Young Jedi
Young Jedi is Decipher's 1999 Star Wars customizable card game based on The Phantom Menace. It is a different game from Star Wars CCG. Decipher held both licenses; designers, Squadron Members, and the player base overlapped.
The Corellian Engineering Corporation GeoCities site published two Young Jedi lists next to its Classic Star Wars decks. The lists, Wizards! (Jedi) and All Droids All the time! (Sith), were both by Gold 31 (Alex Alcalde). Archived copies: jedi1.html · Wayback, 2 December 2001; sith1.html · Wayback, 9 October 2026.
Design
Young Jedi was designed by Tom Braunlich and Rollie Tesh, with Bill Martinson and Jerry Darcy developing it further. Decipher aimed it at 9- to 13-year-olds, and Braunlich said he had hoped for a simpler game with broader appeal than SWCCG. It kept SWCCG's destiny numbers, locations and Force depletion as the goal of the game.[1][2] In April 1999 Decipher's Carol Wisely noted that Young Jedi was the company's first game with numbered cards and rarity icons, and that its first set had 140 cards, against 324 in SWCCG's Premiere.[3]
Sets
Decipher released eight Young Jedi sets between May 1999 and September 2001: Menace of Darth Maul, The Jedi Council, Battle of Naboo, Enhanced Menace of Darth Maul, Duel of the Fates, Enhanced Battle of Naboo, Young Jedi Reflections and Boonta Eve Podrace.[4]
Organized play
The first Young Jedi World Championship was held at DecipherCon 1999, with 32 players advancing from four Friday qualifiers. Decipher wrote that "most have some Star Wars CCG experience". Greg Heisler won, and Matt Reed was runner-up.[5] The 2000 Young Jedi World Championship, won by Ian Vincent, ran at DecipherCon 2000 alongside the SWCCG World Championship. The Outer Rim published Young Jedi Deck Effect interviews in 2000, including SWCCG players Greg Heisler, Tim Guzman, Patrick Sullivan, Brad Bedlion, Jeffery Hall, and Matthew Delaney.[6][7]
SWCCG players in Young Jedi
These SWCCG community members (mostly Decipher Squadron Members) have Young Jedi results in Decipher's DecipherCon 1999 event scores. Placings are as posted.
- Alex Alcalde: 1 in YJ Opposites Sealed Deck[8].
- Joe Alread: 6 in YJ Opposites Sealed Deck[8].
- Brian Rippetoe: 5 in YJ Opposites[9].
- Matthew Reed: 2 in Young Jedi World Championship (Open Champs)[10]; 14 in YJ Qualifier #2 (Sealed Deck)[11].
- Josh Clark: 5 in Young Jedi World Championship (Open Champs)[10]; 1 in YJ Qualifier #2 (Sealed Deck)[11]; 9 in YJ Constructed Deck[12].
- Steven Flores: 9 in Young Jedi World Championship (Open Champs)[10]; 3 in YJ Qualifier 4 (Constructed)[13].
- Larry Hutson: 17 in Young Jedi World Championship (Open Champs)[10].
- John Kaufeld: 28 in Young Jedi World Championship (Open Champs)[10]; 7 in YJ Qualifier #2 (Sealed Deck)[11].
- Craig Spaid: 8 in YJ Qualifier #2 (Sealed Deck)[11]; 1 in The Gauntlet Dual Formats[14].
- Butch Branscome: 17 in YJ Qualifier #2 (Sealed Deck)[11]; 11 in YJ Qualifier[15]; 14 in The Gauntlet Dual Formats[16].
- Doug Faust: 27 in YJ Qualifier #2 (Sealed Deck)[11]; 12 in YJ Qualifier 4 (Constructed)[13].
- John Borders: 20 in YJ Qualifier #2 (Sealed Deck)[11]; 11 in YJ Qualifier 4 (Constructed)[13]; 6 in YJ Gauntlet[17].
- Steve Porth: 18 in YJ Qualifier #2 (Sealed Deck)[11]; 14 in YJ Qualifier[15].
- Robert Hallaman: 18 in YJ Qualifier[15]; 3 in Opposites Sealed Deck[18].
- Tony Maravola: 4 in YJ Constructed Deck[12].
- Scott Valentine: 2 in YJ Opposites[9].
- Josh Koziura: 4 in YJ Opposites[9].
- Justin Stauffer: 5 in The Gauntlet Dual Formats[16]; 2 in YJ Gauntlet[17].
- Greg Anderson: 9 in YJ Opposites[9].
- Ray Bordier: 12 in YJ Qualifier[15].
- Tom Heller: 21 in YJ Qualifier[15].
- Trevor Hinkley: 14 in YJ Opposites Sealed Deck[8].
- Marcus Certa: 15 in YJ Opposites Sealed Deck[8].
- Lincoln Torrey: 26 in YJ Qualifier 4 (Constructed)[13].
- Shelby Abercrombie: 28 in YJ Qualifier #2 (Sealed Deck)[11].
- Ryan Patterson: 37 in YJ Qualifier #2 (Sealed Deck)[11].
