While everyone loves a standard 100 point tournament, there is something to be said for mixing things up. It can also be good for newer players as playing a theme can force good players to play lists that they don't normally (if ever) play and puts players on a more equal footing. It also breaks up the monotony of the game by not having so many "Meta" lists. For casual tournaments IE not SC's or better, I freely admit that I mix things up and come up with a "theme" for each tournament, some examples listed below. What I am asking from the community is for suggestions on other themes that I haven't yet run that might be fun.
1. Escalation of Force - Instead of submitting the full 60, 90, 120, and 150 point lists before the tourney starts, they only have to submit the 60 point build and after each round they can add what they want with the next set of 30 points. That way players can modify their strategy after each round. This is done BEFORE the next set of pairings is announced so players don't know who they are playing.
2. Red Shirts - Absolutely nothing in the players squad can be Unique (ships, crew, titles, etc)- limited is ok.
3. Red Shirts with Limited Resources - everything above as Red Shirts BUT every OTHER card says limit 1. So only 1 Academy Pilot or 1 Ion Cannon Turret in the entire list.
4. While this may require players to borrow ships and cards, I have also run tourneys where the objective is a mission from the FFG official expansion packs. Each player brings a Rebel AND Imperial list that is legal for the specific scenario that is being played. This is done usually as 4 rounds and each player will play rebel twice and Imps twice. I score this one by hand. And while players may (and sometimes do) play against the same opponent during the tourney, it is always with a different side list.
Any other good theme ideas out there to run as a tourney?