With the release of set 5, Legends of the Force, around the corner, the SWU community is starting to look ahead to rotation. With the release of set 7 in March 2026, sets 1-3 will leave the Premiere cardpool. For those of us who’ve been actively playing with Spark of Rebellion for nearly two years now, that comes as something of a relief! However, as the first year of SWU’s cards leave us, we know that not all of them will say goodbye forever. FFG has already begun reprinting cards in the block, starting with cards like Prepare for Takeoff in Jump to Lightspeed. So, given we know that reprints are coming, what do we want- and NOT want to see come back into the cardpool?

What makes for a good reprint?

The reprints we’ve seen thus far have been tied explicitly to expansion themes – think the above-mentioned Prepare for Takeoff or Guardian of the Whills. But I have to imagine that as we near rotation, the scope of reprints will widen, and we’ll be looking at broader criteria than just supporting set motifs. What might those be?

• First, reprint cards need to be simple and easily graspable by players. No point in carrying rules confusion forward.
• Second, a good reprint should not be something that was heavily played in previous metas. Players should feel like the card got a second chance at greatness, not an extended dynasty.
• Third, the card should do something unique. If other cards in the pool have similar effects, why bother reprinting?
• Fourth, the card should support aspect and faction themes. The most interesting cards for players and deckbuilders will always be those with limited application, not those that could be used in every deck.
• Fifth, the power level needs to be optimal. A card that is good and playable, but not overpowered, is ideal.

Conversely, a BAD reprint would be the opposite of the criteria above. It would be a card that had rules issues, was played nearly everywhere, was overpowered to the point that people called for its ban, and that has existing analogues in the cardpool.

With those criteria in mind, what do I want to see – and not see – as the post-rotation cardpool evolves?

YES: General Tagge

The good General never has had his chance to shine- and the kinds of go-wide decks he would support have barely seen the light of day either. Having heard rumblings from the designers about more trait support going forward, my hope is that General Tagge will be a piece of what is someday a competitive Trooper archetype.

NO: Overwhelming Barrage

This is one of the few cards that I’ve ever played with the aspect penalty- it’s just that good. It does too many things and warps the game around itself. The other one-sided board wipes the designers have added to the game since this card are MUCH harder to pull off. If only they could just transplant this awesome art onto Turbolaser Salvo.

YES: Change of Heart

You know what’s fun, simple, and has tons of combo potential? Stealing an opponent’s unit for a turn! It is also very Yellow, which is something I usually say in a derogatory sense, but in this case is positive. I hope the “Steal Yo Gurl” archetype will be with us into the next block.

NO: Bamboozle

This card is just kind of a trainwreck. It’s available to both Hero and Villain at 0 cost. It hates on upgrades- which the designers keep telling us is a design theme they want to support. And worst of all it has a weird rules interaction where it can literally just kill your pilot leader! As least if they reprinted it, they could fix the art…

YES: Regional Governor

There are few cards in the game right now that directly reward you for knowing your opponent’s gameplan- and Regional Governor does this simply. It’s a unique and straightforward effect that I hope stays in the cardpool.

NO: Waylay

I understand that not reprinting one of the core removal cards of the game is a controversial take. There was lots of internal debate among us GarbageRollers about this, and I feel obliged to state that my opinions are my own here. But for the reasons I outlined in my Why Yellow Is Busted article, I’d be very sad if this effect stayed in the game permanently at 3 cost.

Yes: Maz Kanata

As I said above with General Tagge, I don’t feel like go-wide decks have really had their day yet. Maz could be an integral piece of that build on the Hero side. With a simple and fun effect, I hope she comes back in the next block.

NO: Confiscate

This card is just too broad. Not every deck in the game should have access to this effect at 1 cost- certainly not while pilot leaders are trying to survive as an archetype. There is good upgrade removal elsewhere in the cardpool. Confiscate needs to step aside so it can shine.

YES: Darth Maul

Maul has a unique effect that puts it one combo piece away from competitive viability. Imagine what he might do with better “on attack” upgrades or events that buff attacks. It would be a shame for a card as interesting and iconic as this one to be a one-and-done from the Twilight meta.

NO: Restock

This card was originally framed by the designers as a tool to prevent discard pile recursion. The idea was that you’d recycle your opponent’s discard pile and prevent whatever nastiness they had from coming back to their hand. But… exactly the opposite happened. Thanks to a rules quirk, you can play this and then return it to your deck along with three other cards, essentially allowing your draw deck to be infinite. You know what games of SWU are supposed to do? END. Control mirrors often don’t when Restock is in the picture.

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