- Roger McEldowney: 41 in YJ Qualifier #2 (Sealed Deck)[11].
- Matt Duncan: 42 in YJ Qualifier #2 (Sealed Deck)[11].
- Michael Girard: 45 in YJ Qualifier #2 (Sealed Deck)[11].
Design (1999 interviews)
Decipher product development leads Jerry Darcy and Bill Martinson discussed the game on Radio Free Decipher in April 1999, about five weeks before release. Darcy described it as a quicker "pickup game" than the Star Wars CCG. He said it could not be compatible with that game because Episode I lacked the Rebellion–Empire conflict and the same characters appear at very different ages.[19] Martinson said the game was Warren Holland's conception, had been in development since October 1998, and was a focused battle game with a short turn sequence. He said it was planned as three 140-card sets, with a deck-building system proposed by Holland, and that a broad game could not be made before the film was released because the film's details were still changing.[20]
See also
- Radio Free Decipher/Episode 16 transcript (1999 interview with the designers)
- The Outer Rim (fan site) · Interviews
- Corellian Engineering Corporation (fan site) · Corellian Engineering Corporation decks
- Alex Alcalde · Squadron Members
- Decipher · Fan sites
- Star Wars CCG · History of Star Wars CCG · Star Wars: Unlimited · Star Wars Trading Card Game
- Games influenced by Star Wars CCG
- Unofficial repackaged products (third-party bundles of leftover Decipher packs)
References
- ↑ Broadcast 16 - Radio Free Decipher (30 April, 1999): Rollie Tesh, Tom Braunlich (Part 2), Player's Council, YouTube (uploaded 20 February 2022), at 01:40. Preserved copy: Internet Archive. Transcript: Radio Free Decipher/Episode 16 transcript.
- ↑ Broadcast 16 - Radio Free Decipher (30 April, 1999): Rollie Tesh, Tom Braunlich (Part 2), Player's Council, YouTube (uploaded 20 February 2022), at 03:25. Preserved copy: Internet Archive. Transcript: Radio Free Decipher/Episode 16 transcript.
- ↑ Broadcast 16 - Radio Free Decipher (30 April, 1999): Rollie Tesh, Tom Braunlich (Part 2), Player's Council, YouTube (uploaded 20 February 2022), at 07:05. Preserved copy: Internet Archive. Transcript: Radio Free Decipher/Episode 16 transcript.
- ↑ Young Jedi Card Lists, Decipher. Preserved copy: Internet Archive
- ↑ DecipherCon 1999: Young Jedi World Championship, Decipher. Preserved copy: Internet Archive
- ↑ Deck Effect YJ Interviews, Young Jedi Deck Effect. Preserved copy: Internet Archive
- ↑ DecipherCon 2000, Decipher. Preserved copy: Internet Archive
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 DecipherCon 1999 – Event Scores: YJ Opposites Sealed Deck, Decipher. Preserved copy: Internet Archive
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 DecipherCon 1999 – Event Scores: YJ Opposites, Decipher. Preserved copy: Internet Archive
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 DecipherCon 1999 – Event Scores: Young Jedi World Championship (Open Champs), Decipher. Preserved copy: Internet Archive
- ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 11.12 DecipherCon 1999 – Event Scores: YJ Qualifier #2 (Sealed Deck), Decipher. Preserved copy: Internet Archive
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 DecipherCon 1999 – Event Scores: YJ Constructed Deck, Decipher. Preserved copy: Internet Archive
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 DecipherCon 1999 – Event Scores: YJ Qualifier 4 (Constructed), Decipher. Preserved copy: Internet Archive
- ↑ DecipherCon 1999 – Event Scores: The Gauntlet Dual Formats, Decipher. Preserved copy: Internet Archive
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 DecipherCon 1999 – Event Scores: YJ Qualifier, Decipher. Preserved copy: Internet Archive
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 DecipherCon 1999 – Event Scores: The Gauntlet Dual Formats, Decipher. Preserved copy: Internet Archive
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 DecipherCon 1999 – Event Scores: YJ Gauntlet, Decipher. Preserved copy: Internet Archive
- ↑ DecipherCon 1999 – Event Scores: Opposites Sealed Deck, Decipher. Preserved copy: Internet Archive
- ↑ Broadcast 12 - Radio Free Decipher (02 April, 1999): Bill Martinson, Jerry Darcy on PD (Part 1), Player's Council, YouTube (uploaded 20 February 2022), at 12:51. Preserved copy: Internet Archive. Transcript: Radio Free Decipher/Episode 12 transcript.
- ↑ Broadcast 13 - Radio Free Decipher (09 April, 1999): Bill Martinson, Jerry Darcy on PD (Part 2), Player's Council, YouTube (uploaded 20 February 2022), at 04:53. Preserved copy: Internet Archive. Transcript: Radio Free Decipher/Episode 13 transcript.
External links
- CEC Deck Designs (geocities.ws). Preserved copy: Internet Archive
- decks.html (Wayback, 9 July 2000)
- Wizards! (geocities.ws). Preserved copy: Internet Archive
- All Droids All the time! (geocities.ws)