What is up my fellow Star Wars: Unlimited fans! Just like that, Prerelease Weekend has come and gone, and boy was it a good one.
I saw a lot of faces, both new and old, but all were plastered with smiles from ear to ear. From my perspective, it would appear that a ton of players showed up excited for the weekend and left even more excited! This game continues to surprise me at every turn, and this prerelease was no exception.
The GDP (Golden Dice Podcast) crew ended up going to four different prerelease events over the course of the weekend, and depending on when you are reading this article, you should be able to go ahead and watch each of our unique perspectives, decks, and a best-of-three round of Star Wars: Unlimited gameplay over on our YouTube channel.
As for this article, though, I wanted to expand a bit on my experience at each one. So without further ado, let’s chat about Friday!
Prerelease No. 1
Prerelease Number 1 was held at All Things Video Games, a smaller video game shop closer to home for Jack, Flock, and myself, and there ended up being about 10 people in attendance. The worst part about this prerelease was just having to wait all day Friday for the evening. The wait was killing us!
Once there, we all sat down and took a look at our prerelease boxes – eager to get our hands on the contents inside. Shout out to Jack for this one, as he took the first shift filming his experience. (You can watch the results here.) This meant a bit of a slower pace in his pack-cracking to explain and show off all the contents of the prerelease box.
While we’re on the topic, let’s discuss the Prerelease Box and my thoughts on the sealed format in general for the event.
Inside the Prerelease Box
The box included:
- promo foil (on the leader side at least) cards of leaders Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, which looked cool (if not a little pringled)
- a set of cardboard tokens that I didn’t use but I saw many attendees who did
- a cardboard deckbox with a divider donned with the Star Wars: Unlimited box art
- a quickstart rules booklet and sheet
- and, of course, the stuff we all were thirsty for – 6 booster packs from the game.
Upon opening our boxes, I could hear the room buzzing with excitement.
“Wow! A foil Chewbacca!!”
“Awesome – a hyperspace Battlefield Marine!”
It was like kids opening their presents on Christmas morning, and it provided a really cool vibe to build a sealed deck to.
As for my deck, I decided to play Command Sabine, or Green Bean as I like to call the deck, since I managed to pull multiple copies of Battlefield Marine (SOR 95) and THREE! copies of Green Squadron A-Wing (SOR 141). I mean, how could I not run the Green Bean?
I also was fortunate enough to pull legendaries Force Lightning (SOR 138) and a Command (SOR 107) out of these packs, and my luck wouldn’t stop there! I went 2-1 that night, losing only to Jack (nobody is really surprised here, right?), but I had a lengthy conversation with the store owner since we played Round 2 and had some spare time left. He was telling me his excitement for the game, and how he really wants to get into it, He made sure that his store is stocked up for the release and beyond, which to me, is music to my ears.
Coming home that night knowing that I had two more days of SWU goodness made it feel impossible to sleep, so I sorted cards until I couldn’t anymore, and prepared for day two of prerelease shenanigans.
Prerelease No. 2
Day two was at Redcap's Corner, a bigger shop in Philly that we had previously played other games’ weekly tournaments at. This was my turn to showcase my day of cracking packs, crafting a deck and playing some games.
I was fortunate to pull two more legendaries in my prerelease box! After taking a look at my pool, I decided that Leia Organa, Alliance General (SOR 9) would probably be my best bet, and threw my newly opened Home One, Alliance Flagship (SOR 102) into the deck.
Though, I should mention here, the person across from me, our friend Pete, was fortunate enough to open a showcase Iden Versio! If you have not been lucky enough to see one of these variants in person yet, let me be the first to tell you that you have no idea how stunning these cards are in the flesh.
For now, however, you can take a look at my day over on our YouTube channel and check out the game I play against Pete where we show off his new prize!
