Fun fact, today is my birthday (Justin)! After a long couple of months of tax season and some 90 hour work weeks… there’s not much more I’d rather do than get with some friend and play some late night games of Star Wars Unlimited! With that said, let’s learn more about my friends from L8 Night Gaming!

L8 Night Gaming

Tell us about yourselves! What are your hobbies outside of card games? How did y’all come together as a group?

Poem – Thanks for inviting us to do this! L8 Night Gaming has been around since the Star Wars Destiny days. I started the channel and began posting Destiny gameplay. Over time I’ve added players who have entertaining personalities, great gaming prowess or a combination of both! In addition to gaming, I’m also a big fan of road trips with my family; channeling my inner Clark Griswold. I asked some of my fellow teammates to join me for this community spotlight Q and A but it would have been too much to have the whole squad here so I’d like to give a quick shout out to a couple other guys on our team that won’t be featured today; Platform327, rufusmcdufus and SoloYG, I appreciate you guys.

Remedy – I’m from Australia and I’ve been playing card games for the past 11 years. Have experience with all of the LCGs by FFG and Star Wars Destiny. Decided to return for more Star wars goodness this time around.

Mcbober – I’m all about games. If it’s not card games, it’s video games. Been spreading a lot of democracy in Helldivers 2 lately.

Loopee – I’ve been gaming my whole life, from getting a Nintendo when i was a kid.  In middle school i played magic the gathering but got interested in the Star Trek and Star War CCGs.  In college I played a LOT of Texas Hold’Em and did well enough at that.  Fast forward to Star Wars: Destiny. I loved playing that game with my then girlfriend  now wife and the kids. I met up with the L8 Night crew then and am happy to be back for Star Wars: Unlimited!

Who came up with the original idea for gameplay streams on Saturday nights?

Poem – I’m not exactly sure whose idea it was but we’ve been running a weekly gameplay livestream (on Saturday nights at 7PST) for the better part of 5 years now. We usually have a special guest each week from the community who jams games with us and chats about the state of the game. It’s a tradition that Mcbober and I kept going after Destiny died by playing Marvel Champions and something we plan to continue doing through the life of this game and beyond.

What is each of your prior background/experiences in the TCG world?

Poem – I’m the villain vehicle’s voltron reset guy from Star Wars Destiny. I like to think that I’m the reason Ciena Ree got errata’d to only allow her vehicle reset ability to be used once because I figured out an infinite combo using Dark Council and Count Dooku’s Solar Sailer. Destiny was my first TCG. I grinded that game hard and won several store championships and got 2nd at two Regional Championships.

Remedy – TCG’s specifically I remember as a 90s kid opening up a few booster packs of OG Pokemon but then never got into them further growing up. Rediscovered my love for card games originally with Heartstone and subsequently found Netrunner, Star Wars LCG, Warhammer 40K Conquest, LOTR LCG and so on. Star Wars Destiny was my first dive into a TCG other than Heartstone. I really enjoyed the dice mechanics and collecting cards was a ton of fun though it was always a shame that there were no special chase types of cards. This leads us to Star Wars Unlimited which already has shown a lot of promise between excellent limited play and rare chase cards to incentivise ongoing booster pack prize support.

Mcbober – Been playing card games for nearly as long as I can remember. Marvel’s Overpower was my first collectable card game, then Star Wars CCG, Young Jedi, Lord of the Rings TCG, G.I. Joe TCG, Fight Klub, and SW Destiny. Also a bit of dabbling in various other games like Star Trek, the 2000 X-Men TCG, Highlander, Magic. Also plenty of digital card games like Hearthstone, Marvel Snap, DC Dual Force, Prismata, Artifact, Legends of Runeterra, and probably more that aren’t coming to mind right now. And that’s just the traditional competitive 1vs1 TCG type games. Don’t even get me started on LCGs and Deckbuilders!

Loopee – I have the unique distinction of starting MTG very early and quitting in 1994.  I did win a tournament back when and somewhere there is a box containing two mox. After that, I played all kinds  of games and card games but really found my jam with Destiny.  Loved rolling the dice and the community around the game.   Excited to be on the ground floor as a content creator for SW:U.

