May the 4th Be With You - May 4, 2024

Arvala-7

I hope you don't have a sweet tooth, because this game was SALTY!  So much fear which led to anger, anger which led to hate, hate which led to...YOU KNOW THE REST!  Let's recap the shooter's Duel, PEW PEW!

May the 4th Be With Them

This post is a couple of days late, so apologies if not all of the details are remembered.  The author of this post was on a lot of cold medicine, which his fellow Duelers learned means he can't keep his inside thoughts from becoming outside thoughts!

The front of this Duel was tediously slow as the dark and light wanted to remain united, and just as the action was picking up, Ian/Krennic played Peace and Security, dumping everyone's hands and leading to even more card drawing.  The first blood in the water was Isaiah's Jango Fett.  He was roughed up when Josh S.'s Lobot and Riley B.'s Jyn Erso came barging in.  Rob's Boba Fett chose to defect to the light side with a Rocket Retreat, though he refused to use it on Isaiah, since it was his last Duel.  That didn't stop Riley B., though!  Jyn took down Jango, and poor Isaiah was gone in last!!!  The league will miss him for sure - it's hard to think of a Dueler more well-loved than Isaiah.

Riley B./Jyn's bloodlust led him into the dark side territory, but he was woefully unprepared to defend himself once Jango was dead.  Ian/Krennic, Riley E./Moff Gideon, and Grant D./Cad Bane concentrated their efforts on the Rogue One hero.  A brutal There's No Shame In It 7-point attack from Cad Bane smoked Riley B./Jyn into eleventh.  Riley graduates this week too, but he took a job locally so I'm sure we'll see him at the table again in the future.

Mando and Lando in trouble.

The light side still had the numbers advantage, thanks in part to Bekah/Beckett defecting to their side after Ian/Krennic's opening Grenade earlier, but Rob/Boba decided to go for the rare double-defection.  Hopped up on Benadryl, he told the rest of the board they should focus on the three strongest characters in the game:  Elliot/Princess Leia, Jordann/The Mandalorian, and Josh/Land Calrissian.  He put his money where his mouth is when he used a combo Deadly Aim and Rocket Retreat to end Jordann's night early in tenth!

You could see the smoke coming out of Elliot's ears after the momentum shifted.  He made many compelling arguments but folks weren't eager to see Leia go deep.  Spencer/Bo-Katan used Aerial Assault to make the finishing shot - Elliot was out in ninth.  There were early rumblings about a chaplain alliance, but they ended up being the first four gone!!!

Alex A. lending a hand?

Josh, playing in his first Duel, found himself as the last standing shooter Rob had called out earlier.  He made some nifty moves, but couldn't withstand the coalition working against him.  Riley E.'s Moff Gideon was near death, and was twice about to be eliminated by Spencer's Bo-Katan before pledging to weaken others on the board if her life was spared.  Instead, Spencer's Night Owl offed Lando.  Not a bad first Duel, Josh!

Sweet 16 Eve

There were only six Duelers left, and Alex had been staying under the radar quite nicely with Han and Chewy.  He used the It's Not Wise Wookie toss to finally put Riley E. out of her misery in seventh.  The birthday girl was gone (Cinco de Riley!), and that's when Ian put the target on Han.  Krennic finished what he started with a 4-point shot.  It was the end of the road for Alex, but that sixth place finish marked a personal best!

With only five to go, Rob's Boba Fett was loaded, and spent an attack on Grant's Cad Bane.  He thought Grant and Ian/Krennic were a solid alliance, so he proposed a trio of himself, Spencer/Bo-Katan, and Bekah/Beckett work together.  But Bekah wouldn't even look Rob in the eye and Spencer kept trying to court Ian instead, who steadfastly refused to commit to anything past Boba biting the dust.  Rob kinda lost his mind since the Benadryl was wearing off, and the rest of the Duelers zapped him in fifth.

"I think Rob might have been right..."

Spencer's Quixotic attempt to court Ian came to a crashing thud once Boba was gone.  The three remaining Duelers all turned against his Bo-Katan.  Grant's Cad Bane got the last shot.  Spencer drowned his sorrows in Cane's, which is a tasty way to die.

