Admin: 2026 European Championship decks; European Championships hub

2026-09-28T17:49:40Z

2026 European Championship decks; European Championships hub

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:49, 28 September 2026
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	* [[List of SWCCG tournaments]] — chronological event index		* [[List of SWCCG tournaments]] — chronological event index
	* [[Championships]] — Worlds hubs		* [[Championships]] — Worlds hubs
			* [[European Championships]]
	* [[Formats]] — Standard, Legacy, Open, sealed, cube		* [[Formats]] — Standard, Legacy, Open, sealed, cube
	* [[Tournament Guidelines]]		* [[Tournament Guidelines]]

Admin: Day 2 screenshot v2 under 12.5MP

2026-09-28T17:14:19Z

Day 2 screenshot v2 under 12.5MP

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:14, 28 September 2026
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	DecipherCon 2000 ran the Star Wars World Championship as a multi-day Swiss cut. Day 2 had '''58''' players, eight games (4 Light / 4 Dark), and twelve advancing. [[Clint Hays]] 14 points / +85 led; several players on 10 points missed the cut on differential ([[Martin Akesson]] +69 made it; others on 10 with +57 down to +15 did not).<ref name="dc2000d2">[https://web.archive.org/web/20001026043505/http://www.decipher.com/deciphercon/2000/events/results/starwars.html DecipherCon 2000 Day 2 results] (Wayback, 26 October 2000)</ref>		DecipherCon 2000 ran the Star Wars World Championship as a multi-day Swiss cut. Day 2 had '''58''' players, eight games (4 Light / 4 Dark), and twelve advancing. [[Clint Hays]] 14 points / +85 led; several players on 10 points missed the cut on differential ([[Martin Akesson]] +69 made it; others on 10 with +57 down to +15 did not).<ref name="dc2000d2">[https://web.archive.org/web/20001026043505/http://www.decipher.com/deciphercon/2000/events/results/starwars.html DecipherCon 2000 Day 2 results] (Wayback, 26 October 2000)</ref>

	[[File:dc2000-day2.png\|420px]]<ref name="dc2000d2" />		[[File:dc2000-day2-v2.png\|420px]]<ref name="dc2000d2" />

	Day 3 reset those twelve. Four games (2 Light / 2 Dark). Top two advanced to the Final Confrontation:<ref name="dc2000d3">[https://web.archive.org/web/20010303120030/http://decipher.com/deciphercon/2000/events/results/starwars3.html DecipherCon 2000 Day 3] (Wayback, 3 March 2001)</ref>		Day 3 reset those twelve. Four games (2 Light / 2 Dark). Top two advanced to the Final Confrontation:<ref name="dc2000d3">[https://web.archive.org/web/20010303120030/http://decipher.com/deciphercon/2000/events/results/starwars3.html DecipherCon 2000 Day 3] (Wayback, 3 March 2001)</ref>

Admin: Tournaments refs + 2000 Worlds cut; 2026 San Diego Super Open decks

2026-09-28T17:08:30Z

Tournaments refs + 2000 Worlds cut; 2026 San Diego Super Open decks

Show changes

Admin: Tournaments history: Decipher Swiss, Elo, Worlds 1998, decklists

2026-09-28T14:27:56Z

Tournaments history: Decipher Swiss, Elo, Worlds 1998, decklists

New page

'''Tournaments''' are how Star Wars CCG has been played as organized competition since 1996: two 60-card decks (one [[Light Side]], one [[Dark Side]]), Swiss pairing, victory points plus differential, and no Magic-style sideboard. Decipher ran the circuit through 2001. The [[Players Committee]] has run it since 2002. [[GEMP]] is the online table used for many modern events.

This page is the history and the paperwork: websites, the rating system, Worlds formats, decklist sheets, and the current Tournament Guide. Year-by-year Worlds hubs start at [[Championships]]. Format names live on [[Formats]].

== What a Star Wars tournament is ==

A constructed event asks each player for '''two''' decks of 60 cards. A round is typically '''two games''' — one with each allegiance — against the same opponent. Pairing is Swiss (you play someone with a similar record), not single-elimination from round one.

