If you stopped playing Star Wars Unlimited a while ago and feel as though the game's moved on without you, this brand-new 'mini' set has been designed specifically with you in mind.
Called Icons, the expansion serves as a jumping-on point for lapsed players or those who are familiar with the best card games but haven't tried Star Wars Unlimited before. It'll debut over the next few months, e.g. at some point between now and July's Ashes of the Empire set.
As a more streamlined release, Icons focuses on core Star Wars Unlimited gameplay and ignores any major changes from the last few expansions. Think of it as baseline Unlimited without the extra bells and whistles that've been introduced since launch.
According to the press release and my own experience talking with representatives from Fantasy Flight Games at this year's UK Games Expo, that's because anyone returning to the game after a break may find the wealth of changes introduced since they last played daunting. Icons combats that with a streamlined, back-to-basics approach. However, it's still a step up from the simplified Intro Battle: Hoth boxed set (which is normally available for around $15 at Amazon) that's made for complete TCG newcomers.
That doesn't mean established players should give it a miss, though. Besides sporting competitive power levels, it brings back old favorites that are now out of rotation and introduces all-new Rare/Legendary character cards that they'll want to chase. This includes a hard-hitting version of Anakin Skywalker that can search decks for a Darth Vader card once defeated. It also ignores aspect penalties on Darth Vader cards while Anakin is in the discard pile.
In terms of what else this mini-set offers, here's the lowdown:
- 194 cards: There are fewer cards in Icons than the usual 250+ you'd expect from a normal set.
- Reprints: All Common cards and some Uncommon cards are reprints from earlier sets. A few Uncommon cards have been given new artwork.
- New cards: As well as some new Uncommon cards, all Rare/Legendary cards are brand-new.
- Eight new Leaders: You can get a host of leader cards ranging from Darth Vader to Leia Organa.
Again, we don't have a release date for Star Wars Unlimited Icons yet… but if it's due to launch before Ashes of the Empire in July, we'll surely find out when it arrives soon.
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