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Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars took the world by storm and captured the imagination of generations. Now you may get in on the action with theStar Wars: Unlimited Trading Card Game.Finally, you and your friends can recreate classic battles, or choose your own path to galactic peace… or conquest.
Players ofMagic: The Gatheringwill recognize several familiar mechanics under new names, but like so many other trading card games, learning how to play can be a challenge without a Jedi Master to teach you the ropes. If you don’t have someone already familiar with the game to teach you, this is the time to put on your padwan robes and take your first step towards mastering the force.
What Is Star Wars: Unlimited?
Star Wars: Unlimited is a trading card game (TCG) produced by Fantasy Flight Games, the makers ofArkham Horror,Legend of the Five Rings, and other classic games. The game focuses on winning battles against your opponents by destroying their bases while defending your own.
Unlike some previous Star Wars TCGs, Star Wars: Unlimited allows you to combine characters and ships from across the entirety of the Star Wars franchise, evenallowing you to combine Rebel and Imperial or Light and Dark Side characters togetherin a single deck, leading to unlimited variability in decks and games.
Types Of Cards & Other Game Pieces
Star Wars: Unlimited uses six different types of cards, of which only three are included in your deck. Your base and leader are separated, and token cards are used from outside the game. There are also a variety of counters used to keep track of a complex game state.
Base
Your base is separate from your main deck and is set in the base zone in the center of the table before starting your game. Most bases have 30 HP, but some, like Tarkintown, have lower HP in exchange for an Epic Action. Each base also has an aspect icon on the top right corner.
Defending your base and destroying your opponent’s base is the objective of the game.
Leader
Leaders are legendary characters from throughout the Star Wars universe, such as Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, and Boba Fett.These characters are represented by a double-sided card, on which the front, horizontal side is the “Leader side,” and the back, vertical side is the “Leader Unit side.”
Each leader has two aspect icons, a name and subtitle, at least one trait, and an ability. Like your base,this card is separate from the main deck, and starts the game in your base zone.
A leader can be deployed with its Leader Unit side face-up as an Epic Action once the conditions for that action have been met. If your leader is then defeated, return it to the base zone with an epic action counter to show that it can’t be deployed again.
Unit
Units represent the ground troops and spaceships in the Star Wars universe.These can be designated as either ground units or space units, listed directly above the unit name, and are deployed to the appropriate area when played.
Each unit has a cost, at least one aspect, at least one trait, and Power and HP values. Many also have abilities, detailed under the traits. Units are important becausethey’re the cards that can attack your opponent’s baseor their own units in order to protect your own base.
Units (and upgrades) remain in play until they’re defeated, and then are sent to the discard pile.Units are defeated when they take more damage than they have HP.
Upgrade
Upgrades are cards which improve units. Some upgrades have restrictions on what kind of units they can be attached to. Vader’s Saber, for example, cannot be attached to a vehicle, and gives an extra bonus when attached to a unit named Darth Vader.
Each upgrade has a cost, at least one aspect, and at least one trait. Many upgrades provide a bonus to Power, HP, or both, and some also include an ability. When you attach an upgrade to a unit,place it underneath the unit with the abilities and traits visible. When the unit is defeated, so are all upgrades attached to that unit.
Event
If units are characters and upgrades are equipment, events are actions and tactics that affect the outcome of a battle. Events never enter the arena, instead going directly from your hand to the discard pile when they’re played.
All events have a cost, one or two aspects, at least one trait, and an ability. You play an event by paying the cost and immediately using the ability, then send the event card to your discard pile.
Token
Token cards are shared between both players and represent temporary upgrades to units, similar to equipment. Tokens have a cost of zero, and are always put into play attached to a unit by another card’s effect. These cards can be replaced with counters that you place on a unit to represent when it has a shield or experience token attached.
Counters
Like thePokemon TCG,Star Wars: Unlimited uses a persistent damage system, with counters used to track the damage taken by bases and units. Damage counters are included with the Spark of Rebellion Two-Player Starter Set, and several retailers sell premium counters and tokens.
The initiative counter is another type of counter that is shared between both players. Whichever player started the game with the initiative counter keeps it until another player takes the initiative.
Setting Up The Game
Setting up the game is done in six steps, which all players should do at the same time.
There is no penalty for taking a mulligan, but you must take your second hand, even if it’s worse than the one you threw away. Multiple mulligans are not allowed.
Now that you’re all set up, it’s time to start the game.
How To Play
Once you’ve finished setting up the table, it’s time to start the game. In Star Wars: Unlimited, gameplay takes place in two phases:the action phase and the regroup phase.
The Action Phase
As the name implies, most of your actions will happen during the action phase.The player who has the initiative counter takes a single action, followed by their opponent. This goes back and forth until both players pass.
There are five actions that you can take during the action phase:play a card, attack with a unit, use an action ability, take the initiative,andpass.
Play A Card
In order to play a card, first exhaust (turn sideways) resource cards equal to the card’s cost.
If the card you’re playing is a unit, put it into play exhausted in the ground or space arena, as annotated above the unit name. If that unit has a “When Played” ability, that effect resolves immediately.
Whoever plays a unit first determines which arena is the ground arena and the space arena for the rest of that game.
If the card you’re playing is an upgrade, you must have a unit in play to attach it to. Put it into play beneath the unit receiving that upgrade, with the abilities and bonuses visible.
Events never enter the arena. Instead, as soon as you play one, use the ability on that event and then send it to the discard pile.
Attack With A Unit
Only one unit can attack per action, but that unit can attack your opponent’s base or their own units in the same arena. A unit must also be ready to attack. in order to attack,
If your opponent has any units with Sentinel, you cannot attack any other unit or your opponent’s base. Units with Saboteur ignore this.
Use An Action Ability
Some units have an Action ability, which you can activate as an action. These abilities typically have a cost, either in resources or a requirement to exhaust the unit, and can only be used when you are able to pay the cost.
Epic Actions can only be used once per game. These are most often found on bases and leaders.
Take The Initiative
Only one player can take the initiative each round, and you may take the initiative even if you already control it.Whoever has the initiative at the start of each round will go first that round, so it’s generally a good idea to try to take the initiative.
Once a player takes the initiative, that player can take no more actions that round except to pass. This means that if you take the initiative too soon, you won’t be able to respond to your opponent playing cards and attacking, but if you wait too long they might take it before you.
Pass
When you pass, you skip your action and give your opponent an opportunity to take their next action. You can use this strategically, but be careful: If your opponent passes or takes the initiative after you pass, the round ends and the regroup phase begins.
Regroup Phase
After each action phase, it’s time to regroup for the next battle. During the regroup phase, you and your opponent both go through the following steps, in order, together:
Once your resources are ready, move back into the next action phase and repeat until you defeat your opponent’s base, or they defeat yours.
Winning The Game
The goal of the game is to destroy your opponent’s base. Bases typically have 30 HP, although some, like Security Complex, trade HP for an Epic Action. Once you’ve done enough damage to reduce your opponent’s base to zero HP, the game ends immediately.
Unlike many other TCGs, if you run out of cards in your deck you do not automatically lose. Instead, any time you would draw from an empty deck you instead deal three damage to your own base and continue to play.
The only other way for a game to end is for one player to concede defeat, at which point that player immediately loses.
