With the first season of Star Wars™: Unlimited Competitive Play on the horizon, fans all over the world have eagerly awaited information on how to become an official Judge for the game. Today, we’re excited to announce our partnership with Cascade Games and provide our first look at the Star Wars: Unlimited Judge Program! 

So, without further ado, let’s take a look at what our prospective Judges can look forward to.

Who is Cascade Games?

First, let’s introduce our partners in this program, Cascade Games. Founded and owned by gaming industry veteran Tim Shields, Cascade Games is a company that helps various game publishers with their Organized Play needs. They’ve been going strong for over thirty years, providing their services for a wide variety of studios and games, including some for FFG in the past. Their projects range from running large-scale tournaments to providing the infrastructure that lets OP programs run smoothly. As part of our partnership, Cascade will take charge of the Star Wars: Unlimited Judge Program and ensure that it’s the best possible experience for this game.

Having run judge programs for other large-scale TCGs in the past, Cascade knows more than anyone that Judges are the glue that hold OP programs together by ensuring fair and fun play. Because of this, Cascade plans to deliver a program that teaches our Judges the skills necessary to nurture a fantastic player community and keep the game fun for everyone.

The Star Wars: Unlimited Judge Program

Alright, now that introductions are out of the way, let’s take a look at the program itself. Judging for Star Wars: Unlimited will have five areas of focus:

1: Tournament Oversight – Judges manage various aspects of tournaments, the most important of which is enforcing the rules (of both the game and the event) during matches and ensuring that everyone plays fairly. 

2: Rules Interpretation – Related to the first focus, Judges serve as the ultimate authority on rules interpretation during a match, ensuring consistency—and, again, fairness—across all levels of play. 

3: Dispute Resolution – Disagreements are bound to happen at some point during a tournament. When they do, the Judges step in to resolve those disputes and make sure the game and the event continue to run smoothly. 

4: Player Education – We’ve touched on this before in our Fantasy Flight Games Master Event Document, but Judges play a crucial role as both mediators and educators during an event. Whenever a player makes a mistake—be it a simple rules error or a moment of poor conduct—it’s the Judges’ responsibility to issue the appropriate penalty and help that player learn what they did wrong so they can avoid repeating that mistake in the future. In order to perform this role properly, a Judge must be highly knowledgeable themself, which leads to the fifth and final focus…

5: Continuous Learning – Our Judges will undergo rigorous training to know the game rules, card interactions, and tournament regulations inside and out. However, as anyone who has been involved with TCGs would know, this kind of game is constantly growing and evolving, which means our Judges will continue to train, learn, and grow themselves to keep their skills in tip-top shape. This is especially important whenever a new set rolls around and adds new mechanics into the mix!

To hold our Judges to the standard set by these five areas of focus, members of the Judge Program will start out as a “game ambassador” before becoming a full-fledged Judge. After passing multiple online classes and a rules and tournament knowledge test, an ambassador can be certified as a “Level 1 Judge.” If they keep at it, they can raise their Judge level higher. Classes and tests increase in difficulty as the prospective level increases (up to a maximum of Level 5), and Judges will be required to demonstrate their skills at events and document those experiences. The higher a Judge’s level, the higher the tier of events they get hired to staff will be, which means the highest-level Judges will need to be true masters of their craft. 

How to Become a Star Wars: Unlimited Judge

Anyone above the age of 16 can sign up to become a Star Wars: Unlimited Judge. Doing so is completely free, though you will have to pass the certification tests in order to actually qualify for the position. The program is initially launching in English, but other languages will be added over time.

At the time of this article, the program is still under construction, but in the meantime, those interested can head over to CascadeGames.com and join the waiting list. Doing so will ensure that you are notified as soon as the program officially launches!

Keep an eye out in the near future for more upcoming information about this exciting opportunity to be part of Star Wars: Unlimited Organized Play. On behalf of both Cascade Games and Fantasy Flight Games, we look forward to working with you!