Groggy’s Guide to Star Wars LCG Episode 1: A New Player

A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far, Far Away…

Groggy’s Guide to Star Wars LCG Episode 1: A New Player

It is a time of unrest in the Galaxy. Anyone from Jedi to Smugglers & Spies, Sith and Scum & Villainy is participating in the conflict between the Imperial and Rebel Forces. A new player emerges, one who just may prove to be the tipping point in this conflict. Armed with their collection of Star Wars LCG cards, they embark on a journey to determine the fate of the Galaxy…

Welcome to Groggy’s Guide to Star Wars LCG! This guide is written by a casual player, for casual players. If you’ve just bought your Core Set* or you want to improve in your skills as a player, this guide will aid you in general strategy, deck strategies and more for Star Wars: The Card Game.

*This guide assumes that you have already read and understand the core rules as well as a familiarity with Core Set cards. All cards referenced can be viewed online in the card spoilers section of cardgamedb.com.*

In this episode, I’d like to focus on some basic tips and strategies for playing Star Wars: The Card Game. First, I’d like to go over some basic resource strategies.

With each deck you use in Star Wars, you want to make sure that there are enough resources each turn to play the cards from your command deck. There is never a situation where less resources is best, so the more you can put into your deck, the better.

Starting on your first turn in Star Wars, you can have as many as 9 resources (2 copies of Heart of the Empire and a 2 resource objective) or as few as 4 (1 resource on each objective). no matter what Objectives or Side you are playing, you will always have a minimum of 4 resources. Generally on your turn, you would want to play out any resource enhancement card before playing out any other card during Deployment. It’s a good habit to get into so that you will not forget to play it.

There is a bit of a difference between resource enhancements. Most are usually around 1-2 cost and provide 1-2 resources. Because you remove just 1 focus token per card you control in your Refresh Phase, 1 cost, 1 resource enhancements are a lot more beneficial to you than 2 cost, 2 resource enhancements. That isn’t to say that 2 cost, 2 resource enhancements are not good, they just don’t necessarily help you immediately.

There is a bit of a sweet-spot with resources, where somewhere around 6-8 is probably all you will need or see for the majority of your games. When you get to that point, sometimes you may find yourself discarding a resource enhancement on your draw phase or tossing it into an edge stack. This is fine, do not worry about holding onto your resource enhancements late into the game.

One last thing to remember with resource enhancements is that a lot of them tend to be Neutral. When playing out your other units, enhancements and events, I suggest you use most of your Neutral resources before your Jedi, Scum, etc, resources. There were a few times when I first started that I ended up spending all my Jedi resources and could not play that crucial Jedi Mind Trick because my last resource was Neutral.

Secondly, I’d like to talk about general engagement strategies.

Scenario: You are the Light Side player using a Jedi deck against the Dark Side player’s Sith deck. You know that your opponent has at least 1 copy of The Emperor’s Web objective set, so you must be cautious for both Force Choke and Force Lightning. Your only units in play are Yoda (Core) and Twi’lek Loyalist. Your opponent has a Dark Side Apprentice and a Emperor’s Royal Guard in play, with 4 resources available. You are confident you can win an edge battle. Do you attack this turn?

When I took my first journey into Star Wars: The Card Game, I often made the mistake of attacking every turn, no matter whether I was Light or Dark Side. I quickly realised that blind aggression is a quick path to defeat. On the flip side, playing completely passive can be difficult as well. Finding the middle ground between attacking and being passive will improve your skills drastically.

Like most decisions in Star Wars: The Card Game, whether to engage an objective or not depends on many factors. Some of these include: The amount of cards in your hand compared to your opponent’s, what units are in play, whether any units are damaged or exhausted, and if any of your opponent’s objectives are “while undamaged” objectives. Let’s take a deeper look at these variables.

The amount of cards in your hand compared to your opponent’s can give you an indication of whether you should begin an engagement on your turn. If your opponent has 5 cards in hand and you only have 2, in most scenarios you are going to lose that edge battle. If you and your opponent have cards equal to each other, there’s only a 1 card difference or you have more cards in hand, then an engagement just might be a good idea.

Cards like Twist of Fate can help you get rid of your opponent’s cards so that you have a better chance of winning the edge battle. Just remember not to telegraph your decisions. Playing a Twist of Fate and nothing else every edge battle can be quite predictable.

What units are in play is also a big determining factor into declaring an engagement. If you have Luke Skywalker (Core) in play, you are most likely going to declare an engagement on your turn. Even if you lose the edge, 2 unit damage to any unit in play and at least 1 blast damage is a big deal. If you have a unit like Yoda (Core) in play, your best option is to commit him to the Force Struggle rather than attacking. Not just your units but your opponent’s also determine when you should engage an objective. Does your opponent have Emperor Palpatine (Core) in play? If so, you had better make sure you can win the edge battle before Palpatine strikes.

Whether any units are damaged or exhausted is the last variable we will cover for edge battles. Does Yoda only have 1 damage capacity remaining? Did Luke just suffer a Force Choke combined with Darth Vader’s (Core) Reaction? Do you only have 1 unit that is not exhausted and you can take the Force if you don’t attack?

What if your opponent has damaged units in play? If those units are close to being destroyed, he had better think before declaring them to defend. A simple Heat of Battle can take out any participating unit with only 1 damage capacity remaining.

If any of your opponents objectives are “while undamaged” objectives, their effects can be turned off with just 1 point of damage. Some of these objectives tend to have powerful effects. Turning those abilities off can be very useful to your game plan.

You must be mindful not just of what you can do if you win the edge battle but also of what might happen if you lose it. There is a saying that goes, “Hope for the best, plan for the worst”. Declare an engagement with the expectation of losing the edge and you will start to plan them out much better.


“You’ve taken your first step into a larger world.” - Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Thank you for taking the time to read Groggy’s Guide to Star Wars LCG! Be on the lookout for Episode 2: Defending Fate!

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