I hard disagree. Game's got legs baby. Give me more evidential arguments with merit please! Friendly challenge. You said your opinions were informed by other card games, the IP, etc. How could you say the game has a low skill ceiling? This game has an actual chess like mechanic built in, which inherently makes this game less scripted than MtG. As someone who has played this TCG's seriously and competitively for years - I even interviewed Pascal Maynard, a top 20 MtG player in the world, we all agree this game has an insanely high skill ceiling. These are coming from some of the best players in the world.
My strongest argument against Star Wars Unlimited is its status as a licensed game, rather than an in-house game. And while I know history doesn't predict the future, it does set a pattern that I find hard to ignore. I don't _want_ SWU to go under, mind you: I'd much prefer a wide diversity of cards on the market rather than three or four, but I can only have so much faith in its long-term status for now. I look forward to being wrong!
@@FranksHobbies That is fair. I actually think that this is an IP that is licensed means that this game is going to be more competitively and pull more users - Look what MtG is doing, Lorcana, and One Piece - they are all building their game on existing massive IP's. MtG just committed IP suicide 2-4 weeks ago with their announcements - their game is going to more licensed IP's and than their own. It seems like in order to survive and succeed, you almost need to do this very thing. Look at how many Kickstarter games have over $1million etc. that have no IP; they just die out.
I agree with you ! One of my local game stores has a big fandom on this game and also another store has one, and most of them are MTG players too! @@rebelresource
Feels like a general statement on Star Wars / FFG as a whole as opposed to Star Wars Unlimited itself. Your comments on the ‘skill ceiling’ in the gameplay don’t hold much weight when just before you state you’ve only played a few games. There’s a lot of depth here for competitive players like myself, but it’s incredibly easy to pick up for new players as well. Only other negative was to do with FFG, which whilst warranted for their past attempts, outside of distribution and supply problems their work on Unlimited so far has been excellent. Also important to note that supply issues have since been rectified with Set 3. FFG have done a great job so far in listening to the community, whether it’s the recent Boba Fett suspension or the alteration to their rules regarding custom playmats at competitive events early in the games life cycle. Whilst I don’t expect the game to last as long as some of the big players, primarily due to the limited scope the universe imposes and the difficulty of maintaining market share in TCGs, I do think the game is a lot of fun so will continue to play whilst the lights remain on. It will be interesting to see if FFG’s effort changes if the game does begin to fall off. Whilst I don’t agree with your opinion, still enjoyed the video and look forward to more content - earned a new subscriber 🙂
Welcome to the channel. And yes, I agree that maybe I don't have the most experience with it, I'm only able to comment what I've experienced so far. Here's hoping it sticks around!
Hey Frank, the algorithm brought me here. Im working on being a judge and I go to weekly plays at two different shops, I LOVE THIS GAME!!!! One of the aspects of the game I love is the back and forth aspect because it essentially stops the game from divulging into 15min card combos while the other person is just sitting there watching. The game is in a downward decline, yes, but with the first set being reprinted and rolling out right now, I think people will get into the game because everything is available to everyone now and not just the people who were lucky and bought product when it first dropped. Im hoping this game has a few years in it
ive been playing swu since release, played lorcana for a while before it and also the one pice tcg, so far for me personally swu has been my favorite of the bunch, the place i meet up to play at has a group of about 20-25 people who show up twice a week and i really like the back and forth gameplay it provides. i do worry about the longevity of the game especially with so many other good tcg products out there.
When I think of Star Wars games that withstood the test of time, the 2 that pop into my head are Decipher's Star Wars CCG and Wizard's Star Wars Miniatures, both of which were only shuttered because they lost the license. And both do still have active player communities where they release virtual expansions to keep adding new cards to the game decades after official support ended.
The game will die if its bad, but the game is good, it's going to live. People love to doom and gloom and look at the economics of TCGPlayer, but why are people such sheep? If you like the game play the damn game. Buy the cards. The game has a low skill floor, so it's easy and straight forward, but the skill ceiling is super high when you're playing competitively, due to every action mattering a ton.
Similar to the others here, I'll say calling the skill ceiling for the game lower is *wild*. The alternating actions and draw-two-resource-one mechanics expands the piloting reliance tremendously. And deck construction options have opened a ton in just three sets. I'm so confused about where you get this take from, because it seems to be the biggest thing players dig about the game (even those from other TCGs crossing over). There have been pro MTG players picking up even the most simple meta aggro decks and being astounded by how many lines are involved in practice.
You're confirming exactly what I expected from SWU from the start. It was never something I was going to get into having played Decipher's CCG back in the day which arguably is the best iteration of Star Wars as a card game. FFG struggles with consistency, reliability, and longevity in all of their products, so by default, so will SWU.
considering they made 3 years of sets that go through 2026 and have collectors boxes on the way that’s a bold prediction. The game is being run better than any ffg card game before it. I would never bet the house on ffg but they know this is the last chance at a ccg.
So ur saying that since the old card games died this one will die too…… swu will be around past this year mark my words. It will make three years for sure then we can reconvene on this.
SWU was recently added to the front page tabs on TCGplayer next to MTG and Pokemon. The secondary market prices are extremely healthy. I don't see it crashing as you describe. It's true that Disney and Lucasfilm under Kathleen Kennedy have driven Star Wars into the ground as a franchise, and that doesn't help the game succeed, but the game seems to have momentum enough to keep it going past the two year mark you mention.
