Star Wars: Unlimited

How to Read a Star Wars: Unlimited Card

Most of a Star Wars: Unlimited card tells you how it plays. The small print along the bottom tells you exactly which card it is, which is what you need to price it, sell it or add it to a collection. Here's every part.

Card types, and which way up they go

Every Star Wars: Unlimited card is one of five types, and the shape of the card is the first clue. Leaders and bases are printed landscape; everything you draw and play is printed portrait.

TypePrintedWhat it does
LeaderLandscape, double-sidedYour deck's leader, in play from the start. It can deploy once a game and fight as a unit.
BaseLandscapeWhat you defend. Your opponent wins by dealing enough damage to it.
UnitPortraitA character or vehicle that fights in the Ground or Space arena.
EventPortraitA one-time effect: play it, do what it says, and discard it.
UpgradePortraitAttaches to a unit and changes it, often adding power and HP.

There are tokens too, such as Shield and Experience upgrades, which cards create during a game rather than being put in your deck.

Cost and aspects

Cost, in the top left, is how many resources you pay to play the card. Resources are cards you have put face down from your hand, usually one a turn.

Aspects are the game's six colors, shown as icons on the card. Four describe a style of play and two describe a side:

AspectColor
VigilanceBlue
CommandGreen
AggressionRed
CunningYellow
HeroismWhite
VillainyBlack

Your leader and base together provide aspects. A card whose aspect icons they cover plays at its printed cost; for each icon they don't cover, it costs 2 more. That's why most decks stick to the aspects of their leader and base.

Each card also lists its traits, words such as Rebel, Imperial, Jedi or Vehicle that other cards refer to, and its text box leads with any keywords, such as Sentinel, Ambush, Overwhelm or Raid, followed by any other card text.

Units: arena, power and HP

Every unit fights in one of two arenas, Ground or Space, and can only attack units in its own arena (or the enemy base). Its power is the damage it deals when it attacks or is attacked, and its HP is how much damage it can take before it's defeated. An upgrade that changes power or HP shows the bonus on the upgrade card, and it applies to whichever unit the upgrade is attached to.

Leaders and bases

A leader has two sides. The landscape leader side is the one you start with, and it has abilities you can use while it stays there. It also has an Epic Action: once a game, when you control at least as many resources as its printed cost, you can deploy it, flipping it to the portrait side, which is a unit with its own power, HP and text.

A base is printed landscape with its HP and, on many bases, an ability. It stays in play all game, and dealing enough damage to your opponent's base is how you win. Leaders and bases both provide aspects, so the pair decides which cards your deck can play at their printed cost.

The bottom: the collector line

The small print along the bottom edge is what identifies the card. The same character can be printed as a leader, as several different units, and again as alternate versions, but this line belongs to one printing only. It reads something like SOR • EN 010/252:

PartExampleWhat it tells you
Set codeSORThe set the card is from. See the list below.
LanguageENThe language of the printing.
Collector number010/252Card 10 of the set's 252 main cards. Alternate versions are numbered beyond the total.

The main sets so far include:

CodeSet
SORSpark of Rebellion (the first set, March 2024)
SHDShadows of the Galaxy
TWITwilight of the Republic
JTLJump to Lightspeed
LOFLegends of the Force
SECSecrets of Power
LAWA Lawless Time
ASHAshes of the Empire

This line is exactly what TurnZero HQ's scanner reads: the set code and number first, the name only to break a tie. How the Star Wars: Unlimited scanner works →

Rarity

Every card has one of five rarities: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Legendary and Special. How often each turns up depends on the product, so check the publisher's own information for a given set rather than assuming a rate.

Rarity is not the same thing as the version of a card. A common can come as a foil or a Hyperspace card, and the same card can be worth very different amounts depending on which version you have. Hyperspace vs. foil →

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the set on a Star Wars: Unlimited card?

Along the bottom. Each card prints a three-letter set code, like SOR for Spark of Rebellion or SHD for Shadows of the Galaxy, with the language and the collector number over the set's printed total, something like SOR • EN 010/252.

What does the number at the bottom of a Star Wars: Unlimited card mean?

It's the collector number over the set's printed total, so 010/252 is card 10 of the set's 252 main cards. Alternate versions such as Hyperspace cards carry collector numbers of their own beyond that total, which is how one printing is told from another.

What are the aspects in Star Wars: Unlimited?

Six: Vigilance, Command, Aggression, Cunning, Heroism and Villainy. A card shows the aspects it belongs to as icons. Your leader and base provide aspects, and playing a card costs 2 more resources for each of its aspect icons they don't cover.

Why are some Star Wars: Unlimited cards sideways?

Leaders and bases are printed landscape, because they sit on the table from the start of the game rather than being drawn and played. Units, events and upgrades are printed portrait. A leader is double-sided: the other side is the portrait unit it becomes when it deploys.

What are the rarities in Star Wars: Unlimited?

Common, Uncommon, Rare, Legendary and Special. Rarity is separate from the version of a card: a foil or a Hyperspace copy is a different version of a card, not an extra rarity.

Found the number? Add the card.

Type the set code and number, or scan it, and TurnZero HQ adds it to your Star Wars: Unlimited collection with its price. Free to start.

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Star Wars: Unlimited card names and images are the property of Lucasfilm Ltd. and Fantasy Flight Games. © & ™ Lucasfilm Ltd. TurnZero HQ is not affiliated with, sponsored, or endorsed by Lucasfilm Ltd., Disney, Fantasy Flight Games, or Asmodee. Card data comes from swu-db.com, and prices from TCGplayer.