How to play

Two players face off. Each of you has a base to protect and a leader to lead your army.

You play units, ships and big moments from the movies and shows. The first player to knock the other player's base down to zero health wins.

The fun twist is that you and your opponent take turns one action at a time. You play a card, then they do something, then you do. So there's a lot of back-and-forth.

• 1 leader. The big double-sided card. It sets the tone of your deck.
• 1 base. This is what you protect. Its health number is how much damage it can take.
• A deck of at least 50 cards. No more than 3 copies of any one card.
• Damage counters and tokens. Starter sets come with these. Dice or coins work in a pinch.

The easiest way to start is a two-player starter set or the Intro Battle: Hoth box. The decks are ready to go, so you can learn the rules first and build your own later.

1. Put your leader and base in front of you.
2. Shuffle your deck and draw 6 cards.
3. Don't like your hand? You can shuffle it back and draw 6 new cards. You only get to do this once.
4. Pick 2 cards from your hand and put them face down. These are your resources. They're how you pay for things.
5. Flip a coin to see who has the initiative. That player goes first.

Every round has two parts.

1. 1. Action phase

   Take turns doing one thing at a time, starting with whoever has the initiative. On your turn you can:

   • Play a card from your hand
   • Attack with one of your units
   • Use an ability that says “Action”
   • Take the initiative (more on that below)
   • Pass

   When both players pass in a row, the phase ends.

2. 2. Regroup phase

   • Everyone draws 2 cards.
   • You may put 1 card from your hand down as a new resource.
   • Ready (turn upright) all your cards.

   Then a new round starts.

Taking the initiative means you'll go first next round. The catch is you're done for this round. Grab it when you've done what you wanted, or when going first next round really matters.

Running out of cards? If you ever have to draw and your deck is empty, your base takes 3 damage instead.

The number in the top corner of a card is its cost. To pay, turn that many of your resources sideways (this is called exhausting them). They come back in the regroup phase.

Cards also have aspect icons. There are six: Vigilance, Command, Aggression, Cunning, Heroism and Villainy. Your leader and base give you some aspects.

You can play any card, but for each aspect icon on it that your leader and base don't have, it costs 2 more. That's why most decks stick to the aspects their leader and base share.

Units come into play turned sideways, so they usually can't attack the turn you play them. After that, exhaust a ready unit to attack.

• There are two arenas, ground and space. A unit can only attack units in its own arena, or the enemy base.
• When two units fight, they hit each other at the same time. Each one deals damage equal to its power (the left number).
• A unit is defeated when its damage reaches its health (the right number).
• Attacking a base is safe. Bases don't hit back.

Your leader starts on its leader side, which usually has a handy ability you can use while it waits.

Once you have as many resources as the leader's cost, you can deploy it. Flip it over and it jumps into the fight as a powerful unit. You can only do this once per game.

If your deployed leader is defeated, it flips back to its leader side and can't come back out. So pick your moment!

Lots of cards have a bold keyword. Here are the ones you'll see most.

Sentinel

Enemies in this arena have to attack this unit first.

Saboteur

Can ignore Sentinel, and pops shields on the unit it attacks.

Ambush

When you play it, it can attack an enemy unit right away.

Overwhelm

Extra damage past what kills a unit goes to the enemy base.

Raid

Gets more power while it's attacking.

Restore

When it attacks, heal that much damage from your base.

Grit

Gets +1 power for each damage on it.

Shielded

Comes into play with a Shield token.

Shield token

Blocks all the damage from the next hit, then goes away.

Experience token

Gives a unit +1 power and +1 health.

Bounty

Your opponent gets a reward when this unit is defeated.

Smuggle

Lets you play this card from your resources.

When a card's text and the rules disagree, the card wins. When in doubt, look it up and keep playing.

• Count your resources. Early on, it's usually worth putting a card down as a resource every regroup phase. More resources means bigger plays.
• Not every attack is a good trade. Before attacking a unit, check if yours will survive the hit back.
• Watch the base race. Sometimes ignoring their units and hitting the base is the fastest way to win.
• Think about the initiative. Going first next round can let you strike before they do.
• Stick to two aspects. A focused deck is easier to play and doesn't pay extra costs.
• Play lots of games. Most of the strategy clicks after a few rounds. It's okay to lose while learning.

• What's in a pack. Each booster has 16 cards, including a leader, a base, a rare or legendary, a foil, and a bunch of commons and uncommons.
• Look for special versions. Hyperspace cards have extended art. Foils are shiny. Showcase and Prestige cards are the rarest and usually worth the most.
• Sleeve the good stuff right away. Put anything rare or shiny in a sleeve, and anything valuable in a hard top-loader.
• Keep cards out of the sun and away from damp places.
• Prices move a lot. Cards are often priciest right when a set comes out and calm down later. The prices on this site are a fun guide, not a promise.
• Buy singles for decks. If you need one specific card to play, buying it is usually cheaper than chasing it in packs.

• Official rules and how-to-play videos
• Karabast, a free way to play online and practice
• SWU-DB, to look up any card and build decks