Star Wars: The Card Game
Star Wars: The Card Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Game Overview
- Affiliations
- Card Identification
- Objective Sets
- Starting Decks
- Card Anatomy
- Setup
- Playing the Game
- Winning the Game
- Resources
- Resolving an Engagement
- 1. Declare Objective
- 2. Declare Attackers
- 3. Declare Defenders
- 4. Fight Edge Battle
- Resolving the Edge Battle
- Edge Battle Example
- 5. Resolve Strikes
- Resolving a Strike
- Resolving Combat Icons by Type
- Combat Icons
- Damage
- Strike Resolution Example
- Destroyed Unit Cards
- Destroyed Objectives
- Shield Tokens
- Concluding the Resolve Strikes Step
- 6. Reward Unopposed
- Conclude Engagement
- Card Abilities
- Other Rules
- Advanced Concepts
- Custom Decks
- Timing Structure
Game Overview
Box Contents
- This Rulebook
- 240 Cards, consisting of:
- 117 light side cards
- 117 dark side cards
- 3 Force cards (dark side)
- 3 Force cards (light side)
- 1 Death Star dial token (front)
- 1 Death Star dial token (back)
- 1 Plastic dial connector (in 2 pieces)
- 42 Damage tokens (1's and 3's)
- 1 Balance of the Force token
- 10 Shield tokens
- 44 Focus tokens
Component Overview
The following is a visual guide to the components found in the Star Wars: The Card Game Core Set:
- Light side cards represent the various units, events, enhancements, and objectives that are used by the light side of the Force.
- Dark side cards represent the various units, events, enhancements, and objectives that are used by the dark side of the Force.
- Force cards (dark and light side) designate which unit cards are committed to sway the balance of the Force in their controller's favor.
- The Balance of the Force token provides an advantage to the player who manages to swing the Balance of the Force to his side.
- Focus tokens track which cards have been used to perform game play functions.
- Damage tokens track the amount of damage a card has suffered.
- Shield tokens track which cards are protected by defensive shields.
- The Death Star dial (2 pieces) represents the oppression and momentum of the dark side of the Force.
Assembling the Death Star Dial
Before starting the first game, assemble the Death Star dial by following the steps below:
- Locate the Death Star back disk (showing a red face with black numbers).
- Place the Death Star front disk (showing an image of the Death Star) directly on top of the Death Star back disk, so that the black numbers of the back disk can show through the small window of the front disk.
- Press the larger piece of the plastic dial connector through the center hole of both Death Star disks.
- Press the smaller piece of the plastic dial connector tightly to its counterpart, securing the cardboard pieces together.
Affiliations
Each side of the Force recruits its allies from three different affiliations (for a total of six affiliations).
The light side of the Force finds strength in the Rebel Alliance who bravely defies the Empire and its evil Emperor. It finds cunning and intelligence in tough-talking but noble-hearted smugglers and spies. In the silent vigil and careful planning of those that remain of the Jedi Order, it finds the seeds of hope.
The dark side of the Force has brought the galaxy to its knees by the might and firepower of the Imperial Navy. It harnesses the cruelty and ambition of the galaxy's scum and villainy. By the evil schemes and dark powers of Emperor Palpatine and his Sith, eternal dominance seems within the dark side's grasp.
Each of these affiliations is identified in Star Wars: The Card Game by the following icons:
- Rebel Alliance (LS)
- Smugglers and Spies (LS)
- Jedi (LS)
- Imperial Navy (DS)
- Scum and Villainy (DS)
- Sith (DS)
Some cards have no affiliation and are considered neutral.
Card Identification
Every card is identified by the following graphics in its lower-right corner:
- This symbol represents the product from which the card originated (in this case, from the Star Wars: The Card Game Core Set).
- The objective set to which the card belongs (each objective set has a unique number).
- The card's sequential number within its objective set.
- The card's unique number.
The name of an objective set is the same as the name of its objective card. For example, six cards that share the same objective set number comprise an objective set — such as the objective set "A Hero's Journey."
Objective Sets
Star Wars: The Card Game is a Living Card Game® (LCG). LCGs are customizable; players may build their own decks, with cards from this Core Set, or from those in separately sold expansion sets.
Unlike most customizable card games, where players construct their decks by adding single cards one by one, Star Wars: The Card Game uses a unique approach to deck construction with objective sets.
An objective set always consists of six cards, as follows:
- One objective card, and
- Five other cards
An objective set's five other cards are a combination of unit, event, fate, or enhancement cards (some objective sets include multiple copies of the same card).
The cards of an objective set must always be placed in the same deck together. Individual cards cannot be removed from or added to an objective set.
Starting Decks
The Star Wars: The Card Game Core Set includes four ready-to-play decks, each built around one LS or DS affiliation (Rebel Alliance, Jedi, Imperial Navy, and Sith). See "Setup" below for details on how to construct each of these four decks.
The Star Wars: The Card Game Core Set is designed as a stand-alone product, providing many hours of entertainment as players explore the various strategies of the cards provided. When players are ready for more options, they can customize their own decks (see "Custom Decks" below).
Card Anatomy
Objective Cards
Objective cards represent missions, ideologies, strategies, or important narratives that a player is pursuing or protecting.
Each player seeks to destroy his opponent's objectives to deprive him of their benefits and to win the game.
Unit Cards
Unit cards represent the characters, groups, vehicles, droids, and creatures a player may use against his opponent. They are played from a player's hand into his play area, are used to attack and defend in engagements, and can be committed to the Force struggle.
Enhancement Cards
Enhancement cards represent locations, items, skills, weapons, and conditions. Some enhancement cards enhance another card, while some enhance other game elements, such as a play area or a deck.
Affiliation Cards
A player's affiliation card indicates which affiliation he is using as the foundation of his deck. It also provides one resource of that affiliation's type and presents a helpful reference to the phases of a player's turn.
Event Cards
Event cards represent maneuvers, tactics, special powers, disasters, traps, and other sudden effects. An event card is played from a player's hand and typically incurs a resource cost.
Fate Cards
Fate cards represent unpredictable twists that can swing the course of a battle. Fate cards can only be used during an edge battle (see "Resolving an Engagement" below).
Card Anatomy Key
- Cost
- Force icons
- Title
- Affiliation symbol
- Combat icons
- Resources
- Damage capacity
- Text
- Edge battle priority
Setup
To prepare for a game of Star Wars: The Card Game, players must take the following steps:
1. Select Force Allegiances
Players agree on who will represent the dark side of the Force (i.e. be the DS player) and who will represent the light side of the Force (i.e. be the LS player).
If players cannot agree they decide randomly.
Each player then takes the three Force cards corresponding to his side of the Force and places them within his reach.
2. Select and Create Decks
Each player now chooses which deck he will play.
