Columbus Open 2026 - Top 8

Oct 27

3 min read

Written by Matt Evans

We are back again within the same quarter of 2026 with another top 8 article. This time we attended the first ever Columbus Open in Columbus Ohio. There were 29 players over the course of a weekend (five rounds). It was an awesome weekend and we are happy to share the top 8 results! *Longshanks Tournament here

8th Place – BenFett (3-2)

BoSabineMix - Mandalorians

As only 1 of 2 Mandalorian players, Ben brought Clan Wren with Bo and finished top 8. Three streamlined Clan Wren Vets for diving and 2 Fire supports with Bo and Sabine makes this list unique and interesting. Congrats to Ben on a great finish.

7th Place – Trent Hale (3-2)

Vehicular Geonosians - CIS

Indy's very own Trent Hale, from the 317th, brought his take on CIS. This is a very versatile Grevious, vehicle list with some extra emphasis on geonosians in the form of Poggle, Sun Fac and a one off squad. He's also sporting a super tactical droid and not 1 or 2 but all three variants of the Spider Droid weaponry.

6th Place – Mason Davis (3-2)

Tagge Double Darks - Empire

Don't be fooled by the sideburned general in this list. Tagge, Din, and Double Dark troopers had this list make a very strong showing over the weekend. Mason keeps Tagge by the Double Dark Troopers to fire control and share a crap ton of tokens for double acting droids. Mason was my only loss over the weekend when his Dark Troopers tossed me around. Congrats Mason on 6th place.

5th Place – FlawedZombie Matt Evans (4-1)

Rebel Force One - Rebels

This might look familiar, as it's exactly what I just won Michigan GT. This Lando Cassian list works really hard and had the most Kill Points at the end of the weekend with a staggering 3657. For more info see our article on the Michigan GT - Top 8.

4th Place – Adam Knauff (4-1)

Thrawn Tac Strike - Empire

Garrison Talks very own Adam Knauff has been running Thrawn, Iden tac strike to great success winning local events and taking top placements at events just like this one. With a strong alpha strike on turn 1 and double infiltrating mandalorians this list is a lot to take in. Not to mention Thrawn and all his shenanigans. Congratulations Adam!

3rd Place – Zade Gilson (4-1)

Ohnaka Gang Pirates - Mercenary

Here it is, pirates are yet again in a top cut. This is a classic pirate list with 4 tanks, swoops and alot of piraty people! Zade did a great job over the course of the event playing his pirates with his only loss being in the last round to the #1 finisher. Great work Zade!

2nd Place – Ben Lear (4-1)

Thrawn Din-backs - Empire

This is a little bit of everything soup list. It's got ion, long range, melee potential, bounty and Thrawn. It's adaptive flexible and just does what it does with efficiency. Congratulations Ben on the top 2 finish.

1st Place – Friedrich Peters (5-0)

11 Double Darks - Empire

Fredierich finished in first place with his 11 act double dark trooper list. This list out last and out activates most opponents and thats probably what put it to the top. Great job Fredierich and congratulations on the victory!

*Marvin Harris winning the tri-city Ohio belt for most team wins after a harrowing round of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Yes that is an odd sentence, ask a locac for more info.

Thank you to all the TO's, Columbus Open Team and all players that showed up and helped make this event possible! Until next time, May the force be with you!