Insights of Twilight: Danny Schaefer

As we count down the days to the release of Twilight of the Republic—the third set of Star Wars™: Unlimited—we’d like to share some insights from the designers. Today, we’ve got some Q&A with Danny Schaefer, lead designer of the game and one of the designers of this third set. Let’s see what he has to say!

Players have been anticipating Clone Wars era content for a while now. While designing Twilight of the Republic, what sort of things did you feel were necessary to include?

I absolutely love the Clone Wars era, so the most exciting thing for me was getting to include so many iconic characters and story moments. Satine Kryze is probably my favorite character in all of Star Wars and I can’t wait for her to have a card. I’m also looking forward to new cards for beloved characters like Mace Windu, General Grievous, Count Dooku, and Ahsoka Tano. And we have some great event cards capturing the most memorable moments from the Clone Wars.

How was designing Twilight of the Republic different from designing the previous two sets? What unique challenges did the third set bring to the table?

A major challenge of Twilight of the Republic is that it features mechanics that really change the math of Star Wars: Unlimited in a brand-new way. Between token units and Exploit, you have to reevaluate basic assumptions about how many units will be on the board, how many actions players will take each round, and how early big expensive units can come into play. During design testing we saw a ton of plays that elicited a reaction of “Wow, I’ve never seen that before!” Which was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work to balance.

What are you most looking forward to about Twilight of the Republic? What do you think will be most exciting for players?

I’m most excited to build decks around the new token units and the Exploit mechanic. I love the way these decks can present multiple different angles of attack: you can swarm the board with an army of Battle Droid tokens while always threatening to drop an enormous unit into play. This puts unique pressure on the opponent—they can’t simply rely on Bombing Run to sweep up your tokens or Power of the Dark Side to deal with your single large unit, and you can pivot at a moment’s notice to adapt to what your opponent is doing. 

What’s your favorite card from Twilight of the Republic, and why?

It’s hard to pick a single favorite (there are some incredibly fun Legendary cards in the set) but the Twilight of the Republic card I’ve put in the most playtest decks is definitely Geonosis Patrol Fighter (Twilight of the Republic, 215). This card may look innocuous at first glance, but it can be an extremely powerful tempo play that allows you to get ahead of your opponent early or swing the board state in the midgame. Geonosis Patrol Fighter shares some DNA with Pirated Starfighter from Spark of Rebellion in that it lets you get rid of a unit—ideally a 1-cost unit—to play an efficient ship on round 2. But whereas the Pirated Starfighter just provides good stats, Geonosis Patrol Fighter actually disrupts your opponent’s board. In an ideal world, you can play a pair of 1-cost units on round 1, then defeat 1 of them to play Geonosis Patrol Fighter and bounce your opponent’s round 2 play back to their hand while still having 2 units in play yourself. The fighter shines even brighter if your opponent is trying to get ahead using upgrades. If their plan is to play a 2-cost unit and then put a lightsaber on it—say a Jedi Lightsaber or a General’s Blade (Twilight of the Republic, 121)—you can send that unit back to their hand, permanently getting rid of their lightsaber while developing your own board and often creating an almost-insurmountable advantage.

Token units are a significant new element to Star Wars: Unlimited. How do you think the addition of token units to the game will shape how people play going forward?

At the most basic level, the introduction of token units just means that there are more units in play in an average game. What’s really compelling to me is how these additional units interact with the combat, action, and initiative systems in Star Wars: Unlimited. There’s a massive difference between having four 1/1s vs having a single 4/4 in terms of how a round plays out and how your opponent can interact with your board. These dynamics amplify the tactical play and decision-making that make Star Wars: Unlimited great.

The game has been out for six months now. In your opinion, how will Twilight of the Republic shake up the developing metagame? What underutilized cards from the first two sets do you think will receive a boost from the new one?

Twilight of the Republic feels like the set where Star Wars: Unlimited fully comes into its own in terms of deckbuilding possibilities. The number of possible archetypes greatly expands with three full sets of cards to work with and the interactions with new mechanics; it’s much harder to sit down and feel like you know what your opponent is going to do. Swarm decks come into their own with Twilight of the Republic, making cards that work well in those decks (General Tagge) or against those decks (Bombing Run) more valuable. I also expect this set to open up more possibilities for more control-focused Heroism decks, boosting the profile of cards that work well in those decks like Razor Crest and Concord Dawn Interceptors.

Are there any additional thoughts about Twilight of the Republic that you would like to share?

One point I haven’t touched on yet is how much I enjoy the draft environment for Twilight of the Republic. With all the unit tokens, Exploit, Coordinate, and some exciting build-around cards, the draft format feels very fresh and different from what we saw in the first two sets. It’s a ton of fun and showcases how draft formats can really change from set to set—a trend that will continue into the next year.

Written by Peter Schumacher