Star Wars: Unlimited TCG announces competitive play details and how to earn Tournament Points
Imagine Duel of the Fates playing over a table of cards.
It’s a big day for trading card game players as Star Wars: Unlimited dropped a detailed breakdown of its competitive play structure on the same day that Disney Lorcana announced plans for its own tournament scene in 2024. Both may be owned by Disney if you go far enough up the chain of intellectual property, but Star Wars: Unlimited is currently stomping its more colourful cousin in terms of organised play support.
The details, which were first reported by ComicBook, can be found on the upcoming TCG’s official website and explain how the average player might be able to battle their way to the eventual Galactic Championship. Competitive play is fully structured around Tournament Points earned through Competitive Tier events across any given season. Points will be tracked on the player’s personal account, hosted on the Star Wars: Unlimited website once the card game releases in March 2024.
Competitive Tier events include several qualifiers at different levels meant to stratify players according to their individual success in a given season. The first one that players will encounter are Planetary Qualifiers held at hobby shops and other official retailers. Taking place over a single day, Planetary Qualifiers will award prizes as one would expect from a competitive event but also dole out Tournament Points - the top winner of each Planetary Qualifier will earn exactly enough points to qualify for Galactic Championships (more in a bit).
Sector Qualifiers are larger, two-day events hosted outside of hobby stores that will also include side activities, prize walls and other modes of players Star Wars: Unlimited. Think of Magic: The Gathering’s Pro Tour qualifiers and you’ll be in the right ballpark. Once again, high placement wins will earn the competitor enough points to clinch an invitation to that season’s final championship.
Regional Qualifiers will function much the same but happen less frequently and boast a higher level of skill amongst attendees. The two-day qualifier will award significantly more Tournament Points to those who manage to claw their way to the top rankings while also bringing similar side events, giveaways, promotional goodies and “one or two twists”, according to publisher Fantasy Flight Games.
The Galactic Championship will cap off each of Star Wars: Unlimited’s competitive seasons with an invitation-only event for players who amassed enough Tournament Points to qualify for a chance at the big prize (Fantasy Flight did not provide any details on prize pool amounts). Competitors will be whittled down across three days of matches until only two would-be champions remain. Score enough points during the regular season and you might earn a bye, completely skipping the first round of elimination matches.
Simply qualifying for the Galactic Championship will earn each players prizes, but those who survive long enough can score Tournament Points for the next season, which starts over fresh with another round of Planetary Qualifiers at a rotating selection of LGSs and retail stores. One of the side events - which will be open to non-competing attendees - will award points for the next competitive season as well. Fantasy Flight Games wants to entice unlucky players to grab an edge on the competition by patronising their biggest day.
Star Wars: Unlimited did not provide exact numbers of Tournament Points players will need to qualify at each Competitive Tier. Dicebreaker has reached out to Fantasy Flight Games for more information. If you’re not interested in sweating it out against serious competition, a more casual organised play system will also launch alongside the TCG on March 8th, 2024 and primarily take place at local hobby stores.
Other TCGs might be hogging the limelight, but that hasn’t stopped the design team behind Star Wars: Unlimited from planning nine future sets that will carry the fledgling rival to Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! well into 2027. Read our early impressions of its gameplay if you’re interested in cracking a few packs next year.