Images courtesy of Fantasy Flight Games
I hope everyone is enjoying Jump to Lightspeed (JTL), Star Wars Unlimited‘s fourth set, as much as I am. I’ve played a couple Premier format games, but I’ve mostly been talking to players and scouring Reddit and content to see how that format is shaking out.
Planetary Qualifiers (PQs) for JTL were just announced, and it looks like it kicks off the first weekend of May. That’s a full month to get ready, but don’t forget there’ll be two Season 0 Sector Qualifiers in April.
Those big tournaments will definitely set the tone for the next PQ season, so to make sure you’re ready, today we’re looking at the best cards in Jump to Lightspeed. Which new cards are worth adding to your decks?
Criteria for Picking the Best Cards in Jump to Lightspeed
So let’s tackle this word “best” and get on the same page or we won’t get anywhere. According to Oxford Languages, “best” is described as: adj. Of the most excellent, effective, or desirable type of quality. That at least narrows down the focus of where to start.
Let’s focus on the “effective” part. If a card is effective, then it will be playable in a trading card game (TCG). The more effective it is then the more there’ll be a demand for that card. If it’s of the highest rarity (legendary in SWU), most effective in the most effective deck, then that’ll drive the price up.
In the case of SWU, if it’s the most effective leader, and of a popular character, then that’ll drive the most desirable type (showcase version) of that card to increase in price. With all that being said, I’m not going to focus on price as the sole driving factor to be the “best.” That’ll lead us down a rabbit hole of serialized Prestige cards, Showcase cards, and hyperspace foil cards (the latter two can get injected right into my veins).
We’ll hit the top three in each card category: leader, unit, and event. But know that this isn’t just for Premier; I’ll be taking a multi-lens look at each card. Enough of my prattling, drumroll please…
Best Leaders in Jump to Lightspeed
1. Boba Fett, Any Methods Necessary
Boba is looking like he’s ready to crash into the top 16. I’ve seen spicy yellow and blue lists, the former being aggro and the latter being more towards the control style of play. I started going through all the cards and I got over 80 cards that deal non-combat damage before I stopped counting – and we know that number is only going to grow as more sets come out.
This leader is also a Pilot, so it gives him flexibility on how you can play him (granted, he’s only a vanilla 4/7, but if the ground arena is clear then it’s still four damage to the opponent’s base). Furthermore, he’s a great leader in Twin Suns because you can spread the damage around (or politic on who to focus on). Last, his Showcase is currently the highest priced out of JTL and the second lowest quantity in stock on TCGPlayer.
2. Admiral Piett, Commanding the Armada
I had some deliberation on who was going to take the second spot, and I had to go with Piett because of his flip ability which allows Capital Ships to cost two less. That pretty much enables playing a Devastator, Hunting the Rebellion on turn four (with one ramp play, such as Resupply, in the previous rounds).
People are trying to construct him because he’s definitely the enabler of a stompy game style that can go big over your opponent. Incidentally, he’s a beast in Twin Suns when paired with Grand Moff Tarkin and either red, blue, or yellow. Also, as of time of writing this article, Piett has the lowest stock of all the JTL Showcases.
3. Kazuda Xiono, Best Pilot in the Galaxy
I bumped Kazuda Xiono to the third spot because he claims to be the best pilot in the galaxy. The audacity! Anyways, his Action is pretty ridiculous, as I mentioned in my last article, allowing for some pretty busted lines of play. Keeping Millennium Falcon, Piece of Junk on the board without paying 1? Yes please. Keep Fireball from damaging itself? More please.
The “take an extra action after this one” line is always good SWU. His Showcase is the third lowest inventory and is over $150. Is he any good in Twin Suns? I haven’t seen a deck list yet, but that doesn’t mean he’s bad. Please let me know if you’ve used him.
Honorable Mentions
Poe Dameron, I Can Fly Anything and Darth Vader, Victor Squadron Leader are both great leaders. Poe doesn’t have an Epic Action, which means he can keep being put onto Vehicles until you win, lose, can’t pay the cost… or someone plays Brain Invaders. Vader is just a token vomiting machine and he’s great in Twin Suns, plus his flip might be the most flavorful leader in this set. Last, Vader is the second highest priced Showcase and I don’t expect that price to drop a whole lot because he’s iconic.
