Star Wars Unlimited’s eighth set, Ashes of the Empire, is only five weeks away, and though there is still a ways to go, and quite a bit of cards left to be revealed, I wanted to take a look at what we’ve seen so far, and what the theming for this set is looking like. Specifically taking a look at some of my favourite cards that have been revealed so far with a focus more on the character theming and a little less on ability theming. The ones that stand out the most to me right from the start being that the Spectres are back, even though we just got the whole crew last set in A Lawless Time.
Ashes of the Empire is a very thematic set, focusing on the post-Empire era of The Battle of Endor and onwards, with majority of the cards coming from The Mandalorian and its connecting shows like The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and Skeleton Crew. Of course, not every set in the game is exclusive to it’s main theme, and some cards will come from elsewhere in the galaxy or timeline. The Spectres made their debuts in the Star Wars Rebels TV show which took place during the reign of the Empire, but most of them, besides Kanan, reappeared in the Ahsoka series, meaning they can make a reappearance here and still fit into the theme of the set.
Who Are The Spectres?
One of My All-Time Favourite Decks to Play
The Spectres also knows as the Crew of the Ghost, were featured heavily in A Lawless Time, in a way that allowed them all to work together. A new Hera leader allowed all these Spectre units to unite in one deck by ignoring aspect penalties on heroic cards when you controlled more than two friendly units. This was good, but nothing compares to the Hera leader we got in set one, Spark of Rebellion, that allowed you to ignore all aspect penalties on all Spectre cards you play. There weren’t as many Spectre cards back when Spark of Rebellion first came out, but with each new set, more and more Spectres have been added to allow for a powerful set one Hera deck. Sadly, the Hera leader from Spark of Rebellion has rotated out of the standard premier format, but it can still be played in the rest of Star Wars Unlimited’s many formats such as eternal and trilogy. Now, we’re getting even more Spectre cards to strengthen that deck, but this time they’re a little less connected, though they may be even more powerful.
The cards we got in A Lawless Time (LAW) were Kanan Jarrus, Chopper, Ezra Bridger, Sabine Wren, Zeb Orrelios, The Phantom, and The Ghost, the later two of the list being rare cards, and the rest uncommon. All the Spectre cards for LAW had a different combination of three aspects, besides The Phantom which was just green and white, and a when played ability that was boosted when you controlled one of the two aspects that was not represented on that card. There was one more Spectre card that united all of the ones in the set, titled Fire Across the Galaxy, that allowed you to use all the when played abilities on Spectre units you control again.
Hera & Zeb
This time for Ashes of the Empire, the Spectres’ appearances are mostly based on their appearance in Ahsoka, fitting in with the theme of the set. Hera Syndulla makes her first appearance as a unit card since Jump to Lightspeed, only appearing as a leader in A Lawless Time. Hera is a three cost, rare unit with vigilance, aggression, and heroic aspects. Her traits are Twi’lek, Spectre, and New Republic, aligning with her appearance in Ahsoka rather than Star Wars Rebels. She has three power, and four HP, which are pretty good stats for a three cost unit, especially since she has a pretty powerful ability. Hera’s ability reads, “When Attack Ends: If this unit dealt combat damage to a base, heal that much damage from your base.” I’m just happy to have Hera back as a unit, it’s more of a bonus that she has good stats and an ability that makes her work well in other decks.
“Ashes of the Empire will include eleven cards from the Star Wars Rebels TV show.”
Zeb Orrelios returns again after making an appearance in the last set as a unit, this time he’s a little more expensive though. Zeb is a seven cost, legendary unit with aggression and heroic aspects. His traits are Spectre and Rebel, which is interesting because he does make an appearance in The Mandalorian TV show as well as The Mandalorian & Grogu movie as a member of the New Republic, which fits the theme of the set. Though, the art on the card as well as his traits represent his appearance in Star Wars Rebels, separating him from the rest of the Spectres this set. Zeb has five power and seven HP, but his ability makes up for his lack of power. His ability reads, “When Played: Give 3 Advantage tokens to another unit.” As well as, “When a friendly upgrade is defeated: Deal 1 damage to a base.” An advantage token gives a boost to a units power by one, and are defeated either upon attack or defence of the unit that controls those tokens. So, because Zeb gives three bonus power to another unit, then because the advantage tokens count as upgrades, three more damage to an opponents base, that’s six extra damage Zeb allows you to do to the enemy’s board, and three more if you’re able to get off a Fire Across the Galaxy event while Zeb is in play. All this is also dependant on if your opponent doesn’t have any cards that defeat upgrades. All in all, this new Zeb could possibly be a pretty powerful finishing card in any heroic aggression deck, not just a Spectre deck.
