Welcome back to The SWU Report, where we explore whatever strikes my fancy about Star Wars Unlimited. Today we’re diving into our first deck tech with the Twin Suns multiplayer format with a build that should make any Mon Mothma player’s heart sing and give Poe enthusiasts something to love too.
For those unfamiliar with my usual territory, I love exploring the strategic spaces other players ignore. While everyone else fights over the obvious power cards, we’re looking for the interactions that reward cleverness over raw efficiency. Twin Suns multiplayer is perfect for this approach. This is a format where threat assessment, timing, and table politics matter more than linear game plans. You have to adapt to the situation as it comes and sometimes that adaptation is all about how you play the other players. Turns out, that’s a very Chancellor Palpatine thing to do (see the deck list below).
This particular build caught my attention because it embodies what we previously discussed as the “Mon Mothma” player archetype. These players are patient, reactive, politically savvy fans of the Twin suns format and this deck caters to them while still sneaking in enough synergistic elements to keep Poe players engaged. Those combo-loving players who enjoy making impossible scenarios work will find plenty to explore here. Let’s break down how this Force-based toolbox approach works.
The Foundation
Chancellor Palpatine | Playing Both Sides paired with Yoda | Sensing Darkness creates a fascinating engine that defines this entire deck’s approach. Both leaders want units to be defeated – Palpatine to flip and heal your base while drawing and Yoda to trigger his card selection ability. This isn’t just thematic perfection; it’s mechanical synergy that turns the game into a card advantage engine.
The beauty here is how the leaders work together. Palpatine’s flip side deals damage to all opponents simultaneously which is huge in a multiplayer format while his base side provides crucial healing, but he needs units to die before he can start flipping and then needs villainy cards to keep it going. Yoda helps you find the right cards to either facilitate those defeats or capitalize on them, while his own ability benefits from half of the same triggers. It’s the kind of layered synergy that Poe players appreciate with multiple pieces working together to create more value than they would individually.
The Jedi Temple base choice reflects the Force theme but comes with an important tradeoff. At 28 health instead of the standard 30, we’re starting at a disadvantage in a format where life totals matter. This is why the healing elements become absolutely critical – Palpatine’s healing ability paired with multiple Restore effects throughout the deck help offset this vulnerability while providing the political positioning Mon Mothma players crave.
Redundancy Through Similarity
Since Twin Suns requires all cards to be singleton in the deck, creating reliable strategies becomes a puzzle. You can’t just play three Force Lightning and call it a removal suite. Instead, you need multiple cards that serve similar functions while offering slightly different applications.
Look at our removal package: Takedown, Fell the Dragon, Calculated Lethality, Vanquish, Rival’s Fall – each targets different types of threats but they all solve the same fundamental problem. This approach gives us the consistency we need while maintaining the format’s requirements.
The same principle applies throughout the deck. Admiral Ackbar | Brilliant Strategist, Yaddle | A Chance to Make Things Right, and Del Meeko | Providing Overwatch and more all provide defensive utility by restoring our base. R2-D2 | Ignoring Protocal, Foresight, and card selection from Yoda all help us find the right pieces at the right times. It’s redundancy through function rather than duplication.
The Political Layer
While the restore cards and various sentinels like Loth Wolf, Captain Typho | Protecting the Senator, and Concord Dawn Interceptors do their thing to keep you alive while the other players slug it out you can take the time to build things up and present yourself as less of an early game threat.
This is classic Mon Mothma thinking: position yourself as the reasonable player at the table. Not the threat that needs immediate attention, not the player who’s clearly struggling, but the steady presence that might be useful to keep around. The inclusion of cards like Moisture Farmer and Owen Lars reinforces this approach. They communicate “I’m developing slowly and reasonably” while providing real utility.
But here’s where the political game gets interesting. When Palpatine flips and starts dealing damage to all opponents simultaneously, you become a very different kind of player. Suddenly you’re pressuring everyone equally while gaining life, which can shift table dynamics significantly. The advantage is that you’ve positioned yourself as the reasonable player up to that point, so when you become the threat, it might be too late for effective opposition.
Along with these strategies, we also take a cue from Palpatine’s Sidious side and include effects that can hit multiple opponents at once. Merciless Contest and No Bargain are the easy front runners in that category, but Ziro the Hutt | Colorful Schemer and Del Meeko | Providing Overwatch do some all opponent work and stay on the table to do it more than once. And don’t sleep on what I Had No Choice can do in multiplayer where you can effectively bargain with a second player while choosing the units of players three and four in order to really upset some table dynamics.
The Restoration Strategy
The abundance of Restore effects serves multiple purposes beyond just offsetting our lower base health. In multiplayer games where everyone’s taking damage, being the player who’s consistently gaining life creates significant strategic advantages. You can afford to take trades others can’t, survive alpha strikes that would eliminate opponents, and most importantly, maintain threat of Palpatine’s damage ability.
When Palpatine is dealing damage to all opponents while you’re gaining life, the mathematics of multiplayer become heavily skewed in your favor. This is especially powerful in longer games where incremental advantages compound into overwhelming position. It’s the kind of slow-building strategy that Mon Mothma players excel at executing.
The Poe Elements
We’ve already spent some time talking about the overlap of Palpatine and Yoda’s abilities that creates some synergy that Poe players are also sure to love, but don’t forget that R2-D2 also synergizes well with that card selection.
Beyond those effects though, there are a few more tricks up our sleeves that feel quite appealing when they come together. Sure, landing any of the capital ships like Home One | Alliance Flagship or Avenger | Hunting Star Destroyer is always going to feel good, but have you also considered the fun of using Liberated by Darkness or No Glory, Only Results to steal heroic units only to defeat them and thus trigger Palpatine’s flip?
Or, have you considered using Yoda’s ability to stack the top of your deck in order to ensure your target for As I Have Foreseen? Sure, there’s only one in the deck, but I think that’s going to make the average Poe’s heart sing all the more when you do manage to pull it off.
Why This Appeals to Different Player Types
For Mon Mothma players: This deck rewards patience, political awareness, and long-term thinking. You’re not trying to win quickly; you’re trying to position yourself to win when it matters. The removal suite lets you play kingmaker, the units provide diplomatic options, and the late-game threats give you inevitability. All while maintaining the healing and stability that defensive players crave.
For Poe players: Despite the political framework, there are genuine synergy puzzles to solve. The defeat-matters engine creates interesting timing decisions, the Force synergies reward careful sequencing, and cards like As I Have Foreseen provide the kind of explosive turns that combo players love. You’re not abandoning synergy; you’re choosing when to execute your combinations.
The Verdict
This build represents everything I love about Star Wars Unlimited’s multiplayer design. It rewards format-specific thinking while maintaining the strategic depth that makes the game special. The Yoda engine provides consistency, the political elements create interesting table dynamics, and the healing strategy gives you the staying power to execute long-term plans.
More importantly, it demonstrates how Twin Suns’ singleton restriction becomes a feature rather than a limitation when you embrace functional redundancy over literal duplication. By playing multiple cards that serve similar purposes, you maintain strategic coherence while adapting to the format’s unique requirements.
If you’re tired of linear strategies and want to explore the political depths of Twin Suns, this approach offers both the patience Mon Mothma players crave and the synergistic complexity that keeps Poe players engaged. Just remember: in multiplayer, the most dangerous player is often the one everyone forgets to worry about.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go practice my diplomatic immunity defense. Politics is hard work, friends.
(And yes, is the deck 82 cards? You caught me. Thankfully, in a singleton format like this, those extra cards are really not going to have any impact on your consistency.)
