Happy Friday and HAPPY RELEASE DAY!!!!! It is finally here at least, and we have reached the point where Star Wars Unlimited is no longer Unplayable! That word sounds awfully familiar…

This Friday we take a look at our friends from Unplayable, David, Jay, Jim, and Mike!

Unplayable

Tell us about your yourselves! What are your hobbies? How did the Unplayable team come together?

Mike: Hey, I’m Mike! Obviously I love card games, so that’s probably my biggest hobby outside of creating content. I also play bass, but not as often as I’d like. Unplayable’s origin story is a long one, and we know each other from doing content for other games (mainly Star Wars: Destiny) but the short version is that it started as a group chat. We were always in there talking games anyway, so one day we said “let’s just do this same thing, but on youtube.” and so we basically did that. 

Jay: Hello there! I am Jay Trash, I don’t follow anybody, I do my own thing. Which is basically being the greatest at everything I do, from card games, to content creation. It’s casual though. I do love playing games, whether it’s video games, board games, or card games. I am always on the grind to play more games! Some of my top favorite games would be SWU, Rising Sun, Flesh & Blood, The Others, Star Wars: Destiny, Vindication, and 7 Wonders Duel. I don’t know how I ended up with such a ragtag band of hooligans.

David: Oh hey there! I’m David or DHaus. My hobbies are doing whatever Mike tells me to do in between games of Star Wars Unlimited. And occasionally coaching my son’s soccer team… but mostly doing whatever Mike says. As far as how we met, Mike and I co-hosted the Jedi Trials podcast for Star Wars Destiny, and we had a natural connection with the light-heartedness of Double Blanks and ole’ stanky Jay and Sir Christopher. Eventually I convinced my buddy Jim from church to play these games too, and sometime during the pandemic we started a group chat with all 4 of us that gets a ton of action every day.

Jim: What’s up, y’all! Well if David is following Mike, I’m following David. My love for card and board games goes deep but also have a passion for coffee and play as much volleyball as humanly possible. I started late in the Star Wars Destiny era but have been involved with content since Keyforge through the Wild Wormhole podcast! Have loved learning from these guys the past several years and couldn’t believe how long it took us to decide to just make some content about all the things we just naturally talk about on the day to day. It’s been so fun!

What is your each of your backgrounds/experience in the TCG world?

Mike: I’ve been playing and/or collecting TCGs since I was in 5th grade and I got my first Pokemon cards. Since then, I’ve played dozens of TCGs in various forms, but my biggest games were Magic when I was in College, and Star Wars: Destiny at its height.

Jay: I’ve been playing and collecting card games since I was a young child. I started with Pokemon of course, the first set that they released (who knows where all my foils have gone to). Also did the Harry Potter TCG, Yugioh (unfortunately), and many others along the way. Didn’t really start competing at card games until I was a bit older starting with some of the FFG LCG’s.

David: It all started with the base set of Pokemon TCG back in 5th grade. I dropped the video game like it was hot, and went all in on card games. One of my first tournaments was in Denver, and when I won they told me I won a trip to New York City to compete in a bigger tournament. That was the first dopamine hit of many to come, and I was hooked. I got to travel a ton for free because of Pokemon and made a lot of good friends. Eventually I’d end up playing the LotR TCG by Decipher and a little bit of the other Star Wars card games. I took about a decade off from playing games, and picked back up with the Star Wars LCG from FFG. That led to X-Wing, Imperial Assault, and then Star Wars Destiny and KeyForge. 

Jim: My history with TCG’s funnily enough started with Hearthstone. I loved the game play and collectibility of that game. I used to collect but never play cards as a kid. But that competitive fire comes back FIERCE! After picking up Destiny it’s been a run of different games including Flesh and Blood and Legends of Runeterra. Only claim to fame on the competitive scene is being a win away from a Top 8 in my first Keyforge event only to drop out for some much needed Buffalo Wild Wings.

What drew each of you to Star Wars Unlimited as a game? Did it take a while for you to overcome your experiences with prior FFG games?

Mike: I mean if I’m entirely honest with myself, they had me at “Star Wars TCG”. I just can’t help myself. It did take a bit of convincing to come around to the position that the game could last more than 3-5 years, but at this point I’m all in babyyy.

Jay: STAR WARS…. Nuff said. There was no chance that any Star Wars ccg was going to release and for me to not immediately be in. FFG released or otherwise. Sure FFG has a bad track record with keeping games alive, but they also make some of the greatest games ever designed. So I had no doubt this game was going to be great. If it were to die in 3 years I would still be happy to enjoy it while I can.