The final three saw Bekah/Beckett and Grant/Cad Bane join forces against Ian's Orson Krennic.  Ian played his movements masterfully, though, running around the large rock structure in the center of the board.  That, combined with Bekah's atrocious dice luck, left Grant dueling Ian by himself.  Ian used another Peace and Security to weaken them both and used a deadly Hero of the Empire to stop Grant in third.  He was so close to being the first Dueler to ever win three Duels in a row!!!

This board is so pretty!!!

Bekah's Tobias Beckett was fully loaded, but Ian was in a beautiful rhythm with Krennic.  They danced around the board but Bekah was quickly on the ropes.  After a short chase Krennic fired off a winning shot - Ian won the game!!!  This is his second win of 2024.  Amazingly, Krennic defended his May the 4th Be With You title too, as he won last year!  I can't remember the last time a character repeated...

"Oh, it's beautiful!"

Final order of finish:

12.  Isaiah/Jango Fett

11.  Riley B./Jyn Erso

10.  Jordann/The Mandalorian

9.  Elliot/Princess Leia

8.  Josh S./Lando Calrissian

7.  Riley E./Moff Gideon

6.  Alex A./Han Solo

5.  Rob/Boba Fett

4.  Spencer/Bo-Katan Kryze

3.  Grant D/Cad Bane

2.  Bekah/Tobias Beckett

1.  Ian/Orson Krennic

Congrats again to Ian.  That concludes our 23-24 season of Epic Dueling!!!  Rob will host the Twin Sun Slam doubleheader sometime in June, he'll pick a date once the fog of sickness has cleared his head.  Isaiah and Riley B. - we love you!  Thanks for all the memories!!!

May the Force be with you.  Always.

Preview: May the 4th Be With You - May 4, 2024

I'm not sure how it's already May, but here we are fellow Duelers!  The 23-24 academic year is coming to a close, as is our tenth (!!!) year of 12-way Duels.  A decade is officially in the books once we play this Saturday's May the 4th Be With You Duel, the highest holy day of the Dueling calendar and Star Wars fandom in general.  We'll be on the Arvala-7 board and we're making this one an all-shooters Duel.  PEW PEW!

HISTORY OF THE MAY THE 4th BE WITH YOU DUEL:

2023 - JD M. won with Orson Krennic in the Narkina 5 Imperial Prison

2022 - Rob won with Kylo Ren on the Conveyex Train

2021 - Kaleb won with Jango Fett in the Trash Compactor

2020 - Ryan won with Han Solo on the Kamino Platform

2019 - Riley won with Emperor Palpatine in the Emperor's Throne Room

2018 - Rob won with Mace Windu in the Emperor's Throne Room

2017 - JD N. won with Yoda in the Emperor's Throne Room

2016 - Chris K . won with Jango Fett in the Emperor's Throne Room

2015 - Rob won with Jango Fett in the Carbon Freezing Chamber

MEET THE DUELERS:

Alex A. - poor Alex has been holding onto the Golden Jar Jar since his unfortunate last place finish at January's A New Hope.  He'll gladly trade it in for the Golden Obi!

Bekah - after three straight top-five finishes, Bekah reached professional status with a rough exit in tenth at last month's Duel of the Fates.  Did she turn her assignments in on time that night?

Elliot - Elliot comes into May the 4th with three top-three finishes in his last four Duels.  He's tasted victory and wouldn't mind adding a second trophy to his current collection.

Grant D. - the feel good story of the 23-24 season only got better last month as Grant, fresh off his first win in almost six years, won just six days later at Duel of the Fates!

Ian - this will be Ian's last Duel as an unmarried man!  His pending nuptials hasn't distracted his play, four of his last five Duels have been top-five finishes.

Isaiah - the May the 4th Duel is always emotionally tough because we have to say goodbye to some of our friends.  This includes two-time winner Isaiah, who is playing his last Duel!!

Jordann - new professional alert!  May the 4th will mark her sixth Duel, adding her to the professional ranks.  She'd love to improve upon her second place finish at The Imperial March.

