Legendary Insights: John Leo

May 23, 2025

We're just a little more than a month away from the release of Legends of the Force, the thrilling next set of the Star Wars™: Unlimited trading card game! As we eagerly await the next set's release, we sat down for some Q&A with John Leo (one of the set's designers) to see what sort of insights he could provide about the set's creation. Let's see what he has to say!

Can you share some insights about how the game's fifth set, Legends of the Force, came to be? What led to the set's theme being focused on Force users like Jedi and Sith?

While I wasn't one of the designers to pitch Legends of the Force, it was always intended to be the set that introduces a concept that's absolutely essential to Star Wars. Just as Jump to Lightspeed brought us the thrilling dogfights and imposing space engagements that are so core to the Star Wars experience, we wanted to do the same thing for fans of the more mystical side of the galaxy. It's not all about the Jedi and Sith, however; the Star Wars galaxy has a whole host of intriguing Force users who don't fall into these factions!

The main new mechanic of Legends of the Force is the Force token. How did the team go about designing the Force token and how it works in-game? What were some of the unique challenges that came up while designing it?

The Force token went through many, many iterations. The team knew from the beginning that we had to get it just right. We tried a bunch of implementations, but ultimately we wanted the Force token to be something gained by the player for interacting with the core gameplay mechanics of Star Wars: Unlimited. Usually that means playing your favorite unit cards and attacking with them, which is how we settled on the idea of tying the Force token to a base, and activating the ability when you attack with a Force-traited unit.

This set marks the introduction of Legends (non-canon) content to the game. How did you decide on which characters/elements from the Legends continuity to include in the set? 

There are so many incredible characters in the Legends continuity, many of whom have become favorite Star Wars characters for their fans. Ultimately, we wanted to choose a piece of source material that was relatively self-contained, with the intent that we can pick and choose different sources in the future when those characters suit the needs of the set. But for this set, we knew we needed a hefty presence of Sith characters. One Sith has been requested by fans across the world, and that meant opening the floodgates to characters from Knights of the Old Republic!

What's your favorite Jedi card in Legends of the Force? What's your favorite Sith card? What's your favorite Force card that is neither Jedi nor Sith?

Of all the Jedi, there is one who is near and dear to the hearts of the Legends of the Force designers: Gungi (Legends of the Force, 93). He features the never-before-seen trait line of Force, Jedi, and Wookiee, as well as a simple, clean design. He has great stats, which can guarantee that he gets you your Force token on turn 2.

When it comes to Sith, many people will say Darth Revan (Legends of the Force, 17), but I have a special place in my heart for Darth Vader (Legends of the Force, 37). I love his ability to enter play, mark an enemy unit for a duel, and plan to defeat them next turn. This was also the first Darth Vader card I got to design for Star Wars: Unlimited, so I think it will always be a favorite.

For non-Jedi, non-Sith, look no further than Merrin (Legends of the Force, 160). I love any ability that lets you use excess cards for value, and her ability to damage any enemy unit often lets her take out two enemies at once.

Legends of the Force will launch just a couple weeks before the game's inaugural Galactic Championship event. How do you think the new cards from the set will impact the metagame going into that tournament?

I rarely want to prognosticate on the meta, but the Force token mechanic definitely adds an interesting hoop to the deckbuilding process. I expect that some pre-existing decks will switch out their existing base for a token base like Strangled Cliffs (Legends of the Force, 27) and a small package of relevant Force-traited cards like Mace Windu (Legends of the Force, 149). Even 3 to 6 cards in your deck can boost your overall power level and warrant the trade off in base health. Other decks may want to go more “all in” on the Force token mechanic, and build their strategy around one of the new leaders from Legends of the Force.

Lastly, some existing decks may rely on their base for key interactions, like Tarkintownor Energy Conversion Lab, at which point they will likely opt out of the Force token mechanic. These deckbuilders may still scoop up key cards for their strategies or to counter their opponents: Jedi Starfighter (Legends of the Force, 144), Loth-Wolf (Legends of the Force, 44), and Knight of Ren (Legends of the Force, 84)are all flexible cards which can slot into pre-existing strategies with ease!

This set adds the game's very first single-aspect leader cards to the card pool. What deckbuilding advice can you provide to a player for building a deck with one fewer aspect icon than normal?

Cards? As in plural?!

While you're limiting yourself to a smaller pool of viable cards for your deck, you may find some overlooked gems. Look for cards with alternate costs: for example, Darth Revan with a Cunning base? You can still main-deck a Hotshot DL-44 Blaster if you intend to play it for its Smuggle cost! Also, don't overlook cards like Darth Tyranus (Legends of the Force, 231). Even though he only has one aspect, he can pack a serious punch!

Are there any additional thoughts about Legends of the Force that you would like to share?

I'm so happy these cards are out there!