In case you missed it, last Thursday Cascade Games officially launched the Nexus which is the new hub for the judge program of Star Wars Unlimited. Here’s a quick summary with the important links, followed by a more in-depth look at what they’ve shown off thus far!

The Important Stuff

The evaluations to begin progressing through the judge program itself haven’t started, but a temporary application has been made available if you want to judge one of the first Planetary Qualifiers in October.
North America – Click here
Europe – Click here
Australia – Click here

There’s no pass/fail on the evaluation, but all those who submit before Wednesday, August 28th, at 11:59 AM, EDT will be in consideration to judge the October PQ’s.

The judge discord can be found here. It’s the quickest way to get rules/event questions for Star Wars Unlimited answered, and you can make suggestions for clarifications or additions to the Comprehensive Rules/Tournament Rules/Master Event Documents. There’s a role that people can sign up for to be tagged in to answer rules questions when they come up as well. The discord will likely serve as the central communications hub for all things judging, so definitely get in there if you’re interested on judging at any level for Star Wars Unlimited.

If learning at your own pace isn’t something you excel at or you just prefer being taught material, Online Lessons for the rules and tournament documents will begin on Monday, August 19th and will be located on the Cascade Nexus. There will also be online seminars in the discord. These will begin rolling out at the Judge Apprentice level this month, followed by moving up the chain of Level 1 and so on after that.

October is when the full Level 1 Certification will release, which will require an endorsement from an FFG-Partnered Tournament Organizer. What does that mean you may ask? Basically you need to have some experience judging at a local store running Star Wars Unlimited events to endorse you to continue moving up the chain of the Judge Program.

It will be an overal slow rollout of the program, as Cascade wants to “ensure that judges who advance in the program are qualified, capable, and have earned their certification and the opportunities that will come with higher-level certifications. Having a system with every level immediately accessible would disproportionately favor individuals coming over from other TCGs, and one of our many goals is to make sure that the Judge Program is a fresh start.”

You can check out the visual of their Roadmap on their website here.

The Levels

Judge Apprentice

This is the starting level of the program. It exists to help members aquire a basic knowledge of the rules and teaches members how to teach the game to new players. If you take Cascade Lessons, there will be 6 at this level which cover an introduction to the Judge Program, key game concepts, card anatomy, game structure, action timing, and how to teach the game.

To be certified at this level, you will need to Pass the 20-question Apprentice Exam, which covers only rules.

Level 1 – Local Judge

This will be the bigges tier of Judges. They are tasked with judging at the Casual level of SWU events (Weeklies, Pre-Releases, Store Showdowns) Members of this level are expected to have an understanding of the rules, basic policy, and tournament operations knowledge. The lessons for Level 1 judges includes lessons covering the comprehensive rules, tournament operations, software usage, and floor rules.

To be certified at this level, you will need to judge a minimum of two Casual Tier events, receive a nomination from any FFG-partnered Tournament Organizer or an L2 judge and pass the 25-question exam which covers rules, policy, and logistics.

Level 2 – Area Judge

 This level consists of local Competitive-Tier judges who are qualified to Head Judge competitive events at the store level from for up to 64 players. They also serve as floor judges at larger events, from Planetary Qualifiers all the way to 2,000 player events like Regional Qualifiers. L2 judges are expected to have intermediate knowledge of rules, policy, and tournament operations. The training involves lessons delving deeper into the comprehensive rules, tournament regulations, and more complex rules scenarios.

The certification process for this level as not been announced yet.

Level 3 – Regional Judge

This is the level where judges begin to take on leadership roles. They will often lead teams of other judges at small to mid-sized events, most notably as Head Judge of Planetary Qualifiers. They bring their experience from large, multi-day competitive events back to their local communities, helping to improve the overall judging quality. L3 judges need to have intermediate knowledge of rules, policy, and tournament operations philosophy. The training at this level includes lessons focusing on advanced tournament operations, interpersonal skills, and leadership.

The certification process for this level as not been announced yet.

Level 4 – Large Event Expert

These judges regularly travel to large events and take on significant leadership roles. This is the stepping stone between Head Judge of Planetary Qualifiers (L3) and Sector Qualifiers (L5) – the jump from just over a hundred players to just over a thousand is significant in terms of intricacy in all aspects. They are expected to handle complex and rare rules and policy scenarios, and understand the philosophy behind policy to maintain a fair tournament environment. L4 judges also need advanced knowledge of rules, along with strong conflict management and diplomacy skills. Training includes lessons on advanced investigation techniques, event operations triage, handling appeals, and managing players in conflict.

The certification process for this level as not been announced yet.

Level 5 – Global Leaders

This level consists judges who are the pinnacle of the program, head judging large, multi-day events like Sector and Regional Qualifiers and the Galactic Championship. They are experts in rules, policy, and tournament operations, and they innovate new best practices. They also provide feedback directly to FFG on existing rules and policies. They mentor judges of all levels, fostering a knowledgeable and professional judging community globally. Their role is crucial in shaping and maintaining high standards across the Judge Program. At this level, no specific lessons are prescribed, instead, training focuses on practical experience and personalized feedback.

The certification process for this level as not been announced yet.

Cascade included a handy graphic on their website listing the minimum level for each role at every Star Wars Unlimited event.

Overall I’m pretty optimistic about the launch of the Judge program. There’s a lot of good elements, built around a solid foundation for what they hope to achieve with the program. It will certainly take time to get the program levels filled out (which is why I wish the judge program had hit the floor running with the launch of the game) but it’s here now and we’ll see how well it plays out.

Here are some questions I still have after the initial dump of information that I hope to see answered over time by Cascade:

• Thus far, a lot of judging has consisted of making sure you’re up to date with clarifications issued on livestreams by FFG and twitter by Tyler Parrott. Will this continue to be the case under Cascade, or will judging be solely from the live documents as they read?
• What tools will be in place to help make sure judges from small areas are given the same opportunity to progress to higher events?
• Right now a lot of rules discussion threads in the discord are heavily debated. Once certifications get going will judge questions still be open to everyone to answer or will the qualifications already used kick in to help ensure correct answers?
• What will accountability look like for Judges? Nobody likes a witch hunt, but what will happen when judges rule things incorrectly? Incorrectly DQ players? etc. etc.
• What will qualifications look like for the first Galactic Championship? With the intention of slow progression, there will not be any judges at the higher levels for the the Galactic Champs in Summer 2025.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here’s to hoping the judge program will be a massive success and we can come to expect a consistent level of judging across the world at any level of event we attend!

Are there any questions you have unanswered about the program? How are you feeling after the initial information drop?