How to Play Star Wars: Unlimited

If you've played Pokémon or Magic, most of this will feel familiar. One thing won't: you never sit and watch a five-minute turn. You play one thing, your opponent answers, you answer back. That back-and-forth is what makes Star Wars: Unlimited (SWU) so good, and it's what new players trip over most. Every card pictured here is from Ashes of the Empire, the newest set as we write.

What you need to play

Each player needs three things: a leader, a base and a deck of at least 50 cards, with no maximum. The leader is a double-sided card showing a famous character, like Luke Skywalker or Emperor Palpatine. The base is a location, and it's the thing you're defending.

On top of that you'll want damage counters (dice are fine), any Shield or Experience tokens your deck makes, and something to cover a used Epic Action. You also share one initiative counter, which has an "available" side and a "taken" side. A playmat is nice but you don't need one.

The easiest way in is a ready-made deck each. The Spark of Rebellion Two-Player Starter gives you two, Luke against Vader. Its cards have rotated out of the main tournament format, but for learning at home they're as good as ever. Newer sets each have two Spotlight Decks instead: one pre-built deck around one leader.

How you win: destroy the enemy base

A base is destroyed when the damage on it equals or beats its HP, and its owner loses on the spot. If both bases go at exactly the same moment, it's a draw.

Most bases have 30 HP, but not all. Every common base in Ashes of the Empire has 30, the commons in A Lawless Time have 27, and rare bases run anywhere from 24 to 35. FFG's own beginner box, Intro Battle: Hoth, uses 20 HP bases. Check the number in the top left of yours.

Bases never hit back. Attack one with a 2-power fighter and it just takes the 2.

The card types in Star Wars: Unlimited

There are six card types. Your deck is made of units, events and upgrades. Your leader and base sit outside it, and tokens only turn up when a card makes them.

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Two things that aren't obvious. Units come into play exhausted (turned sideways), so they usually can't attack the round you play them. And upgrades can go on your opponent's units as well as your own. You do need a unit in play to attach one to, and when that unit leaves play, its upgrades go too.

Leaders have two sides

Your leader starts on its horizontal leader side in your base zone, usually giving you an ability you can use most rounds. Later in the game you flip it to the upright leader unit side and it joins the fight.

Bases

Your base never moves and never attacks. Its HP is how much damage you can take, and its aspect icon, together with your leader's, decides which cards are cheap for you.

How to read a card

1. Cost: the resources you pay to play it (yellow box, top left).
2. Aspect icons: the aspects this card wants your leader and base to have.
3. Name and subtitle: a diamond before the name means it's unique.
4. Card type: unit, event, upgrade and so on.
5. Arena: ground or space, on units only.
6. Traits: labels like Jedi or Rebel that other cards look for.
7. Text box: abilities. Keywords are in bold, and italic reminder text is just a reminder.
8. Power: the damage it deals in combat (red, bottom left).
9. HP: the damage it can take before it's defeated (blue, bottom right).
10. Set line: artist, set code, rarity and card number.

The six aspects are Vigilance (blue), Command (green), Aggression (red), Cunning (yellow), Heroism (white) and Villainy (black). Cards with no aspect icons are neutral and have a grey border.

The play area, and why there are two arenas

• Base zone. The middle of your area: base at the top, leader below it until it deploys.
• Ground and space arenas. Either side of the bases, shared by both players. Units only fight enemies in their own arena unless a card says otherwise, but units in either arena can attack the base. Whichever side the first unit of the game goes on becomes that arena for the rest of the game.
• Resource zone. Your face-down resources. You can look at your own, and everyone can see how many are ready or exhausted.
• Deck and discard pile. The deck is face down and private. The discard pile is face up and either player can look through it.
• Hand. No hand size limit, but how many cards you hold is public.

