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| Green and Mean |
The second game of the night and third match of the day didn't get started until well after 10PM. The players looked like they had been through hell...but they were only half way to the finish line...a finish line only one of them would even reach.
dun-Dun-DUNNNN!!!!
Shockingly, three players redrew the same characters they had the match before: Elysa/Maul, Tommy/Boba, and Stephen/Obi. Sakina got the Emperor, after already playing Vader and Maul earlier in the day. That's an evil head space to have to occupy for such a long period of time! Alex also decided to give up his chair to Grant, who had come to watch the first match. Grant would take advantage of the opportunity... #forshadowing
The Throne Room was selected for the second time this season and we were off and running. Once again, as has been common in the past few Duels, the light side and dark appeared to gravitate towards each other. But just as alliances were starting to form, side-hopping started to take place. Stephen took a page out of Curtis' book and had his Obi-Wan run over to the dark side. Similarly, Ethen flipped to the light side with Dooku. What happened next was quite comical. With Chewbacca holding his bowcaster, JD forced Tommy's Boba to defect as well by threat of 11 points of damage. Tommy knew what to do - let the Wookie win!
The Throne Room stayed congested and after a lot of shots across the board, Elysa was once again isolated and attacked out of fear of the Sith-Speed wielding menace. Poor Elysa had a repeat twelfth place finish, a cruel reminder on how vicious this game can be. That shouldn't be a reflection on Elysa's skills, though. It was much more circumstantial than anything else. We hope she'll be back out there the next time we play!
The dominoes continued to fall after that. Stephen discovered a move too late that his Obi-Wan was exposed to a long diagonal shot from Rob's Padme, and sure enough, she delivered 15 attack points in two actions. Obi perished soon after. Ethen, fighting valiantly but stuck in the middle of the board, was next to go as the dark side were too persistent in their revenge on Dooku. Curtis/Jango were next to fall, marking a day Curtis would just as soon forget. With the dark side players disappearing, Grant/Yoda and Rob/Anakin sensed Ryan/Luke might have been making nice with the remaining dark side characters. Despite Ryan's efforts to prove his loyalty by attacking Vader, Grant ultimately "Force Lifted" him and threw him across the board to Sakina. Sakina, though, decided to make nice with Ryan. As Chris/Mace marched down to attack Luke, Ryan suggested Sakina discard three of her cards to stand him up. Sakina obliged!
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| Behold! Ryan's Evil Giggle |
What happened next will be a move that lives in infamy. Sweet, hilarious, infamy. After Sakina discarded from her own deck to help Ryan...he attacked her!!! You could argue he was simply reestablishing his commitment to his original alliance, but that picture says it all! Sakina perished soon after, and then the rest of the board struck down Tommy/Boba, who had stayed loyal to his light side switch.
With five to go a pecking order needed to be established, and that's where Grant/Yoda made the next move. He went after JD/Han, who had been hanging out near Yoda for most of the game. JD didn't survive, but he had a heck of a day - first, second, and fifth place finishes. Amazing! And well deserved.
Things got dicey when the final four were left. Rob left the table for a minute to let his dog outside, and heard the treacherous whispers behind his back. Saboteurs!!! That's a big lesson for any of you rookie duelers reading this blog: NEVER LEAVE THE TABLE. Rob confronted them immediately and their nervous laughter confirmed his suspicions. Chris/Mace proposed it would take a unified effort to oust Grant/Yoda, and as everyone agreed he attacked Rob/Anakin! The conniving continued, but it was Ryan/Luke who fell first. Like JD, Ryan had a truly epic day, finishing first, second, and fourth in the duels.
Despite Rob's incessant verbal temptations to form a two-on-one alliance with Chris and Grant, neither caved and Anakin petered out in third. That left two. Though Chris/Mace looked like he had the early advantage, Grant leveraged incredible dice rolls with perfectly timed card plays. Mace could never get fully comfortable, and was finally force pushed to his death! Congrats to Grant, who becomes just the second player to win three duels...and he wasn't even supposed to be playing!!! It also marks Yoda's second career victory. Yoda rules.
Thanks to everyone who played two, and in some cases, three duels on the day! I love that interest in the league continues to grow. Mark your calendars now, the next Duel, "The Fall Brawl," is tentatively scheduled for September 19th. More details and official invitations will come out in a few weeks.
In the meantime, I'm working to update the stat tabs. I can tell you the most exciting news is that Ryan has eked past Rob by just .01 percent to retake the top ranked player title! I should also note Daniel became a professionally ranked dueler by playing his sixth Duel at the Birthday Surprise. Congrats Daniel! Also, the there's a shakeup in the bottom three characters, as the Emperor has moved up to eighth place and Han has fallen into the bottom three. That impacts the handicap points for our rankings, but like I said, I'll get that updated/better explained on the blog in the coming days.
Order of finish for this Duel:
12. Elysa - Darth Maul
11. Stephen - Obi-Wan Kenobi
10. Ethen - Count Dooku
9. Curtis - Jango Fett
8. Nathan - Darth Vader
7. Sakina - Emperor Palpatine
6. Tommy - Boba Fett
5. JD - Han Solo
4. Ryan - Luke Skywalker
3. Rob - Anakin Skywalker
2. Chris - Mace Windu
1. Grant - Yoda
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