Doubleheader #2 - August 27, 2016 (featuring Legos!)

The Emperor's Throne Room

We promised a big surprise for this year's Doubleheader...and we think it was pretty cool!  For months a group of us dreamed of playing a Duel with Star Wars Legos, and we finally pulled it off! Though Curtis and Rob provided a bit of help with the figures, Ryan undertook the herculean task of not only finding all 31 characters needed, but actually reconstructing one of the game boards!  For that reason, instead of randomly picking a board for game two, we chose one ahead of time to give Ryan a chance to build it.  AND HE DID AN AWESOME JOB.

There are a lot of little details Ryan accounted for in both the characters and the board itself.  My favorite part of the Throne Room were the steps leading to an actual throne!  At the start of the game the Emperor is actually sitting in it.  Ryan used a dry erase marker to recreate the squares necessary for movement, lines of attack, etc.  The characters had cool distinctions too, like Clone Troopers with different cape types to distinguish if they were a main character's first or second minor character.  Ryan even added some non-Duels characters as spectators on the sidelines!  At one point he even considered raising the board a couple of inches and cutting out the sections that represented the open chasm the bridges cross.  Maybe next time...?

Still smiling, but getting more tired...

With the second game of the Doubleheader starting at close to 10PM, folks weren't in the mood for messing around.  Nathan took it upon himself to get the party started.  Having the misfortune of drawing Boba Fett twice in the same night, he finally got to play a Thermal Detonator, chucking it towards Vader/Stevie and the Emperor/Grant and then Rocket Retreating behind Mace Windu/Donald on the other end of the board.  This made the dark side angry, which is a scary thing to do. Stevie Threw Debris and Wrathed Boba, Stephen/Jango Fired Up The Jet Pack, used his flamethrower on Boba, and then pulled off his own retreat back to the Dark Side.  Soon after Grant used Force Lightning to fry Nathan in last place.  It was a tough night for Nathan, who finished tenth and last, both with the worst ranked character in the game, but it still wasn't worse than poor Ian.  Still stinging from last place in the first game of the night, Ian valiantly tried to hold the light side together after Ryan/Luke and Obi/Joel defected for the dark side.  Joel twice used his Obi-Wan attack that moved everyone around the board up to three spaces and Ian's Anakin got surrounded.  Grant played his "You Will Die" card on Anakin too, just for good measure, and Zam put him out of his misery.  Not a good night for Ian, but he'll bounce back the next time - you can't keep a good Dueler down!

Legos who die in Duels have to sit in timeout.

Heidi was creating some havoc for the light side.  She marched her Chewbacca all the way down to a corner on the dark side and Bowcasted the Emperor, putting eight points of damage on Grant.  Chewie got trapped there, though, and could no longer defend Han, who got caught in the crossfire and ceased to exist after Jango shot him, earning 10th place for the night.

Grant, still bleeding out with two points of health left, couldn't find his healing Meditation card.  It cost him his life, because the dark side decided they didn't want the Emperor to proceed in the game.  Rob/Dooku Force Pushed Curtis/Maul to the back row to kill Grant.  Grant finished ninth, but still had a victory to bask in from game #1.

With four dead relatively quickly, the game came to a screeching halt.  The alliance of six were firmly against Yoda/Dalton and Mace/Donald, but it took a loooooooong time to whittle them down.  Ryan's Leia finally put a blaster shot on Yoda good for 8th, and Jango collected yet another trophy by ousting Mace in seventh.  Dalton has improved in all three of his Duels, and Donald had a respectable night with 5th and 7th place showings.

With that bit of business finally done there were six to go, and five of them agreed that Stevie's Darth Vader was in much too good of shape to stick around any longer.  A coordinated attack ended Stevie's night, with the finally volley of death delivered by a "Does Not Count As An Action" barrage from Curtis/Maul.  Stevie finished in the top half of both Duels - not too shabby!

Your final two.

