The fourth set for Star Wars Unlimited, Jump to Lightspeed, is now available and might just be the best set yet. The original set, Spark of Rebellion, set the tone for Star Wars Unlimited and introduced a fast-paced, easy-to-learn TCG set in the Star Wars universe.
With each new set, Fantasy Flight Games has expanded upon the original foundation, improved the game, and added new and fun ways to play. With Shadows of the Galaxy, the Bounty, Smuggle, and Capture mechanics were introduced. These new mechanics caused a massive shakeup in how games of Star Wars Unlimited could play out and were a great thematic addition.
When Twilight of the Republic was released, Exploit and Coordinate were added and offered new playing strategies. While not as seismic as the Bounty, Smuggle and Capture, Exploit and Coordinate were useful and interesting in their way. Now, with Star Wars Unlimited Jump to Lightspeed, Boba Fett and Han Solo take centre stage and introduce Piloting and Indirect Damage.
Star Wars Unlimited Jump to Lightspeed
Given the name of the set, Jump to Lightspeed, Piloting is a fitting new mechanic to add to the game. Essentially, Piloting allows some units to be deployed either as a unit or an upgrade to a vehicle. When played as a unit, these cards enter the battlefield as normal, however, by playing them as an upgrade, you can vastly improve your vehicles and really take the (space) fight to your enemy. When playing your Pilot upgrade, you’ll note that some Pilots can’t be attached to a vehicle if a Pilot is already in play, while others can. Han Solo (more on him in a minute) can only be played on a vehicle that does not have a Pilot…or so it would seem.
Often, but not always, there is an alternate cost for playing the Piloting mechanic. For example, R2-D2 is a 1-cost unit with 4 health and 1 attack, but should you play him as an upgrade, he costs 0 resources, adds +1/+1 to a vehicle, can be played onto a unit that already has a pilot AND gives the vehicle unit he’s attached to “You may play or deploy 1 additional Pilot on this unit.”
So, with R2 in play, units, like Han, that are not able to be played onto a vehicle with an existing Pilot, are now able to stack. These kinds of synergies go a long way to totally reshaping the way space battles go and to refocus Star Wars Unlimited’s combat, which has been, let’s face it, very ground heavy. And it’s not just your regular units who get in on the Piloting action, Star Wars Unlimited Jump to Lightspeed is the first set to introduce Leaders with two deployment options.
In Jump to Lightspeed, Star Wars Unlimited is doing away with the Two-Player Starter deck we’ve become accustomed to. Instead, players will now be able to purchase Spotlight Decks. Per Fantasy Flight Games, “Spotlight Decks are pre-built decks that contain a mixture of cards from multiple sets, with cards from the new set making up the majority of the deck. Each Spotlight Deck contains five Special-rarity cards that are unique to that product, one of which is the leader card. Two Spotlight Decks will release with every set, which means there are ten Special-rarity cards in total, the same number as there were in previous sets’ Two-Player Starters.”
Essentially, these Spotlight Decks replace the Two-Player Starters and are bought separately instead. How this shakes out cost-wise is a bit of a mystery at this stage. I do like the ability to purchase two pre-built decks in one pack and be able to start playing immediately. That ability still exists, but now you’ll need to buy both Spotlight Decks and the potential for price gouging could hang over collectors.
In any case, the two Spotlight Decks for Star Wars Unlimited Jump to Lightspeed are led by Han Solo and Boba Fett. I can’t think of two characters more suited to head up this release, and having checked out both decks, Fantasy Flight Games has nailed the thematic connections and feel of each character.
Boba Fett is my favourite of the two — Sorry Han — thanks, in part, to the introduction of Indirect Damage as a mechanic and the way it’s been implemented. Boba’s leader ability allows you to exhaust him whenever non-combat damage is dealt and then deal 1 Indirect Damage to a player. Indirect Damage can’t be prevented and is assigned by the player receiving the damage. It can be applied either to the base or any unit, which is fine at the start of a game, but as time goes on and units and bases start to accrue more damage, those options get smaller.