What was the main draw for each of you to Star Wars Unlimited as a game?

Poem – I love everything about this game. FFG has really outdone themselves with this one. I think it is fairly balanced with a wide variety of effective strategies. It has the back and forth nature that Destiny had. There’s room to be creative in your deckbuilding and that will only continue to grow as the card pool expands. Really the best thing about this game so far has been the community. I’ve already made a bunch of friends locally and online.

Remedy – It’s the action economy mechanics married to excellent top design that has me sucked in. Anything that helps bring back the nostalgia of the original trilogy of star wars is welcome in my book! I also think an important element for me personally has been reconnecting with all the friends I made from the SW: Destiny days and playing cards with them just like it was yesterday when we were all rolling dice together.

Mcbober – I’m a sucker for Star Wars, I play a lot of FFG games, I like card games, and this one fits it all. I was onboard pretty much since day 1 of the announcement.

Loopee – Well one thing is I love Star Wars. Even more important than that though is the community.   From my teammates at L8 Night, to the drafty bois, my SW:U Wisco buddies and the Hyper Numpties, i think i enjoy the community interactions as much as anything. 

What’s one card design from another card game you have played that you would enjoy seeing in Star Wars Unlimited?

Poem – My all time favorite card from Destiny was Friends and High Places, which let you play a card for the top of your deck for free if you met a certain condition. We have a similar card in Unlimited called You’re My Only Hope. I’d like to see more design like this that can give the deckbuilders some room to try to gain a benefit from setting up their combos.

Remedy – I like card design that takes advantage of tribes. It’s always a fun way to create thematic decks that then often work well mechanically. Things like imperial, rebel, force, official and so forth.

Mcbober – I really enjoyed the “Plot” cards in Destiny that let you change up your whole gameplan of deckbuilding. I think the Temporary Truce plot is a great example of that. Mix up hero and villain cards but can’t play neutrals? Fun stuff.

Loopee – This one is easy for me.  Dryden Vos as a leader in Destiny had a conditional roll to let him top deck a card for free.   I love casino type decks and would like too see a similar design…regardless of the character attached to.  

What is one thing you hope to see from FFG attached to the Competitive structure (ie. prizing, formats, etc)?

Poem – The cash prizing thing doesn’t really seem like something I’d want FFG to do. I’d like for their competitive events to continue to offer exclusive promos for top finishers. Cash prizing isn’t something I’ve ever been a part of but I can see where it could potentially raise the stakes a bit too high.

Mcbober – Probably the most exciting prizing to me would be Cash, or just more cards. I’d be perfectly happy to just win some boxes of product at an event. Traveling to do events isn’t cheap, and I try to keep my gaming budget semi-reasonable if possible.

Loopee – I want Wisconsin to have the player base to support 3 regional tournaments.  Prizing wise I hope we see exclusive play mats.  I do very much enjoy cash tournaments as well. 

How much travel do each of you plan on doing for competitive play in Star Wars Unlimited?

Poem – I’ll be flying out to most of the major events on the west coast and I’d like to start attending some of the national level events when they start cropping up.

Remedy – My goal with this game is to qualify for worlds and then travel over and hang out with all the great SWU folks I’ve met over the past month + hang with the L8Night crew in person.

Mcbober – I’m not sure yet. I’d probably be mostly interested in major events, but we don’t really have any of those yet. If most of my team was going to an event that would probably encourage me to want to go too, though!

Loopee – I’ll be at Galactics for sure and travel when I can. 

What is your goal for long-term content for Star Wars Unlimited? Anything else we can look forward to besides the weekly stream and occasional tier list/deck tech?

Poem – I think that in the end, streaming is what I’m most interested in. I like the live engagement with the viewers. I’ve been working hard on a voice activated program that displays cards on screen which is used on our streams. Ultimately, I’d like our streams to continue to grow in their professionalism and become a home base for the Star Wars Unlimited community.

Remedy – I think I’m hoping in the longer term to work on limited play analysis in how to draft and analyze cards in a limited pool rather than constructed.

