Merry Christmas, Epic Duelers!

And prayers for Carrie Fisher, AKA, Princess Leia...

Rogue Won - December 15, 2016

Before we talk about the Duel, before you even read this blog recap, STOP.  Turn off your computer.  Go to the movie theater.  Buy a ticket for Rogue One.  IT'S SO GOOOOD!!!!

Ok, you watched the movie?  I told you it was good!  Please proceed with reading...

Geonosis Arena

That's right friends, we were back in the Geonosis Arena, meaning we still haven't played in the Carbon Freezing Chamber in almost a year.  When will the streak end?

I forgot to take the group shot before Princess Leia died.

 Things started fast and furious, we were almost on pace for a record time before things gradually slowed down.  Stephen, playing with Luke at the top of the columns, was the first to defect!  But not long after that, Austin/Dooku flipped to the light side and Nathan's Boba Fett did the same!

Austin and Curtis, deep in strategy.

Although Stephen made a big move to go to the dark side, he couldn't withstand the minor characters who shot him once he got down there, including Ducky's Chewbacca who bowcasted him into last place.  Daniel's Mace, loyal to the light side, was the next to go.  JD's Emperor used a couple of Force Lightnings on him and then he dropped You Will Die.  At that point, Joel's Darth Maul swooped in with a fistful of "does not count as an action" cards to give poor Daniel an early exit.

Even with the loss of Mace, the light side alliance was still looking strong.  Austin's Count Dooku dropped Taunts on Joel's Maul, and sent him to the rail in tenth.  Maul has a history of poor finishes in the Geonosis Arena.  The light side tried to descend on the remaining dark, but they were out of position.  That's when Rob/Obi-Wan used Ducky's Han Solo as a sacrificial lamb by attacking him with his cards that let him move everybody around the board.  That set up final kill boxes for Jango/Brannon, Emperor/JD, and Vader/Jonathan.

Final two selfie.

Nathan's Boba offed Han and then Austin's Dooku eliminated Jango in eighth.  Folks have grown weary of the elder Fett's deep finishes in games.  Despite Jonathan and JD's incessant chatter with Rob about flipping, Obi-Wan stayed loyal to the light side.  Austin, having a big rebound game from his previous last place finish, killed Jonathan in seventh and Curtis/Yoda ended JD's afternoon in sixth.

With five to go the alliance needed to figure out who was next.  Curtis told Rob he was loyal to him but Rob flipped that info to rally Ian and Nathan against Curtis.  Boba Fett got the final shot on Yoda and Curtis was done in fifth, though that won't stop him from parading around with his 2016 Championship Trophy.

With four to go the group turned on Austin's Dooku, and he stopped in fourth after Obi delivered the finishing blow.  With three left, it looked like Boba and Ian's Anakin would turn against Rob's Obi-Wan, but Ian feared Boba's special cards due to his own poor health, and made the surprising move to team with Obi against Boba.  Padme, still alive, shot the junior Fett off the board, setting up a final two of Anakin & Padme vs. Obi-Wan Kenobi.

This final stage took half an hour as Anakin, damaged from the game, kept using Padme as a human blockade as he danced around the columns.  Rob/Obi-Wan was nearly full health, though, and had the patience to play the cat and mouse game before finally whittling Anakin down to zero health.  That made for Rob's seventh career victory and first in nearly a year and a half!  It also brings Obi-Wan into a tie with Darth Vader for most career victories at five each!  And I forgot to mention...this is Nathan's FOURTH Duel with Boba Fett in a row!!!

Final order of finish:

12.  Stephen/Luke
11.  Daniel/Mace
10.  Joel/Maul
9.  Donald/Han
8.  Brannon/Jango
7.  Jonathan/Vader
6.  JD/Emperor
5.  Curtis/Yoda
4.  Austin/Dooku
3.  Nathan/Boba
2.  Ian/Anakin
1.  Rob/Obi-Wan

Ok, I promise, that's really the last Duel of 2016!  Thanks to everyone who plays this game, we'll start back up in January 2017 with our annual "A New Hope" Duel!

Preview: Rogue Won - December 15, 2016

In honor of the world premiere of Star Wars Rogue One, we're holding a Duel!  Because that's what you do, people.  And in an unusual move, we're playing on a weekday afternoon, in order to get to the movie on time.  That probably means we're doomed for a looooong match.

HISTORY:

There is no history!  And there will never be another Rogue Won Duel again (unless there's a sequel). This is a once-in-a-lifetime Duel.  Boom.

MEET THE DUELERS:

So who is crazy enough to play a weekday Duel right before Christmas break?  Glad you asked...

Austin - the first person to ever finish last place with Darth Vader, but the winner of the side game at CL Training, Austin is finally making his second ever official appearance at a Duel.

Brannon - he's playing his fourth match but he's trying to reverse his trend of declining finishes, including eleventh place at Thanksdueling.

Curtis - if you've never seen Curtis before, he's the guy currently walking around the offices holding a three foot tall gold Darth Vader trophy after winning the 2016 Championship.

Daniel - he skipped out on the Championship for a "student group advising conflict," but the nasty rumor on the street is that he was ducking the competition!

Donald - this will be Ducky's fifth Duel, meaning he's one short from becoming a professional.  He finished seventh with Obi-Wan at Thanksdueling this year.

Ian - you can't teach Epic Duels heart, folks.  Ian changed up the work times for his student staff to get back on the board after a disappointing finish at the 2016 Championship.

JD - he's grateful for a shot at a happier 2016 ending after his brutal backstabbing on the Kamino Platform at the Championship.  JD will avenge that treachery!

Joel - it's great to have Joel back, who hasn't played since a disappointing eleventh place finish at the Fall Brawl back in September.

Jonathan - things didn't go well for Jonathan and Darth Maul at the Championship, but you can't deny how good he looks in his new professional status Dueler blazer.*

*there's no such thing as a professional status Dueler blazer, but now I think there SHOULD be...

Nathan - poor Nathan got sick just hours before the Championship, meaning he couldn't defend his 2015 title.  He skipped a trip to WVU just to play but ended up on the disabled list.

Rob - he got a Star Wars Lego advent calendar from his mommy this year, and he may or may not be playing with them every morning before he goes to work.  Also, he is 41 years old.

Stephen - he won two Duels this semester but he was unable to guide Emperor Palpatine to a strong finish at the Championship.  He is looking  for that to change this time around.

MAGNETIC LEGO ADMIRAL ACKBAR PREDICTS THE WINNER:

Hmm.  It looks like the author of the blog post might have forgotten to snap a pic with his magnetic Ackbar and is trying to pass off this random google search pic as the real deal...

Magnetic Lego Admiral Ackbar's prediction record:  1-5.

We'll be in North Village at 1PM on Thursday everyone - those who aren't playing are free to come by and cheer on the action!