Best Units in Jump to Lightspeed
1. Devastator, Hunting the Rebellion
Effective. Legendary rarity. Iconic. This card has it all. It’s seeing play in Premier and Twin Suns and it’s the top selling unit from JTL. I even skipped a pick on my third pack in draft to take this card completely off-aspect (if you want to check out my article on a primer on how to draft, check it out here). It also is sees towards the top end of the curve in any Villainy red non-hyper aggro deck because it is just that good.
Without a doubt this card will see play in all formats, including the unnamed future eternal format.
2. Han Solo, Has His Moments
Han is solid as a 4/5 ground unit with Ambush for five. His Piloting cost is only two, you get the “you may attack with attached unit” which is always awesome, and there are three Millennium Falcon units, so there’s flexibility on when to attach him. He goes great in any Heroic Twin Suns deck, especially Leia, because Han here has the Rebel trait.
Incidentally, this Han is assuredly going to go in any Kazuda deck in Premier because Kazuda abuses the Millennium Falcon. Here’s your friendly judge rules/interaction tidbit for the article: Kazuda’s ability affects the unit and not the upgrade attached to it.
3. War Juggernaut
This thing is a house. You can ECL it and when it enters you can sling out pings to all the units if you want, then it’ll almost assuredly crush whatever it hits, and its 7 HP means it probably survives the attack.
As mentioned in my last article, War Juggernaut is going to exhaust your opponent’s whole board if you have a flipped Jango. Also, War Juggernaut says “each damaged unit” so it can get massive on a filled board in Twin Suns.
Honorable Mentions
First Order Stormtrooper plays a lot stronger than I thought it would on my initial look; it’s a solid turn one play.
Ahsoka Tano, Chasing Whispers is probably my favorite version of her. I love discard and the stats on her are good.
Sabine’s Masterpiece, Crazy Colorful is fantastic in Premier or Twin Suns. It rewards you for just playing the game, and depending how you construct your deck and which aspects you use, it can really speed up your game plan (like using red allows you to push, which is helpful in aggro).
Best Events in Jump to Lightspeed
1. Planetary Bombardment
Big damage, and heavens help your opponent if you have Devastator, Hunting the Rebellion on the board. Even if you don’t, and you just have any Capital Ship on the board, 12 damage is a lot. Plus, don’t underestimate putting your opponent into a little mental distress on where they need to allocate the damage. Constant pressure over time is always a good thing.
2. Turbolaser Salvo
Many people might be surprised that I put this card so high on my list. All I can say is that this is pretty much a one-sided arena wipe in Twin Suns. Pay close attention to cards that say “each enemy,” because when playing Twin Suns there are at least two other opponents that are going to take damage from this card.
If you’re playing the Boba leader mentioned above, don’t forget to hit your opponent for that one extra indirect damage just to twist the dagger a bit more.
3. Trench Run
This card is so flavorful, and it’s really strong when playing with Kazuda. I gave the rules interaction in my last article, but just know you’ll see this if you sit across from someone playing Kazuda TT.
Honorable Mentions
They Hate That Ship – play War Juggernaut on turn three and ping the TIE Fighter tokens out of the sky. That sounds like great synergy to me.
I mentioned Unity of Purpose in my last article. Just understand if you have four different units with different names, then they each get +4/+4.
I initially undervalued Commandeer; then I played with it in pre-release and draft. It’s especially fun when I can take someone’s ship, swing with it, then use Dooku’s ability to give my Swarming Vulture Droid Exploit 1, and toast the stolen ship and play my SVD for zero cost.
Bonus Round: Best Upgrade
I love everything about this card: the art, the mechanics, the crazy sub-game within the game that occurs when this card hits the table. Kudos to the Fantasy Flight Games team for this card.
The “Best” Conclusion
The “best” cards in this set are definitely up for debate. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
Also, there’s a cool discussion going on in Reddit on how to use shorthand when naming leaders that exist in multiple sets. In the past I’ve used Boba1, Boba2, and Boba3. Some people have suggested using the set number. For instance, Boba Fett, Any Methods Necessary would be Boba4 because Jump To Lightspeed is the fourth set. I’m not feeling that because I’m not going to remember which set is which after a few years of three sets a year. Many people are saying BobaJTL is the way to go… I tend to fall in that camp. Let me know what you think.
Until next time, be cool to your fellow players, be cool to your judges, hydrate, eat well, exercise, and wear clean socks. Hit me up anytime on Bluesky @TheFlyingWriter or Reddit at u/TheFlyingWriter.
Want more Jump to Lightspeed? Check out our full card image gallery here, or take a look at my predictions for the top decks in the new meta.