I tried playing the game for a good while. I enjoyed it for a while, but decided to drop out. My local LGS was playing it (Heavy emphasis on meta; if you weren't playing meta, you were NOT going to win), but everyone stopped coming to play, only ever coming by to buy out all of the boxes as soon as they were up for sale. The only other location is too out of the way for me to justify going there for the game, but I hope the people who do play it there have fun with it. Also just wanted to add; I'm really glad I found this channel of yours. It's awesome hearing more indepth videos covering your opinions on different TCGs.
GOOD NEWS: BOBA FETT BANNED! Now is the perfect time to return as the meta has completely shifted and opened up. More niche leaders have become better with set 3 and this was only exemplified with the boba banning.
They did release a game afterwards simply called Wars, which used the same mechanics as SW:CCG but with their own IP universe. It didn't do well, with only the base and 1 expansion before dying.
@EmporerDragon yup but by that point we all saw the writing on the wall for decipher. They were already having issues when the lost the Star Wars and Star Trek licenses
I hope you are wrong. Finally we have a good Star wars card game, and it's something that brings some fresh air in the TCG sector. MTG is declining, people want to try something new.
Oooooor you can find kindred spirits to play it after it dies? When it dies? If it dies? (Lots of people play Pokémon TCG formats from any point from the game's inception onward (Retro Pokémon formats) just for fun, and I'm sure people could do the same with dead TCGs if they could just find one person to play with.)
In my opinion you've gone very superficial on this analysis, I'm not saying you're wrong, surely time will tell, however I expected you to develop your opinion a bit more instead of simply saying that the company behind the game has a bad reputation for star wars games, which again, fits as an argument, but not if it's pretty much your only one. See you again in a year, in the meantime I enjoy this wonderful game.
I have been playing this game since the drop of set one and I am afraid I must disagree with you on several points. 1) While the game has fairly simple mechanics and doesn’t seem that deep on the surface, the card interactions and knowing when to do the right action at the right time has a lot of depth. I compare the game to chess, simple to learn, but difficult to master. 2) While I do agree how Disney has run Star Wars has not been, shall we say, optimal, there are still a boat load of Star Wars fans, new and old, that this game appeals to. The current set is based in the Clone Wars era and a lot of 20-30 somethings grew up in the prequel era and love those movies and the clone wars TV show. So, there is appeal there for both old farts like me and the new fans, even fans of the sequels. 3) Just an FYI, every card in the game has a base version, a foil version, a hyperspace version (full art), and a hyperspace foil version. Leaders in the game have a base version, a hyperspace version, and those expensive chase cards of showcase versions (exceptions being Luke and Darth Vader from set 1 for some reason). There are also special versions of leaders available in the starter sets, and organized play has a 20-card subset of alternate art cards. 4) I feel that the game balance issue comes from set to set, not in the game. For example, set 1 Spark of the Rebellion was strong and the last two sets have seen a definite shift down in power to the game. I believe this is because sets 1-3 were designed together, and they wanted set one to take off and do well for the game. My hope is that the power level of the next set, Jump to Lightspeed, will ramp up. If it does not, it will be harmful for the game in sales. I do agree with you on the FFG issue however, and most of us fans of the game are fully aware of their history with “complete gaming” games like Destiny and X-Wing. This is a concern, and we are watching FFG and their decisions. I will always have this concern in the back of my head. In conclusion, do I feel the game will topple the big three… no, most likely not. Do I feel like this game will be around for a decade, no, most likely not. But I can see a future where this game has a good strong 5-6-year run. Let’s be honest here, unless you are Magic or the others, ALL CCGs have a finite life span. For some it is one to two sets, some for years. But ultimately EVERY TCG will eventually topple and fail leaving the big three there to pick up the pieces. I can tell you it has been a fun year with this card game and I am looking forward to what the next block of cards bring to the game.
I thought I saw somewhere that they are pre-approved for 9 sets across 3 years. Not sure how this stuff works or if that was accurate, but I just got into it and am having a lot of fun so hopefully it sticks around.
Superfan of the game , but here's my (minor) concerns: - set 1 was wildly popular, but also wildly under printed. Ffg is still trying to catch up to demand. But will people still buy set 1 when set 4 is approaching?? - set 1 and 3 are iconic settings and characters (mostly), but set 2 was... Whacky underworld bounty hunter theme??? Who wanted this? - premiere is stuck in a weird spot right now with the idea of "rotation" looming. Do I really want an expensive full art set one card that's (probably) about to rotate out of "standard"? - when you think of Star wars characters, who pops up in your mind?? I'll bet it's not Sabine wren, boba Fett, bossk, or qira - who are some of the dominant names in the meta game. Who wants to play Star wars as Sabine Wren???? That said- game is fun and I'll prob stick with it
I don’t play Star Wars unlimited But I was a big fan of battle spirits saga. The major criticism of that game was the cards looked like they should have come out in the tcg Glut of the early 2000s and that’s how I feel about this Star Wars game
As a SWU player, the game is extremely fun and refreshing. I do fear the overprinting of the latest set (Twilight of the Republic), and card value will hurt the game. This set doesn't have any major game changing cards and the competitive meta at least won't shift as much. Boxes are already sub 75$ and the set hasn't even officially launched yet.
