A Different Way to Play Star Wars Unlimited
Twin Suns is the other constructed format in Star Wars Unlimited, other than Premier. But it’s been flying under the radar because 1v1 competitive tournament play (Store Showdowns and PQs, for example) take the headlines and streaming time for new TCGs.
For example, in Magic: The Gathering, the first 20+ years of discussion in magazines and message boards was mostly dominated by the constructed competitive formats such as Standard and Legacy (Classic Restricted when I was in high school). Elder Dragon Highlander (EDH as it’s commonly known, and the most similar parallel to Twin Suns in SWU) was first introduced three years after the initial release of Alpha, but didn’t gain huge popularity until almost a decade later, and didn’t get adopted as an official format until MTG was 18 years old (when it got rebranded officially as Commander). Arguably, Commander is now the 800-pound gorilla when it comes to game design in MTG, and the most played paper Magic format.
FFG decided to cut to the chase and create its own multiplayer format that runs parallel to Premier. Let me tell you, Twin Suns is hugely underrated right now, and it opens up a lot of keywords that don’t see much play in Premier.
Twin Suns’ Major Differences from Premier
Twin Suns is a multiplayer format (more than two players). The other two major differences from Premier are: players pick two leaders (of the same Villainy or Heroic Aspect) instead of one; and a player can only have one copy of each card (known as a “singleton format”).
The other notable difference is there are two other counters, in addition to the initiative counter. These are the “blast counter” and the “plan counter.” A blast counter allows you to do one damage to all opponents’ bases, and the plan counter allows the player to draw one card from their deck, then place one card from their hand on the bottom of their deck. Just like the initiative counter, selecting one of these counters ends the players participation of the round. I really enjoy these counters because they add some interesting wrinkles to the already complex decision trees in SWU.
The singleton format also makes deck construction way different from building a deck for Premier. In Premier, a player will typically put three copies of the card they absolutely want to be drawn during their match (LTP, I’m looking at you). Inherently, when factoring in “curve” (the amount of cards you want to play in sequence to match the amount of resources you build over rounds), and things such as hypergeometric distribution, that is going to whittle the card pool down to the best cards that are given in the format. You want the “best bang for your buck” in your 50-card Premier deck.
All that isn’t quite the case in Twin Suns. The deck currently has a minimum size of 50 cards, but that will increase to 80 cards after Jump to Lightspeed (JTL), so there’s a strong chance you will not draw LTP in your opening hand… 88% chance now and it drops to 7.5% after JTL.
So what does that mean? Resource curve, synergy, and role-players matter. Currently Barris, Knight of the Republic, and Luminara don’t see play in any tier-one Premier decks, but they are excellent units to attach General’s Blade, Jedi’s Lightsaber, use Sword and Shield Manuever – or target using Execute Order 66.
Speaking of Jedi and cards that don’t see play in Premier, Ki-Adi-Mundi is absolutely phenomenal in a multiplayer format. Cards that say “when an opponent…” get bonkers when you have more than one opponent. Many tournament-only grinders fail to evaluate cards as being “good” because it doesn’t fit into their wheelhouse of 1v1 best-of-three, but that doesn’t mean the card is necessarily bad in all formats.
Reevaluating Some SWU Keywords and Cards
Inherently, not all keywords in TCGs are going to make the cut in the tournament scene, and SWU is no exception. There’s only one card that uses Capture that shows up in my last article about (Cad Bane). Coordinate is really only used in some Quinlan decks that use Plo Koon or tier-two decks like Double Blue Yoda that has a Ki-Adi-Mundi or two. Bounty is used extensively in Bossk Blue, with limited use in Palpatine Blue.
Where these keywords really open up is in Twin Suns. Put Guild Target on an opponent’s unit and watch the other opponents look at that unit with renewed interest. Bounty incentivizes other players to do your dirty work. Coordinate is easier to get going when you’re not the only player that can be attacked. I absolutely love Capture in Twin Suns, because it acts as kind of a soft protection for your unit. Why on earth would the other opponents attack my Discerning Veteran if I captured another player’s Darth Vader? No one in their right mind would unleash Vader onto the field again.
Just like all cards, not all leaders are going to be powerful enough to make it into a tier-one deck in a competitive tournament style meta. In a multiplayer singleton format, however, leaders like Thrawn become exceptionally good because now you know all of your opponents’ top cards and you can use any of their decks to exhaust a unit. Nala Se all of sudden gets lots of units that are off aspect that you can use to fill your deck. Specifically, as of the current three sets released in SWU, there are 29 non-Vigilance cards with the Clone trait. Hera Syndulla – Spectre Two can use nine other cards off-aspect, and there’s almost guaranteed to be more units with the Spectre traits in JTL, because she’s on the cover art for the set.
Another example of a card that’s strong in Twin Suns with no significant play in Premier is Relentless. I can tell you from personal experience, when a player puts a Relentless into the space arena, it makes everything difficult and puts everyone on a clock.
My Twin Suns Deck
I like themes and I like politics in multiplayer games, so it was easy for me to pick my Twin Suns deck. A couple synergistic effects that I think people should notice that are missed frequently is Ma Klounkee is Underworld so it triggers Lady Proxima’s ability, and Ma Klounkee with Bossk – Deadly Stalker can hit an opponent’s unit for five damage. I’d also suggest anyone using a Command aspect should auto-include Timely Intervention, and Disabling Fang Fighter is a must for Aggression aspect decks.
Leaders and Base (3)
Jabba the Hut – His High Exaltedness
Ground Units (30)
1 Lady Proxima – White Worm Matriarch
1 Salacious Crumb – Obnoxious Pet
1 Bazine Netal – Spy for the First Order
1 Toro Calican – Ambitious Upstart
1 4-LOM – Bounty Hunter For Hire
1 Jango Fett- Renowned Bounty Hunter
1 IG-11 – I cannot Be Captured
1 Zuckuss- Bounty Hunter For Hire
Space Units (4)
1 Fett’s Firespray – Pursuing the Bounty
Event (13)
1 Outflank
Upgrades (3)
Future Cards I Want to Slot Into My Twin Suns Deck
The increase to 80 cards is going to be phenomenal. Commission will hit more cards. There are already cards like Bossk – Hunt By Instinct previewed for JTL that I’m going to slot in the extra 30 cards (c’mon, you know I have to include pilots in all my future Twin Suns decks). Even though Arquitens Assault Cruiser isn’t on theme, it’s just too strong in Twin Suns to pass up (another must-include in Command decks). It’s an exciting time for sure.
Wrapping It Up
I’m not gonna lie, I have three other Twin Suns decks I am brewing, and my son is waiting for the full 80 to finish his Anakin/Chancellor Palpatine/Blue deck (Can you imagine putting a Fallen Lightsaber onto Luke, or Jedi Lightsaber on Fifth Brother?!).
I highly encourage to go to your LGS, kitchen table, or whatever flat surface you can find, grab three other friends and play Twin Suns. It’s fun, iconic moments will be made (like when I played Take Captive and captured Mace Windu with my Jabba’s Rancor and won the game), and you’ll be excited to play again.
Please hit me up on BlueSky @theflyingwriter.bsky.social and let me know about your Twin Suns decks and exciting games you play with your friends and acquaintances.
Excited for Jump to Lightspeed? Keep an eye on our full card image gallery here.