Josh S. - ...and a new Dueler alert!  Josh is jumping in for his first Duel right at the end of the year, but it's never too late for your first Duel.  

Riley B. - the bad news first: Riley graduates from Truett next weekend.  The good news: he got a job at a local church, so we're sure to see him at the Dueling table again in the future.

Riley E. - the long-standing tradition of Riley getting to Duel the night before her birthday is back!  Winning her second May the 4th would make a particularly sweet 16th birthday.

Rob - he's had mixed results since winning the 2023 Championship, but Rob did finish in second place at last month's Duel of the Fates.

Spencer - bad luck with on-call schedules has prevented Spencer from joining his second Duel, but he's finally free for May the 4th!

Tears, laughter, and anger are sure to flow Saturday night!  Feel free to swing by the North Village Classroom at 7PM to catch the action.  PEW PEW PEW!

Duel of the Fates - April 19, 2024

Ewok Village

Friends - we finished a Duel before midnight!  IT'S ABOUT TIME.  What a great pace, people!  We were wrapped up around 11:15, which is a welcome change.  What's that?  You want to know who actually won??  Ok, ok, let's get into it...

Duel of the Fates was played in the treetops of Ewok Village.  Those poor forest dwellers didn't deserve the carnage that was about to take place.  Rob pushed play on "Duel of the Fates" on repeat, and poor CJ was almost immediately plugging her ears.  THAT'S WHY WE DO IT, BWAHAHAHAHA!

Those smiles will soon fade...

As with past Duels, the main bridge area became the spot for early conflict.  Rico/Han and Riley B./Fennec chose to put their respective Wookies facing their light side alliance instead of the threats on the dark side of the board.  That might have been in part because they didn't know Curtis was signaling the desire to flip to the dark side.  Riley B. took one of the first shots of the game, targeting Riley E./Moff Gideon.  The dark side then focused their attacks on Fennec.  It took a couple of rounds, but Moff Gideon blasted Riley B. with Astute Panic and it was a quick night for poor Riley B.

Not going well on the light side of the board...

Curtis' flip to the dark side was solid at that point, making Rico's Han Solo the next easiest target.  Grant D./Kylo Ren managed to march a Knight of Ren to the far end of the bridge, landing a three point attack on poor Han and sending Rico home in eleventh.  This was all in within the first half hour or so!

Bekah/Bo-Katan, who skipped a formal and had homework due at midnight (!!!), was playing in her sixth Duel, meaning she's now a professional.  Congrats Bekah!  Unfortunately, she tried to flip to the dark side a tad too late.  She landed next to Rob/Emperor and Parker/Vader.  They welcomed her with open arms...holding light sabers!  A You Will Die from Rob helped off Bekah in tenth, but she's debuting in the professional rankings in ninth place, and that ain't shabby!

Ahsoka Oh-no!

Julia/Ahsoka and Bella/Luke were hiding around the tree on the light side of the board, but with the rest of their alliance falling, they were suddenly exposed.  Bella played I Will Not Fight You on CJ's General Grievous, who had been stuck on the opposite end of Ewok Village discarding and drawing.  Curtis, meanwhile, used Grappling Line to pull Ahsoka into a dark side kill box.  She took hits from multiple people, and even used a nifty I Choose to Live, but Parker's Storm Trooper blasted her into ninth.

While half of the dark side alliance turned their attention to Bella/Luke, Grant/Kylo was the first to break the dark side bonds.  He began attacking Parker's Darth Vader.  Parker responded with a well-timed Your Skills Are Not Complete.  Ian/Cad stayed in hot pursuit of Luke Skywalker...literally!  Ian used his Flame Gauntlet to finish Bella in eighth place.  This was also Bella's sixth Duel, adding her to the professional level too.  Well done, Bella!

Mandone

Ian wasn't done pulling people's cards.  He used a two-point Pike attack to eliminate Parker in seventh.  Ian did a great job throughout the game keeping Cad Bane on the move and directing the action.