David: I’m with Mike here. My first reaction was “Oh no, not again,” and within 5 minutes my reaction was, “Oh yes, baby, let’s do this.” I love Star Wars. I love TCG’s. But also, one look at the rule-set and that was it… I love the arenas, and I love they took the leader idea from Destiny but made it way better. 

Jim: I’m a social gamer! It didn’t take much convincing after these guys were on board! Also down for a new challenge and puzzle with deck building and this game perfectly scratched that itch! I’m objectively the worst Star Wars fan in our group so it’s been fun catching up and learning along the way all the history of the franchise.

You guys were mostly also Content Creators with Star Wars Destiny! What has been the biggest difference in that experience vs. Content Creation for Star Wars Unlimited?

Mike: We’ve definitely taken a different approach to content creation this time around because we aren’t exclusively focusing on Star Wars: Unlimited. While we absolutely love the game, and intend to cover it extensively, we wanted to make sure we had the room to talk about whatever games we’re excited about at any given time whether that be SWU or any other game. In terms of the actual content itself, a lot has changed in forty seven years, or however long it’s been, so we think we’ve tried hard to up our game in terms of the production value and the actual content we’re producing. 

Jay: Look, my content back then was trash, my content now is trash, the only difference is I don’t have Sir Christopher around to blame it on. Plus I have Mike at the controls to doll things up, make it look like it’s not trash. It’s like make-up, but you can still smell the stank. The only other difference is FFG ain’t trash no more coach!

David: Well, you see… It’s only through knowledge and meditation that you can know the true way (pregnant pause) of the cards. 😀 But in all honesty, we’ve given ourselves more space to talk about pretty much whatever we want to talk about. I feel like we aren’t as pigeon-holed into “we’re a podcast” and we’re more of a YouTube channel with a podcast and lots of other media (Discord, Twitter, etc.). Also Mike goes beastmode when it comes to editing our ugly mugs for YouTube and his commitment to having a polished product is unmatched. 

Jim: I missed out on the content creation for Destiny but can speak on my experience with Keyforge. The biggest difference there really has been the community. Where Keyforge was its own world the game could only really be discussed from the strategy sense. I’ve loved that this game has such a connection to the characters and the Star World universe. Conversation potential is UNLIMITED now!

What’s one card design from another card game you have played that you would enjoy seeing in Star Wars Unlimited?

Mike: What a cool question! This is probably way too complex to actually exist, but I love deck building roguelikes and I always love cards that sort of put you on mini quests in order to get some cool and potentially random benefit that you couldn’t otherwise get. So some card that asked me to do something interesting, and then as a reward, randomly got a card from a pile of set aside really powerful cards.

Jay: OOOOO. I like this. I would love seeing something like Reno Jackson. If you have no duplicates in your deck when you play him then fully heal your base. BUSTED. The other option would be Prince Renathal, increase deck size by 10 but start with 5 extra hp. Basically the opposite of the rare bases that exist now.

David: Sneak Attack from LotR LCG! Oh wait… Sorry, I meant Sneak Attack from Marvel Champions LCG! Oh wait… In all honesty, one of my favorite cards in Destiny was the Solidarity plot that gave you an extra point for leaders of the same color, but at the cost of forcing you to play singleton in your deck. That led to some fun deck-building for me. We even hosted a Solidarity tournament at my LGS with over 20 people showing up (some from over an hour away). Obviously we’ve seen something unique in Twin Suns, but I wonder how a card like that would work in SWU. 

Jim: I like the idea of cards that turn the game on its head but keeps with the theme. Something similar to Trick Room in Pokémon that can counter strategies that are one trick ponies. Some form of a card that could mess with the aspect penalty cost too would be sweet!

If you had to highlight one moment from the SWU Community Celebration, what would it be?

Mike: Drafting on the floor of the hotel with a group of incredible people. The Celebration event had ended and everyone was still so stoked on the game that we all just wanted to keep playing. Great group, great games, beautiful cards, what more could you ask for?

Jay: This is really hard because there were so many great moments, from hitting the gym with the squad before the event to opening packs for the first time ever. But if I had to choose one, the draft after the celebration event was such a joy to participate in.

David: Oh gosh, ONE moment?! That’s so hard. I’d have to say the dinner with all the content creators and FFG staff before we had product. The air was filled with so much anticipation and excitement. We were all united in our goal to bring our best to this game with our unique platforms. It was something special that I won’t forget! 

Jim: Honestly watching Scott from Golden Dice open Showcase Palpatine was such a highlight! Just such a pure moment of excitement and celebration to get one of the chase cards of the set. I love celebrating successes and that was such a cool one!

