May the 4th Be With You - May 4, 2016

Emperor's Throne Room

To quote Boyz II Men:

"...and I'll take with me, the memories..."

Can you believe it???  Another Dueling season is done and in the books.  Our May the 4th Duel represents the 25th match in league history, which is spectacularly silly and awesome all at once.

For the first time in months we were back in the Emperor's Throne Room, an interesting board that bunches the Dark Side and spreads the Light across bridges and chasms.  It always makes for an interesting start to an intense battle.

Alex, Hall of Fame Dueler

But before we jumped into the mayhem, a special ceremony took place.  The governing council for the league had determined a Hall of Fame should be established to recognize the outstanding achievements of Epic Duelers, especially those whose time in the league might be coming to an end.  With that directive, the council elected its first Hall of Famer:  Alex Reachi.

Alex won the first ever 12-Way Duel played on campus (and before this league), at the CL Retreat in 2013.  He was just a young padawan, but his verbal game was strong and his strategy was even better.  He won that Duel with Boba Fett, something never done before in a 12-Way and a feat he repeated in actual league play, one of his four career victories that ranks him tied for second all-time.  He was also the first ever winner with Darth Maul and is tied for Luke Skywalker's best ever finish (2nd).  More importantly, Alex always Duels the right way - he plays to WIN.  Others may get distracted by ranking, but for him, he wants to instill chaos on his way to victory.  Whether this was Alex's last Duel with us or not, his legend is established and his stories will be told for generations to come.

This really happened.

So...back to the game!  JD came dressed as Darth Vader in graduation robes, and wouldn't you know it, he picked Vader!  He was part of a large and strong alliance of Dark Side players that grew in power when Alex's Luke Skywalker defected to their side.  Elijah, also likely playing his final Duel, decided to have some fun with his Boba Fett and chucked a Thermal Detonator at Yoda and a pack of Clone Troopers, killing three and putting four points of hurt on the lil' greenie.  Rob, using the Emperor, started raining Force Lightnings on Curtis' Mace Windu.  Leia, Zam, and Greedo were shooting across the board, and the light side was in trouble.  Daniel's Chewbacca, half choked to death by Vader, dove into the Dark Side and smoked Grant's Count Dooku for half his health points before dying off.  The Light Side also got Elijah's Boba Fett within a point of being dead too.

Despite the Dark Side clearly being in control of the board, a disturbance in the Force was felt.  Rob's Emperor was worried that Nathan's Darth Maul was fully loaded and ready to unload on an alliance member.  He gave JD the nod, and Nathan's fate was sealed.  Emperor played "You Will Die" on Nathan, and then Vader attacked with "All Too Easy."  Just like that, a fully healthy Darth Maul was the first character out of the game.  BOOM.  Boba Fett had been hiding behind a now vanished Battle Droid, so one of Mace's Clone Troopers took a pot shot at him to kill Elijah in eleventh place.  That was lucky for the Light Side, because Elijah turned over a scary hand of attack cards.

Somewhere in the middle of all that action Stephen's Yoda and Heath's Obi-Wan began to splinter from the rest of the Light Side.  Yoda ended up Force Pushing Mace to the Dark Side, where he quickly fell in tenth at the hands of Vader.  Heath used the attack card that moved everyone around the board, causing more panic.  Obi-Wan got Force Pushed too, and though he kept his head down for a time, an Imperial Guard finally ousted Heath in ninth.  It was Heath's first 12-Way and he did a good job, we hope he plays with us again!

With eight to go and a log jam in and around the bridges of the Death Star's core reactor, Stevie's Anakin couldn't avoid a continuous barrage of minor character gunfire.  Alex's Leia Organa provided the final blow, as Anakin finished in eighth place for the second game in a row.  Daniel's Han Solo was trying to escape notice during this whole time, but Grant's Super Battle Droid got revenge from the previous Bowcaster by shooting Solo to death.

The loneliest number, one is.

That left six, so Rob's Emperor made a strong move by using Force Lightning on Grant's Dooku, who couldn't heal because his Battle Droids were still on the board.  But Alex and Chris (Jango) grew scared of facing a combination of Vader and Emperor, so Alex moved in on Rob when Grant killed Leia, giving Luke his 10-point Justice cards.  Stephen, still on the board with Yoda, could have used Insight on Luke to take one of those cards away, but chose to remain neutral instead.  With one point of health left, Rob begged Chris to start shooting Alex, who was at that point the strongest player on the board.  Chris couldn't betray his partner in crime, though, so he sent Emperor/Rob packing.

That meant five were left:  Stephen/Yoda, JD/Vader, Alex/Luke, Grant/Dooku, and Chris/Jango.  There were an unusually high number of minor characters still on the board too, as Zam, two Super Battle Droids, and a Storm Trooper were still kicking.  In fact, it was Chris' Zam who ended Yoda's day in fifth place.  With four to go everyone was bleeding out except Jango, especially after Luke and Vader had traded blows.  It looked like Chris was going to win in a landslide, but JD made the wise social move to try and rally Grant and Alex to join forces against the elder Fett.  When Grant declined Vader immediately Wrathed him, and Grant was done in fourth.  That was a nice finish for Grant because Dooku was seriously wounded for an extended length of time.