From what I've heard, some of the biggest selling points are brisk turns and the generally higher power level of bulk. What do you find most appealing about the game?
I think most of the reasons you list are sound. I know this is anecdotal and I'm fairly new to the SWU community, but around my area SWU is only growing. SWU events are starting to usurp magic events at a lot of game and comic shops around my area. I only took notice because I was getting back into Magic, but everyone was playing this new Star Wars TCG instead. So, I got curious. People are just loving the game. Because of the way the decks can be constructed with the aspect system, I think there is more depth than you've experienced or are giving credit for. To be fair, I'm very new to it myself, so we'll see how it plays out as I get more games under my belt. I know other comments here seem to think you're rooting for the game to fail, but that isn't what I got out of your video. But I do disagree with a lot of your points based on what I'm seeing locally. However, I could just be in a bubble. I guess we can check in next year to see how the game is doing. Hopefully, it is still growing. Oh, one more thing - I understand what you are saying about not trusting FFG, but my friends who own game stores tell me their experience with FFG has been totally great this time around. Lots of free promo stuff and events around the game. FFG seem to really be supporting this game this time around.
“Unlimited” is the most backwards subtitle I can imagine for a card game. Now I can understand it for a TTRPG, but card games? They are so rigid and inflexible with their rules! It is hard to imagine homebrew rulesets that use the same set of cards in ANY TCG, just because of how many rules they focus on! It’s a little bit insane, compared to the variety of games made for a deck of 52 playing cards. Commander and its spin-offs for MTG? A SMALL step in the right direction. “Unlimited…” Might as well call it “Freedom” instead.
Also, and this is just my opinion, Its the same company that botched Star Wars Destiny. Game was good, mechanics where good, distribution method and their logistics where HORRID. FFG is known for being unable to really support their games. What I mean is they DO support them but after a while the logistics get to them and they crap out. X-Wing was their only game to last more than 2 or 3 years. Every other game they have put out gets 2 maybe 3 years at most and then it gets to be too much for them.
I would have to agree with you on this one. I personally love the game but can longer play it because all the local players have stopped playing at locals and even in a big city that is about 30 minutes away the game is dead locally. I played at a couple local spots for set 1 and there was a steady 10 to 16 players and then the store showdown's I went to had an average of16 to 24 people. Then after set 2 up until now there is literally zero people that show up and the store showdown's for set 2 I went to a couple of them that literally had2 people.
I think this depends on particular cities tbh. I'm coming from Poland and I can say that from what I've seen it's very popular here with 30-40 players in bigger places. Also I see tonnes of events for it and a lot of buzz about it from friends or local online groups.
I have to disagree. SWU does alright. Not amazing but alright. FFG will probably keep this running just as long as every other Star Wars property they had. Not for 10 more years but probabyly 5-6 more years i guess.
It won't capture the normies the people that are into trading card games, but not specifically Star Wars and Star Wars. People who are not into trading card games keep them like baseball cards as novelties and eventually that's going to run dry when they try to go multiple multiple multiple sets a year
First set was almost 250 cards, second was almost 250, along with this set being 250 so 750ish cards. Screw Star Wars i.p. almost all the players don't care about the woke agenda broken story. They have suspended Boba Fett leader because he was a full 60% of all the major tournaments top 8 and was bad for the game. There is now massive library manipulation a leader that flips from light to dark never deploying, you can go wide with tokens and can sac them to reduce cost of a card being played, graveyards have recursion, you can play off the top of the deck, there is a proper mill strategy, there is flying, first strike, trample, there are Tims, there are more and more enchants as well as equipment, there are ways to cast from your resource row. The art from set 1 and 2 sucked set 3 is getting better. Twin Suns (commander) will be moving to 80 cards. Magic screwed the pooch and Hasbro stated WOTC won't make it out of the red next year in a shareholders meeting. SWU is making good on the promise of making cards from earlier sets more powerful in later sets and they have the next few sets play tested and ready to print and they have supply chain issues ironed out. The market is full of set 3 cards. I get about 50 paper games a month in for Star Wars. Again, I hate the i.p., the art is improving, and there is product available. It is a good game and every set introduces more complexity. Set 1 was an introduction into how the colors would play and had mechanical cards needed to simply play.
I played a lot of cardgames and swu is one of the best. The Tickets here to planetary qualifiers (80+ Players) were sold out in minutes. I think the game has at least 3-5 years (and we can hope for even longer)
Would love to talk you more about Star Wars. I Played all of them since Dechiepher. The 3rd set dropping the ball is a bummer for SWU. Silly Question - are you busy on thurs?
@@FranksHobbies Would love to have you on our show MTG Round Table . We start at 8pm EST / 5pm PST and typically talk recent MTG news and other MTG topics. Plus I want to talk more on Star Wars lol. My contant info in all my video descriptions - let me know.
You’re wrong on your assessment of FFG having a bad track record with Star Wars games. Xwing,armada and legion all were having great success until asmodee shoved it onto the lap of the way understaffed AMG. One of the big reasons armada and xwing are no longer being updated is because of AMG small staff.
