Star Wars: Trading Card Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Section 1: The Basics
  • Equipment
  • Object of the Game
  • The 3 General Rules
  • The Cards
    • Unit Cards: Space, Ground, and Character
    • Battle Cards
    • Mission Cards
  • Deck Rules
  • Zones of Play
    • Deck
    • Build Zone
    • Arenas
    • Discard Pile
    • Hand
  • How to Start the Game
• Section 2: Turn Structure
  • Ready Phase
  • Command Phase
    • Building Unit and Mission Cards
    • Retreating Units
  • Battle Phase (Attacking)
    • How to Attack
    • Attack Abilities and Effects
  • End of Turn
• Section 3: Abilities and Battle Cards
  • Abilities
    • Activated Abilities
    • Triggered Abilities
    • Static Abilities
    • Keyword Abilities
    • Pilots
  • Battle Cards
  • When Can Activated Abilities and Battle Cards Be Played?
  • Chances to Play Activated Abilities and Battle Cards
• Section 4: Unique Cards
  • Unique Units during Setup
  • Contested Unique Units
  • Stacking Unique Cards
    • General Stacking Rules
    • Making a Stack
    • Rearranging Cards in a Stack
• Section 5: Glossary

Section 1: The Basics

This section covers what you need to play a game, how to win, general rules, parts of a card, card types, rules for building your own deck, zones of play, and how to start a game.

Equipment

You need a Dark Side Game Pack, a Light Side Game Pack, dice, and counters (to keep track of Force and of damage on units).

Object of the Game

At the end of each turn, if you control at least 2 of the 3 arenas, you win! You control an arena if you have at least one unit there and your opponent doesn't have any.

The 3 General Rules

A few things are always true in the Star Wars trading card game (TCG) unless a card specifically says they're not true:

1. The Dark Side wins all ties. If both players want to do something at the same time (such as attack when 2 or more units have the same speed), the Dark Side goes first.
2. If a card directly contradicts the rules of the game, the card wins. (But the card overrides only the rule that applies to the particular situation.)
3. If one card or effect says something can happen and another says it can't, the "can't" wins. This applies only to contradictions between cards, not between cards and rules.

The Cards

Parts of a card (example: Obi-Wan Kenobi, CHARACTER - JEDI KNIGHT, speed 40, power 5, health 5):

• build cost: The number of build counters you must have on a Space, Ground, Character, and Mission card before you can deploy or complete it.
• side symbol: A symbol for which side of the Force a card is from (Light Side, Dark Side, or Neutral). Your deck can't contain both Dark Side and Light Side cards. Any deck can contain neutral cards.
• name: The name of the card. Text that includes the name of the card it's on means just that card and not any other cards with the same name.
• type and subtypes: Words on the line below the card's name. The first word is the card's type: Space, Ground, Character, Battle, or Mission. As a group, Space, Ground, and Character cards are called unit cards. Subtypes are the words after the first word. There's a hyphen between a card's type and subtype(s). Sometimes there's another hyphen between subtypes. These hyphens don't affect the game.
• speed (S): How fast a unit is. Units with higher speed attack before those with lower speed in the same arena. The Dark Side wins ties for speed.
• power (P): The number of dice you roll when one of your units attacks, to see how many times it hits.
• health (H): How much damage a unit can take before it's discarded.
• text box: The place for text describing what a card does. The text box might also have text that tells you some of the story behind the card.
• version letter: The version of a Space, Ground, or Character card. Cards with this letter are unique, so they follow special rules.
• expansion symbol: The symbol for the Star Wars TCG set the card is from.

Unit Cards: Space, Ground, and Character

There are 3 types of unit cards: Space units, Ground units, and Characters. Before you put a unit into battle, you must first build it by putting at least as many build counters on it as its build cost. Then you have to decide when to deploy it.

Some unit cards are unique. See "Section 4: Unique Cards" for special rules about unique cards.

• Space units. These represent starships. All Space units have a blue border. Space units fight in the Space arena.
• Ground units. These represent infantry and vehicles. All Ground units have a green border. Ground units fight in the Ground arena.
• Characters. These represent Star Wars individuals. All Characters have a purple border. Characters fight in the Character arena.

Battle Cards

Battle cards represent actions and tactics during battles. They have a red border. You can play them only during the battle phase. For more on how to play Battle cards, see Section 3.

Mission Cards

Mission cards represent things that happen in the Star Wars universe. They have a yellow border. You build them during your build step. Once you have enough build counters on a Mission card, you can complete it - turn it face up and do what it says. After you've done what it says, discard it.

Deck Rules

When you're ready to start building your own deck, you need a deck that:

• Has at least 60 cards.

• Doesn't contain both Light Side and Dark Side cards. Any deck can use neutral cards.

• Has at least 12 Space cards, 12 Ground cards, and 12 Character cards. Doesn't have more than twice as many unit cards of one type than of another.

  Example: You can't have only 12 Space cards with 25 Ground cards, because 25 is more than twice as much as 12. The most Ground cards you could have is 24.

• Has no more than 4 copies of any card with the same name and version.

Zones of Play

The zones are: Space Arena, Ground Arena, Character Arena, Discard Pile, Build Zone, and Deck (and your hand).

Deck

Each player starts the game with his or her own deck of cards. You can't look at the cards in either player's deck. If you run out of cards in your deck, nothing special happens. Just keep playing with what you have.

Build Zone

Your build zone is where you build (face down) unit and Mission cards. When you deploy a unit, it goes to the matching arena. When you complete a Mission, it goes to your discard pile. When you retreat a unit, it goes back into the build zone (face up).

Arenas

The arenas are where your units fight your opponents' units. They are the Space arena, the Ground arena, and the Character arena. A unit can attack only an opponent's unit that's in the same arena. There's no limit to the number of units that can be in an arena.

Discard Pile

Your discard pile is a face-up pile near your deck. You can look at the cards in any player's discard pile whenever you want.

When one of your units has at least as many damage counters as its health, put it into your discard pile. Also, when you complete a Mission card or play a Battle card, do what the card says and then put it into your discard pile. Some cards and abilities tell you to put cards or units into your discard pile.

Hand

Your hand is also considered a "zone." It's where you hold cards you've drawn but haven't built or played yet. You can look at your own hand, but you can't look at the cards in your opponent's hand. There's no limit to the number of cards you can have in your hand.

