Ok, let’s kick things off here on the SWU Report with a bit of a look at how things went for me at the Galactic Championship Weekend. To be honest, I’m back from Las Vegas with a bruised ego, some hard-earned lessons, and more excitement about a card game than I’ve felt in years. For the most part, the inaugural Galactic Championship weekend was everything I hoped it would be – a celebration of competitive Star Wars Unlimited at its finest, even if my own performance left something to be desired. And we’ll get to some other things that didn’t quite measure up a bit later.
Let me start with the bottom line: I went 1-3 in the Championship and dropped, then managed a respectable 5-3 in the Open. Not exactly the kind of results that get featured in strategy articles, but hey, I already said from the outset that we’re here to explore more than just the cutthroat edge of competition.
The OB Show
So what did I play, you may ask? It turns out that I played the same deck in both tournaments. I was initially set to play Vader Yellow coming into Galactics. I know it’s vulnerable to some clear sideboard cards like Bombing Run, but it staples a lot of control to the bodies of its aggro units in a way that really appeals to me – it reminds me of the good old days of House Lannister. If you know, you know.
But then I started opening Legends of the Force and pulled my first showcase ever, Obi-Wan, Courage Makes Heroes. And at that point, when you’re not deep in the competitive scene and not really planning to go crush the championship, what do you do? Pivot to Obi-wan, of course!
Of course, there’s probably two initial directions that most people thing of going with this Obi-wan and one of those is blue. Credit has to be given though, to my fellow SWU-Tang Clan member, Tommy, who forwarded me an early draft of this Obi-Wan/Yellow deck. The Young Padawan, Vernestra, and Qui-Gon all looked pretty tempting, so away I went, tweaking and testing and bouncing further ideas off Tommy and others.
A few things changed – some at the last minute. U-Wing moved to the mainboard. Eeth went up to 3 copies and Luke to 2. General’s Blade was added (I have no idea how that wasn’t in the initial draft). Sadly, Hot Shot Blaster was a real gem that had to come out to make room.
How’s it play, you’re asking as well? Pretty direct agro/midrange, which I think comes as no surprise looking at the list. There’s a decent bit of ambush options to push things to the board while maximizing actions and doubling as removal, with enough early units to push some damage. Obi-wan’s ability also goes a long way to making some of these “fat butt” units even harder to remove by pushing their health (and attack).
So, here’s an example of the ideal opening line of play. On Turn 1, you play the Youngling Padawan to gain the Force and then buff it with Obi-wan before ending the turn. Starting Turn 2, as long as your opponent isn’t playing something like Power of the Dark Side, you now have a 3/4 that almost certainly lives through their first turn play (or better for you, they go for your base) in order to attack and get the Force back. Now you can play Vernestra, ready her with the Force, attack, gain the Force back, then buff her before ending the turn. You’ve done 6 to their base and are rolling into Turn 3 with a 3/4 and a 4/5.
Gungi on Turn 1 into a General’s Blade plus a 2 cost unit on Turn 3 is another strong option, though it leaves you even more vulnerable to something like Power of the Dark Side. Really, the General’s Blade on Obi-Wan deployed to the board is the ideal mid game play so that you can do something like power out Kelleran Bek a turn early and/or have resources left to spend on units with his ability.
Speaking of, U-Wing Reinforcements into Kelleran into Vernestra, especially if you have the Force to ready her and immediately attack is one of the real feel good plays of the deck.
So what would I change using my experience from the event? First up, I probably move the Bright Hopes to the sideboard and move Bamboozle into the main deck. While Bright Hope has some fun tricks to discard extra cards with Ahsoka or get additional attacks with Vernestra, that one move was by far my most common sideboard swap of the weekend. I think I’d also drop Legal Authority – I was worried about space and thought of using it as some cross arena control, but it never really panned out. Also, I think I’d add a third Jam Communications. If nothing else, it was useful to have a 1 cost card sitting in my hand for when my opponents played Force Throw. That said, it seems that a couple copies of Aggrieved Parliamentarian in the sideboard would be useful in the upcoming meta as Kylo becomes increasingly popular. Finally, I’d love to find room for a couple Maz Kanata’s in the main deck for some action saving attacks. Could be a really nice play off of a U-Wing Reinforcements perhaps. Not sure What I’d drop to find room, though.
Check out the list on SWUDB if you prefer.