Board Analysis - Kamino Platform

Welcome to a new feature on the blog!  Thanks to some cool stat work Curtis has been running on our Duel performances, he's been able to isolate character performances based on the game board we use for a Duel.  Curtis contends that the starting position of some characters may positively or negatively impact a character's chances in a Duel.  Let's take a look at the Kamino graphs Curtis provided, since that was the spot of the 2016 Championship...

In the 32 recorded Duels for our Waco league, nine games, including the 2016 Championship, have been played on Kamino.  The first column after the character names indicates their average finish on this board.  It should be no surprise that Darth Vader leads in both average and wins - his starting position behind Slave One is a distinct advantage.  On the other hand, Emperor Palpatine should have that same benefit but he's rated second to last.  Last place belongs to Han Solo, and he easily has the worst starting position on Kamino, actually on the Dark Side of the circular portion of the board.  He doesn't have the most last place finishes, though.  That distinction belongs to Anakin Skywalker, who starts in the rear line behind the light side.  I'm skeptical that his board position should be that much of a determinant.

This graph demonstrates frequency of finishes, divided by four categories:  top three, four through six, seven through nine, and ten through last.  The more red a box is, the greater the frequency of occurrence, while the bluer it gets the less frequent it is.

You can see Darth Vader has a 77% chance to finish in the top six of a Duel on Kamino.  Liz finished fifth at the Championship, so that holds.  Despite not having a win on the board, both Yoda and Jango finish in the top three 44% of the time.  Obi-Wan has the highest percentage of any character, in the seventh through ninth place range.  That's not entirely surprising given his near-middle starting position.  Anakin has the strangest character pattern, as he tends to finish in the bottom three or the top three but usually never in the middle.

What are your thoughts about Kamino?  Sound off in the comments below!

2016 Championship - December 3, 2016

Kamino Platform

The drama of the 2016 Championship started before the Duelers even showed up to play!  Nathan had to call in sick late in the day, and you know it must have been bad because he was the defending champion from 2015.  The Jedi Council converged and found an amateur Padawan to take his place - Liz!  Having played the last three Duels in a row, her commitment and availability were greatly appreciated by the eleven Duelers ranked in front of her.

By being the twelfth seat she also got to pick the board on behalf of Rob.  Everyone was convinced it would be the Carbon Freezing Chamber, but alas, we were back on Kamino!  We haven't played in the Freezing Chamber since last Spring, a streak nobody seems to mind.

Next up were the character draws.  Liz again picked for Rob, and Rob finally got Yoda!  After 31 Duels played, he finally got his favorite character and only character he hasn't played with in the Waco leagues.  Ryan also picked Obi-Wan for the first time, though his rough starting position made the selection less than thrilling.  Jonathan grabbed Darth Maul in his sixth career Duel, meaning he is now professional status.  Incredibly though, he's grabbed a handicapped character in 67% of his games played.

Somebody at this table is your 2016 Champion

We'll deviate from our normal recap format to try and do something different - a pictorial trail of fallen Duelers, each holding the card that killed them!

 12th Place:  Stevie

Character:  Han Solo

How He Died:  Boba Fett's Thermal Detonator

Stevie made a big move at the start of the game, moving his Han and Chewie to the dark side of the board.  It wasn't a bad move, but some of the light side characters started tagging him for damage and Sakina's Boba Fett, who had flipped a few turns earlier, threw a Thermal Detonator all the way from the other end of the platform to knock out Stevie as well as some other minor characters.  When Stevie revealed his hand, it was nearly all Chewbacca cards, and Chewie was already dead!  He had a great attitude about his terrible luck.

11th Place:  Jonathan

Character:  Darth Maul

How He Died:  5 Point Attack from Obi-Wan Kenobi

Jonathan was teamed with Stevie but was also stuck on the receiving end of shots from the light side.  His biggest blow was Grant's Luke Skywalker playing "I Will Not Fight You."  He essentially had to dump his hand right as Mace Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi moved in for the kill.  He wouldn't survive, but he didn't do anything wrong, either.  Sometimes those are the breaks in a 12-Way Duel.  Congrats again to Jonathan, though, for reaching professional status!

10th Place:  JD

Character:  Jango Fett

How He Died:  5 Point Attack from Anakin Skywalker

Admiral Ackbar's pre-game pick for the win, Jango Fett copied his cloned son by defecting to the light side.  JD made a big move and seemed to be in good standing with his new alliance, but while Vader, Emperor, and Dooku were withstanding their siege behind Slave One, the light side got a bit bored by the stagnate play.  That's when Chris, playing with Anakin, made a savage decision.  With a quick look to Rob/Yoda across the table, he made it known that Jango was under attack!  JD was stunned as Anakin swooped in.  Yoda, unable to move towards the action on the other end of the board, threw up in his mouth a little and joined Anakin in the betrayal.  While JD was begging for his life he threw Boba under the bus, which caused Sakina to attack him too.  Though he set a lot of Jedi on fire with his Flamethrower, Chris finished him in tenth.  He did make a heck of a travelling trophy for the winner, though.  Keep reading for pics!

9th Place:  Ian

Character:  Count Dooku

How He Died:  Mace Windu's Masterful Fighting

The table may not have verbally admitted it, but we were all fearful when Ian picked his favorite character, Count Dooku.  At the start of the game it looked like he might flip with JD to the light side, but he stayed loyal to the back corner posse.  He, Stephen/Emperor, and Liz/Vader, staged an epic battle of the wills as their well defended spot behind Jango's ship couldn't be accessed by the light side alliance.  They lived well over two hours before finally dying.  Rob's Yoda finally invaded and Force Pushed Dooku into a kill box, surrounded by Mace, Obi, Boba, and Leia.  Mace had the take-down shot.

8th Place:  Stephen

Character:  Emperor Palpatine

How He Died:  4 Point Attack from Mace Windu

Stephen is the only Dueler in league history to win with Emperor Palpatine, and that happened this semester, so we all had reason to fear Stephen's potential to win.  One of the reasons he and Ian's Spartan defense worked so well was because he waited to play the "You Will Die" card for over two hours.  Nobody wanted to charge in on the light side and be on the receiving end of it.  In fact, it was Chris/Anakin who got tagged with it when he made just such an attempt.  Stephen was also instrumental in wrecking Ryan's day, as his Emperor continually rained down Force Lightning on Obi-Wan.  In the end, though, Rob/Yoda Force Pushed him into the same kill box Dooku died in, and Mace once again dealt the finishing blow.

