Top 10 Cards to Prioritise at the Ashes of the Empire Prerelease

Ashes of the Empire prereleases are almost here. Set 8 drops July 11, 2026. But if you're heading to a prerelease event the week before, you'll be cracking six booster packs and building a 30-card sealed deck right there at the table.

This guide covers the top cards to prioritise when you're sorting your pulls, the new mechanics you need to understand before you sit down, and how to think about deckbuilding for the Ashes of the Empire card pool.

Understanding the New Mechanics Before You Play

New mechanics are important to prioritise how you build your deck, so let's spend a bit to learn the new ones coming with this set.

Advantage Tokens

Advantage tokens are new in this set and replace the Experience token mechanic you might know from previous sets. Each Advantage token adds +1 power to the unit, but only temporarily. The token is discarded after that unit attacks or defends.

What makes this powerful in sealed: multiple Advantage tokens can stack on one unit simultaneously. A unit sitting on three Advantage tokens is swinging for three extra damage the moment it attacks. That creates sudden burst damage that your opponent can't always plan around. Cards that distribute Advantage tokens at the moment of a big swing or on entry are especially dangerous.

Support

Support is the headline keyword for ASH. When you play a unit with Support, you may immediately attack with another unit already in play and that unit gains all of the Support unit's other abilities for that attack.

In sealed, this is excellent for three reasons. First, you get extra board pressure the turn the Support unit arrives. Second, you copy the Support unit's abilities (heals, removal triggers, whatever it has) onto an existing unit that can attack immediately. Third, it creates tempo your opponent can't interact with. If you're choosing between two similar cards and one has Support, take the one with Support.

Mandalorian Tokens

Several cards in this set (primarily in the Mandalorian-themed subtheme) create Mandalorian tokens. These tokens enter play already Shielded, meaning they have a Shield token on them when they arrive. In sealed where dedicated removal is scarce, a Shielded token can trade up in a favorable position for you. If you're drafting into a Mandalorian theme at all, these token generators are significantly better than they look at first glance.

The Top 10 Cards to Prioritise

These picks are based on the full ASH card pool. When you're sorting your pulls and deciding what to run, these are the ones to build around.

1. Pre Vizsla, Strong-Willed Ruler — 8-Cost, 6/6, Vigilance + Villainy

When Played: Defeat any number of non-leader units with a total of 6 or less remaining HP. Create a Mandalorian token for each unit defeated this way.

Pre Vizsla might be a bit expensive for the format, but he is a card that can absolutely break your opponent and probably wins games the moment that he is dropped. His effect allows you to basically wipe the battlefield on the other side while also giving you Mandalorian tokens on the way.

In a format like sealed, people can't really play around such a card. The main downside of an expensive card is that it doesn't do anything the turn it gets played and it just gets ignored while the opponent hits your base. This card doesn't have this downside. Your opponent either loses tempo playing around this card or commits too much and just gets wiped when this comes down. If you get this card, you're in for a great game!

Aspects: Vigilance, Villainy

2. Han Solo, It'll Work — 4-Cost, 3/7, Aggression + Heroism

Saboteur. When Played: Deal 3 damage to this unit. Give 3 Advantage tokens to a unit.

The 3 self-damage on entry looks scary. It shouldn't. A 4-cost unit with 7 health still has 4 health after entry which is on par with or better than most units at his cost. And what you got for that 3 damage: three Advantage tokens on a unit of your choice.

Three Advantage tokens means the target unit is temporarily swinging for +3 power. If they have any decent power of their own, you're looking at a potential 6–9 damage in a single attack. That's often enough to take a unit off the board and push base damage in one swing. Saboteur lets Han attack past Sentinel units and strip Shields, so he's also your answer to defensive boards. One of the most complete sealed cards in the set.

Aspects: Aggression, Heroism

3. The Great Mothers, With Strange Magicks — 7-Cost, 6/7, Command + Villainy

Support. When Attack Ends: If this unit dealt combat damage to 1 or more non-leader units, defeat those units.

This is the most powerful removal stapled to a unit in the set. When The Great Mothers attacks and deals even 1 combat damage to a non-leader unit, that unit is immediately defeated regardless of how much health it had left.

The Support trigger makes it even more dangerous. When you play her, you can immediately attack with another friendly unit and give that unit her "defeat on damage" ability. That means the turn she arrives, you potentially remove two units, one via Support, one via her own attack. A 6/7 body that cleans up the board on arrival and again every turn she attacks is a legitimate game-winner in sealed.