The final six were a very tight unit, but then it was that awkward moment in every Duel when the superior alliance has to start eating itself.  It was Rob's turn and he secretly wanted to go after Curtis' Mandalorian.  He wasn't alone, as Riley E. verbalized the same urge.  Rob promptly used a Force Lightning on Mando and Riley followed with The Great Purge (which that card is SICK, btw...).  The kill shot, however, came from CJ's General Grievous, who had finally crawled out of her back corner to join the action.  She successfully used A Fine Addition, meaning she got to add a five-point Mandalorian attack card to her own hand!  We think that's only the second time in league history Grievous has actually killed somebody with the card.

This board is so sweet!!!

That made it five Duelers left: Rob/Emperor, Grant/Kylo, Ian/Cad, CJ/Grievous, and Riley/Moff Gideon.  It was once again Rob's turn, and he asked for feedback.  Ian bravely put it on CJ's Grievous, who had literally been carding up the whole game.  A half second behind Ian saying that, Grant put his foot in his mouth and named Riley (which was pretty funny as it happened).  Arguments were presented, but Grant and Rob signaled they wanted to stick with blades, so Rob called open season on the remaining shooters.

Rob used a couple of Force Lightnings on Cad Bane, and CJ chased Ian down with Grievous.  Grant/Kylo, meanwhile, engaged with Moff Gideon.  Ian and Riley decided to focus their shared attacks on Grievous, greatly weakening CJ's hand and characters.  Riley, however, finally fell to the combined attacks of Kylo and the Royal Guards.  She was out in fifth.  CJ had Ian pinned in the back corner of the board, and would not accept his overtures to work together as near-dead Duelers.  Cad got chopped down with a five-point attack.  Ian rested in fourth.

The dark side three.

Once Cad Bane was gone the Royal Guards started shooting at Kylo Ren, which did not surprise Grant in the least.  He moved to eliminate CJ next though, and did so in brutal fashion when CJ didn't defend Vader's Bloodline.  This was just CJ's fourth career Duel, and her third place finish is her personal best.  She may have wrestled the "Tiny Titan of Terror" title from her big sister!

Grant had managed to hold onto his I Know What I Must Do (12 attack), and used it to annihilate one of Rob's Royal Guards while also reshuffling that same card back into his fresh draw pile.  Rob had reshuffled too, but he was quickly in danger as he started pulling Guard cards who were now gone from the board.  A couple of attacks later the Emperor was down to three points of health, and Grant used Choke to win the game!!!  Grant went six years between wins after his last victory, and now he went six DAYS between first place finishes!!!  He played fantastic, and it's a good reminder for the league that, despite his low character ranking, Kylo Ren is a BOSS!

Smiles all around!

Final order of finish:

12.  Riley B./Fennec

11.  Rico/Han

10.  Bekah/Bo-Katan

9.  Julia/Ahsoka

8.  Bella/Luke

7.  Parker/Vader

6.  Curtis/Mandalorian

5.  Riley E./Moff Gideon

4.  Ian/Cad Bane

3.  CJ/General Grievous

2.  Rob/Emperor

1.  Grant D./Kylo

Grant has won the last two Duels in a row, all in the span of a week.  That's a hot Dueler!!!  

Our next Duel is the last of the academic year:  MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU, which will be played on, you guessed it, May the 4th!!!  Invites will go out for that next weekend, and Rob will reserve spots for anybody graduating/leaving Waco to get one last Duel in.  It's a sad time of year for the Dueling league in that regard...

Oh - and next month will be an ALL-SHOOTERS DUEL - pew pew!!!

Preview: Duel of the Fates - April 19, 2024

 

How are we already at our second to last Duel of the academic year???  We snuck in a surprise bachelor party Duel for Ian, but the only April Duel is usually Duel of the Fates.  And that means tonight, when the Duelers gather, they'll have to listen to "Duel of the Fates" on REPEAT for the entire match!!!  Sanity will be tested, blood will boil, and ears will bleed.  We can't wait!!!