How to Start the Game

1. Decide which side to play. Choose who will play the Light Side and who will play the Dark Side. (You can roll the dice to do this.)
2. Shuffle your deck. Make sure your deck is in a random order.
3. Draw 7 cards. This is your starting hand. If you don't like your starting hand, you can discard any number of Battle and Mission cards and draw that many new cards. This is called taking a mulligan. The Dark Side player gets to take a mulligan first (if he or she wants to), and then the Light Side player can. You can mulligan only once in a game.
4. Set up. Follow these steps:
   1. The Dark Side player chooses one unit card in his or her hand and puts it into battle, then draws a card to replace it. Ignore units' abilities during setup.
   2. Then the Light Side player chooses and puts unit cards into battle one by one, drawing a card after each one. This continues until the total build cost of unit cards on the Light Side is more than the total on the Dark Side.
   3. Then the Dark Side player chooses and puts unit cards into battle one by one, drawing a card after each one. This continues until the total build cost of unit cards on the Dark Side is more than the total on the Light Side.
   4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the total build cost of one of the players' unit cards reaches 30 (but see step 6 below). You can't go over 30.
   5. Then the other player reaches 30 (but see step 6 below).
   6. If you can't - or don't want to - get exactly to a total build cost of 30, you may partially build one unit card with the points you have left. Show the unit card to your opponent, then put it face down and put a number of build counters on it (at least 1) equal to the number of points you have left. Then draw a card to replace it. Or, you may stop before you get to 30. If you stop, your opponent continues to 30 as usual.

Section 2: Turn Structure

Each turn has 3 phases: ready, command, and battle. Unlike in most games, both players take actions during each turn of the Star Wars TCG.

Ready Phase

Each ready phase has 3 steps. As usual, the Dark Side player goes first in each step. You can't play cards or abilities during this phase.

1. Untap: The Dark Side player untaps all his or her cards and units in the build zone and arenas (he or she turns any sideways cards so they face the right way). Then the Light Side player does the same.
2. Gain Force: The Dark Side player adds 4 Force to his or her total Force. Then the Light Side player does the same.
3. Draw: The Dark Side player draws a card. Then the Light Side player does the same.

Then the command phase starts.

Command Phase

During the command phase, both players build cards, retreat units, and deal with stacks. Each command phase has 6 steps:

1. Command phase starts.
2. Roll for build points: The Light Side player rolls one of the dice. Each player then gets a number of build points equal to the number rolled. You get 1 bonus build point if you have at least one unit in each arena.
3. Dark Side builds: During this step, the Dark Side player can build unit and Mission cards, deploy units, and complete Missions. That player may also send retreated units back into battle, move Pilots, rearrange cards in a stack, and play abilities and Battle cards that read, "Play only during your build step."
4. Light Side builds: Now the Light Side player can do the same things the Dark Side player could do during his or her build step.
5. Dark Side retreats: The Dark Side player may tap (turn sideways) any number of untapped units to retreat them. During the retreat step, you can't retreat a unit that's already tapped. Retreated units can't attack or be attacked, and their abilities are ignored (abilities that can prevent damage are an exception).
6. Light Side retreats: The Light Side player may retreat units. The rules are the same as for the Dark Side player.

Then the battle phase starts.

Building Unit and Mission Cards

To add a Space unit, Ground unit, or Character to battle, or to get the effect of a Mission card, you have to build it. To build a card, you spend build points on it during your build step. Here's how to build a card:

Choose a unit or Mission card from your hand and put it face down in front of you. Spend any number of the build points you have left for that turn to put that many build counters on the face-down card. You must put at least 1 build counter on the card unless you deploy or complete it immediately.

If the face-down card has fewer build counters than its build cost, you can't deploy or complete it yet. It stays face down in your build zone. As long as it has build counters on it, it's partially built. You can spend more build points to add more counters during your current build step or any future one. You can look at your own partially built cards anytime, but your opponent can't look at your face-down cards.

Note: You can put more build counters on a card than it requires. This lets you bluff your opponent into thinking you're building a card with a higher build cost.

If the face-down card has at least as many build counters as its build cost, you can deploy the unit or complete the Mission. You start this by turning the card face up (to show that you have enough build counters on it). Then remove the build counters. When you deploy a unit, move it into the correct arena. When you complete a Mission, do what it says and then discard the card.

Note: You don't ever have to deploy a unit or complete a Mission. You can leave it face down for as long as you want.

Retreating Units

During your retreat step, you can retreat any number of untapped units. To do this, just tap them and move them into your build zone. They stay face up there. As long as they're in your build zone, they can't attack or be attacked. Ignore all activated abilities of retreated units (abilities that can prevent damage are an exception). You can put retreated units back into battle during your build step.

Battle Phase (Attacking)

The battle phase contains the Space, Ground, and Character battle steps. Also, you can play abilities and Battle cards at times during this phase.

1. Space battle: Space units attack other Space units during this step. Before each unit attacks, there's a chance to play activated abilities and Battle cards. Then untapped units attack one by one in order of their speed, from highest to lowest. If two or more of a player's units have the same speed, that player chooses the order in which they attack. (The Dark Side wins ties for speed between players.) When the Space arena has no more untapped units, there's a final chance to play activated abilities and Battle cards, and then the Ground battle starts.
2. Ground battle: Ground units attack other Ground units during this step. The Ground battle works just like the Space battle. When the Ground arena has no more untapped units, there's a final chance to play activated abilities and Battle cards, and then the Character battle starts.
3. Character battle: Characters attack other Characters during this step. The Character battle works just like the Space battle, too. When the Character arena has no more untapped units, there's a final chance to play activated abilities and Battle cards, and then the battle phase ends.

Note: Once the Ground battle starts, units in the Space battle can't attack again, even if they become untapped somehow. The same is true for Space and Ground units once the Character battle starts.

How to Attack

If you don't want to attack with a unit, just tap it instead of attacking with it. Whenever you do have one of your units attack, here's what you do:

1. Choose one of your opponent's units in the same arena as your unit. That unit can be tapped or untapped. Then tap your unit. It's now the attacking unit until the attack ends. Your opponent's unit is the defending unit until the attack ends. Next, there's a chance for both players to play activated abilities and Battle cards.

2. Get a number of dice equal to your unit's power (P), and then roll them. (If one of the units gets removed from battle or the attacking unit's power is 0 or less, don't roll any dice.) Then there's a chance to play activated abilities and Battle cards that have you reroll. After that, work out how many hits you got. Each roll of 3 or less is a miss. Each roll of 4 or more is 1 hit.

   Note: Changing an attacking unit's power after rolling its dice won't change the roll or the number of hits. Also, if the opponent's unit retreats after you roll dice, it still takes the hits. Retreating can't prevent damage.

3. Each hit does 1 damage to the defending unit. But first there's a chance to play activated abilities and Battle cards that can prevent damage. After that, put 1 damage counter on the defending unit for each 1 damage that wasn't prevented.

   Note: If you accidentally roll the wrong number of dice, or if a roll is unclear for any reason, do the roll over with the correct number of dice.

4. The attack ends. After that, there's another chance to play activated abilities and Battle cards before the next attack.

5. Find the untapped unit in the same arena with the next-highest speed. If a card or ability untapped a unit, you can attack with it again. If no other untapped units are in the arena, go to the next battle - or to the next turn if the last Character just attacked.

