Doubleheader #2 - August 29, 2026

Death Star

We were starting the second Duel almost three hours late (poor Michael showed up on time, too!), and the grousing about the unusual layout of the Death Star of course started immediately.  Suck it up, Duelers!  Warfare isn't always symmetrical!!!  

They're doomed.

The map was a bit odd in that there were only three narrow passages running the length of the board.  With that kind of congestion, the light side decided to turn on one of their own.  Poor Eric/Yord was the target as he was in a friendly kill box.  Scratch that, no such thing...  Anyway, folks were fully carded and Yord needed to put his clothes on.  Multiple people contributed but CJ's Clone Commando made the final shot.  In a way Eric was the real winner, because he got to go home before midnight...

Miles/Mother Koril, playing his second creepy Night Sister of the evening and turning pro in his sixth career Duel, Possessed one of CJ's Commandos.  CJ didn't like that and moved to try and shoot Koril.  But the light side wasn't too keen on an Order 66, so they all attacked the Commandos!  CJ was gone after James/Jar Jar threw an Oopsa Bomb Bad on the last Commando and Rob's Saesee Tiin.  Ouch!

Curtis loves sitting on the corner spot.

There was mythical talk about starting in one of the four corners of the board, but that fairytale ended quickly when Rob's Saesee (he's bringing Saeseeeeee back ((yeah)) took more shots.  A stalemate had formed so, to mix things up at some prompting by Rob, Mason's KX Security Droid Crowd Dispersed Sam's IG-88 into a mini kill box!  But Sam got ruthless and played Security Protocols - self-destructing and killing Rob in tenth in the process!

Curtis also sacrificed his main character for the sake of his minor when he played Force Ghost, making young Luke Skywalker the main.  Mason's actions won him no favors (guys - it was just his third game - relax!) and they took KX down in ninth.  Mason has played just three times but has already played KX and K2 - weird!

 

James on a Jar Jar murder spree

Though Sam was still on the board with danger Dengar, his options were limited.  James, who was having the time of his life as everyone's least favorite Gungan, used Accident Prone to auto-damage Sam out in eighth!!  Talk about your low blows!!!  Sam took a Dr. Pepper and made the long drive back to Dallas...

Riley/General Grievous was fairly spry in the middle of the board, but Jonah's Grand Inquisitor finally got loose and jacked up the first year Brooks student.  Riley couldn't survive, especially with Ian's Phasma New Recruiting one of her minors.  The game one winner would have to settle for seventh this time.

Half done, half to go...

That left just six Duelers at the table.  Ian/Captain Phasma and Curtis/Old Ben had been beefing all game long, especially after Ian killed R2-D2.  But with just young Luke left Curtis' hand was half Old Ben.  Phasma used On My Command and Luke couldn't defend.  That just seems wrong!  Curtis rested in sixth.

And then there were five!  Despite being booted into a kill box earlier in the game, and having Kelnacca destroyed before he could do real damage, Miles had hung in there with Mother Koril.  But once again the rest of the Duelers had the heebie jeebies about the Night Sisters.  Jonah used a Ringed Lightsaber to off Miles in fifth.  Congrats on turning pro, Miles!

How is Ian still alive?

There were just four Duelers left:  James/Qui-Gon & Jar Jar, Ian/Phasma, Michael/Commander Cody, and Jonah/Grand Inquisitor.  Michael had laid low through a lot of the game after taking spalsh damage from Jar Jar.  But he was healing up and starting to shoot folks.  Ian was really banged up with Phasma and couldn't heal.  So James/Qui-Gon and Jonah/Inquisitor locked horns.  But Jonah played Ready To Die, which lowers numerical defense values by two.  It just so happened James' only had two point defenses in his hand!!!  Jonah sliced through him like butter and Jar Jar, I mean Qui-Gon, was finally out in fourth.  That was a great day of Dueling for James!

Ian was down to his last two health points, while Michael was fully healthy again.  Somehow Ian convinced Jonah not to off him!  It would prove to be Jonah's undoing, as the shooters combined to blast the Grand Inquisitor off the board in third place.  

Slow motion car wreck in 3...2...1...

