Star Wars: Unlimited has crowned its 2026 Galactic Champion.
Canadian player James Rimas won the Season One title in Las Vegas after defeating American finalist Cody Hill. Rimas used a Cad Bane leader deck and reportedly finished the final with 29 damage on his base, just one point from defeat.
That is about as close as a card-game final can get without somebody physically launching proton torpedoes across the table.
James Rimas Wins With Cad Bane
The Galactic Championship featured more than 500 players and combined Draft with Premier play.
Rimas credited extensive Draft preparation and remained committed to Cad Bane even when relatively few other top players chose the same leader.
That result is especially interesting because we had already been watching how Showcase card prices were moving during Galactic Championship week, as collectors and players tried to predict which leaders and decks would shape the tournament.
Cody Hill’s second-place finish was also impressive after he qualified through the Last Chance Qualifier and played several additional matches across the weekend.
The Championship Was Bigger Than One Tournament
The Las Vegas event included side tournaments, panels, Artist Alley, creator activities, promotional items, and opportunities to play against members of the development team.
We previewed the scale of the weekend in our article on why the 2026 Galactic Championship was Star Wars: Unlimited’s biggest competitive moment yet.
Collectors also had plenty to chase. The event featured prize-wall rewards, exclusive packs, alternate-art cards, accessories, and other limited items covered in our Galactic Championship collector guide.
The wider convention rollout also included the expensive but extremely effective 2026 bounty hunter-exclusive card pack.
Apparently, winning matches was only one way to leave Las Vegas financially changed.
A community recap video has since taken a closer look at the event, including the differences between the Galactic Championship and Open formats, the strongest decks, and what the results may reveal about the current competitive meta.
That wider perspective matters because the headline final only tells part of the story. The Championship rewarded players who could perform across multiple formats, while the Open gave a broader field another route into serious competition.
The 2027 Championship Is Moving to Disneyland
Fantasy Flight Games also confirmed that the next Galactic Championship will take place at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim from May 21–23, 2027.
The move gives Star Wars: Unlimited a much more recognisable destination for its second championship season.
It may also give travelling players hotel prices capable of making a rare Showcase card look financially responsible.
More venue and ticket details are expected later.
Unlimited Is Entering Its Next Competitive Phase
The championship arrived shortly after the release of Ashes of the Empire, the game’s eighth set.
We have already covered the expansion’s post-Endor theme and new mechanics, along with the Rules Update 2.0 changes players needed to understand.
That follows the larger competitive changes introduced through A Lawless Time and the game’s first major rotation.
The Las Vegas weekend showed that Star Wars: Unlimited now has a genuine competitive scene rather than merely a collection of local tournaments.
James Rimas leaves as the game’s first Galactic Champion.
Everyone else has until May 2027 to practise Draft, refine their decks, and prepare for the horrifying possibility of losing beside the happiest place on Earth.
