Star Wars Unlimited: Every Keyword Ranked

Summary

• Keywords help improve gameplay.
• They can be used to gain a tactical advantage, but may also have drawbacks.
• Setup time varies, and knowing all the mechanics will help you find the best keywords.

Star Wars Unlimited, like many other TCG games on the market, has a variety of keywords to spice up the gameplay. This can mean allowing some cards to have unique abilities that make them stronger or faster than others. It can also mean giving the player using them a tactical advantage on their mission to destroy their opponent’s base.

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With players playing cards back and forth, some keywords are naturally better than others. Some can give you a benefit right away, while others take a bit of setup before you can take full advantage of them. This is every keyword in Star Wars Unlimited ranked by how useful it can be at any given moment.

10 Raid X

A Boost In Power

There are two keywords in Star Wars Unlimited that are basic for beginners. From iconic ships to heroic units, Raid gives them a power boost when they attack. This can give you just the power you need to take down some of your opponent’s strongest units.

Raid is often followed by a number indicating just how much power that unit gains and can vary per card. While it is a useful keyword for your unit to have, it is not the best of the lot with some keywords being more powerful all on their own.

9 Restore X

Heal Your Base

Since keeping your base safe is of the utmost importance. You need a way to keep those numbers up so you don’t get scrubbed out early. Restore is a defensive keyword that triggers on attack. It allows you to heal the damage done to your base depending on the number next to the keyword.

Restore is great. However, if you want to win games, you need to do more than just stay on the offensive. However, restore can be a great way to maintain bases that start off with lower HP. These often give you special benefits to balance the drawbacks.

8 Saboteur

Defeat Shields And Sentinels Easily

Saboteur is a purely situational keyword that is good for bypassing units with the Sentinel or Shielded keywords. However, Saboteur alone will not grant any immediate value if you aren’t trying to get around these specific challenges.

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Saboteur can go after the units that your opponent might be trying to protect with Sentinel. Meanwhile, when a Saboteur goes up against a shielded unit, it can defeat the shield, shutting it down and making the unit vulnerable to any other of your units in play.

7 Grit

Less HP For More Power

Grit increases your unit's power depending on how much damage they take without being defeated. So, as long as the unit has some HP remaining, it will become a massive beat stick capable of mowing down stronger units.

To get the best value out of Grit, it is often suggested that you build a deck around controlling the damage done in exchange for other effects. This could mean damaging some of your own units on purpose to draw a card while at the same time turning that cost into another boost.

6 Bounty

Collect Rewards And Buffs

Bounty is a situational keyword that can be incredible when combined with some cards, especially when bounty hunters are involved. Essentially, units with a bounty give the player who defeats them the reward listed on the card.

Some units such as Jango Fett can collect double the bounty when they defeat a unit. Other cards, such as The Client, have the ability to place bounties on other units marking them for termination and giving you a chance to get rewards.

5 Smuggle

Play Cards From The Resource Pile

Smuggle is a keyword introduced in Star Wars Unlimited: Shadows of the Galaxy, and it changes the rules quite a bit in terms of resourcing your cards. Cards with the Smuggle keyword can be resourced early then, for a slightly costlier price, played directly from your resource pile.

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In this scenario, the top card of your deck replaces the smuggled card in the resource pile. Smuggle might not be the most useful keyword to use right away, but if you’re patient, many cards with this trait will also gain benefits when played through this method.

4 Sentinel

Guard Your Base And Units

The Sentinel keyword is another great way to not only protect your units but your base as well. When you play a Sentinel, enemy units can’t choose any other card to attack. They must go after the Sentinel first, unless they have the Saboteur keyword.

Sentinel does have a few drawbacks. For starters, you cannot prevent a Sentinel from being attacked using abilities. They also cannot stop attackers from different arena. So a ground Sentinel cannot block space units and space Sentinels cannot block ground units.

3 Overwhelm

Damage Your Enemy’s Base

At the end of the day, your goal is to take down your enemy's base. So using tactics that can do that easily will get you far. Overwhelm deals any excess damage toward your opponent's base, getting you closer each time to destroying it.

Some of the most powerful cards, such as Krayt Dragon, have Overwhelm, which allows them to deal a whopping amount of damage directly to bases simply by defeating units. Overwhelm is fantastic for aggro decks and gives a card instant value.

2 Shielded

Immunity To Attacks

Shielded is a great keyword, especially in units that are already hard to get rid of. When you deploy a unit with Shielded, it starts off with a Shield Token. This token will absorb one hit and protect your unit from any damage done during that attack.

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This is a great way to make your units last longer but also a way to force your opponent into playing cards they might not have in hand right away or risk damaging their units to get rid of the shield.

1 Ambush

See Instant Action

Ambush is a pretty self-reliant keyword that doesn't require you to set it up. It is also one of the most useful, since it readies a unit as soon as it enters the battlefield. This is considered one of the best keywords in the game.

Having a unit ready without having to wait to reset it immediately gives you more things to do during your turn. While Ambush doesn't let you attack your opponent's base, it can instantly apply pressure to your opponent's units.

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