What is one thing you hope to see from FFG attached to the Competitive structure (ie. prizing, formats, etc)?

Mike: Give me my Emperor Palpatine office chair you cowards!

Jay: I would like to see draft as a competitive format, and cash prizes!

David: I need another medal. Jk jk… When the time is right I want to see draft at the most competitive levels. I think that would be really great content to watch and participate in. 

Jim: I really enjoy when the top championships reflect an overall mastery of the game. So similar to Jay’s and David’s answer but I’d want a tournament that utilizes premier and limited in the same event.

What do you envision your average viewers as? Competitive? Casual? Collector? Etc

Mike: We hope to appeal to a wide range of viewers! I’m gonna push back a little on the question and assert that a person can be any or all of those things at any given time. So I hope we can appeal to literally any SWU player depending on what mood they’re in.

Jay: We strive to attract the 3 C’s, much like FFG lol

David: What Mike said! 

Jim: I think our vibe is to come hang out with us! So I’d imagine most of our viewers as folks that are already into card games that just as a love for them. We try to hit each of those categories on our channel because that’s true to who we are as creators. The whole goal is to express what we’re passionate about so our videos can sometimes cover all of those categories .

What is your favorite thing about making content for SWU so far?

Mike: Hands down, the community! It’s probably the best tcg community I’ve ever been a part of and the game is just now releasing. The SWD community was pretty fantastic, and there seems to be a ton of carryover between the two games, but the vibes are so much better in Unlimited. I honestly credit “New FFG”, because the community seems to have a ton of confidence in SWU as a game, and you can tell.

Jay: Getting to talk crap with this goon squad would definitely be the highlight of making content for me. I love getting to jam games, and carry conversations with my best friends, especially in this day and age being able to do it from such long distances.

David: Honestly I love working with this new FFG team. It’s night and day different from how it used to be. We feel like we can be goofy, fun, and creative and still promote the heck out of this game. But also the community has been so supportive. We’re always shocked when we hit a new milestone in terms of views, or subs, or whatever… We’re not in this for those accolades, but it sure feels good to know it makes a difference to some people! 

Jim: I just love getting to help others learn about this game I love so much already! Even my local community in Kentucky will throw out ideas or things they’d love to learn about and it’s really rewarding having a platform to share those ideas. Don’t tell the other guys, but really it is the crew even more than the game that I’ve loved being a part of.

What are each of your goals in Star Wars Unlimited as a player & Content Creator?

Mike: Deep down, I do aspire to perform well at big events. But even more than that, I want to connect with people through playing and making content. I’ve made some of my best friends playing games (present company included), and I’m excited to connect with so many more awesome people.

Jay: As a player, I want to compete well locally and maybe at some larger events, but as a content creator AND player I truly want to be able to cast live streams at the highest level events. 

David: As a player, I first and foremost want to build a local, thriving community. At the end of the day, I want to play games IRL with new friends. I lose interest in a game when I lose the ability to play IRL with friends. I get teased for this in our Discord, but I am already hosting a weekly lunch-time SWU get-together at my work on Thursdays. I’ve gotten several guys into the game and showing up to pre-releases because of this. I get most satisfaction from building community! And there’s 10% of me that really wants to try hard and do well at big tournaments, but I’ll have fun regardless of how I do. As a content creator, I just want to say that we’re having fun and building good community online too. I actually think content creators have a massive opportunity to create culture behind a game. So I want us to steward that well. We’ve all been around toxic game communities… My goal would be to have such a healthy culture behind this game, that the toxic players don’t feel like they can be that way in SWU. 

Jim: I don’t want to win a tournament, necessarily. I just want to beat Dhaus in every tournament. I’m a simple guy.

What is each of your processes for building a brand new deck in Star Wars Unlimited?

Mike: When it comes to Premier, I usually start with a single card or concept and build out from there. Maybe I’m looking to get the most value out of a specific leader’s ability. I’ll try and identify all of the cards in the card pool that could fit that idea and then refine things from there. If we’re talking about Twin Suns, all bets are off! I’m building 100% based on some weird idea, or theme, or art, or whatever other wacky thing I can (and I am very excited about it!).

Jay: Typically I choose a leader, then choose which color I want to splash with depending on which cards align with that leader’s ability. Then I just pick the best 50 cards in those 2 colors, trying to maintain a decent cost curve. X amount of turn one drops and so on.

David: Step 1: Tell David the card you think is bad. Step 2: David loses sleep thinking about how to build a deck around that card to prove you wrong. Step 3: David builds the deck and proceeds to lose. 