First-time players should play with the pre-assembled decks that come in the Core Set. The DS player secretly chooses either the Imperial Navy or the Sith deck, and the LS player secretly chooses either the Rebel Alliance or the Jedi deck. Each player also takes the affiliation card associated with that deck.
The pre-assembled decks are created by gathering the following objective sets into 48-card decks (note that two instances of objective sets 18 and 36 are found in the Core Set):
- Jedi Deck — Objective sets: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 18
- Rebel Alliance Deck — Objective sets: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 18
- Sith Deck — Objective sets: 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 36
- Imperial Navy Deck — Objective sets: 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 36
When playing one of these pre-constructed decks, a player should use the affiliation card that matches the affiliation of his deck.
3. Reveal Affiliation Cards
Each player reveals his affiliation card, placing it prominently in his play area.
A player's affiliation card is in play (see "Advanced Concepts" below) and may be referenced by card abilities. A player's affiliation card cannot be removed from play for any reason.
4. Set Balance of the Force
Place the Balance of the Force token prominently in the game area with its light side faceup.
5. Prepare Decks
Each player now removes all objective cards from his deck and shuffles them facedown into a separate objective deck. After doing so, each player will have two decks: an objective deck containing his objective cards and a command deck containing his other cards.
Unless stated otherwise, when a player is instructed to "draw" one or more cards, he does so from his command deck. Likewise, any reference to a player's "deck" means his command deck, unless stated otherwise.
Each player then places his command deck and his objective deck in his play area.
6. Prepare Tokens
Players gather all focus, damage, and shield tokens and place them within easy reach. This area is hereafter referred to as the token pool.
7. Prepare Death Star Dial
The DS player sets the Death Star dial to "0" and then places the dial within easy view of both players.
8. Select Objective Cards
Each player looks at the top four cards of his objective deck (hiding them from his opponent), selects three of those cards, and places the fourth facedown at the bottom of his objective deck.
Each player then places his three chosen objective cards facedown in his play area.
9. Draw Starting Hands
Each player shuffles his command deck thoroughly and draws the top six cards to create his starting hand.
10. Reveal Objectives
The DS player puts his three chosen objective cards into play one at a time by flipping them faceup in the order of his choosing, resolving any relevant interrupt or reaction card effects on one objective card before putting the next into play (see "Card Abilities" below).
Then the LS player puts his three chosen objective cards into play one at a time by flipping them faceup in the order of his choosing, resolving any relevant interrupt or reaction card effects on one objective card before putting the next into play.
The three objective cards faceup in a player's play area are his current objective cards.
The game is now ready to begin.
A Matter of Focus
A number of effects and actions (both voluntary and involuntary) in Star Wars: The Card Game cause focus tokens to be placed onto cards.
A card's controller may focus a card to perform an ability or take some other action. When doing so, a focus token is placed on the card.
A card without focus tokens is considered ready. A card with one or more focus tokens is considered exhausted. A player cannot focus an exhausted card.
Some card abilities or game rules require one or more focus tokens to be placed onto a card. This does not cause the card to focus (i.e. trigger an ability or take some other action) but it does cause the card to become exhausted.
Focus tokens are primarily removed from cards during the refresh phase of a player's turn, but some card effects also remove focus tokens.
The Golden Rule
Any text, whether on a card or in this rulebook, that uses the word "cannot" is absolute and cannot be countermanded by another effect. In the absence of the word "cannot," when text on a card directly contradicts the text in this rulebook, the card text takes precedence.
Suggested Player Area
Each player's suggested play area, from the opponent's edge of the table toward the active player, includes his opponent's cards, his affiliation card, his units (with any attached Force cards or enhancements), his victory pile, and — closer to himself — his objective deck, his three current objectives, his command deck, and his command deck discard pile.
Playing the Game
Star Wars: The Card Game is played over a number of player turns. After the first player has taken his turn, his opponent takes a turn. Players take alternating turns in this way until a player wins the game (see "Winning the Game" below).
Each player turn consists of the following phases:
- Balance
- Refresh
- Draw
- Deployment
- Conflict
- Force
The DS player always takes the first turn of the game.
Phase Detail
The following section describes each phase of a player turn in detail. The player currently taking his turn is referred to as the active player.
1. Balance Phase
The balance phase is resolved differently depending on which player is the active player.
DS player is the active player
The DS player advances the Death Star dial by one point (for example, from "3" to "4").
Then, if the Balance of the Force is with the dark side (i.e., the token shows the DS faceup), the DS player advances the Death Star dial one additional point.
Example: On the first turn of the game, the Balance of the Force token shows the light side faceup. During his balance phase, the DS player therefore advances the Death Star dial only one step, from zero to one.
If the Death Star dial reaches or exceeds 12 at any time, the game immediately ends and the DS player wins.
The DS player then proceeds to the refresh phase.
LS player is the active player
If the Balance of the Force is with the light side (i.e., the token shows the LS faceup), the LS player may deal one damage to any one DS current objective. (If the Balance of the Force is with the DS, nothing happens.)
If this destroys the objective card (see "Resolving an Engagement" below), the LS player places it in his victory pile. The LS player immediately wins if there are three or more objective cards in his victory pile.
The LS player then proceeds to the refresh phase.
2. Refresh Phase
The active player takes the following steps in order:
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He removes one focus token from each card in his play area. (Any effect with the text "after you refresh" can be used after completing this step.)
Exception: During his first turn only, the LS player does not take this step of the refresh phase.
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He removes all shield tokens from each card in his play area.
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If he has fewer than three current objective cards, he replaces each missing objective card by taking the top card of his objective deck and putting it into play as a current objective card. If the objective card just put into play has a "When this card enters play..." (or similar) effect, this effect is immediately resolved.
If multiple objective cards need to be replaced, they are put into play, resolving any "When this card enters play" effects, one at a time.
After taking these steps, the active player proceeds to the draw phase.
3. Draw Phase
At the start of the draw phase, the active player may choose one card in his hand and discard it.
After he has discarded a card, or chosen not to, the active player must return his hand to a number of cards equal to his current reserve value, drawing from his deck or choosing and discarding from his hand as necessary.
At the start of the game, each player's reserve value is six, though card effects may increase or decrease this value.
Example: The active player has eight cards in hand at the start of his draw phase. He must choose and discard two cards to return his hand size to his reserve value of six. On his next turn, he has three cards in hand at the start of his draw phase. First, he has the option to discard one of his cards. He chooses to discard a card, bringing his hand size down to two cards. Then he must draw four cards from his deck to return his hand size to his reserve value of six.
The active player then proceeds to the deployment phase.
Discarding
The term "discarding" describes the act of removing a card from a player's hand, deck, or play area (depending on the discard instructions) and placing it faceup on top of his command deck discard pile. Each player has his own discard pile.
