Star Wars: Unlimited’s take on the Clone Wars rips

When Star Wars: Unlimited launched in March — soon after competitor Disney Lorcana, and among some of Magic: The Gathering’s most influential modern sets — it easily stood out from the crowd. Critics and fans alike admired it for its aggressive ramp-up of power and complexity, and its commitment at launch to the lore of the original trilogy. Its third set of cards, titled Twilight of the Republic, leans into what makes the game unique. It also kicks the theming and the narrative up several notches.

The focal point of this release is the $27.99 Star Wars: Unlimited - Twilight of the Republic Two-Player Starter Set. Inside you’ll find two potent decks, one led by Jedi Ahsoka Tano and the other by the vile General Grievous. There are plenty of new cards to go around, and they all support one common style of play: massed combat.

Twilight of the Republic introduces token cards to the game, which are double-sided with a Clone Trooper on one face and a Battle Droid on the other. They don’t go into the deck, but are brought onto the table by abilities on certain cards. Two other new mechanics complement the surge in combatants on the table, called Coordinate and Exploit.

Grievous’ deck makes the most use of Exploit, which allows players to remove units, including tokens, from the battlefield and swap them out for higher-value cards. For instance, a player could play a four-resource On the Doorstep event card to bring out three Battle Droid tokens. On the same turn they can remove those Droids and earn a two-resource credit for each, making the Separatist Super Tank cost just three resources instead of nine.

On the other side of the table, Ahsoka’s deck makes use of Coordinate, which requires that players have at least three units on the battlefield. Once they do, players can use any number of interesting abilities. For instance, Republic Commandos, once Coordinated, can perform acts of sabotage; Coruscant Guards gain Ambush, giving them the ability to attack on the first turn they come into play; and Clone Heavy Gunners get to add two more to their attack scores.

In motion, the new keyword abilities meld well with the recognizable characters to bring to mind scenes from the Clone Wars cartoons and Disney Plus streaming series. You can imagine a line of battle droids marching over the horizon, only to give way to heavier siege weapons in the rear. You can feel Ahsoka’s anxiety as she barks orders to a new batch of troopers, only to find that they work exceptionally well together as a team.

Most importantly, though, the entire package — which also includes two poster playmats — is clearly designed with new players in mind. If you had held off earlier this year waiting to see if Star Wars: Unlimited was worth the effort, I’m here to tell you that it is. And if the Clone Wars era is your favorite part of the Star Wars canon, it’s time to gather your forces and join in the fight.