Jim: Oh gosh… I’m a forest before the trees kind of deck builder. So if I see a combo I want to try (let’s say Leader Luke with Alliance Dispatcher) I’ll add all of the cards from those aspects and start eliminating down to the coveted 60. It helps me understand why certain cards are or are not in the deck and also helps me remember what barely didn’t make the cut for when metas shift.

It’s no secret Mike is the crazy one buying cases plural and seeking a master set! Where are the rest of you at with product purchasing and where you want to end up collection-wise?

Jay:By the end of prerelease weekend I had purchased 7 kits and gotten at least 12 prize packs. After some trades I’ve managed to get what is close to a playset missing only legendaries. So I could just buy some singles and call it a day. But I’m a mad man. I’m probably going to end up buying a case haha.

David: Haha! I’m at two boxes, a starter set, and 3 pre-releases. BUT I feel very fortunate to have been given a box at the SWU Community Celebration plus a few packs… My ultimate goal is to play so much limited in set 1 that I just fill out my collection with drafts and sealed and singles purchases. 

Jim: 2 box a set kind of guy! I want all the commons and uncommons and then I’ll just buy the singles from there for the decks I want!

Once the game releases, in an ideal world, how often do you see yourself playing draft or sealed vs constructed games? What about Twin Suns?

Mike: In an ideal world? Draft 3x a day, Twin Suns at night at the bar, and constructed the rest of the time. In the real world, hopefully draft once a week, Twin Suns when I can get a good local group together, and jamming constructed games the rest of the time.

Jay: Hopefully when the game drops the first 4 weeks are spent drafting, then after that we can spend a month prepping for the store showdown.

David: If I had to break it down percentage-wise, I’d play draft 40% of the time, sealed 10% of the time, Twin Suns 25%, and premier constructed 25% of the time. 

Jim: Constructed is my first love so probably 75% of the time. Limited for me is mostly for weekly events and Twin Suns is the late night hangout session.

What are each of you most excited about for SWU?

Mike: I’m excited to see the inevitable Ventress cards. Set 3 seems like it’s clone wars era focused based on the Twilight of the Republic name, so I hopefully don’t have too long to wait.

Jay: Mace Win Doggy Dog leader baby!!!!

David: I genuinely can’t wait to laugh around a table playing Twin Suns. That format is hilarious. But besides that, I can’t wait for weekend tournament coverage to start, so we can all enjoy the game when we aren’t playing the game. Following a big tournament across the world on Twitch or Youtube is super fun when you can’t get out of the house. I love the player stories and weird decks that come out of those events and get the headlines! 

Jim: So ready for this game to be on the table! The community has been stellar so far and I’m just excited to enjoy it with everyone. Also stoked for the next major event we can all gather to!

What has been each of your favorite community experience in Star Wars Unlimited thus far?

Mike: How could I not say the Community Celebration Event. We talked about it extensively on Episode 8 of The Conversation Lab, so go check that out if anyone wants to hear more about our experience there!

Jay: It most definitely has to be the Community Celebration. That’s something I never thought I would be able to attend in a million years.

David: Yeah, it has to be the Community Celebration. That’s a once in a lifetime kind of event. If I told Pokemon-playing-kid-DHaus that he got to be a part of a special Star Wars event to release a new card game in the future, he would have peed his pants out of excitement. It was truly an honor to be there and a blast to be involved. 

Jim: For sure the Community Celebration event! What an honor to be a part of that launch and so many laughs were shared with FFG employees and other content creators. You could tell everyone there deeply loved what’s going on with Star Wars Unlimited.

Any last thoughts you’d like to share?

Mike: Thanks so much for having us on the site, we love you guys and can’t wait to hang out in person at the next big event!

Jay: In Xander we trust.

David: Y’all didn’t pay me to say this, but shoutout to the Garbage Rollers for keeping the content hype train moving every single dang day! The daily gameplay videos have been a constant source of happiness with my morning coffee. Thanks for doing what you do! (Now where do I collect my check?)

Jim: Thanks for having us! Off to get all the Hyper Foils before Mike has a chance (no shot I win this race, I’m like a Prius at this game)!

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Be sure to check out Unplayable on YouTube! They do a semi-regular podcast, along with gameplay and discussion videos about Star Wars Unlimited (and a few other games)! We especially enjoyed getting to play in their recent Showcase series on their Youtube channel. You can also check them out on Twitter as well!

That’s it for today. We hope you got a good introduction to the fellas from Unplayable!