Armada didnt have much of a life even before AMG, Legion has done alright, and X-Wing was good till 2.0, But not it wasnt just AMG that was the problem. Oh also FFGs Star Wars LCG, their L5R LCG, their Netrunner LCG. Pretty much no game under FFG lasts more than 5 years, most no more than 2 to 3. X-Wing was the exception. Ill agree with the Asmodee being the root cause. They really never supported, or put the support behind FFGs games. But it is a track record that includes FFG.
The problem is that SW as a franchise is more suited for miniature games than card games because there’s no much to take from; and with this I mean, you can do 3 versions of Luke because you see him changing, but there’s no reason to make more than one of many other characters, and with SWU using “colors” it’s hard to give a reasonable explanation why a character should have a card in different “colors” . Now, the other problem about what to take from is that many of us don’t like what’s happening recently to SW as franchise, maybe an expansion about the Mandalorian , what would be great is an expansion for both Old Republic and Expanded Universe after RotJ but those are non canon so… no cards about Darth Malgus, Darth Caedus, Kyle Katarn or Mara Jade Solo.
@ Honestly I never liked EU because I thought there was no need for it. RotJ was a very good conclusion to the saga and the unknown future was a good thing to have. The EU after it just put TOO much, TOO many characters ; I understand it’s hard to make a good villain for SW, Grand Admiral Thrawn works well but Yuu’zhang are just BS… and although Darth Caedus IS a menace of course everyone will compare him to Vader and Kyle to young Luke (in a way). I mean it’s hard to make new stories that aren’t a copy of some sort of 1-6
It's pretty rare for a Star Wars game to dip heavily into the EU. I've only seen it done on a large scale with WotC's Star Wars Miniatures, as they had characters from every practically every part of the universe, so you could have a battle where Cade Skywalker, Boba Fett, & Naga Sadow face off against Galen Marek, Biggs Darklighter, & HK-47. Hell, even Arden Lyn from the notorious game Masters of Teras Kasai got a figure by the end.
Magic Reddit nerds are so weird. Magic blows and is a fundamentally flawed game where 15%+ games are ruined by lands half your deck is lands. Not a skillful game at all I reached top500 after downloading th game for a week with limited cards ez game is ez
I have to disagree. FFG and the team behind SWU have been amazing at managing the game. The recent Boba fett ban only proved this as now, the meta has opened ti so many new decks. Also the game IS complex. While its easy to play this game, understanding what to resource and how to sequence your actions is very strategy intensive.
You're not necessarily wrong about the survival of SWU even though I think it may last at least until the end of 2025 in my opinion. But you're far too much in a negative spiral about Star Wars, like a lot of people because you talk about "bad video games" ... please, name one recent SW video game that is BAD.
I agree with you here, Frank. FFG has a track record of dropping Starwars games and this is no exception. With what I imagine is an expensive IP license to keep going the moment they hit 1-2 bad sets like every TCG eventually does then they will fold like a cheap suit again and shutter this game. The artwork is nice but when you have the Mandolorian and Yodi that’s not hard to do. Gameplay is too similar to MTG to be considered unique. Hard pass for me.
Sorry, but have you actually played the game ? Like, more than a couple rounds? I've played my fair share of magic and honestly, I just don't see how it's remotely similar to magic? Games are much more fast and dynamic with having a back and forth each phase rather than player 1 and player 2 phases. There is also passing the initiative, space and ground arenas, leaders (I suppose what you can consider commanders) are a constant part of the game with their abilities being used basically each round rather than just having them come out every few turns. You have bases, which in some cases are also more than a stand in card for your hp. Just based on this I don't think they're similar at all, apart from basic tcg mechanics like attacking creatures or hitting a players hp.
My biggest qualm with MTG is land. I quit playing because I was constantly getting land screwed, didn't matter how perfectly the deck was balanced. SWU fixes the land problem and ultimately makes this a much better game than MTG, which is grasping at straws to stay afloat, in my opinion. At this rate MTG will release a politician set, with Trump, Biden, Putin, etc.
100% agree with you. Star Wars Unlimited has so much going against it. The only good thing that this Star Wars game has going for it is that they have so much media to draw cards from. Considering how hated The Acolyte is if they do a set with a bunch of cards from that show I could see that set absolutely tanking. Wizards of the Coast using live action images for the cards was such a bad idea with only the 6 movies at the time to use images from.
I hard disagree. Game's got legs baby. Give me more evidential arguments with merit please! Friendly challenge.
You said your opinions were informed by other card games, the IP, etc. How could you say the game has a low skill ceiling? This game has an actual chess like mechanic built in, which inherently makes this game less scripted than MtG. As someone who has played this TCG's seriously and competitively for years - I even interviewed Pascal Maynard, a top 20 MtG player in the world, we all agree this game has an insanely high skill ceiling. These are coming from some of the best players in the world.
My strongest argument against Star Wars Unlimited is its status as a licensed game, rather than an in-house game. And while I know history doesn't predict the future, it does set a pattern that I find hard to ignore. I don't _want_ SWU to go under, mind you: I'd much prefer a wide diversity of cards on the market rather than three or four, but I can only have so much faith in its long-term status for now. I look forward to being wrong!
@@FranksHobbies That is fair. I actually think that this is an IP that is licensed means that this game is going to be more competitively and pull more users - Look what MtG is doing, Lorcana, and One Piece - they are all building their game on existing massive IP's. MtG just committed IP suicide 2-4 weeks ago with their announcements - their game is going to more licensed IP's and than their own. It seems like in order to survive and succeed, you almost need to do this very thing. Look at how many Kickstarter games have over $1million etc. that have no IP; they just die out.