Galactic Championship
I rolled into Day 1 feeling not exactly confident about my Obi-Wan deck, but at least competent, I’ll say. I’d been testing with the SWU-Tang Clan and some locals pretty hard the weekend before, and I thought I had solid game plans against the expected meta after that final round of testing. Boy, was I wrong.
Round 1 versus Han2 Blue: Sometimes your opponent drops exactly the card they need. I actually took game 1 fast – the aggressive start worked exactly as planned. Game 2, I was literally one play away from lethal with Vernestra in hand to ready and swing for the win…. and my opponent drops Chirrut. Just like that, my advantage evaporated. Sometimes card games humble you in the most precise ways possible.
Round 2 versus Avar Red:. This opponent – playing what I now know was the Avar Red archetype – absolutely dismantled me with maximum attacks and Poe pressure. Zero games, total blowout. When someone removes every threat you play while building their own board, you’re not losing to variance – you’re losing to superior strategy execution.
Round 3 versus Revan Green: Gave me hope, briefly. Lost game 1 to three consecutive Vader deployments, which honestly felt a bit like getting struck by lightning. I just do not have any way to deal with that much card advantage/board presence. But I managed to steal games 2 and 3 on the back of Kelleran’s ability to apply an awful lot of his own pressure and board presence. Turns out, he’s a bit of a mirror image of Vader. Those wins reminded me why I love this game – even when you’re behind, precise sequencing and good timing can flip seemingly hopeless positions.
Round 4 versus Han2 Green: This opponent started both games with Grogu, and let me tell you something about that little green menace – when your opponent is damaging all their units for a discount and then moving it to yours, your strategy needs to be perfect to compete. Turns out, mine wasn’t. Didn’t have any removal and the only units big enough to kill Grogu in one blow come out way too late.
So that was it, three losses meant that I could no longer advance to Day 2. Not that I had really expected to at this point in my journey. Besides, that gave me time to drop and start working on prize tickets to get some of the sweet swag for the weekend. Besides, I knew I’d have another shot the next day at the Open.
Galactic Open
The Galactic Open became my opportunity to apply everything I’d learned from getting schooled in the Championship. Same Obi-Wan Yellow deck, same basic strategy, but with a much clearer understanding of what I was actually facing.
Round 1 versus Han2 Blue: Game 1 went exactly like my Championship matches – I couldn’t keep pace with his resource advantage and card draw. But games 2 and 3, I got to see what happens when Han doesn’t get perfect opening draws. Suddenly my aggressive curve looked pretty good, and I managed to push damage through before he could stabilize. Sometimes variance works in your favor, but you have to be positioned to capitalize when it does.
Round 2 versus Avar Red: Ok, now opening the first two rounds against the same two decks in the same order as the Championship is a bit weird. I got the dream Consular into Vernestra opening in game 1 and just pushed damage through faster than he could answer. Game 2 was similar – even with Yoda healing, I managed to claim initiative and attack before he could stabilize his position. Two quick games, and suddenly I’m feeling like maybe today is going to be a good day.
Round 3 versus Thrawn Yellow: Ok, this was the match of the weekend for me. This was against Sam Braatz, someone I know from AGOT (he’s a Champion even!). Game 1, I rushed effectively and his defensive tools couldn’t keep up. My Plo Koon ambush to clear his Elspeth completely wrecked his game plan. Game 2, he showed me why Thrawn Yellow is legit – Power of the Dark Side kept me off my 3-drop, and even double U-Wings couldn’t save me from falling too far behind.
Game 3 was pure technical play. I rushed again, but this time he had Order 66 in hand, so I couldn’t safely deploy Obi-Wan. We hit resource 5 with a double pass – both of us waiting for the right moment to commit. When I finally pulled Ahsoka and Vernestra off a U-Wing trigger, I could clear his remaining Order 66 and attack for the win. That’s the kind of precise sequencing that separates good games from great ones. We also had a great time chatting about the different pacing of SWU versus AGOT and how tricky it is to fight against some of the ingrained instincts of years in another game. Plus, I’m not going to lie…. Beating a champ made me feel pretty good.
