It’s time to lead your chosen forces into interplanetary battle, as we check out the best Leaders in Star Wars Unlimited: Spark of Rebellion! Though Star Wars is a franchise with a strong fanbase and a near constant stream of new content that keeps its fans sated with an ever expanding universe of stories and experiences, it wasn’t necessarily a given that another Trading Card Game (TCG) based on the saga would be a success.
After all, as we’ve covered in our history of Star Wars CCGs (Collectible Card Games) right here on Card Gamer, there have been numerous Star Wars card games over the last several decades; not all of them were successful, by any means.
Yet Fantasy Flight Games have created a phenomenal game with Star Wars Unlimited, with numerous smart design decisions that make the experience work for just about any kind of player. It’s easy to learn, the cards themselves have a clean and appealing design aesthetic, there’s a real simplicity and restraint in its product range, and it’s designed from the ground up to be playable in numerous formats, with just a single booster pack type.
Though it’s not the first game, by any means, to introduce the concept of Leader Units (similar mechanics can be found in games such as UniVersus and One Piece, as two examples), in Star Wars Unlimited, the ability to deploy your unit directly to the battlefield from their command position does feel unique, and adds an extra, welcome layer of strategy to the game.
Given how central Leaders are to any deck’s overall strategy, you may wonder which Leader we consider to be the best. So why don’t we check out the ones we’ve had (or seen other players have) the most success with? Let’s take a look at the best Leader Cards in Star Wars Unlimited!
1. Boba Fett – Aspects: Cunning, Villainy – Cost: 5
Each Leader in Star Wars Unlimited has a resource cost; this isn’t paid in the way you pay to bring other Units into play; rather, you must simply have at least the designated number of resources in your play area in order to deploy the Leader to your Ground Area.
Boba Fett has a cost of 5, so once you have 5 resources in play, you can turn his card over to transform him into a Unit, then deploy him to your Ground Area. Prior to that, as a non-Unit Leader card, Boba Fett, like all other Leaders, has a special ability.
In the case of Boba Fett, that ability can be triggered when an enemy Unit leaves play; when that happens, you may exhaust (turn his card sideways) him and then ready one of your exhausted resources. Given that you’re likely engaging enemy units in combat during your turn and defeating them to make them leave play, you should have plenty of opportunities to ready a resource.
Though of course, Fett will only be able to do this once (unless you have a card that allows you to ready him again on the same turn), having that one extra resource per turn can be much more useful than it seems. When deploying Fett as a Ground Unit, his ability shifts a little bit: it allows you to ready up to 2 resources once Fett completes an attack, as long as an enemy Unit has left play on the same turn. Given that Fett, as a Unit, has 4 Power and 7 HP, he’s also very strong against plenty of other Ground Units too.
During the pre-release events for Star Wars Unlimited, I was paired off against a player who’d lost every single game he played up until that point, with the deck and Leader he’d been using. For that last round, he switched to using Boba Fett, and comfortably won each game he played against me. The key, of course, comes in the form of the extra resources that Fett gives you, as long as you’re making sure to destroy an Enemy Unit each turn.
This is what places Boba Fett at the top of this list, despite strong competition. Also, it’s worth noting that the second Star Wars Unlimited set, Shadows of the Galaxy, features a strong focus on Underworld and Bounty Hunter characters. With Boba Fett having both of those classifications, it’s very likely that he’s going to prove his worth even more when the new set arrives!
2. Sabine Wren – Aspects: Aggression, Heroism – Cost: 4
If you prefer a faster and more heroic character, Sabine Wren should be your top choice. Making use of the Aggression and Heroism Aspects (take a look at our Star Wars Unlimited Aspects guide for more details), Sabine is currently the fastest Leader in the game, with the ability to deploy after just four resources are in play. Though that’s only one turn faster than Boba Fett, believe me when I say that one turn, especially so early on in the game, can make all the difference!
Befitting the red Aspect she has, Sabine favours a very aggressive play style, and this is also reflected in her ability. As a Leader Unit, she can exhaust in order to deal a damage to each Base; the only problem there is that, in damaging each Base, she also damages yours!