I agree with you ! One of my local game stores has a big fandom on this game and also another store has one, and most of them are MTG players too! @@rebelresource
Feels like a general statement on Star Wars / FFG as a whole as opposed to Star Wars Unlimited itself.
Your comments on the ‘skill ceiling’ in the gameplay don’t hold much weight when just before you state you’ve only played a few games. There’s a lot of depth here for competitive players like myself, but it’s incredibly easy to pick up for new players as well.
Only other negative was to do with FFG, which whilst warranted for their past attempts, outside of distribution and supply problems their work on Unlimited so far has been excellent. Also important to note that supply issues have since been rectified with Set 3.
FFG have done a great job so far in listening to the community, whether it’s the recent Boba Fett suspension or the alteration to their rules regarding custom playmats at competitive events early in the games life cycle.
Whilst I don’t expect the game to last as long as some of the big players, primarily due to the limited scope the universe imposes and the difficulty of maintaining market share in TCGs, I do think the game is a lot of fun so will continue to play whilst the lights remain on.
It will be interesting to see if FFG’s effort changes if the game does begin to fall off.
Whilst I don’t agree with your opinion, still enjoyed the video and look forward to more content - earned a new subscriber 🙂
Welcome to the channel. And yes, I agree that maybe I don't have the most experience with it, I'm only able to comment what I've experienced so far. Here's hoping it sticks around!
Hey Frank, the algorithm brought me here. Im working on being a judge and I go to weekly plays at two different shops, I LOVE THIS GAME!!!! One of the aspects of the game I love is the back and forth aspect because it essentially stops the game from divulging into 15min card combos while the other person is just sitting there watching. The game is in a downward decline, yes, but with the first set being reprinted and rolling out right now, I think people will get into the game because everything is available to everyone now and not just the people who were lucky and bought product when it first dropped. Im hoping this game has a few years in it
I thought the old Star Wars tcg in the late 90s was Decipher not wotc
You are correct: I got my timelines mixed up. Decipher did Star Wars until 2001, WotC's Star Wars TCG was after (and did not last as long).
ive been playing swu since release, played lorcana for a while before it and also the one pice tcg, so far for me personally swu has been my favorite of the bunch, the place i meet up to play at has a group of about 20-25 people who show up twice a week and i really like the back and forth gameplay it provides. i do worry about the longevity of the game especially with so many other good tcg products out there.
When I think of Star Wars games that withstood the test of time, the 2 that pop into my head are Decipher's Star Wars CCG and Wizard's Star Wars Miniatures, both of which were only shuttered because they lost the license. And both do still have active player communities where they release virtual expansions to keep adding new cards to the game decades after official support ended.
If it's good enough for community-made cards, it's good enough for me!
Both are great games. Haven't followed either community in like forever.
The game will die if its bad, but the game is good, it's going to live. People love to doom and gloom and look at the economics of TCGPlayer, but why are people such sheep? If you like the game play the damn game. Buy the cards. The game has a low skill floor, so it's easy and straight forward, but the skill ceiling is super high when you're playing competitively, due to every action mattering a ton.
Similar to the others here, I'll say calling the skill ceiling for the game lower is *wild*. The alternating actions and draw-two-resource-one mechanics expands the piloting reliance tremendously. And deck construction options have opened a ton in just three sets. I'm so confused about where you get this take from, because it seems to be the biggest thing players dig about the game (even those from other TCGs crossing over). There have been pro MTG players picking up even the most simple meta aggro decks and being astounded by how many lines are involved in practice.
You're confirming exactly what I expected from SWU from the start. It was never something I was going to get into having played Decipher's CCG back in the day which arguably is the best iteration of Star Wars as a card game. FFG struggles with consistency, reliability, and longevity in all of their products, so by default, so will SWU.
considering they made 3 years of sets that go through 2026 and have collectors boxes on the way that’s a bold prediction. The game is being run better than any ffg card game before it. I would never bet the house on ffg but they know this is the last chance at a ccg.
So ur saying that since the old card games died this one will die too…… swu will be around past this year mark my words. It will make three years for sure then we can reconvene on this.
I hope you're right!
SWU was recently added to the front page tabs on TCGplayer next to MTG and Pokemon. The secondary market prices are extremely healthy. I don't see it crashing as you describe. It's true that Disney and Lucasfilm under Kathleen Kennedy have driven Star Wars into the ground as a franchise, and that doesn't help the game succeed, but the game seems to have momentum enough to keep it going past the two year mark you mention.
I tried playing the game for a good while. I enjoyed it for a while, but decided to drop out. My local LGS was playing it (Heavy emphasis on meta; if you weren't playing meta, you were NOT going to win), but everyone stopped coming to play, only ever coming by to buy out all of the boxes as soon as they were up for sale.
The only other location is too out of the way for me to justify going there for the game, but I hope the people who do play it there have fun with it.
Also just wanted to add; I'm really glad I found this channel of yours. It's awesome hearing more indepth videos covering your opinions on different TCGs.
GOOD NEWS: BOBA FETT BANNED! Now is the perfect time to return as the meta has completely shifted and opened up. More niche leaders have become better with set 3 and this was only exemplified with the boba banning.
