Resources
Learn to play, grow as a player, and win some events!
These Games Are Epic!
For all of our new friends who might be hearing about the game for the first time, welcome!
If you haven't heard much about the game, we'll try to clear up some questions.
Star Wars Unlimited (SWU) is a Trading Card Game where you build your own deck and battle against other players. There are 4 main ways to play:
Premiere: Customize a 50 card deck and 10 card sideboard, using all of the existing sets. (This will change later, but don't worry about that now). A sideboard is an extra set of cards that you can swap into your deck after game one in a 3-game set.
Twin Suns: Buult with multiplayer in mind, SWU's Twin Suns format allows up to 4 players to play in a multiplayer game. Each player brings an 80-card deck with two leaders and one base, with only 1 copy of any specific card.
Sealed: You build a deck from 6 packs of cards - This is common for prereleases.
Draft: Each player chooses a card from a pack and then passes the pack to a neighboring player, while receiving the other neighbor's pack. You build your deck by choosing cards out of packs.
Most of our scheduled events are Premiere format, though some Twin Suns play happens as well.
Star Wars Unlimited, at the quick and basic, will be played by selecting a leader and a base for your deck, then building a 50 card deck based on those colors (Called Aspects). Your leader generally has an epic action that you can use once per game, and a regular action that you can use once per action phase.
SWU is played in two phases: Action and Regroup. Unlike other TCGs, players share these phases, and will alternate taking actions during the action phase. Once a player is done (Or if strategically desired) a player can claim Initiative. Once initiative is claimed by a player, they can't take any more actions during the action phase - But they get the first action in the next action phase! You can see how chess-like turns can be, going back and forth between players.
Please check out the Learn to Play section below for the quick-start rules. You are also welcome to email us, or ask in our Discord, as we have a rules questions channel!
I know it sounds a little complicated, but I personally guarantee it's really really easy to pick up. In fact, the whole game is super intuitive and very easy to learn!
Learn To Play:
505 SWU would love to teach you how to play! Come out to any of our regular events and let us know you're new, we'll make sure you have a fun time! If that's intimidating, you can reach out to us, or ask your favorite New Mexico local gaming store to reach out to us and set up a Learn to Play session.
If you don't have a store, or want to learn on your own, here are a couple of online resources for you.
Official Website's How to Play page
Quickstart Rules will help you through your first games.
Try the game through Forcetable! This is a great way to learn the game as well, since it walks you through the phases.
SWUDB: Look at decklists and build your own! This site is run by a fan who developed this great tool for players.
Online play through Karabast, a fan-created client and project that allows players to play, test, and practice online.
Organized Play is a way to get out and connect with other players, collect, and compete. There's local in-store play, and competitive level events. There's something for every player! Events will typically reward all players with special promo packs, providing some special promo versions of popular cards. (This is often mentioned as CPO3, which is a fun play on C3PO and outlines the philosophy behind Organized Play for Star Wars Unlimited.)
Where to Start?
If you're looking to compete in Star Wars Unlimited, whether against locals or traveling to worlds, we have a great group of players who have a team mentality and want you to succeed! But the first thing you need will be a deck.
My first recommendation would be to visit SWUDB and find a deck that looks cool to you. When you open a deck, there's a link for Forcetable. This is a site where you can test decks out against a computer player. This is a great way to find out if you like a deck, test a deck you built, or just get the feel of the game and the cards.
Once you've settled on a deck, make sure you comment in the Discord channel about what your goals are. Our players love to help new players find the cards they need.
With every TCG, buying single cards is always cheaper than buying packs or boxes looking for cards. We recommend purchasing any cards you might be looking for and can't source locally through TCGPlayer.
Until those cards come in, or if you want to test a card before you buy it, ask around the group and in discord to see if someone can at least let you borrow a card.
If you're just looking to grab a deck and start playing, and upgrade along the way, you could do a lot worse than the Luke and Vader decks from Spark of Rebellion. The Boba Fett deck from Jump to Lightspeed can also give you a good start on a competitive deck.
Casual players often play decks at home as a relaxing time with friends or family. Though we hope you will come out to events and play and win some events, we understand that it's not in the cards for everyone, for various reasons.
The first thing to remember, is that for casual play, there's no wrong purchase. Buying the thing that looks cool will get you very far.
That being said, I encourage casual players to pick up packs to play Sealed format every now and then. It's incredibly fun to build a deck from a few packs and play!
Twin Suns is a great way to play Star Wars Unlimited, and we have a few groups of Twin Suns players out there. This game was built from the ground up with Twin Suns multiplayer in mind.
Keep in mind that you only need one of any specific card for Twin Suns. Check in Discord for trading options, and be willing to experiment with what you have! Buy what seems cool to you and just have fun. Don't take it too seriously and just enjoy the vibes of a fun fast-paced multiplayer game.
Star Wars Unlimited is awesome for collecting! The packs are super fun to open, and there are multiple versions of each card, with the rarer ones often worth more on the secondary market.
In normal packs, each card has the following versions:
Regular - this has a normal card frame, a normal black border around the outside, and is representative of most cards.
Foil - This is the shiny foil version of each card.
Hyperspace - These versions have reduced card frames, no black border, and the art takes up more of the card, going all the way to the edge.
Hyperspace Foil - These are hyperspace but with foil treatments (As if that wasn't apparent from the name!) and they are a dream to look at. They are absolutely stunning.
Leaders - There are two versions of leaders that will normally come in packs, which are normal and hyperspace. However, there are special showcase foil versions with special art that show up occasionally in packs that are very rare, very pretty, and very cool.
In addition to normal packs, Jump to Lightspeed introduced Carbonite boosters. Though they're a premium price, they include a special set of prestige versions of themed cards from the set, and include foil versions, as well as special rare serialized cards. These packs also have an increased chance of a showcase leader. Each regular card in these packs is either foil, hyperpace, or both.
As far as where to start, that's up to you! Your collection is yours to build!
Playing at Events:
If you want to play in person, you will need:
A 50-card deck that follows deckbuilding rules. You are also allowed a 10-card sideboard, which are simply a stack of extra cards that you can swap into your deck for games 2 and 3 in an organized play event.
A way to keep track of your base HP, track initative, and various other damage and condition markers. Dice are typically fine. Check around at your local store, you can find many different solutions and players are usually really generous about helping new players get what they need.
If you want to try your hand at playing competitively, definitely talk with people in store, and tell us your desires and plans. Remember, anyone can play competitively! It's super fun to be the expert at a deck and get better at the game! As always, you can reach out through email via the Contact Us button.
The best thing to do is to come out to an event and play. Even if you're not confident in your deck, show up a little early and start talking to people. We'll help you out! You can also ask for some help beforehand in Discord or through contacting us and we'll make sure you're ready to rock!
Here are some suggested articles and videos that every person trying to play competitively should be familiar with.
Understanding costs and determining how good a card is
Finally, make sure that you're familiar with (Or have bookmarked) the Rules clarifications page. SWU can be complex and rules clarifications will help you in lots of ways!
