Comprehensive Rules

This is version 1.1 of the Comprehensive Rules, released on 2024-02-18 Back to Rules

Game Concepts
1. General
  1. The rules in this Comprehensive Rules document apply to any game of Star Wars™: Unlimited, unless otherwise specified. The game is most commonly played between two players, so the language and examples used outside of Sections 11 and 12 assume that two people are playing the game. Multiplayer games use most of the same rules as two-player games.
  2. To play a game, players need one deck each, an initiative counter, damage counters, and token cards matching any types created by their decks. Counters and tokens may be substituted with other objects, such as dice.
2. Deck
  1. There is no maximum number of cards a deck can have. The minimum number of cards in a deck varies by format.
  2. Leaders and bases are considered part of a deck for deckbuilding, but are not considered part of a deck during gameplay.
  3. Tokens are not part of a player’s deck and do not count toward deck size.
  4. Players may include cards from any aspect in their deck, even cards with aspect icons that don’t match the ones provided by their leader and/or base (though playing these cards may incur the aspect penalty).
3. GOLDEN RULES
  1. Card and Rulebook Precedence: If the text of this Comprehensive Rules document directly contradicts the text of the Star Wars: Unlimited Quickstart rules, the text of the Comprehensive Rules takes precedence. If the text of a card directly contradicts the text of the Comprehensive Rules, the text of the card takes precedence.
  2. Do as Much as You Can: While resolving a card ability, resolve as much of the ability as possible, and ignore any parts of the ability that cannot be resolved. (Note that you may choose to resolve abilities involving hidden information as though you have fewer options than you really do.)
  3. Restrictions Override Permissions: In case of a conflict between a restrictive ability and a permissive ability, the restriction takes precedence. For instance, an ability that says a unit “can’t attack bases” would override an ability that allowed a unit to “attack an enemy base.”
4. PLAYERS, ACTIVE PLAYER
  1. A player is a person participating in the game.
  2. A player’s opponent is the other person playing the game.
  3. The active player is the player that is currently taking an action. Players take turns being the active player during the action phase.
  4. The first active player in a game is the player that started the game with the initiative counter. Once that player takes their first action, their opponent becomes the active player and takes an action, then the first player becomes the active player again and takes an action, and so on. Players continue taking turns this way until each player has passed consecutively, which ends the action phase.
  5. If no player is currently taking an action, such as during the regroup phase, the player with the initiative counter is considered to be the active player.
5. CARDS
  1. General
    1. Cards are used to play Star Wars: Unlimited. There are 6 different types of cards: bases, events, leaders, units, upgrades, and tokens. See 3. Card Types
    2. A card placed in a player’s resource zone is referred to as a “resource.” A resource is not a card type, but a game object that a card becomes when placed into the resource zone. Resources are used to pay the costs of cards and certain abilities. See 1.7. Resources
  2. Ownership and Control
    1. A player is the “owner” of a card that started the game in their deck. This includes the deck’s leader, base, and any events, units, and upgrades that started the game in that deck. A player is also the “owner” of any tokens they put into play.
    2. A player is the “controller” of a card they put into play. This includes their base, their leader, resources in their resource zone, and units, upgrades, and tokens they play or put into play. A player keeps control of a card until either that card leaves play or their opponent takes control of it.
    3. While a player controls a card, they may resolve action abilities on the card, attack with the card if it is a unit, and affect it with abilities that affect “friendly” cards. A player also must resolve any triggered abilities on a card they control.
    4. If an ability instructs a player to “take control” of a card, that player will become that card’s controller, and remain so until either that card leaves play or their opponent takes control of that card. The unit maintains its ready or exhausted status, all damage counters on it, and all upgrades attached to it. Its new controller orients it in its arena to face them.
    5. A player may play an upgrade onto an enemy unit. That player is still the controller of that upgrade, and remains so until otherwise specified. If that upgrade gives abilities to the attached unit, the unit’s controller resolves those abilities.
    6. If a player gives a token upgrade to an opponent’s unit, that player is considered to own that token upgrade, not the opponent.
  3. Friendly and Enemy
    1. A card that a player controls is considered “friendly” for that player.
    2. A card that a player’s opponent controls is considered “enemy” for that player.
  4. Ready and Exhausted
    1. A card is considered “ready” when it is turned upright. A card is considered “exhausted” when it is turned sideways (rotated 90 degrees).
    2. Each non-leader unit and resource enters play exhausted. Upgrades are neither ready nor exhausted.
    3. When a Leader Unit is deployed, it enters the ground arena ready, even if it was exhausted before. When a Leader Unit is defeated, it enters the base zone exhausted, even if it was ready before.
    4. Exhausted cards ready through certain card abilities, or during the regroup phase each round. See 5.5. Regroup Phase
    5. A ready unit must exhaust when starting an attack, or when paying the cost of an action ability on it that uses a icon. An exhausted unit cannot attack or be used to pay costs that require it to exhaust.
    6. A ready card can be chosen for a readying effect, but the chosen card does not change orientation and is not considered to have been readied for the purpose of “If you do” effects. An exhausted card can be chosen for a exhausting effect, but the chosen card does not change orientation and is not considered to have been exhausted for the purpose of “If you do” effects.
    7. When paying a card’s cost or the cost of an action ability that uses a icon, the player must exhaust ready resources they control equal to the number indicated by the cost. An exhausted resource cannot be used to pay a cost.
  5. Defeating Cards
    1. Cards that are in-play, including bases, tokens, units, upgrades, and resources, can be defeated.
    2. A base is defeated when it has damage on it greater than or equal to its remaining HP. When a base is defeated, its owner loses the game.
    3. A unit is defeated when it has damage on it greater than or equal to its remaining HP, or when an ability defeats it directly. When a non-leader unit is defeated, it is moved to its owner’s discard pile. The unit’s abilities are no longer considered active (though some delayed effects may still be active). The unit loses all abilities and modifiers it was given by effects while in play. When a leader unit is defeated, it is flipped to its Leader side and moved to its owner’s base zone, exhausted
    4. An upgrade is defeated when the unit it is attached to leaves play, or when an ability defeats it directly. When an upgrade is defeated, it is moved to its owner’s discard pile. The upgrade’s abilities are no longer considered active (though some delayed effects may still be active).
    5. A token is defeated in the same manner as its non-token card type. When a token is defeated, it is set aside out-of-play.
    6. A resource is defeated when an ability defeats it. When a resource is defeated, it is moved to its owner’s discard pile faceup.
  6. Aspects
    1. Aspects are colored icons on a card that represent different philosophies or motivations that card embodies. The six aspects are: Vigilance , Command , Aggression , Cunning , Villainy , and Heroism .
    2. A deck’s leader and base provide their aspect icons to that deck. Although a player can include units, events, and upgrades of any aspect in their deck, if they play a card with aspect icons beyond those provided by the deck’s leader and/or base, they will incur the aspect penalty: for each icon beyond those provided, the player must pay 2 additional resources in order to play that card. See 8.1. Aspect Penalty
    3. Most cards have one or two aspect icons, though a small number of cards have none. Cards with no aspect icons are considered “neutral” cards and are depicted with a gray border. Neutral cards do not incur the aspect penalty when played, as they have no aspect icons.
6. ABILITIES
  1. An ability is special text on a card that explains how the card can affect the game. A card may have one or more abilities printed in its text box or gain an ability from other cards in play. If a card has multiple different abilities, each ability begins on a new line.
  2. When a player resolves an ability, they resolve as much of the ability as possible, and ignore any part of the ability that cannot be resolved.
  3. An ability that is able to be resolved must resolve, unless the ability includes the phrase “you may.” An ability that includes “you may” gives the player resolving the ability the option of whether or not to resolve that ability.
    
    For example, a unit with an ability that reads, “On Attack: You may deal 1 damage to another friendly unit and ready it,” allows the player to choose whether or not to deal 1 damage when the unit attacks.
  4. There are 5 types of abilities in the game: action abilities, constant abilities, event abilities, keyword abilities, and triggered abilities. See 7. Abilities and Effects
7. RESOURCES
  1. A resource is a game object used to pay the costs of cards and certain abilities. A card becomes a resource when placed into a player’s resource zone.
  2. When paying a card’s cost or the cost of an ability that uses a icon, a player must exhaust ready resources they control equal to the number indicated by the cost. An exhausted resource cannot be used to pay a cost.
  3. Resources are placed facedown and remain facedown while in a player’s resource zone. A player may view facedown resources they control at any time.
  4. The order of cards in a player’s resource zone does not need to be maintained; a player may rearrange those cards at any time.
  5. If a player controls cards in their resource zone that are owned by an opponent, the ownership of those cards is open information.
  6. Players can choose to add a card from their hand to their resource zone during each regroup phase. See 5.5. Regroup Phase
  7. If an ability instructs a player to put a card into play as a resource, the card is placed facedown and exhausted in that player’s resource zone unless otherwise specified. The card is not considered “played” and no “When Played” abilities trigger.
  8. While a card is in play as a resource, it is treated as a blank resource card. Its printed attributes—including its name, aspects, traits, and abilities—are inactive and do not affect the game unless otherwise specified.
    
    For example, a player can control one copy of a unique card faceup in an arena, as well as another copy of that unique card facedown as a resource, without needing to defeat one of those copies as per the rules of uniqueness.
8. COST
  1. A card’s “cost” is the number of resources that must be exhausted in order to play that card. This is indicated with a numeral in a yellow box located in the top left corner of the card.
  2. When a card is being played, its cost can be modified through abilities and/or the aspect penalty. Any active modifiers to a card’s cost must be taken into account when paying for the cost of a card; if the player cannot pay a card’s cost, they cannot play the card.
  3. Any modifiers to a card’s cost are cumulative. When calculating modified cost, any modifiers that increase cost are applied before any modifiers that decrease cost.
  4. A card’s cost cannot be modified below 0. If an ability would cause the cost of a card to be modified below 0, treat that card as having 0 cost instead.
  5. If an ability instructs a player to play a card “for free,” the player bypasses all modifiers to that card’s cost (including the aspect penalty), and does not pay any resources to play that card. The player must still pay any additional non-resource costs applied to the card.
  6. If an ability refers to the “cost” of a card, that ability always refers to the printed cost of the card. It does not take into account any modifiers to the card’s cost as it was played. See 8.16. Modifiers
    
    For example, Andre has Admiral Piett (SOR #079) in play, who has an ability that gives Ambush to friendly units that cost 6 or more. Andre plays Galactic Ambition (SOR #235) to play Relentless (SOR #089) for free. Although Andre didn’t spend any resources to play Relentless, its printed cost is still 9, which means that Admiral Piett will still give it Ambush.
  7. Each Leader Unit has a cost equal to the number of resources required to deploy it. Once deployed, card abilities that affect units with a specific cost can also affect a Leader Unit in play with that cost.
  8. Some abilities add an “additional cost” to play a card, applying a non-resource cost to that card. In order to play that card, a player must both pay the card’s cost in resources, and all additional costs applied to the card.
    
    For example, Saw Gerrera (SOR #153) has an ability that requires each opponent to pay an “additional cost” to play an event, dealing 2 damage to their base. If Saw Gerrera is controlled by Ken’s opponent, and Ken wanted to play Vanquish (SOR #078), he would have to pay 5 resources and deal 2 damage to his base in order to play Vanquish.
  9. Some cards have action abilities with an ability cost, indicated in brackets following the word “Action.” In order to use such an ability, the player who controls the card with the ability must pay the cost in brackets. This cost may include various forms of payment such as spending resources, exhausting cards, or defeating friendly units. Resolving an action ability this way counts as the player’s action for the turn.
    
    For example, Emperor Palpatine, Galactic Ruler (SOR #006) has an action ability on his Leader side with an ability cost indicated in brackets. In order to use the ability, Palpatine’s controller must first pay the full cost of the ability: paying 1 resource, exhausting Palpatine, and defeating a friendly unit. After paying this cost, the controller resolves the ability’s effect.
9. DAMAGE
  1. Cards with HP values (units and bases) can be dealt damage by attacks and abilities. Damage dealt is represented by damage counters.
  2. When damage is dealt to a card, place that many damage counters on that card.
  3. When damage is healed from a card, remove that many damage counters from that card. If the damage healed exceeds the damage that was on the card, remove as much damage as possible instead. An effect only is considered to have healed a unit if at least one damage counter is removed.
  4. A card is considered “damaged” if it has at least 1 damage counter on it.
  5. Damage is persistent. Damage counters remain on cards until either the card leaves play, or the damage is healed. When a card with damage on it leaves play, remove any damage counters that were on that card.
  6. If a unit has damage on it equal to or greater than its HP value, that unit is immediately defeated.
  7. If a base has damage on it equal to or greater than its HP value, its owner immediately loses the game, and their opponent wins the game.
  8. All damage dealt by a single ability is dealt simultaneously.
  9. If an ability prevents damage from being dealt to a unit or base, no damage is considered dealt to that unit or base, and abilities that trigger when damage is dealt don’t trigger.
  10. “Combat damage” is damage dealt during the second step of an attack. Combat damage is both the damage an attacker deals to a defender/base, and the damage a defender deals to an attacker. See 6.3. Attack With a Unit
  11. “Excess damage” refers to damage that would be dealt to a unit beyond the amount needed to defeat that unit. Abilities such as the Overwhelm keyword can affect excess damage. If a unit is defeated prior to being dealt combat damage by an attacker with Overwhelm, all combat damage that would have been dealt to the unit is considered excess damage.
10. POWER
  1. Power represents the amount of damage a unit deals during combat.
  2. Units have power values, indicated by a number in a red box in the bottom left corner of the card art. In rules text, this may be referred to a card’s “printed power.”
  3. A unit’s power can be modified by upgrades attached to it, or through certain card abilities. Any modifiers to a unit’s power are cumulative. When calculating modified power, any modifiers that increase power are applied before any modifiers that decrease power.
  4. A card’s power cannot be modified below 0. If a card’s power would be modified below 0, treat the card’s power as 0 instead.
  5. If an ability refers to the power of a card in play, include any modifiers to its power. If an ability refers to the power of a card in an out-of-play zone, use the printed power of the card.
11. HP
  1. HP, or Hit Points, represents the number of damage counters that can be placed on a card before it is defeated. For example, a unit with 3 HP is defeated when it has 3 or more damage on it.
  2. Units and bases have HP values, indicated by a number in a blue box in a corner of the card art (bottom right for units, top left for bases). In rules text, this may be referred to a card’s “printed HP.”
  3. A unit’s HP can be modified by upgrades attached to it, or through certain card abilities. Any modifiers to a unit’s HP are cumulative. When calculating modified HP, any modifiers that increase HP are applied before any modifiers that decrease HP.
  4. A card’s HP cannot be modified below 0. If a card’s HP would be modified below 0, treat the card’s HP as 0 instead. A card is defeated immediately if its HP is modified to 0.
  5. A card cannot be healed in excess of its HP. If a card would be healed in excess of its HP, heal as much damage as possible instead. Note that the player is considered only to have healed damage equal to the number of damage counters removed.
  6. A card’s “remaining HP” is calculated by subtracting the number of damage counters on it from its HP (accounting for any modifiers to its HP). If the remaining HP of a card is 0 or less, that card is defeated immediately.
    