Aspects: Command, Villainy

4. Scorpenek Annihilator Droid — 6-Cost, 5/5, Vigilance + Command

Sentinel. Shielded. Overwhelm.

Three keywords on one unit at uncommon rarity. Sentinel forces your opponent to attack it before they can attack anything else. Shielded means the first hit is free. They need two attacks to get through the shield and kill a 5/5. Overwhelm means every extra damage beyond a kill blow goes to the opponent's base.

In sealed, it's extremely common to face boards where your opponent can't efficiently answer a unit like this. They either burn multiple resources removing it or let it sit and threaten 5+ damage every turn, with Overwhelm potentially bleeding through to their base even against blockers. If you pull one of these, build around it.

Aspects: Vigilance, Command

5. Anakin Skywalker, You Were Right About Me — 5-Cost, 6/4, Heroism

Hidden. Saboteur. When Played: Give a Shield token to another friendly unit.

Six power is large enough to one-shot most units in the game. Hidden means he can't be attacked the turn you play him. Your opponent cannot immediately answer him. Saboteur means when he does attack, he ignores Sentinel and strips Shields first.

The catch is 4 health, which is low for a 5-cost. Hidden gives him one free turn to threaten attacks, but once he attacks, he's exposed. The When Played Shield on a friendly unit gives your other key threat an extra layer of protection. In sealed, you're often trading him for their best unit and coming out ahead on card quality. Hit something big with Saboteur. Get value. Move on.

Aspects: Heroism

6. Leia Organa, Vigilant for Danger — 3-Cost, 3/4, Vigilance + Heroism

Support. On Attack: You may deal 1 damage to this unit. If you do, heal 2 damage from your base.

Leia is the set's best 3-drop and one of the most efficient sealed cards in ASH. Support on entry means you get an immediate attack from an existing unit with her On Attack heal copied. That means the turn you play her, you're potentially healing 2 damage from your base before she's even attacked once.

The math is good all game: every attack she makes (or triggers through Support) that hits a base nets a +1 health swing for you. Over several turns, that's 6–10 points of healing on a 3-cost card. In sealed where base HP matters enormously, a stable base lets you take trades your opponent can't. Leia is frequently the difference between winning a close game and losing it.

Aspects: Vigilance, Heroism

7. Paz Vizsla, For a Brighter Future — 5-Cost, 4/7, Vigilance + Command + Heroism

Sentinel. When Defeated: If this unit wasn't defeated by combat damage, create 2 Mandalorian tokens.

A 4/7 Sentinel is one of the hardest units in the game to kill through combat. Seven health means your opponent needs multiple attacks to bring him down; Sentinel means he absorbs every one of those attacks. If they try to kill him with a removal event rather than combat, they trigger his When Defeated ability and you get two Mandalorian tokens which enter play Shielded.

Three aspects (Vigilance, Command, Heroism) means Paz fits into more sealed decks than almost any other card in the set. He doesn't require you to be in a specific colour pair. If you pull him, play him.

Aspects: Vigilance, Command, Heroism

8. Grogu, Yes. Yes. Yes. — 3-Cost, 2/6, Aggression + Heroism

When you take the initiative: You may attack with a unit.

Six health for 3 cost is the best health-to-cost ratio in the set at this curve. Grogu will not die in a single combat to most things you'll face in sealed, and he'll be expensive for your opponent to remove.

His ability turns initiative, which you're going to take regularly, into a free attack. That means on turns where you have a threatening unit ready, taking the initiative is now "take the initiative AND get an extra attack." Over a sealed game, that's three to five extra attacks you're generating for free off a 3-cost card. He doesn't close games quickly, but he generates persistent value that's very hard to outpace at common game speeds.

Aspects: Aggression, Heroism

9. Hera Syndulla, Renegade General — 3-Cost, 3/4, Vigilance + Aggression + Heroism

When Attack Ends: If this unit dealt combat damage to a base, heal that much damage from your base.

Every time Hera connects with an opponent's base, you heal the same amount from yours. In sealed where both players are typically attacking bases somewhat freely, this creates a persistent life-swing your opponent has to work around. Land three hits to a base over the course of a game and you've effectively negated three turns of their progress.

