Lightspeed Insights: Danny and Tyler

March 21, 2025

With last week’s launch of Jump to Lightspeed—the fourth set of the Star Wars™: Unlimited trading card game—people all over the world are already diving into the new cards and mechanics and seeing what sort of exciting things the new set has to offer. To complement this seasonal era of discovery, we’re here today for some Q&A with designers Danny Schaefer and Tyler Parrott. Read on to see what sort of insights they have about the design of Jump to Lightspeed!

The first three sets of Star Wars: Unlimited had a heavier emphasis on the ground arena, and the way unit cards were “balanced” often reflected that. What sort of unique challenges came from designing a more space-focused set like Jump to Lightspeed?

Danny: The main challenge was just figuring out what a world looked like where players could reliably skew much more heavily to space than ground, if they so choose. While Jump to Lightspeed does greatly increase the number of powerful space unit options available, we did maintain the balance of ground units being slightly bigger on average. If an all-space deck and all-ground deck square off, the ground deck should be a bit faster; but of course, some well-timed disruption can always swing the matchup!

Tyler: We wanted to make space units strong and fun, but not in a way that invalidated the ground units that we had already designed. There were already heuristics in place guiding unit sizes, but pilots enable some extremely aggressive starts that ground units can’t necessarily keep up with. So, for the first time, we had to consider a world in which a space aggro deck could race a ground aggro deck, which was counter to our original goals with the two arenas. But the cool thing about pilots is that their aggression is higher-variance than a normal aggro deck curve-out, so we were able to approach the conundrum with creativity and card design—you’ll see noticeably more exhaust effects in this set than normal, as a tool that’s especially potent against pilots!

What’s the most exciting thing to you about Jump to Lightspeed? What do you think will be most exciting for players as they get to know the set?

Danny: My personal favorite thing to do in Jump to Lightspeed is drop giant Star Destroyers, particularly with the Admiral Piett leader. There’s something really satisfying about bringing down an 8-10 cost unit multiple rounds ahead of schedule; opponents always seem nervous sitting down to play against Piett. I also love Pilots and the skill expression of deciding exactly when and how to use them. There are a ton of moments where you have to choose between a high-risk, high-reward play versus a safer but more conservative line, which really rewards knowing both your own deck and your opponent’s inside and out.

Tyler: For me, the most exciting thing is, of course, the pilots! Some of the most iconic StarWars characters are pilots, and we really wanted them to be able to shine in the way that makes them cool and unique. The little narratives you can create by mix-and-matching your pilots with your ships is so fun, and this is the first time we’ve really gotten to highlight characters who are at their best when inside a cockpit: Poe Dameron, Wedge Antilles, Major Vonreg, and the like. And for more game-focused players, the strategic challenge of when and how to use their pilots is going to be really compelling. I’ve seen so many players go through the process of “my pilot is an upgrade” to “I guess I have to play my pilot as a ground unit” to “playing my pilot as a ground unit here is a strategic advantage” to “my opponent’s shields are down, I’m playing an upgrade to punish them” as their understanding of piloting strategy evolves. It’s awesome!

With the addition of the Piloting keyword, indirect damage, and a heavier focus on the space arena, how do you think Jump to Lightspeed will cause the metagame to shift for the Premier format? 

Danny: I expect Jump to Lightspeed to have a dramatic impact on Premier, due to the infusion of powerful space units and Pilots. While we’ve already seen some decks that focus more on the space arena, this set takes things to the next level with heavy space decks that can threaten to end the game very quickly if left unanswered. Decks looking to play a longer game will need ways to interact with those space units and Pilots, through their own space presence as well as unit and upgrade removal. Ignore the space arena at your own peril!

Tyler: Everything the players know about the Premier metagame is going to change. Deck archetypes that couldn’t have been imagined before are now not only possible, but powerful. Even space-heavy decks are going to feel extremely different after Jump to Lightspeed, because how they engage with the back-and-forth of Star Wars: Unlimited’s gameplay is going to be so different. I expect aggro decks to be adaptable and explosive, I expect control decks to be prioritizing upgrade removal, and overall I expect every deck will now have to take the space arena seriously at the deckbuilding level.

Having cards that can function as either units or upgrades creates an interesting dynamic in limited formats. What sort of insight can you give players who want to utilize Pilot cards in draft and/or sealed play?

Danny: The flexibility of Pilots really shines in draft and sealed. Because Jump to Lightspeed has so many space units, limited format games often focus around the space arena with relatively few units on the ground. Playing a Pilot as a ground unit can sometimes be the key to swinging a game in your favor!