    For example, a unit with 5 HP and 3 damage counters on it has 2 remaining HP.
12. COUNTERS
  1. Counters are cardboard pieces used to track information during the game. There are three different types of counters: the initiative counter, epic action counters, and damage counters. Counters may be substituted with other objects, such as dice.
  2. The initiative counter is used to keep track of which player has the initiative in the game. The player who starts a round with the initiative counter is the first active player for that round and takes the first action in that round.
    1. A player can Take the Initiative as their action on their turn, taking control of the initiative counter and flipping it to its “taken” side (the side without text). Only one player can do this per round, and once they do, they must “pass” for any actions they would take for the rest of the action phase. See 1.15. Actions
    2. At the start of a new round, the player who controls the initiative flips it to its “available” side (the side with text), showing it can be taken that round. That player keeps control of the initiative while it is available.
    3. Some cards have abilities that depend on their controller having control of the initiative, usually worded as “While you have the initiative...” or “If you have the initiative...” These abilities only check if the player controls the initiative counter, and not whether the initiative is “taken” or “available.”
  3. An epic action counter is used to indicate when a card’s Epic Action ability has been used. After using an Epic Action ability, place an epic action counter over the text of the ability to remind players that the ability was used and cannot be used again that game.
  4. Damage counters are used to track damage on cards with HP values, including units and bases. When damage is dealt to a card, place that many damage counters on it. If a unit or base ever has damage on it greater than or equal to its remaining HP, it is defeated.
13. DRAWING A CARD
  1. To draw a card, a player takes the top card of their deck and adds it to their hand. Players draw cards during the regroup phase, or through certain abilities.
  2. When a player is instructed to draw multiple cards, those cards are considered to be drawn simultaneously, unless the draw effect specifies the cards are drawn “one at a time.”
    
    For example, when players are instructed to draw 2 cards during the regroup phase, these cards are considered added to that player’s hand at the same time.
14. DISCARDING A CARD
  1. To “discard” a card means to move it to its owner’s discard pile from another zone, usually from a player’s hand or deck. Certain abilities can cause a player to discard a card.
  2. When an ability discards one or more cards from a player’s hand, the player resolving the ability chooses which card(s) to discard, unless otherwise specified. In most cases, the player discarding from their own hand chooses, but some abilities have their opponent choose instead, usually after the opponent has looked at the player’s hand.
    
    For example, if Lin controls K-2S0 (SOR #145) and Becca defeats him, Lin can choose how to resolve K-2S0’s “When Defeated” ability, either dealing 3 damage to Becca’s base or making Becca discard a card from her hand. If Lin chooses the discard, Becca then chooses which card in her hand to discard; Lin does not choose for Becca.
    
    For another example, if Lin later played Spark of Rebellion (SOR #200), its ability instructs Lin to look at his opponent’s hand and discard a card from it. For this ability, Lin chooses which of Becca’s cards is discarded.
  3. Cards discarded from a deck are always discarded from the top of the deck.
  4. When an effect discards multiple cards, they are considered discarded simultaneously, unless the ability specifies “one at a time.”
  5. If a player has no cards in their hand, they cannot discard a card from their hand.
  6. When instructed to “discard your hand,” a player must discard cards from their hand until they have no cards in hand. If they already have no cards in hand, they are considered to have discarded your hand for relevant game effects.
15. ACTIONS
  1. During the action phase, players take turns performing one of five actions: Play a Card, Attack With a Unit, Use an Action Ability, Take the Initiative, or Pass.
  2. To play a card, a player chooses a card in their hand, pays resources equal to the cost of the card (accounting for modifiers), then either puts it into play (if it is a unit or upgrade) or resolves its ability (if it is an event). See 6.2. Play a Card
  3. To attack with a unit, a player exhausts a unit they control (the “attacker”) and chooses what that unit is attacking: either an enemy unit in the same arena (the “defender”) or the opponent’s base. See 6.3. Attack With a Unit
  4. To use an action ability, a player chooses a card they control with an action ability. They pay the ability’s cost if it has one, then resolve the ability’s effect. See 6.4. Use an Action Ability
  5. To take the initiative, a player takes the initiative counter (even if they already have it) and places it near them, showing they have control of it. Then they flip the initiative counter to its “taken” side (the side without text) to remind both players it cannot be taken again that phase. They flip it back to its “available” side (the side with text) at the start of the next action phase.
    1. Only one player can take this action each round. Once one player has taken the initiative, no other players may perform the Take the Initiative action.
    2. After taking the initiative, a player cannot take any further actions for the rest of that round’s action phase. They are considered to have “passed,” and they automatically “pass” for all remaining actions they would take that phase. However, they still resolve any triggered abilities on cards they control during that phase.
    3. If a player takes the initiative on the turn immediately after their opponent passes, the action phase ends.
    4. If no player takes the initiative during the action phase, the player with the initiative keeps control of it and starts the next round as the first active player.
  6. To pass, a player declares that they are passing.
    1. When a player passes, they are considered to have done nothing during their action.
    2. A player may pass even if there are other actions available for them to take.
    3. A player must notify their opponent when they pass (such as by saying “I pass” or making a clear gesture). Once the player does so, their opponent becomes the active player and takes a turn (unless both players have passed consecutively, in which case the action phase ends).
    4. When each player has passed consecutively (including when one player takes the initiative after their opponent passes), the action phase immediately ends and play proceeds to the regroup phase.
16. GAME STATE
  1. “The game state” refers to: each card’s current zone, controller, attributes, and status (ready/exhausted and faceup/facedown); the initiative counter’s controller and status (taken/available); the status of open and hidden information for a player; the status of all active lasting effects and delayed effects; and the status of Epic Action abilities (used/unused). An action, ability, or payment of a cost that changes any of these elements is considered to change the game state.
  2. A player must change the game state when they take any action other than passing during their turn. If a chosen action would not change the game state, a player must choose a different action to take or pass.
  3. Examples of changing the game state include, but are not limited to: paying a cost, drawing/discarding a card, readying/exhausting a card, damaging/healing a card, looking at/searching/revealing a card, changing a card’s zone (via playing it, defeating it, etc.), modifying a card’s power or HP, creating a lasting effect or delayed effect, taking the initiative, and triggering an Epic Action.
  4. A change in the game state must be caused by a rule or ability of the game; a player cannot make a change in the game state with no identifiable cause, such as exhausting a resource when they aren’t paying a cost.
17. OPEN AND HIDDEN INFORMATION
  1. “Open information” refers to information that any player is entitled to know. Open information includes the attributes of faceup cards in play (units, upgrades, bases, and leaders), the number of counters on cards, the number of cards in each player’s hand and deck, the cards in each player’s discard pile, and the reverse side of each player’s leader. A player cannot refuse to disclose or attempt to prevent the access of open information by their opponent.
  2. “Hidden information” refers to information that has restrictions on when it can be known, and by whom. All information that is not open is considered hidden, such as the order of cards in each player’s deck. Certain information may be considered hidden information for only one player and not both players, such as cards in a player’s hand or a player’s resources.
  3. Players may only view cards considered hidden information to them when a card ability or effect specifically allows it.
  4. A player may choose to resolve an action or ability that involves information hidden to an opponent as though they have fewer options than they really do. That player still must do as much as they can when resolving such an ability, up to the point of hidden information being revealed. The player must still change the game state in some way for this to be considered an action.
    
    For example, Mon Mothma (SOR #096) has an ability that searches the top 5 cards of the player’s deck for a REBEL card, reveals it and draws it. A player must make the search upon playing Mon Mothma. However, regardless of if they find a REBEL card in the search or not, the player may choose to resolve the ability as though they did not find a REBEL card, reveal no card, and place all searched cards on the bottom of their deck.
    
    For another example, Chewbacca, Walking Carpet (SOR #003) has an action ability on his Leader side allowing the player to exhaust Chewbacca and play a unit that costs 3 or less from their hand. A player may pay the cost of the ability by exhausting Chewbacca, but may choose to resolve the ability as though they do not have a unit that costs 3 or less in hand, regardless of if they have one in their hand or not. They have still successfully changed the game state, as Chewbacca’s status has changed from ready to exhausted as part of the cost of his ability.
CARD ANATOMY
1. GENERAL
  1. The parts of a card include a card’s name, subtitle, card type, arena type, cost, aspect(s), power, power modifier, HP, HP modifier, trait(s), text box, and credit line. These parts, with the exception of the credit line, are also known as a card’s “attributes.” Each Star Wars: Unlimited card has at least a name, card type, trait(s), and credit line.
2. NAME
  1. A card’s name is located at the top of the card (an upgrade’s name is also reprinted on the bottom of the card). Each card has a name.
  2. Regardless of its printed language, a card’s name is considered to be the English version of its name.
  3. Some cards have a unique icon (⟡) before their names, indicating the card is unique. A unique card depicts an iconic Star Wars character, vehicle, or object. See 8.30. Unique, Unique Icon
3. SUBTITLE
  1. If a card has a subtitle, it will be located directly under its name. Subtitles have no mechanical function, but serve as a reminder to distinguish mechanically-distinct unique cards that share the same name.
4. CARD TYPE
  1. A card’s type is located in the top left of the card. A card can be one or more of these types: base, event, leader, unit, upgrade, or token. Each type of card has its own associated rules. See 3. Card Types
5. ARENA TYPE
  1. A card’s arena type is located in the top right of the card, which indicates which arena the card is played into (ground or space). Only units have an arena type. See 4. Zones
6. COST
  1. A card’s cost is located in the top left corner of the card and indicates how many resources must be spent to play the card. If it is a leader card, this number instead indicates how many resources a player must control to deploy it. Units, events, upgrades, and tokens have a cost. See 1.8. Cost
7. ASPECTS
  1. If a card belongs to one or more aspects, those aspects are indicated by aspect icons located on one side of the card. Bases and both sides of leaders have aspect icons on the right, while units, events, and upgrades have aspect icons on the left. Each card has between 0 and 2 aspect icons. See 1.5.6. Aspects
  2. Aspects categorize cards into different themes and play styles. There are six aspects: Vigilance , Command , Aggression , Cunning , Villainy , and Heroism .
  3. A card without any aspect icons does not belong to any aspect, and is considered a “neutral” card.
8. POWER
  1. A card’s power is located on the left side of the card and indicates how much damage the card deals in combat. Only units have power. See 1.10. Power
9. POWER MODIFIER
  1. A card’s power modifier is located on the left side of the card, and modifies the power of the unit it is attached to by the specified number. Only upgrades have a power modifier.
10. HP
  1. A card’s HP indicates how much damage the card can be dealt before it is defeated. Units and bases have HP; a unit’s HP is located on the right side of the card, and a base’s HP is located in the top left corner of the card. See 1.11. HP
  2. A card’s “remaining HP” is determined by subtracting the number of damage counters on it from its HP value, including modifiers. When a card’s remaining HP reaches 0 or less, that card is defeated.
11. HP MODIFIER
  1. A card’s HP modifier is located on the right side of the card, and modifies the HP of the unit it is attached to by the printed number. Only upgrades have an HP modifier.
12. TRAITS
  1. A card’s traits are located directly underneath the card’s name (for events), underneath the card’s art (for units), or on the bottom of the card (for upgrades). Traits are flavorful attributes that categorize the card and have no inherent rules, but may be referenced by card abilities. Each card has at least one trait.
  2. Unit traits can represent a number of thematic elements, from factions to species to professions. Faction traits represent organizations that a unit belongs to, such as (but not limited to) REBEL, IMPERIAL, JEDI, SITH, NEW REPUBLIC, UNDERWORLD, or NABOO. Species traits represent certain prominent species found in the Star Wars universe, such as TWI’LEK, DROID, or HUTT. Profession traits represent famous professions in Star Wars, such as BOUNTY HUNTER or INQUISITOR.
13. TEXT BOX
  1. A card’s text box contains any abilities that the card has. An ability is a unique way that a card interacts with the game. See 1.6. Abilities
  2. A card’s ability may be followed by italicized text in parentheses. Such text is called “reminder text,” and offers a simplified clarification of how that ability affects the game. Reminder text serves as a guide for ease of play, but does not override any rules in this Comprehensive Rules document. The presence or absence of reminder text does not mechanically affect the abilities on a card.
14. CREDIT LINE
  1. A card’s credit line is located on the bottom of the card and contains credit and set information for that card. These items do not have any effect on gameplay.
  2. On the left side of the credit line is the name of the artist that created the card’s art.
  3. In the center of the credit line is licensing information.
  4. Toward the right side of the credit line is the card’s set abbreviation, language, rarity, and set number. A card can be one of five rarities: Special, Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Legendary.
CARD TYPES
1. GENERAL
  1. A card’s type is located in the top left corner of the card. There are 6 different types of cards: bases, events, leaders, units, upgrades, and tokens. Each card can be one or more of these types.
  2. A “resource” is not a type of card, but a game object that a card becomes when placed in the resource zone. See 1.7. Resources
2. BASE
  1. A base is a type of card that represents a location in Star Wars. Each base has a name, trait(s), HP value, and aspect icon. Some bases also have an ability.
  2. Each player’s deck must have exactly 1 base. Each base begins the game in its owner’s base zone.
  3. Bases can be dealt damage through abilities and enemy attacks. Unless prevented by an ability, any unit can attack an enemy base directly. When a unit attacks a base, the unit remains in the arena it attacked from.
  4. Some abilities heal damage from a base, such as the Restore keyword. A base cannot be healed beyond its HP value.
  5. When a base has no remaining HP, its owner immediately loses the game, and its opponent immediately wins the game. A player cannot resolve actions, abilities, or effects once their base’s remaining HP reaches 0.
3. EVENT
  1. An event is a type of card. Each event has a name, cost, trait(s), and ability. An event may also have aspect icons.
  2. To play an event, pay its cost—following any additional costs or play restrictions in effect for that event—and place it in its owner’s discard pile. Then, resolve the event’s ability. See 6.2. Play a Card
  3. When played, an event moves directly from the player’s hand to their discard pile, never entering play. (A player may place the event in front of them while resolving its ability, but the event is considered to be in their discard pile for the purposes of abilities and effects.)
  4. An event that affects cards in a player’s discard pile can affect itself.
  5. An event ability must be resolved as completely as possible. Any part of the event ability that cannot be resolved is ignored. A player may play an event even if none of that event’s ability can be resolved. See 7.4. Event Abilities
  6. If a triggered ability has the triggering condition “When you play an event,” the event ability must be resolved as completely as possible before resolving the triggered ability.
4. LEADER
  1. A leader is a double-sided card with a horizontal “Leader side” and a vertical “Leader Unit side.” Each side of a leader has two aspect icons, a name, subtitle, trait(s), and abilities.
  2. Each player’s deck must have exactly 1 leader. Each leader begins the game in the base zone on its Leader side, and flips to its Leader Unit side when it is deployed.
  3. A leader may have different abilities on its Leader side and Leader Unit side. Only the faceup side of a leader card is considered to be “in play,” so only abilities on the faceup side of a leader can be used at a given time.
  4. A leader is deployed using the Epic Action ability on its Leader side. A leader may be deployed regardless of whether it is ready or exhausted. When a leader is deployed, flip it to its Leader Unit side and move it to the ground arena, ready. That leader is then considered to be a unit in play: it can attack, be attacked, and use the abilities on its Leader Unit side.
  5. When a Leader Unit has no remaining HP, it is defeated: flip it to its Leader side and move it to its owner’s base zone, exhausted. Place an epic action counter on its Epic Action ability to show that it cannot be used again for the rest of the game. Any other abilities on its Leader side can still be used.
  6. If a Leader Unit would leave play or change control for any reason, it is defeated instead.
5. UNIT
  1. A unit is a type of card depicting a Star Wars character or vehicle. Each unit has a name, cost, power, HP, trait(s), and arena type. A unit may also have a subtitle, aspect icons, abilities, and a unique icon () before its name.
  2. To play a unit, pay its cost—following any additional costs or play restrictions in effect for that unit—and place the unit in its designated arena (ground or space). See 6.2. Play a Card
  3. A unit enters play exhausted and remains in play until it is defeated.
  4. A unit is defeated when it has no remaining HP or when an ability defeats it directly. When a unit is defeated, place it in its owner’s discard pile.
  5. Leader Units are a type of unit. Leader Units have the same rules as non-leader units, except that they are deployed instead of being played, and they are returned to the base zone instead of being discarded.
6. UPGRADE
  1. An upgrade is a type of card that attaches to a unit. Each upgrade has a name, cost, trait(s), power modifier, and HP modifier. An upgrade may also have aspect icons, abilities, and a unique icon () before its name.
  2. To play an upgrade, pay the upgrade’s cost—following any additional costs or play restrictions in effect for that upgrade—and attach it to a unit in play. When attaching an upgrade, tuck the upgrade halfway under the unit so that the upgrade’s ability and modifiers can be seen clearly. See 6.2. Play a Card
  3. An upgrade may specify that it must “attach to” a specific type of unit. This is considered a play restriction for that upgrade. If there is no unit of the specific type in play for the upgrade to attach to, the upgrade cannot be played. If there are no units in play, no upgrades can be played.
    1. A unit’s eligibility is only checked as the upgrade is being played. If an upgrade attaches to a unit that later becomes ineligible for that upgrade, the upgrade remains attached to that unit.
  4. There is no limit to the number of upgrades that can be attached to a unit.
  5. Upgrades may be played on friendly units or enemy units. If a player plays an upgrade onto an enemy unit, that player still controls the upgrade. If that upgrade gives abilities to the attached unit, the unit’s controller resolves those abilities.
  6. When an upgrade is attached to a unit, the unit is also attached to that upgrade.
  7. Each upgrade has a power modifier and HP modifier. A unit’s power and HP are cumulatively modified by each upgrade attached to it.
    