Scoring, as printed on Decipher command cards and in the 1998 Worlds packet:

* '''Full win''' of a game: 2 victory points
* '''True tie:''' 1 point each
* '''Modified win''' (time): 1 point
* '''Differential:''' cards remaining in Reserve Deck + Used Pile + Force Pile (the life-force leftover). Tie-break after victory points.

Decipher designed this against Magic: the Gathering. Magic settled on 60-card decks, a 15-card sideboard, and best-of-three matches. Star Wars has no sideboard. You bring both allegiances and the answers have to be in the 60. Deck changes between '''days''' of a multi-day event were allowed at 1998 Worlds (Saturday night only); they were not allowed between games of the same day.<ref name="1998pkt">[https://blog.categoryonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/1998-World-Championship.pdf 1998 World Championship packet], Decipher / Kendrick Summers, 20 November 1998</ref>

Tom Braunlich (a designer) was a chess player. Decipher's own "What is it?" page compared the game to chess: simple rules, deep play.<ref name="whatisit">[https://web.archive.org/web/20010205103600/http://www.decipher.com/starwars/whatisit/index.html What is the Star Wars CCG?] (Wayback, 5 February 2001)</ref> Swiss pairing and an Elo-style rating are the chess pieces Decipher kept.

== Decipher websites (1996–2002) ==

The public tournament desk moved twice. The pages below are the working copies; this wiki cites the Wayback capture next to each.

=== December 1996 — first public desk ===

[https://web.archive.org/web/19961219004613/http://www.decipher.com/starwars/tournaments/index.html decipher.com/starwars/tournaments] (19 December 1996) already split five jobs:

* Running a '''sanctioned''' tournament (the only events that fed an official rating)
* Running a '''non-sanctioned''' event (supported, not rated)
* A tournament '''locator'''
* '''World Championships''' / qualifier overview
* '''Ratings''' of tournament players

The page is explicit: "Playing in a sanctioned tournament is the only way for a player to get an official rating. The rating system will be maintained and published by Decipher."

=== 1998 — overview, command cards, Worlds banner ===

By December 1998 the same path had grown an '''overview''' with downloadable PDFs (tournament guide last updated 15 April 1997; constructed / sealed / junior command cards), a sanctioned-director form on christo.decipher.com, a locator, and a ratings search. Three sanctioned formats are named on the overview: '''Swiss, Junior Swiss, and Sealed Deck'''.<ref name="overview98">[https://web.archive.org/web/19981205173603/http://www.decipher.com/starwars/tournaments/overview/index.html Tournament overview] (Wayback, 5 December 1998)</ref><ref name="index98">[https://web.archive.org/web/19981207051442/http://www.decipher.com/starwars/tournaments/index.html Tournaments index] (Wayback, 7 December 1998)</ref>

Ratings were a separate database per format. The 1998 index: "Each of the sanctioned formats has its separate rating scheme."

=== 2001–2002 — tournaments.decipher.com ===

By June 2002 Decipher had folded Star Wars, Star Trek, LOTR, Young Jedi, and Jedi Knights into one desk at [https://web.archive.org/web/20020606025218/http://tournaments.decipher.com/index.asp tournaments.decipher.com]. The old Star Wars page became a pointer:<ref name="sw2002">[https://web.archive.org/web/20020611044039/http://www.decipher.com/starwars/tournaments/index.html Star Wars tournaments index] (Wayback, 11 June 2002)</ref>

<blockquote>
Tournament management functions for all Decipher CCGs and TCGs have been consolidated in a new Decipher Tournament Area. Sign up to be a tournament director, find tournament resources, register or locate tournaments, enter tournament results online, and check player ratings at tournaments.decipher.com.
</blockquote>

The new home page had five buttons: Find a Tournament, Check Player Ratings, Tournament Resources, Sign Up to be a Director, Director Login.<ref name="tcg2002">[https://web.archive.org/web/20020606025218/http://tournaments.decipher.com/index.asp Decipher TCG Tournament System] (Wayback, 6 June 2002)</ref>

Star Wars-specific downloads sat on [https://web.archive.org/web/20020808154840/http://tournaments.decipher.com/resources-sw.asp resources-sw.asp] (8 August 2002):<ref name="ressw">[https://web.archive.org/web/20020808154840/http://tournaments.decipher.com/resources-sw.asp Star Wars tournament resources] (Wayback, 8 August 2002)</ref>