So there’s definite incentive to get her deployed as quickly as possible; as a 2 Power, 5 HP Unit she’s not especially impressive, but her ability shifts into triggering when she Attacks, and also deals a damage to each Enemy Base, rather than all Bases.
Couple Sabine with cards that allow you to attack multiple times per turn, and she becomes an absolute powerhouse; of course, you’ll need to make use of her pretty quickly, as she’ll become a target that your opponent(s) will look to take out swiftly, but if used speedily and cleverly, Sabine is undoubtedly one of the best Leaders in Spark of Rebellion.
3. Iden Versio – Aspects: Vigilance, Villainy – Cost: 6
So far the slowest Leader on this list in terms of how quickly you can get her deployed, Iden Versio (whose first appearance was in video game Star Wars: Battlefront II, as the leader of the Elite Imperial team, Inferno Squad) is another very competitive card that, if you’re playing a more Villainy based deck, could easily be a top choice.
So, similarly to Sabine, Iden Versio can exhaust to use her ability; rather than Base damage, however, as a Leader unit she’ll heal 1 damage from her Base when exhausting.
When she deploys (which you can do once you have 6 resources in play), Iden Versio gets a Shield Token; this can be incredibly powerful to keep her in play. That’s important, because in my experience, any Leader in Star Wars Unlimited immediately becomes a target of enemy attacks when deployed.
It’s also important, because it’s in her Leader Unit form that Iden Versio really shines. That’s because her ability no longer requires her to exhaust in order to heal 1 damage from your Base; instead, the ability triggers every time an enemy Unit is defeated.
It’s no surprise that we’re ranking Iden Versio in the top 3 Leader cards on this list, given how powerful she is at healing your Base and keeping you in the game!
4. Chirrut Imwe – Aspects: Vigilance, Villainy – Cost: 5
Another strong contender in Spark of Rebellion’s set of Leader cards, Chirrut Imwe (a Guardian of the Whills, who featured heavily in prequel movie Rogue One), is also a card that I’ve seen being used very successfully at events.
In terms of speed, Chirrut Imwe is certainly not bad, being able to deploy once you have 5 resources in play. Prior to that, being able to give +2 HP to a Unit in any given phase just by exhausting is also something that’s perhaps underrated, if anything.
With 3 Power and 5 HP, he’s not the most immediately impressive Ground Unit, but he has a serious trick up those sleeves: he’s not defeated by having 0 HP during the action phase. This means that you can bump up his HP using other cards, or find other ways to keep him going even if he loses all of his HP.
It’s a tremendously powerful effect, used in the right hands, but, if you’re going to make maximum use of Chirrut Imwe’s ability to keep fighting for another day, it definitely requires some forethought and clever card combos!
5. Director Krennic – Aspects: Vigilance, Villainy – Cost: 5
Though overly ambitious to the point that he unwittingly caused his own demise, as well as his actions indirectly giving the Rebellion a bit of a hand in tracking down the Death Star plans, Director Orson Krennic is a pretty decent Leader in Star Wars Unlimited (note that his first name isn’t mentioned on the card!).
As a Leader, prior to deploying, he gives every friendly damaged Unit +1 Power, as a passive ability; that means he doesn’t even need to exhaust in order for that to kick in. He can deploy once you have 5 resources, which isn’t too shabby either.
Then, when deployed, he has a pretty remarkable 7 HP, despite a low Power of 2. He retains his non-Unit ability of giving each friendly damaged Unit a +1 Power bonus, but also gets Restore 2, which allows him to heal 2 damage from your Base every time he attacks.
Equip Krennic with Shields, Experience and other buffs, or even find ways to ready him multiple times per turn, and you have a serious threat to bandy about, all while keeping your own Base protected!
6. Luke Skywalker – Aspects: Vigilance, Heroism – Cost: 6
At the slower end of the scale, Luke Skywalker can be deployed once you have 6 resources. He’s another Leader with Vigilance as an Aspect, which we feel shows that it makes for a great choice when deck building. So, in terms of what Luke actually does as a Leader, his ability allows you to give a Shield Token to a Heroism Unit you played in the same phase; this does cost 1 resource and exhausts him, however.