Triple aspect (Vigilance, Aggression, Heroism) means she fits into nearly any deck. As a 3-cost 3/4, she contests early board and provides ongoing value. She's not flashy, but in sealed she quietly wins games by extending your margin to victory.

Aspects: Vigilance, Aggression, Heroism

10. Forest Patroller — 3-Cost, 3/4, Command + Villainy

Overwhelm. Restore 1.

This is a common card, which means you can reasonably expect to see it across six packs. A 3-cost 3/4 with two relevant keywords is excellent sealed value. This stat line alone is above rate for cost.

Overwhelm means any excess damage when attacking a unit bleeds through to the base. Restore 1 means every time Forest Patroller attacks, you heal 1 damage from your base. Over a typical sealed game, that's 3–5 passive heals while also threatening base damage on every swing. If you open multiples, run multiple, this card pulls significant weight at every stage of the game.

Aspects: Command, Villainy

Honourable Mentions

Not every deck will have the above cards, but these are the next tier worth prioritising:

Wicket, Yub Nub! 1-cost, 3/3 with Saboteur. The best 1-drop in the set by raw stats. The drawback, he can't attack bases, matters less in the early game when you're trading with units. He wins nearly every turn-one trade.

AT-ST Raider 4-cost, 4/5 common. While you control another non-unique unit (nearly always), he enters with Ambush and can immediately attack. A 4/5 Ambush for 4 mana is one of the best tempo commons in the set.

Wipe Them Out 2-cost event. Attack with a unit; deal excess damage to another unit in the same arena. Your 7/7 kills their 3/3 and the 4 excess damage goes to another unit. Extremely efficient and essentially functions as removal.

Reckless Sacrifice 2-cost event. Discard a unit from your hand; deal 5 damage to a unit that costs more than the discarded card. The best targeted removal in the set. Discard a 2-cost to kill anything that costs 3 or more. In sealed where expensive units are the win conditions, this answers everything threatening.

Home One, Heart of the Fleet 8-cost, 7/10 space unit with Sentinel. When Played: Heal all damage from each friendly unit. The ultimate late-game play. If both players are racing to lethal and you drop Home One, resetting every friendly unit to full health while threatening with a 7/10 Sentinel, it's frequently game over.

Sealed Deckbuilding Tips for Ashes of the Empire

Pick your leader before everything else. Your leader defines your aspect icons, which determines what cards you can play without paying extra. Look at your top two or three sealed pulls first, then find the leader that unlocks the most of them.

Prioritise 3-drops. Leia, Grogu, Hera, and Forest Patroller all cost 3 and are excellent sealed cards. A strong 3-cost curve means you're consistently doing something relevant on turns 3–5 while your opponent is still setting up. ASH rewards players who stay on curve.

Don't skip the Advantage token math. If your opponent has multiple Advantage tokens stacked on a unit, that unit is about to swing for significantly more than its stat line shows. Always count tokens before declaring blocks. Many sealed games are lost to a player who forgot their opponent had three stacked Advantage tokens on a 4-power unit.

Run every piece of removal you open. Wipe Them Out, Reckless Sacrifice, Foundling Rescue, Grassroots Resistance, anything that can defeat a unit outright is worth running in sealed. This set has more Shielded tokens and protected units than any previous SWU set, and efficient removal cuts through all of it.

Aim for 16–18 units, 4–6 events, and 1–2 upgrades across your 30-card sealed deck. Upgrades are slow and fragile in sealed format: your opponent kills the host unit and the upgrade is gone. Events win games when they matter but shouldn't outnumber your board presence.

Take care with Mandalorian tokens. They arrive Shielded, which means your opponent needs two interactions to fully remove them. If you're playing against a Mandalorian token deck, strip Shields proactively rather than waiting until the tokens attack. Don't let a 2/2 token unexpectedly become difficult to remove just because you didn't plan for the Shield.

What Makes This Prerelease Special

Ashes of the Empire is the first SWU set where Advantage tokens, Support, and Mandalorian tokens all appear together. No one at the table has played with this combination before, including experienced players who've been playing since Spark of the Rebellion.

The player who wins the sealed event won't necessarily have opened the best pulls. They'll be the player who reads their cards carefully, understands when Advantage tokens are about to create unexpected burst damage, and knows that The Great Mothers doesn't just deal damage, she ends units.

Check the full Ashes of the Empire card list on SW-Unlimited-DB to look up any card you're uncertain about before your event.