“there's always a bit of truth to Legends.”
-Asoka Tanto Star Wars: Rebles
Welcome everyone! I am so excited to announce the prize support that will be coming to the Utah Armada Open! In addition to the prize support in the Season 3 kit from FFG, we have some exciting other prizes in addition to thoughts in the kit to make this event a little more special. As most FFG kits seam to have at least some vague theme I have attempted to do the same, and I hope it is one that everyone will enjoy. TOP 32 “I will start my operations here and pull the Rebels apart, piece by piece. They will be the architects of their own destruction.” - Grand Admiral Thrawn
The top 32 will get a double sided alternate art commander card on one side we will have Grand Admiral Thrawn of the Galactic Empire. Thrawn was a male Chiss who served in the naval forces of the Galactic Empire and became the only non-human Grand Admiral. Regarded by many as the best strategist in the navy, he rose to a position of power despite the Xenophobic attitude of many Imperials, brought on by the Clone Wars as the CIS was primary comprised of non-humans. and in the now Legends branded series Thrawn nearly brought the new republic crashing down. What is on the other side of this double sided card you may ask?
“At a guess, I'd say our old Corellian adversary has just been put in command of Coruscant's defense. I wonder what took them so long."
―Grand Admiral Thrawn
For the fans of the Heir to the Empire trilogy you may have guessed by the above quote, and you probably guessed right its Mr. Garm Bel Iblis. A keen military strategist and an astute observer, Bel Iblis was skilled at thinking on his feet during space battles. The Corellian was often wary of the ambition of others, believing that first Palpatine and later Mon Mothma were addicted to power. He was proven wrong about Mon Mohtma's ambitions, but was too proud of a man to admit his error, and even after joining Mon Mothma and the New Republic, held onto his pride. When Coruscant came under attack by Grand Admiral Thrawn, he would not help defend the planet unless Mon Mothma herself requested it of him.
With this double sided Alt art card you can bring these Legendary admirals into the fight in style (this are custom cards so they will not be tournament legal, but as long as you have a legal version of this card near by I would not anticipate any issues)
Top 8
Both Garm and Thrawn knew the importance of having their ships and fighters work together to achieve victory, Thrawn showed this with his dedication to the Tie Defender project, and Grams use of what came to be know as the A-wing slash. If you make it into the top 8 you will receive a a Ship/Squadron marker to help your ships and squadrons better work together and to make placement a little less cumbersome.
Top 4
All good admirals know like Thrawn and Garm they need to leverage every resource they have to help them get the edge they need in combat, one of the best resources admirals have to help leverage all there resources are shields and so if you make it into the top 4 you will receive a set of 5 acrylic redirect tokens. (FFG just beat me in announcing this prize and by the time they announced prize support for season 4 I already had these tokens ready to go.)
Utah Open Champion
The winner of the Utah Open will receive, The Golden Dreadnought. The Dreadnought was a key ship in the conflict between Thrawn and The New Republic, and it seamed fitting to be the trophy for an event with this theme. This ship can be used as a display, or if you want you could use it to take the place of another ship you are running, just make sure to also have the legal model handy as well just in case.
I have not of yet locked in a date for this event It will be forthcoming, so please voting is still open get your votes in so I know the dates that work best for everyone in the community! Thanks for all you guys do, and have a wonderful Christmas tomorrow!
“I did not refer to the legends themselves... But what is remembered says a great deal about those doing the remembering.”
-Grand Admiral Thrawn