In case you missed it, Fantasy Flight Games sent us a box full of goodies this week with just enough booster packs to hold a 4-player draft! Being the degenerate drafters we are, we quickly all agreed to gather at my house and take part in one of the world’s first public drafts of Jump to Lightspeed.

You can watch my POV of picking cards in our media kit unboxing video here, and 2 rounds of games following that here!

While 1 draft and 2 games doesn’t make me an expert, there were some key takeaways from my first draft experience of Jump to Lightspeed.

Space is the Focus

Your initial response may be “Well duh…” but it is important to note just how focused the set is on space. There are only 2 more ground units than space in this set, but after you factor in pilots and the overall events focused on space, it’s clear the cardpool revolves around the space arena. Most of the leaders also deploy as pilots, which means controlling the space arena is going to be critical to achieving victory.

Removal is sparse

While many speculated pilots would be dead on arrival in the premiere meta, when drafting within the set, there are only a couple of cards that can actually punish deploying a leader as a pilot. There are only a handful of events that deal damage in this set, with a good chunk of them being pretty conditional. Given the large focus on space this set, Sentinels in the space arena are likely going to be very impactful.

Having a plan to deal with your opponent’s leader will go a long way

When the Piloting leaders come into play, they can easily create a massive unit that you can’t deal with, especially given the limited removal. Cards like Dorsal Turret are going to be premium in allowing you to deal with big threats. Sentinel units in space will also be important in slowing them down.

Lane Dodging with your Leader is possible!

Not only can the piloting leaders be deployed as a ground unit, you can also take advantage of the 8 different ground vehicles contained within the set to maximize the piloting effect on a big body. If your opponent is winning in the space arena, you can avoid trying to force your leader there and take over the ground arena.

There’s a lot of aggro

Space aggro decks are real, between Vonreg, Kaz, Poe, Phasma, and Wedge there are a lot of options available to swarm out with cheap space units + pilots and win the game quickly. Late game leaders like Trench and Lando are going to have a tough time stabilizing (Tyler went 0-2 experiencing the Trench struggle in our draft). Make sure you draft a deck prepared to handle early game aggression or do it better yourself!

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That’s all for today! As usual, drafting SWU is a blast, and I highly recommend it once again with Jump to Lightspeed. It will be a different experience- no doubt. Given the way box prices and the singles market have played out, drafting + singles is a strong method for card acquisition this set!