Get Off My Lawn is a series of articles from guest contributor Ben “ObiWein” Weiner... and he just makes me so mad sometimes!
Star Wars: Unlimited is an awesome game. Full stop.
It fixes so many issues that other card games have. Getting screwed on resources by not having enough (or having too many) is never a thing and is just not possible based on the design that everything could be used as a resource and also that you don’t have to play a resource. Not being able to draw into good cards is mitigated by drawing two cards each turn. Even deck construction such that a play set is three of any given card instead of four makes it that much easier to get the cards you need to build a deck.
There are however some irritating items that I’ve witnessed and have heard others complain about as well.
#1 – Base Damage
The rules specifically state that when units and bases are damaged you add damage counters to that card.
“1.9.2. When damage is dealt to a card, place that many damage counters on that card.”
Why then must some people insist on starting the count on their base as either 30 or 25 and then remove counters or count down. It’s not the remaining health of the base. Instead it is the damage taken by the base.
The same people that count down on the base don’t seem to have any issue counting up on their units. Being consistent would be helpful, especially when there are cards in the game that care about damage done to a base such as Bo-Katan Kryze (Fighting for Mandalore). Make the math non-existent by just counting up and it’d be way easier to see if the number of damage on a base is already 15 or more.
#2 – Written Damage Tracking
Having a pad and pen to keep track of stuff is fine. Go for it. Use a Probe Droid to see my hand and can’t remember the cards you saw, go ahead and write them down. Matters very little to me seeing somebody do that.
However, tracking damage of their base on paper is often a royal pain. Can’t easily see it as the notepad is not in the middle of the board like a base would be. Also not super easy to read another person’s handwriting when it’s both sloppy and upside down.
Yes, you can ask your opponent “What is your base at again?”. It’d just be phenomenally easier to be able to see it as counters on their base without needing to ask every time.
The SWU rules do note that damage on a base is “Open Information” and cannot be prevented from access by one’s opponent. Technically asking about the damage and being told works, but really just use some darn counters already.
#3 – Readying First
Other games start a turn with the equivalent of readying all cards in play. SWU does not do this.
“5.5.1. The regroup phase consists of the following 5 steps, in order: Start of the regroup phase, Draw cards, Resource cards, Ready cards, End of the regroup phase.”
Draw cards. Resource cards. Then Ready cards.
Stop doing the ready part first. If you ready things first, does that mean you declined to draw or declined to resource? In the rules drawing the cards at least is not optional. Section B under 5.5.1 says “Each player draws 2 cards.” No real ambiguity there. However, Section C says “…each player may choose 1 card from their hand to put into play as a resource… Players may choose not to resource a card.”
If you ready everything first, you basically should not be allowed to play a resource. Local tourney night and you are a new player, ok fine, I would help you in learning the proper game mechanics. Any event of store showdown size or higher, I’d call a judge.
#4 – Slow Play
Playing your first two resources during the game setup should not take very long in a timed event. I’ve witnessed people take five minutes to decide whether or not to mulligan and then resource their first two cards. Oddly, the slowest at doing this are generally the hard control players that are likely going to be pressed for time.
Learn your deck. Shuffle and draw repeatedly as practice. Know the general lines that you want to play such that you have a working knowledge of what would constitute a good or bad hand.
#5 – Double Losses
Double losses are no fun. The current mechanics create a potentially bad interaction between two players. Not going to rehash this one as it was covered in the last column related to Draws.
#6 – Foil Cards
These suckers are cool looking certainly. However they are sometimes too shiny and make it tricky to read under certain lighting conditions and angles.
#7 – Salacious Crumb
Amazing card design. He is small enough and meaningless enough to not be dealt with as a serious threat. He’s also annoying as heck and can impact the outcome of some games.
Quoting Tyler Parrott’s Twitter: “When it came to designing a card for Salacious Crumb, I insisted that the emotional experience of the card be “annoying, but ignorable.” This led towards a lot of tiny game actions that could add up over time, and led to a card design I (at least) find very fun”
Anyway…
Time to mow the yard, so get off the lawn.
Ben is a technology professional by day. He has been an avid gamer for 40 plus years spanning everything from Dungeons and Dragons, board games, and through multiple past and present collectible card games. His non-gaming spare time is spent with his family and playing guitar. Warning: Do not play Jenga for money with this person.
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