How to Read a Star Wars: Unlimited Card

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.

Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith

Spark of Rebellion #010

A leader, printed landscape.

Security Complex, Scarif

Spark of Rebellion #019

A base, printed landscape.

AT-ST

Spark of Rebellion #232

A unit, printed portrait like every card you draw.

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:

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. The aspects guide covers the penalty and what each aspect does.

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. The keywords guide explains each one.

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:

Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight

Spark of Rebellion #051

The standard card: 051 of 252.

Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight

Spark of Rebellion #317

The Hyperspace version of the same card, numbered 317, past the set total.

The main sets so far include:

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 →

Card versions

The card above is a unit. Leaders and bases are printed sideways and read differently, and Hyperspace and Showcase versions change the art but nothing else. These four cards from Ashes of the Empire are marked up for what's different about each.

Frequently Asked Questions