"How long before you make the jump to lightspeed?"

–Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars: A New Hope

Hyperspace travel has been an integral part of the Star Wars galaxy since we first watched Luke Skywalker depart Tatooine aboard the Millennium Falcon. One moment, Luke was a farm boy stuck on a desert planet, and the next, the galaxy lay before him, instantly accessible. With hyperpsace travel, characters can visit multiple planets, traversing light years in moments, focusing the story on critical action.

The upcoming Hyperspace events for X-Wing™ Second Edition lend a similar feel to X-Wing Organized Play. In the Hyperspace game mode, you will jump across the galaxy and explore new ships and squadrons. You'll race from battle to battle, continually thrilled by the sights and challenges of new battlefields. The galaxy will lie wide open before you. And you'll find the game constantly refreshed, expanded, and made more readily accessible, especially for newer players!

The Hyperspace Game Mode

We first introduced our plans for the upcoming Hyperspace Trials and Hyperspace Cups as part of our initial look at the changes coming to X-Wing Organized Play with the game's second edition. We then revisited the events, taking a more in-depth look in the article, "Qualify for Worlds in Less Than Twelve Parsecs."

That article explored how the Hyperpsace events fit into the tournament calendar, replacing the first edition's Regional and National Championships and serving as a pathway to the invitation-only X-Wing World Championships. We also pointed out that Hyperspace events would use specific squad-building guidelines to be communicated through the X-Wing Squad Builder.

Now that X-Wing Second Edition is released, the Hyperspace game mode is supported in the Squad Builder, and we have scheduled the first Hyperspace Trials for X-Wing Second Edition, the time has come to revisit the Hyperspace events and the whole idea of the Hyperspace game mode.

First of all, we want to make sure you understand why we're excited to bring the Hyperspace game mode into the X-Wing Organized Play environment!

The Hyperspace game mode introduces another means of refreshing and evolving the X-Wing metagame.

Every competitive game is accompanied by its own "metagame," the unofficial set of rules governing the builds, lists, and strategies that players believe to be competitive at the highest levels. Changes in the metagame are critical to a game's health. Without shifts in the metagame, players will see the same strategies and tactics employed over and over again and become fatigued by them.

Because changes in the metagame are driven by changes to the available products, there are three primary ways to drive change—add to the existing product, redefine the number of available products, and edit the available products.

As we've already seen, X-Wing Second Edition was designed without printed squad points or upgrade bars so that the developers could edit the available products as the metagame demanded. Reducing or increasing the number of squad points allocated to any ship, pilot, or upgrade can send massive ripples throughout the metagame without a single new product list. But if these changes are applied universally, they don't permit players to enjoy multiple coexisting metagames.

Here, the Hyperspace game mode—with its tailored squad-building guidelines—introduces an entirely new metagame, and it can stand alongside the metagame that players can enjoy at their regular in-store events and at the X-Wing System Open Series. Additionally, because the Hyperspace game mode is redefined with each season, you will be able to enjoy more changes in the metagame, and you can expect to see new ships, squadrons, and strategies rising to the fore with every new Hyperspace season (two per year).

With the Hyperspace game mode, players gain more ways to play X-Wing—additional game modes that receive the full support of Organized Play.

Just like the System Open Series, the game's Hyperspace Trials, Hyperspace Cups, and Hyperspace Qualifiers offer top players a chance to qualify for the X-Wing World Championships. Right away, you'll find other players eager to fly in the new Hyperspace metagame, and because the Hyperspace Trials replace the old, first edition Regional Championships, you'll be able to enjoy the unique challenges of the Hyperspace game mode as you compete for some of the game's top prizes.

Best of all, the fact that the Hyperspace game mode can exist alongside the Extended game mode means that you'll be able to enjoy a greater variety of play experiences—even within a single, weekend-long event!

While the System Open Series featured Extended Qualifiers—in place of Hyperspace Qualifiers—through the end of 2018, 2019 will see the introduction of Hyperspace Qualifiers that adhere to the current Hyperspace game mode. Players who attend System Open Series events may find themselves competing in both Extended and Hyperspace game modes over the course of a single weekend, and they'll find greater diversity among the squads they face.

The Hyperspace game mode will offer newer players easier entry into competitive X-Wing.

The squad-building rules for X-Wing offer a tremendous degree of flexibility and customization. Even when you start with just a handful of ships, you'll be able to field a fantastic range of possible 200-point squadrons thanks to the way the game integrates its ship cards and upgrades.

An X-wing, after all, is not just an X-wing. It could be the no-frills starfighter flown by some Blue Squadron Escort, or it could be Luke Skywalker's X-wing, loaded with Proton Torpedoes, a Shield Upgrade, and Luke's trusty astromech, R2-D2.

At the same time, by redefining and truncating the list of potential squad builds within the Hyperspace game mode, we make it easier for newer players to explore these options—and, importantly, to afford the starship expansions that introduce the pilots and upgrades they hope to fly.

As the Hyperspace game mode keeps the game fresh, it adds to the ways you can enjoy competitive X-Wing, and it helps make the game and its competitive environment more accessible to newer players. All of this results in more diversity.

This diversity excites us, and we hope it excites you, as well. More diversity within the game's metagames means more room for experimentation and innovation, and it means more opportunities for newer players looking to get into the game, as well as more opportunities for skillful players to design and fly innovative new squadrons.

Prepare for the Jump to Lightspeed

There are two periods of Hyperspace events per year, and the first Hyperspace Trials take place from March through June of 2019. You won't, however, have to wait until March to start exploring the Hyperspace game mode with your friends. The Hyperspace game mode is already available in the X-Wing Squad Builder, and players will want to start testing their mastery of the Hyperspace game mode as they prepare for the first period of Hyperspace Trials.

Where will you make your jump to Hyperspace? Review our list of Hyperspace Trials to find one near you!