Image credit to Fantasy Flight Games
We’ve already looked at Premier and Twin Suns, the two official constructed formats of Star Wars Unlimited (SWU). With Jump to Lightspeed (JTL) pre-release weekend less than three weeks away, I want to help all the readers looking to play limited formats with the set. So today we’ll talk about one of the two limited formats in the game: Drafting.
Let’s Jump in.
Three Packs and a Plan
First, what is “limited”? Limited just means you crack packs at the event and build a deck with the cards you pull. In the Comprehensive Rules it has Sealed and Draft as the two official limited formats. We’ll tackle Draft first because I want all of the JTL cards to be revealed before I write up a “how to” on Sealed, because that’s the format for pre-release kits, and there’s still a few weeks left for you to practice drafting before JTL drops.
Usually, after pre-release weekend (at least in my experience), Drafting takes center stage as the top playing experience as people draft to flesh out their collections and wrap their heads around the new cards introduced to the format. So, let’s get into the rules of the format and ways you can tackle drafting so you can come out on top.
The overall goal of limited play is to select the best cards that will support your chosen leader and build a minimum sized 30-card deck to beat your opponents. In Sealed you’ll get six packs (very convenient that pre-release kits come with six booster packs) and you get to use all of the cards in the packs to create the deck.
However, in Draft, each person gets three packs to start. Does that mean my pool of cards is only going to be 48 cards? How can I possibly construct a working deck with 48 cards when I have to factor in aspect penalties, because I know I won’t get 30 cards that match my leader and base? Don’t worry, there’s a way to get there.
Drafting is broken into pods of typically four to eleven people (eight being the gold standard). Once the pod is established, the packs will be handed out and then you’ll move into the drafting part of the game.
There are three main steps to drafting SWU:
- Draft a leader
- Draft the cards
- Build your deck
You’ll have no problems at your first draft if you break it down into those three steps.
The above picture shows how I open my packs when drafting. I want to make sure that the cards are face down because I don’t want to know what cards are in the pack.
Fortunately, the leader is always on the bottom when I open packs like this. Slide the leaders out and then set the packs aside as is, leaving the rest of the cards in the wrapper until it’s time to draft that specific pack. Why? Let me tell you that it is incredibly embarrassing and disruptive if a pack of cards is grabbed out of order. Leaving them in the wrapper is a big “DO NOT TOUCH” sign until it’s specifically time to use that pack. When it’s time, you pull the cards out and throw away the wrapper.
Now that your play space is in order, it’s time to pick your leader.
Picking Your Leader in Star Wars Unlimited Drafting
Having a leader is unique to SWU, and it’s going to dictate the direction of your Draft strategy. Some leaders are fantastic in Premier or Twin Suns, but aren’t that great in limited. Likewise, some leaders are fantastic for limited but lousy in constructed. For example, Wat Tambor is a Twilight of the Republic (TWI) leader that hasn’t really seen tier 1 use in Premier, but he’s a beast in drafting. With Wat you can sculpt your picks to maximize abilities such as Exploit to then pump other units to push through lots of damage.
Limited tends to be a little more on the aggro to midrange side of play rather than control. I’m not saying you can’t pull off a control deck, but it’s a lot more difficult to do.
Using the above three leaders as an example, let’s look at the thought process that goes into making a choice for your leader.
You have to know a little bit about the set to know which direction to take, because no decisions should be made in a vacuum. If this was Sealed, you would know immediately if you opened enough cards with Smuggle to make Hondo Ohnaka work. In Draft, you have to pick cards out to specifically support your leader, and also hope someone else isn’t picking the cards that would help you out.
Fennec Shand, on the other hand, just gives any four or less cost unit Ambush which can also be useful, and units are plentiful.
Gar Saxon has a persistent ability that gives any friendly upgraded unit +1/+0. Persistent abilities are very nice, especially in limited formats, if you can build around that.
