In my previous post I gave my impressions of the two-player starter set from FFG for Star Wars Unlimited.
So continuing on from that post I’m going to share my thoughts on playing Star Wars Unlimited using the two starter decks included in the starter set.
Both Diego and myself have played other competitive collectible and living card games such as Magic the Gathering, Android Netrunner (not sure if Diego has played this) and Vampire the Masquerade Rivals.
Obviously for this starter set to be playable by two-players as its name suggests, it has to come with two preconstructed decks that can be played straight out of the box. You’ll find the deck lists for both decks at the end of the post.
Every deck built for Star Wars Unlimited has to have a leader and base. They determine the cards you can play in your deck. You can play out of faction cards but there is an extra cost in doing so.
In this two-player starter the two leaders you get are Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.
I love that the art for both is from the duel between them on Cloud City at the end of Empire.
I’ve not looked at all the cards in the decks. But there is one that ties in with this called “I am your father”.
Even the way the card works (above) is so thematic. Love it.
Luke’s base is the Aministrator’s Tower, and Vader’s is the Commander Center. Both 30 health, and add a third faction symbol.
Obviously the game shares mechanics common to all ccgs. Such as exhausting cards (tapping in mtg), units coming in exhausted (summoning sickness), spending resources to play cards. You get the idea.
So coming from a ccg background it was very easy to pick up the game.
I did like that you draw two cards at the end of the round, and may play a card from hand face down to be used as a resource.
This for me this is a major difference to other games I’ve played. It also introduces a hard decision because once a card has been played face down as a resource there is no getting it back. Which card becomes a resource? Which do you hold on to? If you don’t play a resource it delays when your leader can come out, it limits what cards can be played. It has such big implications. Especially early on.
I also like the back and forth of actions. And the gamble of passing. On your turn you can pass, waiting to see what your opponent does. However if your opponent seizes the initiative, or passes also. That’s it the round has ended. Even if you wanted to do more! That’s the gamble.
Diego and I played a game with each deck.
The decks seem fairly evenly matched. Our first game was pretty close.
Although our second game was more one sided. But that was more down to the draw of cards. You get games like that. You just have to put the game behind you, and move on to the next one.
I liked playing Star Wars Unlimited with these decks. They were fun to play. Great decks to play casually with a friend over the kitchen table.
I’ll definitely buy the next sets two-player starter set. Hopefully they too will be as balanced.
Finally here are the two deck lists for the decks.
It should be noted there are some cards in this starter set that are only available in the starter set, or in the op kit promo kits.
