Last week I was invited to Disney Headquarters in London to have a look at the new set coming out for the popular Star Wars Unlimited trading card game. The new set was called a Lawless Time, and it promised to be the most exciting set yet for the ever-growing game. I was not too sure what to expect from this new set. What would be the key differences? It was also the first set that – in terms of rotation – would be replacing the initial three sets that had first been released. Not only did it have to bring something new to the gaming table, it also needed to bring back older cards as well.
Asmodee were the ones leading the show on the day and they did a fantastic job. What was so important about this set? To start with, it was the first set that had been designed with player feedback. Working so far in advance, the earlier releases had to be constructed without any idea of how the game was going to be received, any issues that might have arisen and basically Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) going it alone. A Lawless Time was able to listen to players and adjust from feedback. It was also designed to make it seem like you were constructing your own team of outlaws, imagine Timothy Zahn’s Scoundrels book or Ocean’s Eleven. That you certainly get a feel for.
While I could talk about the changes that were noted on the day, instead I’m going to talk about what I actually found from opening a range of boosters. For boosters and prerelease packs, we were given – the best way to gain insight into a release. The first thing that I noticed was the sheer amount of expense characters and vehicles in the boosters. I like to play a deck that has a lot of cheap units, yet these were very far and wide. When I spoke to the other people at the event (bar one) they all said the same thing.
The other very noticeable thing from the get-go, is that this is the first set to have cards with multiple colour aspects. This is a very interesting concept and in principle, I think it’s a great idea. In practicality, it was a bit of a nightmare for deckbuilding, particularly in a draft. Trying to figure out what aspects you could line up is usually bad enough, but when there are multiple aspects, well, it makes your head spin a bit! There are some cards that allow you to mitigate this, usually costing only one resource. But the most obvious way of helping with this is with the bases. No-one at the event pulled a thirty-health base. The most common were twenty-seven health bases that had an epic action. The action allowed you to ignore one aspect penalty on a card. Very useful for these cards but I don’t know if I’m happy with the three less health on my base. These bases, at least for draft, are going to be the standard, and I do wonder if the thirty cost bases might soon be a thing of the past.
I also noticed from my pulls of the boosters that legendries were a lot more prevalent. Four legendries in six boosters, not bad going if I do say so myself! One was even a legendary prestige card (Luke Skywalker no less) and it’s great to see these rarer variants showing up in the regular boosters. Asmodee did say that from the next release, rare bases won’t be taking up the rare slot in a booster – about time! These legendries were fantastic, I mean Luke, The Mandalorian and Darth Maul were exceptional characters, and I can see all of them becoming favourites in their respective decks.
While opening up these boosters, one thing did become very apparent: the artwork. I’m not saying the artwork has ever been bad for unlimited. For the most part it has been good with the odd card that you think how did that pass! But this set has had a serious upgrade. The artwork is absolutely stunning. Talking to the Asmodee team, they confirmed that they’d stepped it up considerably. This is certainly the most gorgeous set to date, and I can’t wait to see how this improves in later releases. The hyperspace cards truly look gorgeous, and every booster comes with a hyperspace foil now, so you can really enjoy the artwork.
The new mechanic is the credit. You can create credits and use them as a one-time spend to get the more expensive cards out. This was the first time anyone had used these cards and as such, most of us were barely creating credits. There weren’t that many cards that let us do it. While I want to say that was unfortunate, I also didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything. What I can see though, with the set containing so many expensive units, that with some careful deckbuilding, the credit creation could be a huge bonus. Luke – for example – can cause nine damage in a single blow. Getting him out early can be catastrophic for your opponent (I might be slightly bitter as that’s exactly what one of my opponents did to me!). Nine damage, with the new bases, is a third of your base health gone!
There were plenty of cards that made a reappearance from the first sets, but with new artwork. This never felt like it was overdone as the new cards clearly take the focus of the new set. It was good to see them back, although Admiral Motti is now a rare and only gives a bonus to your leader. It at least keeps things fresh for the game, old tactics having to be reinvented and rethought about. This is a game that’s not going to get stale.
And that is perhaps the main thrust of this release. There is something new, something old but it all feels fresh. The game has never looked better, the game play is smooth, and the tactics are going to have to change accordingly. It really shows that this is a game that is in it for the long haul. With still fresh ideas and fresh approaches, this is a game that will continue to engage with its audience. There was mention of new Twin Sun’s decks being released in May, something I’m very excited for, but are going to be very limited. You can tell that feedback from players is coming through and has been listened to carefully by FFG and I think that will show with the next few releases.
I can’t not mention that a special guest also made an appearance on the day: Genevieve O’Reilly, Mon Mothma herself, took the time to have long conversations with us all, sign cards and sit down to try her hand at Unlimited as well. Watching Rebels with my daughter at the moment, we had literally just watched the last appearance of Mon Mothma on the show the night before, so to meet her in person was like something from a dream. It certainly added an extra spark to the day!
This new release is one that I think a lot of players will enjoy. Whether you play draft or are constructing new decks, there is something for everyone. There are boosters, prerelease packs and spotlight decks (Jabba and Leia). With the new and improved artwork, the changes from player feedback and a much healthier rarity of cards in boosters, I think fans will be happy with all the changes that have so far been implemented and the promises of more changes yet to come.
The post Star Wars Unlimited: A Lawless Time – Preview Event appeared first on Jedi News.