If multiple cards are discarded simultaneously, their owner determines the order in which they are placed in the discard pile.
If a token is discarded or removed, it is returned to the token pool.
If a Force card is discarded, it is returned to its owner's supply of available Force cards.
Term Summary
When playing Star Wars: The Card Game, or reading this rulebook, players should keep the following important terms in mind:
- Active player describes the player currently taking his turn.
- Attacking player describes the active player currently engaging an enemy objective card during his conflict phase.
- Controller describes the player who currently controls the card in question.
- Current objective card describes one of a player's faceup objective cards in his play area.
- Defending player describes the player defending against the attacking player.
- DS is an abbreviation for "The dark side of the Force."
- Enemy describes the opposing player and the game elements he controls (cards, decks, his play area, etc.).
- Engagement describes the process of resolving an attack.
- Exhausted describes a card with one or more focus tokens on it.
- Focus describes the action of placing a focus token on a ready card to trigger a card or game effect.
- Friendly describes one or more game elements under a player's control (such as his cards, his decks, his play area, etc).
- Hand describes the cards held by a player, which are kept hidden from his opponent.
- LS is an abbreviation for "The light side of the Force."
- Owner describes the player whose deck held the referenced card at the start of the game.
- Play describes an action where a player pays the resource cost of a card in hand and transfers it into play (for a unit card or an enhancement card) or resolves its effects and then discards it (for an event card).
- Play area describes the section of the table where a player keeps his decks, tokens, and cards.
- Put into play describes an effect that takes a card from an out of play state and transfers it directly into play without paying its resource cost. Objective cards are put into play from their owner's objective decks.
- Ready describes a card without any focus tokens on it.
- Reserve value describes the number of cards a player must draw up or discard down to during his draw phase.
- Shielded describes a unit or objective card with one or more shield tokens.
- Turn is an alternative term for player turn; it describes the six phases the active player must perform.
- Unshielded describes a unit or objective card without any shield tokens.
- Victory pile describes a player's collection of destroyed enemy objective cards.
4. Deployment Phase
During the deployment phase, the active player is able to play unit and enhancement cards from his hand to his play area. All cards played from a player's hand must be paid for by paying their relevant resource costs (see "Resources" below).
The active player may play as many unit and enhancement cards during his deployment phase as he desires, as long as he is able to afford their costs. If a player is unable to pay a card's resource cost, he cannot play the card.
Each time the active player plays a unit or enhancement card, it is considered an action (see "Card Abilities" below). Each action must be fully resolved before the next can begin. When a card enters play, it is immediately eligible to perform any permitted game function (such as providing resources, or using a card ability) that same turn.
Playing Unit Cards
Unit cards are always played faceup into their owner's play area.
Playing Enhancement Cards
Enhancement cards are typically used to enhance unit cards, but other game elements (such as a player's play area, an objective card, an affiliation card, or even a deck) can be enhanced. The text of each enhancement card designates the aspect of the game it enhances while it is in play.
When playing an enhancement card that includes the text "Enhance [card type]," place it partially beneath a card in play of the specified type, ensuring the enhancement card is still clearly visible. The enhancement card is now attached to that card.
When a card leaves play, any enhancements attached to it are immediately discarded to their owner's discard pile. There is no limit to the number of enhancements that can be attached to a card or game element.
Example: The LS player plays the "Trust Your Feelings" enhancement card, attaching it to the "Mon Mothma" unit card.
Note: While most enhancements are played on friendly cards, some should be played on enemy cards (or other enemy elements, such as the opponent's game area). Players should be sure to return any enhancement cards to their respective owners at the end of the game.
If an enhancement instructs its player to enhance a play area, he places it faceup in the specified player's play area.
If an enhancement instructs its player to enhance a card type not in play (or other game element that is not in the play area), that enhancement cannot be played.
After the active player has concluded his deployment, he proceeds to the conflict phase.
5. Conflict Phase
During his conflict phase, the active player attempts to destroy enemy objectives. He may engage one or more of the enemy's current objective cards, one at a time. The active player may decide to not engage and instead proceed directly to the Force phase.
Each engagement is declared and resolved one at a time. Each current enemy objective card may only be engaged once per turn.
After each engagement, the active player may engage another current enemy objective card. If he decides not to, or if he has already engaged each current enemy objective card, play proceeds to the Force phase.
Exception: During the DS player's first turn, he cannot declare any engagements. He instead must skip this phase entirely.
For detailed rules on how to resolve an engagement, see "Resolving an Engagement" below.
6. Force Phase
The Force phase consists of the following two steps, always taken in this order:
- Force Commitment
- Force Struggle
Force Commitment
The active player may commit any unit cards in his play area to the Force (except for a unit card that is already committed to the Force). A committed unit is acting or being used by its side away from the front lines in order to further the cause of the light or dark side of the Force. Meditation, study, training, recruitment, and transportation of key figures are some examples of the functions a committed unit may be serving.
To commit a unit, a player takes one of his available Force cards and places it underneath the unit card (as he would attach an enhancement card) to indicate this unit card is now committed to the Force.
When a unit that is committed to the Force leaves play, the attached Force card is returned to its owner's supply of available Force cards.
Force cards are not considered "cards" and are never "in play." They act only to identify which units are committed to the Force.
Note: Only the active player may commit units to the Force during this step. His opponent must wait until the Force phase of his own turn.
Force Card Limits
Each player begins the game with three Force cards. After a player has attached all three of his Force cards to his units, he cannot commit additional units to the Force until one or more of his Force cards become available.
Each player is strictly limited to three Force cards.
Committed to the Force
After a unit is committed to the Force, it is able to participate in Force struggle (see below).
However, such commitment comes with a burden. When a unit committed to the Force is focused to strike during an engagement (as either an attacker or a defender), that unit receives two focus tokens instead of one.
A unit that is committed to the Force remains committed as long as it remains in play. Players may not voluntarily remove Force cards from their units.
Force Struggle
Each player now adds the number of Force icons on his ready units that are committed to the Force. This number is his Force total.
The player with the highest Force total flips the Balance of the Force token so that his side of the Force faces up. In the event of a tie, the Balance of the Force token remains as it is.
Important: Force icons on enhancements are not counted towards a player's Force total, even if an enhancement is attached to a unit that is committed to the Force. Players count only the Force icons on the unit card itself.
After the active player completes his Force phase, his turn is over, and his opponent begins a new turn.
While playing the game, the Balance of the Force is considered to be with the side (light side or dark side) that is currently facing up on the Balance of the Force token.
Winning the Game
The following describes the victory conditions of Star Wars: The Card Game.
Light Side Victory
The LS player wins the game immediately when one of the following occurs:
- Three or more DS objective cards are destroyed.
- The DS player must draw a card from his command deck or objective deck, but that deck is empty.