I ended up going 3-1 on the day, losing to a particularly incredible Vader player that pulled some really great cards, including multiple copies of Superlaser Technician (SOR 83), Overwhelming Barrage (SOR 92), Rukh, Thrawn's Assassin (SOR 85), and the legendary unit himself, Darth Vader, Commanding the First Legion (SOR 87)! 
This, however, is not where our day ended, as we hurried over to our next event a couple of miles away.
Prerelease No. 3
Night 2, Prerelease 3 took place at Dark Depths Games, a small record shop in Philly that was also just as jazzed about the release of SWU as the first two. My luck didn’t stop here, as I pulled another legendary unit in Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight (SOR 51) in my prerelease box!
This store had some players that had never played before, so I helped out my Round 1 opponent who was playing a deck led by Sabine Wren, Galvanized Revolutionary (SOR 12). This was the Battle of the Bri(y)ans as my opponent’s parents also had good taste in names.
While the day was super fun, exhaustion was starting to wear me down, and Bryan and I almost made a mistake in our damage counters that would have completely changed the outcome of the Best-of-3 match (shoutout to Judge Jack again here).
You can check out this night of prerelease from Flockton’s perspective over on our channel. All in all, the day was super fun, and I had a blast meeting new people, showing/teaching them the game I have endless excitement for, and doing my part to grow the community.
Prerelease No. 4
Day 3, the final prerelease event, was where we really started to feel the fatigue of our action packed weekend. We went back to Dark Depths Games, where Jack was judging for the day (in a very snazzy samurai Boba shirt I might add).
This time we were finally joined by fellow GDP member Scott, who built a very powerful Vader deck that led him to multiple victories throughout the event. You can take a look at Scott’s perspective on this day over on our channel, or revisit his Prerelease primer made for Deploy Your Leader Gaming here.
Once again, I was blessed by my pulls, and was lucky enough to snag two more legendaries – another Darth Vader and Vigilance (SOR 58)! I could not believe my fortune this week as far as pulls go, and the other boys can attest to that.
Down the row, a player opening up his prerelease box was even luckier than me, and managed to open a showcase Leia Organa! Again, I cannot stress enough how gorgeous these cards are in person.
I had a real blast on this day, despite a few technical hiccups and growing pains of a new tournament software. I was once again letting my pack pulls decide my path, with a little bias towards villain since I hadn’t been lucky enough to pull any solid backup to run hero yet this weekend.
I settled on an Iden Versio, Inferno Squad Commander (SOR 2) Command deck and packed it with some silly things I wouldn’t normally run in a Premier event. The magic closers on this deck were unit Darth Vader, 97th Legion, Keeping the Peace on Sullust (SOR 118) (which I was able to ambush in with the help of Admiral Piett at one point in the day as a 10/10), and the AT-AT Suppressor (SOR 39).
After a long, long weekend consisting of thirteen(!) Best-of-3 games, we decided to head home, and attend to the big pile of cards that needed sorting.
A Weekend to Remember
I met a ton of awesome people this weekend who I hope to see at locals and other events in the future. Everyone was kind, patient, and generally in great spirits, which led to very fun events, and an even better environment.
While this weekend was a ton of fun, I do think I will scale back to maybe only doing two Prerelease events next set release at a maximum and see how we fare, especially if the prerelease format is going to remain at a Best-of-3 and not 1.
I managed to grab a ton of cards from these prerelease boxes that greatly filled out some slots in my binder, so if you were taking a look at the game before and on the fence about going to a prerelease event for this set, I highly urge you to check them out next time! The atmosphere is electric, the community is welcoming, and the cards are gorgeous, what else could you ask for?!
If you’re reading this, and I played you this weekend, thanks for some awesome games and memorable experiences! I hope our paths cross again on the battlefield for some more SWU goodness!
That is going to wrap it up for me my fellow enthSWUsiasts, so buckle up, and welcome to the longest week between Prerelease and the game actually dropping. Friday feels miles away right now!
May the Force be with you,