    For example, if a unit originally has 1 power and 3 HP, then receives two Experience token upgrades, those upgrades will modify that unit’s power and HP positively, resulting in the unit having 3 power and 5 HP.
  8. Some upgrades give abilities to the unit they’re attached to. If an upgrade’s text box uses the phrase “attached unit gains _,” the text following “gains” is considered an ability that the attached unit has while the upgrade is attached to it, and such an ability can be lost, ignored, or affected by other abilities.
    
    For example, Protector (SOR #057) has the text “Attached unit gains Sentinel” in its text box. The unit Protector is attached to is considered to have the Sentinel keyword while Protector is attached to it. If Protector is defeated, the attached unit immediately loses Sentinel. Additionally, the attached unit’s opponent could play SpecForce Soldier (SOR #140) and cause the attached unit to lose Sentinel for the phase.
  9. If a unit has multiple attached upgrades that give the same ability, it gains that ability multiple times. Keyword abilities do not “stack” (meaning, the card does not gain any additional effects) unless those keywords are followed by a numeral.
  10. Some upgrades have abilities that affect the unit they’re attached to, but do not give the attached unit an ability. Such abilities refer to the attached unit but do not use the phrase “attached unit gains _.”
    
    For example, Entrenched (SOR #072) has the ability: “Attached unit can’t attack bases.” This ability affects the attached unit, but it is not an ability given to the unit. If the attached unit loses all abilities (such as by Force Lightning, SOR #138), the ability on Entrenched would still be in effect.
  11. An upgrade is defeated when either the unit it is attached to leaves play, or when an ability defeats it directly. When an upgrade is defeated, the attached unit loses all power, HP, and abilities given to it by the upgrade, and the upgrade is placed in its owner’s discard pile.
  12. . Some upgrades are also tokens and have the “token upgrade” card type. Token upgrades follow the same rules for upgrades outlined above, except that they are put into play differently and are set aside when defeated.
7. TOKEN
  1. A token is a type of card that also has a second type, such as a “token upgrade.” Each token has the same formatting as its non-token card type.
  2. Tokens are set aside at the start of the game. They cannot be shuffled into decks, cannot be discarded, and are not considered “played” when they enter play (meaning they don’t trigger abilities that depend on a card being played).
  3. If a token would leave play for any reason, set it aside instead.
  4. There is no limit on tokens available to a player. A player may substitute any available object (such as dice) for a token.
  5. An Experience token is a type of token upgrade. An Experience token is an upgrade that gives the unit it is attached to +1 power and +1 HP. If a unit has multiple Experience tokens attached, it will receive bonus power and bonus HP from each Experience token. When an ability instructs a player to give an Experience token to a unit, they take an Experience token that has been set aside and attach it to that unit.
  6. A Shield token is a type of token upgrade. A Shield token is an upgrade that gives the unit it is attached to +0 power and +0 HP and has the text: “If damage would be dealt to attached unit, prevent that damage. If you do, defeat a Shield token on it.” When an ability instructs a player to give a Shield token to a unit, they take a Shield token that has been set aside and attach it to that unit.
    1. If a unit has multiple Shield tokens attached to it, only one Shield token is defeated per instance of damage.
ZONES
1. GENERAL
  1. Zones are defined areas of the game with specific rules. There are seven different types of zones in the game: each player’s base zone, the ground arena, the space arena, each player’s resource zone, each player’s deck, each player’s hand, and each player’s discard pile. The ground arena and space arena are shared between players, while the other zones are separate for each player.
  2. Cards that are set aside are not considered to be in any zone.
  3. The “game area” refers to all zones in the game collectively.
2. BASE ZONE
  1. Each player has their own base zone, which is located in the center of their play area. Each player’s base and leader start the game in this zone.
  2. Bases always remain in their owner’s base zone. Leaders move from their owner’s base zone to the ground arena when deployed, and from the ground arena to their owner’s base zone when defeated.
  3. Units in either arena may attack enemy bases directly, and do not leave their arena when doing so.
3. GROUND ARENA
  1. The ground arena is a zone shared by players, located next to each player’s base zone. Each player’s ground units are played into this zone, and face their controller when they’re ready.
  2. The ground arena can be on either the left or right side of the base zone. The side is determined when a player plays the first unit of the game—that unit’s arena type (ground or space) establishes the matching arena on whichever side of the base zone that the unit was played in, and automatically establishes the opposite arena on the other side. These sides will remain the same for the rest of the game, even if there are no units in either arena later on.
    
    For example, if the first player plays Death Star Stormtrooper (SOR #128) on the left side of their base zone, they have established the shared ground arena on their left side and have established the shared space arena on their right side. (Note that their opponent’s perspective of the arenas will be mirrored, with the ground arena on their opponent’s right side.)
  3. Friendly ground units can attack enemy ground units in the ground arena, as well as the enemy base. They do not leave the ground arena when attacking the enemy base.
  4. Ground units cannot attack enemy units in the space arena unless an ability specifically allows it. However, ground units may be able to deal damage to units in the space arena through abilities.
4. SPACE ARENA
  1. The space arena is a zone shared by players, located next to each player’s base zone. Each player’s space units are played into this zone, and face their controller when they’re ready.
  2. The space arena can be on either the left or right side of the base zone. The side is determined when a player plays the first unit of the game—that unit’s arena type (ground or space) establishes the matching arena on whichever side of the base zone that the unit was played in, and automatically establishes the opposite arena on the other side. These sides will remain the same for the rest of the game, even if there are no units in either arena later on.
    
    For example, if the first player plays Green Squadron A-Wing (SOR #141) on the left side of their base zone, they have established the shared space arena on their left side and have established the shared ground arena on their right side. (Note that their opponent’s perspective of the arenas will be mirrored, with the space arena on their opponent’s right side.)
  3. Friendly space units can attack enemy space units in the space arena, as well as the enemy base. They do not leave the space arena when attacking the enemy base.
  4. Space units cannot attack enemy units in the ground arena unless an ability specifically allows it. However, space units may be able to deal damage to units in the ground arena through abilities.
5. RESOURCE ZONE
  1. Each player has their own resource zone. Cards in a resource zone are called “resources,” which can be exhausted to pay the costs of other cards. See 1.7., Resources
  2. Resources are placed facedown and remain facedown while in a resource zone. A player may view facedown resources they control at any time, returning them facedown when finished. Those cards are considered hidden information for that player’s opponent.
  3. Players can choose to add a card from their hand to their resource zone during each regroup phase.
6. DECK
  1. Each player’s deck is its own zone. By default, cards in a player’s deck are facedown, out of play, and cannot be viewed except through abilities. The cards in a player’s deck are considered hidden information for both players.
  2. Cards in a deck leave the deck when they are drawn, discarded, or played directly from the deck. A card is not considered to leave a deck when searched, looked at, or revealed from the deck (unless it is immediately drawn, discarded, or played).
7. HAND
  1. Each player’s hand is its own zone. A player can have any number of cards in their hand.
  2. Cards enter a player’s hand when a player draws from their deck, or when an ability returns a card from another zone to their hand.
  3. Cards leave a player’s hand when played or discarded. A card is not considered to leave a player’s hand when looked at or revealed (unless it is immediately played or discarded).
  4. The cards in a player’s hand may be looked at only by that player, and the faceup sides of those cards are considered hidden information for that player’s opponent. The number of cards in a player’s hand is considered open information.
8. DISCARD PILE
  1. Each player’s discard pile is its own zone. Played events, defeated (non-leader) units, defeated upgrades, and discarded cards are placed in a player’s discard pile, faceup.
  2. Cards in a player’s discard pile are considered open information and can be viewed by any player at any time.
  3. The order of cards in a discard pile does not need to be maintained; a player may rearrange the cards in their discard pile at any time.
  4. If an ability allows a player to play a card from their discard pile, they must still pay all costs for the card, accounting for any modifiers and additional costs applied to the card.
9. IN-PLAY AND OUT-OF-PLAY
  1. There are four types of “in-play” zones: each player’s base zone, the ground arena, the space arena, and each player’s resource zone. Cards in these zones are considered “in play,” which means that by default they have the potential to affect the game through use of their abilities, power, and HP. A player controls the cards they play in these zones, or put into play in these zones.
  2. There are three types of “out-of-play” zones: each player’s deck, each player’s hand, and each player’s discard pile. Cards in these zones are considered “out of play,” which means that by default they cannot affect the game through use of their abilities, power, or HP. For an ability to resolve from an out-of-play zone or to affect a card in an out-of-play zone, the ability must either explicitly state the zone it resolves from or affects, or it must be a type of ability that by default resolves from an out-of-play zone.
    