7th Place:  Ryan

Character:  Obi-Wan Kenobi

How He Died:  Boba Fett's Deadly Aim

Ryan was bold in his play with Obi-Wan on the night, often leading the light side into battle against the dark.  He was instrumental in the take down of both Han and Maul, but his forward actions gained the negative attention of Stephen's Emperor.  Palpatine repeatedly directed his ire towards Obi.  After Stephen was dispatched Ryan retreated towards Rob, Liz, and Sakina.  Nervous that the rest of the board would turn their attention on him, Rob/Yoda decided to create a diversion by attacking his alliance partner, getting Boba and Vader to contribute too.  As you can see by the picture, Ryan was very happy about it.

6th Place:  Grant

Character:  Luke Skywalker

How He Died:  Mace Windu's Battlemind

After Ryan died, Rob made the public deceleration that Curtis' Mace Windu was the most dangerous threat left in the game, and tried to rally Grant/Luke, Chris/Anakin, Sakina/Boba, and Liz/Vader to focus on him next.  Chris and Grant were more inclined to finish off the injured Darth Vader.  And that's when the most shocking move of the game happened.  Chris/Anakin attacked Luke!!!  I've never seen Grant so bewildered, but Anakin and Mace made short work of him and just like that, Grant was out of the game.  He had long odds with Luke anyway, but his death would be the turning point for the rest of the battle.

5th Place:  Liz

Character:  Darth Vader

How She Died:  4 Point Attack from Yoda

For the life of me I thought we took a picture of Liz - my apologies to the Dueler who saved our night by being able to play on such short notice!  Liz was quite deft with her ability to survive in this Duel, as she bailed on her original alliance at the right time and also helped finish off other wounded characters.  But with five to go Chris insisted she be next and Sakina and Rob reluctantly followed suit.  This was Liz's second fifth place finish in four career Duels - she's well on her way to a bright Dueling future!

4th Place:  Sakina

Character:  Boba Fett

How She Died:  Mace Windu's Battlemind

Curtis wasn't going to wait for his last three remaining threats to take him out of the game.  He pounced on Boba after Vader died and Sakina didn't have the defense to take the hits.  You can't say enough about her game, though.  She killed two major characters and wreaked havoc all across the Kamino Platform.  She dropped thermal detonators, wrist cables, and a bunch of other attacks, not to mention her sweet defect to the light side at the start of the game.  It was a great rebound performance after two rough Duels.

3rd Place:  Chris

Character:  Anakin Skywalker

How He Died:  2 Point Attack from Yoda

Nobody influenced the 2016 Championship more than Chris.  His surprise attacks on JD and Grant shifted tides, he weathered a "You Will Die," and then  he played king-maker in the final three.  Instead of accepting a final alliance with Rob or Curtis, he committed to attacking them both!  His neutral stance forced an alliance between Mace/Curtis and Rob/Yoda.  And Chris certainly went down swinging.  He knocked Mace's health down substantially before trekking over to Yoda and burning all of his defense cards.  It was an unusual strategy but Chris left with a clear conscience, and not many Duelers can say that at the end of a game.

2nd Place:  Rob

Character:  Yoda

How He Died:  Mace Windu's Whirlwind Attack

When it got down to the final two, Curtis/Mace were definitely in better shape than Yoda.  Rob was forced to use defensive cards to attack Anakin, leaving him short on defense and, worse yet, drawing offensive cards when he needed the opposite.  So Rob/Yoda did the only thing he could...he started running away in a circle around Jango's ship.  Curtis/Mace were quick to pursue.  The final two lasted close to 30 minutes, as Yoda would drop the occasional Force Lift or Insight to keep Mace at bay while he desperately drew for his 15 point defense cards and/or the Force Rebound.  Rob forgot that the Rebound wasn't in his draw pile, though, and Curtis was finally able to close the distance and play his Whirlwind for the win!!!

Losers talk about "trying their best."
Winners go home with gold, oversized Darth Vader trophies.

A big congrats to Curtis, who played a GREAT game and was smart enough to keep himself out of trouble and pouncing unsuspecting Duelers on the board.  He deserves the glory, and he moves into a third place tie for the most career victories.  The stats are updated too - Curtis jumped into fourth in the rankings, just .01 ahead of JD!  The character rankings have bunched up more too - all signs that we have some high quality Duels here in Waco!

We're still trying to pull off a "Rogue Won" Duel in honor of the new Star Wars movie.  Let Rob know if you can play on December 15th, 1PM.  The plan is to Duel, grab a bite, and go see the premiere!!!

If you can't make "Rogue Won," stay tuned as we kick off 2017 with our January Duel, A New Hope...

Preview: 2016 Championship, December 3, 2016

In a world of intense competition like our 12-Way Duels, there is only one way to make the excitement and challenge of the game even more difficult.  You have to kick it up a notch.  You have to invite the best of the best.  And that's what the Championship Duel is.  You earn a seat at the table by slogging through years of battle to declare your natural, hard-fought right to pit yourself against peers who want nothing more than to strike you down for their own glory, knowing a Championship victory is the highest possible honor that can be achieved when Dueling.

This Saturday, at 8PM, in the North Village Community Center, twelve such combatants will gather.  Eleven of the highest ranked Duelers in the league and the most experienced amateur player will take a seat.  That seat is a gift, bestowed upon the elite.  That seat is a curse, for no Duel can be harder than the Championship.  Welcome Duelers, to the 2016 Championship, our World Series, Super Bowl, and Tournament Match all wrapped into one Duel.  May the best Dueler win.  Or, may the best Dueler get stuck with Luke Skywalker, so somebody else can win.

HISTORY:

2014 - In our first ever Championship Duel, top ranked Ryan aligned with Rob and Kristen and won with wily Boba Fett on the Kamino Platform.

2015 - Ryan nearly repeated, this time with Jango, but went out in a fierce battle with Curtis, which allowed Nathan and Count Dooku to coast to victory.

MEET THE DUELERS:

Unlike other Duels, the Championship match assigns seats at the table based on Dueler ranking.  Here are the Duelers competing in this year's match...

Chair 12 - Amateur Dueler Jonathan will become professional status as he reaches his sixth Duel played at the Championship.  He's coming off a career best finish at Thanksdueling.

Chair 11 - Stevie, our twelfth ranked professional, has three top four finishes in 2016 and has played in ten of eleven Duels in 2016, second only to Rob.

Chair 10 - Sakina, ranked tenth, only played two Duels in 2016 but remains the top ranked player to never win a match, something she hopes to change this time around.

Chair 9 - Nathan, ranked ninth in our league, is the defending champion from the 2015 match and has three top five finishes in 2016, including second place at Thanksdueling! with Boba Fett.

Chair 8 - Curtis currently sits in eighth place and has four top five finishes in 2016, including a third place showing at Fight Night.

Chair 7 - Chris, the seventh ranked Dueler in the league, recorded his first career victory at 2016's May the 4th battle.  He has four top five finishes this year.

