Filip Szkudlarek’s Winning Deck: The Talzin Red Build That Won the First Galactic Championship

In July 2025, nearly 2,000 players descended on Las Vegas for the first ever Star Wars Unlimited Galactic Championship. When the dust settled after three days of competition, a Polish player named Filip Szkudlarek was crowned the game’s first Galactic Champion — piloting a Mother Talzin Red Force control deck that the competitive community hadn’t fully anticipated.

This is a complete breakdown of that deck, how it won, and what its legacy looks like in 2026.

The Tournament

The Galactic Championship took place July 25–27, 2025 at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas. It was the largest Star Wars Unlimited event ever held at the time, drawing players from across the US and Europe. Competitors battled through Day 1 and Day 2 to reach 73 survivors heading into the final day. Filip Szkudlarek, representing Poland, went wire to wire and defeated American player Ian Klein in the finals — Talzin Red Force versus Kylo Ren Tarkintown — in a tense three-game set decided by a well-timed Force Lightning play.

Filip became the first ever Star Wars Unlimited Galactic Champion.

The Decklist

Leader / Base:

• Mother Talzin — Power Through Magick (Legends of the Force)
• Strangled Cliffs (Red Force Base)

Key Cards:

• Force Throw ×4
• Force Lightning ×4
• Ki-Adi-Mundi ×2
• Anakin, Champion of Mortis
• Supporting control and value package (mid-game stabilizers, board control tools)

The full decklist is available on SWUDB.com.

How the Deck Worked

Mother Talzin Red was not a flashy deck. It won through disruption, timing, and resource efficiency rather than brute force or linear combo. Here’s how Filip navigated each phase of the game.

Early Game — Disruption First

Force Throw was the deck’s primary early tool. At one resource, it could destroy opposing units or disrupt leader plays before opponents could establish board presence. The goal wasn’t to race; it was to deny. Force Lightning was held in reserve for larger threats, deployed with surgical precision to prevent midgame snowballs rather than being used reactively.

Midgame — Board and Resource Control

Mother Talzin’s passive ability gave Filip consistent board presence without overextending. He used resource-efficient plays to stay ahead of opponent tempo, breaking up key pieces while slowly building toward a stronger late phase. The deck rarely did anything spectacular in the midgame — it just never fell behind.

Late Game — Closing It Out

The finisher package of Anakin, Champion of Mortis and Ki-Adi-Mundi created high-value board swing turns once the opponent’s threats were neutralized. In one key semifinal sequence, Filip used Ki-Adi-Mundi to activate a -3/-3 Anakin trigger that effectively ended the round. When opponents were scrambling to recover, the deck’s removal suite kept the pressure on.

Adaptation Under Pressure

When decklists became briefly public after Round 8, Filip used that information to adjust his sequencing and anticipate opponent tech choices. Rather than being thrown off, he leaned into his knowledge of the matchups and tightened his lines accordingly.

Why It Won

Mother Talzin Red represented 7.46% of the field on Day 2 with 42 pilots, but posted a surprising negative performance rate overall — making Filip’s championship run a genuine story of individual mastery over a statistically underperforming combination. Three factors explain why it worked at the top:

Metagame positioning. Filip correctly identified that Kylo Ren Tarkintown and red removal-heavy lists were the decks to beat. Talzin was positioned to neutralize them while outlasting more synergy-dependent builds.

Execution. The deck demanded precise sequencing and timing. Force tokens had to be managed carefully, removal had to be deployed at the right moment, and resource plays had to stay efficient. Filip executed nearly flawlessly under the pressure of a world-level event.

Predictive play. When decklists went public, Filip adjusted. Many players would have been destabilized; he used it as an advantage.

The Meta Impact

Force Throw appeared in just over half of the Top 64 decks at the Galactic Championship. Its dominance didn’t go unnoticed by Fantasy Flight Games.

Effective September 22, 2025 — less than two months after the Galactic Championship — Force Throw was suspended from Premier format. Fantasy Flight cited its consistently high success rate and its interaction with the Force token mechanic introduced in Legends of the Force as the primary reasons for the suspension. Force Throw remains legal in Twin Suns, Draft, and Sealed, but cannot be used in Premier organized play events.

This means the championship-winning version of this deck can no longer be run in its original form in competitive play. The suspension also coincided with the full rotation of Sets 1–3 in March 2026 — including Spark of Rebellion, where Force Throw was printed — so the card is now both suspended and rotated.

What This Means for Talzin Builds Today

Mother Talzin herself remains a playable leader in Premier format as of 2026 — her leader card appears in Legends of the Force (Set 5), which is still legal under the current rotation. Force Lightning also remains legal. The core control philosophy of the deck is still viable; it just has to function without its most powerful early removal tool.

If you want to explore the archetype, check the current meta at SWUBase.com for up-to-date Talzin builds that work within today’s Premier ruleset.

The Championship’s Legacy

Filip’s win proved that creative deck selection and execution mastery can outperform raw statistical performance at the highest level. The Galactic Championship format — three days, nearly 2,000 players, open decklists after Round 8 — was the most demanding competitive environment the game had ever seen. That the winning deck was a control build most players had never faced before made the result even more striking.

For a full look at how the tournament unfolded across all three days, check out our Galactic Championship Day 3 recap.

Build Your Collection at Skillshotz Gaming

Looking to pick up cards for your own Talzin build or explore other Premier-legal archetypes? Browse singles at the Skillshotz Gaming shop. Want to understand what you’re looking at when buying? Our guide to Star Wars Unlimited card rarities breaks it all down. And if you want to test decks before investing in physical cards, our guide to playing Star Wars Unlimited online has everything you need.

Play at Skillshotz Gaming

Skillshotz Gaming in Deerfield Beach hosts Star Wars Unlimited events including Premier format play. Come test your decks against real competition at 616 SE 10th Street, Deerfield Beach, FL 33441 or contact us to find out what’s on the schedule.