One of the coolest things about Star Wars Unlimited is that it takes place in a galaxy far, far way. Like many of the folks looking into this game, I’ve loved Star Wars since I was a little boy. I vividly remember the first action figures, the first movie experiences, my first toy lightsaber. The first ever VHS I ever bought with my own money was Attack of the Clones!

The Star Wars magic is intact for me. In fact, SWU is part of what’s kept that flame burning. Like many, I was pretty disillusioned with the whole franchise after the Sequel Trilogy, and the best gift the game has given me so far is that something about the art and design made me remember why I love Star Wars so much. No matter what happens over the next few years with this game, I’ll always appreciate SWU for that.

The love for the IP is the impetus for this little project, which I’m calling Duel Of The Fates, and I intend to do several pairs of these. I love theme decks, and I especially love making pairs of decks that play interestingly into each other. That’s something I’ve done for almost every game I’ve written for. With just a single set, these won’t be fully fleshed out, and I’m hoping there’s a few more cards unspoiled that will slot into these decks. But we can make a good start, and we’re kicking off this series with a pair of themes that are both pretty fleshed out in Spirit of Rebellion- Rebels and Imperials.

Rebels

Duels Of The Fates – Rebels

Our Rebel deck leverages General Leia to generate battlefield pressure across both lanes and take a wide field of Rebels to victory. Your early game units have a lot of punch, and just the combination of a couple A-Wings and a Bright Hope to cover their attack run can rapidly put you in the driver’s seat on damage. On the ground, you have both devoted soldiers (Battlefield Marine, Fleet Lieutenant, Echo Base Defender) and fearless commanders (Sabine Wren, Admiral Ackbar, General Dodonna) to keep things tactical and keep the pressure. Once you’ve landed enough hits, that momentum will carry you through to the finish as you look to close with a brave dive into glory or the power of belief. Either way, you’re likely going to be fighting scrappy, so stay aggressive and be sure to give credit to the folks in the trenches.

Being crafty with your resources is definitely the Rebel way- usually the turn after Leia deploys is where you have your first big decision point. If you’re very ahead on damage, you might consider stopping resourcing (or maybe going up to 6) and trying to play out your hand. If you’re looking at a longer fight, the extra buying power and eventual top end Home One play might be worth resourcing more cards. Clever usage of Heroic Sacrifice and Mon Mothma can keep you stocked on cards while you push up into an endgame…and you might need that endgame when you see what you’re up against!

Imperials

Duels Of The Fates – Imperial

Fear will keep them in line! Grand Moff Tarkin has a whole legion of deadly Troopers at his disposal, and their training regimen is the finest in the land. The Grand Moff’s experience tokens make sure even the most basic recruits (TIE/LN Fighter, Death Star Stormtrooper, Seasoned Shoretrooper) stay relevant as the war wages on, and their superior officers (General Tagge, Grand Moff Tarkin, Agent Kallus) are here to drive those lessons home and keep the barracks full of fresh blood. Once trained, your soldiers will take those lessons and use them (Precision Fire, Maximum Firepower, Overwhelming Barrage) to take away what matters most to your opponents. The goal is to already be in firm control of the fight before Lord Vader arrives to seal the fate of all who would oppose the dominion of the Empire.

Tarkin likes to play on curve the first turn if he can, setting up a solid Shoretrooper or Snowtrooper to get boots on the ground, and then look to give his experience tokens to ready units already in the fight starting Turn 2. Clever usage of those tokens to trade up into enemy units is how you’ll stay alive against the scrappy Rebels. Don’t skimp on your defenses- Cell Block Guard is an essential unit for you, forcing your opponents to slow down while you get your forces into their deadly final forms. The last few turns for you should be desolate things, your pile of deadly troopers, led by Vader, marching triumphantly over a stark opposing board.

The Future Of The Duel

Any time an Imperial or Rebel card gets released, these decks will be worth a revisit. I’m particularly excited to see if more Trooper support comes later down the line, since both decks rely heavily on their frontline fighters to win the day. The Rebels would love to see some events that key off their traits for extra value, since they’re so good at flooding the board with Rebels. The Imperials, meanwhile, would love to swap out some of their removal (Maximum Firepower and Open Fire) for more efficient staples in the vein of Overwhelming Barrage.

A Note On Purchasing

Both of these decks feature a single Legendary card- Home One for the Rebels and Darth Vader for the Imperials. Neither is essential to the deck. If you want to assemble this pair as budget decks, you’re more than capable of doing so without compromising the spirit of the gameplan in any way!

For the Rebels, I recommend replacing Home One with Rogue Squadron Skirmisher, which can similarly pull a key Rebel out of the discard pile for you and turns the deck into something a little happier to play low to the ground.

For the Imperials, you can substitute Vader with Emperor Palpatine, who is a little less directly synergistic with the deck, but fills the same purpose as a late game bomb with huge board impact.

It’s Time To Duel!

That’s all for this pair! Smack them against each other and let us know how the games go! Hopefully their clash makes for an evocative battle that shows you a little more about how great SWU can be at bringing the saga to life on the table.

And as always- may the force be with you!