* Official Tournament Guide (HTML + PDF)
* Timing of Games & Final Confrontations
* True Ties rulings
* Format notes: OTSD booster draft, EPP Overdrive, Jabba's Palace Sealed, Reflections II booster draft, Death Star II closed environment, Episode I closed environment
* '''Deck List Form''' (required for championship circuit) — PDF
* Constructed and Sealed command cards
* Pointer to the Star Wars rules page for Rulebook / Glossary

General resources (all games) listed the DGMA Code of Conduct, prize support, FAQ, release dates / legality, and '''About Ratings, Rankings, and the ELO System'''.<ref name="resgen">[https://web.archive.org/web/20020602141155/http://tournaments.decipher.com/resources.asp Tournament Resources] (Wayback, 2 June 2002)</ref>

== The Decipher rating system ==

Rating and ranking are not the same. Decipher's own 2002 explanation:<ref name="elo">[https://web.archive.org/web/20020808153022/http://tournaments.decipher.com/aboutratings.asp About Ratings, Rankings, and the ELO System] (Wayback, 8 August 2002)</ref>

* '''Rating''' is a number for sanctioned performance against every other rated player (a GPA).
* '''Ranking''' is where that rating places you in a region or in the world (class rank). Example they printed: a 1597 rating might be no. 223 in the home region and no. 2879 in the world.

The math is Elo (chess). Facts Decipher published on that page:

* Every player starts at '''1500'''
* Points move after games, based on wins/losses '''and''' opponent strength
* '''1600–1700''' is called expert
* '''2000''' is called a master of the game
* The scale is 0–3000, average around 1500

Earlier tournament guides used for Star Trek / shared Decipher organized play add: only '''sanctioned''' events move the rating; constructed, junior, and sealed are '''separate''' rating databases (play in one does not change the others); K-value weighting by event level appears in later DGMA / LOTR writeups of the same system (local / territorial / continental / Worlds).<ref name="st99">Shared Decipher tournament-guide language on player ratings, 1998–1999 printings archived via trekcc / starshipexcelsior</ref>

Players could look themselves up at tournaments.decipher.com → Check Player Ratings. Decipher did not publish a standing world list that survived in an easy public dump; players quoted their numbers on mailing lists and fan sites. After the license ended, that lookup went away with the Decipher desk. The Players Committee did not keep the same public Elo table.

== 1998 World Championship packet ==

The third official Worlds (56 finalists) shipped a paper packet dated 20 November 1998 over Kendrick Summers' (Marketing Manager) letterhead.<ref name="1998pkt" /> The format page is the best single snapshot of Decipher Swiss at championship scale:

[[File:1998-worlds-p4.png|360px]]

'''Saturday 21 November''' — first stage, Decipher Swiss: 4 rounds / '''eight games''', random pairing at the start. Top '''twelve''' advance on victory points then differential. Saturday scores do '''not''' carry to Sunday. Those twelve "will be allowed to change their decks on Saturday night if they wish. This is the only time during the tournament that players may make adjustments to their decks." Everyone outside the twelve plays a Sunday sealed event instead.

'''Sunday 22 November''' — second stage: all twelve start at 0. Four 60-minute Swiss games, random pairing again. Top two on points then differential.

'''Final conflict''' — the top two start at 0 again. Two games (each player uses light and dark). Highest total from those two games is 1998 World Champion. If still tied on points and differential, one extra game with allegiance randomized.

'''Sunday sealed''' (the rest of the field): four 45-minute Swiss games plus a winner-take-all between the top Dark and top Light; earlier sealed scores do not carry into that last game.

The same packet includes a December 1998 Current Rulings supplement (Cane Adiss, Cloud City location layout, cloud sectors, Hunt Down, etc.) and the Code of Conduct overview Summers promised in the cover letter.

[[File:1998-worlds-p1.png|260px]]

== Command cards ==

A '''command card''' is the scoresheet. Decipher's 1997 constructed card (still issued in 1998) has two copies per sheet. Each round has game #1 and #2 with columns for allegiance (L/D), opponent, result, victory points, differential, and cumulative score. The printed example is a full win with Light (+11 differential, 2 VP) then a full loss with Dark (−6, still 2 VP cumulative, +5 differential).

