It's been a little while since I've played Star Wars: Unlimited proper but as Shadows of the Galaxy has appeared on the galactic fringe, BTST must turn to meet it with booster box pre-orders and stacks of acrylic ready. This isn't going to be a particularly in-depth review, but as a relative SWU-layman I thought it might be fun to share my experiences of the new set vs my expectations. Whenever a new product like this is announced we at BTST will be combing the previews for new mechanics, abilities and stats in an effort to see what aspects of our ranges need improving. When the cardboard hits the play-mat things make all the difference however! So we jumped in our YT-Series Freighters and headed to Dark Sphere in Shepherds Bush, London and Dice Saloon in Brighton for some scum and villainy!
Who'd we play?
Darksphere, amongst a cohort of 10 players, surrounded by fans of MTG and Flesh and Blood, Chris played Bossk in Red, Yellow and Black. He went 1-1 (obtaining victory in honourable dice combat), 0-2 and 2-0 in a run showcasing many of the new threats SotG has to offer. At Dice Saloon with 22 players I played a Blue, White and Green Rey, going 1-1, 2-0 and 2-0 against two Reys and a Cad Bane respectively.
Bossk: Playing Bossk seemed to come out of a limitation of cards in other aspects but leant into aggro with cards like Hunting Nexu and Lurking Tie Phantom. Whilst there's no denying that his Bounty ability is powerful the synergy seems hard to perfect in a sealed format. That being said, his ability coupled with cheap and speedy answers like Cloud Rider meant Bossk was capable of punching above his weight with decent card trades.
Rey: Nobody suspects the humble scavenger, nor the lowly Moisture Farmer, but what if they've got two XP tokens? Oh dear. Amongst a healthy pool of Restore keyword cards Rey as a leader really shone. The lowered efficiency of limited decks allows her to start that little bit slower and build up her puny 2 or less power units into little tanks with which she can grind out the game. This deck took advantage of some of the Mandalorian tribal mechanics to push some of those units over their usual thresholds and a real puzzle became how to order your buffs in a way to achieve the most value. Definitely one to check out for constructed play!
The New Mechanics: What did we expect, how'd it go?
Captured: Oh captured, I really thought this would be the bane of my life. Anyone that knows me knows I'm an aggro fiend and broadening the scope of removal and forcing interaction is definitely a way to slow things down. As a Sabine player I've never been motivated to go for my opponent's units unless the writing is on the wall. In reality it didn't occur too frequently, though when it did it slowed the game down considerably. Freed units re-entering the board exhausted is a punishing delay to any game plan.
Bounty: Another fun interactive dynamic here. The value proposition of being distracted from going for base is one that's sure to raise a lot of fun questions in the many games to come. On the day we found that it was sometimes a struggle to really see out the synergies the Bounty keyword could offer in leaders like Bossk, that being said the very low cost curve of some of these upgrades meant a game could quickly spiral out of control if you were able to collect the right ones. I'd imagine you could work this into a far more above-rate and synergetic deck in draft or even constructed formats.
Smuggle: Oh man, what I'd initially dismissed as too much of a cost-curve was perhaps the most impactful mechanic of the weekend. I've always considered instant payoff events such as For A Cause I Believe In and Surprise Strike to be some of the most effective cards in the game, providing some real knowledge-asymmetry in a game with a lot of face-up information. Whilst SotG has mercifully not printed any direct damage Smuggle cards, the impact feels almost as significant. The real stars of the show for me came down to Smuggler's Aid as an on-demand heal 3. With three in my pool they often represented a huge shift in the games' tempo when the outcome otherwise felt all but decided. Another was Covert Strength which allowed me to preserve some of my over-performing units and push them to greater limits. The 1 to 3 cost dynamic of playing from hand vs resource made these cards appealing as both early-game buffs or clutch late-game plays, at least in limited. In constructed play I could see the risk of these low-rate cards being a disappointing draw on some turns but I suppose we at least know where we're going to put them!
Favourite Pull?
Alas, nothing spicy was opened, however I wanted to give an honourable mention to Cobb Vanth, The Marshal. His When Defeated trigger proves a great little extension tool in keeping tempo going and makes him a very valid target for Heroic Sacrifice, like some sort of tiny, reasonable Vader.
Another was Lurking TIE Phantom. A beloved ship with a storied history at BTST, serving in X-Wing miniature game squadrons before making the leap to TCGs. The flavour win of the phantom hiding in plain sight can’t be denied, whilst a decent HP line and raid 2 is always a force to be reckoned with.
Conclusions
There you have it! There's nothing like a big pile of cardboard to rejuvenate your passion for a game. I’m honestly quite impressed with the amount of new dynamics Shadows of the Galaxy is bringing to the table whilst not entirely upending the cards that came before. SWU in particular is a game in which I’ve always enjoyed stepping out of my aggro-centric comfort zone. In a couple weeks time we’ll be collecting bounties and restoring health across our locals and hopefully we’ll see you there!
Written by Ed Cardall