Dark Side Victory
The DS player wins the game immediately when one of the following occurs:
- The Death Star dial advances to 12.
- The LS player must draw a card from his command deck or objective deck, but that deck is empty.
Resources
When playing Star Wars: The Card Game, players are frequently required to spend resources in order to play cards or use abilities.
A card's resource cost is found in its upper left corner (only unit, event, and enhancement cards have a resource cost).
When a player wishes to play a card or is required to spend resources to execute an ability, he first reveals the card or designates the desired ability to the opponent. Then he generates the required number of resources from resource-providing cards in his play area to pay for the cost. After doing so, he plays the card or executes the designated ability. If a player cannot generate enough resources to pay the resource cost, the card cannot be played (it returns to his hand) nor the designated ability executed.
A player's affiliation card, his objective cards, and some unit and enhancement cards have a resource value, marked by a number inside the card's printed resource icon.
A ready card with a resource value can generate resources up to that value to help pay a resource cost. Cards with a resource cost of "0" do not require a resource match to play.
Generating Resources
A player generates resources from one of his ready, resource-providing cards by placing a number of focus tokens on the card, up to its resource value. He generates one resource for each focus token placed.
Example: A ready objective card with a resource value of "3" can provide either one, two or three resources towards paying a resource cost. To generate the resources, the card's controller must place a number of focus tokens (no more than three) on the card, generating one resource for each token placed.
A player may generate resources from multiple ready and resource-providing cards in his play area to gather sufficient resources to pay a required resource cost.
Note: A resource-providing card that has generated resources, will have been given one or more focus tokens, and therefore is exhausted (i.e. no longer ready). A player may not generate resources from an exhausted card.
Resource Match
When a player plays a card from his hand, at least one of the resource-providing cards used to generate the required resources must match the affiliation of the card being played. This is called a resource match.
Some cards have a neutral affiliation. The cost of playing a neutral unit, enhancement, or event card does not require a resource match. In addition, neutral resource-providing cards do not qualify as a resource match for any affiliation.
Spending Resources
After a player has generated sufficient resources from one or more resource-providing cards, he plays the card he revealed or executes the ability he designated. The generated resources cannot pay for multiple cards or abilities. Any resources generated in excess of the resource cost are lost.
Example: The active player wishes to play a unit card with a resource cost of "3." To pay for the card, he generates two resources from a ready objective card with a resource value of "2" (placing two focus tokens on that objective card), and one resource from another objective card with a resource value of "3" (placing one focus token on the card). Though he could have generated two additional resources from the latter objective card, those resources would have been wasted. Having generated enough resources to pay the unit card's resource cost, he plays the unit card.
Resources Example #1
The LS player wants to play the card "Trust Your Feelings" (Jedi, cost 2).
He has three ready, resource-providing cards in his play area: two copies of "Cloud City Casino" (Neutral, 1 resource) and the "Forgotten Heroes" objective card (Jedi, 1 resource).
He could generate one resource each from both "Cloud City Casino" cards. However, neither neutral resource would have the resource match required to play a Jedi affiliation card. Instead, he focuses one "Cloud City Casino" (generating one neutral resource) and the "Forgotten Heroes" objective card (generating one Jedi resource). With two resources, including one that matches the affiliation of "Trust Your Feelings," the LS player is able to pay the cost of the card and play it.
Resources Example #2
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The DS player has three cards he would like to play: "Emperor's Royal Guard," "Interrogation," and "Vader's Lightsaber." He controls the following ready resource-providing cards: the Sith affiliation card, and the objective cards "The Heart of the Empire," "Corporate Exploitation," and "Reconnaissance Mission."
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He plays the "Emperor's Royal Guard" (Sith, cost 2) by generating one resource from his affiliation card and another resource from "Corporate Exploitation," placing one focus token on each card. The Sith affiliation card provides the required resource match to play a Sith card.
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Next, he plays "Interrogation" (Sith, cost 2) by generating two resources from "The Heart of the Empire," and placing two focus tokens on it. Because "The Heart of the Empire" is of the Sith affiliation, it provides the required resource match to play a Sith card.
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Although he would like to play "Vader's Lightsaber" (Sith, cost 1), he cannot. While his remaining resource-providing card "Reconnaissance Mission" could generate a resource, it is a neutral objective, and therefore cannot provide the resource match required to play a Sith card. Additionally, while "The Heart of the Empire" provides up to three resources and only has two focus tokens on it, it is exhausted and therefore cannot be used to generate resources at this time.
Resolving an Engagement
During the conflict phase, when the active player engages an enemy objective card, the players resolve the following engagement steps:
- Declare Objective
- Declare Attackers
- Declare Defenders
- Fight Edge Battle
- Resolve Strikes
- Reward Unopposed
The active player cannot initiate an engagement if he is unable to declare at least one attacker during the "declare attackers" step.
Each step is described in detail below.
1. Declare Objective
The active player declares which one of his enemy's current objective cards he will engage.
Each enemy objective may be engaged only once per conflict phase. If the active player has already engaged all of his enemy's current objectives this phase, he must proceed to the Force phase.
2. Declare Attackers
The active player declares which of his ready units will engage. Those units are referred to as attackers.
He pushes the attackers towards the middle of the table as a reminder that they have been declared.
At least one unit must be declared as an attacker.
3. Declare Defenders
The defending player then declares which of his ready units will engage. Those units are referred to as defenders.
He pushes the defenders towards the middle of the table as a reminder that they have been declared.
The defending player has the option to declare no defenders.
Participating Units
Any unit card that has been declared as either an attacker or a defender during an engagement is considered to be participating in the engagement until it is removed from the engagement, it leaves play, or all steps of the engagement are complete.
4. Fight Edge Battle
The edge battle represents the combatants maneuvering for position, gathering intelligence, and engaging in sabotage, infiltration, or other heroic or insidious endeavors before the physical battle is fought.
The winner of the edge battle makes the first strike during the resolve strikes step of the engagement, and is able to use the white-framed edge-enabled combat icons on his striking units (see "Combat Icons" below).
A player must control at least one participating unit to place cards in the edge battle. If the defending player controls no defending units, the attacking player automatically wins the edge battle (although he still has the option to place cards into the edge battle if he so desires).
Resolving the Edge Battle
To resolve an edge battle, the players perform the following steps in order:
- Place Edge Cards
- Reveal Edge Stacks
- Resolve Fate Cards
- Finish Edge Battle
1. Place Edge Cards
At the start of the edge battle, the attacking player has the first option of placing one card facedown from his hand in front of him, forming his edge stack. He may instead choose to pass.
The defending player may then place one card facedown from his hand in front of him (if he controls at least one defending unit), forming his edge stack. He may instead choose to pass.
