It's time to punch it to the Outer Rim: 4 things to know about Shadows of the Galaxy!

It's a little over a month until the next set for Star Wars: Unlimited hits the shelves, and this time, it's all about the Outer Rim. In Shadows of the Galaxy, you'll be encountering heroes, villains, and a whole host of bounty hunters, smugglers, and scroungers from the far reaches of the galaxy. Here's a breakdown of what to expect in the new set...

A Setting of Scum & Villainy from Across the Galaxy

While Spark of Rebellion gave us a look into the ever-shifting battle of galactic control between the Empire and the Rebellion, Shadows of the Galaxy will take you across the galaxy, from the lawless planets of the outer rim to the dark dusty corners of the Core Worlds, with a whole host of characters from The Mandalorian™ series, Solo: A Star Wars Story™, The Book of Boba Fett™ series, and more! 

Lead your deck with new leaders like Hondo Ohnaka, That's Good Business (SHD#005) or Lando Calrissian, With Impeccable Taste (SHD#017), or power up your Mandolorian units with The Armorer, Survival Is Strength (SHD#047). There are plenty of awesome characters being revealed every day and we can't wait to start finding a place for them in our decks.

Three New Mechanics to Spice Things Up

Shadows of the Galaxy is introducing three new mechanics into the game that not only change up some strategies in deck-building but also play perfectly into the theme of the set.

First up, there's Smuggle, which is a way for you to play cards that you've already put face down as resources. Cards with Smuggle will have a cost associated that you pay to play them from your resource zone, replacing them with the top card of your deck. Now you feel comfortable resourcing your more powerful smuggle pieces early in the game knowing you can still bring them to bear in the later stages.

Next, there's Bounty, a way for you to gain a benefit for defeating or capturing (explained below) enemy units. Some units, like Doctor Evazan, Wanted On Twelve Systems (SHD#185), will have a Bounty listed on them, or units can have Bounties attached to them with attachments like Top Target (SHD#071).

Finally, there's Capturing. Capturing a unit entails placing that unit facedown under the unit that is capturing it until that capturing unit leaves play. You'll find cards like Discerning Veteran (SHD#120) forcing you to capture a non-leader unit of your opponents, or Legal Authority (SHD#124) giving that ability to one of your units when attached. That isn't to say that captured units are captured forever. If you can't defeat a capturing unit or return it to your opponent's hand, you can always try an Unexpected Escape (SHD#076) to get them out of trouble.

A New Two-Player Starter Deck Product

A new set means a new two-player starter deck product and for Shadows of the Galaxy, that means a showdown between The Mandolorian and Moff Gideon! Make your choice between aggressively attacking with cheap units that get a power boost with Moff Gideon's abilities, eventually giving all your cheap units Overwhelm to push past your opponent's defenders, or build your defenses by upgrading your units and exhausting your opponents' as you do. Both of these decks develop strategies not yet explored by their aspects and are great starting points for building a Shadows of the Galaxy deck.

New Deck-Building Focuses for Deck Aspects

The four major aspects of Star Wars Unlimited, Vigilance, Aggression, Command and Cunning, are getting a little adjustment with new focuses with the releases of Shadows of the Galaxy.

To begin with, Vigilance will be focusing on the Grit keyword, a keyword originally introduced with a few units in Spark of Rebellion that now gets wider support, certainly boosting the strategy of Director Krennic, Aspiring to Authority (SOR#001) and Chewbacca, Walking Carpet (SOR#003) decks. Vigilance also focuses on the Mandalorian unit trait, emphasising on upgrades with extra benefits for Mandolorians. 

The Aggression aspect for Shadows of the Galaxy will be focusing on the new Bounty mechanic, optimising the benefits for the best results or dealing damage to units with Bounty on them. There are also some Mandalorian cards built around removing upgrades which will gel nicely with the Vigilance Mandolorians.

The Command aspect will be focusing on Bounty as well, with cards focused more on the Capture side of the arrangement to pay out those bounties. It also branches into the Smuggle mechanic with some benefits about playing things via Smuggling.

Finally, Cunning, fits into a few strategies across this set, with the ability to Smuggle and rescue Captured units fitting into the aspect, along with a focus on the Underworld trait. Dryden Vos, Offering No Escape (SHD#192) provides a payoff for capturing your opponent's units, allowing you to play them under your control instead, and Ma Klounkee (SHD#229) allows you to bounce an Underworld unit back to your hand to play again.

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What are you excited about for the new Shadows of the Galaxy set, releasing 12 July 2024? Don't forget to place your preorder and book your Prerelease events as soon as possible to not miss out!