HISTORY OF DUEL OF THE FATES

2023 - Rob won with Boba Fett in the Geonosis Arena

2022 - Grant H. won with Cad Bane on Arvala-7

2021 - Curtis won with Darth Maul in Ewok Village

2020 - Alex C. won with Darth Maul in the Geonosis Arena

2019 - Kaleb won with Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Emperor's Throne Room

2018 - Ian won with Count Dooku in the Emperor's Throne Room
2017 - Kaleb won with Darth Vader in the Geonosis Arena
2016 - Alex R. won with Count Dooku in the Carbon Freezing Chamber
2015 - Curtis won with Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Emperor's Throne Room

MEET THE DUELERS

Bekah - She's riding high after securing her first career win in last month's Imperial March, and turns pro (Duel of the Fates) this month!

Bella - Pinch-hitter supreme Bella is back at the table, graciously helping us get to 12.  Duel of the Fates will also elevate her to pro status!

CJ - The Duelers will have to contend with one of the fiercest Duelers in recent league history.  She had a good run last month, finishing fifth at the Imperial March.

Curtis - After a string of subpar finishes, Curtis nearly won the Power Coupling Duel last week, finishing third with Yoda.

Grant D. - Nobody will be smiling bigger than Grant tonight.  He's still aglow from his win last weekend at the bachelor party Duel.  It was his first win in nearly six years!

Ian - My apologies for not taking a picture of Ian's surprised face when he walked in on his surprise bachelor party Duel.  He had a good showing too, finishing fifth with his favorite Darth Maul.

Julia - Julia comes into Duel of the Fates with three straight top-four finishes, including second place at the Valentine's Duel.

Parker - Shout out to Parker, pinch-hitting tonight.  He's hoping to place better than his last match, where he finished in 11th at the Fight Night duel last October.

Rico - Rico is jumping into the Duel tonight too, and like Parker, hasn't played since October.  But he did finish in fourth at that Duel!

Riley B. - The Dueling diehard is running out of time to win his first Duel before his impending graduation.  He got ganged up on at last week's Power Coupling, finishing 11th.

Riley E. - She'll hope to escape the wrath of her little sister CJ, who was responsible for Riley's lackluster seventh place ouster last month.

Rob - He's defending his Darth Maul trophy, having won Duel of the Fates last year.  Can he retain the creepiest trophy in the league?

Tonight will be high anxiety - swing on by if you want to watch some of the action!

Power Coupling Duel (surprise bachelor party for Ian) - April 13, 2024

Conveyex Train

With Ian's pending nuptials coming soon, the Jedi Council determined a surprise bachelor's party Duel was in order for one of the legends of the league.  Our only regret?  We didn't invite his lovely fiancé, who for some reason, Ian won't let come and play with us.  I wonder why...?

Surprise, Ian!

Our 12 Duelers spanned the ten-year history of the league, including Hall of Famers (JD! Nathan! Kaleb! Duncan!) and current players, all excited to pepper Ian with awkward questions about his future wife.  We owe a big thanks to JD and Jonathan, who helped orchestrate the surprise.  Speaking of surprises...none of us were when Ian, picking his character last, ended up with his favorite - DARTH MAUL!!!

After explaining the Conveyex Train board to our senior Duelers, we were ch-ch-chugging along (get!?!).  There was a lot of nervous energy thanks to the cramped board, but things got off to a brutal start when Kaleb's Emperor Palpatine dropped JD/Anakin's hand with YOU WILL DIE.  Woof!!!  JD paid for half of the Airbnb and got sent to the (train) rails in last place when Elliot's Greedo finished him off.

Ouch.

Things didn't get any more friendly.  Riley B.'s Jango, caught on one of the side speeders, was taking shots when all of a sudden Ian's Darth Maul laid his tow cable and boarded Riley's area!  I don't have to tell you how that turned out.  Fortunately, though, JD had just bought a new Star Wars card game so he and Riley played that together for the rest of the night.

Hobby Lobby Chic

Rob's Darth Vader was looking for a character on the opposite side of the board to start doing distance damage too, and with a nod of approval from Nathan's Count Dooku, Jonathan/Mace were shelled.  That end of the board collapsed when Elliot/Boba joined in.  The fatality shot came from one of Duncan/Obi's Clone Troopers.  

