Table of Contents
With Sector Qualifier Richmond coming up this weekend, what can you expect to play against in this post suspension metagame? We've compiled the results from the last two weeks of Store Showdowns and minor tournaments to help you prepare.
Since there weren't big events to speak of since the ban announcement, we'll have to rely on smaller events to form a picture of the current meta heading into the biggest tournament right before Planetary Qualifiers commence. Check out the best decks in Star Wars: Unlimited right now below.
Tier List
| Tier | Deck | Top 8s (Wins) |
|---|---|---|
| S Tier | Quinlan Tarkintown | 20 (4) |
| Sabine ECL | 16 (4) | |
| A Tier | Anakin Colossus | 9 |
| Han1 Green | 8 (2) | |
| Gar Yellow | 8 (1) | |
| Cad Tarkintown | 7 (2) | |
| Han1 Yellow | 6 (1) | |
| Piett Colossus | 6 | |
| B Tier | Bossk Blue | 5 |
| Anakin Blue | 4 (1) | |
| Palpatine1 Colossus | 4 | |
| Piett Blue | 4 | |
| Cad Data Vault | 3 (2) | |
| Han1 Nabat Village | 3 (1) |
Leaders & Bases
| Leader | Top 8s |
|---|---|
| quinlan-vos-sticking-the-landing-twi-18 | 23 |
| sabine-wren-galvanized-revolutionary-sor-14 | 17 |
| han-solo-audacious-smuggler-sor-17 | 17 |
| anakin-skywalker-what-it-takes-to-win-twi-12 | 13 |
| cad-bane-he-who-needs-no-introduction-shd-14 | 11 |
| admiral-piett-commanding-the-armada-jtl-5 | 11 |
| gar-saxon-viceroy-of-mandalore-shd-1 | 9 |
| emperor-palpatine-galactic-ruler-sor-6 | 8 |
| bossk-hunting-his-prey-shd-10 | 7 |
| boba-fett-any-methods-necessary-jtl-9 | 6 |
| kazuda-xiono-best-pilot-in-the-galaxy-jtl-18 | 5 |
| qira-i-alone-survived-shd-2 | 5 |
| grand-admiral-thrawn-patient-and-insightful-sor-16 | 4 |
| han-solo-worth-the-risk-shd-13 | 3 |
| poe-dameron-i-can-fly-anything-jtl-13- | 3 |
| obi-wan-kenobi-patient-mentor-twi-3 | 3 |
| yoda-sensing-darkness-twi-4 | 3 |
| luke-skywalker-hero-of-yavin-jtl-12 | 2 |
| darth-vader-victor-squadron-leader-jtl-6 | 2 |
| luke-skywalker-faithful-friend-sor-5 | 2 |
| kylo-ren-rash-and-deadly-shd-11 | 2 |
| cassian-andor-dedicated-to-the-rebellion-sor-13 | 1 |
| asajj-ventress-i-work-alone-jtl-1 | 1 |
| mace-windu-vaapad-form-master-twi-13 | 1 |
| iden-versio-inferno-squad-commander-sor-2 | 1 |
| captain-phasma-chrome-dome-jtl-10 | 1 |
| rey-more-than-a-scavenger-shd-4 | 1 |
| han-solo-never-tell-me-the-odds-jtl-17 | 1 |
| Base | Top 8s |
|---|---|
| tarkintown-sor-25 | 36 |
| energy-conversion-lab-sor-22 | 27 |
| Blue | 23 |
| colossus-jtl-21 | 22 |
| Yellow | 22 |
| Green | 12 |
| data-vault-jtl-24 | 8 |
| nabat-village-jtl-28 | 5 |
| thermal-oscillator-jtl-25 | 3 |
| Red | 3 |
| petranaki-arena-twi-28 | 1 |
| lake-country-jtl-31 | 1 |
Meta Overview
Despite the few and relatively small events the past few weeks, it's still interesting to see how diverse the meta has become. Nearly 60 leader/base combinations made Top 8 appearances, with 28 unique leaders seeing success. We'll need larger events to show just how competitive some of these leaders are, but it at least confirms their viability.
The top tier hasn't changed since the previous week, so you better expect these two to be your main opponents for the rest of the season. Han1 Green and Yellow are proving they're both capable of top finishes, so there's some choice to be made there if you like the archetype.
Gar Saxon Yellow and Cad Bane Tarkintown are perhaps the biggest movers last weekend, putting them at the next tier. Piett Colossus has overtaken Piett Blue, so this might be the optimal base choice for the moment. Bossk Blue meanwhile was not as successful, only gaining one Top 8 result.
All sorts of rogue and off-meta strategies are landing within the Top 8, which we might cover in a separate post.
Tier 1
Quinlan Tarkintown
With its toughest matchup gone, Quinlan Tarkintown can really become the new deck to beat, as it has solid win rates against the remaining popular decks. Hand disruption and the potential for lots of ping damage can pile into heavy board advantage.
Quinlan Tarkintown grabs strong Aggression cards such as force-throw-sor-167, sabine-wren-explosives-artist-sor-142, and poe-dameron-quick-to-improvise-shd-153 to go with its Cunning core. ahsoka-tano-chasing-whispers-jtl-201 and red-five-running-the-trench-jtl-151 can 2-for-1 with the right trades.
shadowed-hover-tank-jtl-224 can trade with high HP attackers in boarded games. Maindecking some disabling-fang-fighter-sor-162 can be a risk but with pilots and hotshot-dl-44-blaster-shd-174 all over the place it can find targets in the first game.
