Hello everyone and if you’re in the UK. I hope you are getting some enjoyment out of this Tattooine-esque weather we are currently having. As for us, I think we’re happier here on Hoth. We have a few things to discuss today as the summer of Destiny continues. Firstly, we have the UK Games Expo Grand Championship from the start of the month to look back on. Then we have the details of the upcoming event in the capital towards the end of the month and there is also now a confirmed date for a Galactic Open at the end of July. It’s all very exciting.

Let’s start at the UK Games Expo. I was there for all three days. Friday with the family. Saturday for the Grand Championship and Sunday for mooching with friends. Friday was the first time we had gone to the Expo as a family meeting up with Bert all the way from Malmo, Sweden. We played quite a few games through the day. Jack and Bert got a demo of Lorcana in but by far our favourite game that we tried (and now own) was Echidna Shuffle. It’s a fun game about moving Echidnas around the board by set routes to get your insects that are taking a ride on them home. Little did we know at the time that it was the actual designer of the game that taught us how to play. Second hit which also became a purchase was Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza which is almost a snap type game but with some additional fun mixed in. Dobble Connect also seemed a fun variant of that game too. Friday was rounded off with some Destiny games of course, meeting up with a few of the players in the open gaming area to finalise our decks for the next day.

Saturday, when the main event was to happen. Now apologies as I didn’t take m(any) pictures at the Grand Championships due to getting everything set up, playing in the event and many many many chats. If you want some fantastic pictures of all the shenanigans of the event and me getting some blue milk then head over to Casero’s fabulous article in conjunction with the touchline reporter, our very own Gareth, here. After, shall we say a slow start where I had to get the NEC to find me 17 more chairs as their wasn’t any in our tournament area and realising we had two Tim’s on Roll Better for the event. 19 players were ready to battle it out to become the Grand Champion.

I’d decided the night before to play Gar Saxon and Dr Aphra after some messages with echo3ofclubs (Oli) wondering why he hadn’t been featured much in the meta. I expected him to win a few more events here and there as he’s a very solid character which I remember saying when he was first released. The reason for pairing with Dr Aphra was a simple one. I had a spot gloss I hadn’t used yet and it seemed a nice fit to have ping damage coming from both characters either by playing a droid or a red event.

The rest of the field looked like this. I’ve added the final standings of each deck as well as a link to the db for each of the top 4 decks. On The Sensors also have a fabulous interview with Chimaera, the UK Grand Champion, check that out here.

Gar Saxon and Dr Aphra – 6-0
Moff Gideon and Snoke (Fortified Position) – 5-1
Boba Fett and Soontir Fel (Crucial Intel) – 4-2
Soontir Fel and Captain Phasma (Armoured Reinforcement) – 4-2
———————————-THE CUT—————————————
Boba Fett and Q’ira (High Stakes) – 4-2
Thrawn (EoD) and Tarkin (Crucial Intel) – 4-2
Maul (DoP) and Q’ira – 4-2
Darth Vader (DoP) and Nute Gunray (Crucial Intel) – 3-3
Maul (DoP) and Q’ira – 3-3
Thrawn (SA), Ziro the Hutt and Kendal Ozzel – 3-3
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Rako) and Kallus (Intelligence Operation) – 3-3
Obi-Wan Kenobi (DoP) and Luke Skywalker (EoD) – 3-3
Obi-Wan Kenobi (DoP) and Luke Skywalker (EoD) – 3-3
Darth Vader (DoP) and Rukh – 2-4
Obi-Wan Kenobi (DoP) and The Daughter – 2-4
Soontir Fel and Snoke (Watch Your Career With Great Interest) – 2-4
Darth Vader (DoP) and Nute Gunray (Lightsaber Ignition) – 2-4
Din Djarin and Rebel Sniper – 2-4
Kylo Ren (2PS) and Nute Gunray (Losing the War) 1-5

