Today, we’re rolling out our first Meta Snapshot for Star Wars: Unlimited constructed play incorporating Set 4, Jump to Lightspeed. We’re really excited about this moment as it’s the culmination of weeks of work by our team to play and learn as much as we can about Set 4. If you want to skip straight to the list, you’ll find it permanently on our website here. Otherwise, stick around for a summary of the changes from Set 4.

This edition of the snapshot is more stable than our list going into set 3. At that time, we’d just had the Boba Fett suspension, and nobody knew quite where the meta would land. This time, since FFG declined to nerf any of Set 3’s power players, we’re entering set 4 with an established meta already in place.

Who’s Sticking Around?

Several staples of the previous meta aren’t going anywhere.

Let’s start with aggro. While there are some new entrants in this arena for set 4, Sabine/Green is still a force, and we’d be fools to discount her. She’s getting a powerhouse card in the form of Chewbacca, Faithful First Mate, who can do some pretty nasty things with an A-Wing. Cham Syndulla provides ramp capability out of the sideboard. To top it off, there’s a whole bunch of new Rebel units and this deck has always been #1 at leveraging Rebel synergy.

Second, Han Solo is yet again going to get serious play in both his Yellow and Green iterations. Both had success at major events in Set 3, and without FFG taking action on his DJ interaction, we’re yet again looking at a meta where Han is the gatekeeper. Can you reliably kill a 5-health unit on the ground turn 3? Oh, you can’t? Sorry, you lose.

Third, we’re keeping our midrange lane firmly in place with three of last set’s contenders in a reshuffled order. First, Quinlan/Red seems to have received the most juice for set 4, primarily in the form of Ahsoka Tano. The remaining midrange decks – Anakin/Blue and Cad/Red- didn’t get the same quantity of tools.

Finally, while the beginning of a new meta is typically an aggro/tempo time where the pace of the game feels insurmountable for control builds, we don’t want to throw them off the snapshot completely. There will always be a significant percentage of players who gravitate to ramp and control. As such, we’re retaining Qi’Ra/Green and Bossk/Blue which were staples of the previous meta.

Who’s Fallen Off?

We’ve removed Han1/Red which saw some success as part of the Han quadfecta in Set 3, but given the rise of both Quinlan and Kaz (talk about him soon) in the same space, it’s hard to imagine where Han finds a niche in this color combo.

Second, Bossk/Green is a tough deck to play at the start of a meta where the contours and control lines are unknown. It’s still powerful and always has the potential to return, but we’re de-listing until Bossk proves his lizard worth.

Finally, we’ve removed Palpatine/Yellow which was at the fringes of the meta last season. We fully expect Palpatine to make a reappearance on the snapshot as the meta slows down over time, but right now, we can’t say with any certainty what the color pairing will be. Until that time, we need to represent this speedy meta as it is.

We don’t talk about Jango, no no no…

The big unknown of this season is the extent to which Jango is going to dominate. What was already a tier-1, PQ-winning deck just got a TON of new tools, from the overpowered IG-2000 and Devastator, to the incomprehensibly-written War Juggernaut. Of course, all of these cards can be cheated out with Triple Dark Raid and recurred with Sneak Attack. Striking with more than a single unit a round looks like a pipe dream for a lot of decks. Some of the best players in the world are all doom and gloom, predicting that Jango or War Juggernaut (or both!) will be banned before Worlds in July. We’re taking an optimistic approach to the meta including a wide number of decks on the snapshot to start, but there might just be a couple when the dust settles.

Who’s New to the Scene?

First is Admiral Piett. It’s hard to argue with a -2 discount on some of the biggest, most powerful ships in the game. While it may not take a ton of player skill to drop bomb after bomb, it will be a popular deck, and it will require an answer from its opponents.

Second, Kazuda Xiono might finally be the aggro leader to dethrone Sabine from her launch-day, aggro-queen perch. Kaz leverages his ability to play cards like Heroic Sacrifice and Trench Run with no downside. This gives him the best suite of pump cards in the game. Additionally, his four-deploy piloting ability onto pushed cards like Stolen AT-Hauler gives him incredible striking power in the early game.

Third, while most of the pilot leaders this set are vulnerable to upgrade hate, Luke Skywalker avoids most of it. He also has a powerful set of cards focused around the Fighter trait, like Hotshot Maneuver, Trench Run and K-Turn. Luke in a double Red package with Tarkintown looks like a formidable tempo build.

Finally- Guess who’s back? Back again? Boba’s Back! He’s the burn. Do you want to deal heaps on indirect damage to your opponent that they’ll have trouble accommodating? This is the deck for you. Fett’s Firespray, Dengar, Planetary Bombardment all give Boba above-curve damage levels.

What’s on the Watch List?

The cardpool is now finally up to what will be “normal” levels under the announced rotation scheme (4-6 sets at a time) so there’s more possibilities than ever before for combos and leaders coming out of left field. A couple we have our eyes on here are Gar Saxon, who got a lot of set 4 ammunition; Darth Vader, who brings formidable 7/7 total stats with his piloting ability; and Thrawn with some interesting combo potential.

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We’ll be updating the Set 4 meta snapshot periodically in our Meta Monday updates. Come back 0800 (US Central time) each Monday to see who won tournaments that weekend and what decks we’re moving up and down as the meta develops.

Thanks for reading! Check out the full Meta Snapshot here.