Competition on a Planetary Scale

Connect. Collect. Compete.

Those three Cs make up the core of the Star Wars™: Unlimited experience. When we first released the game back in March, the focus was all about the first one: connect. Weekly Play launched the same day as Spark of Rebellion, and players all over the world were getting together and bonding during various Casual-tier Organized Play events.

Then, this summer, we ramped up the second C: collect. Between a new round of event-exclusive promo cards—including the premium 2024 Convention Exclusive product—we gave the game’s dedicated collectors some amazing new variants to sink their teeth into. This, of course, is in addition to all the stunning variants that can come from booster packs, especially the highly sought-after Showcase leader cards.

Now, we’re finally ready to bring in the third C. That’s right: Competitive Play for Star Wars: Unlimited is about to begin!

As a reminder, the Competitive tier of Organized Play is split into a few different levels of events, all culminating in the Galactic Championship event. Today, we’re going to share some details about the first level of Competitive events, the Planetary Qualifiers. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at what these tournaments entail!

An Entry into Competitive Play

As we have mentioned in past livestreams, this initial season of Competitive-tier Organized Play—which we are referring to as “Season 0”—is designed to welcome as many players as possible to the tournament scene. Competitive Play should always be about friendly competition, and Season 0 takes this a step further by lowering the stakes for more accessibility. The tournament points system we talked about in the past will not be implemented for Season 0, which means players of all skill levels can attend Competitive events without feeling any pressure to qualify for specific later events. You could think of Season 0 as a “test run,” and we will absolutely be paying attention to feedback from the community as it unfolds.

This brings us to the Planetary Qualifiers. Since Season 0 starts partway through the set period of Shadows of the Galaxy, there will initially be just 40 Planetary Qualifiers around the world. Once Twilight of the Republic arrives, that number will increase to almost 150 events worldwide, doubling—and in some cases quadrupling—the number of events in certain regions. This is around the number of Planetary Qualifiers you can expect to occur for each set going forward, though obviously there may be some variance from set to set.

Each Planetary Qualifier is hosted by an approved retail store, with the exact stores varying with each set. These are open events, which means anyone can participate, regardless of past tournament experience or skill with the game. For many players, Planetary Qualifiers may be their first real foray into Competitive-tier gaming, so let’s take a look at what you can anticipate at these events:

All Competitive-tier events for Star Wars: Unlimited utilize the Premier format, and Planetary Qualifiers are no exception. Each Planetary Qualifier will be a single-day event, which means the tournament starts and finishes on the same day. Each tournament round consists of a best-of-three match with your opponent, and the number of rounds in the event depends on the number of players in attendance. The tournament starts off with Swiss rounds before transitioning to single-elimination to determine a winner. For more information on tournament structure and what these terms mean, be sure to check out our official Star Wars: Unlimited Tournament Regulations.

Each store running one of these events will have official prize support provided by our Planetary Qualifier Organized Play kit. This kit contains prizes both for participation and for placing high in the tournament, and every Planetary Qualifier kit within the same set will have the same prizes. This means that even if you are only able to go to one Planetary Qualifier during the Shadows of the Galaxy set, for example, you’ll still have access to the same prizes as you would at any other Planetary Qualifier around the world.

While we’re on the subject of prizes, we should talk about what you earn if you happen to win one of these events. For Season 0 Planetary Qualifiers, the winner of each event will earn an automatic invitation to Day 2 of the first Galactic Championship. This means these players can skip the Last Chance Qualifier that takes place during Day 1 of the Championship and can look forward to diving straight into the Championship itself. FFG will notify the players who receive these invites within a few weeks of the event they won.

As we said above, Planetary Qualifiers are open events, but they do still require you to sign up in order to attend them. To do this, you’ll need to find an event on the official Star Wars: Unlimited Event Locator here at StarWarsUnlimited.com. You can also ask your local retailer if they will be hosting a Planetary Qualifier; even if the answer is no for one set, they might be able to host one during a later set! One you have found an event, you’ll need to follow the steps set by that retailer on how to sign up. You won’t be able to sign up through the Event Locator itself, so make sure you contact the right retailer for the event you want to attend!

As the entry-level events for Competitive-tier Organized Play, Planetary Qualifiers only scratch the surface of what this wing of the OP program has to offer. Be sure to keep an eye out for when registration for a Planetary Qualifier in your region opens up, and you can look forward to more information on Competitive Organized Play in the next few weeks!