Chair 6 - This chair belongs to Stephen, who is one of five Duelers this year with two victories.  His came at Doubleheader #2 (Jango) and Fight Night (Emperor).  He has five top fives in 2016.

Chair 5 - Ian resides in fifth place right now, with 2016 victories at CL Training (Mace) and the Fall Brawl (Obi-Wan).  He also tied for second place at the Valentines Duel.

Chair 4 - JD has risen through the ranks the past twelve months, including wins at A New Hope (Anakin) and Thanksdueling! (Yoda), and has five total top four finishes in 2016.

Chair 3 - Grant is firmly entrenched in third place right now, and had a sterling 2016 with four top four finishes that included wins at Valentines (Han) and Doubleheader #1 (Dooku).

Chair 2 - For the first time in a Championship, Ryan won't be in the first chair, thanks in part to four (!) Duels with Luke Skywalker in 2016.  He still amassed two top four finishes, though.

Chair 1 - Rob hasn't won since the fall of 2015, but four second place finishes and six top fours in 2016 helped him inch forward as the top ranked Dueler in the league.

MAGNETIC LEGO ADMIRAL ACKBAR PREDICTS THE WINNER:

Egads!  Ackbar just busted out his most famous quote!!!  That being said...his prediction record ain't the greatest...

Magnetic Lego Admiral Ackbar's prediction record:  1-4

Folks, as always, you're encouraged to come by and watch if you're so interested, especially since the Championship isn't an equal opportunity invite.  I promise the Dueling you see will be worth it!

Thanksdueling! - November 12, 2016

Emperor's Throne Room

In the thirty-first match of our Epic Duels league  an appreciative dozen combatants gathered in North Village to feast on Thanksgiving snacks and eventually try to ruin each other's night as they clawed their way to victory.  But they ate snacks first!  It was quite a bounty.  Eggnog, BB-8 cake pops, ooey-gooey pumpkin spice treats, chips and salsa, and all kinds of candy.  If only the taste of defeat was half as good...

We drew for spots on the table and the newly engaged Stevie grabbed the number one chair!  From there he picked the Emperor's Throne Room as the scene of battle.  Our streak of non-Carbon Chamber matches continues!  And there were a lot of repeat draws of characters, too.  Rob got Jango for the second straight match and Grant made it two in a row with the Emperor.  But Nathan had what we all assumed was the worst draw of the night - Boba Fett!  That's right, after finishing 10th and 12th with the bounty hunter at the Doubleheader and taking the next two Duels off, poor Nathan was stuck with Boba again.  Perhaps his luck would change though...?  #foreshadowing

Chewbacca under attack!

At the start of the game it looked like Daniel, playing Luke and sitting next to Grant at the table, was trying to defect to the Dark Side.  But Brannon wasn't picking up on the signals and blocked off the path from the bridge as he moved his Super Battledroids up to defend his Count Dooku.  That forced the sides to stay even at six on six.

Dooku, stuck out front in the Dark Side alliance, began taking fire from Stephen's Han Solo and Chewy.  The damage started flying back and forth.  The Wookie landed his Bowcaster on Dooku but it was two Chokes from Liz's Darth Vader that set up the furball's death.  Not long after that, Nathan/Boba broke the "no shooter-on-shooter violence" code to kill poor Stephen in last place.  It's an all too common plight in our league - win one month, be first out the next.

"What the Fett!?!"

Despite some early skirmishes with Ducky's Obi-Wan, the younger Kenobi was the first to defect, joining the Dark Side.  The remaining Light Side held the line, though, and slowly started marching forward to engage the Sith head-on.  That's when Rob/Jango and Nathan/Boba hatched their long-brewing plan:  FETT DEFECT!  Jango started the party by firing at Stevie's Darth Maul and Rocket Retreating behind JD's Yoda.  Boba was next - he stepped out of a cluster of baddies, chucked a Thermal Detonator and jet packed out of there too!  That inspired the Jedi as Daniel's Princess Leia gunned down Brannon/Dooku in eleventh place.  Luke Skywalker also dropped an "I Will Not Fight You" on Stevie's Maul in order to soften him up for the invading Jedi.

But the Dark Side wasn't going down without a fight!  Just as Sakina's Mace Windu was going to unleash hell on the Sith, Grant's Emperor played "You Will Die!"  Sakina was STACKED with attack cards and had to dump them all!!!  Stevie struck her down in a shocking tenth place finish.  Poor Sakina...  Revenge was quick for the Light Side, though.  Maul was down to one point of health and was about to unload some attacks when Nathan's Boba Fett Wrist-Cabled him to death!  Liz's Vader was the next to depart, again thanks to a Boba Fett knockout!  Liz inflicted a lot of damage, though, Wrathing and Throwing Debris all over the board.

With seven Duelers left, Ducky made a desperate play.  He flipped the Obi-Wan card that forced everyone to dump their hands and draw three new cards!  The collective groan from the Light Side alliance was proof that it was a solid play.  Jonathan's Anakin, who was twitchy with his loyalty to the Jedi as his paranoia increased during the game, went all in and chased down Obi-Wan.  He landed some blows, but also caught a Thermal Detonator upside his head from Natha's Boba Fett, which also damaged Ducky who was out in seventh.  The weakened Jonathan was finished off by Daniel's Luke to end his night in sixth.  That was a career best finish for Jonathan, though!  His next Duel moves him to professional status as well.

Daniel and "The Decision"

The final five was Grant/Emperor, Nathan/Boba, Rob/Jango, JD/Yoda, and Daniel/Luke.  Grant tried desperately to advance his cause, creating distrust in the alliance of four, but they held strong and sent Grant home in a perfectly respectable fifth place.  With four to go Daniel declared open season on Rob's Jango!  Rob was stunned but weakened, and Daniel TWICE played an "I Will Not Fight You" on the Fett.  With Leia long dead, Daniel finally drew a Justice card (twice), and killed Rob in fourth place.

Just as it looked like Boba and Yoda would team up to kill a bleeding Luke, JD took a surprise turn by Force Lifting Nathan's Boba!  With Nathan's turn next, he then DEMANDED that Daniel discard three of his own cards to stand up Boba, otherwise, he promised to kill Luke!  It was a stunning threat and forced poor Daniel to squirm for a good ten minutes as JD and Nathan debated the pros and cons.  Daniel eventually decided to decline Nathan's request...resulting in a Kyber Dart to his face and a third place finish!  That was Nathan's FIFTH major character kill of the Duel!

Force Rebound is the BEST CARD
IN THE GAME!!!