How to set up a game of Star Wars: Unlimited

1. Bases in Each player puts their base at the top centre of their area.
2. Leaders in Put your leader below your base, horizontal leader side up.
3. Sort out the initiative Pick a player at random. They choose who starts with the initiative counter.
4. Shuffle and draw six Shuffle your deck and draw a hand of 6.
5. Mulligan if you want to Once only, shuffle your whole hand back and draw a fresh 6. You must keep the new hand. The player with the initiative decides first.
6. Pick two resources Put exactly two cards from your hand face down in your resource zone. They start ready, so you can use them straight away.
7. Go The player with the initiative takes the first action. You each start with 4 cards in hand and 2 resources.

There's no special first-turn rule. Nobody skips a draw and nobody is banned from attacking. In practice, units come in exhausted and leaders need resources, so round one is mostly setting up.

How a round plays out, one action at a time

SWU plays in rounds, not turns. Each round has two phases.

1. Action phaseStarting with the player who has the initiative, you take one action each, back and forth, until you both pass in a row.
2. Regroup phaseEveryone draws 2 cards, may put 1 card from hand into their resources, then readies all their exhausted cards.

The five actions

On your go, you do exactly one of these:

• Play a card. Pay its cost. Units and upgrades enter play, events happen and go to the discard pile.
• Attack with a unit. See the combat section below.
• Use an action ability. Many leaders have one, and deploying your leader counts too.
• Take the initiative. So you go first next round. There's a catch.
• Pass. Do nothing for now. If your opponent then acts, you get another go.

Taking the initiative

Going first matters. You get the first attack of the round, and your opponent has to answer you rather than the other way round. Either player can spend an action to take the initiative counter and flip it to "taken", but only one player can do it each round.

The catch: you've finished for this action phase. You pass automatically every time it comes back to you, while your opponent carries on until they pass. If you take it straight after they've passed, the phase ends there. Next round the counter flips back to "available", you go first, and it's up for grabs again.

One more thing about the regroup phase: readying everything doesn't heal anything. Damage stays on units and bases until a card removes it.

How resources and aspects decide what you can afford

This is the clever bit. There are no special resource cards. Any card in your hand can go face down as a resource, where it becomes a blank card with no name or text. That card is almost certainly never getting played, so choose carefully. Duplicates and big cards you won't reach for ages are the usual picks.

To play a card, exhaust ready resources equal to its cost. You start with two and can add one each regroup phase. FFG's advice is to add one every round until you can deploy your leader, and we'd agree.

The aspect penalty

Your leader and base give you aspect icons. Every aspect icon on a card that they don't give you adds 2 to its cost. Off-aspect cards are perfectly legal, just pricey. Neutral cards never cost extra.

Say your leader is Luke Skywalker, I Can Save Him (Vigilance and Heroism) and your base is Kryze Castle (Command):

Some newer cards have three aspect icons, and each missing one still adds 2.

Deploying your leader

Most leaders have an Epic Action along the lines of "If you control 7 or more resources, deploy this leader." That counts all your resources, ready or exhausted. Luke Skywalker, I Can Save Him needs 7.

Deploying takes your action but costs no resources, and it works even if the leader is exhausted. The card flips and goes into the arena ready, so it can attack straight away. That's the big exception to "units come in exhausted".

Don't throw it away, though. An Epic Action is once per game. If your leader unit is defeated, it flips back to the leader side, exhausted, and it can't deploy again. The leader-side ability still works, but the big body is gone.

How combat works in Star Wars: Unlimited

1. Pick a ready unit and a target: an enemy unit in the same arena, or your opponent's base.
2. Check Sentinel. If your opponent has a Sentinel unit in that arena, you have to attack a Sentinel, unless your attacker has Saboteur.
3. Exhaust your attacker. "On Attack" abilities happen now, before damage.
4. Deal damage. A base takes your unit's power and deals nothing back. Against a unit, both deal their power to each other at the same time.
5. Clear up. Any unit with damage equal to or more than its HP is defeated and goes to its owner's discard pile.

Only the attacker has to be ready. You can attack an exhausted enemy unit, and it still hits back at full power.

