I've got Lucas but i've never used him. I don't think i've played against him before, definately not in M2E. Perdita is quite popular as she is quite often peoples first crew, so a lot of people have her but they might not use her much now but this might change as the new plastics are beautiful.
You might find it better so stick with one faction as you just pick your faction at the start of the game and them you decide what master and models you will use after the strategies and schemes are decided, also until all the box sets are redone you will probably get the old cards in the box and you'll have to pick up an arsenal deck for the faction to get the right stat cards.