That left a final two of Yoda and Boba Fett.  It was remarkable that JD's Yoda made it all the way to the end with relatively little damage or even nefarious attention from the other Duelers.  Boba, though, was short carded due to the Force Lifts and kept rolling low in his attempt to run away from the Jedi Master.  Yoda kept whittling him down, and the specter of death hung over Boba's head.  Yoda had all three of his best defense cards...including FORCE REBOUND!  Sure enough, with Nathan's Fett down to two health points he fired off a shot at JD.  JD took that shot, put it in a nice box, used expensive wrapping paper and a big pretty bow, and promptly sent it right back to him.  Boba Fett, having received the present, eagerly opened it only to find his four-point blaster shot SCREAMING RIGHT BACK AT HIS NOGGIN,  KNOCKING IT CLEAR OFF AND GIVING JD THE WIN!!!  It was such a poetic way to end the match.

Congrats to JD, who seemingly sneaked in from nowhere to pull off that victory.  And kudos to Nathan and Boba Fett, who were on a rampage the entire game!

JD's victory and Stephen's last place finish bumps JD back to fourth and Stephen down to sixth.  Han Solo also entered the bottom three ranked characters, causing a change in handicap points that helped Grant saw off a couple of tenths of a point off his average due to his numerous games with the space gambler.  There were other changes on the character list too.  Yoda is now up to second place and Luke climbed to fourth!

The final order of finish:

12.  Stephen/Han Solo
11.  Brannon/Count Dooku
10.  Sakina/Mace Windu
9.  Stevie/Darth Maul
8.  Liz/Darth Vader
7.  Donald/Obi-Wan Kenobi
6.  Jonathan/Anakin Skywalker
5.  Grant/Emperor Palpatine
4.  Rob/Jango Fett
3.  Daniel/Luke Skywalker
2.  Nathan/Boba Fett
1.  JD/Yoda

December is our annual CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH!  It's our Super Bowl and World Series, all wrapped into one exciting Duel where the top twelve ranked Duelers come together to try and win the toughest, most respected match of 2016.  They are never short of EPIC!  Stay tuned for invitations soon...

Preview: Thanksdueling! - November 12, 2016

Football and other calendar conflicts have pushed our Duel later into November than usual, but never fear!  It's Fall, the turkeys are plump, the cranberries canned, and the pumpkins have spiced everything in sight.  That can only mean one thing...it's THANKSDUELING time!!!

HISTORY:

2014 - It was a shooter's paradise as Simeon/Han Solo finished third and Alex won it all with Boba freakin' Fett.

2015 - Darth Vader won his record fifth championship, all under the tutelage of Nathan, who secured his first ever win in a masterful performance.

MEET THE DUELERS:

Since November is a month to reflect and give thanks, let's introduce this Duel's battlers with what they're thankful for!

Brannon - It just so happens to be Brannon's birthday weekend, so he's thankful for playing in his third Epic Duel as he successfully circles the sun once again.

Daniel - After Daniel finished a career best second place at Fight Night with Boba Fett, he's finally thankful for all the bounty hunters he's played with over the years.

Donald - "Ducky" had moderate success at the Doubleheader but then landed a shocking last place finish at the Fall Brawl before taking the October Duel off.  Donald is thankful for a new chance to redeem himself.

Grant - He's been dormant since the Doubleheader, but his two victories in 2016 are nothing to sneeze at.  Grant is thankful for his steady rise to second place on the career win list.

JD - JD is second on the career Duels played list, logging an impressive 24 matches in his career.  He's also finished in third place in three out of his last four Duels.  JD is thankful for his consistent play.

Jonathan - He's played in four career Duels, but Jonathan has yet to crack the top six in a Duel.  His card knowledge is superior, but he's still navigating the social element.  Jonathan is thankful for Duel #5 - he's only one away from professional status!

Liz - You can't fault Liz's optimism, after just two career Duels she already has a fifth place finish with Yoda at the Fight Night battle.  Liz is thankful for the upward trajectory of her Dueling career.

Nathan - We haven't seen Nathan play since his disastrous, double-Boba Fett draw at the Doubleheader.  But after taking a two Duel break, Nathan is thankful to get back in the saddle again.

Rob - His four second place finishes in 2016 aren't too shabby, but he craves a victory, something he hasn't experienced in over a year.  Rob is thankful for everyone playing this silly game with him!

Sakina - After a nine month layoff, Sakina was back in action at Fight Night but got caught with a rough character/board draw and finished a disappointing 11th with Darth Maul.  Sakina is thankful for a new month and a new chance.

Stephen - There is no hotter Dueler on the planet right now than Stephen!  He finished in the top five of his last four Duels, including wins at the Doubleheader and Fight Night.  Stephen is thankful for being IN THE ZONE!

Stevie - Life is good for Stevie, the recently engaged Dueler has also been logging some nice finishes of late.  The only thing he's missing is that first trophy.  He's thankful for consistent improvements.

MAGNETIC LEGO ADMIRAL ACKBAR PREDICTS THE WINNER:

"Take evasive action!  Epic Duelers, stick close to
holding the North Village community center!"

Interesting - Ackbar likes Darth Vader repeating at Thanksdueling!

Magnetic Lego Admiral Ackbar's prediction record:  1-3

Well, it looks like this Duel is shaping up to be a classic!  We'll see you all on Saturday at 8PM!

Card Appreciation Vol. 6

CARD:  "Children of the Force"

WHAT IT DOES:  Allows twins to power up and be fleet of feet.

WHY IT'S AWESOME:  We've now played thirty 12-way Duels in Waco, and Luke Skywalker is the only character to never have won a Duel.  In fact, in 55+ recorded Duels, he's only won once.  It was the second Duel ever, back in 2002.

That's not good.

I've long thought Luke Skywalker is the worst character you can draw in a 12-way, but I have a new theory:  he's misunderstood!  He's the fifth ranked character in our league so he can't be all bad.  The issue could be that nobody has figured out exactly how to play him.  I think "Children of the Force" might be the hidden key that's been in front of our faces the whole time!

"Children of the Force" (aka "Children of the Corn," as Ryan likes to say it...) is represented in Luke's deck three times - that's nearly 10% of his hand.  You know what other Special card is in Luke's hand three times?  "I Will Not Fight You."  That can't be a coincidence, and I'm kicking myself for not seeing the connection sooner.  If you combo an "I Will Not Fight You" with a "Children of the Force" you can gut somebody's whole hand while retreating and replenishing yours!  You get to move six spaces, which is farther than anyone can roll, you can move Leia too, and you get two cards the rest of the board can't see to start restocking your hand.  That's good stuff!  Now...can somebody pull that off three times in one game? If you do, I suspect you'll be close to a victory.

