One year in, Star Wars: Unlimited is thriving on the Neutral Ground

For Star Wars fans, the phrase “I have the high ground!” has become a long-running inside joke, one of many memes born from the prequel trilogy. For NYC Star Wars Unlimited, the favored ground is Neutral, not high: success continues for Neutral Ground Gaming’s prerelease event, and it has become one of the community’s cornerstones.

Let me explain. At CrossFit Dutch Kills in Queens that is closed on Sundays, the locals gather to celebrate the release of the latest booster set. Two concurrent events run: a kid- and beginner-friendly traditional prerelease, and the main event, a Sealed Box prerelease. The former helps grow our game; the latter is one of the best reasons to play it. Sealed Box is the baby of NGG shop owner, Nieves and our region’s “big tent” event, drawing players of all skill levels from across the region. You open a full booster box (24 packs) with 90 minutes to build your 50-card deck(s) and play five rounds of Best-of-3 matches. One thing I observed this time was that the majority of players spent their time building two different decks, giving them matchup flexibility and allowing them to take advantage of this set's deep card pool.  

This was the fourth Big Box event for SWU, starting with Set 5 Legends of the Force, and each one continues to grow. 34 players joined this time, with robust prizing of 12 boxes split to the top 16 (your author finished 17th!) I asked my fellow players what leads them back to this event set after set, and while there were some unique answers — the gameplay format, Nieves’ menu of burgers and dogs, the perfect balance between casual and competitive, the birthday cake for community pillar Austin, the prizing — one answer rang out. At Neutral Ground, Nieves has fostered a true TCG community, and his players cherish it. 

It is easy to see why people return again and again. Deckbuilding is a blast, with people celebrating each other’s pulls and quizzing their neighbors for insights. “Should I run One Must Destroy To Create?” “Can’t decide if this is a Greef Karga or an Ezra Bridger pool.” “The Dinosaur Turtle is underrated.” Some eschew the chatter to race through and build decks, giving them more variety once the matches begin. 

And oh, the matches. Other than two brief breaks — one for the aforementioned grilled lunch, one to solve a Melee crash — we jammed games non-stop. I ran a Cad Bane vigilance deck and played 4 mirrors in 5 matches; Cad is an ultra-popular leader who is going to be both important in the constructed meta and define the limited meta. Two of the Top 4 were Cad Vigilance decks, with the other two red/yellow/hero: Greef Aggression and Ezra Cunning.

So what is next for Neutral Ground Gaming, and the future of SWU? Ashes of The Empire marked the one-year celebration for NGG, and its success was recently recognized by FFG: the store received a Showdown kit for Set 8, and may host a Planetary Qualifier in Set 9 this fall. In the near term, Neutral Ground will run ASH sealed and draft play to prepare the competitors from the Big Apple who will be traveling to Las Vegas for the Galactic Championships.

This success story is due to Nieves’s efforts to bring together the players in NYC and to foster an environment of great people. There is no room for try-hards, jerks, or rule-breaking at NGG. Games will be competitive, and you will run into high-achieving opponents who have topped major events, but the vibes will be unmatched. Local player Alex of MaClunky Gaming has attended all four big-box events and said, “Nieves has perfected the formula.” 

This comes from the top down: Nieves is a mensch, evidenced by the fact that he shared the cookout not just with his paying customers, but even with a friendly pedestrian or two who happened to be passing by. 

Nieves continues to build toward opening a brick-and-mortar location, resurrecting the glory days of Neutral Ground’s original format as an M

TG Valhalla in midtown Manhattan. While he puts in the heavy lifting — and the heavy grilling — it is the community he has built and the camaraderie amongst the players that drive NGG’s growth and make it such a popular destination for NYC TCG players. There is more to come, where one day all of the NYC SWU players will say, “I have the Neutral Ground!”