Some cards or abilities may allow units to attack things they couldn't normally attack. Others can limit what a unit can attack.

Attack Abilities and Effects

"Can't attack" and "can't be attacked": Examples: "This unit can't attack Jedi," or "This unit can't attack unless you have another unit in this arena," or "As long as this unit is in the Ground arena, your Clones can't be attacked," or "Choose one of your Characters. That Character can't be attacked this turn."

When one of your units attacks, you must choose a unit it can attack. If your unit can't attack any units, you can't attack with it.

Some effects can change the defending unit from the one you choose. Such an effect doesn't work if your attacking unit can't attack the new unit.

You check for "can't attack" and "can't be attacked" only before the attack. If a unit is already attacking or defending and gets one of these effects, the attack still happens.

"Have it attack": Example: "The next time [a unit] would attack this turn, you may have it attack another of your opponent's units in the Space arena."

If you can't use this effect because your unit can't attack any of your opponent's units (or if you choose not to use it), the unit attacks normally. Your opponent gets to make all the choices, just like in a normal attack.

"Must attack": Example: "Anytime one of your opponent's Jedi Characters can attack this unit, it must do so."

If one of your units "must" attack another unit, and it can attack that unit, you have no choice. You can't choose not to attack with that unit, and you can't have that unit attack any other unit. You also can't play any of the unit's abilities that say, "Play only when this unit would attack."

If one of your units "must" attack two or more units that it can attack, you choose which unit it attacks.

End of Turn

When the battle phase ends, deal with all abilities that work at that time and all abilities that work at end of turn. When that's done, the turn ends. Check to see if a player controls 2 or more arenas. If so, that player wins and the game ends. If not, a new turn starts. You control an arena if you have one or more units in that arena and your opponent doesn't have any.

Section 3: Abilities and Battle Cards

If an effect would cause you to lose more Force than you have, you lose all of it. (You can't have negative Force.)

Most cards create effects - some one-shot, some continuous. A one-shot effect applies to the game only once; for example, "You gain +1 Force." Continuous effects last for a given amount of time. For example, a card might say its effect lasts "for this attack."

Abilities

Units can have 3 types of abilities: activated (A), triggered ("when"), and static. You play activated abilities at certain times. Triggered abilities happen when a given event occurs. Static abilities are just "on" or "off," depending on the state of the game. Battle cards and Mission cards don't have abilities.

Some abilities have keywords, like "Critical Hit" or "Evade." These always work the same way, so this section includes a description of how each one works.

Finally, this section covers Pilots - Characters with the "Pilot" ability. The Pilot ability allows Characters to pilot Ground and Space units.

Activated Abilities

Any ability that contains the A symbol is an activated ability. It's called "activated" because you activate it by paying its cost. The text in front of the A is the cost. The text after the A is what you get when you pay the cost. You can't play an activated ability unless you can pay its cost.

Example: A unit has the activated ability "tap this unit A Draw a card. Play only during your build step." If the unit is in its arena and untapped during your build step, you can tap it to draw a card.

Each time you're able to play a certain activated ability, you can play it only once. You can't quickly play it several times and add up the effects. An activated ability that doesn't include the words "prevent," "Evade," or "Deflect" can be played only if the unit with the ability is in an arena.

Triggered Abilities

Any ability that starts with the word "when" is a triggered ability. It's called "triggered" because its effect takes place only when the given event "triggers" it.

Example: An ability might read, "When this unit attacks, draw a card." "This unit attacks" is the trigger, and "draw a card" is the effect that happens.

Triggered abilities normally work in all zones. Some triggered abilities limit the zones or arenas they work in.

When an ability triggers, it doesn't take effect until after the event that triggered it. It also waits to take effect until after any current reroll or damage-prevention chances.

If a triggered ability (or an "Evade" or "Deflect" ability) has you reroll or prevents damage, its effect happens during the next chance to reroll or prevent damage (and can't happen at any other time). See "Chances to Play Activated Abilities and Battle Cards" to find out about chances to reroll and prevent damage.

Example: If you have a unit that says, "When your opponent rolls one or more dice in an attack on this unit, you may reroll any of those dice," you could use that ability only during a chance to reroll.

If more than one triggered ability tries to take effect at the same time, the Dark Side player first plays one of his or her triggered abilities, if any. If the Dark Side player has no triggered abilities waiting, the Light Side player plays one of his or hers. The Dark Side and Light Side continue taking turns until no triggered abilities are left. If one triggered ability causes another ability to trigger, the second ability waits to take effect with any other triggered abilities that are waiting.

Sometimes a new chance to reroll or prevent damage happens as a result of a triggered ability. If it does, deal with the new chance to reroll or prevent damage first, then deal with the waiting triggered abilities (including any triggered in the meantime).

Static Abilities

A static ability is any ability that doesn't start with "when" and doesn't contain an arrow (A). Static abilities are simply "on" for as long as the unit with the ability is in battle.

Example: A unit has a static ability that reads, "As long as this unit is in the Character arena, each of your opponent's Characters gets -10 speed." While that unit is in the Character arena, its ability affects all of your opponent's Characters. If it leaves the Character arena, its ability "turns off" and your opponent's units go back to their normal speed (unless something else affects their speed).

Static abilities normally work in all zones. Many static abilities limit the zones or arenas that they work in.

Keyword Abilities

Many units have keyword abilities that affect the outcome of battle. These keyword abilities are listed below. In most cases, the ability's reminder text explains how it works.

Accuracy

Accuracy X (Add +X to each of this unit's attack dice.)

Accuracy makes a unit more likely to hit. To see how Accuracy works with Critical Hit, see "Critical Hit" below.

Bombard

Bombard X (This unit may attack a unit in the Ground arena instead of a unit in the Space arena, using X power plus any other effects.)

When a unit (in the Space arena) with the Bombard ability attacks, you choose whether to use Bombard or to make a normal attack. If you use Bombard, the unit can't attack units in the Space arena.

The X (in "Bombard X") replaces the power printed on the card (and any other power bonuses from cards stacked with it). Anything that has changed the unit's power also changes the X.

Critical Hit

Critical Hit X (This unit does X more damage if you roll at least one natural six.)

No matter how many dice come up as sixes, the unit still does only X more damage. If a unit gets the Critical Hit ability after you roll attack dice, it's too late to affect the damage. If one of your units already has Critical Hit, it can get a second Critical Hit ability. If that happens, both Critical Hit abilities add to the damage if you roll a natural six. Bonuses to your attack dice from Accuracy can't create "natural sixes" and increase the chance of doing extra damage with Critical Hit. (A "natural" six is one where one of the dice actually shows a six, before any bonuses or penalties.)

Intercept

Intercept (If a unit is attacking one of your units in the same arena as this unit, it now attacks this unit instead.)