Mcbober – Just playing games is my favorite kind of content to make. Building fun decks and having a platform to show them off speaks to me. Interviews and card analysis are in my wheelhouse too.

Loopee – Yes sir I have a back ground in radio and look forward to providing coverage of tournaments around me.   Also enjoy strategy Tips and deck techs.  Content creation is super  addictive and rewarding i’m having a lot of fun. 

What is your favorite thing about making content for SWU so far?

Poem – I’ve enjoyed seeing the channel grow lately. It’s been a long time coming and I’m hopeful that we’ll continue to grow as content creators by constantly improving the quality of the content that we put out. I think that as time goes on, we will all start seeing some of the creativity of the deckbuilders on our squad really start to kick into high gear. Mcbober in particular is known for making some off the wall, off meta decks that are also very powerful. Mcbober needs more of a card pool for his talents to really start to show.

Mcbober – The sense of community, the growth of the channel, and I think I’ve felt more validated as a content creator for SW:U so far than I have for other games I’ve covered.

Loopee – My favorite part may actually be doing the research and doing the testing to put out a solid video.  I love watching the vids from the community.  Outmaneuver, KTOD, Garbage Rollers,  Unplayable, TTI, Thorkk, wooooo, the list goes on.   These folks help me grow my game and understand the game better.

What are each of your goals in Star Wars Unlimited as a player?

Poem – I’d like to continue to make top cuts in online and in person tournaments and be thought of as a good player. I’d like to create some decks that become meta relevant.

Remedy – To improve at deckbuilding with each set and be able to assess cards in a holistic manner.

Mcbober – It may sound simple, but my goal as a player is to have fun. Building and trying out fun decks and trying to make them work. For those that like the old MTG player archetypes, I’d definitely be the Johnny. If I can cook up something goofy and have success with it, I’m happy.

Loopee – To win a major tournament with IG-88. 

What is one specific archetype or playstyle that defines each of you in card games?

Poem – As stated earlier, I like Voltron and reset builds. I hope we get an upgrade centric leader in the future that discounts upgrades or protects them from removal so I can live the Voltron reset dream.

Remedy – I like playing decks which have your opponents reading what you cards do. Right now I’m playing Jyn a lot. Like Loopee I also enjoy playing force based decks.

Mcbober – I sort of talked about this already in the last question, but I generally like anything unusual or interesting that still comes together into something cohesive. Much like I know Poem does, I want to live the Voltron dream of stacking a dozen upgrades on one unit and having it work. I’m not sure if or when that’ll be viable in this game, but a man can dream.

Loopee – I feel my wheelhouse is mid range decks with control options.  I do like force based decks in set 1. 

In an ideal world, how often do you see yourself playing draft or sealed vs constructed games? What about Twin Suns?

Poem – I’m not big into these alternate formats. I’ll probably just play sealed during prereleases through the life of the game.

Remedy – Pre-release every set for sealed for the entire weekend.
– Draft at twice per month if able. It’s my favourite format to play.
– Twin Suns at least once a month, I’m excited for that format particularly once it bumps up to 80 cards/an additional set exists.

Mcbober – An ideal world? I’d be drafting every week. Ideally I’d fill out my entire collection purely through drafts, and then I could worry about constructed! But of course reality is a lot more mixed than that. Twin Suns seems very fun, but I’ve hardly played it since my friend group doesn’t seem super interested.

Loopee – Yeah I love draft and I very much look forward to jamming twin Suns games with friends. On top of premier of course.

What are you most excited about for SWU?

Poem – I’ve been playing with my 8 year old son. I’m excited to see his piloting improve so he can win some games at our local.

Mcbober – I’m most excited to get more cards. I want a big toybox to play in. I say bring on set 2, I’m ready to go!

Loopee – Honestly playing with my wife and son.  Hopefully can get my Doherty daughter to give it a shot as well. 

If there’s one thing you would say FFG has absolutely nailed regarding Star Wars Unlimited, what would you give them credit for?

Poem – Their dedication and commitment to the game has given me the confidence to commit to this game and buy in.