In this way, players alternate, each placing one card facedown into his edge stack or passing, until both players consecutively pass.
A player may place any card from his hand into his edge stack, ignoring its cost or affiliation.
Note: Players do not stop placing cards into their edge stacks until both players consecutively pass. In other words, if a player passes, but his opponent then places a card into his edge stack, the former player again has the option to place a card into his edge stack or to pass. It is only when both players pass one after the other (i.e. consecutively) that the process of placing cards into edge stacks is concluded.
2. Reveal Edge Stacks
After both players consecutively pass on placing a card into their edge stack, both edge stacks are simultaneously revealed.
Except for fate cards and all Force icons, the cards placed in an edge stack are considered blank cards (i.e. cards with no attributes, costs, effects, text, or affiliation whatsoever).
Edge Battle Example
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An edge battle has begun. The LS player is the active player; he places one card from his hand facedown, forming his edge stack (A). The DS player then places a card to form his own edge stack (B). The LS player then passes. After some consideration, the DS player places his second card (C). In response, the LS player places his second card (D). The DS player then places his third card (E). The LS player then passes again, after which the DS player also passes. Since both players pass consecutively, the edge stacks are now revealed.
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Both edge stacks are simultaneously revealed.
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Fate cards now resolve in order of priority number. The DS player resolves his "Heat of Battle" (which has a priority number of "6") first, after which the LS player resolves his "Target of Opportunity" (which has a priority number of "9").
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To finish the edge battle, each player compares the number of Force icons in his edge stack to the number of Force icons in his opponent's edge stack. The LS player has seven total Force icons in his stack, while the DS player has only five. The LS player wins, and will have the edge during the upcoming resolve strikes step. All cards in both edge stacks are then discarded.
3. Resolve Fate Cards
In ascending order (from lowest to highest) of priority number, each player resolves the effects of fate cards placed in his edge stack.
Fate Card Priority Number
If the priority number of two or more fate cards are equal, the attacking player decides the order in which they are resolved.
The effect of each fate card must be fully resolved before the resolution of the next fate card begins.
4. Finishing the Edge Battle
After resolving fate cards, each player counts the number of Force icons on cards in his edge stack. The player with the higher total wins the edge battle and has the edge for the remainder of the engagement. In the event of a tie, the edge goes to the defending player.
Each player then discards the cards he placed into his edge stack.
Fate Cards
Fate cards can only be placed into an edge stack. They have no other function (i.e. cannot be played).
5. Resolve Strikes
Starting with the player who has the edge, each player in turn focuses one of his participating ready units to strike. Each strike is fully resolved before the next strike may begin.
After the player who has the edge strikes with his first unit, his opponent then focuses one of his ready participating units to strike. Players continue to alternate, focusing a unit and resolving its strike, until no participating ready unit remains.
A player does not have the option to pass during this step. If he has at least one ready participating unit, it must focus to strike.
If all of a player's participating ready units are exhausted, but his opponent's are not, the opponent continues to focus and strike with his ready participating units, resolving one strike at a time, until all participating units are exhausted.
Resolving a Strike
To resolve a strike, a player follows these steps in order.
- He chooses one of his participating ready units.
- He focuses the unit to strike (i.e. places a focus token on the card).
- He resolves the striking unit's combat icons by type.
Resolving Combat Icons by Type
Most units have one or more printed combat icons (see "Combat Icons" below). There are three types of combat icons, and each icon type is resolved in the order of the striking player's choosing. The number of icons for every given icon type represents the card's icon strength of that icon type.
Example: A card with two Tactics icons has a Tactics strength of two.
The striking player decides the order in which he resolves the combat icon types on his striking card. Resolve each icon type as follows:
- Unit Damage icon: The striking player chooses one participating enemy unit and deals an amount of damage to that unit equal to the Unit Damage strength of the striking unit.
- Tactics icon: The striking player places a number of focus tokens equal to the Tactics strength of the striking unit, on enemy units. Multiple focus tokens may be placed on the same enemy unit, or on different units in any combination. (Note the focus tokens may be placed on any unit controlled by the opposing player, not just his participating units.)
- Blast Damage icon: If the striking player is attacking, he deals an amount of damage to the engaged enemy objective equal to the Blast Damage strength of the striking unit. If the striking unit is defending, its Blast Damage icon type does not resolve.
Combat Icons
There are three different types of combat icons in Star Wars: The Card Game:
- Unit Damage icon
- Tactics icon
- Blast Damage icon
These icons represent the different effects a striking card can have on the enemy.
Combat icons can have two distinct appearances on unit cards; those with a black background are called normal combat icons, and those with a white background are called edge-enabled combat icons.
The player who has the edge (i.e. the player who won the edge battle) derives his icon combat strengths from all combat icons on his striking units (i.e. both normal and edge-enabled icons). The opponent's icon combat strengths are derived only from his striking card's normal combat icons.
Example: The LS player has the edge. He focuses "Obi-Wan Kenobi" to strike. "Obi-Wan Kenobi" has all three combat icon types at the following strengths: one Unit Damage icon, two Tactics icons, and one Blast Damage icon. If the LS player had lost the edge battle, "Obi-Wan Kenobi" would strike with only two combat icon types at the following strengths: one Unit Damage icon and one Tactics icon.
Damage
When a card receives damage, place a number of damage tokens on it, with total value equal to the amount of damage received.
When a card has a number of damage tokens with value equal to or greater than its damage capacity, it is immediately destroyed. Damage in excess of its damage capacity is ignored.
Strike Resolution Example
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The LS player is the active player. During the conflict phase, he has engaged "The Heart of the Empire" DS objective card, and has declared the following unit cards as attackers: "Luke Skywalker," "Red Five," and a "Twi'lek Loyalist" (who is committed to the Force).
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The DS player has declared the following unit cards as defenders: "Darth Vader," a "Nightsister," an "Interrogation Droid," a "Kuati Security Team," and an "Advisor to the Emperor."
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The LS player has won the edge battle, and strikes first. He focuses "Twi'lek Loyalist" to strike first. Since "Twi'lek Loyalist" is committed to the Force, he receives one additional focus token when he focuses to strike. The LS player first resolves the Unit Damage icon type (strength one) and assigns one damage to the "Nightsister" card, destroying it. The LS player then resolves the Tactics icon type (strength one) and places one focus token on "Darth Vader," exhausting him.
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The DS player now has the opportunity to strike. Since "Darth Vader" is exhausted and unable to focus, the DS player chooses to focus the "Interrogation Droid" to strike instead. He resolves its Tactics icon type (strength one) and places a focus token on "Red Five," exhausting it.
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The LS player focuses "Luke Skywalker" to strike (his only remaining ready unit). The LS player resolves the Unit Damage icon type (strength two) and assigns two damage to "Kuati Security Team," destroying them. He then resolves the Blast Damage icon type (strength two) and assigns 2 damage to the engaged objective.