Sabine ECL
As mentioned in previous reports, newer versions of the premier aggro deck Sabine ECL have been leaning into the strong pilots and ships from Jump to Lightspeed, such as chewbacca-faithful-first-mate-jtl-103 and luke-skywalker-you-still-with-me-jtl-94. These add a bigger punch to bring the enemy base to zero as quickly as possible.
r2-d2-artooooooooo-jtl-245 and phoenix-squadron-a-wing-jtl-95 are cheap and efficient plays to get attacking early. It's fantastic that all these new units are rebels, too, since it has several strong synergies with aggressive cards such as rebel-assault-sor-103 and wing-leader-sor-241.
cham-syndulla-rallying-ryloth-jtl-164 in the sideboard is great at trying to maintain parity with ramp strats.
Tier 2
Anakin Colossus
Giving anakin-skywalker-what-it-takes-to-win-twi-12 a 35 HP base lets the deck survive longer for the sand-hater to finish off the opponent. Restore units mitigate the cost of using Anakin's ability for that extra oomph when attacking. Lots of removal ensures you can usually take the most threatening one out and the Sentinel units offer enough of a hurdle for the rest.
Anakin Blue has been quietly performing even before JTL released, but this new base might be just what it takes for it to join the top tier. The extra breathing room helps the deck weather aggro strats better until you stabilize the board and hit back harder.
Han1 Green
Han1 Green is an exciting alternative to playing with the audacious leader, which should be considered now that the DJ threat is gone. The version gaining popularity recently goes hard on pilots and Millennium Falcons, which han-solo-has-his-moments-jtl-203 can't wait to jump into.
The three pilots provide significant advantages that offset being played as an upgrade. The green ramp and Han himself let you play powerful 7-costs ahead of curve, including u-wing-reinforcement-sor-104 which can be a 3 for 1 or a silver bullet tutor.
Reusing cards in the discard pile with home-one-alliance-flagship-sor-102 along with the usual smuggle Han1 is known for makes this a midrange beast that can go the distance.
Gar Yellow
Gar Yellow definitely got stronger with Jump to Lightspeed, gaining lots of Shielded units as well as pilots. director-krennic-on-the-verge-of-greatness-jtl-32, outer-rim-outlaws-jtl-65, and shuttle-st-149-under-krennics-authority-jtl-242 are exactly what Gar wants. iden-versio-adapt-or-die-jtl-36 and boba-fett-feared-bounty-hunter-jtl-189 are flexible as either ground units or pilot upgrades that can return to your hand with the leader deployed.
The incremental advantage of Shield tokens allow for favorable combats while Gar also enables lower power units to potentially trade up in addition to hitting just that bit harder on bases. Because of these tighter margins compared to other playstyles, Gar Yellow is not too easy to successfully pilot but it can be very satisfying when you squeeze every bit of value out of your cards in order to win.
Cad Tarkintown
Losing Triple Dark Raid was a big hit for Cad Tarkintown, so it's now a lot more ground unit heavy to compensate. adds some card advantage in getting you Tricks like ma-klounkee-shd-229, which becomes a free bounce for a damaged ambush unit along with removal.
cad-bane-hostage-taker-twi-187 is big against decks without a direct method of removing him, netting you cards or trading with even more units. The ambush potential of this Underworld deck is scary as it can choose between taking out units or hitting base easily depending on how well the opponent can react.
Han1 Yellow
While its green counterpart is slightly ahead, Han1 Yellow is gaining ground, giving fans of its playstyle a more difficult choice. Sticking to double yellow is still very competitive despite the loss of DJ, since repeating powerful When Played abilities is often worth.
a-new-adventure-shd-207, cunning-sor-203, and cantina-bouncer-sor-202 make the discard effects of bodhi-rook-imperial-defector-sor-201 and ahsoka-tano-chasing-whispers-jtl-201. There are plenty more abilities you won't mind doubling up on in the deck for more board control.
Piett Colossus
Launching massive ships way ahead of schedule against hapless opponents is Piett's grand plan. Going blue gives access to a lot of control elements and survival tools such as corvus-inferno-squadron-raider-jtl-38. Its base of choice provides some extra cushion until your ships come online and decimate the opponent.
Blue's capital ships are more attractive now that Triple Dark Raid isn't an option. fleet-interdictor-jtl-40, avenger-hunting-star-destroyer-sor-40, and annihilator-tagges-flagship-jtl-41 can be backbreaking for the correct matchups, especially when played early.
If a capital ship manages to survive, wiping the opponent's board becomes easy with overwhelming-barrage-sor-92 and turbolaser-salvo-jtl-131. The trick is, of course, surviving. Ramping against aggro decks is risky and you're mostly at the mercy of how good your hands are.
Tier 3
Bossk Blue
Anakin Blue
Palpatine1 Colossus
Piett Blue
Cad Data Vault
Han1 Nabat Village
Final Thoughts
There are more off-meta decks featuring less popular leaders that made Top 8 this week. It's highlighting how open the field seems to be, so don't be afraid to bring your brew and test the waters.
What do you think about the current state of the SWU meta? What are you planning to bring to your next LGS event?
