Today, we’re joined by our guest contributor, wooooo! This is the first in a multi-part series on draft for SWU. We’re excited to watch him break down every card in the game for its utility in draft. Take it away wooooo!
Hi, wooooo here. The following article series is a full card review for drafting Star Wars: Unlimited, Spark of Rebellion. It will be broken up in to a few parts starting with an introduction (you’re reading it now!). Afterwards, we will review the Common and Uncommon cards of the four major aspects (Aggression, Command, Cunning, and Vigilance). The last part will be an alignment card review (Heroism/Villainy cards), the neutral card review (only six!), and the Rare/Legendary review. Although I have spent a lot of time drafting and contemplating draft strategy, I will note that a set’s draft environment is a fluid thing, and as more people play (and as I play more), opinions on individual cards can change. So please don’t hold me to every single grade (or you can, whatever). I hope you enjoy the series!
In SWU, you will be drafting a total of 42 cards out of three packs, (in addition to the three leaders you draft). You will need to play 30 of those 42 cards.
You will be playing a very large percentage of the cards drafted, so you need to take very good care in identifying open lanes early in a draft. You need to stay flexible early so that you don’t get locked into a color getting cut hard by the players passing to you, while also not getting too comfortable spreading out your picks between too many aspects, which can lead you to reaching the end of the draft with under 30 playable cards (thus forcing you to jam a bunch of off aspect cards).
Single aspect cards are very valuable early in the draft, as they can pair with any of your 3 leaders, regardless of alignment. Single aspect cards are even more flexible early in a draft than Heroism/Villainy cards, assuming you are not yet sure which alignment you will be drafting. This paradigm shifts the moment you feel locked in to either Heroism or Villainy.
Grading Scale
A – Draft bombs, cards that are good at most stages of the game, can close games out when you are ahead, can catch you back up when you are behind. Cards in this grade are the best cards in the game. This is not a common grade in the common/uncommon card pool. Don’t expect to have many of these in a draft.
B – High value cards that can include efficient removal, competitively stated units, and cards with powerful effects. These cards pull you towards their color when you are drafting, and will often be the main differentiator between a mediocre draft and a great one.
C – The baseline card, the majority of a draft deck will consist of cards in this grade range.
D – Easily cuttable cards that on rare occasion can be leveraged in certain decks. Generally worse versions of other cards. You will try to not play these cards in your deck.
F – Cards that should never be in your deck.
I am avoiding including a sideboard-specific grade, mainly because most draft decks won’t have functional sideboards. You are playing such a large percentage of your picks that unless you were extremely fortunate early to land in some very open draft lanes, you likely won’t have many sideboard options. Some cards that may function better out of the board will have comments in their analysis indicating that.
The double aspect cards in this review are given two grades. The first grade is what I would rate them if you were paying a +2 aspect penalty to play them, and the second is the grade I would give them if you were in a mono-colored deck. Keep in mind that it is very unlikely that you will be able to draft a good mono-colored limited deck, but it isn’t impossible, and will usually require a few double aspect cards to get opened and passed around the table.
Leader Tier List
Tier A: Boba Fett, Jyn Erso
Tier B: Grand Moff Tarkin, Leia Organa
Tier C: Director Krennic, Iden Versio, Sabine Wren, Han Solo
Tier D: Chirrut Imwe, Hera Syndulla, IG-88, Cassian Andor, Grand Admiral Thrawn
Tier E: Chewbacca, Emperor Palpatine, Grand Inquisitor
Brief note on drafting leaders:
Although the power level between the leaders varies, the most important thing when drafting leaders is to maintain flexibility going into the main draft. It is very beneficial to have access to both a heroism and villainy leader, as well as having multiple aspects available to you. This lets you pick the best possible cards early and will keep you open for longer during the rest of the draft. Make sure to take note of the leaders that can be passed to you.
Drafting Rare Bases
These are very valuable draft picks (some more than others). They can generally pair with any of your leaders except the leader in their matching color, and don’t take up a deck slot.
Energy Conversion Lab [r]: (A)
Ambush is the strongest keyword, and giving it to any unit is incredible. You will be turning a unit in your hand in to a removal event that leaves behind a body. You can snowball games really early with this.
Tarkintown [r]: (B+)
This is basically a free removal event with a pre-requisite, but in a format dominated by units bashing in to each other, it’s hard to not find a spot for it.
Security Complex [r]: (B-)
There’s a prerequisite here- you want a good unit to shield. The good news is most of your deck will be units. Shields can sometimes be less valuable when your opponent has a lot of small units running around, but you can generally create a good exchange with this base.
Jedha City [r]: (B-)
This one can also be a removal event, but it requires you having a unit in play that can finish the job and gives your opponent some time for counter play.
wooooo’s Draft Cheat Sheet
The sheet below contains all of wooooo’s draft grades, which you can download and reference. We will add it to the article after all the sections have been published!
Other Articles in the Series
Garbage Rollers 
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