The Shield is the bit people forget. It ate all 5 damage in one go. And when a ground Sentinel is in your way, a cheap ship is often the quickest route to the base.

Star Wars: Unlimited keywords explained

Keywords are in bold on the card, usually with reminder text. These are the ones you'll meet first:

• SentinelEnemy units in this arena must attack a Sentinel when they attack you. It still works while exhausted. With more than one, the attacker picks.
• SaboteurCan ignore Sentinel, and defeats all Shield tokens on the unit it attacks.
• ShieldedGets a Shield token when it's played. A Shield prevents all the damage from one hit, then it's defeated.
• AmbushCan attack an enemy unit as soon as it comes into play. Not a base, though.
• OverwhelmWhen it attacks a unit, damage beyond what's needed to defeat it carries on to that player's base.
• RaidRaid 2 means +2 power while this unit is attacking.
• RestoreRestore 2 means you heal 2 damage from your base when this unit attacks.
• Grit+1 power for each damage on it. Hurt it and it hits harder.
• HiddenCan't be attacked in the phase it was played or created, unless it also has Sentinel.
• SupportNew in Ashes of the Empire. When you play or deploy it, you may attack with another unit, which borrows this one's other abilities for that attack.
• PilotingCan be played as an upgrade, for its Piloting cost, on one of your Vehicles that doesn't have a Pilot yet.

Tokens you'll see early: Experience gives +1/+1 and stacks. Advantage gives +1/+0 and goes when that unit's next attack or defence ends.

When abilities happen

When Played

When you play the card. Creating a token or deploying a leader doesn't count as playing it.

On Attack

When this unit attacks, before damage.

On Defense

When this unit is attacked, before damage.

When Attack Ends

After combat damage has been dealt.

When Defeated

When this card is defeated.

Star Wars: Unlimited deck building rules

For Premier, the main format, a deck is:

• Exactly 1 leader and 1 base.
• At least 50 other cards. No maximum, but most players stick to 50 so they see their best cards more often.
• Up to 3 copies of any card. Same name and subtitle means same card, so foil and Hyperspace versions count towards the three. Luke Skywalker, Answering the Call and Luke Skywalker, A Hero's Beginning are different cards.
• An optional sideboard of up to 10 for swapping between games of a match.

Unique cards can still go in three times. You just can't have two with the same name and subtitle in play at once.

Your first deck

Start with a leader whose ability you like. Then choose a base that adds a third aspect, so three aspects are cheap for you. Roughly: Vigilance defends and heals, Command builds a wide board, Aggression goes fast, and Cunning plays tricks.

Most of the deck should be units, with plenty costing 2 or 3 so the early rounds aren't empty. Add some events that deal with enemy units and a few upgrades. Our honest advice: take a pre-built deck and change ten cards rather than starting from nothing. You'll learn more from why those swaps worked or didn't.

Mistakes everyone makes once

• Attacking with a unit you just played. It came in exhausted. Only Ambush, "enters play ready" or a readying effect gets round that.
• Thinking your leader has to wait a round. The opposite. Leaders deploy ready.
• Thinking a pass ends your phase. It doesn't. If your opponent acts, you act again. Only taking the initiative shuts you out.
• Trusting a ground Sentinel to guard your base from ships. Sentinel only works in its own arena.
• Leaving strong cards out because they're off-aspect. They're legal. Sometimes a card is worth the extra 2.
• Only upgrading your own units. Some upgrades are made for sticking on your opponent's.

Formats, rotation and what's legal

Premier is the main two-player format and the one most tournaments use. As of September 2026 it allows Jump to Lightspeed, Legends of the Force, Secrets of Power, A Lawless Time and Ashes of the Empire, plus older cards reprinted in those sets. Homeworlds is out on 9 October 2026 and joins them; check the official site for the date it becomes tournament legal.

Spark of Rebellion, Shadows of the Galaxy and Twilight of the Republic rotated out in March 2026. Sets rotate in batches of three and are meant to last around two years, so the 2025 sets look next in line, though no date had been announced when we wrote this. Premier also has a short suspended list (right now, the Cad Bane, Still Faster than You leader), so check it before an event.