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The remaining ready DS unit "Advisor to the Emperor" is focused to strike. However, the card's lone Tactics icon is edge-dependent and therefore is not used. As the card has no eligible icons, no icon types are resolved.
All participating units are now exhausted and the resolve strikes step is over. Since the DS player has surviving participating units ("Darth Vader," "Interrogation Droid," and "Advisor to the Emperor"), the LS player receives no unopposed bonus during the reward unopposed step.
Destroyed Unit Cards
When a unit is destroyed, it is placed faceup on top of its owner's discard pile. Any cards that were attached to the destroyed card are placed in their respective owners' discard piles.
If a destroyed unit card was committed to the Force, its Force card is returned to its owner's supply of available Force cards.
Destroyed Objectives
When one of a player's current objective cards is destroyed, it is placed in his opponent's victory pile. A player's victory pile tracks how many of the opponent's objective cards have been destroyed.
Immediately after an LS objective card is placed in the DS victory pile, the DS player advances the Death Star dial one point for each LS objective card in his victory pile. If the Death Star dial reaches a value of 12 or greater, the DS player immediately wins the game.
Example: When the first LS objective card is destroyed and placed in the DS victory pile, the Death Star dial is advanced by one point. When the second LS objective card is destroyed and placed in the DS victory pile, the Death Star dial is advanced by two points, etc.
Immediately after a DS objective card is placed in the LS victory pile, the LS player counts the number of cards in his victory pile. When the LS player has three or more DS objective cards in his victory pile, he immediately wins the game.
Any captured cards (see "Other Rules" below) attached to a destroyed objective are considered rescued and returned to their owner's hand.
Reminder: When one of a player's current objective cards is destroyed, it is not replaced until his next refresh phase.
Shield Tokens
Some card effects place a shield token on units or objectives. A shield token may not be assigned to a card that already has a shield token.
Using Shields
A player may discard a card's shield token to prevent one damage or one focus token that would be placed on the shielded card by an attack or an enemy effect (i.e. it cannot prevent damage and focus tokens placed by its controller's costs or effects).
Concluding the Resolve Strikes Step
After all units participating in the engagement are exhausted (either by striking, by receiving a focus token during a Tactics icon resolution, or by other card effects), the resolve strikes step is over.
6. Reward Unopposed
Any participating unit (attacking or defending) that has not been destroyed by the end of the resolve strikes step is considered to have survived the engagement.
If at least one attacking unit has survived, and there are no surviving defenders, this is an unopposed engagement and the attacking player deals one bonus damage to the engaged objective card. This is known as an unopposed bonus.
If the engaged objective was destroyed before the reward unopposed step, there is no unopposed bonus.
Conclude Engagement
After the reward unopposed step is complete, the engagement is over.
Play now returns to the active player's conflict phase. He may initiate a new engagement against a different enemy objective or continue to the Force phase of his turn.
Card Abilities
Much of the fun in Star Wars: The Card Game comes from using the abilities and effects of its many cards.
All card abilities fall into one of the following types: constant effects, actions, traits, interrupts, reactions, and keywords.
Some reaction and interrupt effects may also be forced, making the execution of such an ability mandatory.
When Can Card Abilities Be Executed?
Each ability type has different timing rules (i.e. when an effect may be played and resolved). This section provides the necessary detail required to understand the timing implications of most card abilities.
While specific timing rules for card abilities must be observed, card abilities can usually be executed both during a player's own turn as well as his opponent's turn.
Event Cards
Most card effects come from executing the abilities of cards already in play. However, a player can introduce powerful and surprising card effects by playing event cards from his hand.
Unlike unit and enhancement cards, which may only be played during a player's deployment phase, many event cards may be played at any time, even during an opponent's turn.
When a player plays an event card, he must pay its resource cost (if any) before executing its ability. After resolving the effect of an event card, it is discarded.
Constant Effects
Many cards simply announce an effect, with no bold precursor. Such effects, called constant effects, become active as soon as their enabling card comes into play and remain active as long as that card is in play.
Example: The objective card "Jedi Training" is an example of a card that provides a constant effect. As long as this objective card is in play, it gives one additional Force icon to the LS player during each Force struggle.
Actions
Action abilities are clearly labelled by the word "Action" followed by effect text. An action may be initiated by a player during any action window (see "Timing Structure" below for a detailed map of the game's action windows).
The active player always has the option to initiate the first action during an action window, followed by his opponent. In this way, players take one action at a time until both players consecutively pass and the action window closes.
Example: The "Repair Droid" is an example of a unit card with an action effect. When in play "Repair Droid" may, as an action, remove one damage from a Vehicle unit card in play (Vehicle is a trait, see below).
Traits
A trait (always represented at the top of the text box and printed in italics) has no inherent effect. Instead, a trait grants its card an attribute that may be referenced by other effects.
Example: The "Repair Droid" above has the Droid trait, and its ability can only affect cards with the Vehicle trait.
Interrupts
Interrupt abilities are clearly labelled by the word "Interrupt" followed by effect text. Unlike actions, which are resolved during action windows, interrupts may be executed when the specified triggering condition occurs, as described in the interrupt's effect text.
For example, a triggering condition could be "when a player draws a card..."
It is possible for multiple interrupts (and reaction abilities) to be executed from the same triggering condition. Always resolve interrupts to a triggering condition before resolving the effects of the triggering condition itself.
The active player has the opportunity to resolve the first interrupt to a triggering condition, followed by his opponent. In this way, players execute one interrupt at a time until both players consecutively pass. Resolve each interrupt completely before the next is executed.
An interrupt effect is considered to be resolved before the triggering condition is allowed to complete — often cancelling or changing the outcome of the triggering condition.
A card's interrupt effect may only be resolved once per triggering condition.
Example: "Lightsaber Deflection" is an example of an event card with an interrupt effect. In this case, it may be played when a friendly non-Vehicle unit is dealt damage.
Reactions
Reaction abilities are clearly labelled by the word "Reaction" followed by effect text. Reactions may only be resolved after a specified triggering condition occurs.
Unlike interrupts, which resolve before the triggering condition is completed (and may change the outcome of the triggering condition), reactions are played after the effects of the triggering condition have resolved.
The active player has the opportunity to resolve the first reaction to a triggering condition, followed by his opponent. In this way, players execute one reaction at a time until both players consecutively pass. Resolve each reaction completely before the next is executed.
A card's reaction effect may only be resolved once per triggering condition.
Example: "Cruel Interrogations" is an example of an objective card with a reaction ability. In this case, the reaction may be executed when the card itself enters play.
Forced
While most card abilities are voluntary, some interrupt and reaction effects are preceded by the word "Forced." Such effects must be resolved immediately whenever their specified trigger occurs as described in their effect text.