With just two Duelers left it was Michael with the fully healthy but not particularly great character Commander Cody up against Ian and his two points from dying Captain Phasma.  The only thing that could change the tide would be an undefended, 8-point Make Them Suffer bluff by Ian AND OH MY GOD THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED!!!  Cody took eight points of damage and was suddenly on tilt!!!  Ian pulled his last Backup Pistol for two more points too!!  It was absolutely sickening to watch as poor Michael went from a near win to a second place finish!!!  Ian pulled it out!!!  Poor Michael!!!

This marks Ian's twentieth career victory!  He's just the second Dueler in league history to reach that milestone.  It's also Captain Phasma's first win too.  

Here's the final order of finish:

12.  Eric/Yord

11.  CJ/Clone Commandos

10.  Rob/Saesee

9.  Mason/KX

8.  Sam/Degnar (IG-88)

7.  Riley E/Grievous

6.  Curtis/Luke (Old Ben)

5.  Miles/Mother K.

4.  James/Qui-Gon

3.  Jonah/Grand Inq.

2.  Michael/Cody

1.  Ian/Phasma

Here's something cool - we haven't had a repeat winner in 2026!  That means nine Duelers have already secured a spot in the finals with three Duels remaining before the Championship!

Congrats again, Ian!  12th place in game one to 1st place in game two is a special kind of torture...

 

Doubleheader #1 - August 29, 2026

Kamino Platform

It was a glorious Saturday afternoon.  The Yoda Soda was flowing, the tie-fighter ties were warm, and the hum of lit lightsabers filled the air.  IT WAS TIME FOR DOUBLEHEADER #1!!!

This should be a quick one.  *gulp*

Is there a reason a game on the Kamino Platform should take 5+ hours?  That's a fair question.  We don't have an answer, but it definitely did.  Curtis/Kit Fisto immediately flipped to the dark side, but Ian/Leia sweet talked James/Beckett to flip to the light side!  It was still 6 vs 6.  No progress!  It was a long stalemate until Eric/Snoke decided to Tied To A String Ian's Leia into a kill box!  Ian couldn't survive, and the longtime pro was in an uncharacteristic last place.

Around the three hour mark we were still eleven strong, but the dark side finally coordinated their attacks enough to isolate Mason's Armorer.  Sam's Sith Apprentice Anakin was no laughing matter, chopping the Mandalorian down in eleventh place.  You should get more than eleventh with that long at the table, unfair!!

Delirium sets in for Karis...

Jonah's Plo Koon was the defacto general leading the light side, but in a bitter backstab, James flipped once again!  And he did it in classic fashion, using Val's It's Been A Ride, Babe, to auto-kill the prequel Jedi into tenth!  Jonah was gob smacked for sure.

It had gotten so late into the afternoon/early evening that Karis had somewhere else to be, so she got more aggressive with her Poe.  She and Rob/Aurra Sing traded shots across the board at each other, but it would be Miles' Morgan Elsbeth, who was all hopped up on Nightsisters magics, that landed the final shot.  Not a bad Duel for Karis' first!

Seriously, let the Wookie win!

Junior had a frustrating game, and not just because he drew Han.  His Chewbacca tried to eliminate Rob's Bossk, only to have the entire Bowcaster shot blocked.  Han hung tough after that, but as the light side crumbled he could no longer defend himself.  Curtis' Kit Fisto used a Form One attack to seal the deal.  Junior was out in eighth.

With the original light side extinguished, the infighting commenced!  Eric's Supreme Leader Snoke was a menace throughout the match, but the group turned against the sequels villain and Aurra Sing put them down in seventh.

Shoot - they figured out we're working together!

The objectively scariest character left at that point was Sam's Sith Ani, though Miles' Morgan was super creepy with her zombie troopers in full effect.  But the table put the target on Sam.  Rob had been the feeder fish swimming under Sam's shark all game and couldn't bear to join in, but Riley's Jabba had no problem and knocked Sam out in sixth.

It looked like Rob's Aurra Sing might be next, but he threw it out there that Miles' Morgan looked unbeatable.  He proceeded to prove it by withstanding several attacks in a row.  But the rest of the Duelers slowly whittled her down.  Miles' own father bestowed the terminating shot with yet another Kit Fisto Form One.  Fifth place in your fifth career Duel ain't bad though, Miles!

Somebody get these beggars off the Kamino Platform!