[[File:1998-commandcard-p1.png|360px]]

The 2002 resources page still offered constructed and sealed command-card PDFs alongside the deck list.

== Decklist sheets ==

Decklists exist to freeze the 60 (and later the cards from "outside the deck") so the director can check sleeves against paper and so the field cannot swap a starting location after seeing the opponent's.

=== Decipher championship circuit (2002 PDF) ===

The form required on resources-sw.asp is a 60-line sheet: Light/Dark checkboxes, event, date, player name, deck title. Instruction: "Please list multiple copies of a card on separate lines, one for each copy of that card." No shield box — Defensive Shields did not exist yet as a tournament outside-the-deck pile. Footer: "Decipher allows unlimited reproduction of this document and its contents."

[[File:decipher-decklist-p1.png|320px]]

=== Players Committee form with Defensive Shields (2002–2015) ===

Once Starting Effects and Defensive Shields existed, the PC form added a '''DEFENSIVE SHIELDS''' block (15 lines on the 2015 printing) plus a (V) checkbox on every line so virtual reprints could be marked. Line 1 is labelled Objective/Starting Location. Footer on the 2015 sheet: "2015 SWCCG Players Committee."

[[File:pc-decklist-2015-p1.png|320px]]

Filled example: 2008 Worlds Day 1, Warren Maruszak, Dark Side "AORS" (Agents Of Black Sun), on a sheet still marked '''2002 SWCCG Player's Committee'''. The right-hand block lists twelve defensive shields (Abyss (V), Alterations, Battle Order, There Is No Try, Oppressive Enforcement, You Cannot Hide Forever, Restricted Access (V), Secret Plans, …). That is the era when listing shields on the sheet was required.

[[File:2008-worlds-d1-p1.png|320px]]

The July 2018 Tournament Guide 2.2 still treats shields as "outside the deck": they must be the same set under the Starting Effect for every game of that deck, they do not count against the 60, and they must be listed.<ref name="tg22">[https://res.starwarsccg.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/Star-Wars-CCG-Tournament-Guide-2.2.pdf Star Wars CCG Official Tournament Guide 2.2] (revised July 2018)</ref> Guide 2.2 also requires the first line of a list to be the starting location or objective, and it allows common abbreviations at the director's discretion.

A separate PC file was labelled '''Tournament Decklist (for Reflections starting effects)''' — the Decipher Reflections III starting-effect pile (Fear Is My Ally / An Unusual Amount Of Fear, historically capped in the rulesheet) is not the same as the later virtual Starting Effect / shield pile.

=== Current sheets ===

Later PC organized play dropped the dedicated shields column from the everyday decklist. Shields still exist in the game; they are just no longer a required fill-in box on the sheet the way they were on the 2002–2015 forms. Keep both generations: the Decipher 60-line sheet, the PC shield sheet, and whatever the event posts today. Tournament Guide 2.2 remains the procedure document until the PC replaces it.

== Players Committee organized play ==

Decipher's last Worlds were 2001. In January 2002 the company stood up a Players' Committee to keep tournaments and (later) virtual cards going. The November 2002 swccgpc.com tournaments page for DecipherCon 2002 already shows the modern shape: two Day 1 Swiss flights (top 20% each), a Saturday Day 2 of 8 Swiss games including Regional / Mini-Open / Summer Open / World Champion byes, then Top 8 single-elimination Final Confrontation with published prize money.<ref name="pc2002">[https://web.archive.org/web/20021106221038/http://www.swccgpc.com/tournaments.htm DecipherCon 2002 schedule] (Wayback, 6 November 2002)</ref>

Guide 2.2 (July 2018) is the current long-form procedure: event levels, pairings, differential, Final Confrontation, travel vouchers, deck-list rules, deck checks, infractions, starting effects / outside-the-deck cards, Jabba's Prize (V).<ref name="tg22" /> Alternate formats (Legacy vs Standard, sealed variants, cube, closed environments) are in the Alternate Format Tournament Guide (2015 revision) and on [[Formats]].

Live results and GEMP-importable lists: [https://www.starwarsccg.org/tournaments/ starwarsccg.org/tournaments] and this wiki's [[Championships]] / GEMPC hubs.