    For example, if a player played Waylay (SOR #222), they could only return a non-leader unit from play to its owner’s hand, as the ability does not specify it affects the discard pile. However, The Emperor’s Legion (SOR #091) does specifically return units from the discard pile.
10. PLAY AREA
  1. A player’s “play area” consists of cards that player controls in in-play zones, with the exception of any upgrades that player controls attached to enemy units (which are in the unit’s controller’s play area). A player’s play area includes cards in that player’s base zone, cards in that player’s resource zone, units that player controls in the ground arena and space arena, and any upgrades attached to units that player controls.
  2. If a player plays an upgrade onto an enemy unit, that player still controls that upgrade, but that upgrade is not in their play area.
  3. There is no limit on the number of cards a player can control in their play area.
11. SET ASIDE/BEING IN NO ZONE
  1. When a card is set aside, it is considered to be out-of-play and not located in any zone.
  2. Token cards begin the game set aside, and are put into play by certain abilities. When a token leaves play, it is set aside again.
GAME STRUCTURE
1. GENERAL
  1. A game consists of multiple rounds, and each round consists of an action phase and regroup phase. During the action phase, players take turns taking an action. During the regroup phase, players can put a resource into play and ready exhausted cards.
  2. Each step of setup and each step of both phases must be completed in full unless otherwise specified.
  3. Before starting the game, each player needs a deck, including a leader and base, and token cards matching any types that their decks create. Players also need damage counters and one initiative counter. (Counters and tokens may be represented by other objects, such as dice.)
2. STARTING THE GAME AND SETUP
  1. Players set up the game following these steps in order: Put bases into play, Put leaders into play, Determine the first player, Shuffle decks and draw opening hands, Choose whether to mulligan, and Resource two cards.
    1. Put bases into play. Each player places their base at the top and center of their own play area.
    2. Put leaders into play. Each player places their leader into play below their base, Leader side faceup (Leader Unit side facedown).
    3. Determine the first player. Randomly choose a player. That player then decides which player begins the game with the initiative counter (they may choose to start with the counter or give it to an opponent). Set all other counters and tokens aside, out-of-play.
    4. Shuffle decks and draw opening hands. Each player shuffles their deck, then draws 6 cards.
    5. Choose whether to take a mulligan. Each player may take a mulligan by shuffling their entire hand into their deck and drawing a new hand of 6 cards. Each player may only take one mulligan, and if they take a mulligan, they must keep their new hand. The player with the initiative must be the first to decide whether to take a mulligan, then their opponent decides.
    6. Resource two cards. Each player chooses two cards from their hand and puts them into play as resources, facedown and ready. Each player must place exactly two cards as resources.
  2. Then, the players start the first round with the first action phase.
3. ROUND
  1. A round of the game consists of two phases in order: an action phase and a regroup phase. The start of each action phase is also the start of a new game round.
  2. An ability that refers to “this round” encompasses both the action phase and regroup phase of that round.
4. ACTION PHASE
  1. The action phase consists of the start of phase step, any number of player turns, and the end of phase step.
    1. Start of the action phase. Any lasting effects that expire when the action phase or round starts expire now. Any abilities or effects that trigger at the start of the action phase or round trigger now.
    2. Player turns. During the action phase, players alternate taking one action at a time. The player that starts the round with the initiative counter is the first active player and takes the first action. After their action and any triggered abilities finish resolving, their opponent becomes the active player and takes an action. Then the first player becomes the active player again and takes an action, and so on until both players pass consecutively. A player may take one of five actions during their turn: Play a Card, Attack With a Unit, Use an Action Ability, Take the Initiative, or Pass. See 1.15. Actions
    3. End of the action phase. Any lasting effects that expire when the action phase ends expire now (e.g. “for this phase”). Any abilities or effects that trigger at the end of the action phase trigger now.
  2. After the action phase ends, players proceed to the regroup phase.
5. REGROUP PHASE
  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.
    1. Start of the regroup phase. Any lasting effects that expire when the regroup phase starts expire now. Any abilities or effects that trigger at the start of the regroup phase trigger now.
    2. Draw cards. Each player draws 2 cards.
    3. Resource cards. Starting with the active player, each player may choose 1 card from their hand to put into play as a resource, facedown and exhausted. Players may choose not to resource a card.
    4. Ready cards. Each player readies all exhausted cards they control, including units, resources, and their leader.
    5. End of the regroup phase. Any lasting effects that expire when the regroup phase ends or when the round ends expire now (e.g. “for this phase” and “for this round”). Any abilities or effects that trigger at the end of the regroup phase or at the end of a round trigger now.
  2. After the regroup phase ends, a new round begins with the start of a new action phase.
6. ENDING THE GAME
  1. A game ends immediately once a player’s base reaches 0 remaining HP and is defeated. A player whose base is defeated loses the game, and their opponent wins the game.
  2. Once a player’s base has 0 remaining HP, they cannot take any actions, and cannot resolve any abilities or effects.
  3. In a case where both players’ bases reach 0 remaining HP at the same time, the game ends in a draw.
  4. A player can concede the game at any time (such as by saying “I concede” or making a clear gesture). If they do, they lose the game immediately.
ACTION TIMING AND CLARIFICATIONS
1. GENERAL
  1. This section provides clarifications and timing charts for the following actions: Play a Card, Attack With a Unit, and Use an Action Ability. For each type of action, perform each step in order and as completely as possible. Note that subheadings begin with 0 in this section for clarity when referring to the steps of an action.
2. PLAY A CARD
  1. General
    1. A player follows the steps below when they choose to take the Play a Card action on their turn, or when they resolve an ability that lets them play a card as a nested action. See 1.15. Actions & 7.6.12. Nested Abilities and Nested Actions
    2. In order to play a card, a player must have a card in their hand or must be resolving an ability that allows them to play a card from another zone. The player must be able to pay resources equal to the card’s cost, unless otherwise specified.
    3. A player may play a card whose ability has no effect, so long as the act of paying the costs for and playing the card changes the game state (e.g. the card is moved to a different zone).
    4. Each time a player plays a card, that card enters play as a new copy of that card. See 8.6. Copy
    5. Some action, event, and triggered abilities allow a player to play a card. Unless otherwise specified by the ability, the card must be played from the player’s hand, and the player must pay all costs of the card when playing it this way. The player is not considered to have taken an additional action if they played a card due to an ability.
    6. Playing a Card consists of the following 5 steps in order, explained in detail below: Declare intent, Check restrictions, Determine cost(s), Pay cost(s), and Put card into play/discard. After playing the card, resolve any “When Played” abilities on the card and any other abilities that triggered while playing and/or resolving the card, including Ambush and Shielded. See 7.6. Triggered Abilities
  2. Declare intent. The player reveals the card they intend to play from their hand, so that all other players can view it. Any abilities that are active “while playing” a card become active.
  3. Check restrictions. Determine if there are any active abilities, effects, or other play restrictions that would prevent the card from being played at this time. If there are any, the card cannot be played.
    1. Some abilities prevent the playing of a card or type of card. For example, Regional Governor (SOR #062) has an ability stating opponents “can’t play” a named card; this is considered a “play restriction” for the named card.
    2. If an upgrade uses the phrase “attach to,” the text following “attach to” indicates a type of unit that’s eligible for that upgrade; this is a “play restriction” for that upgrade. If there are no units in play, no upgrades can be played. If there is no eligible unit in play for the upgrade to attach to, the upgrade cannot be played.
    3. An event can be played even if some or none of its abilities would change the game state.
    4. If the card cannot be played and the game state has not changed this turn, the active player must choose a new action to take.
  4. Determine cost(s). A card’s cost is in the upper left corner of the card and indicates how many resources must be exhausted in order to play it. Some abilities modify a card’s cost or apply additional costs to a card before it can be played.
    1. When calculating a card’s modified cost, start with the card’s printed cost, then apply any modifiers that increase the cost of the card (including the aspect penalty) before any modifiers that decrease the cost of the card. The result is the card’s modified cost. See 8.16. Modifiers
    2. A card’s cost cannot be modified below 0. If a card’s cost would be modified below 0, treat the cost as 0 instead.
    3. If any abilities in effect apply an additional cost to play the card, also determine those costs at this time.
    4. If an ability causes a card to be played “for free,” that ability overrides all resource costs to play that card, including the aspect penalty. However, any additional non-resource costs applied to that card must still be paid.
  5. Pay cost(s). Exhaust resources equal to the card’s modified cost. If there are any additional costs required for the card, also pay those now.
    1. If any costs (including resource costs and additional costs) cannot be paid, cease this process without paying any costs. Return the game state to the way it was before the first step.
    2. A player cannot pay resources in excess of a card’s modified cost.
  6. Put card into play/discard.
    1. If the card is a unit, put it into play in its designated arena (ground or space), exhausted.
    2. If the card is an upgrade, put it into play attached to an eligible unit.
    3. If the card is an event, place the event in its owner’s discard pile, then resolve its ability. Resolve as much of its ability as possible and ignore any parts of the ability that cannot resolve.
    4. The card is considered “played” as soon as it enters play or, in the case of events, the discard pile.
3. ATTACK WITH A UNIT
  1. General
    1. A player follows the steps below when they choose to take the Attack With a Unit action on their turn, or when they resolve an ability that lets them attack with a unit as a nested action. See 1.15. Actions & 7.6.12. Nested Abilities and Nested Actions
    2. Only one unit may attack at a time, and only ready units may perform an attack, unless otherwise specified. These restrictions apply even if the attack is prompted by another ability. If an ability triggers multiple attacks, resolve them sequentially.
    3. “Combat damage” is damage dealt during the “Deal combat damage” step of an attack. Damage dealt outside of this step during an attack is not considered to be combat damage.
    4. Some action, event, and triggered abilities allow a player to attack with a unit. When resolving an ability that allows a player to attack with a unit, the player must make an attack if possible. The player is not considered to have taken an additional action if they attack due to an ability.
    5. Attacking With a Unit consists of the following 3 steps in order, explained in detail below: Declare the attack, Deal combat damage, and Complete the attack. After each step, resolve any abilities triggered during that step before proceeding to the next step in the attack. See 7.6. Triggered Abilities
  2. Declare the attack. The active player chooses and exhausts a ready unit they control and then chooses what to attack: either an enemy unit in the same arena as it or the opponent’s base. Any abilities that are active “while attacking” become active.
    1. If an ability prompts an attack, apply any “for this attack” lasting effects of the ability. If the effect impacts what the attacker can attack, the player must choose a eligible unit or base to attack. If no such choice can be made, the attack immediately ends. If an effect is contingent on which defender is chosen, the effect applies as soon as the defender is declared.
    2. Only exhaust the attacker if there is an enemy unit or base that it can attack. If there is nothing for the attacker to attack, cease the attack and return the game state to the way it was before this step.
    3. The active player becomes the “attacking player” and the opponent that controls the enemy unit or base being attacked becomes the “defending player” for this attack.
    4. The unit performing the attack becomes the “attacker” for this attack. If the attacker is attacking an enemy unit, that unit becomes the “defender” for this attack. If the attacker is attacking a base, there is no “defender” for this attack.
    5. If the defending player has one or more units with Sentinel in the same arena as the attacker, one of those units must be chosen as the defender, unless the attacker has Saboteur, in which case it may ignore Sentinel.
    6. Any abilities that activate while an attack is occurring become active for the duration of the attack. This includes Raid, “While this unit is attacking,” and “While this unit is defending” abilities. If the ability is subject to a further conditional (e.g. “While this unit is attacking a damaged unit”), it is only active while all of its conditions are true.
    7. After declaring the attack, resolve any “On Attack” abilities on the attacker and any other abilities triggered during this step, including Restore, Saboteur, and “When this unit is attacked” abilities on the defender. See 7.6. Triggered Abilities
  3. Deal combat damage. If attacking a base, the attacker deals damage equal to its power to that base. If attacking a unit, the attacker and defender simultaneously deal damage equal to their power to each other.
    1. If the attacker already has been defeated, no combat damage is dealt. Proceed directly to the next step of this attack.
    2. If the defender already has been defeated (for example, by an “On Attack” ability), no combat damage is dealt unless the attacker has Overwhelm.
    3. If either unit that would be dealt damage has one or more Shield tokens attached to it, remove a Shield token from that unit and don’t deal it any combat damage.
    4. If the attacker has Overwhelm, deal its excess damage to the opponent’s base, unless the defender had a Shield token that prevented the damage. This excess damage is dealt immediately and is considered combat damage. See 1.9. Damage
    5. If the attacker has an ability where it deals combat damage before the defender, the defender must survive the dealt damage before it can deal combat damage back to the attacker. In such a case, if the defender has Grit, it will receive bonus power from the damage just dealt to it.
    6. Once combat damage is dealt, if a unit has no remaining HP, it is defeated immediately.
    7. After dealing all combat damage, resolve any “When Defeated” abilities on defeated units and any other abilities triggered during this step, including “When this unit deals combat damage” and “When a unit leaves play” abilities. See 7.6. Triggered Abilities
  4. Complete the attack. Any abilities or lasting effects that were active during the attack expire, including Raid and “While this unit is attacking” abilities.
    1. After completing the attack, resolve any “When this unit completes an attack” abilities (if the attacker is still in play) and any other abilities triggered during this step. See 7.6. Triggered Abilities
4. USE AN ACTION ABILITY
  1. General
    1. A player follows the steps below when they choose to take the Use an Action Ability action on their turn, or when they resolve an ability that lets them use an action ability as a nested action. See 1.15. Actions & 7.6.12. Nested Abilities and Nested Actions
    2. Action abilities are abilities that begin with the bold word “Action” or “Epic Action” followed by a cost in brackets, a colon, and an ability following the colon.
    3. In order to use an action ability, a player must be able to pay the ability’s cost if it has one and change the game state through paying that ability’s cost and/or resolving that ability’s effect.
    4. A player may use an action ability whose effect does not change the game state, as long as paying the ability’s cost or resolving the ability changes the game state.
    5. A player may use an action ability that references a particular kind of unit even if no such unit is in play, as long as paying the ability’s cost or resolving the ability changes the game state.
    6. A player may use a conditional action ability even if the condition is false, as long as paying the ability’s cost or resolving the ability changes the game state.
      
      For example, Iden Versio, Inferno Squad Commander (SOR #002) has an action ability that says “If an enemy unit was defeated this phase, heal 1 damage from your base.” Iden’s controller may use this ability even if an enemy unit was not defeated this phase, since the cost of the ability is exhausting Iden, which changes the game state. They would not heal any damage from their base.
    7. An Epic Action ability is a type of action ability that can only be used once per game. A player may use an Epic Action ability even if its effect does not change the game state, since changing the status of an Epic Action to “used” changes the game state.
    8. Using an Action Ability consists of the following 5 steps in order, explained in detail below: Declare intent, Check restrictions, Determine cost(s), Pay cost(s), and Resolve the ability. After using the action ability, resolve any abilities that triggered while using the action ability. See 7.6. Triggered Abilities
  2. Declare intent. The player indicates the ability they intend to resolve.
  3. Check restrictions. Determine if there are any active abilities or other restrictions that would prevent the action ability from resolving. If there are any, the action ability cannot be used.
    1. One such restriction is that paying the cost of an action ability and/or resolving the action ability must change the game state in some way. If neither would change the game state, the active player cannot attempt to use that ability and must take a different action. See 1.16. Game State
  4. Determine cost(s). If the ability has a cost, determine that cost at this step.
    1. If an action ability has a cost, it is found in brackets following the word “Action.”
    2. If an action ability cost uses the icon, it means the card with the ability must exhaust in order to use the ability. If the cost does not use the icon, the card may use the ability whether it is ready or exhausted.
    3. An action ability cost may include multiple parts, which are separated by commas within the brackets.
      
      For example, Luke Skywalker, Faithful Friend (SOR #005) has an Action ability that requires you to pay 1 resource and exhaust Luke. Paying 1 resource and exhausting Luke are both part of the ability’s cost, and both must be paid in order to use the ability.
  5. Pay cost(s). Pay the ability’s determined cost, if it has one. If the action ability doesn’t have a cost, skip this step.
    1. If any part of the cost cannot be paid, cease this process without paying any costs, and choose a different action to take.
    2. A player cannot pay resources in excess of an ability’s determined cost.
  6. Resolve the action ability. If the cost was successfully paid, resolve as much of the ability as possible and ignore any part of the ability that cannot resolve.
    1. If using the action ability results in an attack being made, resolve any abilities triggered during that attack at the appropriate timing point within that attack. See 6.3 Attack With a Unit
    2. If the effect of the ability does not change the game state, it still counts as the player’s action for their turn, so long as the cost of the action ability changed the game state in some way.
ABILITIES AND EFFECTS
1. GENERAL
  1. An ability is specialized game text that indicates how a card affects the game. If a card has any printed abilities, they are found in the text box of that card. An upgrade can give an ability to a unit if that upgrade indicates that the attached unit “gains” the ability; treat the unit as having the ability in its text box for as long as the upgrade is attached to it.
  2. There are five types of abilities: action abilities, constant abilities, event abilities, keyword abilities, and triggered abilities. Each type of ability has its own associated rules.
  3. An effect is a non-cost part of a card ability that has the potential to change the game state. Some effects resolve separately from the ability that created them, or replace the standard resolution of the ability that created them.
  4. If an ability that affects both players can be resolved simultaneously, resolve the ability simultaneously. Otherwise, the player that controls the card with the ability can choose the order in which each player is affected by the ability.
    