With four to go we were down to two shooters (Rob/Aurra, James/Beckett) and two melees (Riley/Jabba, Curtis/Kit).  Curtis had prematurely started the attacks against Rob, so he pointed his sniper rifle at the green-dreaded alien in return.  Riley joined in too, and Jabba squished Fisto in fourth place.

James' Beckett was bouncing all over the board for the entire game, flipping sides more than once...basically, playing EXACTLY like his character!  It worked to great success, because despite Rob trying to align with Riley/Jabba, he couldn't survive James' Double Blasters.  The birthday boy was benched in third.

Did we even razz him for his Cowboys shirt?

You know what the worst possible thing is when a game has already taken too long?  The last two characters chasing each other around Slave One!!!  WHEEEE!!!!  And to make matters worse, Riley's Jabba can't move as quickly because Jabba occupies two spaces.  But in the end, after much chasing...Riley played one of the funniest titled attack cards in the league:  "HO HO HO, HA HA HA!"  It was no laughing matter - Riley won her fourth career Duel!!!  That ties her with Kat for the most wins by a woman in league history, woot woot!  This was also Jabba's first career win in just his second career Duel!  James deserves a tip of the cap too - what a great way to play Beckett!

Final order of finish:

12.  Ian/Leia

11.  Mason/Armorer

10.  Jonah/Plo Koon

9.  Karis/Poe

8.  Junior/Han

7.  Eric/Snoke

6.  Sam/Sith Ani

5.  Miles/Morgan

4.  Curtis/Kit

3.  Rob/Aurra

2.  James/Beckett

1.  Riley E./Jabba

First win as an ADULT, as a COLLEGE STUDENT...

Well done again, Riley...but there was still another game on the night, on to Doubleheader #2!!!

Preview: The Doubleheader - August 29, 2026

As we are fond of saying in these parts...the only thing better than a 12-way Duel is TWO 12-way Duels!  It's the end of August and the best way to celebrate the start of another school year is two tries at stabbing people in the back and pew-pewing your way past eleven other Duelers.  This is our 13th (!) annual Doubleheader - it's a baker's dozen, baby!

We'll be playing on the Kamino Platform and the ever-changing Death Star board on Saturday!

HISTORY OF THE DOUBLEHEADER:

2025 Game #1 - Curtis won with the Clone Commandos in the Rancor Dungeon

2025 Game #2 - Rob won with Emperor Palpatine in the Naboo Reactor Pit

2024 Game #1 - Justin won with Rey in Ewok Village

2024 Game #2 - Alex G. won with Darth Maul in the Trash Compactor

2023 Game #1 - Ian won with Jango Fett in the Narkina 5 Imperial Prison

2023 Game #2 - Rob won with Yoda on the Conveyex Train

2022 Game #1 - Rob won with Count Dooku in the Trash Compactor

2022 Game #2 - Riley E. won with Darth Vader in the Naboo Reactor Pit

2021 Game #1 - JD M. won with General Grievous in the Trash Compactor

2021 Game #2 - Curtis won with Anakin Skywalker in the Ewok Village

2020 Game #1 - Stephen won with Darth Vader in the Geonosis Arena

2020 Game #2 - Ben won with Anakin Skywalker on the Kamino Platform

2019 Game #1 - Alex C. and Yoda won on the Kamino Platform
2019 Game #2 - Rob and Emperor Palpatine won in the Emperor's Throne Room

2018 Game #1 - Alex C. and Darth Vader won in the Emperor's Throne Room
2018 Game #2 - Joel and Darth Maul won on the Kamino Platform

2017 Game #1 - Rob and Jango Fett won on the Kamino Platform
2017 Game #2 - Nathan and Jango Fett won in the Emperor's Throne Room

2016 Game #1 - Grant and Count Dooku won on the Kamino Platform
2016 Game #2 - Stephen and Jango Fett won in the Emperor's Throne Room

2015 Game #1 - Ryan and Jango Fett won in the Geonosis Arena
2015 Game #2 - Grant and Yoda won in the Emperor's Throne Room

2014 Game #1 - Alex R. and Darth Maul won on the Kamino Platform
2014 Game #2 - Curtis and Yoda won in the Geonisis Arena

MEET THE DUELERS:

There's a whole mess of folks swinging by Rob's house to play - here they are and which games they're joining:

CJ (game 2) - the third sister (Reva?) will grace us with her presence for game two, and by that we mean she will be ruthless, cold, and calculating.  And with her new haircut she's even edgier!

