Build your first Star Wars: Unlimited deck: step by step

New to Star Wars: Unlimited? How to build a playable deck: leader and base, aspects, 50 cards, cost curve and common mistakes.

Star Wars: Unlimited is quick to learn and full of familiar characters from all the films and series. Many people collect Star Wars: Unlimited for the artwork but have never built a deck of their own. This guide takes you in 7 steps from “I have cards” to “I have a playable deck”. No prior knowledge needed.

Star Wars: Unlimited in one minute

• Each player has a base with hit points, usually 30. Whoever reduces the opposing base to 0 wins.
• Combat happens in two arenas: ground and space. Units only attack units in their own arena, or the base directly.
• You draw 6 cards and put 2 of them face down as resources. Each round you draw 2 cards and may add 1 more card as a resource.
• Players alternate taking one action each: play a card, attack or pass. Whoever takes the initiative goes first next round.
• Your leader helps from the side at first and later joins as a strong unit.

Step 1: Pick a leader and a base

Leader and base set your deck's aspects, shown as coloured icons: Vigilance (blue), Command (green), Aggression (red), Cunning (yellow), Heroism and Villainy. Pick a leader you like and a base that adds a matching colour.

Step 2: Stick to your aspects

You may play any card. But for each aspect icon that neither your leader nor your base has, it costs 2 more resources. So use almost only cards in your aspects.

Step 3: At least 50 cards

The deck has at least 50 cards plus leader and base. Use exactly 50. Each card may be included at most 3 times.

Step 4: The skeleton

These are guidelines for a first deck, not fixed rules.

Step 5: The cost curve

You only get 1 resource per round. Many cards should cost 2 to 4, only a few 6 or more. Don't forget space: without ships of your own, your opponent attacks your base there unopposed.

Step 6: 3 copies beat lots of singles

Your most important cards belong in the deck 3 times, so you actually draw them. A deck of many different single cards plays differently every time and rarely well.

Step 7: Test and adjust

• Shuffle and draw 6 cards. Check that you can do something useful in your first turns. Do this 10 times.
• Play a few games against friends.
• Cards that never did anything go. Replace them with another copy of your best card.

The shortcut: a ready-made deck as a template

There are ready-made starter and two-player sets with playable decks. Their card lists are online. Paste such a list into TCG-Completist and see what is already in your collection.

How TCG-Completist helps

1. Open 🃏 Decks in the account menu and click “New deck”. Choose Star Wars: Unlimited as the game.
2. Paste a list, for example with “3 Battlefield Marine”. English and German names are recognised.
3. You see right away which cards you own, which are missing and roughly what the rest costs.
4. If you want to play a card as Hyperspace or foil, set the print with one click. Add missing cards to your wishlist with one click.

The deck builder is free. Guides for other games are under Deck building.

The 5 most common beginner mistakes

1. Off-aspect cards. Every missing icon costs 2 extra resources.
2. No space units. Without ships your base is open.
3. Too many expensive cards. Follow the cost curve.
4. Forgetting resources. Add a resource every round early on.
5. Only single copies. Better 3 copies of your best cards.

That's all your first deck needs. Build it, play it and improve it after every game.