⚠️This is Important!⚠️ Best of 1s vs Best of 3s - Star Wars Unlimited Discussion

Captain Shekaka and Chick Donovan give some thoughts on the current best of 3 format in Star Wars Unlimited and whether or not there is a better alternative. Stay tuned until the end for Captain Shekaka's great idea on how to solve the "who goes first" problem!

[@nickmcdonnell5659]

I think the decision comes down to what the priority is for FFG. If they want the game to be more casually oriented I think bo1 is fine however I think for a lot of competitive players the con of ‘increased variance’ is enough of a feel bad to think bo3 is better. Also the idea for initiative being based on sideboard amount is interesting it also would likely inherently benefit the individual that already has an advantage in the match up especially if you reduce the sideboard to 5 cards as y’all suggested. Also I think, while top cut would almost always be the best players at the event the more variance you introduce as bo1 would the less likely that is to be the case. So there would still potentially be new players that need to learn a whole new way to sideboard for top 8 compared to what they did during Swiss which may feel weird.

[@crackeddicegaming]

Awesome feedback and critiques! I guess what it's all about is how much variance does FFG want in the game. Interestingly enough, the mulligan itself creates quite a bit of variance, especially compared to other games like Lorcana and Destiny that had a much more generous mulligan. We kinda glossed over it in the video but the idea of variance in this game is quite fascinating. For the most part, what we're advocating for in this video is to make the game more enticing and friendly to newer players, primarily by making it more time efficient, at some level of expense of the most competitive players. There's an equilibrium somewhere out there and for the health on longevity of this game we hope to find it by putting ideas like this out there! Thanks again for taking the time to watch and comment!

[@WhalePants]

For the big tournaments you speak of, if SWU gets to that size, you'll need to shift to 2 days. Best of 1 is such a let down for competitive play, it is great at a more casual event or some small showdowns, but should never be the play for bigger events. Best of 1s also take away from the skill ceiling, part of the way they've created this game is based on having a 10 card sideboard, sideboarding is a skill itself that helps players understand a much wider range of the cards. The last few events I've played have lead me to losing game 1 but winning game 2 and 3 in multiple rounds, in those situations I had opportunities to come back and play the game more. Seeing that this game can be slanted in games can lead to sometimes you just don't have it, and it would feel bad to lose a game because of the randomness your deck provided. Another part of this game is learning your lines and learning to play within time, understanding how to order your actions properly in a timely manner is a skill in itself, now you can't control the other player, but I'd imagine there will be more rules that allow you to call a judge if your opponent is slow playing. A simple fix is having different styles of events where you have more casual/welcoming events at your shops, similar to open play that help players learn the game and test decks, shops can give away just a prize pack to each person who shows up and you go from there, Pokemon does this and it works great to get more people involved in the game. At big events you can't do best of 1s, it's takes away too many skills players should develop. Best of 3 > Best of 1. We can agree to disagree here, but I just don't see the same issues you may be seeing. 🤷‍♂

[@crackeddicegaming]

Thanks for the feedback on the video! To go off what you said about Best of 1s being a let down for competitive play, would you then agree that the mulligan not being all too generous is also a let down? Let's say in the example games you mentioned about going down 0-1 and then coming back, would you have the same feeling of let down had you drawn a bad hand in game 2 or 3? I'm just curious and ever-intrigued by what results in a negative play experience for players. From our perspective, Best of 1s (sideboarding prior to the game) does take away something from the competitive side of things, but at the cost of that provides a more marketable product to new players as well as people and places looking to host events. Thanks again for watching the video and taking the time to let us know your thoughts!

[@WhalePants]

@@crackeddicegaminghaving the option to mulligan and the skill to know which hands to mulligan is part of it as well. Yes you can have a non hand or a slower start, but if you build your deck properly you increase the odds of starting with a proper hand, another skill in deck building that is great to learn. Coming from a game like Pokemon that does Best of 1s at some events, and doesn’t have a very friendly mulligan system, I have had too many games where I just don’t get to play. The first event I ever played, I started a Pokemon and couldn’t really do much else, since there is no optional mulligan I had to just play my cards out and hope my opponent couldn’t attack on their first turn, they did have it and won the game on the first turn. SWU gives you the chance to be in every single game and the skills of resourcing, deck building, planning your actions, sideboarding, and initiative claiming, are all what make this game so impressive to me. Going to best of 1s takes away from some of those skills I have come to love and it’s why I am choosing it over Pokemon or MTG. Better system for mulligans and deck building than Pokemon, back and forth actions make it far better than MTG, and the list goes on for my personal reasons as why I think SWU is the best TCG I’ve played. I stand by the fact that best of 3s > best of 1s at competitive events, I love the concept of best of 1s to help introduce players and test decks and finding ways to get more players invested in the game, but at the highest level of competition, especially down the line, you don’t want a match determined by one player having a bad hand and taking a loss, knowing you have games 2 or 3 gives you hope and can show off your resiliency to comeback.