Round 4 versus Kylo Red: This was a fun opportunity to meet a well known content creator in SWU, ktod’s own Matty. He was nothing but super nice and encouraging the entire time. Unfortunately, it also gave me a chance to see a version of the Kylo Red stuff that would do so well in the Championship. Game 1, his massively buffed Lom Pyke was swinging for 9 damage. I had to throw Luke at it just to kill it, but all those attachments transferred to Kylo, and I only had about 10 damage on his base. Game 2 looked promising until turn 7 – I ambushed with Blue leader to knock out his Fang Fighter, then played Obi-Wan for Sentinel when he deployed Kylo. I’m setting up to kill Kylo with my 8-strength Kelleran and follow up with Yoda for stabilization, but one of his attachments had Saboteur. Sometimes the game just has the perfect answer.
Round 5 versus Han1 Green: This game can be simultaneously beautiful and heartbreaking. Game 1, this young player – couldn’t have been more than 15 – absolutely crushed me with consecutive Falcon, Chewie, and Han deployments. Pure aggro perfection. Game 2, I thought I’d turned it around. I had board control, him up to 20 damage on base, his hand was empty. I thought I was ready to close it out. But, he had initiative and topdecked Surprise Strike for exactly the 6 damage he needed to kill me. Sometimes card games just humble you with perfect timing.
Round 6 versus Mother Talzin Red: This was appropriately grindy. I won game 1 fast before he could set up his control engine. Games 2 and 3 were exactly what you’d expect from a control matchup – long, technical affairs where he eventually ground me down with superior card advantage. He mentioned boarding in Power of the Dark Side, which explains why my r3 plays kept disappearing. Classic control theory: make every card matter, then win with inevitability.
Round 7 versus Han2 Blue: Here we go again! But this time I managed to split the series 2-1. Game 1 went the usual way – couldn’t keep pace with his resource engine. But games 2 and 3, he had rough opening draws and I could push damage through before he stabilized. I was honestly just grateful he never landed a Krayt Dragon, because that would have been game over regardless of how well I was playing.
Round 8 versus Han 2 Blue: This match was peak tournament exhaustion against yet another Han Blue Force deck. Both our brains were absolute mush by this point, and we each made several questionable plays. The funniest part was how we kept forgetting to claim Force tokens – not exactly a ‘may’ ability, right? – but we’d catch it quickly, usually in the middle of the opponent’s next action. Since it’s mandatory, we both treated it as a minimal correction to the board state and moved on. Sometimes late-round matches become as much about basic game mechanics as strategic depth.
At 5-3, I only had one round left to play in the day, but with three losses, I wasn’t making Day 2. Plus I’d already earned the promo tickets I needed, and frankly, I was more than ready to get some proper food and hang out with the rest of the SWU-Tang Clan. Sometimes knowing when to walk away is as important as knowing when to fight.
The Good
I have to say that the actual tournament events themselves, both the Championship and the Open were smooth as butter. This was the first I’ve really had all that much to do with Melee.gg, and I have to admit that it’s a solid system. I remember playing in the FFG days when we had to wait for a printout of paper pairings and had to fill out paper matchslips to turn in to a judge back in the days before those tournaments switched over to Jousting Pavilion/ Tourneygrounds. And heaven forbid there be some kind of error and the round had to be re-paired!
But Melee ran great once I found out how to submit a decklist through it. Easy to see pairings and assigned tables at a glance. Easy to report games or confirm them if the opponent reported first. I even saw a section for tournament announcements that I don’t believe was used, but seems like it could be in the future for things like lunch breaks. There was ample room at the tables and many screens around showing round time, each clearly labeled so you could make certain you were looking at the time for the Championship or the Open depending on your event.
Finally, I’ve got to say that there appeared to be an ample number of judges buzzing about, always within easy distance for a player to raise their hand and call for their attention. I didn’t end up needing one in any of my matches, but I saw them promptly arrive and resolve issues at other tables.
The Bad
Honestly, there is very little that I could write here as truly bad. I didn’t encounter any players who were overly salty or note any of my opponents doing shady things with their decks.
However, I think it is worth noting that miscommunication or straight up lack of knowledge on the judge/organizers part was an issue a couple times in the event. One that comes to mind distinctly is when two of my fellow SWU-Tang Clan members were 3-3 in the Championship event. They loosely recalled that there was an additional tier of prizing if you hung on to go at least 4-3, and asked a judge about it. They were told, however, that there was nothing at all for achieving 4 wins, so they left for dinner, somewhat dejected. Another teammate not involved in that discussion, however, stayed on to go 4-3 and did receive the extras. Let’s just say they were not happy when they found out.