SWU has an extra feature different to other TCGs in that you can flip the leader and use it as a unit (or a pilot, in some cases, in JTL). Looking at these three, Fennec flips on five and is a 4/4 with Saboteur, and has an ability to give any unit 4 or less Ambush. Not too bad. Gar flips on six and you get to return an upgrade to your hand. Since Smuggle is pretty niche, I’m narrowing down to the former leaders. I’d probably opt for Fennec because she flips early to put on pressure and her ability is useful.
With that choice made, I’d set her aside, then pass Gar and Hondo to the player to my right. I’d then receive two leaders from the person to my left, and I’d have to pick one of those and pass the final leader to my right again, and then I’d receive my final leader.
This is also a great time to mention all LGSs should have a stack of common bases, and a player can pick and use any common 30 HP base to build their decks around their leader for the second color. That’ll help guide your decisions on picking cards for your pool.
BREAD On Curve
Now we’re onto drafting the individual cards for your pool. You’ll pick one card and pass the rest of the cards face down to the left (remember, leaders went to the right. Now you pass the first pack to the left, second pack goes right, last pack goes left).
“Which card do I pick, Dan?” Well, there’s a few things you need to consider when making your first pick:
- I need synergy with my leader.
- I need to think about my resource curve.
- Some chase cards are worth “skipping” a pick for.
Limited is typically won through having a better board state than your opponent. This isn’t Premier where you can play Bossk Blue and strategically remove your opponent’s units, gain life, and control the situation until you can go over top of the opponent. Limited, especially Draft, is won in the trenches. You’ll need to focus on the acronym BREAD, and keep track of your unit-to-resource curve.
- B: Bombs – the big units that will push a lot of damage and probably have extra abilities (think Wrecker, Maul, or Resolute, but might also just be Grievous because a 4/4 for three hits hard)
- R: Removal – cards that get rid of the other player’s units, like Takedown or Open Fire. Try to think outside of the box (I saw someone use Wat’s ability, buff a unit, then play Legal Authority to capture a unit they normally wouldn’t be able to)
- E: Extra Abilities – keywords like Sentinel, Saboteur, or Overwhelm that’ll help give extra oomph to units
- A: Aggro – cards that put out lots of damage per cost
- D: Duds – just units to fill out your curve
To achieve a good resource curve (meaning playing something meaningful each turn, and using all of your available resources), and not getting into hypergeometric calculations, a good rule of thumb I live by is: 69, 68, 69. That’s six to nine one- or two-cost units to play turn one, no more than six to eight events/upgrades, and try to get six to nine space units.
Of course every rule has exceptions, and it all depends on your leader. A technique I use is when I draft a card is I put it face down in my numerical pile by round resource (one- and two-costs in column one, three-cost in column two, etc) so that way I have a visual representation on how my curve looks.
Wrapping It Up for Drafting Star Wars Unlimited
You have to use one of the three leaders you drafted and you can use a base you drafted (for example if you picked Droid Manufactory) or any common 30 HP base that you own or borrow (I bring my favorite hyperspace base of each color already in a clear sleeve to a Draft event). Also, it’s important to remember you can use more than three of a copy of card in your deck. If you somehow draft four copies of Mandalorian Warrior then you can include them in your 30-card deck.
I don’t want people to think I forgot about my 3rd thing to consider. Sometimes you just have to pick that hyperspace foil Luke even if you’re playing Grand Moff Tarkin leader. Other than that, you focus on the first two things to consider. Support your leader and pick the best cards using BREAD to smooth out your curve. Limited, and Drafting in particular, is the great equalizer. There’s no copy/pasting a PQ Top 8 deck that you take to the LGS to wreck shop. It’s the RNG gods’ and your ability to see through the chaos and create a deck.
Last, I just want to throw out a house rule that we play in our area. If you open a Showcase leader, then you have to play it… even if it is Finn.
Be cool to your fellow players, be cool to your judges, hydrate, eat well, exercise, and wear clean socks.
Hit me up anytime on Bluesky @TheFlyingWriter or Reddit at u/TheFlyingWriter
Looking to get a head start on your Jump to Lightspeed strategy? Then check out all the new cards in our updated card gallery.