Despite trying to join the other side of the board, Elliot found himself the next target.  He's had a strong run of late, but his Boba was landlocked for most of the game, and folks weren't excited to see him start using Thermal Detonators.  Fittingly, Michael's Han Solo finished him off with Gambler's luck.

Friends become our chosen Dueling family.

Nathan/Dooku, Ian/Maul, and Grant/Luke looked to be a firm alliance.  Duncan used double Force Controls, however, to isolate Nathan's Count Dooku.  He fought bravely but couldn't withstand the onslaught, especially when Luke and Maul were moved so far away from supporting him.  Kaleb reluctantly used a Force Lightning to stop Nathan in eighth.  It was fun having him back at the table, though!

Duncan thinking about his drive back to Houston...

Ian, the man of the hour, became cranky that his alliance kept shrinking.  He made it known he was headed over to Rob/Vader to pay his respects and share his feelings about it.  But this wasn't Rob's first rodeo with an upset Ian, and he managed to flip the attention to Duncan's Obi-Wan Kenobi.  He hated to do it, but Vader isn't known for his sympathy.  Others rallied to that idea, and with Duncan losing a number of his cards, he was blasted into seventh courtesy of Michael's second Bowcaster of the game.

And then there were six!  Nobody was sure which direction to go, and Curtis moved in on Ian's Maul.  He survived a Force Push but, once again, wanted to tangle with Rob's Darth Vader.  Despite Rob's pleas to work with Grant/Luke to eliminate Michael's Han, Ian wasn't having it.  It was his party, and he'll Sith Speed if he wants to!  The kill shot, though, came from a Justice by Grant's Luke Skywalker.

Rob and Ian tangling - some things never change!

That left five and, just as Rob had tried to explain to Ian, Darth Maul was the next target!  Han Solo took shots and nobody else seemed excited to keep him around, bachelor party or not.  It took a couple of rounds, but Kaleb/Emperor made his second Force Lightning kill of the night.  Good game, Ian, we wish you many years of wedded bliss.

The final four players finally realized Kaleb's Emperor Palpatine was sitting pretty.  Despite taking a Bowcaster very early in the game Kaleb had deftly floated into the final four with little attention.  That finally came to an end, though.  There was a lot of haggling and some side-switching, but Curtis/Yoda didn't want to stay united.  His Force Strike parked Kaleb in fourth.  He's so good!

Three married guys at the bachelor party.

The final three had a lot of twists and turns too, and eventually all three of Grant/Luke, Michael/Han, and Curtis/Yoda were damaged.  Michael still had Chewbacca on the board, so he was the only one of the three who couldn't heal.  Over a period of time Michael somehow had the lead.  He was about to finish off a near-dead Grant with a Wookie Toss, but Grant pointed out to Michael he could use both Tosses and kill the healthier - and harder to eliminate - Yoda.  Much to Curtis' dismay, that's what Michael did!  Curtis/Yoda finished with the bronze.

Michael/Han still had the health advantage, though he was low-carded too.  Grant was just two points from dying, and only had a couple of Leia cards in his hand.  In a Hail Mary move, he charged Han with nothing in his hand, and drew for his first action.  He got a 5 point attack for Luke and used it for his second action...killing Han!!!  GRANT WON!!!  GRANT FINALLY WON AGAIN!!!  It had been nearly six years since his last victory, and this one makes it eight for his career.  He also becomes just the fifth Dueler in league history to win with Luke Skywalker, one of the original 12 characters from the game but the one with the least amount of wins.  Congrats to Michael too, who somehow survived with Han on a tough board and nearly took it down.

Together Grant has it all!!!

Final order of finish:

12.  Anakin/JD N.

11.  Jango/Riley B.

10.  Mace/Jonathan

9.  Boba/Elliot

8.  Dooku/Nathan

7.  Obi/Duncan

6.  Vader/Rob

5.  Maul/Ian

4.  Emperor/Kaleb

3.  Yoda/Curtis

2.  Han/Michael

1.  Luke/Grant

What a fun night celebrating our friend and Dueler, Ian!!!