Sabine & Ezra
The last two spectre units that have been revealed so far for Ashes of the Empire are both in the cunning heroic aspect. The first of the two is Sabine Wren. Sabine Wren comes in two forms this set, both as a leader and as a unit. The new Sabine leader is in the vigilance heroic aspect and tells you to give your opponent two advantage tokens, in exchange for you being allowed to give the next unit you play Shielded. Though she has the Spectre trait, she isn’t specifically made to help only Spectres like the set one Hera leader is, but you could always team them up in Twin Suns. Though, Kanan Jarrus is a much better leader for a Spectres Twin Suns deck.
Now, the new Sabine Wren unit is able to be played in a set one Hera deck. Her appearance is based on the Ahsoka show, and her traits are rather interesting. She is of course a Spectre and Mandalorian, but she is also a Jedi because she is training under Ahsoka in the show. The interesting part is that she has the Jedi trait, but she does not have the Force trait, and this is the first time a Jedi unit has not had the Force trait besides the vehicles and droids. Though Sabine does use the Force at the end of the show, she is unable to tap into it for the majority of her screen time. The Sabine unit is a five cost unit with four power and five HP. She has the Shielded keyword, and her ability reads, “When 1 or more upgrades attach to this unit: You may exhaust a ground unit.” A shield is an upgrade, so she exhausts an enemy unit as soon as she is deployed, making her a great opening play if you have the initiative. This also teams up well with the new Zeb unit we just looked at. You can attach his advantage tokens to Sabine to exhaust a unit, and when Sabine’s shield upgrade is defeated, you do one more damage to your opponent’s base. It also teams well with the Kanan leader I mentioned earlier, because he attaches shields to Spectre units, and Sabine can use that to exhaust a unit as well.
The final spectre card revealed so far in Ashes of the Empire is Ezra Bridger. Also based on his appearance from the Ahsoka series with Force, Jedi, and Spectre traits. Ezra is a six cost unit with six power and six HP. These are already great stats, but his ability makes him even more powerful, and this is just for an uncommon unit. Ezra has the new Support keyword that when played, allows you to attack with another unit, and give the attacking unit the abilities that are on the support card for this attack. Ezra’s ability reads, “On Attack, If this unit is upgraded, you may give a unit -3/-0 for this phase.” That means that not only does Ezra get to use that ability, but so does a different unit you control when you play Ezra. This would be the perfect card to pair with the Sabine unit we just talked about if you already have her on the board, or any Shielded unit really, because they will be upgraded with their shield, which is already defending them before the -3/-0 is assigned. Speaking of shielded, this card would fit perfectly with the new Sabine leader, because most of the time, you’ll probably have an upgraded unit with her shielding ability.
Star Wars Rebels in Ashes of the Empire
The Animated Series is Still Represented in Set 8
Though not necessarily Spectre cards, it is said that Ashes of the Empire will include eleven cards from the Star Wars Rebels TV show. If that includes Zeb, we have also seen Rukh, the Gozanti Assault Carrier, Bo-Katan Kryze, Follow Me, and Heroic Purrgil, all six of which contain art based on Rebels. That leaves five Rebels cards left to be revealed, and I wonder what they will be, and if they will contain any other Spectres. Kanan Jarrus never made a proper appearance in the Ahsoka series, so he may appear here in his Rebels variant like Zeb to go along with the rest of the Spectres. I also wonder if Jacen Syndulla, the son of Kanan and Hera, will make an appearance in this set, and if he will be counted as a Spectre if he does; I sure hope he is. Jacen appeared in both Rebels and Ahsoka, and we need some more variety in the Spectres’ cards like when they added Alexander Kallus in Secrets of Power.
There are many more card themes that I would love to take a look at, but I will get around to that in a future article, so stay tunned for that. Hopefully I can get out a few more of these theming articles before Ashes of the Empire releases in the first week of July, but if not, I can still do a few afterwards. I look forward to building decks with these new cards, and hopefully I gave you a few ideas for decks to make on your own. For now, I am so excited that Spectres are back if I haven’t said that enough. Don’t forget to check out my list of all the Ashes of the Empire cards revealed so far; I update that list every weekday with new cards.
May the Force be with you!