    For example, Grand Admiral Thrawn (SOR #016) has an ability where his controller looks at the top card of each player’s deck. This ability cannot be resolved simultaneously, so Thrawn’s controller chooses the order in which they look at the cards. They are not required to look at the cards in a specific order.
2. ACTION ABILITIES
  1. An action ability is an ability indicated by the bolded word “Action.” Most action abilities have a cost in brackets that must be paid in order to use the ability. Using an action ability is one type of action a player can take during their turn.
  2. A player must pay the full cost of an action ability in order to resolve that ability. After a player pays the cost to use an action ability, they resolve that ability’s effect, described by the non-bold text after the word “Action.”
  3. As long as an action ability has a cost that changes the game state, a player can pay that cost and resolve the ability even if the ability’s effect would not change the game state. Resolving an action ability this way still counts as the player’s action for their turn.
  4. An Epic Action ability is a type of action ability. An Epic Action ability operates like any other action ability, except that each Epic Action ability can only be used once per game. Once an Epic Action ability is used, place an epic action counter over the text of that ability to remind players that it was used.
3. CONSTANT ABILITIES
  1. A constant ability is always in effect while the card it is on is in play. Constant abilities don’t have any special styling.
  2. A constant ability immediately comes into effect when the card it is on enters play and remains in effect while the card is in play.
  3. Some constant abilities continuously check the game for a specific condition to be met for their effects to apply to the game. These abilities usually include the word “while.”
    
    For example, Vigilant Honor Guards (SOR #48) has a constant ability: “While this unit is undamaged, it gains Sentinel.” Although Vigilant Honor Guards always has this ability text, the ability’s effect—giving this unit the Sentinel keyword-only applies if it is undamaged.
  4. Constant abilities remain in effect even if the card they’re on is exhausted.
4. EVENT ABILITIES
  1. An event ability is an ability found in the text box of an event and is resolved when the event is played.
  2. When an event is played, it is placed in its owner’s discard pile before its ability resolves. Events do not enter play; they move directly from the player’s hand to their discard pile. (A player resolving an event ability may place the event in front of them while doing so, but the event is considered to be in their discard pile while its ability resolves.)
  3. Events that affect cards in a player’s discard pile can affect themselves.
  4. 4. When resolving an event ability, resolve as much of the ability as possible and ignore anything that cannot resolve. A player may pay the cost of an event and play it even if none of that event’s ability would change the game state.
  5. An event is both “played” and “resolved” during the action in which it is played, even if the event ability creates a lasting effect or delayed effect that must be resolved at a later point in the game.
5. KEYWORD ABILITIES
  1. A keyword or keyword ability is a card ability indicated with bold red text and that has specific associated rules.
  2. A keyword ability resolves automatically unless its definition includes the word “may.”
  3. Card abilities may give a keyword to a unit, either as a constant ability or a lasting effect. While the effect persists, the unit is considered to have that keyword in its text box, and that keyword can be lost, ignored, or affected by other abilities.
  4. If a card is given a keyword it already has, those keywords do not “stack” (meaning, the card does not gain any additional effects) unless those keywords are followed by a numeral; if they are, the numbers following each keyword are added together.
    
    For example: If a card with Grit later gains Grit from an ability, will not receive any bonus power from the second instance of Grit, since that keyword does not stack. But if a card with Raid 1 later gains Raid 2 from an ability, these instances stack and the card will function as having Raid 3, getting +3 power when it attacks.
  5. Ambush
    1. “Ambush” is a keyword whose effect is the same as the triggered ability: “When Played: If there is an enemy unit that this unit can attack, this unit may ready and attack that enemy unit.”
    2. Multiple instances of Ambush do not stack. If a unit gains Ambush multiple times, it may only ready and attack a unit once.
    3. A unit with Ambush still enters play exhausted like any other (non-leader) unit and cannot ready if there are no enemy units it can attack.
    4. The Ambush keyword resolves during the same window as any “When Played” abilities on the unit.
    5. An attack resulting from Ambush is resolved like any other attack, with all of the same steps. See 6.3. Attack With a Unit
    6. An attack resulting from Ambush resolves during the same turn the unit with Ambush entered play, as a nested action. If the active player chooses to resolve Ambush before other simultaneous triggered abilities, those other triggered abilities are not resolved until after the attack resulting from Ambush and any abilities triggered during the attack are resolved. See 7.6. Triggered Abilities
  6. Grit
    1. “Grit” is a keyword whose effect is the same as the constant ability: “This unit gets +1/+0 for each damage on it.”
    2. Multiple instances of Grit do not stack. If a unit gains Grit when it already has Grit, the unit’s power does not change.
    3. When a unit with Grit deals and is dealt damage simultaneously (i.e. during combat), the unit with Grit does not get increased power from the new damage until after all damage is dealt.
      
      For example: if a 2/2 unit with Grit and no damage is defending against a 1/3 attacker, the unit with Grit only deals 2 damage to the attacker for that combat, even though it takes 1 combat damage in return and ends combat with 3 power and 1 remaining HP.
    4. If an attacker has an ability where it deals combat damage before the defender and attacks a defender with Grit, that defender will receive increased power from Grit immediately and before it deals combat damage back to the attacker.
      
      For example: the active player plays Shoot First (SOR #217) and attacks with their Battlefield Marine (SOR #095), choosing their opponent’s Baze Malbus (SOR #065) as the defender. Battlefield Marine deals its combat damage first, so 4 damage is placed on Baze. Because he has Grit, Baze gets +4/+0, and he deals 6 combat damage back to Battlefield Marine, defeating it.
  7. Overwhelm
    1. “Overwhelm” is a keyword whose effect is the same as the constant ability: “While attacking, this unit deals its excess damage to the defending player’s base.”
      
      For example, if a unit with 5 power and Overwhelm attacks an enemy unit with 3 remaining HP, it defeats that unit and deals 2 damage to the enemy base.
    2. Multiple instances of Overwhelm do not stack.
    3. An attacker with Overwhelm deals combat damage to the defender and the enemy base simultaneously.
    4. When an attacker with Overwhelm deals excess damage to a base, it is considered to have dealt combat damage to the base, but it is not considered to have attacked that base.
    5. If an attacker with Overwhelm would deal combat damage to a defender that has a Shield token, the Shield token is defeated and no damage is dealt to the enemy base.
    6. If an attacker with Overwhelm does not defeat the defender while attacking, no damage is dealt to the enemy base.
    7. If the defender is defeated before an attacker with Overwhelm deals combat damage (e.g. by an “On Attack” ability), all of the attacker’s combat damage is considered excess damage and dealt to the enemy base, though the unit is not considered to have attacked that base.
  8. Raid X
    1. “Raid” is a keyword whose effect is the same as the constant ability: “While attacking, this unit gets +X power,” where X is the number following “Raid.”
    2. Multiple instances of Raid stack. If a unit gains Raid when it already has Raid, the numerals following each instance of Raid are added together, and when the unit attacks, it gets bonus power equal to the total value.
      
      For example, if a unit has Raid 1 from one source and gains Raid 2 from a different source, the unit is considered to have Raid 3, and will get +3/+0 while attacking.
    3. An attacker gets bonus power from Raid during an attack and loses the bonus power when the attack completes, for the same duration as “While this unit is attacking” abilities.
    4. If a unit gains or loses Raid during an attack, its power is immediately adjusted to match its current Raid value.
  9. Restore X
    1. “Restore” is a keyword whose effect is the same as the triggered ability: “On Attack: Heal X damage from your base,” where X is the number following “Restore.”
    2. Multiple instances of Restore stack. If a unit gains Restore when it already has Restore, the numerals following each instance of Restore are added together, and when the unit attacks it heals damage equal to the total value.
      
      For example, if a unit has Restore 1 from one source and gains Restore 2 from a different source, the unit is considered to have Restore 3, and will heal 3 damage from its controller’s base when attacking.
  10. Saboteur
    1. “Saboteur” is a keyword whose effect encompasses two abilities, a constant ability and a triggered ability. Saboteur’s effect is the same as the abilities: “This unit may ignore Sentinel when choosing what to attack” and “On Attack: Defeat all Shield tokens attached to the defender.”
    2. To “ignore” Sentinel means to determine the defender or base being attacked as if no enemy units in the attacker’s arena have Sentinel. Enemy units do not lose Sentinel while Sentinel is ignored.
  11. Sentinel
    1. “Sentinel” is a keyword whose effect is the same as the constant ability: “Units in this arena can’t attack your non-Sentinel units or your base. Abilities this unit gains can’t prevent this unit from being attacked.”
    2. When a player makes an attack, after exhausting the attacker, the player checks if there are any enemy units in the attacker’s arena with Sentinel. If there are one or more, the attacking player cannot choose a non-Sentinel unit as the defender (unless the attacker has Saboteur). If their opponent controls multiple units with Sentinel in that arena, the attacking player may choose any one of those units to be the defender.
    3. If the attacker has the Saboteur keyword, its controller ignores the Sentinel keyword on enemy units in the attacker’s arena, and may choose to attack any unit in the same arena or the opponent’s base. (Enemy units do not lose Sentinel while Sentinel is ignored.)
    4. If a unit has Sentinel and an ability where it “can’t be attacked,” Sentinel overrides that ability, and that unit can be attacked.
  12. Shielded
    1. When on a non-leader unit, “Shielded” is a keyword whose effect is the same as the triggered ability: “When Played: Give a Shield token to this unit.” When on a leader unit, “Shielded” is a keyword whose effect is the same as to the triggered ability: “When Deployed: Give a Shield token to this unit.”
    2. Shielded resolves in the same window as any “When Played” abilities on the unit.
6. TRIGGERED ABILITIES
  1. Triggered abilities have bold text indicating their triggering condition, starting with the word “When” or “On”, followed by a colon and an effect. Examples of triggered abilities are “When Played,” “When Defeated,” and “On Attack” abilities.
  2. If a triggered ability has a forward slash (‘/’) separating multiple triggering conditions, the ability triggers for each of those conditions. For example, an ability with a “When Played/When Defeated” condition triggers both when the card it is on is played and when the card is defeated.
  3. For a triggered ability to resolve, the card with the ability must be in play when the triggering condition occurs, unless the ability specifies that it can be triggered from an out-of-play zone. Additionally, the triggered ability must resolve once triggered, even if the card with the ability leaves play before the triggered ability resolves.
    
    For example, “When Defeated” abilities on a card trigger when the card is put into a discard pile from play. The card is in the discard pile, an-out of-play zone, when the ability resolves.
  4. Triggered abilities on a unit still trigger if the unit is defeated by the action that triggers the ability (though they only resolve after the action has finished resolving). Triggered abilities on a unit that trigger when other units are defeated still trigger if that unit is defeated simultaneously to the other units.
  5. A triggered ability is considered to resolve during the same turn or game step that it was triggered.
  6. Resolving a triggered ability is not the same as taking an action. A player can resolve a triggered ability outside of their turn.
  7. A triggered ability must resolve once its triggering condition is met unless the ability uses the phrase “you may.” Once triggered, these abilities must resolve at the next available opportunity.
  8. If an ability triggers during or as the result of a non-attack action, resolve that ability at the next available opportunity after that action is fully completed. If an ability triggers during an attack, resolve that ability at the appropriate timing point within that attack. Resolving a triggered ability never interrupts an action or ability that is currently resolving (other than the specified timing points during an attack). See 6.3. Attack With a Unit
  9. If a player must resolve multiple triggered abilities on cards they control at the same time, that player chooses the order in which to resolve those abilities.
  10. If both players must resolve triggered abilities on cards they control at the same time, the active player chooses one player at a time to resolve abilities. When chosen, that player resolves all abilities triggered on cards they control in the order of their choice, and once they finish, the other player does the same on cards they control.
    
    For example, if the active player Addy defeats Benji’s unit with an attack, and Addy then has 1 triggered ability to resolve while Benji has 2, Addy chooses whether she resolves her 1 ability first, or Benji resolves his 2 first. Addy can only choose which player resolves their abilities first; she cannot choose the order in which Benji resolves his 2 abilities.
  11. While resolving one triggered ability, if new abilities are triggered, the new abilities—also known as a “nested abilities”—must be resolved before any other abilities triggered at the same time as the first ability.
  12. Nested Abilities and Nested Actions
    1. A nested ability occurs when resolving one triggered ability causes a new ability to trigger; this new ability is a “nested ability.”
    2. A nested action occurs when the resolution of an ability causes the player to take a specific type of action (e.g. “Play a Card” or “Attack With a Unit”); this is a “nested action.” A nested action is resolved as though the controlling player took the corresponding action, and it must be performed as completely as possible.
    3. Any abilities triggered before a nested ability or nested action is triggered must be put on hold until the nested ability or nested action resolves.
    4. Any abilities triggered during or as a result of a nested ability are likewise nested abilities, and must be resolved before other on- hold abilities.
    5. Any abilities triggered during or as a result of a nested action resolve at the appropriate timing point within that action, and must be resolved before other on-hold abilities.
    6. If an ability creates multiple nested actions (e.g. “Attack with two units,” “Play three cards”), resolve each nested action sequentially.
    7. After a nested ability or nested action is finished, players continue resolving any remaining triggered abilities that were put on hold.
      