BEST USED:  I don't recall seeing the combo mentioned above used in a game, but "Children of the Force" can be played well in other scenarios too.  Luke has a couple of sketchy starting positions on certain boards - if you have one of these in your hands early, use it to get out of Dodge and draw cards faster than everybody else. That will also enable you to attack first, another way to throw the dogs off your scent.  Luke is similar to a shooter, too.  You don't want to stay too long in any one spot with Luke and Leia. "Children of the Force" helps you avoid overstaying your welcome and empowers you to flee to a new alliance.  Also, if you're holding a "Justice" card after Leia is dead, being able to suddenly run six spaces to attack an unsuspecting Dueler with ten points can be critically valuable.

WORST USED:  To card up only.  Ignoring the movement benefit only nets you one additional card in your hand after two actions.  Worse yet, not using it at all.  Several characters can disarm Specials or discard you at random.  It's clear by the number of cards Luke is holding that he's meant to move and move often.  Don't be a slug.

FINAL THOUGHTS:  There won't be a big enough way to celebrate the Dueler who finally brings home a victory for the long lost Luke Skywalker.  Surely "Children of the Force" will factor into that victory?

What do you think???  Sound off in the comments below!

Fight Night - October 8, 2016

Geonosis Arena

Duelers from long ago and rookies in their first and second Duels converged for Fight Night, the annual October Duel where twelve friends step into the arena and treat each other horribly.

It was a blast!

Sakina, playing her first Duel since the 2015 Championship, had the honor of picking the #1 chair.  Thus it was her responsibility to pick the board we played on.  She pulled the Geonosis Arena envelope.  A strong murmur carried over the table as the fears and history of carnage on this dusty looking playing surface came racing back into Duelers' minds.  Sakina also got the first crack at characters, and she pulled Darth Maul.  Daniel immediately became frightened, having been destroyed first in a Duel when Sakina had the horn rimmed Sith Lord!

Padme was already dead before we took the group photo!

Chris got the game started, not just by being the first to roll, but the first to defect!  He used "Children of the Force" to run Luke and Leia from behind the columns and over to the dark side.  That got Jonathan's Han Solo squawking, which didn't prevent a second defection.  JD's Anakin swung a light saber at him before Wrathing over to the dark side too!  That made it eight on four as the remaining light side characters tried to figure out what the heck happened.  Padme was the first character to die during that chaos.

Luke (the rookie Dueler, not the character) was piloting Obi-Wan and decided he wanted an honorable death and began to rally the last of his side to press into the dark side.  He started lashing out at anyone he could get his light saber on, and poor Sakina started taking some big hits, especially after Luke moved everyone around the board up to three spaces.  Not long after Daniel's Greedo popped a shot on Obi-Wan to bring Luke into last place in his debut 12-Way.  Sakina barely survived her assault by the aligned Jedi, but saw no mercy after she retreated deep into the Sith ranks.  Stephen/Emperor and Curtis/Dooku put her out of her misery.  It was a rough night for Sakina, as her bad character placement and unlucky cards ruined her return.

Rob's Zam had snuck down behind the columns to fire off a round or two at Jonathan's Han, and he talked Brannon/Mace into joining him on the fun.  That ended Jonathan's night in tenth, but not before Chewey Bowcasted Daniel's Boba Fett.  It looked like Liz/Yoda or Brannon/Mace would die next, but Chris, Rob and Daniel sensed they were on the outs within the large dark side alliance.  After Liz Force Rebounded JD's Anakin for five points of damage, they enacted a devious plan.  Boba threw a Thermal on Anakin, and then Rob/Jango Wrist Cabled him for two more points.  Chris/Luke put the final hit on JD who was stunned in ninth place.  He left to get a carbonated beverage and cool off before coming back to see the finale.  Chris/Luke also ended the night of JD's brother-in-law, as Mace was also weak.

Chris, right after they did him dirty.

With seven to go it looked like the alliance would target Yoda next, but Curtis/Dooku, Stevie/Vader, and Stephen/Emperor pulled off a vicious back stab, pinning Rob's Jango on the back row and ending the Fett's life in an unceremonious seventh place.  It was a fitting fate after Rob did JD so dirty.  That left Chris/Luke and Daniel/Boba reeling - they realized they were on the outs.  They attempted to feign loyalty by going after Liz/Yoda, but Curtis pulled off another one of his patented Dooku Force Pushes.  This time, he threw Stevie's Vader at Luke, and then Stephen played "You Will Die" on him.  All that was left to do was for Stevie to play "All Too Easy" and the fully healthy Luke Skywalker was out in sixth.  All Chris could do was sit back, lick his wounds, and file the experience in his mental Rolodex of revenge!

All eyes on Stephen

That left five players on the board:  Liz/Yoda, Daniel/Boba, Stephen/Emperor, Curtis/Dooku, and Stevie/Vader.  Liz dug her heals in and Force Pushed Vader back out of there, but despite a strong final stand, Daniel's Boba Fett shot her and she placed fifth.  That's a heck of a sophomore effort from Liz, though!  She has the makings of a strong Dueler!

What happened next was pretty fantastic.  As the four remaining Duelers looked around the table at each other, Curtis suggested they all go after Stevie's Darth Vader, since he was still quite healthy as he loomed on the board.  But Stevie stepped up his social game and instead focused the attention back at Curtis, suggesting his equally if not more powerful Count Dooku was the true menace remaining!  Daniel too began to observe the same thing, and all three pleaded their case to Stephen's Emperor...who was the ACTUAL character in charge at that point!  Stephen pretended to be more confused on what to do than he really was, and the infighting commenced.  Stevie couldn't withstand it as his Vader bowed out in fourth.  You have to tip your cap to Stevie, though, he played a great Duel!

Only one of these guys isn't worried.
Guess which one!

With three left Curtis/Dooku and Daniel/Boba were both bloodied but standing.  Each had a minor character in tow, which included Greedo.  I don't know why, but I always laugh when Greedo goes deep into a Duel.  The comedic effect of it gets me every time.  I digress...Curtis was essentially playing for second place, so he went after Boba.  But after a Taunt and a Give Orders, he mismanaged his character placement, leaving Dooku open for an attack by Greedo.  Sure enough, Daniel finally pulled the "Desperate Shot" card, and Greedo fired it off at Dooku.  Curtis would die in third.  That was a good rebound Duel for Curtis, who has suffered from a string of mediocre finishes as of late.  And how about Greedo!  He killed two main characters!!!

With two left history was about to occur.  Emperor Palpatine was one of only two characters never to have won a 12-Way Duel in our Waco league, but Stephen's masterful performance was about to change that.  Daniel fired off a few attacks, but Stephen finally redrew another Force Lightning, which he used to fry Boba in second.  Daniel was happy, though!  That was his best-ever career finish, and with the worst ranked character in our game no less!  And we have to give it up for Stephen!  He's won two of the last three Duels and made history with Palpatine!!!  He's finished in the top five of his last four Duels - outstanding.