You can play a unit's Intercept ability any time one of your other units in the same arena is attacked. If the attacking unit can't attack the unit with Intercept, though, you can't use its Intercept for that attack. You can still pay the Force, but the defending unit won't change.

Ion Cannon

Ion Cannon X (This unit may attack a unit in the Space arena instead of a unit in the Ground arena, using X power plus any other effects.)

This works just like Bombard, except it allows a unit in the Ground arena to attack a unit in the Space arena.

Deflect

Deflect X (Prevent X damage to this unit, and this unit may do that much damage to a unit of your choice in the same arena.)

You can play Deflect only during a chance to prevent damage to the unit that has the ability. If you also have the unit do damage to another unit, that damage creates a new chance to prevent damage, after the current one. The damage that the unit does equals the damage it prevented. During each chance to prevent damage, you can play Deflect only once for each source of damage.

Shields

Shields X (Each unit gets -X power as long as it's attacking this unit.)

Changing an attacking unit's power matters only before you roll its attack dice. If you give a unit Shields after your opponent has rolled for damage, it doesn't affect the roll.

A unit's shields could take one of many forms, not just the traditional energy shields. Heavy armor or high-speed maneuverability can also reduce the power of an opponent's attack.

Evade

Evade X (Prevent up to X damage to this unit.)

You can play Evade only during a chance to prevent damage. During each chance to prevent damage, you can play Evade only once for each source of damage.

Stun

Stun X (When this unit damages another unit, that unit gets -X power until end of battle.)

If all the damage is prevented, Stun doesn't kick in. Stun works anytime the unit damages another unit, not just when a unit attacks.

Pilots

You can move your Characters with the Pilot ability onto your units in the Space or Ground arenas, giving those units bonuses to speed, power, or health or giving them extra abilities. The Pilot ability looks like this (example, a Character with speed 40, power 2, health 2): "[Pilot symbol] Speeder Pilot. The Speeder gets: +20 speed. Critical Hit 2 as long as it's attacking a Creature (it does 2 more damage if you roll at least one natural six)."

You can put a Pilot only on a unit that matches the type given after the Pilot symbol and before the word "Pilot." You can put only 1 Pilot on any unit.

Example: You can't put a Starfighter Pilot on a Capital Ship or a Speeder - a Starfighter Pilot goes only on a Starfighter.

You can't put a Pilot on any unit that has the Droid subtype, though. There's no room for a Pilot on a Droid ship.

Each Pilot also gives one or more bonuses or abilities to the unit. These are listed after or below "Pilot." None of the abilities after or below "Pilot" work if the Pilot is in the Character arena.

Example: A Starfighter Pilot gives his Starfighter +20 speed and "Pay 1 Force A Evade 2." If the Pilot is in the Character arena, he doesn't get any extra speed, and he can't use that Evade ability.

Some cards or abilities can tell you to move either the Pilot or the piloted unit to a different arena or zone.

• If the Pilot is moved, the unit stays where it is (even if the Pilot is discarded).
• If the unit moves, the Pilot moves with it (including when the unit is discarded, returned to your hand, or moved to the build zone).

Pilots during Setup: You can't put Pilots on units during setup. You must put them into the Character arena. You can move them onto units during your build step.

Pilots during the Ready Phase: If a Pilot on a unit is tapped, the Pilot untaps normally during the ready phase.

Pilots during the Build Step: During your build step, you can move each of your Pilots once.

• If you move a Pilot onto a unit, move the Pilot from the build zone or from the Character arena onto one of your units in the Space or Ground arenas.
• If you move a Pilot from one unit to another, just make sure the other unit is the right type for the Pilot. That unit can be in any arena or in the build zone.
• If you move a Pilot off of a unit, move it from the unit to the Character arena or build zone.

Pilots during the Retreat Step: To retreat a unit with a Pilot on it, you must have both the unit and the Pilot untapped. Tap both the unit and the Pilot. You can also retreat the Pilot without retreating the unit.

Piloting Units: As long as a Pilot is on a unit in the Space or Ground arena, the Pilot isn't a unit. The Pilot is just part of the Space or Ground unit. The Pilot is still a Character and still has any subtypes (Bounty Hunter, Jedi, and so on).

• The Pilot can't be attacked. Only the unit can be attacked.
• Any card or ability that says it affects units doesn't affect Pilots on units. Cards and abilities that say "a Pilot," "a Jedi," or "a Character" without using the word "unit" can affect such Pilots.
• A Pilot's speed and power don't matter while the Pilot is on a unit.
• The health of a Pilot on a unit can matter. If the Pilot is damaged, the Pilot still has damage counters. If the Pilot has more damage counters than health, you still discard the card. This doesn't affect the Space or Ground unit, except that unit loses any abilities or bonuses the Pilot gave it.
• Damage on the Pilot doesn't count against the unit's health, and vice versa.
• You can use any of the Pilot's normal abilities that still apply. Most of them, like "Pay 1 Force A This unit gets +2 power for this attack" don't apply, because a Pilot on a unit isn't a unit.

Unique Pilots: Some Pilots are unique and have more than one version. If a Pilot with a stack is on a unit, the unit doesn't get any extra bonuses from the Pilot - just the normal ones in the Pilot's text box. You can move such a Pilot when you rearrange the stack. You may have to move the Pilot if the card you want to put on top can't be put on the Pilot's current unit.

Example: You have Luke Skywalker with the "Starfighter Pilot" ability stacked on top of Luke Skywalker with the "Speeder Pilot" ability. Luke is on a Starfighter. If you wanted to bring Speeder Pilot Luke to the top of the stack, you would have to move him to a Speeder, to the Character arena, or to the build zone.

Battle Cards

Most Battle cards have Force costs. You can't play a Battle card unless you have enough Force to pay its Force cost (if it has one). Pay the cost as soon as you play the card. Then get the effects and discard the card.

When Can Activated Abilities and Battle Cards Be Played?

You can play an activated ability only when it's your turn to play during a chance to play activated abilities and Battle cards. Such chances happen during the battle phase and sometimes at other times, especially when damage happens and when dice are rolled. But many activated abilities also tell you when you can play them.

Battle cards follow the same rules as activated abilities, except you can play them only during the battle phase.

"Choose one": Some activated abilities and Battle cards may tell you to choose between two or more options. You can't change your mind later. These options might work at different times of the turn. The option you choose will tell you when you can play it.

"for this attack": You can play an activated ability or Battle card with an effect that lasts "for this attack" only if a unit is attacking and only once per attack. The effect lasts until the attack ends.

"Play only [condition]": You can play an ability or Battle card that has this text only if you have met the condition. For examples, read on.

"Play only during your build step": You can play an ability or Battle card that has this text only during your build step and only once per turn.

"Play only if no units are attacking": You can't play an ability or Battle card that has this text if a unit is attacking. You can play it only before or after an attack and only once per turn.