• Eternal uses Premier's deck rules with every card ever released, apart from its own short suspended list. It's where rotated Spark of Rebellion cards still get tournament play.
• Twin Suns is the official 3 to 4 player format: two leaders each and a deck of at least 80 cards, one copy of each.
• Trilogy means bringing three Premier decks with different leaders and bases, and three copies of a card across all three.
• Sealed and Draft are built from boosters you open. For getting to know a new set, nothing beats them.

FFG's full rules document (v8.0, PDF) is free if you want every detail, and current sets and boosters are in our Star Wars: Unlimited range.

Questions people ask

How many cards are in a Star Wars Unlimited deck?

In Premier and Eternal you need one leader, one base and at least 50 more cards, with no upper limit and up to three copies of each card. You can also bring a sideboard of up to 10. Twin Suns decks need at least 80 cards with one copy of each, and Sealed or Draft decks need at least 30.

Can you attack an exhausted unit in Star Wars Unlimited?

Yes. Only the unit doing the attacking has to be ready. An exhausted enemy unit is a legal target, and it still deals its full power back to your attacker.

Do leaders deploy exhausted?

No. When you deploy a leader it flips to its unit side and enters the arena ready, even if the leader card was exhausted when you deployed it. It can attack on the same action phase.

What does taking the initiative do?

You take the initiative counter so that you act first next round. In exchange you pass automatically for the rest of the current action phase, while your opponent can keep taking actions until they pass. Only one player can take it each round.

What happens if you run out of cards?

You don't lose straight away. For each card you should draw but can't, your own base takes 3 damage. That can still finish you off, so keep an eye on deck size in long games.

Does damage stay on units between rounds?

Yes. Readying in the regroup phase doesn't remove damage. It stays on a unit or base until a card heals it or the unit leaves play.

Are Spark of Rebellion cards still legal?

Not in Premier. Spark of Rebellion, Shadows of the Galaxy and Twilight of the Republic rotated out in March 2026, unless a card has been reprinted in a newer set. They're still fine in Eternal, Twin Suns and casual games, and the Two-Player Starter is still a great way to learn.

Can you play Star Wars Unlimited with 3 or 4 players?

Yes, with Twin Suns, the official multiplayer format for 3 to 4 players. Each player uses two leaders and a singleton deck of at least 80 cards, and there's no rotation. Games tend to run longer than a two-player game.

Can you mix cards from different sets?

Yes. You can mix any sets that are legal in your format. For Premier in September 2026 that's Jump to Lightspeed, Legends of the Force, Secrets of Power, A Lawless Time and Ashes of the Empire, with Homeworlds joining once it's out on 9 October (check the official site for the date it becomes tournament legal). Eternal allows every set, minus a short suspended list.

Where to start

The easiest ways in. Prices and stock on this list are live.

• Star Wars: Unlimited – Spark of Rebellion Two-Player Starter Sold out
• Star Wars: Unlimited – Ashes of the Empire Prerelease Box Sold out
• Star Wars: Unlimited – Ashes of the Empire Booster Pack Sold out
• Star Wars: Unlimited – Homeworlds Prerelease Box [Pre-Order] Sold out

See everything for Star Wars: Unlimited

Where these rules come from

Checked against Fantasy Flight Games' Star Wars: Unlimited Comprehensive Rules v8.0 (8 July 2026) and the official card database on 24 September 2026.

• Star Wars: Unlimited Comprehensive Rules v8.0 (Fantasy Flight Games, 8 July 2026)
• How to Play Star Wars: Unlimited (official site)
• Official Star Wars: Unlimited card database
• Updates and Rotations (official article)
• Eternally Unlimited: the Eternal format and first rotation (official article)
• A Template Adjustment: On Defense and When Attack Ends (official article)
• Cad Bane Leader Card Suspended (official article, 24 August 2026)