Final order of finish:

12.  Luke/Obi-Wan Kenobi
11.  Sakina/Darth Maul
10.  Jonathan/Han Solo
9.  JD/Anakin Skywalker
8.  Brannon/Mace Windu
7.  Rob/Jango Fett
6.  Chris/Luke Skywalker
5.  Liz/Yoda
4.  Stevie/Darth Vader
3.  Curtis/Count Dooku
2.  Daniel/Boba Fett
1.  Stephen/Emperor Palpatine

Thanks to everyone for a great Fight Night!  And for those of you who weren't there...we finished in three hours!  See - it can be done.  The stats are updated, feel free to peruse them at your leisure.  Stay tuned for details on the upcoming November Duel - Thanksdueling!  It's the last match of the year before the 2016 Championship in December, where the top twelve ranked Duelers square off for the Superbowl of 12-Way Duels.  Boom.

Preview: Fight Night - October 8, 2016

You can tell by that cool fall air (it's now in the upper 80's instead of the mid 90's) that it must be October!  And if it's October, that means it's time for FIGHT NIGHT!

HISTORY:

2014 - Grant navigated a board of five rookie Duelers to bring home victory with Darth Vader.

2015 - It was a shooter's paradise as Curtis' Han Solo outlasted Ryan's Jango for a win in the Emperor's Throne Room.

MEET THE DUELERS:

Since it's the month of trick-or-treating, we'll preview the lineup of Duelers with suggested Halloween costumes!

Brannon - JD's brother-in-law is back for his second game!  And we've learned his name is BranNon, not BranDon.  That pronunciation confusion makes HAN (Han?  Hahn?) SOLO his perfect costume.

Chris - Look who's back for the first time since his May the 4th victory!  The veteran tactician is a worthy and honorable opponent.  That's why his perfect costume is MON MOTHMA.

Curtis - He wasn't too pleased with his Fall Brawl results, so surely Curtis has been training hard for his next match.  That is why DAGOBAH TRAINING LUKE is his perfect costume, complete with son Miles riding on his back dressed like YODA.

Daniel - Speaking of another blast from the past, Daniel is back in action Saturday night for the first time in many moons.  He's been romancing a new lady friend, which is why LANDO is his perfect costume.

JD - The ground swell for actually pulling off a Twelve-12-Way Duel summer weekend is growing, and JD may or may not have already created a trophy for it!  His re-purposing of junk materials means UGNAUGHT is his perfect costume.

Jonathan - Jonathan continues his march towards professional status.  He's got talent, skills, and card knowledge, but can sometimes have trouble honing them together.  That is why his costume is PADAWAN ANAKIN, complete with rat tail.

Liz - She braved her first Duel last month and finished in a respectable 8th place.  That undaunted courage makes for a perfect WEDGE ANTILLES costume.

Luke - A veteran of the infamous Martin underground leagues, he did play with us at the Singles Tournament this summer, but this mysterious Dueler will be making his league debut at Fight Night. This shadowy entrance means SUPREME LEADER SNOKE is his perfect costume.

Rob - The crazy old wizard responsible for this blog and Dueling craze used some major Jedi Mind Tricks to finish second place with Han Solo at the Fall Brawl.  That is why OLD MAN OBI-WAN is his perfect costume.

Sakina - You read that right, Sakina is back in the house!  She hasn't played since the 2015 Championship.  This epic break in action, only to return in dramatic fashion, means OLD MAN LUKE SKYWALKER is her perfect costume.

Stephen - Nobody is Dueling better right now than Stephen.  Lost in the Fall Brawl results was his impressive finish with Boba Fett (5th), the Fett's highest finish in years.  I happen to know he already has a Mandalorian helmet, making JANGO FETT Stehpen's perfect costume.

Stevie - Rounding out our accomplished list of Duelers is Stevie.  He continues to fine-tune his Dueling skills and is nearing expert status.  Can he finally bring home his first victory?  The anticipation is PALPAble, making his perfect costume EMPEROR PALPATINE!

MAGNETIC LEGO ADMIRAL ACKBAR PREDICTS THE WINNER:

"Once the shield is down, our Duelers will
create a perimeter, while our Skywalkers fly
into the superstructure and attempt to knock out
the main reactor."

Holy cow!  Ackbar is predicting Luke wins Fight Night!  Those are some crazy odds.  In 50+ recorded Duels, he's only ever won once.  What does the Admiral know that we don't?

Magnetic Lego Admiral Ackbar's prediction record this season:  1-2

Well, this is shaping up to be an epic FIGHT NIGHT!  Once again, we play at 8PM on Saturday Night, in the North Village Community Center.  See you then!!!

The Fall Brawl - September 18, 2016

Kamino Platform

For the first time since May the 4th, we were back in the North Village Community Center to play a 12-way Duel!  Back to the nice round table and comfy seats.  The rumor on the street is that the name of that space is going to be officially changed to "The Epic Duels Room" in the campus directory.  I may or may not have started that rumor.  But if we spread it far and wide, it could come true!

The twleve combatants gathered by 8PM, including JD's brother-in-law Brandon, who was covering for a late cancel.  He drove an hour and a half just to play with us!  If I've said it once I've said it a hundred times:  YOU CAN'T TEACH HEART!

Ducky faces the music

JD randomly picked chair #1, and thus was responsible for pulling the "Kamino Platform" envelope.  As the Duelers commenced, Rob/Han Solo devised a shocking strategy.  Since he was starting in the middle of the board, he wanted to prove loyalty to the dark side before retreating towards Darth Maul and company.  So, before drawing a card, Han ran backwards while Chewbacca attacked Ian's Obi-Wan Kenobi!  He didn't defend the first shot, but pulled out his 12-defense card to counter the BOWCASTER!  And with that, the chaos had commenced.

Ian, still damaged and now needing a distraction, took his revenge on Donald/Anakin.  As the light and dark were doing damage to each other, Ducky was trying to stay under the radar in the back row of the platform.  Ian wasn't having it!  He started the attack that eventually led to Stephen's Greedo eliminating Donald in last place.  Donald chose to stick around the rest of the night, over FOUR hours, to see Ian die! Would he get his wish?  #foreshadowing

 It's hard to describe in the recap, but the first two hours of the game saw no deaths but a ton of action.  Once Anakin was eliminated, more heads started to roll.  Joel/Jango, who had been loyal to the dark side from the start, got back-stabbed by JD's Imperial Guard, and then Jonathan/Maul finished him off in eleventh.  Can you say "blindside?"  Meanwhile, Brandon's Yoda was catching some heat and Curtis' Mace was getting long distance damage from Vader and the Emperor.  So Brandon made a move by Force Pushing Ryan's Luke Skywalker.  Leia was already off the board, meaning Luke potentially had two Justice cards in his hand.  Despite his pleas for newfound loyalty, the Dark Side closed in and Boba shot him down in tenth.