Example: "Intimidated" is an example of an enhancement card with a forced reaction effect. When the attached unit is focused to strike during an engagement, it receives a focus token (in addition to the one it normally receives for striking).
Note: "Intimidated" is an example of an enhancement card that would normally be attached to an opponent's unit card, rather than a player's own unit card.
Keywords
Unlike a trait, which has no inherent abilities, a keyword is an attribute which conveys specific rules to its card.
Some keywords are followed by reminder text, which is presented in italics. Reminder text is a shorthand explanation of how a keyword works, but it is not rules text and cannot replace the rules for that keyword in this section.
Edge (X)
The "Edge" keyword is always followed by a value. This value is the number of additional Force icons the card's controller counts in an edge battle resolved during an engagement in which the card with the "Edge" keyword participates.
Elite
A card with the "Elite" keyword removes one additional focus token from itself (if able) when it refreshes during the refresh phase.
Limited
A player can play only one card with the "Limited" keyword during each turn.
Reminder: Non-fate cards placed into an edge stack during an edge battle are not considered "played" and have no attributes or text (other than their Force icons).
No Enhancements
A card with the "No Enhancements" keyword cannot have enhancement cards attached to it.
Reminder: A Force card is not an enhancement, and may be placed under a unit card with the "No Enhancements" keyword.
Protect [trait]
A card with the "Protect" keyword may take damage instead of any friendly card in play with the specified trait.
In other words, if a friendly card in play with the trait specified by a "Protect" effect would take damage, the controller may instead place any amount of that damage on the card with the "Protect" keyword. (Damage beyond a protecting unit's remaining damage capacity may not be re-assigned to the protecting unit.)
For example, the card "Guardian of Peace" has the keyword "Protect Character." If a friendly Character would be damaged, the player who controls these two cards may instead choose to place the damage on the "Guardian of Peace."
Shielding
When a card with the "Shielding" keyword is declared as either attacker or defender, its controller may immediately place one shield token on any friendly unshielded participating unit, or to the engaged objective card, if unshielded.
Targeted Strike
When a card with the "Targeted Strike" keyword strikes during an engagement as an attacker, damage from its Unit Damage icon type may be assigned to one target enemy unit card, even if that unit is not participating in the engagement.
Other Rules
Multiplayer Rules
While this rulebook provides all the detail necessary to play Star Wars: The Card game with two players, the Balance of the Force expansion set (available separately) contains rules and components for multiplayer sessions in which two to three LS players join forces as LS players against a single powerful DS player.
Some cards in the Core Set have text that implies multiple players. This text has been written so to work with both multiplayer rules as well as standard two-player rules.
Unique Cards
Some cards feature the "unique" symbol before their card title. This indicates the character, location, or equipment represented by the card is unique.
When a unique card is in play, no player can play or put into play another card with the same card title.
Token Limitations
There is no limit to the number of shield, damage, or focus tokens which can be in the play area at a given time. If players run out of the provided tokens, other tokens or coins may be used to track the current game state.
Mulligan Draw
Before starting a game of Star Wars: The Card Game, players may mutually agree to use the following mulligan draw rule:
After a player draws his starting hand during setup, he has the option to declare a mulligan draw. After doing so, he reshuffles the six drawn cards into his command deck and draws a new starting hand of six cards. He must keep his second hand.
The mulligan draw rule is always used in tournament play.
Capture and Rescue
Some card effects instruct the DS player to capture a card. Only LS cards can be captured. This is done by attaching the captured card facedown to the DS objective designated in the effect's text. If no DS objective is specified, the DS player may choose which of his objectives the captured card is attached to.
When a card is captured, discard all its tokens, enhancements, and return its Force card (if any) to its owner's supply. A captured card has no characteristics (i.e. no text, type, numbers, or other information), and is considered solely a captured card until rescued or discarded.
If a DS objective card with one or more attached captured cards is destroyed, the captured cards are considered rescued and are returned to their owner's hand.
Additionally, when a card effect instructs the LS player to rescue a captured card, he chooses a DS objective, then randomly selects one captured card at that objective and returns the rescued card to his hand.
Advanced Concepts
Certain terms in Star Wars: The Card Game are imbued with specific, sometimes subtle, meaning. The following section describes these terms in detail.
Cannot
If an effect includes the word "cannot" in its description, that effect is absolute and cannot be overridden by other effects.
In exception to "The Golden Rule" (see "Setup" above), any text in this rulebook that uses the word "cannot" is absolute and cannot be overridden by card text.
In Play and Out of Play
A player's unit cards, enhancement cards, and the current objective cards in his play area are considered "in play."
"Out of play" refers to the cards in a player's hand, his facedown decks, his discard pile, his edge stack, his victory pile, and any cards that are captured.
Card effects only interact with, and can only target, cards that are in play, unless the effect text specifically refers to an out-of-play card or area.
A player's affiliation card is always considered in play, and cannot be removed from play by any card effect.
A card "enters play" when it moves from its "out of play" origin to a player's play area. For example, a card enters play when it is played from a player's hand, put into play from his objective deck, or is placed in a player's play area by some card effect.
A card that "leaves play" moves from a player's play area to the "out of play" destination indicated by card or rules text. "Remove" and "Discard" are common terms that indicate a card must leave play.
Put Into Play
A card that is "put into play" is placed in the play area designated by the card text at no resource cost and ignoring any play limitations.
Sacrifice
When a player is instructed to sacrifice a card, he must choose and discard a card in play that he controls and that matches the requirements of the sacrifice.
If the chosen card does not leave play (i.e. if it is, for example, saved by an interrupt card), the sacrifice is not considered to have been made.
Then
If the effect text of an ability includes the word "then," the text preceding the word "then" must be successfully resolved (or be true) before the effect described after the word "then" may be resolved.
When
The word "when" refers to a game occurrence (such as a card being played, an effect being resolved, etc) that is underway, but not yet concluded.
Most interrupt card abilities use the word "when" to specify the timing of their triggering condition.
After
The word "after" refers to a game occurrence that has just been concluded.
Most reaction abilities use the term "after" to specify the timing of their triggering condition.
Target
The term "target" refers to a game element (most often a card) chosen as the subject or recipient of an effect. The controller of a targeting effect chooses all targets for the effect. If there is no valid target for a targeting effect, the effect cannot be initiated.
Exhausted
A card that is exhausted (i.e. has one or more focus tokens on it) cannot be focused to pay for card effects, cannot focus to strike, and cannot generate resources. However, other card abilities of an exhausted card may still be triggered, and its constant effects (if any) are still active, as long as such abilities do not require the card to focus, to be ready, or are not otherwise prohibited by the card text.
Cancel
An executed ability can be cancelled by card abilities (most often interrupts).