"Play only when this unit would attack": You must choose whether to have the unit attack or to play the ability. You can't do both. You can play the ability once each time the unit would attack, even if the ability's effect lasts until the turn or battle phase ends.

"prevent" ("Deflect," "Evade"): "Prevent" abilities only prevent damage. They don't remove damage counters already on a unit. If an activated ability or Battle card can prevent damage, play it during a chance to prevent damage. You can play an activated ability that prevents damage only once each time damage would be done that the ability could prevent. Some abilities or Battle cards that prevent damage may tell you to play them at other times (usually using "Play only . . ."). Unlike other abilities, "prevent" abilities (including Evade and Deflect), can be played while the unit they're on is in the build zone.

"reroll": If an activated ability or Battle card tells you to reroll dice, play it right after dice are rolled and only once each time dice are rolled.

"this turn," "until end of turn," and "until end of battle": An effect that says "this turn," or "until end of turn" lasts until the turn ends. An effect that says "until end of battle" lasts until the battle phase ends. Activated abilities and Battle cards with these effects can be played only once each turn.

Chances to Play Activated Abilities and Battle Cards

Many times during a turn (mostly during the battle phase), players get the chance to play activated abilities and Battle cards. These chances have special rules.

When a chance to play activated abilities and Battle cards starts, first deal with any triggered abilities. Then both players have a chance to play activated abilities and Battle cards.

When a chance to play activated abilities or Battle cards happens, the Dark Side player can either (a) play an activated ability or Battle card or (b) pass. Then the Light Side player gets to play or pass. This continues until both players pass in a row. Then the chance ends.

Two events always create chances to play activated abilities and Battle cards:

• Dice rolls: When a player rolls one or more dice, first deal with any triggered abilities that have the player reroll dice. Then both players have a chance to play activated abilities and Battle cards that have the player reroll (but no other abilities or cards). When the chance ends, the dice roll takes effect.
• Damage: If damage is about to be done to a unit, first deal with any triggered abilities that prevent damage. Then both players have a chance play activated abilities and Battle cards that prevent damage (but no other abilities or cards). When the chance ends, put damage counters on the unit. If the process of preventing damage creates new damage (like with Deflect), that damage "waits" for the current chance to prevent damage to end. Then a chance to prevent the new damage happens.

Section 4: Unique Cards

Some cards represent one-of-a-kind things, such as specific people, droids, and ships. These cards are called unique cards. A card is unique if it has a single letter to the right of its text box. The letter tells you the card's version (Version Letter: A, B, C, and so on). For example, there are 4 versions of Luke Skywalker in the New Hope expansion.

You can have only one of a particular unique unit in battle or retreated, no matter what version it is. For example, you can't have two Luke Skywalkers in battle or one Luke in battle and another one retreated. If you do have two, and they're not in a stack, discard the one you deployed most recently.

If a unique unit is discarded, it's not really dead. You can build and deploy a unit with the same name as the one that was discarded, and use that unit normally.

A few unique cards have different names, but treat them as though their names were the same for the purposes of the rules for unique cards (and only for the rules for unique cards):

• Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader
• Beru Lars / Beru Whitesun
• Padmé Amidala / Padmé Skywalker

If another card refers to any card by name, however, it's only talking about a card with that exact name, not any card that represents the same person, ship, or vehicle. (For example, Padmé Amidala has an ability that gives Anakin Skywalker +2 power. That ability doesn't give Darth Vader +2 power, even though he's the same person as Anakin Skywalker.)

Unique Units during Setup

During setup, if you have a unique unit card in an arena, you can't put another unit card with the same name and version into that arena. You can put a unit card with the same name and a different version into the arena, but you must stack it with the other one.

If the new unit card's build cost is less than the one already in an arena, stack the new unit card beneath (you can't put it on top at this time). If the new unit card's build cost is at least as much as the one already in that arena, you can stack the new unit card on top or beneath - your choice. Then draw a card to replace the one you put into the arena, as usual.

During setup, the total build cost of the stack counts toward your overall build cost total. Take the build cost of the unit card on top of the stack, and add 1 to it for each of the other cards in the stack (ignore their actual build costs).

If you put a unique unit card into battle during setup, your opponent can put a unique unit card with the same name into battle on his or her side. Later, when the first battle phase occurs, those units will be contested.

Contested Unique Units

If both players have a unique unit with the same name in battle at any time during the battle phase, the 2 units are contested. (This usually happens only with neutral unique cards.)

When units are contested, players bid Force to win the contest. The bidding starts with the Dark Side player at a bid of 0. Players can't bid more Force than they currently have. The Light Side player bids next, and he or she can raise the bid or pass. Then the Dark Side player does the same. Bidding continues back and forth until both players pass in a row.

When the bidding ends, take your final Force bid, and add your unit's total build cost to it (total build cost includes +1 for each card stacked under it). The player with the higher total wins the bid. (The Dark Side wins ties.)

The winner of the contest pays Force equal to his or her final Force bid, and his or her unit stays in battle. The losing player pays no Force, but his or her unit retreats without tapping.

If there is more than one pair of contested units, the Dark Side player chooses which pair to bid on first.

Stacking Unique Cards

Stacking is when you put one unique card on top of or beneath another version of the same unique card during your build phase. This lets you use more than one version of a unique card at once.

A stacked unit has the name, type, speed, power, health, build cost, and text box of the card on top of the stack. Ignore all the other cards in the stack. For each card beneath the top card, the unit gets +10 speed, +1 power, and +1 health. The total build cost of the stack is the build cost of the top card, plus 1 for each card beneath it.

Example: Luke Skywalker D is stacked on top of another Luke. This gives him 50 speed, 3 power, and 3 health, instead of his usual 40 speed, 2 power, and 2 health.

General Stacking Rules

• You can't stack cards that aren't unique.
• A stack can't have more than 4 cards in it.
• You can't stack cards unless they have the same name. The exceptions to this are the unique cards listed above. You can stack each of those pairs of cards together.
• You can't put a unique card into a stack that already has the same version of that card.
• A stack is a single unit in all ways. If the unit moves to another zone or arena, gets discarded, or retreats, the whole stack does the same.
• Once a card is in a stack, you can't take it out.

Making a Stack

If you have a unique unit in battle or retreated and you want to build another version of the same card during your build step, special rules apply to how you build and deploy the new card:

• If the new card's build cost is less than or equal to the existing card's cost (if the existing one is a stack, go by the one on top), you can deploy it if it has at least 1 build counter. Put the new card on top of or beneath the old one - your choice.

  Example: You have Anakin Skywalker C (5 build cost) in battle. You want to build Anakin Skywalker D (4 build cost). Anakin D's cost is less than Anakin C's, so you just pay 1 build point and put 1 counter on him. Then you deploy him on top of or beneath Anakin C.

