like Mammoth to hasten the assembly of any two other ships, for those high assembly cost decks. Stain’s best played early in the game, before our opponents have any outer regions in play; a Forgotten Paradise can be used to give the extra edge we need to play this on our first turn along with a scout. Lonetrek is expensive, but if isk is not a problem (as is common with the Gallente) it provides the threat of a cruiser or battleship coming into play with little warning. Cloud Ring has a large income bonus but does not do well in command oriented decks, and should be used only for decks with high defense. Heaven is an excellent choice for a Minmatar deck focusing on ambushing, kamikaze, or destruction news card like Adaster's Disaster, where enemy ships are destroyed often. Dam Torsad is an impressive card, used to search out cards like Sisters of Eve or Archaeological Site; Dam Torsad is used for searching for those needed combination cards.

Well you maybe wondering, 'What about the Eve Gate?' The Eve Gate does not see much action in many games because it cannot be defended by cards like Crokite, and does not contribute to the economy. The main problem with the Eve Gate is protecting both it and our starbase at the same time. Why is the Eve Gate more difficult to defend than other regions? It is harder to defend because we don’t want an opponent to control it, so we need to divert many resources to defending it, leaving our station more vulnerable. A few tricks to keep control the Eve Gate include using a Guardian, Basilisk or Oneiros which take no damage from enemies, or forcing our opponents into longer assembly times using Lost Deliveries and Endless Reruns. As you see, there are a few ways to use Eve Gate, but it is a hard card to play well consistently.

All regions have their uses, and hopefully this gives you a better idea of which regions to use to optimize your deck. Using the correct outer regions can change a good deck into a great one.

Matthew