Curtis (games 1 & 2) - Curtis currently holds one of the Doubleheader trophies and would love to return it to his office.  Anything would be better than his last place at the Twin Sun Slam.

Eric (games 1 & 2) - Eric arrives at the Doubleheader coming off the improbable but impressive CL Training win with double minor characters Migs and Q9-0!

Ian (games 1 & 2) - with the parity in the league right now (no repeat winners in 2026), Ian is ranked second in the league but is in actual jeopardy of missing the championship without a win!

James (games 1 & 2) - the Teal mafia is stuck at a retreat on Saturday, but they've sent alum James to represent them at the table in their stead.  

Jonah (game 1) - this is Jonah's first action since his disastrous 11th place finish with the KX Security Droid back at the May the 4th Duel.

Junior (games 1 & 2) - it's been a yoyo year for Junior in 2026, as he's gone from 5th to 10th to 3rd to 9th over his last four Duels.

Karis (game 1) - new Dueler alert!!!  This will mark Karis' first career 12-way, but she already impressed us at the singles tournament, where she made it to the sweet 16!

Mason (games 1 & 2) - Mason made his debut at the CL Training Duel, finishing a respectable sixth place with K-2SO.

Michael (game 2) - the wise and friendly chaplain has finished in the top four of two of the last three Duels he's played.  He'd love career win number two, though!

Miles O. (games 1 & 2) - the current rookie of the year for 2026 won his first career Duel at the Twin Suns Slam in June and turns pro in the second game of the Doubleheader!

Riley (games 1 & 2) - first year student Riley was told she couldn't return to the outer rim of Robinson until October, so we're not sure how she's smuggling herself to the Duel...

Rob (games 1 & 2) - he enters the Doubleheader off a second place finish with Kylo Ren at the CL Training Duel and defending a trophy.  The word on the street is he's making even more new decks!

Sam (games 1 & 2) - one of the great alums of the league, and the funniest Dueler in history, is back to play the game!  He'd love to record career win number one while he's here.

MEET THE CHARACTERS - GAME ONE:

MEET THE CHARACTERS - GAME TWO:

Those are some crazy looking lineups!  The first game starts at 3PM, the second at 7PM.  PEW PEW!!!

CL Training Duel - August 10, 2026

Carbon Freezing Chamber (Dagobah)

Here we go Dueling fans - season THIRTEEN is underway!!!  The 12-way league calendar always starts with the CL Training retreat, and this year was no different.  13!?!

You can see Rob off the reflection of the glass!

We had a good mix of new and returning Duelers to start the evening - that's crucial at the CL Training Duel!  And folks didn't take too long to start mixing it up either.  After Alex/Saw Gerrera subtly moved from the light side to the dark, and Mason/K-2SO played Switzerland, the remaining light side started taking damage.  Yoyo/Krennic was the first to let the lasers start flying.  Shang, not a newbie to Dueling but playing his first 12-way, became the early target.  Emmanuel's Ponda Baba got the kill shot and Shang and Sol were out first!

The light side was in complete disarray.  Mark, playing with Chirut and Baze, tried to flip to the other side too.  But Rob had ten cards and a Knight of Ren ready to start swinging.  The dark side followed suit and Junior went into self-preservation mode by knocking out his own alliance partner!  On the plus side, Mark hasn't snapped a hamstring yet.

A drowning Dueler will climb over his alliance to survive!

Alex used an 8 point attack on David's Chewbacca...who was out of defense cards!  The wookie was eliminated and that left his Han Solo exposed.  Junior/Kit Fisto kept clawing his way up the death order by attacking and eliminating his second alliance partner!  David was out in tenth, but this did serve as his sixth Duel, meaning he's turned professional.  Congrats, David!

Time finally ran out for Junior.  Mason was keeping a low profile but Kit Fisto was there for an easy elimination.  One 4-point K-2SO shot later and Junior was retired in ninth.