As a Unit, Luke instead gives another Unit a Shield Token whenever he attacks; this can be used to either power up a specific Unit and make it nigh-on unstoppable in combat, or to buff your entire army up on the Ground, in Space or both. Given that he has a Power of 4 and HP at 7, Luke can be pretty difficult to deal with on his own, but makes your Units even stronger as a whole too!
7. Leia Organa – Aspects: Command, Heroism – Cost: 5
A fairly underrated Leader card in our humble opinion, Leia has a cost of 5 to deploy and has great, combat-based abilities in both Leader and Unit form.
As a Leader, Leia can exhaust in order to attack with a Rebel Unit, then can immediately make an attack with a second Rebel Unit as part of the same action. One of the most interesting elements of Star Wars Unlimited, which keeps the game moving pretty quickly, is just performing one Action per turn; though of course Leia isn’t alone in being able to essentially perform a second Action for free, it does give her quite an edge as a Leader.
As a Unit, she has 3 Power and 6 HP, which is pretty good too. Whenever she completes an attack herself in Unit form, you can then attack with another Rebel Unit for free. As a Raid Unit, she also gets a +1 Power bonus when she attacks, thanks to having the Raid 1 keyword.
For more combat-focused decks packed with Rebel Units, Leia can quickly overwhelm enemy forces, which can really turn the tide of battle in your favour.
8. Darth Vader – Aspects: Aggression, Villainy – Cost: 7
Given how useful Darth Vader’s abilities are, you may have expected to see the Dark Lord of the Sith a bit earlier in this list. There’s certainly no denying that he’s a very, very good Leader card indeed. He does have a slower speed than a few other cards here, however; though of course Iden Versio and Luke Skywalker both deploy after 6 resources are in play, Vader not being able to get into play as a Ground Unit until you have 7 resources just pushes him down the list slightly.
In terms of what he can actually do, Vader can exhaust and pay 1 resource to deal 1 damage to a Unit and 1 damage to a Base, as long as you’ve played a Villainy card on the same turn. Once deployed, he has a superb Power of 5 and HP at a really high 8; plus, on attack, he can deal 2 damage to a Unit. That’s right; he doesn’t have to even complete the attack to deal that 2 damage, which happens as soon as his attack is actioned!
If you’re able to wait for Vader to be deployed, he’s clearly worth having; however, despite his strength and very impressive, damage-dealing abilities, he might struggle against the pace of, say, Sabine Wren, for example.
9. Grand Moff Tarkin – Aspects: Command, Villainy – Cost: 5
Another underrated Leader, in our opinion, Grand Moff Tarkin’s greatest strength is being able to dish out Experience Tokens to Imperial Units.
Though this does exhaust him and costs 1 resource when he’s a Leader, he can give another Imperial Unit an Experience Token on Attack after deploying as a Unit. Deploying after 5 resources are in play, he’s not particularly slow to make use of either.
His Power is weak at 2, however, though this is somewhat compensated for, with his 7 HP. He’s pretty straightforward to use too, which makes him a good choice for those new to the game, or players with slightly less experience at TCGs in general.
10. Grand Inquisitor – Aspects: Aggression, Villainy – Cost: 6
A bit of an outlier for our final spot on this list, the Grand Inquisitor is, in complete contrast to Tarkin, a Leader that many players may find too difficult to use effectively.
However, if you have the knowledge and a good selection of cards that take advantage of the Grand Inquisitor’s ability to inflict pain upon his own forces in order to force them into action, you should do very well with him.
So, as a Leader he’s quite uniquely positioned to take advantage of the Grit keyword, which adds 1 point of Power to a card for each point of HP damage it has. He can exhaust, deal 2 HP damage to a friendly Unit which has 3 or less Power, then ready it.
As a Unit, he can instead, upon attacking, deal 1 HP damage to a friendly Unit that has 3 or less Power, then ready it. With 3 Power and 6 HP himself, he should be able to weather a few rounds of combat; if you can use his unique, risky ability to its fullest with different card combos, it’s almost certainly likely to take an unprepared opponent by surprise.