      For example, Mimi has Fighters for Freedom (SOR #143) in play, and uses the Epic Action ability on Energy Conversion Lab (SOR #22) to play Sabine Wren (SOR #142) and give her Ambush. Both the triggered ability on Fighters for Freedom and the Ambush ability on Sabine are pending. If Mimi chooses to resolve Sabine’s Ambush first, she will create a “nested action” in the form of an attack. Mimi must then complete the attack and resolve any abilities triggered during that attack as they occur, including Sabine’s On Attack ability. Only once the attack (including any new triggered abilities) is finished resolving does Mimi resolve the triggered ability on Fighters for Freedom.
  13. When Played
    1. Some triggered abilities are indicated with “When Played” in bold, followed by a colon and an effect. These abilities trigger when the card they’re on is played and resolve after the card’s cost is paid and it is put into play.
    2. “When Played” abilities, Ambush, and Shielded all resolve in the same timing window, in the order that the card’s controller chooses.
  14. When Defeated
    1. Some triggered abilities are indicated with “When Defeated” in bold, followed by a colon and an effect. These abilities trigger when the card they’re on is defeated and resolve after the card is removed from play and placed in its owner’s discard pile.
    2. A card’s “When Defeated” ability is resolved by the player that controlled the card when it was defeated.
  15. On Attack
    1. Some triggered abilities are indicated with “On Attack” in bold, followed by a colon and an effect. “On Attack“ abilities are resolved when the unit they’re on attacks, before that unit deals combat damage.
    2. If an “On Attack“ ability deals damage, that damage is not considered to be combat damage.
7. EFFECTS
  1. An effect is a non-cost part of a card ability that has the potential to change the game state. Some effects resolve separately from the ability that created them, or replace the standard resolution of the ability that created them.
  2. Though there are many different effects in the game, there are three types of effects that require additional rules clarifications: lasting effects, delayed effects, and replacement effects.
  3. Lasting Effects
    1. A lasting effect is a part of an ability that affects the game for a specified duration of time. Most lasting effects include the phrase “for this phase” or “for this attack.”
      
      Examples of lasting effects include: “It gets +3/+0 for this attack,” (Surprise Strike, SOR #220) and “Bases can’t be healed for this phase” (Wolffe, SOR #160).
    2. A lasting effect persists beyond the resolution of the ability that created it and for the duration specified by the ability, even if the ability that created the effect was on a card that left play.
    3. Multiple lasting effects can apply to the same unit at the same time. If a new lasting effect conflicts with an existing lasting effect, the new effect takes precedence.
      
      For example, Rielle plays Gladiator Star Destroyer (SOR #086), using its ability to give a ground unit Sentinel for this phase. If her opponent then plays SpecForce Soldier (SOR #140) to make the same ground unit lose Sentinel for this phase, the unit no longer has Sentinel.
    4. By default, a lasting effect only applies to a card that’s in play at the time of the lasting effect’s creation. For a lasting effect to affect a card in an out-of-play zone, the ability that created that effect must explicitly state so.
      
      For example, Rallying Cry (SOR #154) gives each friendly unit Raid 2 for the phase. Only friendly units that were in play when Rallying Cry was played get Raid 2 for the phase; any units that enter play after this time do not get Raid 2.
    5. Lasting effects expire immediately at the end of their specified duration. All lasting effects that expire at the same timing window expire simultaneously.
  4. Delayed Effects
    1. A delayed effect is created when a card ability indicates a future timing point or a future condition that may arise and an effect that will happen at that time.
      
      Examples of delayed effects include: “At the start of the regroup phase, draw 1 card” and “The next card you play this phase costs 1 less.”
    2. Delayed effects resolve automatically and immediately after their specified timing point or future condition occurs, before any other abilities triggered by that timing point or condition.
    3. Once created, a delayed effect will resolve at the specified timing point or condition, even if the ability that created it was on a card that left play.
    4. When a delayed effect resolves, it is not treated as a new triggered ability, even if the delayed effect was originally created by a triggered ability.
  5. Replacement Effects (Instead, Would)
    1. A replacement effect occurs when the standard resolution of a triggering condition or ability is replaced with an alternate resolution. This alternate resolution is the “replacement effect.”
    2. Replacement effects are indicated by the words “instead” or “would.”
      
      For example, Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight (SOR #51) has the ability, “When Played: Give an enemy unit -3/-3 for this phase. If a friendly unit was defeated this phase, give that enemy unit -6/-6 for this phase instead.” The standard resolution of this ability is giving an enemy unit -3/-3 for the phase, and its replacement effect is giving the unit -6/-6 instead of -3/-3. The replacement effect resolves if the condition—a friendly unit being defeated that phase—is met.
      
      For another example, the text box on a Shield token reads as: “If damage would be dealt to attached unit, prevent that damage. If you do, defeat a Shield token on it.” The standard resolution is damage being dealt to the unit, while the replacement effect is the Shield being removed and no damage being dealt to the unit.
  6. A replacement effect must be resolved immediately upon its condition being met, unless the effect uses the phrase “you may.”
  7. When a replacement effect resolves, the standard resolution of the ability does not resolve and is ignored. In such a case, abilities can only trigger off of the replacement effect, and not the standard resolution of the ability.
  8. If multiple replacement effects are triggered by the same condition, the player that controls the cards with the replacement effects chooses which effect(s) to resolve. If both players have one or more replacement effects triggered by the same condition, the controller of the affected object or the affected player chooses to resolve effects in any order until the condition no longer applies.
ADDITIONAL RULES
1. ASPECT PENALTY
  1. The aspect penalty is a special modifier to a card’s cost. When a player attempts to play a card with aspect icons beyond those provided by that player’s leader and/or base, the player incurs the aspect penalty, and must pay 2 additional resources for each icon beyond those provided. If the player cannot pay these additional resources along with other costs, they cannot play the card.
    
    For example, a player that has a leader with and icons and a base with a icon could play any cards with 1 , , and/or icon without paying additional resources. If that player attempted to play a card with 1 icon, they’d have to pay 2 additional resources for that card, and if they attempted to play a card with and , they’d have to pay 4 additional resources for that card.
  2. Each aspect icon depicted on a leader or base provides only 1 icon of the given type. In order to play a card that has 2 of the same type of aspect icon without incurring the aspect penalty, the player’s leader and base must each have an icon of that type.
    
    For example, Luke Skywalker, Faithful Friend (SOR #236) provides only 1 icon and 1 icon. If Luke’s player wants to play Protector (SOR #41)—a card with 2 icons-but doesn’t want to incur the aspect penalty, Luke’s player must build their deck using a base that provides a second icon, such as Capital City (SOR #20).
  3. If an ability instructs a player to play a card “for free,” the player bypasses all modifiers to that card’s cost, including the aspect penalty, and does not pay any resources to play that card. The player must still pay any additional non-resource costs of the card.
2. “ATTACKS AND DEFEATS”
  1. If an ability has the triggering condition “When this unit attacks and defeats a unit,” it only triggers if the defender is defeated during the attack. Defeating other units during the attack does not trigger the ability.
3. ATTRIBUTE
  1. An attribute is a part of a card’s anatomy. Attributes include a card’s name, subtitle, card type, arena type, cost, aspect(s), power, power modifier, HP, HP modifier, trait(s), and text box. A card’s attributes can be modified through upgrades and abilities. See 2. Card Anatomy
4. “CAN” AND “CAN’T”
  1. When “can” is used in a card ability, that ability adjusts or overrides a default rule of play. The player controlling a card with such an ability is able to choose whether to use that ability in the way specified or follow the default rule of play instead.
    
    For example, by default space units are unable attack ground units. However, Strafing Gunship (SOR #212) has an ability that states, “This unit can attack units in the ground arena.” The “can” in the ability means that Strafing Gunship is able to do something that another space unit without the ability cannot do. That said, Strafing Gunship is still able to attack other space units, which is a default rule of play for space units. Its controller gets to choose which type of unit Strafing Gunship attacks.
  2. When “can’t” is used in a card ability, that ability adjusts or overrides a default rule of play. The player controlling a card with such an ability must follow that ability over the default rule of play.
  3. Restrictive abilities override permissive abilities. If an ability with the word “may” or “can” directly contradicts an ability that uses the word “can’t”, then the ability that uses “can’t” takes precedence.
    
    For example, if an ability that was in effect stated that a unit “can attack a base this phase,” but a different ability that was in effect stated that unit “can’t attack bases,” the ability with “can’t” takes precedence, and the unit couldn’t attack a base that phase.
5. CHOOSE
  1. When an ability instructs a player to “choose” a game object, they must choose a game object that matches the criteria specified by the ability.
  2. If instructed to “choose a unit,” that unit must be in play when resolving the ability, unless otherwise specified.
  3. If instructed to “choose a player,” either player in the game can be chosen, including the player resolving the ability.
  4. Some event abilities instruct a player to “choose” a number of options from a bulleted list. When resolving these abilities, the player must choose a different bulleted option each time.
  5. When an ability instructs a player to deal a number of damage “divided as you choose” among eligible cards, the player chooses how much damage is placed on each eligible card, up to the number specified. The player must deal all damage specified by the ability, and can deal damage in excess of a card’s remaining HP. All damage dealt is applied simultaneously.
6. COPY
  1. A card is considered a “copy” of another card if both cards have all of the same printed attributes: the same name, subtitle, uniqueness, card type, arena type, cost, aspect(s), trait(s), power or power modifier, HP or HP modifier, and abilities. Disregard any reminder text when evaluating whether two cards are “copies” of one another.
  2. A card may have the same name as another card, but otherwise have one or more different printed attributes; these cards are not considered copies of each other.
  3. Printed attributes are what determine if a card is a copy of another card. Ignore any modifiers, abilities, or effects applied to a card when determining if it is a copy of another card.
  4. Whenever a card leaves and later re-enters play, it is considered a “new copy” of that card for the purposes of game rules and does not regain any modifiers or reapply any effects from when it was previously in play. It continues to be considered a new copy even if it changes zones.
    
    For example, Regional Governor (SOR #062) has an ability that says “When Played: Name a card. While this unit is in play, opponents can’t play the named card.” If Regional Governor is defeated and later replayed from the discard pile, its “When Played” ability would trigger again, but it would not resume preventing opponents from playing the originally chosen card.
  5. A player may have up to 3 copies of any non-leader, non-base card in their deck, regardless of if that card is unique or not.
  6. A player can only control 1 copy of each unique card at a given time. If a player ever has more than one copy of a unique card in play under their control at a given time, they must immediately defeat one of them. (This occurs before resolving any abilities that trigger when the new copy enters play.) The player still resolves any abilities that trigger upon the copy being defeated in this way, such as any “When Defeated” abilities on it. If a new copy with a “When Played” ability enters play and is immediately defeated, the ability is still triggered.
  7. A player may control any number of copies of a non-unique card at a given time.
7. EMPTY DECK
  1. If a player runs out of cards in their deck, they continue playing with the cards they have in play and in hand. If a player would draw a card from their empty deck, they instead deal 3 damage to their base for each card they would draw.
    
    For example, if a player with an empty deck would draw 2 cards during the regroup phase, they instead deal 6 damage to their base.
  2. If an ability would cause a player to shuffle, discard, search, reveal, or look at cards from an empty deck, they ignore that part of the ability.
8. ENTERS PLAY
  1. A unit enters play when it moves from an out-of-play zone to an in-play zone.
  2. Leaders never enter play, as they begin the game in play and cannot leave play.
  3. Whenever a card enters play, it is considered a “new copy” of that card.
9. FIRST
  1. Abilities that refer to the “first” occurrence in a phase or round (e.g. “The first event played this phase”) always refer to the very first occurrence in that phase or round, not the first after an ability becomes active. Abilities that affect the “first” occurrence in a phase or round do not apply their effects retroactively if they become active after the first occurrence has already taken place.
10. “IF YOU DO”
  1. Some abilities use the phrase “if you do.” In order to resolve the text following “if you do,” the text preceding “if you do” must be resolved in full. Additionally, the text following “if you do” must resolve if the text preceding “if you do” is resolved in full.
    
    For example, ISB Agent (SOR #176) has an ability that reads, “When Played: You may reveal an event from your hand. If you do, deal 1 damage to a unit.” If Evan controls ISB Agent, he can choose to resolve the ability and deal 1 damage by revealing an event from his hand. He must have an event in his hand to do this, and he must reveal it before dealing 1 damage. If he doesn’t reveal an event, he doesn’t deal damage.
11. IGNORE
  1. If a player is instructed to “ignore” a keyword ability, they treat that ability as inactive, as specified by the “ignore” effect.
    
    For example, the Saboteur keyword instructs the player to “ignore” the Sentinel keyword. An attacking unit with Saboteur is unaffected by an opponent’s unit with Sentinel in its arena; it may attack either a non-Sentinel unit in that arena controlled by that opponent, or that opponent’s base.
  2. If a player is instructed to “ignore” the aspect penalty for a card, they pay the cost of the card without adding an aspect penalty. The card is still considered to have those aspect icons while the aspect penalty is ignored, which may trigger other abilities that depend on aspects. If any other additional costs are being applied to that card, the player still pays those additional costs.
    
    For example, the leader card Hera Syndulla, Spectre Two (SOR #008) has the following ability on both sides: “Ignore the aspect penalty on SPECTRE cards you play.” When Hera’s owner plays a SPECTRE-traited card with aspect icons that don’t match the icons on Hera or their base, they do not incur the aspect penalty. They must still pay the card’s cost, including any other additional costs.
12. LAST KNOWN INFORMATION
  1. “Last known information” is information about a card that’s no longer in play, accounting for the controller of the card and modifiers applied to that card immediately before it left play. Last known information is used primarily when resolving a “When Defeated” ability on a card that left play.
    
    For example, if a unit had a “When Defeated” ability that dealt damage equal to its power to a base, the damage dealt by the ability would account for any modifiers to that unit’s power at the time the ability was triggered.
13. LEAVES PLAY
  1. A unit leaves play when it moves from an in-play zone to an out-of-play zone. Defeating a unit or returning a unit to hand from play both cause the unit to leave play. If a unit leaves play, any upgrades attached to it are defeated, but lasting or delayed effects from its abilities remain active.
  2. Leaders can never leave play. If a leader would leave play for any reason, it is returned to the base zone exhausted.
14. LOOK AT
  1. When a player is instructed to “look at” cards from a specific zone, the player picks up those cards and views them, keeping them secret from other players. The player cannot change the order of those cards. After viewing, the player returns the cards to the zone in the same order and orientation (faceup or facedown) as they were previously, unless otherwise specified.
  2. Looked-at cards are not considered to leave the zone they were originally in, unless otherwise specified.
15. LOSE, LOSES
  1. 1. If an ability causes a unit to “lose” a keyword, the unit ceases to have the specified keyword and any abilities granting it that keyword when the “‘lose” effect is resolved cease granting the keyword for the duration of the “lose” effect. Unless otherwise specified, the unit can regain that keyword through new effects.
    