• If the new card's build cost is more than the existing card's cost (if the existing one is a stack, go by the one on top), you have 2 choices. To put the new card under the old one, you can deploy the new card once you have 1 or more build counters on it. To put the new card on top of the stack instead, you need to figure out how many build counters you need to have on it before you deploy it. To do this, just take the difference between the two cards' build costs and add 1.

  Example: You have Anakin Skywalker C (5 build cost) in battle. You want to build Anakin Skywalker A (7 build cost) and put him on top of Anakin C. Anakin A costs more than Anakin C, so you put 3 build counters on him - that's 7 - 5 (which is 2), plus 1.

  What if you want to put Anakin A beneath Anakin C? Just put 1 build counter on Anakin A, then deploy him.

Putting a new card beneath or on top of a stack has no effect on the number of damage counters on the unit.

Rearranging Cards in a Stack

During your build phase, you can spend build points to rearrange cards in a stack so a different one is on top. If the card you want on top has a higher build cost than the one already on top, you must pay the difference in build points all in one turn. If the card you want on top has a lower build cost, you can put it on top for free. There are special rules for Characters with the Pilot ability.

Rearranging cards in a stack has no effect on the number of damage counters on the unit.

Section 5: Glossary

A: Activated abilities always use arrows. Battle cards often use arrows. The cost is before the A. The effect is after the A.

tap this unit (tap symbol): "Tap this unit." This symbol appears in costs of activated abilities. You can't pay a cost that includes the tap symbol if the unit is already tapped.

ability: Text in a unit's text box that does stuff in the game. Abilities can be activated, static, or triggered.

Accuracy X: A keyword ability, written as "Accuracy X," that means "Add +X to each of this unit's attack dice." The Accuracy ability makes hitting more likely when your unit attacks. A bonus from Accuracy can't give you a Critical Hit.

activated ability: An ability of a unit you play by paying its cost. You can't play an activated ability unless the unit it's on is in an arena or the ability prevents damage. Every activated ability has the A symbol in its text. The cost is before the A. The effect is after the A. You can play activated abilities only when it's your turn to play in a chance to play activated abilities and Battle cards. You can play it only once each time it's applicable (once each turn, once each attack, and so on). Note that Battle cards can also use the A symbol. This splits up the cost and effect; it doesn't make them activated abilities.

arena: One of the three sections where battles take place: Space arena, Ground arena, and Character arena. Each of your units can attack only your opponent's units in the same arena.

attack: The time between choosing the defending unit and putting damage counters on that unit. In an attack, the attacking unit does damage to the defending unit but the defending unit does no damage to the attacking unit.

Steps of Attacking:

1. A chance to play activated abilities and Battle cards happens.
2. Find the unit with the highest speed. The Dark Side wins ties for speed.
3. Decide whether or not to attack.
4. Tap your unit, even if you decide not to attack with it.
5. If you attack, choose an opponent's unit to try to hit.
6. A chance to play activated abilities and Battle cards happens.
7. Roll a number of dice equal to the attacking unit's power.
8. A chance to reroll happens.
9. Determine the number of hits. 3 or less = miss; 4 or more = 1 hit.
10. A chance to prevent damage happens.
11. Put 1 damage counter on the defending unit for each hit.
12. The attack ends.
13. A chance to play activated abilities and Battle cards happens.

attacking unit: The unit currently attacking. A unit becomes the attacking unit when it attacks another unit. That unit becomes the defending unit.

Battle card: A card representing the strategies and tactics your units can use in battle. You play Battle cards during chances to play activated abilities and Battle cards, but only during the battle phase.

battle phase: The third phase of the turn. It has three steps: the Space battle step, the Ground battle step, and the Character battle step. Each type of unit fights during the matching step.

Bombard: A keyword ability, written as "Bombard X," that means "This unit may attack a unit in the Ground arena instead of a unit in the Space arena, using X power plus any other effects." When a unit (in the Space arena) with the Bombard ability attacks, you choose whether to use Bombard or to make a normal attack. If you use Bombard, the unit can't attack units in the Space arena. The X (in "Bombard X") replaces the power printed on the card (and any other power bonuses from cards stacked with it). Anything that has changed the unit's power also changes the X.

build: Choose a unit or Mission card from your hand and put it face down into your build zone. Then spend 1 or more build points and put that many build counters on the card. To deploy a unit or complete a Mission, you must have at least as many build counters on it as its build cost.

build cost: The number in the upper left of every Space, Ground, and Character card. A Mission card's build cost is in the upper right.

build point: Each turn, the Light Side player rolls for build points, then both players have that number of points to spend on building unit and Mission cards. Any unspent build points are wasted.

build step: The third and fourth steps of the command phase. During your build step, you can build unit and Mission cards, deploy units, and complete Missions. You may also send retreated units back into their arenas, move Pilots, rearrange cards in a stack, and play abilities and Battle cards that read, "play only during your build step." The Dark Side player takes his or her build step first. Then, the Light Side player takes his or her build step.

build zone: The part of the table in front of you and below the arenas. It's where you put cards while you're building them. Also, when you retreat your units, they move back into the build zone. Activated abilities of units normally don't work if they're in the build zone.

chance to play activated abilities and Battle cards: At many times during each turn, there will be chances to play activated abilities and Battle cards. Choose either to play an activated ability or Battle card, or to pass and do nothing. Next your opponent has the option to play or pass, unless both players have passed in a row. There are two special chances to play activated abilities and Battle cards: chances to reroll and chances to prevent damage.

Character: All Character cards have a purple border. Build your Character cards in the build zone. Most Characters are unique, and many have multiple versions that stack together.

Character arena: The arena for your Characters.

Character battle step: The third step of the battle phase. Characters fight during this step.

"choose one:": A phrase indicating you have to choose between two or more options when you play some activated abilities and Battle cards. You can't change your mind later. The options might work at different times of the turn. The option you choose will tell you when you can play it.

command phase: The second phase of the turn. It contains six steps. These are the "command starts" step, the "roll for build points" step, the Dark Side's build step, the Light Side's build step, the Dark Side's retreat step, and the Light Side's retreat step.

command starts: The first step of the command phase.

complete (a Mission): Show your opponent that the number of build counters on one of your Missions at least as much as the Mission's build cost, follow the instructions on the Mission card, and then put it into your discard pile. Even if a Mission card has enough build counters on it, you don't have to complete it.

cost: Anything that you must pay before playing a card or ability, finishing building a unit, or completing a Mission. The cost of an activated ability or a Battle card comes before A. If a cost includes the tap symbol, you can pay the cost only if the unit with the ability is untapped. The build cost of a unit or Mission card is next to the card's name.

counter: A bead or other marker that represents a change to the card it's on. There are build counters and damage counters.