Mcbober – The community engagement and transparency. It’s been a big breath of fresh air after having played FFG games over the years and frequently getting things like product delays, lack of OP support, and basically getting no communication about the details of these things. It helps that the game is a lot of fun too.

Loopee – I can’t leave this at one.  First the design.  They didn’t get gimmicky with the game. They made the best game possible with MTG in its DNA.  Major kudos there.  I also have to hand it to them on the transparency.    It hurt when they suddenly canceled Destiny.  It took me a long time to be willing to give them another shot but i feel they’re committed (financially and otherwise)  to the game.

If there’s one thing you would say FFG has really missed the mark on regarding Star Wars Unlimited, what would you say it was?

Remedy – Like every TCG it’s largely the pull rates for Legendaries are lower than anticipated but I guess that keeps the pulls exciting. Thankfully there is a singles market to draw upon as needed.

Mcbober – They haven’t missed much, but I do wish it was cheaper/easier to get a playset of the game. The hyperspace cards, the foils, the showcases, that stuff is all great and exciting and I’m glad it’s there, but I’d have liked to have seen just getting the basic versions of cards be easier, that way deck building would be easier for the casual player. Maybe double the rares and legendaries in a box or somesuch? That is one thing I liked about Destiny, you got 6 legendaries in a box and you only needed two copies of them. It’s unfortunate that I have friends who don’t want to get into Unlimited because it’s too expensive, and I can’t really refute that.

Loopee – I wish there was a event beyond store championships during set one. 

If you had to pick the first card from Set 1 to see a Ban/errata/restriction/etc, what would it be?

Poem – Energy Conversion Lab is too good. It’s used in aggro, mid range and control decks and a simple ban when the time comes seems like a reasonable approach to take. I prefer the ban of cards instead of the restriction or errata approach and I think banning ECL is preferable to hitting any leaders or units that are iconic, such as Boba Fett. Does anybody even know what the Energy Conversion Lab is in Star Wars lore?

Remedy – It’s difficult to say as I think changing one card might have a cascading effect overall to other cards. I’d say that perhaps Vigilance might need a slight tweak in the future but that might just be my feeling of exposure to only one set. I’d like to see how Set 1 interacts with Set 2 before committing to a card but I agree with the others that my shortlist would include Energy Conversion Lab and Overwhelming Barrage.

Mcbober – I’m much more into buffing lesser cards than I am nerfing or banning the better ones, but in the spirit of the question I’d probably say Overwhelming Barrage. It’s too strong for an uncommon and skews the draft experience too greatly. Firespray is probably a contender too. It’s easy to point to the Boba leader as a problem since his stats are huge, but Firespray is a large part of what pushes him to the top I think.

Loopee – Errata Boba Fett to 3 power 5 health and fire spray to require him to be out to tap.    Change ECL to be 3 cost or less. 

What has been your favorite community experience in Star Wars Unlimited thus far?

Poem – Starting our partnership with FFG and getting to spoil a few cards for Spark of Rebellion was super cool. I’ve got the Hyperfoil Ruthless Raider (thanks to my pal Platform) up on my shelf to remember that experience by.

Mcbober – I don’t think I have a single favorite event or anything. I’ve really enjoyed having different guests on our stream and seeing what they bring to the table.

Loopee – Teaching my son the game. 

Any last thoughts you’d like to share?

Poem – Thanks again for featuring L8 Night Gaming on this community spotlight. You guys have been crushing it with your SWU content lately. Hopefully we can get you guys back on our livestream soon!

Mcbober – I have high hopes that this game will endure for a very long time, and bring us a lot of fun and engagement for years to come.

Loopee – Everyone who buys a pack is part of the community.  Treat them how you would like to be treated.  The half hour you spend teaching the game on starters may lead to a player there every week.   Just have fun,  jam games and play the game your way. 

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Be sure to check out L8 Night Gaming on YouTube! They do a weekly webcam gameplay livestream on Saturday nights at 7pm PST with other content creators and members of the community. You can also catch tier lists, deck techs, and other SWU content videos throughout the week on their channel.