    For example, Samir plays SpecForce Soldier (SOR #140), which has the ability “When Played: A unit loses Sentinel for this phase.” Samir chooses to have Devi’s System Patrol Craft (SOR #066) lose Sentinel for the phase. Devi can then play Protector (SOR #057) on her System Patrol Craft to give it Sentinel again.
  2. If an ability causes a card to “lose all abilities,” the card ceases to have any abilities, including abilities given to it by other cards, for the duration of the “lose” effect. Unless otherwise specified, the card can still gain abilities through new effects.
16. MODIFIERS
  1. A “modifier” refers to a change of a printed value on a card through an ability applied to that card or an upgrade attached to that card. When a modifier is applied to a printed value, it creates a modified value, which in turn is used when resolving abilities or actions that depend on that value.
    
    An example of a modifier is “Give a unit +1/+1 for this phase,” which modifies a unit’s power and HP until the end of the phase.
  2. When calculating a modified value, start with the printed value, then apply any modifiers that increase that value before any modifiers that decrease that value.
  3. Modifiers are cumulative. Any time a new modifier is applied to a value, the value is recalculated immediately, accounting for the printed value and all active modifiers.
  4. A value cannot be modified below 0. If a value would be modified below 0, treat that value as 0 instead. However, any new modifiers applied after a value is treated as 0 will still account for any previous modifiers applied to that value.
    
    For example, Keith plays Make an Opening (SOR #076) and gives his opponent’s Cantina Braggart (SOR #157) -2/-2 for the phase. Cantina Braggart’s printed power is 0, and though its power was modified by -2, its power is still treated as 0. If Keith’s opponent then attacks with Cantina Braggart, its Raid 2 gives it +2/+0, but the -2/-2 applied to it that phase is still accounted for, and Cantina Braggart attacks with 0 total power.
  5. Modifying Cost
    1. A card’s cost can be modified through abilities. Any modifiers to a card’s cost must be applied when paying for the cost of the card; if the player cannot pay the card’s modified cost, they cannot play that card.
    2. Modifiers to a card’s cost are only applied while a card is being played. At any other point in time, the card’s cost is equal to its printed value. See 6.2. Play A Card
    3. The aspect penalty is a special modifier to a card’s cost. When a player attempts to play a card with aspect icons beyond those provided by that player’s leader and/or base, the player incurs the aspect penalty and must pay 2 additional resources for each icon beyond those provided.
    4. Abilities that instruct a player to play a card “for free” bypass any modifiers to that card’s cost, including the aspect penalty. They must still pay any additional non-resource costs applied to the card.
    5. If an ability affects a card with a specific “cost,” that ability only refers to the printed cost of the card. It does not take into account any modifiers to the card’s cost as it was played.
      
      For example, the Chewbacca, Walking Carpet (SOR #003) leader has an action ability allowing his controller to play a unit that costs 3 or less from their hand and give it Sentinel. An eligible card for this ability is one that has a printed cost of 3 or less, not accounting for any modifiers that would be applied to that card as it is being played. Say Chewbacca’s controller intends to play Death Trooper (SOR #033), knowing they will incur an aspect penalty of 2 resources when playing it. They may exhaust Chewbacca, reveal Death Trooper, and pay its modified cost of 5 resources, then put it into play and give it Sentinel. This is allowed because abilities that check costs only account for a card’s printed cost, not its modified cost nor how many resources were spent on the card.
  6. Modifying Power
    1. A unit’s power can be modified through upgrades or abilities.
    2. Modifiers to a card’s power only apply to the card while it is in play. If the card leaves play, it loses any modifiers to its power. However, when resolving a “When Defeated” ability on such a card, use that card’s last known power value for that ability.
    3. An upgrade modifies the attached unit’s power as long as the upgrade is attached to that unit. If multiple upgrades are attached to a unit, each upgrade cumulatively modifies the unit’s power.
  7. Modifying HP
    1. A unit’s HP can be modified through upgrades or abilities.
    2. When determining a card’s remaining HP, subtract the damage on that card from its modified HP. If its remaining HP is 0 or less, that card is defeated.
    3. Modifiers to a card’s HP only apply to the card while it is in play. If the card leaves play, it loses any modifiers to its HP.
    4. An upgrade modifies the attached unit’s HP as long as the upgrade is attached to that unit. If multiple upgrades are attached to a unit, each upgrade cumulatively modifies the unit’s HP.
    5. If the removal of an upgrade or the expiration of an effect causes a unit’s remaining HP to be 0 or less, immediately defeat that unit.
17. “MUST”
  1. If a card ability states that an effect “must” happen or a specific choice “must” be made, the player has to resolve the ability as specified, as much as they are able.
  2. If a card ability with the word “must” directly contradicts a card ability that uses the word “can”, then the ability that uses “must” takes precedence.
    
    For example if an ability that was in effect stated that a unit “can ready and attack an enemy unit this round,” but a different ability that was in effect stated that the unit “must attack a base for its next attack this round,” the ability with “must” takes precedence and the unit only would be allowed to attack a base for the round.
  3. If a card ability with the word “must” directly contradicts a card ability that uses the word “can’t”, then the ability that uses “can’t” takes precedence.
    
    For example, if an ability in effect stated that a unit “must attack a base this round,” but a different ability in effect stated that unit “can’t attack bases,” the ability with “can’t” takes precedence, and the unit cannot attack a base.
18. NAME A CARD
  1. If an ability instructs a player to “name a card,” that player clearly indicates the name of any card in Star Wars: Unlimited (such as by saying its name out loud), and applies the rest of the ability to any cards with that name in the game. These abilities do not account for subtitles; the player does not need to specify a subtitle when naming a card.
19. OTHER, ANOTHER
  1. A card with an ability that uses “other” or “another” cannot apply the effects of its ability to itself.
    
    For example, Bail Organa (SOR #094) has an action ability that gives an Experience token to “another” friendly unit. Bail’s controller cannot use this ability to give Bail the Experience; they must give the Experience to a different friendly unit.
  2. An ability may use “other” or “another” to separate the first card it affects from a different card that it affects.
    
    For example, Overwhelming Barrage (SOR #092) is an event that gives a friendly unit +2/+2 for the phase, and deals damage to any number of “other” units. The “other” in this ability means that the damage cannot be applied to the friendly unit given +2/+2.
20. PLAY RESTRICTIONS
  1. A play restriction is a condition that prevents a card from being played. Play restrictions are checked before paying the costs to play a card.
  2. The phrase “attach to” is a play restriction found on some upgrades, indicating a specific type of unit that’s eligible for that upgrade. If there is no eligible unit in play for the upgrade to attach to, the upgrade cannot be played.
    
    For example, Jedi Lightsaber (SOR #054) is an upgrade that has a play restriction: “Attach to a non-VEHICLE unit.” In order to play Jedi Lightsaber, there must be an eligible unit in play for it to attach to, which is any unit without the VEHICLE trait. If there are no units in play without the VEHICLE trait, Jedi Lightsaber cannot be played.
  3. The phrase “can’t play” is a play restriction used in certain card abilities. A player cannot play the specified type of card for as long as the ability is in effect.
    
    For example, Regional Governor (SOR #062) has the ability: “Name a card. While this unit is in play, opponents can’t play the named card.” This ability is a play restriction that prevents opponents from playing the named card while Regional Governor is in play.
21. PREVENT (DAMAGE)
  1. If an ability “prevents damage” from being dealt to a unit or base, do not place any damage counters on that unit or base. Damage is not considered dealt to that unit or base, and abilities that would trigger when damage is dealt don’t trigger.
22. PRINTED
  1. “Printed” is a term used in rules text to refer to an attribute physically printed on a card to differentiate that attribute from modifiers, abilities, and effects applied to the card. This term is used for rules clarification purposes, such as when explaining the steps of modifying a card’s cost.
23. RANDOM
  1. When you must choose randomly from a set of options or cards, any method agreed upon by both players is acceptable, so long as each option has an equal likelihood of being chosen by the method (such as flipping a coin to decide between two options).
24. REFERENTIAL ABILITIES
  1. A referential ability is an ability that refers to a specific card by name.
  2. Most referential abilities have an effect that occurs if a player controls a card with the specified name. A referential ability only accounts for the name of the card, and does not account for that card’s subtitle or card type.
    
    For example, Emperor’s Royal Guard (SOR #082) has the ability: “While you control Emperor Palpatine, this unit gets +0/+1.” This ability will give the Emperor’s Royal Guard increased HP if its controller also controls Emperor Palpatine as a leader or a unit.
  3. Some upgrades have referential abilities that specify an effect that occurs if the attached unit is the named unit. Such an upgrade can be attached to a unit that isn’t the named unit, but the part of the ability that references the named unit won’t resolve.
    
    For example, Vader’s Lightsaber (SOR #136) has a “When Played” ability: “If attached unit is Darth Vader, you may deal 4 damage to a ground unit.” A player can attach Vader’s Lightsaber to a non-VEHICLE unit other than Darth Vader, but they will only be able to deal the 4 damage if the attached unit is Darth Vader.
25. RETURN
  1. Some card abilities will “return” a specific type of card to its owner’s hand. By default, only cards that are in play can be returned this way; an ability must specify if it is returning a card from an out-of-play zone in order to do so. A card need not have been in a hand previously in order to be returned to a hand.
    
    For example, an ability that reads, “Return a non-leader unit to its owner’s hand,” can only return a unit that’s in play to its owner’s hand; the ability cannot return a unit from another zone. However, an ability that reads, “Return a unit from your discard pile to your hand,” specifically returns a unit from the discard pile.
  2. A card that is returned from play to its owner’s hand is not considered to have been defeated.
26. REVEAL
  1. To “reveal” a card means to show the faceup side of the card to both players. Abilities can cause a player to reveal cards from their deck, hand, or resource zone.
  2. When a player must reveal one or more cards from their hand, they choose which cards to reveal that match the ability’s specifications.
  3. A revealed card is not considered to have left the zone it was revealed from unless otherwise specified.
  4. Once a reveal ability has been resolved, return any revealed cards to their respective zones, in the same orientation as they were before being revealed. If a card was considered hidden information before being revealed, it is considered hidden information again.
  5. If a player revealed a card to their opponent, the opponent cannot ask to view that card again once the card has returned to its zone and previous orientation. The opponent can only view that card if another ability causes the card to be revealed, or if that card is later faceup.
27. SEARCH
  1. When an ability instructs a player to “search” their deck, that player views a certain number of cards from their deck to find one or more cards with a specified attribute. The player reveals the card(s) they intend to choose and returns the other cards to their deck as specified below. The ability then instructs the player on what to do with the card(s) they have chosen. The player may also choose to resolve the ability as though no appropriate card was found.
  2. If an ability searches the top X cards of a player’s deck, after searching, the player puts any cards not chosen with the ability on the bottom of their deck in a random order. If an ability searches a player’s entire deck, after searching, they shuffle their deck.
  3. While searching, players must keep searched cards hidden from their opponent.
  4. If multiple cards have the attribute specified by the search, the player may choose which card(s) to use to satisfy the ability.
  5. If no cards have the attribute specified by the search, the player still resolves as much of the ability as possible.
  6. A player is not required to reveal hidden information in order to resolve a search ability. That player still must do as much as they can when resolving such an ability, up to the point of hidden information being revealed.
  7. Searched cards are not considered to leave the deck while searching. Cards chosen by a search are considered to be in the deck zone (but no longer in the deck) until they are put into a different zone by drawing, discarding, or playing them.
28. TAKE CONTROL
  1. If an ability instructs a player to “take control” of a card, that player will become that card’s controller, and remain so until either that card leaves play or their opponent takes control of that card. If the card is a unit, it maintains its ready or exhausted status and keeps all damage counters on it. All upgrades attached to it remain attached and keep their original controllers. Its new controller orients it in its arena to face them.
  2. When a unit is defeated, it is placed in its owner’s discard pile, but any “When Defeated” abilities are resolved by whichever player controlled it when it was defeated.
29. “THEN”
  1. If an ability contains two effects separated by “then,” the ability is resolved by resolving the first effect, followed by resolving the second effect. If the first effect can be resolved, it must be resolved as completely as possible before the effect following “then” can be resolved. If the first effect cannot be resolved, the second effect is still resolved.
    
    For example, Heroic Sacrifice (SOR #150) has the text: “Draw a card, then attack with a unit.” The player resolving the ability must draw the card, or attempt to draw the card, before making the attack.
  2. Any abilities triggered by either effect are not resolved until both effects finish resolving. See 7.6. Triggered Abilities
30. UNIQUE, UNIQUE ICON (⟡)
  1. A unique card is indicated with a unique icon () before the card’s name. Unique cards represent iconic characters, objects, or ships in the Star Wars universe. “Uniqueness” refers to whether or not a card is unique.
  2. Each unique card has a subtitle to differentiate it from other unique cards with the same name.
  3. If a unique card has all of the same printed attributes as another unique card, it is considered a “copy” of that card and vice versa; but if one unique card has one or more different printed attributes from another unique card, it is not a “copy” of that card. See 8.6. Copy
    
    For example, Luke Skywalker, Faithful Friend (SOR #005) and Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight (SOR #051) are not considered to be “copies” of each other; each has multiple different printed attributes, including different costs, subtitles, and abilities. A player can have both of these cards under their control at the same time.
  4. A player can only control one copy of each unique card at a given time. If a player ever has more than one copy of a unique card in play under their control at a given time, they must defeat one of them. Defeating one of the copies occurs immediately and is not a triggered ability. The player still must resolve any abilities that trigger upon either copy being played or defeated.
  5. The unique copy limit only refers to unique cards in play, and does not affect cards in a player’s hand, deck, discard pile, or resource zone.
  6. The unique copy limit is player-specific. A player and their opponent can each control a copy of the same unique card at the same time.
31. UP TO
  1. When resolving an ability that uses the phrase “up to X” (where X is some number), the player chooses any integer between 0 and X to resolve the ability with.
  2. If a player is instructed to “defeat up to X” cards, but they defeat 0, they are not considered to have defeated any cards.
  3. If a player is instructed to “deal up to X damage,” but they deal 0 damage, they are not considered to have dealt any damage.
  4. If a player is instructed to “heal up to X,” but they heal 0, they are not considered to have healed any damage.
  5. If a player is instructed to “attack with up to X units,” but they attack with 0, they are not considered to have made any attacks.
32. YOU
  1. Whenever a card refers to “you,” it refers to its controller.
  2. If a triggered ability’s condition references when “you” do something, such as “When you deal damage,” it refers to any cards you control or abilities you resolve.
33. “YOU MAY”
  1. If an ability uses “you may,” a player may choose whether or not to resolve the ability in the way specified following “you may.” If the player chooses to resolve the text following “you may,” they must resolve as much of it as possible.
  2. Some abilities with “you may” are followed by the phrase “if you do.” If the player resolves the “you may” part of the ability in full, the player must then resolve the “if you do” part of the ability as well. If they don’t resolve the former in full, they ignore the latter.
    