Tyler: My advice for players who want to draft Jump to Lightspeed is actually not how to play their pilots—they’ll figure out soon enough that you can’t ignore the ground arena in this set—but rather how to play against pilots. You’ll need to make sure you have a plan for when your opponent has a 6/6 or an 8/8 space unit. Sometimes that means also having a giant piloted spaceship, one that’s large enough to eat whatever your opponent builds up on their side. Sometimes that means having unconditional removal like Direct Hit or Dorsal Turret. Sometimes that means having temporary advantage effects, like the exhaust effect of Barrel Roll or the big damage prevention of Close the Shield Gate and shield tokens. And sometimes it means targeting Vehicles before they get piloted, with Shoot Down or the Fireball.

What is your favorite Vehicle unit in Jump to Lightspeed? What’s your favorite Pilot card?

Danny: It’s so hard to choose just one for each!

For my favorite VehicleI’ll say the Devastator, just because it brings me so much joy to build around. I love bringing it out ahead of schedule, using the 4 damage to help stabilize the board, then following up with a Planetary Bombardment.

My favorite Pilot card is another close call, but I lean towards Chewbacca. I love that he’s strong against some of the cards that opponents will naturally turn to against early Pilots, like Clear the Field or Power of the Dark Side. And in the midgame he can be a very annoying unit to deal with as a 5/6 with built-in protection. 

Honorable mention to my favorite Pilot leader, Poe Dameron, who just has some of the most incredibly fun lines of play I’ve seen him jumping between ships, going to the ground arena with Eject, readying with BB-8, and using Heroic Sacrifice on the ship he’s attached to for surprise deploys. My only problem is I can’t decide if I like playing him with Command or Cunning more.

Tyler: My favorite Vehicle is definitely the IG-2000 (Assassin’s Aggressor). It looks so unassuming, and the first time I read it I scoffed at it—surely this can’t be exciting or powerful enough to be Rare! But oh boy was I wrong. That When Played ability consistently overperforms my expectations, and the fact that it has Overwhelm makes it the perfect body to power up with a Pilot!

As for my favorite Pilot, it’s probably Anakin Skywalker (I’ll Try Spinning). His floor is extremely high, as a 2 cost +2/+3 upgrade, but his text is weird enough that it invites creativity. Why would returning him to your hand be good, when his stats are naturally so high? His numerical power is enough to make me comfortable putting him into my decks, at which point I find myself going out of my way to find corner cases that I can use to maximize him, and that results in fun gameplay. And his art is amazing! Look at how cute he is, focusing that hard!

Now that Jump to Lightspeed is out in the world, what tips and tricks should players keep in mind as they get to know the new set?

Danny: As I alluded to in a previous response, make sure you’re ready for aggressive space decks and packing the right suite of answers to handle them. It may be tempting to just throw 3 copies of Confiscate or Bamboozle in your deck and assume you’re safe from Pilots, but against many of the space arena/Pilot decks that simply won’t be enough—you’ll need a more robust plan to deal with their multiple angles of attack. And in general, be aware that more explosive plays could be coming at you. Not just Pilots making a 6/6 attacker on round 2, but ramp decks accelerating even faster with Resupply Carrier, or Thrawn doubling up Cobb Vanth’s When Defeated ability. It’s an exciting new world!

Tyler: The biggest thing is, regardless of what deck you build, don’t ignore the space arena. The threats you’re going to be up against once Jump to Lightspeed releases are powerful and immediate. You need to have a plan for how to deal with a Poe Dameron who’s attacking you for 5 on round 2, or for an Admiral Piett deck that’s played a giant Capital Ship unit on round 4. Maybe it’s to fight for control of the space arena, maybe it’s to race them on the ground and use stalling tactics to keep them from overwhelming you. But regardless of what that plan is, you need to have a plan.

And separately, don’t forget that Pilots can be units! I’ve absolutely lost games where my opponent just played a 3-cost 3/4 Pilot unit on the ground and my deck was ill-equipped to stop that unit from dealing 9 or 12 damage to my base because I was too busy fighting them off in space.

Are there any additional thoughts about Jump to Lightspeed that you’d like to share?

Danny: I’m really excited for players to get their hands on this set and start to build decks! After establishing a baseline in the first year, Jump to Lightspeed is the first set where I feel like we were aggressively pushing boundaries and opening things up more than ever. We found a lot of cool and exciting decks to build, but I’m sure players will surprise us as always.

Tyler: This is the first set where we really leaned hard into a theme in a way that fundamentally shakes up the way players engage with the game. We dipped our toe in it with Twilight of the Republic, and now we’re fully in the deep end with space battles taking a forefront, and with pilots headlining the combat. I can’t wait to see what innovations players make with their deckbuilding, and to see how skill-intensive these mechanics can be!