Critical Hit: A keyword ability, written as "Critical Hit X," that means "This unit does X more damage if you roll at least one natural six." No matter how many dice come up as sixes, the unit still does only X more damage. If a unit gets the Critical Hit ability after you roll attack dice, it's too late to affect the damage. If one of your units already has Critical Hit, it can get a second Critical Hit ability. If that happens, both Critical Hit abilities add to the damage if you roll a natural six. Bonuses to your attack dice from Accuracy can't create "natural sixes" and increase the chance of doing extra damage with Critical Hit. (A "natural" six is one where one of the dice actually shows a six, before any bonuses or penalties.)

damage: What the attacking unit does to the defending unit during battle. Units, Battle cards, and Mission Cards can damage units. If a card or ability puts damage counters on a unit, that's not the same as doing damage and can't be prevented.

damage counter: What you put on a unit when it takes damage. A unit's health shows how many damage counters it can take before it's discarded. In an attack, put a number of damage counters on the defending unit equal to the amount of damage the attack did (after damage prevention).

deck: You can't look at the cards in either player's deck during a game. Before playing, shuffle your deck well. If you run out of cards in your deck, nothing special happens. Just keep playing with what you have. Make sure your deck:

• Has at least 60 cards.
• Doesn't contain both Light Side and Dark Side cards. Any deck can use neutral cards.
• Has at least 12 Space cards, 12 Ground cards, and 12 Character cards.
• Doesn't have more than twice as many unit cards of one type than of another.
• Has no more than 4 copies of any card with the same name and version.

defending unit: The unit that's being attacked. The player whose unit is attacking chooses to attack one of his or her opponent's units. He or she can choose a tapped or untapped unit. The attacking unit rolls dice to do damage to the defending unit. The defending unit doesn't do damage to the attacking unit.

Deflect: A keyword ability, written as "Deflect X," that means "Prevent X damage to this unit, and this unit may do that much damage to a unit of your choice in the same arena." You can play Deflect only during a chance to prevent damage to the unit that has the ability. If you also have the unit do damage to another unit, that damage creates a new chance to prevent damage, after the current one. The damage that the unit does equals the damage it prevented. During each chance to prevent damage, you can play Deflect only once for each source of damage.

deploy: Show your opponent that the number of build counters on one of your unit cards is equal to or greater than the unit's build cost, and then put the unit face up in its arena. Even if a unit card has enough build counters on it, you don't have to deploy it.

dice: Six-sided dice used for many things in the Star Wars TCG.

dice of damage: Some abilities and Battle cards do "X dice of damage," rather than just "X damage." You roll X dice to see how much damage the card does. For each of those dice that comes up 4 or higher, the card does 1 damage. Cards and abilities that do "X dice of damage" or "X damage" aren't attacking, so the Accuracy ability has no effect on them.

discard: Move a card or unit from where it is to the discard pile. When you're told to discard a card or unit, you'll also be told from where to discard it. If you have a unit in an arena or the build zone with at least as many damage counters as its health, discard that unit.

discard pile: A face-up pile near your deck. Any player can look at the cards in any discard pile at any time. If one of your cards or units is discarded, put it into your discard pile.

draw: Take the top card of your deck and put it into your hand. You draw one card each turn, in the draw step.

draw step: The third step of the ready phase. In this step, the Dark Side player draws a card and then the Light Side player draws a card. You can't play abilities or Battle cards during this step.

Droid: A subtype of unit. Space units, Ground units, and Characters can be Droids. You can't put a Pilot on a Space or Ground unit that's a Droid, even if that Pilot is also a Droid.

effect: What happens once you complete a Mission, or when you pay a card's or ability's cost. There are two types of effects: continuous effects and one-shot effects.

Evade: A keyword ability, written as "Evade X," that means "Prevent up to X damage to this unit." You can play Evade only during a chance to prevent damage. During each chance to prevent damage, you can play Evade only once for each source of damage.

Force cost: A cost (if any) before A on a Battle card, written as "Pay X Force." Some cards may also have other costs before A.

Force step: The second step of the ready phase. In this step, the Dark Side player gains 4 Force and then the Light Side player gains 4 Force. You can't play abilities and Battle cards during this step.

Ground arena: The arena for your Ground units.

Ground battle step: The second step of the battle phase. Ground units fight during this step.

Ground unit: All Ground units have a green border. You build Ground units in your build zone.

hand: The cards you've drawn but haven't played yet. Only you can look at the cards in your hand. You start each game with 7 cards in your hand. There is no maximum number of cards that you can hold in your hand.

health: How many damage counters a unit can take before it's discarded. If you have a unit in an arena or the build zone with at least as many damage counters on it as its health, discard that unit.

hit: A roll of one of the dice that comes up 4 or higher when a unit attacks. Each hit does 1 damage to the defending unit.

Intercept: A keyword ability, written as "Pay X Force A Intercept," that means "If a unit is attacking one of your units in the same arena as this unit, it now attacks this unit instead." You can play a unit's Intercept ability any time one of your other units in the same arena is attacked. If the attacking unit can't attack the unit with Intercept, though, you can't use its Intercept for that attack. You can still pay the Force, but the defending unit won't change.

Ion Cannon: A keyword ability, written as "Ion Cannon X," that means "This unit may attack a unit in the Space arena instead of a unit in the Ground arena, using X power plus any other effects." When a unit (in the Ground arena) with the Ion Cannon ability attacks, you choose whether to use Ion Cannon or to make a normal attack. If you use Ion Cannon, the unit can't attack units in the Ground arena. The X (in "Ion Cannon X") replaces the power printed on the card (and any other power bonuses from cards stacked with it). Anything that has changed the unit's power also changes the X.

miss: A roll of one of the dice that comes up 3 or lower when a unit attacks. Misses don't do any damage.

Mission card: A card you build in your build zone until you complete it, at which point you follow its instructions and then discard it.

mulligan: When a game starts, discard any number of Battle and Mission cards and draw the same number of cards. After the Dark Side player has taken a mulligan, or has chosen to not mulligan, the Light Side player may then take a mulligan. Each player may mulligan only once and only before putting any units into arenas.

natural: Before any other effects. When a card says "if you rolled at least one natural six," it's telling you to check if you rolled 6 exactly on at least one of your dice. When you want to know a natural die roll, ignore any cards that modify the die roll unless they reroll dice.

"on a unit": Where a Character using the Pilot ability is, in the Space or Ground arenas. You can put a Pilot only on a unit with the correct subtype. You can put a Starfighter Pilot only on a Starfighter, for example.

"other effects": Changes to a card's power. The Bombard and Ion Cannon abilities use the phrase "using X power, plus any other effects." Instead of using the power printed on an attacking unit, you replace the power that was printed on the card with X (and any other power bonuses from cards stacked with it). But anything else that's changed the unit's power also changes the X.

partially built: The status of any card that's in your build zone but hasn't been deployed or completed. It probably has 1 or more build counters on it. During setup, you can partially build the last card that you build. You must show it to your opponent first. During the game, you can partially build any number of cards without showing them to your opponent.

pay Force: Lower your Force total by the given amount of Force. You can never pay more Force than you have. A card might ask you to pay a cost other than Force (like build points). Anything that asks you to pay any other kind of cost works the same way as anything that asks you to pay Force.

phase: A section of a turn. The three phases of each turn are the ready phase, the command phase, and the battle phase. All three phases are divided into steps.