@@ossunnix Nice, if I can find a more local place or even find the extra funds for the gas to get up there, I might give it a shot again.
Hey I'm just glad you like the content!
Decipher Star Wars was by far the best. Shame they lost the license
They did release a game afterwards simply called Wars, which used the same mechanics as SW:CCG but with their own IP universe. It didn't do well, with only the base and 1 expansion before dying.
@EmporerDragon yup but by that point we all saw the writing on the wall for decipher. They were already having issues when the lost the Star Wars and Star Trek licenses
I hope you are wrong. Finally we have a good Star wars card game, and it's something that brings some fresh air in the TCG sector. MTG is declining, people want to try something new.
I hope I'm wrong, too.
Who cares, im gonna play it till it dies, just like all my other tcgs that are dead.
Oooooor you can find kindred spirits to play it after it dies? When it dies? If it dies? (Lots of people play Pokémon TCG formats from any point from the game's inception onward (Retro Pokémon formats) just for fun, and I'm sure people could do the same with dead TCGs if they could just find one person to play with.)
In my opinion you've gone very superficial on this analysis, I'm not saying you're wrong, surely time will tell, however I expected you to develop your opinion a bit more instead of simply saying that the company behind the game has a bad reputation for star wars games, which again, fits as an argument, but not if it's pretty much your only one.
See you again in a year, in the meantime I enjoy this wonderful game.
I look forward to it!
I have been playing this game since the drop of set one and I am afraid I must disagree with you on several points.
1) While the game has fairly simple mechanics and doesn’t seem that deep on the surface, the card interactions and knowing when to do the right action at the right time has a lot of depth. I compare the game to chess, simple to learn, but difficult to master.
2) While I do agree how Disney has run Star Wars has not been, shall we say, optimal, there are still a boat load of Star Wars fans, new and old, that this game appeals to. The current set is based in the Clone Wars era and a lot of 20-30 somethings grew up in the prequel era and love those movies and the clone wars TV show. So, there is appeal there for both old farts like me and the new fans, even fans of the sequels.
3) Just an FYI, every card in the game has a base version, a foil version, a hyperspace version (full art), and a hyperspace foil version. Leaders in the game have a base version, a hyperspace version, and those expensive chase cards of showcase versions (exceptions being Luke and Darth Vader from set 1 for some reason). There are also special versions of leaders available in the starter sets, and organized play has a 20-card subset of alternate art cards.
4) I feel that the game balance issue comes from set to set, not in the game. For example, set 1 Spark of the Rebellion was strong and the last two sets have seen a definite shift down in power to the game. I believe this is because sets 1-3 were designed together, and they wanted set one to take off and do well for the game. My hope is that the power level of the next set, Jump to Lightspeed, will ramp up. If it does not, it will be harmful for the game in sales.
I do agree with you on the FFG issue however, and most of us fans of the game are fully aware of their history with “complete gaming” games like Destiny and X-Wing. This is a concern, and we are watching FFG and their decisions. I will always have this concern in the back of my head.
In conclusion, do I feel the game will topple the big three… no, most likely not. Do I feel like this game will be around for a decade, no, most likely not. But I can see a future where this game has a good strong 5-6-year run. Let’s be honest here, unless you are Magic or the others, ALL CCGs have a finite life span. For some it is one to two sets, some for years. But ultimately EVERY TCG will eventually topple and fail leaving the big three there to pick up the pieces. I can tell you it has been a fun year with this card game and I am looking forward to what the next block of cards bring to the game.
I thought I saw somewhere that they are pre-approved for 9 sets across 3 years. Not sure how this stuff works or if that was accurate, but I just got into it and am having a lot of fun so hopefully it sticks around.
I've heard something similar to that myself, and I hope I AM wrong, but time will tell.
Hey Hey Hey Ashoka and Obi Wan were fire and the Jedi Survivor games were amazing. My problem with SWU is just how hard the chase cards are to pull
Superfan of the game , but here's my (minor) concerns:
- set 1 was wildly popular, but also wildly under printed. Ffg is still trying to catch up to demand. But will people still buy set 1 when set 4 is approaching??
- set 1 and 3 are iconic settings and characters (mostly), but set 2 was... Whacky underworld bounty hunter theme??? Who wanted this?
- premiere is stuck in a weird spot right now with the idea of "rotation" looming. Do I really want an expensive full art set one card that's (probably) about to rotate out of "standard"?
- when you think of Star wars characters, who pops up in your mind?? I'll bet it's not Sabine wren, boba Fett, bossk, or qira - who are some of the dominant names in the meta game. Who wants to play Star wars as Sabine Wren????
That said- game is fun and I'll prob stick with it
Ironically enough Boba Fett is the one who pops for me, Bounty Hunters are my favorite parte of SW.
@mizzogames ah now I understand why you hate the game lol
I don’t play Star Wars unlimited
But I was a big fan of battle spirits saga. The major criticism of that game was the cards looked like they should have come out in the tcg Glut of the early 2000s and that’s how I feel about this Star Wars game
As a SWU player, the game is extremely fun and refreshing. I do fear the overprinting of the latest set (Twilight of the Republic), and card value will hurt the game. This set doesn't have any major game changing cards and the competitive meta at least won't shift as much. Boxes are already sub 75$ and the set hasn't even officially launched yet.