At last!!!  Dressed for success
the key to victory?

It was at this point Alex had a crisis of commitment.  His heart told him to let Chris win, as Chris was his loyal friend in his own last two victories and Chris had come in second place so many times before without winning.  But then his cold, hard, logic kicked in.  There's only one way to play.  TO WIN.  JD, Alex, and Chris swarmed and attacked each other, dancing around the board.  JD was the first to fall, as Vader couldn't escape Jango's ranged attacks.  Luke kept the pressure on Jango, but Chris was drawing from a newly shuffled pile, and his Missile Launch card was back in his hand.  That finished off Alex, who had an amazing three game run in first, first, and second place to end his career.  But more importantly, Chris finally won!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats to Chris, a talented, longtime Dueler who finally drinks from the cup of victors.  It's a sweet, sweet taste, isn't it Chris?

This was also Jango's third victory, the fourth character to reach that milestone.  It also made him undefeated on May the 4th, as he won this Duel last year too!

Thanks again to everyone who reads this blog and plays in these Duels.  We'll take the summer off and start back up again at CL Training.  We do plan to resurrect the Singles Tournament again, so stay tuned for more details on that.  The final order of finish:

12.  Nathan/Maul
11.  Elijah/Boba
10.  Curtis/Mace
9.  Heath/Obi
8.  Stevie/Anakin
7.  Daniel/Han
6.  Rob/Emperor
5.  Stephen/Yoda
4.  Grant/Dooku
3.  JD/Vader
2.  Alex/Luke
1.  Chris/Jango

Preview: May the 4th Be With You - May 4th, 2016

It's such a bittersweet time of the year...the last Duel of the season!  And for some of our friends, their last Duel ever.  Believe it or not, May the 4th Be With You will be our 25th league match.  Here's to reaching the quarter-century mark!

HISTORY:
Last year's May the 4th game was perhaps the most topsy-turvy battle in league history.  A strong dark side alliance by Curtis/Grant/Ryan was snuffed out and destroyed.  Alex had nearly set up a perfect path for victory with Han, but was then thwarted by his alliance.  Rob, using little ol' Jango, knocked out his wife for the improbable victory.  *pew pew!*

LINEUP:
May the 4th takes place on the first day of finals this year (eek!), but these brave souls have managed their time well to embark on the path to victory.  It's the last chance of the year...what are each hoping to accomplish?

Alex - With graduation at hand this is likely Alex's last Duel ever, and as a founding father of the league, he's hoping to do something nobody else has:  win three in a row.

Chris - Riding a nice little three game streak of top five finishes, there is only one outcome which Chris seeks:  his first career victory.

Curtis - Perhaps nobody has been on a bigger roller coaster this season than Curtis, who has finished last with a Jedi and first with a shooter.  Curtis hopes to:  make it to the Duel, other departments keep trying to schedule meetings with him!

Daniel - A string of recent bad luck has Daniel ranked just outside of the top 12 professional Duelers, so he needs to:  finish better than 7th, which would likely move him past Tommy.

Elijah - A part-time Dueler over the past two years and a regular on the Martin Hall underground circuit, the graduating Elijah has one last chance to:  finish in the top seven of a Duel.

Grant - The only silver lining to Grant's ninth place finish last month was his sweeeeet whirlwind that knocked out five characters in one shot, but he has to:  wait for his revenge on Ian until next year...Ian isn't playing!

Heath - For years this veteran CL but 12-Way noob has teased us with his interest and Dueling skills, but now is his time to:  jump in and experience his first 12-Way Duel.

JD - Everyone watched in horror last month as JD's Yoda was Debris-ed and Lightninged to death by Vader and the Emperor, without a chance to defend.  JD must:  shake it off, it's a new day and a new Duel!

Nathan - Nathan tasted the top five last month for the first time since winning back to back Duels.  He wants to:  win one more before summer vacation.

Rob - The loss of Padme and being part of the weaker alliance at the Duel of the Fates continued his career long streak of winless Duels.  He's gunning for:  a repeat victory on May the 4th.

Stephen - Stephen was a regular Dueler during the front half of the season, but he's been MIA since then.  He needs to:  shake the rust off!

Stevie - His upward trajectory in career best finishes got derailed with a rough character selection (Luke) in the Carbon Freezing Chamber last month.  He wants to:  get back at it, victory could be next for this rising star.

OBI-WAN AND JAR JAR PREDICT THE WINNERS:

Alright you knuckleheads, this is it.  The last game of the year.  Who do you think will win?

Jar Jar:  "Oooh!  Look!  Da winner be getting Poe's X-Wing!
Meesa be thinkin' Poe-za gonna win!"

That makes no sense!!!  Poe isn't even in the game!!!  GRRRR...  Obi-Wan, lemme guess...

Obi-Wan:  "For once I think Jar Jar might be right.
Poe is a daring pilot and has a lot of moxie!
Who does he remind me of...?  Oh!  Me!
He reminds me of me!  I think Poe is going to win.
He'll find the high ground.  In his X-Wing."

That's it you two idiots.  That's the last time I'm letting you be the prognosticators!  I've got a new guy lined up for next season, but you'll just have to wait until August to see who it is.

In the meantime, I hope to see all of you at the North Village classroom at 1:30PM on May the 4th!