It’s time for another Star Wars™: Unlimited designer deck showcase! This week’s deck was provided by Joe O’Neil. Read on to see what he has in store for us today! 

Chirrut Upgrades  

This deck is my favorite style of deck to play in Star Wars™: Unlimited: pick a compatible leader and then just upgrade away! I’ll start with the caveat that this deck is very swingy and matchup-dependent, but when it gets rolling it is so fun. The basic premise is to get all your upgrades and shields on a unit to make it extra big and powerful, then swing at the enemy base for massive damage.

In the early game, you want to try to get Guardian of the Whills in play with upgrades; if you can’t, then just play defensively until you have 5 resources. Once Chirrut can deploy, get him out and attach as many upgrades as possible on him, since he can’t be defeated by enemy units until the regroup phase. If you make it to the late game, Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi are good backup units to give upgrades.

This deck can easily be blocked by units with Sentinel or effects that exhaust your units. If your powered-up Chirrut is exhausted, then you lose almost all your damage for that turn. If you’re up against a Cunning deck, it’s really important to get the initiative and swing early. Regional Governor is an excellent tool to block cards like Takedown or Bamboozle that could reset all your upgrade progress. If you find a pesky Sentinel unit in your way, you can play a SpecForce soldier for just 1 resource to turn off the Sentinel and attack the base again.

This playstyle is very “put all your eggs in one basket,” and Chirrut is a very sturdy basket. That said, he is defeatable with enough damage and time, or with cards like Takedown the moment he comes out. In case this happens, not all hope is lost; it’s always good to have back-ups. Early game units like Guardian of the Whills or Yoda can be formidable with a Jedi Lightsaber equipped. Chirrut is your main unit mid-game, as being a leader gives him more natural immunity to removal cards. In the late game, your best backup is Luke Skywalker, as he has the Force trait, great stats, and an amazing When Played ability.

Unit removal is very important in Star Wars: Unlimited, so even an upgrade-based deck like this one wants a few cards like Open Fire or Takedown to get rid of enemy units that are causing you trouble. Controlling the board with your events in addition to units is vital. One of the strongest events in this deck is The Force is With Me. It has a little bit of everything you want: you get to make your Chirrut even stronger with 2 Experience tokens, you get a Shield to protect him even more, and on top of that you get to attack with him immediately.

There are faster aggressive decks that can end the game quicker than this one, and there are late-game decks that can control the board better, but this deck gets you very strong units and fast. Your cards’ Restore abilities can offset some of the damage from aggressive decks, and defensive measure like Shields and leader immunity to cards like Vanquish, as well as Chirrut’s unit ability, can help you survive against control. When this deck takes off, it’s so much fun to hit an enemy base for more than 10 damage in a single attack.

Players who like to have the biggest, strongest, most indestructible unit should definitely try out this deck.

More Designer Decks to Come

Tune in next week for another deck provided by the Star Wars: Unlimited designers! What new strategies will they unveil? We hope to see you all then!