M-V-Prerelease: Superstars of JTL Limited

It’s almost time for the much-anticipated release of Jump To Lightspeed, and with the heat that Set 4 is bringing to Star Wars: Unlimited, I am counting down the MINUTES until Prerelease events begin on March 7.

If you’re a SWU lifer like me, this is your fourth opportunity to attend your local game store and crack open a Prerelease kit, build a deck with a cavalcade of new options, and sample your first taste of victory with an entirely fresh card pool.

Some of the most thrilling Limited play experiences I’ve had came during Set 3’s pre-launch weekend, when every event I went to saw players dropping iconic characters onto the table, testing out new mechanics and truly having fun with the game. JTL promises to build on that with what appears to be a powerful set with options for any type of player.

But as we know, one of the absolute BEST parts of Prerelease weekend, and any Limited environment by extension, is the opportunity for surprising and underrated cards to shine. A card which may not quite meet the mark in a Premier format can find itself taking its star turn when slotted into your Prerelease deck.

As the clock winds down to Friday, let’s look at some of what I believe to be the most interesting and impactful cards you should consider when building your deck at your Prerelease.

Control, Control, You Must Learn Control!

Let’s get this one out of the way early: JTL is going to feature the Space Arena in an unprecedented fashion. As a result, it will be extremely prudent to consider ways to eliminate your competition in Space.

Luckily, the options to execute this plan in Jump To Lightspeed are not “limited” (heh, get it?) to Vigilance, which has long been seen as the “Control color.” That said, one of the strongest events in your Prerelease arsenal will likely be Direct Hit (JTL 78).

We won’t spend too much time here - it’s a set with lots of ships and lots of pilots for those ships. Bring the thing that defeats ships. Moving along. 

Limited has always been an environment where it can be difficult to handle when your opponent “goes tall”, or makes a massive unit that you may not have an answer to. Luckily, Set 4 has blessed us with a 1-cost upgrade that can do the dirty work for you, and that’s Dorsal Turret (JTL 120).

To be clear: I’m high on Dorsal Turret in Premier as well. But especially in a set where you will likely have your own Space units (very different from previous sets where Space came at a premium) Dorsal Turret can ensure that even your smallest unit can knock out your opponent’s largest - including Leader units! And oh, by the way, it works on Ground vehicles, too! 

I’m In It For The Money

Resource economy is important in every game of Star Wars: Unlimited, but perhaps even more so in the Limited format. Because your deck is far from optimized, making sure you can make the most of your resources every turn is crucial to achieving victory. 

As such, when you have cards that can deliberately mess with the resource curve on either side of the battlefield, they’re going to be a heavy hitter in the format. Enter In Debt To Crimson Dawn (JTL 192). 

Sure, it’s no Frozen in Carbonite (SHD 193) in the sense that you exhaust the unit when you play it, but in some ways, forcing your opponent to pay 2 resources for the opportunity to ready each round is stronger than just leaving the unit exhausted - after all, that’s two less resources they can spend in the round, staving off potentially larger plays. 

And while there will be a respectable amount of upgrade hate in Set 4, if your opponent is using one of their precious few removal spells on IDTCD, that’s one less they can use on your upgraded units! 

If you’re in Cunning but not necessarily in Villainy, one unit to watch out for that can help you maximize your own resources is Rafa Martez (JTL 219).

As we have seen throughout the lifespan of Star Wars: Unlimited, readying resources that you have already spent is universally a good thing to do, and while Rafa may not make the cut in most Premier decks, she can “fix” your rounds in Limited if sequenced correctly. 

For starters, there are a whopping 37 cards in Jump To Lightspeed that cost exactly 1 resource. So far, only Shadows of the Galaxy has had more - there were 40 in that set, but 4 of them were Bounties. 

It’s highly likely that you will find at least a few 1-drops in your Prerelease kit, which means that Rafa’s ability could be useful as early as the 2nd round when you are able to play her. The 1-damage ping seems a worthwhile tradeoff to be able to play a second card where you may not have previously.

Let’s say you played a Round 1 Space unit. Rafa Martez comes into play Round 2 and readies a resource. That extra dollar can be wisely spent on an Astromech Pilot (JTL 57) as an Upgrade to heal that damage right off.

Want to deal damage with Rafa right away? Dogfight (JTL 123) is here to allow you to do so, and Fight Fire with Fire (JTL 173) can also provide a surprise 3 damage early in the game. 

Rafa’s ability scales as the game goes on – at 5 resources, you suddenly have 6 to play with, and so on. It’s that kind of efficiency that should allow you to play more cards than you would have otherwise. It’s up to you to translate those extra cards into results!

Resource economy sometimes also means resource flexibility. That is, getting use out of the sparing amount of cards in your deck as often as possible. Perhaps nothing is more flexible in Jump To Lightspeed than possibly the best Uncommon in the set, Blue Leader (JTL 96).

A 3-cost 3/3 with Ambush in Space is a tremendous use of your resources on Round 2, especially if you have the Initiative and can take out your opponent’s unit before it has a chance to attack.

