Together, we can rule the galaxy as Star Wars Unlimited enters A Lawless Time
When Star Wars Unlimited launched, the designers and publishers were happy to tell Tabletop Gaming magazine that they’d already comfortably planned out nine sets. For a game that releases a new set about three times a year, that felt like an impressive amount of forward planning, given at the time there was no real player feedback on the scale that a TCG requires. A Lawless Time is the seventh in this queue, and brings with it rotation, which removes some of the earlier sets from competitive play. By nature, it was always going to shake the meta a little, introducing new mechanics and shuffling player’s reliance on the older cards. But the fact that it does it quite so well is by design.
A Lawless Time covers multiple eras of the Star Wars galaxy – from some exciting Podracing cards, to a very popular Max Rebo card to Ezra Bridger… it just keeps going. The Spotlight Decks, which are prebuilt decks that show off the new mechanics, sit us firmly in the original trilogy though, pitting Jabba the Hutt against Leia Organa. We’re reviewing both here, but they can be purchased separately.
New to this set, and shown off well, are Credit Tokens. These offer a one-resource discount when used, allowing you to play out bigger cards more quickly. Of the tokens available, it’s one of my favourites and works especially well with Jabba (it’s a way to bring out Salacious Crumb for free, which I find both amusing and thematic). You also get to play with epic actions on bases for the first time, which for Jabba means playing out Sarlacc of Carkoon from your deck – a real powerhouse of a card with an eight cost! Alternatively, Leia benefits from the new multi-aspect cards. These require more specific deck building, which makes for a bigger challenge – thankfully here it’s all done for you. You benefit from having and playing multiple aspects as part of Leia’s abilities, and when used correctly, these can be devastating.
Admittedly, I can’t help but feel that Leia’s consistency paves the way to victory more often than Jabba’s. While there are some bigger, swinging cards with Jabba, you rely a little more on perfect combinations or lucky draws to get to a position to use them effectively, whereas Leia presents a consistent challenge in which slow and steady wins the race. In the many, many times I’ve played this combination recently, three quarters of the time, Leia emerged victorious. I also found her to be much more popular when playing with inexperienced players. While Spotlight Decks aren’t marketed at new players, they do make a fantastic place to start, and Leia feels easier to pick up and to master more quickly. I would critique the balance here, but it represented such fun that we’d generally just shuffle and go again.
Ultimately, that’s the point – this set is really, really fun. As a whole, it feels as if the artwork has improved, the play is smooth, and A Lawless Time offers a confident, exciting new way to play in the world of Star Wars.
Though the Spotlight Decks could use a little balancing (more experienced players can do this themselves), they do effectively show off what’s new about the set and why you should be excited about it. All in all, this is one of the most exciting sets that’s been released yet, and I’m genuinely thrilled to keep playing.
Written by Charlie Pettit
Yes
If you don’t already play Star Wars Unlimited, this is a fabulous time to start.
Designer: Fantasy Flight Games
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Time to Play: 20-60m
Players: 2 Players
Age: 12+
RRP: £25
50 Cards
Tokens
Booster pack
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