From what I've heard, some of the biggest selling points are brisk turns and the generally higher power level of bulk. What do you find most appealing about the game?
Its not the game its the economy
The game will last at least 2 more years, they already have sets 7-9 in production.
One more to the SW graveyard
I think most of the reasons you list are sound. I know this is anecdotal and I'm fairly new to the SWU community, but around my area SWU is only growing. SWU events are starting to usurp magic events at a lot of game and comic shops around my area. I only took notice because I was getting back into Magic, but everyone was playing this new Star Wars TCG instead. So, I got curious. People are just loving the game. Because of the way the decks can be constructed with the aspect system, I think there is more depth than you've experienced or are giving credit for. To be fair, I'm very new to it myself, so we'll see how it plays out as I get more games under my belt.
I know other comments here seem to think you're rooting for the game to fail, but that isn't what I got out of your video. But I do disagree with a lot of your points based on what I'm seeing locally. However, I could just be in a bubble. I guess we can check in next year to see how the game is doing. Hopefully, it is still growing.
Oh, one more thing - I understand what you are saying about not trusting FFG, but my friends who own game stores tell me their experience with FFG has been totally great this time around. Lots of free promo stuff and events around the game. FFG seem to really be supporting this game this time around.
It's good to see so many people showing support for the game, here's hoping I'm wrong!
“Unlimited” is the most backwards subtitle I can imagine for a card game. Now I can understand it for a TTRPG, but card games? They are so rigid and inflexible with their rules! It is hard to imagine homebrew rulesets that use the same set of cards in ANY TCG, just because of how many rules they focus on!
It’s a little bit insane, compared to the variety of games made for a deck of 52 playing cards. Commander and its spin-offs for MTG? A SMALL step in the right direction. “Unlimited…” Might as well call it “Freedom” instead.
Also, and this is just my opinion, Its the same company that botched Star Wars Destiny. Game was good, mechanics where good, distribution method and their logistics where HORRID. FFG is known for being unable to really support their games. What I mean is they DO support them but after a while the logistics get to them and they crap out. X-Wing was their only game to last more than 2 or 3 years. Every other game they have put out gets 2 maybe 3 years at most and then it gets to be too much for them.
I would have to agree with you on this one. I personally love the game but can longer play it because all the local players have stopped playing at locals and even in a big city that is about 30 minutes away the game is dead locally. I played at a couple local spots for set 1 and there was a steady 10 to 16 players and then the store showdown's I went to had an average of16 to 24 people. Then after set 2 up until now there is literally zero people that show up and the store showdown's for set 2 I went to a couple of them that literally had2 people.
I think this depends on particular cities tbh. I'm coming from Poland and I can say that from what I've seen it's very popular here with 30-40 players in bigger places. Also I see tonnes of events for it and a lot of buzz about it from friends or local online groups.
I have to disagree. SWU does alright. Not amazing but alright. FFG will probably keep this running just as long as every other Star Wars property they had. Not for 10 more years but probabyly 5-6 more years i guess.
Game is doing great and only getting better
It won't capture the normies the people that are into trading card games, but not specifically Star Wars and Star Wars. People who are not into trading card games keep them like baseball cards as novelties and eventually that's going to run dry when they try to go multiple multiple multiple sets a year
First set was almost 250 cards, second was almost 250, along with this set being 250 so 750ish cards. Screw Star Wars i.p. almost all the players don't care about the woke agenda broken story. They have suspended Boba Fett leader because he was a full 60% of all the major tournaments top 8 and was bad for the game. There is now massive library manipulation a leader that flips from light to dark never deploying, you can go wide with tokens and can sac them to reduce cost of a card being played, graveyards have recursion, you can play off the top of the deck, there is a proper mill strategy, there is flying, first strike, trample, there are Tims, there are more and more enchants as well as equipment, there are ways to cast from your resource row. The art from set 1 and 2 sucked set 3 is getting better. Twin Suns (commander) will be moving to 80 cards. Magic screwed the pooch and Hasbro stated WOTC won't make it out of the red next year in a shareholders meeting. SWU is making good on the promise of making cards from earlier sets more powerful in later sets and they have the next few sets play tested and ready to print and they have supply chain issues ironed out.
The market is full of set 3 cards. I get about 50 paper games a month in for Star Wars.
Again, I hate the i.p., the art is improving, and there is product available. It is a good game and every set introduces more complexity. Set 1 was an introduction into how the colors would play and had mechanical cards needed to simply play.
I thought the old old Star Wars TCG was from Decipher? Did WoTC buy them?
I got my dates mixed up! Decipher did the 90s game, WotC did the early 2000's.
I played a lot of cardgames and swu is one of the best. The Tickets here to planetary qualifiers (80+ Players) were sold out in minutes. I think the game has at least 3-5 years (and we can hope for even longer)
Would love to talk you more about Star Wars. I Played all of them since Dechiepher. The 3rd set dropping the ball is a bummer for SWU. Silly Question - are you busy on thurs?
I typically have things going on, what's up?
@@FranksHobbies Would love to have you on our show MTG Round Table . We start at 8pm EST / 5pm PST and typically talk recent MTG news and other MTG topics. Plus I want to talk more on Star Wars lol. My contant info in all my video descriptions - let me know.
I doubt I can do it this week, but next week is a possibility!