Then when you consider that many of the cards in Boba’s Spotlight Deck are designed to ramp up Indirect Damage, you can see how effective it might be. For example, Hunting Aggressor’s text means all Indirect Damage is increased by 1. Other units and vehicles can also apply Indirect Damage like Fett’s Firespray, First Order Stormtrooper and Allgiant General Pryde. Fett’s Firespray deals 1 Indirect Damage on attack and when played, but will deal 2 Indirect Damage instead if you control Boba Fett either as a unit, upgrade or leader. Allegiant General Pryde can “defeat a non-unique upgrade” on a unit if Indirect Damage is dealt to it and when attacking, if you have Initiative deals 2 Indirect Damage.
Indirect Damage, initially, sounds annoying but manageable to deal with, but once you start exploring the cards and synergies, you see just how lethal Indirect Damage can be and how hard it can be to assign it in a way that keeps you in the game. Thankfully, Han has some tricks up his sleeve to stay alive and stay in the game.
Without the benefit of having Indirect Damage at his disposal, Han’s Spotlight Deck can, on the surface, feel a bit less flashy than Boba’s. Thankfully, Fantasy Flight Games has worked hard to make sure Han’s deck feels correct and has plenty of strategy and synergy to compete.
Han’s Leader ability lets you check your deck and boost an attacking unit, so long as the unit and the card at the top of your deck are both odd and different costs. When he’s played as a Pilot upgrade, Han can ready a resource for “each friendly unit or upgrade with an odd cost.” Naturally, with such a focus on odd-cost cards, Han’s Spotlight Deck is full of them. It’s also full of cards that specialise in dealing with enemy units, removing them from the game, sending them back to your opponent’s hand and, of course, dealing lots of direct and combat damage.
The centrepiece of Han’s Spotlight Deck is the Millennium Falcon which can be upgraded with two Pilots. Obviously, you want to add Han and Chewie to the Falcon, if nothing more than because it feels right, but when you do, it becomes an absolute beast. Especially thanks to Chewi’s Pilot ability “This unit can’t be defeated or returned to hand by enemy card abilities.” With removal off the table, your enemy is going to be stuck trying to deal with the Falcon’s 11 health, not to mention its attack power of 11. Yeah, it’s nuts.
Han’s Deck is otherwise a little more straightforward and focused on mechanics that already exist in Star Wars Unlimited. Its primary focus is to get units on the board so Han can ready resources, attack on both fronts and check cards in order to either ready or discard them. Han’s deck is probably a little trickier to play and get right as the ramp can be a little more difficult to pull off, but when you do, it’s tremendously satisfying, especially against someone playing Boba’s Deck who’s been peppering you with Indirect Damage turn after turn.
Star Wars Unlimited has gone from strength to strength with its first four sets. Jump to Lightspeed isn’t as giant a leap forward as Shadows of the Galaxy, but it does have an important job of trying to rebalance the game’s combat and ensure that both Ground and Space combat are given equal attention. Whether by design or by accident, Star Wars Unlimited’s space combat has been largely overlooked up until now, so it’s great to see the design team recognise that and introduce a new mechanic that directly addresses it.
While I enjoy both of Jump to Lightspeed’s Spotlight Decks, I like Boba Fett’s a little more. It’s different from what we’ve seen so far from the game and uses Indirect Damage in a really fun and interesting way. Han’s Deck is good, but it feels a bit like more of the same even though it lets you create a monster of a unit with the Millennium Falcon, in the right circumstances.
Whether the move away from Two-Player Starters to Spotlight Decks is the right one, remains to be seen, but hopefully they still provide bang for your buck. The new Carbonite Edition boosters are also something to lure collectors in and thankfully no unique cards are exclusive to them, so here’s hoping the cost of entry to Star Wars Unlimited doesn’t become prohibitive. Right now, the game sits in a pretty good sweet spot for players. It’s not overly expensive and the purchasing options let you get right into the game without much fuss. Collectors who want special or rare cards have options to do so, and everyone else can buy a Spotlight Deck and get started.
Star Wars Unlimited is in a good place with the release of its fourth set Jump to Lightspeed and I’m keen to see what’s next. If you’re a fan of what’s come out so far, you will have a blast with this set too.
Two Spotlight Decks were provided to the author for the purposes of this story.
