As 2019 comes to a close, it's the perfect time to reflect on the events and programs that made up this year of Organized Play. In this article, Alex Watkins, the Global Director of Organized Play for Fantasy Flight Games, looks back on 2019 and shares his plans for the coming year of Star Wars™: X-Wing Organized Play. As we constantly strive to improve what we do, based on players' feedback, we are excited to kick off the next lineup of Star Wars: X-Wing events in 2020, implementing what we've learned from this year. As always, we welcome feedback, so please feel free to reach out to us anytime with your thoughts—critical or positive.

Now, join Alex Watkins as he shares his plans for this fantastic Star Wars™ miniatures game of huge tactical depth.

Alex Watkins on the Next Year for Star Wars: X-Wing

Organized Play for Star Wars: X-Wing has gone through its transition year in 2019 and will have fully carried over to its new structure come next month. This is very exciting for all of us involved with Star Wars: X-Wing and we cannot wait for you to experience what's in store for this fantastic game!

When I took on my new role, I had plans to make changes for Fantasy Flight Games Organized Play—not for the sake of making changes, but to bring our Organized Play program up to the level I believed it could and should be. One of the first changes we needed to implement was an improvement in our communication. While we started off well, I believe we can still do much better. Recently, new members have joined the Organized Play team who will be focusing on doing exactly that; and in that light, I would like to share with you all my roadmap for Star Wars: X-Wing Organized Play throughout 2020 and into 2021.

Game Modes

Hyperspace

With the second edition of Star Wars: X-Wing, we saw the introduction of Game Modes, specifically the Hyperspace Game Mode. There needed to be an established format that was appealing to new players who were joining in without the experience and knowledge of the first edition. But Hyperspace was always planned to be more than just the entry-level. Now that more ships have been reprinted and more options are now available in second edition, the Hyperspace Game Mode will evolve into an experience that varies and changes over its five to six month cycle. It will become a Game Mode where limited options will create a challenge for new and old players alike and push pilots to find the list that they feel fits best in the environment.

Starting with the points change this January, the Hyperspace Game Mode will consist of a curated set of pilots and upgrades released in second edition that creates an interesting, limited environment. It will become an evolving and growing Game Mode where your squad building options will change every five or six months, and when new ships are released. Not all options will cycle out with each rotation, but you will get to experience vastly changing meta environments. In January, you will get to see what the Hyperspace Game Mode looks like in this new structure. There will also be a points change in June and November 2020. After that, the current plan is to have changes every six months, targeting May and November 2021.

Extended

Extended is an extremely important Game Mode for all of us at Fantasy Flight Games. The second edition of Star Wars: X-Wing launched with a promise to first edition players that all they needed was a Conversion Kit to continue to play with the ships they know and love. I plan to keep to that promise as much as my remit allows. So, in 2020 and beyond, you will continue to see the Extended Game Mode be used at various event tiers.

For the 2020 season, the Hyperspace Game Mode will be used for the System Open Series and the Coruscant Invitational. The first Store Championship season in 2020 will also be using Hyperspace Game Mode. On the other hand, the Extended Game Mode will be used for Prime Championships, Grand Championships, Continental Championships, and the World Championship.

Star Wars: X-Wing will have two Store Championship seasons in the new Organized Play structure for 2020 and the second Store Championship kit will allow the store hosting an event to choose either the Hyperspace or Extended Game Mode, due to how close these events will be to the World Championship. It's worth noting that for future years, we may reverse this or make other changes regarding the Game Modes.

World Championship and Coruscant Invitational

This October saw the first World Championship for the second edition of Star Wars: X-Wing. This was also our first time using the new invitation and Last Chance Qualifier structure. We have been collecting feedback from those who participated and overall, it was very positive.

As such, I believe that the new World Championship structure was a success and achieved what I wanted. There were no easy wins as all of the players had earned their seat and the competitive, enthusiastic atmosphere was great to witness first-hand. Those who did not qualify from the Last Chance Qualifier were able to take part in several side events and support their fellow teammates as they took on the very best players in the world.

We will continue to use this structure for the 2020 World Championship which will once again take place at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium at the Saint Paul RiverCentre in Minnesota, from October 8-11. Full structure details and schedule information will be announced at a later time.

The Coruscant Invitational will once again have its home at the Star Wars: X-Wing World Championship, and as already mentioned, it will utilize the Hyperspace Game Mode. The way to earn an invite to this exclusive event is to win one of the 18 (yes, 18!) System Opens in the coming months. In 2020, we have eight System Opens in Europe, seven in the United States, one in Canada, one in Australia and for the first time, we are also hoping to have one in Brazil!

The winners of these events will receive an invitation to the Coruscant Invitational and a flight to the World Championship in Minnesota. The structure and schedule will be announced at a later time.

Organized Play for 2020

With four Open Play kits, four Premium Seasonal kits, two Store Championship kits, and one Prime Championship kit, stores will have lots of ways for you to play in 2020. Beyond that, there will be Grand Championships, Continental Championships, System Opens and the Star Wars: X-Wing World Championship for you all to aspire to.

I hope you are all looking forward to 2020 as much as I am, and I hope to see you at an event soon!