    For example, ISB Agent (SOR #176) has an ability that reads, “When Played: You may reveal an event from your hand. If you do, deal 1 damage to a unit.” If Evan controls ISB Agent, he can choose to resolve the ability and deal 1 damage by revealing an event from his hand. He must have an event in his hand to do this, and he must reveal it before dealing 1 damage. If he doesn’t reveal an event, he doesn’t deal damage.
  3. Some abilities with “you may” are followed by the phrase “Use this ability only once each round.” If a player chooses to resolve the text following “you may,” they may not choose to resolve that text again that round, even if the ability is triggered again. The ability is only considered “used” if the player resolving the ability chooses to resolve the text following “you may.”
    
    For example, Agent Kallus (SOR #115) has an ability that reads, “When another unique unit is defeated: You may draw a card. Use this ability only once each round.” If Saoirse controls Agent Kallus when another unique unit is defeated, she can choose to resolve the ability and draw a card. If she does, she cannot use the ability again until the next round. If she chooses not to draw a card, she may choose to resolve the ability and draw a card when a different unique unit is defeated later in the same round.
TWO-PLAYER CONSTRUCTED FORMATS
1. GENERAL
  1. Star Wars: Unlimited can be played using several different game formats. A game format is defined by its player count and deckbuilding method. This section describes two-player constructed formats.
  2. A “constructed” deckbuilding format is any format in which players build decks ahead of time from cards in their collection.
  3. Unless otherwise specified, all rules in the Comprehensive Rules apply to all constructed formats.
2. PREMIER FORMAT
  1. General
    1. The premier format is a two-player constructed format. Two-player starter decks follow the premier format.
  2. Deckbuilding
    1. A premier deck must include:
      - Exactly 1 leader
      - Exactly 1 base
      - A minimum of 50 other cards (consisting of units, events, and upgrades)
    2. A premier deck cannot include more than 3 copies of any unit, event, or upgrade.
LIMITED FORMATS
1. GENERAL
  1. Star Wars: Unlimited can be played using several different game formats. A game format is defined by its player count and deckbuilding method. This section describes the following limited formats: sealed and draft.
  2. A “limited” deckbuilding format is any format where each player in a group builds a deck using cards they receive opening packs from a common cardpool.
  3. Unless otherwise specified, all rules in the Comprehensive Rules apply to all limited formats.
2. SEALED FORMAT
  1. General
    1. The sealed format is a limited format in which each player in a group opens six booster packs from a single Star Wars: Unlimited set and uses those cards to build a deck.
  2. Deckbuilding
    1. A sealed deck must include:
      - Exactly 1 leader
      - Exactly 1 base
      - A minimum of 30 other cards (consisting of units, events, and upgrades)
    2. A player may use any one of the six leaders that they opened in their packs for their deck.
    3. A player may use any base they opened in their packs for their deck, or they may use any Common-rarity base with 30 HP and no ability that they own or borrow.
    4. There is no limit to the number of copies of a single card (non-leader, non-base) that a player may include in their deck. If a player obtains four or more copies of the same card in their packs, they may include all of those copies.
3. DRAFT FORMAT
  1. General
    1. The draft format is a limited format in which each player in a group opens three booster packs from a single Star Wars: Unlimited set and drafts their contents (as explained below). Once all cards have been drafted, each player creates a deck using their drafted cards.
  2. Drafting Clarifications
    1. A player “drafts” cards by viewing a group of cards, choosing one to keep in their “draft pool,” then passing the remaining cards to the next player in sequence. Each time a player passes a group of cards, they also receive a group of cards. Players continue this sequence—viewing, choosing, and passing—until no more cards can be passed.
    2. Single-sided cards being drafted must be kept hidden from other players. When a player is viewing a group of cards, they cannot show those cards to other players. When a player passes a group of cards to another player, they pass those cards facedown in a stack, near that other player but separate from either player’s draft pool. Double-sided leader cards cannot be placed facedown, and are considered public knowledge during a draft. A player may ask to view another player’s drafted leaders at any time.
    3. A player’s “draft pool” consists of the cards they selected during the drafting process. Each player must keep the cards in their draft pool facedown (except for leader cards) and separate from other players’ draft pools. Each player may view the cards in their draft pool at any time during the drafting process, but may not mix them with the cards they’re drafting nor show them to any other players. After drafting, each player builds a deck using the cards in their draft pool.
    4. One end of a Star Wars: Unlimited booster pack has a double-sided leader card, while the other has a card back. When first opening a booster pack for a draft, look for the leader card, and do not view any other cards in the pack until instructed.
    5. Tokens and Common-rarity bases are not drafted. They are set aside after leaders are drafted, but before other cards are drafted.
    6. A player may draft any card and does not need to choose cards that match the aspects of their drafted leaders (though that may result in having to pay the aspect penalty if they include those cards in their deck).
  3. Steps of a Draft
    1. Drafting Leaders
      - Each participating player starts with three unopened packs from one Star Wars: Unlimited set.
      - Each player partially opens each of their three packs, taking care to remove just the leader card on top of each pack and not to look at any other cards in those packs.
      - Each player chooses one of the leaders to keep in front of them as part of their draft pool. They then pass the remaining leaders to the player to their right.
      - Players repeat the previous step, choosing one of the leaders to keep and passing the other to their right. Each player adds the last leader passed to them to their draft pool and should now have three leaders each.
    2. Drafting Remaining Cards
      - Each player takes one of the three partially-opened packs in front of them and views all of the cards from it, keeping the cards secret from other players. (Set the token from the pack aside; it is not drafted). Each player chooses one of the cards from the pack and adds it to their draft pool, then passes the remaining cards from the pack to the player to their left.
      - Players repeat the previous step with the cards passed to them—viewing the group of cards, adding one to their draft pool, and passing the rest—until each card has been placed in a draft pool and no more cards can be passed.
      - Once all cards from the first packs have been drafted, players repeat this process with the remaining packs. When drafting the second pack, each player passes the remaining cards to their right instead of their left. For the third pack, each player passes to their left again.
      - After drafting all cards, each player uses the cards in their draft pool to build a draft deck.
  4. Deckbuilding
    1. A draft deck must include:
      - Exactly 1 leader
      - Exactly 1 base
      - A minimum of 30 other cards (consisting of units, events, and upgrades)
    2. A player must use one of the three leaders that they drafted for their deck.
    3. A player may use any base that they drafted for their deck, or they may use a Common-rarity base with 30 HP and no ability that they own or borrow.
    4. There is no limit to the number of copies of a single card (non-leader, non-base) that a player may include in their deck. If a player drafts four or more copies of the same card, they may use all of those copies.
PLAYING WITH MORE THAN TWO PLAYERS
1. GENERAL
  1. Star Wars: Unlimited can be played using several different game formats. A game format is defined by its player count and deckbuilding method. This section describes multiplayer formats, which are for games with more than two players, usually three or four.
  2. Multiplayer games can be played with decks created with either constructed or limited rules. For example, four players may construct decks according to the Premier format rules, then play a four-player game together. Or three players could draft with nine booster packs and play a three-player game with the decks they build from their draft pool.
  3. Unless otherwise specified, all rules in the Comprehensive Rules apply to all multiplayer formats.
2. GAMEPLAY OVERVIEW
  1. Setting up a multiplayer format game is the same as setting up a two-player game, with the adjustment that each player chooses in clockwise order whether or not to take a mulligan—the active player is the first to decide, then the next player clockwise from them decides, and so on.
  2. For the ground arena and space arena, each player has a portion of each arena contained to their play area, where each player has a ground arena portion on one side of their base zone, and a space arena portion on the other side. Each player’s portion of an arena is considered part of the larger arena. For instance, a player might play a ground unit into their ground arena portion, and later use it to attack an enemy ground unit in an opponent’s ground arena portion.
  3. The player that starts a round with the initiative is the first active player and takes the first action. Then, the next player clockwise from the first player becomes the new active player and takes an action. Play continues this way until the end of the action phase.
  4. Once each player has passes consecutively, the action phase ends.
3. PLAYER ELIMINATION
  1. Once a player’s base has no remaining HP, that player is eliminated from the game and they cannot take any more actions. All cards they own are removed from play and any cards owned by other players in their play area are placed in their owners’ discard piles. (The removed cards are not considered defeated or discarded, and do not cause abilities to trigger.) Any of their triggered abilities still waiting to resolve are ignored.
  2. An eliminated player cannot be brought back into play; their base cannot be healed, and they cannot be affected by abilities.
  3. If an eliminated player created a lasting effect or delayed effect earlier in the round they were eliminated, that effect remains active in the game, and the remaining players must resolve it as completely as possible.
    
    For example, if the eliminated player had played Make an Opening (SOR #076) during an earlier turn, the unit chosen for the ability still would have -2/-2 for the rest of the phase.
  4. If an eliminated player controlled the initiative counter, return the initiative counter to the center of the game area, “available” side faceup. It can then be taken by a different player.
4. ADDITIONAL CLARIFICATIONS
  1. There are no rules dictating how players may converse with one another in a game. Players may discuss potential actions, open information, and hidden information freely. Any deals made between players are not binding.
  2. For the purposes of card abilities, a player’s “opponent” is any one of the other players in the game, and a player’s “opponents” is each other player in the game. Even if a player makes a deal with another player, they are still “opponents” to each other for the purposes of card abilities that affect opponents. If a card ability only affects a single opponent, the player who played (for events) or controls (for unit abilities) the card chooses which opponent it affects.
  3. If an ability that affects multiple players can be resolved simultaneously, resolve that ability simultaneously. Otherwise, the player that controls the card with the ability can choose the order in which each player is affected by the ability.
    
    For example, Grand Admiral Thrawn (SOR #016) has an ability where his controller looks at the top card of each player’s deck. This ability cannot be resolved simultaneously, so Thrawn’s controller chooses the order in which they look at the cards. They are not required to look at the cards in a specific order.
  4. A unit with Sentinel only prevents units in the same arena from attacking its controller’s non-Sentinel units or base. It does not prevent one opponent’s units from attacking another opponent’s non-Sentinel units or base.
TWIN SUNS (MULTIPLAYER FORMAT)
1. GENERAL
  1. Twin Suns is a special multiplayer format with unique rules, counters, and deckbuilding requirements. In the Twin Suns multiplayer format, each player’s deck has two leaders instead of one, and each deck can only contain one copy of each card.
  2. All of the rules for playing with more than two players also apply to the Twin Suns format unless otherwise specified.
2. DECKBUILDING
  1. The Twin Suns format features unique deckbuilding rules that allow players to put more than one leader into their deck.
    1. Each Twin Suns deck must include:
      - Exactly 2 different leaders; these leaders must share either the or aspect.
      - Exactly 1 base.
      - At least 50 other cards (consisting of units, events, and upgrades).
  2. Players cannot have more than one copy of any card in their deck. This limit applies to leaders as well as units, events, and upgrades.
    1. Though a player’s deck cannot start the game with more than one copy of any given card in their deck, a player still may control multiple copies of the same non-unique card through game effects.
3. TWO LEADERS
  1. Each player’s deck must contain two leaders, both of which must share either the or aspect. The leaders may have the same name, but must not be copies of each other, in order to avoid violating the uniqueness rule.
  2. Both leaders provide their aspect icons to the player’s deck.
  3. A player’s leaders can be exhausted, deployed, and defeated independently of each other. A player may have both of their leaders deployed at the same time.
4. SETUP
  1. Setting up a Twin Suns format game is the same as setting up a multiplayer game as outlined in section 11, with two adjustments:
    1. During Step 2 of Setup, players put both of their leaders into play below their base, Leader side faceup.
    2. During Step 3, after giving the initiative counter to the first player, place the new blast counter and plan counter in the center of the game area, within reach of all players. These are explained below.
5. COUNTERS
  1. Twin Suns games require two additional counters: the blast counter and the plan counter. These counters are similar to the initiative counter in that a player can use their action to take control of one of them, effectively ending that player’s participation in a round.
  2. Both the blast counter and plan counter have an additional effect when they are taken. Resolve this effect immediately when the counter is taken.
    1. When a player takes the blast counter, they deal 1 damage to each opponent’s base.
    2. When a player takes the plan counter, they draw 1 card from their deck, then place 1 card from their hand on the bottom of their deck. (They may place the just-drawn card.)
  3. In multiplayer games, the Take the Initiative action in two-player games is replaced with the Take an Available Counter action. When a player takes this action, they take control of any one counter that has not been taken (initiative, blast, or plan) and flip that counter to its “taken” side. The player is considered to have “passed” for their action and must “pass” for any subsequent actions they would take that round, though they still resolve any abilities triggered on cards they control during that round. A player can only take this action if they haven’t yet taken a counter that round.
  4. A player cannot take more than one counter in a single round; however, a player may control more than one counter at the same time, such as if a player already has control of the initiative from a previous round when they take a different counter.
  5. At the start of each regroup phase, return the blast counter and plan counter to the center of the game area, “available” side up.
6. ACTION PHASE
  1. Players may take one of the following actions during each of their turns: Play a Card, Attack With a Unit, Use an Action Ability, or Take an Available Counter (once per player per round).
    1. Players may not choose the Pass action available in other formats in place of taking a different action. In the Twin Suns format, players may only pass if there are no counters available to take and must pass if they took a counter earlier in the round.
    2. Once a player has taken a counter, that player cannot take any additional actions for the phase, and must pass any time they would take an action. A player cannot take a counter if they already took one that phase, or if all counters were already taken that phase.
    3. Note that in a three-player game, the third player will necessarily take the last counter, ending the phase. In a four-player game, once all three counters have been taken, the last remaining player may pass to end the phase when they either cannot or choose not to take any other actions.
  2. Any player who eliminates another player (such as by being the last player to damage the eliminated player’s base) immediately heals 5 damage from their own base. If a player eliminates themself through an ability, no player heals damage from their base this way.
7. ENDING THE GAME
  1. Once one player is eliminated, the game will end once the current phase ends. The player with the most HP remaining on their base at the end of the current phase wins the game.
  2. At the end the phase, any “for this phase” or “until the end of the phase” abilities still expire, and players still resolve any abilities triggered “at the end of the phase.”
  3. If multiple players are tied for the most HP remaining on their bases at the end of the game, they share the victory.
INDEX/GLOSSARY

Comprehensive Rules

From SWU Holocron