An effect that is cancelled is simply not executed and has no result.
Any cost (such as, but not limited to, resource cost, sacrifice, focus, etc) incurred by the cancelled effect, must still be paid.
Example: The DS player plays an event card with a resource cost of 2. The LS player plays an interrupt that cancels the effects of that event card. The DS event is placed in the DS player's discard pile, and his two generated resources are lost (they are not refunded by the cancellation).
Custom Decks
The Star Wars: The Card Game Core Set is designed to be a complete two-player game experience with significant re-playability. Players should be able to enjoy many hours of play with the included pre-assembled decks.
However, after players have sufficiently experienced the pre-assembled decks contained in the game box, they may wish to explore the excitement and fun of building their own unique decks. The rules for building individual decks for Star Wars: The Card Game are described below.
Why Build a Custom Deck?
By constructing his own deck, a player can experience the game in a completely new way. Instead of adapting to the strategy of a pre-assembled deck, he can make the deck to adapt to him. Customizing decks opens up new combinations, new strategies, and leads to games in which a player feels more invested. When a player constructs his own deck, he doesn't just participate in the game; he actively shapes how it is played.
Deck Customizing Rules
When a player builds his own custom deck for Star Wars: The Card Game, he must first choose an affiliation card as the foundation for his deck. After doing so, he chooses at least 10 eligible objective sets to form his deck.
Note: The pre-assembled decks in the Core Set each include only eight objective sets. When building a deck for competitive play, it must contain at least 10 objective sets.
A deck must be built for either LS or DS play. A player cannot use an affiliation card, or include objective sets in his deck, belonging to an affiliation dedicated to the other side of the Force (see "Affiliations" above).
Example: An LS deck may contain only objective sets from the Jedi, Smugglers and Spies, and Rebel Alliance affiliations, as well as light side neutral objective sets (i.e. objective sets that belong to no affiliation but feature the light side card back).
While 10 is the minimum number, there is no maximum number of objective sets a player may include in his deck. A smaller deck, however, will usually run more efficiently than a larger deck, and therefore may be more reliable in tournament play.
Any objective set may be included twice in a constructed deck unless its objective card states "limit one per objective deck."
The affiliation of an objective set does not need to match the affiliation of a player's affiliation card, unless the set's objective card text includes "[name of] affiliation only." Note that objective sets must still belong to the side of the Force (LS or DS) that matches a player's affiliation card.
In addition to the objective sets found in the pre-assembled decks, the Core Set contains additional neutral objective sets that may be used for custom decks.
Preparing Pre-Assembled Decks
To play with the pre-assembled decks included in the Core Set, you may have to prepare them first. Below is an example of how to prepare the Jedi affiliation deck:
a) Choose the Jedi affiliation card.
b) Locate the required objective sets: Objective Sets 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 18.
c) Sort the objective cards into one pile and all the other cards into a second pile.
d) Shuffle each pile into a deck, forming your objective deck and your command deck.
e) You are ready to play.
Organized Play
If you are interested in finding tournaments for Star Wars: The Card Game, or playing in friendly leagues with other local players, visit www.FantasyFlightGames.com. You can even register on the website to organize your own events.
To read the tournament rules for Star Wars: The Card Game, also visit www.FantasyFlightGames.com.
The Living Card Game®
While players may construct many different combinations of decks from the objective sets provided in this Core Set, Star Wars: The Card Game is a Living Card Game® (LCG®) that evolves over time with regularly released 60-card expansions called Force Packs, as well as larger expansions such as Edge of Darkness (which contains pre-assembled decks and additional cards featuring the Smugglers and Spies and the Scum and Villainy affiliations), and The Balance of the Force (which contains components and rules for playing Star Wars: The Card Game with three or four players).
These expansions offer players a variety of additional cards, adding new customization options and further exploration of the epic Star Wars universe. Unlike collectible card games, all LCG products have a fixed distribution — i.e. there is no randomization to their contents.
Timing Structure
The timing structure below provides a detailed overview of the phases and steps involved in a player turn.
Mandatory occurrences dictated by the structure of the game are known as framework events. Players cannot trigger action effects during framework events. An interrupt or reaction effect may be initiated during framework events if the effect's triggering condition is met.
Steps during which players may take actions are called action windows (labelled "Player Actions" in the diagram). As described in "Card Abilities" above, any ability that starts with the word "Action" may only be executed during an action window.
When an action window opens, the active player may always take the first action, followed by his opponent. In this way, players may execute one action at a time, until both players consecutively pass, after which the action window closes. Resolve each action completely before resolving the next.
Reminder: The DS player skips the conflict phase on his first turn. The LS player does not remove focus tokens from his cards during his first refresh phase.
1. Balance Phase
- Balance phase begins.
- Increase the Death Star dial (DS turn only). [framework event]
- DS Balance: Increase the Death Star dial again (DS turn only). [framework event]
- LS Balance: Damage one DS objective (LS turn only). [framework event]
- Balance phase ends.
- Proceed to refresh phase.
2. Refresh Phase
- Refresh phase begins.
- Active player removes one focus token from each card he controls. [framework event]
- Active player removes all shield tokens from each card he controls. [framework event]
- Active player replaces each of his missing objectives. [framework event]
- Player Actions (action window).
- Refresh phase ends.
- Proceed to draw phase.
3. Draw Phase
- Draw phase begins.
- Active player may discard one card from his hand. [framework event]
- Active player returns his hand size to his reserve value. [framework event]
- Draw phase ends.
- Proceed to deployment phase.
4. Deployment Phase
- Deployment phase begins.
- Player Actions (action window): as an action, the active player may play a unit or enhancement card from his hand.
- Deployment phase ends.
- Proceed to conflict phase.
5. Conflict Phase
- Conflict phase begins.
- Player Actions (action window): active player may engage one enemy objective. If he declines ("No Engage"), the conflict phase ends and play proceeds to the Force phase.
- Engagement Resolution:
- Active player chooses one enemy objective card to engage.
- Active player declares attackers.
- Player Actions (action window).
- Opponent declares defenders.
- Player Actions (action window).
- Starting with the active player, players place cards into their edge stacks.
- Reveal edge stacks, resolve fate cards, and resolve the edge battle.
- Player Actions (action window).
- The player who won the edge battle resolves one strike, if able.
- The player who lost the edge battle resolves one strike, if able.
- Repeat if any participating units are still ready.
- Check for surviving units and the reward unopposed bonus.
- Engagement ends; return to conflict phase.
- Conflict phase ends.
- Proceed to Force phase.
6. Force Phase
- Force phase begins.
- Active player may commit units to the Force struggle. (action window)
- Player Actions (action window).
- Resolve Force struggle. [framework event]
- Player Actions (action window).
- Force phase ends.
- Proceed to first phase of next player's turn.