Pilot: A keyword ability for Characters, written as "[Pilot symbol] [subtype] Pilot. That [subtype] gets: . . . ." It allows the Character to move onto another unit that has the correct subtype. You can put a Starfighter Pilot only on a Starfighter, for example. Each Pilot gives one or more bonuses or abilities to the Space or Ground unit. These are listed on the card, below the Pilot ability.

power: The number of dice you roll when one of your units attacks another unit.

prevent damage: Stop damage from reaching a unit. Battle cards and activated abilities that prevent damage can be played anytime damage would be done to a unit. That's the only time such cards and abilities can be played. Cards and abilities that prevent damage all use one or more of these words: "Evade," "Deflect," or "prevent." They're played in the damage-prevention chance to play or pass. You can play any ability including one of the words "prevent," "Evade," or "Deflect," even if the unit it's on is in the build zone.

put into battle: During setup, to take a unit card from your hand and put it into its arena. You can also put units into battle during your build step, if those units had retreated in a previous turn.

ready phase: The first phase of the turn. It has three steps: untap, gain Force, and draw.

reroll: Roll the dice again. All cards and abilities that require a player to reroll dice are played during chances to reroll. When you reroll dice, ignore the first roll entirely. Each card and ability that tells you to reroll dice lets you reroll them only once.

retreat: Move one of your units from one of the three arenas to your build zone, or move one of your opponent's units to his or her build zone. You can retreat your untapped units during your retreat step (this taps them). Units in the build zone can't be attacked, as they aren't in one of the three arenas. Also, their abilities don't work as long as they're in the build zone. Retreating a unit (yours or your opponent's) doesn't prevent damage to it.

retreat step: The fifth and sixth steps of the command phase. After both sides have spent all their build points and deployed any units they wanted to deploy (as well as sent any retreated units from a previous turn back into battle), they may retreat any untapped units in any of the three arenas. To retreat a unit, tap the unit and move it into the build zone. The Dark Side player has the first retreat step. Then the Light Side player has a retreat step.

roll: Take the correct number of dice in your hand and roll them onto a clear area of the table. If you roll too many dice, immediately roll again, this time rolling the correct number.

roll for build points: The roll that happens at the start of the "roll for build points" step (the second step of the command phase). The Light Side player rolls one of the dice. The number rolled is the number of build points each player has during his or her build step. If a player has at least one unit in each of the three arenas, that player also gets 1 bonus build point.

"same name": Sharing the exact same title. Two cards have the same name if the English versions of their names are identical. You can't have more than 4 of any card with the same name and same version letter in any deck (you could have 4 of Luke Skywalker A and 2 of Luke Skywalker C, but not 5 of Luke Skywalker B).

setup: During setup, both players put units totaling 30 build points from their hands into the arenas. During setup, every time you put a unit into an arena, you draw a card. Ignore all text on the units that you put into battle. If you don't have enough build points left to put your last unit into battle, you can partially build it. Draw a card to replace it, as usual.

Shields: A keyword ability, written as "Shields X," that means "Each unit gets -X power as long as it's attacking this unit." Changing an attacking unit's power matters only before you roll its attack dice. If you give a unit Shields after your opponent has rolled for damage, it doesn't affect the roll.

Space arena: The arena where the Space (blue) units go.

Space battle step: The first step of the battle phase. Space units fight during this step.

Space unit: All Space units have a blue border. Build your Space units in your build zone. They fight in the Space arena.

speed: Units with higher speeds attack before those in the same arena that have lower speeds. The Dark Side wins any ties for speed.

stack: A pile of different versions of unique cards that represent the same person, ship, or vehicle. You can have up to four versions of a unique unit in a stack. A stack is a single unit in all ways. It has the type, text, speed, power, and health of the unit on top of the stack. Ignore the types, text, speed, power, and health of the other cards. For each card that's beneath that unit, it gets +10 speed, +1 power, and +1 health. You can't remove a card from a stack. If a stack is moved from one zone to another, all the cards in the stack go to the same zone.

static ability: An ability that works all the time. It doesn't start with "when" and doesn't include A in its text. A static ability might have a condition, such as "as long as this unit is in the Space arena."

step: Part of one of the three phases.

Stun: A keyword ability, written as "Stun X," that means "When this unit damages another unit, that unit gets -X power until end of battle." If all the damage is prevented, Stun doesn't kick in. Stun works anytime the unit damages another unit, not just when a unit attacks.

subtype: The words after the first word on the type line of a unit card. There's a hyphen between a card's type and subtype(s). Sometimes there is an additional hyphen between subtypes. These hyphens don't affect the game.

tap: Turn a unit sideways, so that one of its longer edges is at the top. The tap symbol in an activated ability's cost tells you that you must tap the unit to play the ability. You can't play the ability if the unit is already tapped. When you attack with a unit, tap it to show that it has attacked.

total build cost: The build cost of a unit or group of units. If a unit is stacked, it gets +1 to its total build cost for each card under it.

triggered ability: An ability triggered by an event. The text that starts with "when" tells you at what event the ability triggers. For example, a triggered ability might read, "When this unit is discarded from the Ground arena . . . ." Triggered abilities use "A".

turn: Each turn has three phases that happen in this order: the ready phase, the command phase, and the battle phase. Unlike with many other games, both players have things to do on every turn.

type: The first word on a card's type line (the line below the card's name). The card types are Space, Ground, Character, Battle, and Mission. Space, Ground, and Character cards are unit cards.

unique: Having a single letter to the right of the text box. Space, Ground, and Character units may be unique. The letter tells you the version of the unit. Unique units have special rules for stacking and contesting. Some people in the Star Wars universe are represented by unique cards with different names. These are treated as having the same name for the purposes of the contested units, unique units, and stacking rules: Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader; Beru Lars / Beru Whitesun; Padmé Amidala / Padmé Skywalker.

unit: A Character, Ground, or Space card. Each unit fights in one of the three arenas. An activated ability of a unit works only in that unit's arena, unless the ability says otherwise or includes the words "Deflect," "Evade," or "prevent."

untap: Put a unit back to its normal, untapped position, where one of its shorter edges is at the top.

untap step: The first step of the ready phase. In the untap step, the Dark Side player untaps all his or her cards and units and then the Light Side player untaps all his or her cards and units. You can't play abilities and Battle cards during this step.

version: Which letter a unique card has to the right of its text box. Such cards have special rules.

"when": If you see this word as part of an ability's text (for example, "when a unit is discarded from the Space arena . . ."), it means the ability is triggered by that event.