I love games set in the Star Wars galaxy. Take any game engine or design, slap some Star Wars on it, and I’m in. Okay, it’s not really that simple. But it’s also not that far from the truth. So, when I heard about the new Star Wars collectible card game last year, I was pretty sure I’d buy in.
Turns out that I wasn’t alone. Some friends that I had made back in the salad days of Star Wars Destiny (FFG’s previous attempt at a TCG set in a galaxy far, far away) were also interested. I put down my Shatterpoint miniatures (that’s how much I love these games; they convinced me to try and paint!) and started dreaming of championships and podcasts. The podcasts happened but the championships, or even event victories, have not.
I won the very first Star Wars: Unlimited event held in my city. It was a “Spark of Rebellion” Prerelease with about 30 people, and I “took it down” as the kids say. “This will be a piece of cake” I may have thought to myself. This was the last SWU event that I have been victorious.
Sure, I’ve had some wins and some decent runs but, by and large, victories have mostly eluded me. Even my beloved Limited formats have been tough, to say the least. With other games, Drafting was my bread and butter. Sealed was my spaghetti and sauce. But SWU has proven difficult. Constructed formats, which I generally find boring and unfun, have become an exercise in frustration. In fact, one of the last Store Showdowns I attended had me considering how best to sell my complete playset on the hour-long drive home. I had a good start in the event but, after having my Speedy Sabine deck locked out by a Vigilance Iden Versio (eating up 50 minutes of the clock for one game in a best of 3 match) I felt a heat rising up my neck as the blood rushed to my face. “Fudge this”, I thought to myself in a very family-friendly way. “This is not the game for me.”
I love Star Wars games. I love writing about them, making videos about them, yammering about them… it’s fun and part of the process. But I don’t like losing, especially when I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong.
So that is what I would like to change. I would like to work on becoming a player that knows how to handle situations like that. Someone who can reliably go 2-2 or better in every event. Someone who plays the same deck enough to understand how it works. And, ultimately, someone who can have fun playing Star Wars: Unlimited. Most importantly, I’d like to be someone who is fun to play against as well.
I have a confession to make: I had not played SWU for almost two months before yesterday. That’s a good chunk of the game’s lifespan up to this point. Especially for a “vaunted” “content creator”. However, after recording our latest podcast episode, I grabbed a Kylo deck recommended by SWU Harvester Andy and gave it a shot. And… it wasn’t bad. Did I play well? Not really, no. I repeatedly forgot what his Cad Bane did. I missed a trigger or two. I made suboptimal plays left and right. But I didn’t have a bad time.
And that leads us to here. Store Showdowns are fast approaching once again. I’d like to take part. And I’d like to try and win one… or at least not embarrass myself. I’d also like to return to my weekly locals to see the people who I enjoy spending time around, and to have a few laughs at myself (and others) for boneheaded plays, ridiculous pulls from prize packs, or just general shenaniganal hilarity.
To hold myself accountable, and hopefully provide some value to anyone in a similar space-boat, I will write these articles. Can I force myself to play one deck, learn it well, be a good teammate to the other SWU Harvesters and help them improve, be a fun opponent to play against, and enjoy some SWU regardless of the end results? I dunno, that’s a lot. But I’ll try to write about it, and hope that the rest falls into place.
Art by Arid Murti
Copyright Fantasy Flight Games
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