SEMI FINALS
Soontir Fel and Captain Phasma (Armoured Reinforcement) defeated Gar Saxon and Dr Aphra
Moff Gideon and Snoke (Fortified Position) defeated Boba Fett and Soontir Fel (Crucial Intel)

FINAL
Moff Gideon and Snoke (Fortified Position) defeated Soontir Fel and Captain Phasma (Armoured Reinforcement)

Of the 19 decks being played only 5 were Hero and 14 were Villain with the highest positioned Hero deck coming in 11th after the six rounds of Swiss. The field did seem very diverse but there was still 3 repeat decks. On the villain side Maul/Q’ira and Darth Vader/Nute Gunray. For the Heroes Obi-Wan and Luke Skywalker. Not surprising as they are all solid decks and could win any event on their day.

The deck colour breakdown ended up looking like this.

Red/Blue Villain	6
Mono Yellow Villain	3
Mono Blue Hero	3
Yellow/Red Villain	2
Mono Red Villain	2
Yellow/Red Hero	2
Rainbow Villain	1

There was a 4 way tie for most played character with Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Q’ira and Soontir Fel all making their way into three line ups.

It’s hard to put into words how good it was to see a large portion of the UK community of players (we count Bert from Sweden as British now) making it to the event and supported what Oli has designed, Sarah has produced, I have arranged and Az has ran on the day. It was nothing short of phenomenal and I’m sure everyone will join me in giving the biggest bundle of thanks ever since. With Lorcana hitting the shops soon and Star Wars Unlimited due to release in 2024, I hope this isn’t our last big event at the UK Games Expo. I’m sure we can find some space to run an event next year and avoid the event times of the New Kids on the Block (the new games not the band).

It does make me want to get these people together more and more though to play this great game so without further ado let’s look to the future and two upcoming ARH Events.

The first is just around the corner and with the Games Expo taking up a bunch of time I can only apologise for getting this out a little later than usual. Saturday the 24th June will see the capital host us for some ARH Standard play. This will be for the ARH Local Play Kit that features Kallus. Kallus is exclusive to this type of event. Every participant will walk away with a card version of the card at least with our event winner also taking home the Spot Gloss version. I will warn you ahead of time but I really want this one so bring your A game.

This would be a good point to give you all the details of the event.

When – 26th June 23 at 12:00 through until 5pm
Where – Dark Sphere in Shepherd’s Bush, Unit 8, W12 Shopping Centre, London. W12 8PP
Cost – £9 to be bought through the shop site – here.
Format – 5 Rounds of ARH Standard Swiss with highest ranked player after 5 rounds the winner.
Legality – Resurgence will be legal and Faltering Allegiances will not be legal. I appreciate professional made cards and dice stickers are likely not going to be out by then but there should still be plenty of cards to use and I may well be able to print and sticker some if people let me know ahead of time.
Prizes – Kallus Local Play Kit

I won’t know who has and who hasn’t bought tickets so do let me know if you buy one.

It doesn’t end there though as later in the Summer of Destiny we will also have an in person, Galactic Open. Win tickets to trade in for beautiful spot glossed characters, plots and battlefields. For this event we head back to a regular Destiny spot in the UK. The Dice Cup Gaming Cafe in Nottingham for the Geonosis Open. The Resurgence meta will undoubtedly be in full swing by the 29th July for this event. Which Spot Glosses would you choose?

The Details

When – 29th July 23 at 10.30 – 6pm
Where – The Dice Cup, 68-70 Mansfield Rd, Nottingham NG1 3GY
Cost – £12 – Ticket can be purchased on Eventbrite here.
Format – 6 Rounds of ARH Standard Swiss
Prizes – ARH Spot Gloss Wall.

I hope that has got you excited for more in person Destiny play this summer in the UK. As always if you want to come and play but don’t possess the ARH Cards or Dice then let us know, come anyway and we can get a deck and dice sorted for you. Hope to see you at one or both of these soon but Oli wants to play some Resurgence games so I best not keep him waiting any longer.

Happy Rolling

LandoWonka