Surprise Birthday Duel! - August 29, 2015

Yes, Rob is old.

Kamino Platform

What the what!?!?!

Amateur dueler Jess surprised her husband Rob/me with a secret, surprise birthday duel...on the same day as the double header.  THAT'S THREE DUELS IN ONE DAY AND UTTER MADNESS!!!

After a "joke" start in which Curtis and Ryan killed Rob in two seconds, the real game was under way.  It was an experienced bunch of duelers eager to cash in on an extra shot at glory.  An amazing seven players were already signed up to play the evening double header.  We have reached addiction status!

So many hopes and dreams about to be dashed...

The chaos started early when Rob/Boba got a "Thermal Detonator" and chucked it down on the light side of the board, killing three clone troopers and doing four points of damage on three main characters.  The light side started panicking and infighting followed.  Alex's Mace became an early target as folks scrambled to avoid a 12th place finish.  But it was Curtis who was the unexpected first victim.  He and Ian/Obi had marched down to tussle with Molly's Dooku, but Molly went on the offensive and dropped two "Taunting" cards on him.  JD/Vader finished him off with a wrath.

Alex, you deserved better.

The situation kept getting worse for Alex/Mace, especially when Christian/Yoda "Force Lifted" him.  Alex bowed out in eleventh, while Christian was next to go in tenth after considering too publically the overtures of the dark side alliance.

The next big shakeup occurred when Grant/Han flipped on the light side and tried to make his way down to the dark.  But Greedo blocked his path and fired his "Desperate Shot," only needing to do four points of damage to kill Han.  But Han still had his "4" defense card and Greedo died!  Not only that, but Ian made an unexpected charge into the dark side of the board and killed Rob/Boba like the lying bounty hunting dog that he was.  Sakina's Maul ousted Grant/Han and Ryan/Emperor put the finishing blows on Ian's Obi for 7th place.  You can probably tell there was a fast pace to this game, and it mostly involved the light side getting chewed up by the bad guys.

That's right, Molly, Sakina just stabbed you in the back
 as hard as she possibly could!

That left Nathan/Luke as the lone light side character left, staring down five dark side players.  While Ryan and JD were roasting smores behind Jango's ship, the tight alliance of Molly/Dooku, Sakina/Maul, and Daniel/Jango (seriously Daniel, pick a different character!) moved in to take out young Skywalker.  But in one of the sketchiest back-stabs in dueling history, Sakina and Nathan suddenly formed a new alliance and aimed to destroy Molly and Daniel!  EXCEPT...Sakina tried to attack Molly BEFORE IT WAS HER TURN!!!  Look at that picture - Molly had no clue Sakina was flipping!  With Sakina's failure to capture the ultimate surprise attack, Molly dropped two more "Tauntings" in a desperate attempt at saving herself.  It didn't work.  In the same turn Sakina took down Molly and Daniel and secured a story that will be passed on for eternity in this league.  Unfortunately, the false start left her too damaged to hang, and Nathan/Luke put her down in fourth.

It's too bad this game was on Kamino instead of the Emperor's Throne Room, because we had the most historically accurate final three in league history.  Luke...Vader...and Emperor.  At first it appeared as if JD and Ryan would stay loyal to their alliance as they moved towards Ryan.  JD was doing a bit more of the heavy lifting, though, and knew Ryan was still holding the "You Will Die" card.  With that knowledge, he used a "Wrath" and "Throw Debris" card on Ryan.  It was hectic after that as all three moved back and forth on who was attacking who.  Eventually, though, JD was able to drop the "All Too Easy" undefended on Nathan's Luke, who still had half of his health points, for 20 points of damage.  We now had our final two!

 

So...much...concentration.





Vader and Emperor danced around Slave One as they desperately searched their decks for Special cards.  JD was at a disadvantage because he still had a Storm Trooper alive, but he used him to his advantage by blocking for Vader and taking the occasional pot-shot.  They grinded for at least a good 20 minutes before JD had Ryan down to one point of health left.  He used his "Dark Side Drain," with a "3" attack value, but Ryan could only block for "2"!!!  And with that, JD won his first Duel!!!  That was also the FOURTH victory for Vader, not to mention he had a Storm Trooper still alive.  Way to go Storm Trooper #2!

 

I would like to give a special shout out to my wife, who arranged this madness and is too supporting of my dueling obsession.  Love you baby!!!

Order of finish:
12.  Curtis - Anakin Skywalker
11.  Alex - Mace Windu
10.  Christian - Yoda
9.  Rob - Boba Fett
8.  Grant - Han Solo
7.  Ian - Obi-Wan Kenobi
6.  Molly - Count Dooku
5.  Daniel - Jango Fett
4.  Sakina - Darth Maul
3.  Nathan - Luke Skywalker
2.  Ryan - Emperor Palpatine
1.  JD - Darth Vader