Star Wars Unlimited Guide

Star Wars Unlimited is a brand new collectible card game (CCG - a card game sold in randomized packs) from Fantasy Flight Games, and it launches with its first set Spark of Rebellion. If you want to know what the game is about, how it plays and the different formats you can play, then read on.

You can also check out our Star Wars Unlimited Spark of Rebellion review here.

What Is Star Wars Unlimited?

Star Wars Unlimited is a CCG that features characters and worlds from the Star Wars setting. The first set released is Spark of Rebellion, which focuses on the Galactic Civil War, the original 3 Star Wars movies, and the shows, games, books, and comics set around the same time.

How Do You Play Star Wars Unlimited?

Star Wars Unlimited has a couple of standout features that make it an interesting card game to play. If you're interested in a full how-to-play guide, Fantasy Flight Games has produced an awesome quick guide that compliments the full rules, and you can check that out here.

The first interesting mechanic is the cards as resources mechanic. The cards that you draw into your hand, are played and paid for using resources. These resources are also cards from your hand, but they are played facedown, once per turn. Once played, they become a resource, used each turn to pay costs, and their art-facing side can't be played or used again, so choosing which cards to play as a resource each turn shouldn't be a decision you take lightly as you're locking them out of your deck for the rest of that game.

Another defining mechanic is that during a turn, players take turns to complete actions, rather than players completing their entire turn before their opponent goes. Players take turns taking actions until they've both passed and then the next phase starts. The actions that are available to each player are:

• Play a card - From your hand, paying its cost with resources. 
• Attack with a unit  - You can attack your opponent's units or their base. You win the game by destroying your opponent's base.
• Use an action ability - From any of your cards in play.
• Take the initiative - Taking the initiative means you get the first action in the next phase, but locks you out of taking any other actions this phase.
• Pass - Pass play to your opponent. Once both players pass in succession, the phase is over and a new phase begins.

Star Wars Unlimited also has several types of cards:

• Leader - Your leader card gives you access to an ability and an epic action, once conditions are met, that turns them into a unit that can be used to then attack. Your leader also gives you access to Aspects. All cards have an aspect on them, and if you try to play a card without an aspect listed on your leader, you need to pay an extra 2 resources for it.
• Base - Your base has a health total, and once that health total is reduced to 0, you lose the game. Your base also gives you another Aspect symbol that combines with your leaders to avoid paying the penalty for cards you don't have the Aspect for.
• Unit - Units come in 2 different types, Ground and Space, and when played, they go into separate areas. Units can only attack other units within their area, or the opponent's base. Unit cards have a damage and health attribute and most offer abilities that can also be used instead of attacking.
• Event - Event cards are cards that can offer single-use effects, and are then discarded after.
• Upgrade - Upgrades are attached to units, and can boost their stats and also offer new abilities.

What Star Wars Unlimited Products Are Available?

Star Wars Unlimted will have several sets available eventually, the first set, Spark of Rebellion has the following products available:

Star Wars Unlimited Spark of Rebellion 2-Player Starter Set

The Star Wars Unlimted Spark of Rebellion 2-Player Starter Set is a fixed rarity set that contains 2 decks, one for Luke Skywalker, and the other for Darth Vader. Every 2-Player Starter Set contains the same cards, and some of these are unique to the starter set, and won't be found in Booster Packs.

Star Wars Unlimited Spark of Rebellion Booster Pack

Star Wars Unlimited Spark of Rebellion booster packs each contain 16 randomized cards. Each pack has a fixed rarity of cards.

Each booster pack contains:

• 1 leader card
• 1 base
• 9 common cards
• 3 uncommon cards
• 1 rare or legendary card
• 1 foil card (of any rarity) 

Star Wars Unlimited Spark of Rebellion Prerelease Box

The Star Wars Unlimited Spark of Rebellion Prerelease Box is a special box designed for prerelease tournaments.

The Prerelease Box contains:

• 6 Star Wars Unlimited Spark of Rebellion Booster Packs
• Exclusive promo versions of the Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader leader cards
• Tokens, quickstart rules, and a deck box

What Are The Different Star Wars Unlimited Card Rarities?

Star Wars Unlimited has several card rarities:

• Common - Each booster pack contains 9 of these
• Uncommon - Each booster pack contains 3 of these
• Rare - Each booster pack will contain either one of these or a Legendary
• Legendary - Each booster pack will contain either one of these or a Rare
• Foil - Each booster pack contains 1 foil of a random rarity
• Hyperspace - These are special cards that have an alternative border, showing more of the card art
• Showcase - The showcase cards are incredibly rare, and feature alternative art for leader cards

What Are The Different Star Wars Unlimited Game Formats?

Star Wars Unlimited has 4 different game types:

• Premier - The standard way to play SWU. Players create standard 50+ card decks and then play 1v1. Each player's deck can include a maximum of 3 copies of each card.
• Draft Play - Draft is a randomized deck creation style. Each player in the draft opens a booster pack, selects a card, and then passes the remaining cards to the next player, receiving the remaining cards of the pack from the player beside them. This continues until players have opened and drafted 3 booster packs. Players then create a 30-card deck out of the 42 cards they have.
• Sealed Play - Sealed play is another randomized deck creation style. Every player opens 6 booster packs and then creates a 30+ card deck with the cards from the packs they opened.
• Twin Suns - A multiplayer variant for SWU, players create 50+ card decks with 2 leaders, but can only use a single copy of any card.

All the rules for each format type are listed in full on the Star Wars Unlimited official site.

The Star Wars Unlimited products used to produce this guide were provided by Asmodee UK.