But later on in the game, that same Blue Leader may not be as effective as a 3/3, or your opponent may have more pressing threats in the Ground Arena. Luckily, adding 2 extra resources gives you the luxury of sliding Blue Leader across the table and Ambushing on the Ground as a 5/5. Additionally, you can choose to trigger the Ambush before the unit’s When Played effect, and provided your Blue Leader survives the Ambush attack, you now have a 5-power unit on the Ground after defeating a Space unit in the same action!

I'm a big fan of Blue Leader in every format - this is definitely a card that will push me towards Command Heroism if I find it in my Prerelease packs!

Hate Leads To Suffering

I previously mentioned upgrade hate in JTL, and by my count, there are 7 cards that can either remove or redistribute upgrades in the set, including Honda Ohnaka (JTL 56) which – being a double-Vigilance card – may be tough to find a home for in a Prerelease deck.

To me, the most useful of these cards may be found in Aggression… which makes sense, as Red has long been lauded as the upgrade-removal aspect. 

I like the idea of your units being used to remove upgrades, as it gives you presence on the board while removing some of your opponent’s stats as well. That’s why I think Frisk (JTL 148) is an excellent investment in Limited.

Of the 40 Pilots in Set 4, an astounding 32 of them cost 2 or less, which is right in line with Frisk’s When Played ability. Add that to the 7 non-Pilot upgrades that all cost 2 or less, and you’re looking at plenty of usage for this unheralded New Republic pilot. And if there aren’t any upgrades to defeat, you still get a 2-cost 3/2 on the Ground.

One Aggression card that may prove to be a trap in Limited is Allegiant General Pryde (JTL 133). On paper, his ability to remove a non-unique upgrade on a unit once indirect damage is dealt to it could look like a win-win.

However, your opponent’s freedom to assign the damage does not guarantee the removal of an upgrade, and only 11 of the aforementioned 40 Pilots in this set are non-unique, narrowing the window in which Pryde can make you proud.

If you’re looking for a blowout later in the game, Insurgent Saboteurs (JTL 168) may be an utter game changer for your Prerelease deck.

Having to wait until you have 6 resources to drop the Saboteurs puts you in line with most of the Pilot leaders in Jump To Lightspeed, with the exception of Lando Calrissian (JTL 3), who deploys at 7. 

Simply wait for your opponent to deploy their leader as an upgrade, and you’ve got a Confiscate tied to a 6/5 Ground unit with Saboteur. What’s not to love? 

Bombs Away

We can’t wrap up this article without talking about some of the best bombs that JTL has to offer. These can’t be too obvious: If you are fortunate enough to pull a Devastator (JTL 143) in your Prerelease packs, you’re obviously going to slot it in, no question. But let’s take a look at some Limited-specific cards that I like in this set, starting with a card that literally drops bombs.

If your chosen aspect pairing at your Prerelease features a healthy amount of upgrades, whether they be Pilots or Experience tokens and anything in between, you need to consider Tactical Heavy Bomber (JTL 152). Yes, it’s a Rare, so you may only get one if you pull one at all. But just like the Resistance ships in The Last Jedi, your job will be to protect that vehicle at all costs.

On paper, the Bomber may not look like much, but if you are able to upgrade it, the ability to do essentially double damage on every attack, with half of the damage being converted to indirect, is a massive upside in Limited. Add any of the Aggression Pilots at your disposal and you’ll be sitting pretty with a massive threat to your opponent’s board. 

Sticking with the Space arena, I would be remiss if I did not mention a fun new Capital Ship to play with: the MC30 Assault Frigate (JTL 118).

In this case, the Overwhelm on a unit that attacks for 6 in Space is the selling point for me. Sure, it doesn’t affect the board when it’s played, but your opponent will still have to find a way to deal with a 5-power unit, or risk getting wiped out the following round.

Specifically because of the Overwhelm, the MC30 is also a great target for the previously-mentioned Dogfight, allowing it to potentially attack twice in a round, or if you play it with one resource left over, the same round it enters play!

Finally, not all Limited bombs have to be on the high end of the resource curve. In an environment where Power Of The Dark Side (SOR 41) doesn’t exist, your Round 2 play can have a bit more freedom to it, giving you license to comfortably play an Interceptor Ace (JTL 34) on your Round 1 Vehicle.

Is a 3-cost Piloting upgrade a lot? Yes. Is your opponent going to be motivated to remove that upgrade? Sure. But giving your Vehicle an additional 3 HP and Grit is going to be a difficult pill for your opponent to swallow in the early game, and if they don’t have a way to do upwards of 4-6 damage right off the rip, that unit is only going to get scarier.

Assuming you are in Villainy to play Interceptor Ace, you will have access to 15 possible Round 1 Vehicles in your arsenal - not counting the Corporate Defense Shuttle (JTL 59), which can’t attack. That gives you a wide range of options on which to attach the Ace.

From a beefy TIE Bomber (JTL 237) to a Scouting Headhunter (JTL 110) to ensure peak Grit shenanigans, no matter how you slice it, your units benefit from this Round 2 Pilot. Just make sure to watch out for a Direct Hit the following round!

Take To The Skies

All told, there are so many new cards I can’t wait to test out and mess around with once Jump To Lightspeed hits the shelves for Prereleases on March 7. As of the writing of this article I am planning to attend FIVE different Prerelease events, and I’ll definitely be looking for more.

Don’t forget to try new things and have fun this weekend, and best of luck in your own events! 

Kevin
Roll On Gaming
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