Tealthica

Rob/Kylo Ren could sense early in the game that the four members from Teal would likely work together deep into the match.  Sure enough, Nayshaun/Grand Moff Tarkin initiated an attack against Kylo!  But the sequels-Sith was ready and returned fire with a Force Choke.  That left Tarkin weak on health, and Mason used a Sarcastic Kick to "boot" Nayshaun from the game!

Meanwhile, on another area of the board, Kaizer/Reva and Yoyo/Krennic started to tussle.  Yoyo was aggressive with her cards earlier in the game and was left a bit short on options, especially as Kaizer was using all of Reva's big attacks.  He finally eliminated Yoyo in seventh, but there was no question Yoyo made a big impression in the game!

The doctor writing prescriptions...

The pace of play was great all night (we finished before 12AM!) and before we knew it we were down to six Duelers.  Folks were worried about K-2SO and maneuvered to vacate him next.  Kaizer's Reva once again dropped a 5-point attack to eject Mason from the game.  Kaizer's graveyard for the game was scary!

Rob/Kylo and Eric/Migs & Q9-O could sense the Teal alliance was definitely still a thing, so Kylo swooped in and started swinging at Reva.  She got down to three points of health, but her minors were still on the board so she couldn't heal.  One turn later Kylo used Force Choke and Kaizer's reign of terror was finally over.  What a debut for the rookie, though!

Lies?  Deception?

Rob wasn't keen on the two shooters left on the board (Eric and Emmanuel's Dr. Evazan) as the only blade still standing, so he tried to form an alliance with Alex/Saw.  Alex was initially receptive to that, but then used a Boom! to damage Kylo and his last Knight of Ren.  Rob used a Force Leap to move in and attack Saw!!  Alex made a great last stand but was unable to defend against Kylo and the remaining shooters.  Rob's Force Dyad parked Alex in fourth.  Alex has played well in 2026!

Rob hoped Emmanuel's insane run with Dr. Evazan might include a partnership against Eric, who still had both Migs and Q9-O on the board, but you can't trust anyone with a doctorate in this game (wait a minute...) so Rob dropped the Mos Eisley bully with his 12-point attack!  Emmanuel was gobsmacked by the point value, just as the rest of the table was with his amazing rookie debut!  Congrats to Emmanuel on third place!

Goodluck handshakes at final two!

Smoking Dr. Evazan looked cool, but Rob/Kylo were in real trouble.  Both of Eric's double-minor characters were at full health, standing on either end of a flat map and able to shoot with ease.  Rob did his best to isolate his attacks on Migs, but both shooters kept bobbing and weaving.  Eric was flawless and Rob was drawing nothing but minor cards after the shuffle.  Migs put the final laser into Kylo for the win!!!  Congrats to Eric, this was his first career victory in a 12-way!!!  This also marked the first career win for Migs and Q9-O!!!

Final order of finish:

12.  Shang/Sol

11.  Mark/Baze

10.  David M./Han

9.  Junior/Kit Fisto

8.  Nayshaun (CLMentoress)/Tarkin

7.  Yoyo/Krennic

6.  Mason B/K-2SO

5.  Kaizer/Reva

4.  Alex/Saw

3.  Emmanuel/Dr. Evazan

2.  Rob/Kylo

1.  Eric/Migs and Q9-O

That was a fantastic kickoff to the new year of Dueling!!!  Congrats again to Eric - what a great win.  Our next Duel is actually TWO Duels - THE DOUBLEHEADER!  We'll play twice in one day.  We have a *tentative* date of Saturday, August 29, set for that, but Rob will circle back with more details soon.

Until then...PEW PEW!

  

The Singles Tournament - July 26, 2026

 

Sorry for the delayed post!  But back a couple of Sundays ago we threw down for the annual summer Singles Tournament!  And for the first time ever - we expanded the character options to 64, meaning each character could only be chosen twice for the entire tournament.

It was an unpredictable day!  Only two of the original 12 characters even made it to the sweet 16 (Anakin and Mace), and by the time we got to the final four JD/Jabba, Riley/Rey, Curtis/Ahsoka, and Duncan/Princess Leia were the last four standing

But at the end of the night it was Riley and Rey who emerged victorious!  Riley is about to depart for Iowa, so what a way to wrap up his Dueling career...especially after he lost his first three matches of the day!!!  Click below for more pictures and the final brackets!