Rotation Speculation
FFG just announced that the leader Boba Fett: Collecting the Bounty would be suspended from Premiere play. Admitting the early game development mistake and taking corrective action makes a ton of sense when the single leader accounted for 55% of the winner from the initial Planetary Qualifier season.
Many people are making videos and chatting about this change. I will say no more about it. Instead I’m going to speculate on a potential throw away comment that Danny made during the FFG stream. Paraphrasing, “Rotation details coming next month”.
The concept of set rotation in collectible card games has existed for decades. The rationale is that new players just getting started with a game would have difficulty getting cards from older sets that are no longer in print and have scarce availability. It also keeps the game fresh by changing up the card pool not only by introducing new cards but also by removing older ones. This will ultimately make sense for Star Wars Unlimited Premiere play.
Here are some potential options that FFG could be using, may have considered, or could also just be interesting concepts…
#1 – Set number of available sets
This is the easiest rotation method to understand. Essentially, Premier play available cards becomes just the most recent X number of sets. The most likely numbers of sets available would be 6 or 9, the former roughly equating to two years worth of available cards and the later being three years. As each new set comes out it would immediately bump the oldest set from the card pool. Set seven would make the initial Spark of Rebellion set no longer legal for use in the Premier format.
#2 – Set number of years
Similar to option number one above, this method would rotate sets based on calendar year. Again two or three years worth of card pool seem the most likely options. Figuring a two year rotation and sticking with three sets per year, as set number seven is released in year three, all three sets from the first year of production would rotate out and no longer be legal for Premier play. The number of available sets would be slightly flexible going from four to six depending on time of the year.
#3 – Keep sets in print
Perhaps the simplest option would be to just not rotate and keep everything in print. FFG has mentioned keeping production evergreen such that as long as demand for a set exists they would continue to print that set. We are about to see that in the near future with a second print run of the initial Spark of Rebellion set.
#4 – Create and keep an All-Stars set in print
Maybe not all cards need to be kept in print. Spark of Rebellion’s Underworld Thug likely does not see much if any play outside of draft and sealed events and would probably not be worth reprinting. Specific cards from each set that see high degrees of play in Store Showdowns, Planetary Qualifiers or other large events could be combined into a single set that remains in print. This all-star type set could be updated periodically just to keep it current. Methodology here would be similar to how Magic: The Gathering treated its base set for numerous years. It could become a good jump in point for new players, always contain specific staple cards and Star Wars universe main characters.
#5 – Only rotate certain things
Maybe only leaders rotate. All non-leader cards stay available. This seems less likely, but kind of falls in line with an expanded version of the Boba Fett suspension.
#6 – Something else entirely
FFG designers could be cooking up something entirely different from anything mentioned here.
Thoughts about why you should not be on my lawn…
On one hand rotation stinks. People spend money, sometimes a ton of it, getting cards to play a game. It has major bad feels to it when suddenly cards are no longer allowed to be used anymore. Showcase leaders are awesome and sought after. Has to be miserable for a person that spend maybe multiple hundreds of dollars on a Boba Fett showcase only to not be allowed to use it outside of Twin Suns.
On the other hand rotation is healthy for a card game. It keeps the meta fresh and does not allow for any specific deck to become dominant and stay dominant for a long amount of time. Suspensions could of course still be used in the most egregious circumstances but rotation would naturally take care of many of the issues on its own.
Maybe Twin Suns becomes a more widely played format as rotation starts to take effect. Pretty sure I’ve seen people playing it twice, both at this year’s GenCon event. Perhaps there becomes a new format altogether that does not have rotation. Premier and Premier Vintage (or some other name that denotes I can play all the cards I have available to me at any given point in time aside from specific suspensions or banning). Maybe a Single Sun format where it’s still a single leader in a head to head matchup with deck construction limitations of only having one of any given card in the 50 card deck.
I know I have a showcase leader that I like playing. I have spent time getting a deck I enjoy to the point where it is all hyperspace cards. With a new set coming out I can strategically search for the few new cards I want to add. I plan to probably play some variation of a deck with this leader at least until FFG makes some R2-D2 leader (I hope) down the road. Suddenly at some future date it all becomes unplayable kind of seems less than fun.
Even less fun is the game that we are really like becomes stale and fades away.
I guess I am willing to accept rotation and the potential bad feels that come along with it if it means the game remains healthy and continues to grow in popularity. Doesn’t mean I have to love the idea 100%. Get off the darn lawn.