by BananaCrapshoot 

Sequencing, probably the single most important component at improving in Star Wars Unlimited. What isn’t? Why is it so important? And How do we do it? I am to answer those questions and more today. Thanks everyone and hello, I, BananaCrapshoot will be your pilot on this magic carpet ride going through the world of sequencing in SWU. 

What is sequencing in Star Wars: Unlimited?

Well SWU features more of a unique round structure that we need to discuss first. Most TCGs have a round structure where your opponent is playing solitaire on one side of the table for their turn doing 100 things, then on my turn I play solitaire and do 100 things and we go back and forth until someone wins. In SWU there’s a shared round structure, where you get to take one action on our turn, then it’s my turn and I take one action, and we got back and forth until we both pass/claim and regroup for thinned the round. 

Now that we understand the round structure, we can dive into what sequencing is. Simply put it in the order in which you take your actions. I know it sounds super simple, but SWU has a bunch of seemingly simple mechanics and decision points, but each one of these creates a skill gap, sequencing is the most important one. Knowing when and what to do with your own deck against certain decks is the single most important area to focus on improvement.  

How Do We Do It?

Planning, we have to look at our hand, our board state and our opponents board state. We need to think out our turn as well as being prepared and planned for what our opponent is doing. If I want to deploy vader, play his saber on him, and play motti so I can reset vader I need to plan out my actions so I can accomplish my goal for the round as efficiently as possible. We also need to account for our opponent, what units they have, if their leader is out or will deploy, etc. The order, or sequence in which I take my actions is vital to successful game. If I misplay or do one of my actions out of order I ruined my whole turn and probably gave my opponent a huge opportunity to gain the advantage in the game. 

When thinking about how to sequence here are some things to think about when planning out your turn. 

1. How many resources do I have available? 
   • Lets us know what our options are for the turn
2. Can my opponent make any positive trades with their units?
   • Can my opponent wipe my units away and keep theirs on the field, or can they use a lower cost unit to take out my higher cost unit
3. can I make any positive trades with my units?
   • can i wipe out some of my opponents unit and stay on board myself, or can I use one of my cheap units to take out my opponents bigger unit
4. Is my leader deployed or will they deploy this turn?
   • Most times you are building your deck around this leader, use them, be smart try to deploy safety with low risk of removal
5. is my opponents leader deployed or will they deploy?
   • what can I do to deal with my opponents leader when they deploy, how do I handle this leader already on the board

If you can answer these questions and plan your turn around them, then I believe you will set yourself up for continued success in SWU. This is the hardest thing for new players to grasp, so keep playing some games and you will get better with more games.  

Thanks for stopping by that’s it for this one. I hope this helps someone think about building a better turn. We will see you in the arenas! 

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