Another was when I showed up to pick up my badge on Thursday. After waiting an hour and a half through line, I finally reached a desk and asked what they needed from me to pick up my badge, expecting something like the ID in my hand. I was told that I had to have a QR code for them to scan, but the employee had no idea where to find that code when I asked. My registration email and receipt page didn’t have it. I couldn’t find it by searching my email inbox for terms like FFG or Fantasy Flight Games. Thankfully, someone else in line behind me had the knowledge that the employee lacked and was able to tell me that the email should have come from Swoogo and thus I was able to locate it in my junkmail folder.
The Ugly
Here we are to the elephant in the room – lines and prizing. And lets be real here, the lines were more than elephant sized. I hesitate to put these items in the strictly bad column (plus, the two are so intertwined, it might as well be one item). There’s some real upside here – Galactics prizes were totally awesome! Both the ones you received directly in the main event and those you could earn tickets for at the Prize Wall. This created some real demand!
However, this real demand also put a lot of strain on a system that was not designed or prepared for that much pressure. By the time that I dropped 1-3 from the Championship on Day 1, the demand for side events had already shown the cracks in the system. I met up with some of my fellow SWU-Tang members (a couple of which had byes and were already grinding tickets) and they pointed out that it had reached the point they were having to wait in line about 45 minutes in order to play games.
Yes, this process improved somewhat from the long single line they had initially started with to eventually a split process of individual lines for different events, but also a line to buy tickets or pay your entry fee, a line for your event signup, and then a line to wait to be seated. Lines on lines on lines. This still left a ton of pressure on players trying to earn tickets to just get up and get back in line immediately because the opportunity cost of actually playing games deprived them of line time. ( I can’t believe I had to write that sentence.)
Next up, though, we had some kind of flip flopping or possibly miscommunication which resulted in players being able to buy side event tickets and then turn them in directly to the prize wall early on Saturday. This led to some folks spending hefty dollar amounts to buy large swathes of prizes, creating further pressure on the demand for them, which lead to more rushing to grind, and longer lines both for side events and now for access to the prize wall as well. In fact, by the time I made my second run to the prize wall on Sunday morning (I made one before leaving the hall on Friday evening), the line already wrapped across approximately half of the hall all the way to the bistro. I had to stand in line for about 1 hour and 45 minutes (shoutout to TowerNumberNine for chatting that whole time and making the wait bearable). I’m not going to say it wasn’t worth it, as the employee that helped me told me that I received the very last Vader showcase when he handed it to me, but wow did I feel for the folks even further back in line. When I left, it had grown by about a 1/3 longer than it was when I first got in it.
And one last bit on a different ugly topic – tickets. That word was frankly used for too many different items over the course of the event. To start with, your registration for the entire weekend was called a ticket. However, your entry in the Galactic Championship was also called a ticket. This led to me inadvertently only purchasing entrance to the convention hall and having to be on the waitlist for the tournament. Next side event registrations required tickets, but not on a 1:1 ratio like the Championship ticket, which was the only thing needed to get in to that event. And finally, of course, we had prize tickets to exchange at the Prize Wall.
In a sane world, at least 3 of these would use different terms and possibly all 4. So first up, call the entry to the convention weekend a badge. Registration for the Championship would ideally perhaps just be called registration since you only have one, though it would be bearable to call it a ticket. For side events, I would prefer them to be called tickets as that makes sense, though voucher would also be pretty clear. And finally, for prizes, let’s go thematic and call them creds or credits, though something like token would also be acceptable. Please, let’s just make it easy to be clear what people are communicating about at any given moment.
The End
Most importantly, this weekend reminded me why I fell in love with competitive card gaming in the first place. Yes, losing matches stings. Yes, missing key plays haunts you for days afterward. But watching innovation triumph over expectation, seeing patient control strategies succeed in aggressive formats, and being part of a community that genuinely celebrates great play regardless of who’s making it – that’s what makes all the frustration worthwhile.
The SWU-Tang Clan didn’t bring home any championships this time around, but we brought home something more valuable: a deeper understanding of what this game can become. Filip and Ian showed us that Star Wars Unlimited rewards the same kinds of strategic thinking and precise execution that made other competitive formats great.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go rebuild some decks. Apparently I have some new tech to learn and we’ve all got a wide open, post Galactics meta to explore.
Thanks for following along with my Vegas adventure, friends. Sometimes the best tournament reports come from the players who didn’t win, because we’re the ones who learned the most.