[[File:pc-tg-22-p1.png|280px]]

== Differential, the cut, and why lists exist ==

Swiss + differential punishes decks that spend a lot of life force (Hunt Down, mutual loss) and rewards retrieval. DecipherCon 2000 Day 2 is the worked example: 58 players, 8 games (4 Light / 4 Dark), 12 advance. Clint Hays 14 points / +85; several players on 10 points missed the cut on differential (Martin Akesson +69 made it; others on 10 with +57 down to +15 did not).<ref name="dc2000d2">[https://web.archive.org/web/20001026043505/http://www.decipher.com/deciphercon/2000/events/results/starwars.html DecipherCon 2000 Day 2 results] (Wayback, 26 October 2000)</ref> Day 3 then reset the twelve; a modified win decided who reached the final two.<ref name="dc2000d3">[https://web.archive.org/web/20010303120030/http://decipher.com/deciphercon/2000/events/results/starwars3.html DecipherCon 2000 Day 3] (Wayback, 3 March 2001)</ref>

Decklists exist because starting locations are supposed to be simultaneous, because a 60-card check is the only way to catch extras, and because championship events post the lists after the fact. That is also why 1998 Worlds allowed a single Saturday-night rewrite: the next day's list is a new freeze.

Fan narrative of Worlds 1996–1999 (Vail 1996; 1997 becoming more international; 1998 timed with Special Edition; 1999 made more exclusive and widely criticized) is on Trandosite's "History of the World Finals."<ref name="trando">[https://web.archive.org/web/20050517110350/http://trandosite.mcmail.com/wf00p2.htm World Championships 2000 / history of the world finals] (Wayback)</ref> Use it as a contemporary fan account; pair it with Decipher packets and result pages.

== See also ==

* [[Championships]] — Worlds hubs
* [[Formats]] — Standard, Legacy, Open, sealed, cube
* [[Tournament Guidelines]]
* [[Players Committee]] · [[History of the Players Committee]]
* [[GEMP]] · [[2026 Tenth Annual GEMPC]]
* [[Making Custom SWCCG Cards]]

== Sources ==

* [https://blog.categoryonegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/1998-World-Championship.pdf 1998 World Championship packet] (Category One scan)
* [https://res.starwarsccg.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/Star-Wars-CCG-Tournament-Guide-2.2.pdf Tournament Guide 2.2] (July 2018)
* [https://res.starwarsccg.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/decklist-form-bw.pdf 2015 PC decklist form] (shields block)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020808154840id_/http://tournaments.decipher.com/pdf/decklist-sw.pdf Decipher deck list PDF] (Wayback id_)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020808154840id_/http://tournaments.decipher.com/pdf/scorecardconstructed-sw.pdf Constructed command card PDF]
* [https://res.starwarsccg.org/Resources/tournaments/Decklists/2008/Worlds/2008+Worlds+D1.pdf 2008 Worlds Day 1 lists] (filled PC 2002 form)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/19961219004613/http://www.decipher.com/starwars/tournaments/index.html 1996 tournament desk]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/19981207051442/http://www.decipher.com/starwars/tournaments/index.html 1998 tournament desk]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020611044039/http://www.decipher.com/starwars/tournaments/index.html 2002 Star Wars pointer]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020606025218/http://tournaments.decipher.com/index.asp 2002 TCG tournament home]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020602141155/http://tournaments.decipher.com/resources.asp 2002 general resources]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020808154840/http://tournaments.decipher.com/resources-sw.asp 2002 Star Wars resources]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020808153022/http://tournaments.decipher.com/aboutratings.asp About ratings / Elo]
* [https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1XNDNwSry9So9nAPCjeLSJANSofNl2G6EY7Hy2lpJmGY/edit How SWCCG Tournaments were Set Up] (community presentation comparing MTG, chess, and Decipher Swiss)
* [https://www.starwarsccg.org/resources/tournament-resources/ PC tournament resources]
* [https://www.starwarsccg.org/tournaments/ PC tournament desk]

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<h2>References</h2>
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Tournaments - Revision history

Admin: 2026 European Championship decks; European Championships hub

Admin: Day 2 screenshot v2 under 12.5MP

Admin: Tournaments refs + 2000 Worlds cut; 2026 San Diego Super Open decks

Admin: Tournaments history: Decipher Swiss, Elo, Worlds 1998, decklists