Curtis getting nowhere fast

Curtis was struggling to find a side to align with amid the chaos when Dalton/Dooku Force Pushed him behind Slave One, meaning he could attack JD/Emperor and-or Liz/Vader.  He tried to strike a deal with Liz but she wasn't buying it, so out came a double Whirlwind!  Though that was really cool, Stephen/Boba added another trophy to his collection and Curtis was gone in ninth.

The dark side alliance started to disintegrate after that.  Stephen/Boba Rocket Retreated by shooting Vader, and then Jonathan/Maul moved in on Vader too and Liz, playing her first official Duel and doing pretty good too, wouldn't advance past eighth.  Jonathan was low carded after that, and Rob/Han suggested eliminating him.  Ian/Obi, who was back on speaking terms with Han, followed suit and Maul got mauled in seventh place.  With six to go all eyes turned on Brandon, whose Yoda had been hiding out at the far end of the board.  The long-drive Dueler ran out of gas when Ian chopped down his next victim.

That left five to go:  Rob/Han, Ian/Obi, Stephen/Boba, JD/Emperor, and Dalton/Dooku.  Dalton/Dooku looked like the next victim, as he was full health and a big threat.  But Dalton wasn't going down without a fight.  He rushed Boba Fett and Stephen couldn't survive.  Boba Fett hadn't finished above sixth place since the Fett won the 2014 Championship, so that was yet another good showing for Stephen.  He has really elevated his game.  Dalton did finally peter out in fourth, which is a career best finish for Dalton.  If Dalton can fit in two more Duels before December, he'll be a professionally ranked Dueler in time time for the 2016 Championship!

JD and all the feels

At that point there were only three left, and as Rob stepped away from the table for the first time in four hours because sometimes a guy really has to go but you shouldn't really go during a Duel because that's when they'll plot your demise trust me on this it's happened to me before but when you gotta go then you gotta go, Ian and JD reached an agreement to eliminate poor Han next.

But Rob had other plans.

He first reached out to JD, suggesting they team together to attack the damaged but still dangerous Obi-Wan Kenobi.  But JD wouldn't do it!  He moved in on Han...but didn't attack!  That's when Rob broke out his twin hammers of Truth and Logic and laid his case before Ian.  The reality of the situation was clear, Rob only needed Ian to accept it.  Ian's best chance to beat the full-health Emperor was to align with Han freakin' Solo...the same cat who tried to shoot him with a Bowcaster at the start of the game!  And to prove his loyalty to Ian, he shot the Emperor.  Ian, who had previously told JD they were solid to the end...recanted!  JD instantly began progressing through the five stages of grief as Han and Obi-Wan put the hurt on him.  The Emperor, who has never won before, was thaaaaaaat close to pulling it off.  But alas, he finished third.  If you see JD, give him a hug.

With two to go it was Han vs. Obi-Wan - the same pairing from the first attack of the game.  It was poetic, really.  But Han was bleeding from the Emperor's death throws.  On top of that, Ian had played the card that forced all players to dump their hands and draw three when it was down to the final three.  Han had been loaded with defense before but now he kept drawing Wookie cards.  Rob tried to run around Jango's ship but Obi tracked him down like the dog he was and pulled out the victory!  And just like that Ian secured his second career win and second victory in his last four games.  Furthermore, Obi-Wan now ties Jango for second place on the character rankings with four trophies.

Your final results:

12.  Donald/Anakin
11.  Joel/Jango
10.  Ryan/Luke
9.  Curtis/Mace
8.  Liz/Vader
7.  Jonathan/Maul
6.  Brandon/Yoda
5.  Stephen/Boba
4.  Dalton/Dooku
3.  JD/Emperor
2.  Rob/Han
1.  Ian/Obi-Wan

Preview: The Fall Brawl - September 17, 2016

Few Duels are as hotly anticipated as the Fall Brawl, our annual September Duel.  That's because after CL Training and the Doubleheaders, Duel fever is at pique frenzy!  You know you're a Duel junkie when you can't wait for the next fix!  You couldn't stop now if you wanted to!!!

That paragraph got really weird. Don't do drugs, kids.  Do Duels instead.

HISTORY:

2014 - David Coy wins with Darth Maul using his patented Switzerland technique.  He remains the only Dueler in history with amateur status to have won a 12-way.

2015 - Rob's Obi-Wan slides into victory after Chris and Grant's alliance disintegrates.  This is also the last time Rob has won a Duel.

MEET THE DUELERS:

Curtis - his verbal barrage in game two of the Doubleheader nearly worked in saving his skin.  He has honed the art of Jedi Mind Tricks.

Dalton - after three Duels he keeps making incremental improvements to his game.  He's developing Masterful Fighting.

Donald - he took Luke's style of evasion in game one of the Doubleheader to new heights.  If it's up to Ducky, he Will Not Fight You.

Elizabeth - this Dueling rookie played the side game at CL Training and answered the sign-up email with Sith Speed.  She's ready to rock.

Ian - the less said about Ian's doubleheader experience...the better.  He's ready to throw a Thermal Detonator on that memory and create a better one.

JD - he was forced to miss the Doubleheader because he was on a secret mission to Alderaan, securing Elvis Andrus/Lando bobbleheads, netting an improbable two.  Never Tell JD The Odds.

Joel - the only thing that held this strategic natural back during the Doubleheader was his lack of knowledge about the cards.  With additional experience he's more likely to have his Future Foreseen.

Jonathan - the confident player from North Village has studied the cards but hopes his third time Dueling is the charm.  Perhaps he'll experience a bit of Gambler's Luck?

Rob - he had two great characters (Obi-Wan and Dooku) at the Doubleheader with two bad starting spots.  Hopefully he'll have more Force Balance with his character assignment this go-round.

Ryan - the #1 ranked Dueler kept Luke's recent streak of strong finishes alive in round two of the Doubleheader, finishing second.  Children Of The Force - Ryan is your Jedi daddy.

Stephen - nobody had a better day at the Doubleheader than Stephen!  He finished second in game one and first in game two...dare I say it was All Too Easy for him?

Victoria - though she played well at the CL Training Duel, Victoria did finish last.  She's a keen player, though, and a little Wookie Healing has her ready to rumble.

MAGNETIC LEGO ADMIRAL ACKBAR PREDICTS THE WINNER:

"A Dueler's Defense must be deactivated...
if a Whirlwind Attack is to be attempted."

Uh...looks like Ackbar suggests it will be Mace Windu this time around?

Magnetic Lego Admiral Ackbar's prediction record this season:  1-1

A 50% record on a one-in-twelve chance pick?  Not too shabby Acky Baby!

If you're playing we'll see you at 8PM, Saturday, in the North Village Community Center.  If  you're coming to watch...we'll see you at the same time!