You’re wrong on your assessment of FFG having a bad track record with Star Wars games. Xwing,armada and legion all were having great success until asmodee shoved it onto the lap of the way understaffed AMG. One of the big reasons armada and xwing are no longer being updated is because of AMG small staff.
I'd love to hear more about this honestly - FFG has had several failed projects and if they're all the fault of AMG I'd like to know more.
@ it’s not the fault of AMG either but mismanagement from asmodee.
Armada didnt have much of a life even before AMG, Legion has done alright, and X-Wing was good till 2.0, But not it wasnt just AMG that was the problem. Oh also FFGs Star Wars LCG, their L5R LCG, their Netrunner LCG. Pretty much no game under FFG lasts more than 5 years, most no more than 2 to 3. X-Wing was the exception.
Ill agree with the Asmodee being the root cause. They really never supported, or put the support behind FFGs games. But it is a track record that includes FFG.
Uncle Frank getting cocky, you guys better don't forget to hit that like button on your way out!
At what point do we need to ask a doctor how many dislikes the video needs for Frank to survive the next recording session? :(
The problem is that SW as a franchise is more suited for miniature games than card games because there’s no much to take from; and with this I mean, you can do 3 versions of Luke because you see him changing, but there’s no reason to make more than one of many other characters, and with SWU using “colors” it’s hard to give a reasonable explanation why a character should have a card in different “colors” . Now, the other problem about what to take from is that many of us don’t like what’s happening recently to SW as franchise, maybe an expansion about the Mandalorian , what would be great is an expansion for both Old Republic and Expanded Universe after RotJ but those are non canon so… no cards about Darth Malgus, Darth Caedus, Kyle Katarn or Mara Jade Solo.
It's a pitty all that EU was wasted.
@
Honestly I never liked EU because I thought there was no need for it. RotJ was a very good conclusion to the saga and the unknown future was a good thing to have. The EU after it just put TOO much, TOO many characters ; I understand it’s hard to make a good villain for SW, Grand Admiral Thrawn works well but Yuu’zhang are just BS… and although Darth Caedus IS a menace of course everyone will compare him to Vader and Kyle to young Luke (in a way). I mean it’s hard to make new stories that aren’t a copy of some sort of 1-6
It's pretty rare for a Star Wars game to dip heavily into the EU. I've only seen it done on a large scale with WotC's Star Wars Miniatures, as they had characters from every practically every part of the universe, so you could have a battle where Cade Skywalker, Boba Fett, & Naga Sadow face off against Galen Marek, Biggs Darklighter, & HK-47. Hell, even Arden Lyn from the notorious game Masters of Teras Kasai got a figure by the end.
Magic Reddit nerds are so weird. Magic blows and is a fundamentally flawed game where 15%+ games are ruined by lands half your deck is lands. Not a skillful game at all I reached top500 after downloading th game for a week with limited cards ez game is ez
❤️
I have to disagree. FFG and the team behind SWU have been amazing at managing the game. The recent Boba fett ban only proved this as now, the meta has opened ti so many new decks. Also the game IS complex. While its easy to play this game, understanding what to resource and how to sequence your actions is very strategy intensive.
Yeah, I'm not very optimistic about SWU's future
Lol ok dude..
You're not necessarily wrong about the survival of SWU even though I think it may last at least until the end of 2025 in my opinion. But you're far too much in a negative spiral about Star Wars, like a lot of people because you talk about "bad video games" ... please, name one recent SW video game that is BAD.
Hard mode name a bad game that’s not a mobile game.
Outlaws.
@@FranksHobbies I disagree with your SWU analysis but you are spot on about Outlaws. It's a garbage game.
@@FranksHobbies Even though you didn't like Outlaws, it is not considered to be a bad game.
I agree with you here, Frank. FFG has a track record of dropping Starwars games and this is no exception. With what I imagine is an expensive IP license to keep going the moment they hit 1-2 bad sets like every TCG eventually does then they will fold like a cheap suit again and shutter this game. The artwork is nice but when you have the Mandolorian and Yodi that’s not hard to do. Gameplay is too similar to MTG to be considered unique. Hard pass for me.
Hey thanks!
Sorry, but have you actually played the game ? Like, more than a couple rounds? I've played my fair share of magic and honestly, I just don't see how it's remotely similar to magic? Games are much more fast and dynamic with having a back and forth each phase rather than player 1 and player 2 phases. There is also passing the initiative, space and ground arenas, leaders (I suppose what you can consider commanders) are a constant part of the game with their abilities being used basically each round rather than just having them come out every few turns. You have bases, which in some cases are also more than a stand in card for your hp. Just based on this I don't think they're similar at all, apart from basic tcg mechanics like attacking creatures or hitting a players hp.
Lol😂
My biggest qualm with MTG is land. I quit playing because I was constantly getting land screwed, didn't matter how perfectly the deck was balanced. SWU fixes the land problem and ultimately makes this a much better game than MTG, which is grasping at straws to stay afloat, in my opinion. At this rate MTG will release a politician set, with Trump, Biden, Putin, etc.
100% agree with you. Star Wars Unlimited has so much going against it. The only good thing that this Star Wars game has going for it is that they have so much media to draw cards from. Considering how hated The Acolyte is if they do a set with a bunch of cards from that show I could see that set absolutely tanking. Wizards of the Coast using live action images for the cards was such a bad idea with only the 6 movies at the time to use images from.