The final five, seeing Curtis was low-carded, knew it was time for his exit.  As the attacks came Curtis was having NONE of it.  He staged one of the most passionate filibusters in league history, but in the end, couldn't talk his way out of fifth place.  It was a nice recovery for Curtis after his game one showing.

With four to go Rob/Dooku suggested going after Jango/Stephen, pointing out how dangerous it is to let Jango survive this late in a game, especially on a board he can run around out of reach.  Joel/Obi was too scared by Dooku, though, and went in on Rob.  Rob quickly changed his tune and he, along with Ryan/Luke and Stephen/Jango, coordinated their cards against Obi-Wan.  Joel came to rest in fourth place, another awesome finish on the night for the Dueling rookie!

Rob liked his chances against Jango more than Luke, so the original three person alliance eroded as Dooku tried to get the jump on young Skywalker.  But Dooku was too damaged and ran out of defense cards as Luke dropped a five-point attack to eliminate Rob in third.  At that point it was Luke and Leia vs. Nathan, who incredibly was in his second "final two" of the night!  With Leia still alive Ryan couldn't heal Luke or use his "Justice" cards.  Jango inched him closer to death but a late run of Leia attack cards started to even up the damage.  Just as he was getting within range of finishing second for the second time that night, he finally shot Luke and claimed his first ever victory!  It was an awesome feeling for Stephen, who had been kicking himself for letting the first game of the night get away from him.  A tip of the hat goes to Ryan too!  The primary Lego architect played a great game with Luke.  Luke has finished second in three of the last four Duels!

"Jango Fett vs. Obi-Wan Kenobi:
The Epic Duels box cover reinterpreted"
by Riley Engblom, age 8

The final order of finish:

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

Jango now has four career victories, and is just one behind Darth Vader for the lead.  The next Duel is the "Fall Brawl," we're looking at mid-September for that one.  Stay tuned and thanks to everyone who played and/or reads the blog!!!

Doubleheader #1 - August 27, 2016

The last time the 12 of us would be nice to each other
for the rest of the night.

Kamino Platform

For the first time in a year, we were back on the Kamino Platform for a Duel.  Kamino, the site of the famous battle between Jango Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi in Episode II, is easily the most diverse board in Epic Duels.  It's strange starting points, raised terrain, and open bridge shots creates a unique environment to navigate during a Duel.

And as with all Doubleheaders, the Yoda Soda was cold, the Tie-Fighter Ties were warm, and the Wookie Cookies were store bought impostors.  Ryan drew seat number and after picking Kamino the characters were picked and we were off and running.

There were a few rounds of picking up cards before Ian/Vader and Curtis/Emperor started picking on Rob's Obi-Wan Kenobi with their long distance attacks.  Dalton's Zam Wessel was also joining in on the fun.  Fearing an early exit, Rob took the bold strategy of attacking Zam with his card that could move everyone on the board up to three spaces.  Most of the Duelers at the table took this as a good time for a snack break, but Grant/Dooku, who Ryan/Han and Rob/Obi had been trying to woo for a flip to the light side, made the subtle request to be moved into attack position against Vader!

Hello Darth Vader, my name is Count
Dooku.  You chopped my head off.
Prepare to die.

This would prove to be the biggest move of the game.  After Obi had moved everybody the light side had advanced into attack positions and the Emperor/Curtis was dragged away from his hiding spot behind Slave One.  Grant made good on his request to be by Vader, promptly attacking him once and then Force Pushing him into the middle of the pack of Jedi!  It didn't take long for poor Ian to be the first visitor to the Loser's Lounge, as Han/Ryan shot him dead in 12th.  Two weeks ago he won his first ever 12-Way Duel, and then he was at the bottom.  That's Epic Duels in a nutshell.

Curtis wasn't long for the game either, as Nathan/Boba landed a couple of attacks before Rocket Retreating to the light side alliance.  Obi-Wan put the finishing blow on Emperor for an 11th place finish.  Although Nathan had assumed he could be friends in his new landing spots, the Jedi weren't having it and Stephen/Anakin chopped him down in 10th.  Boba Fett's long streak of poor showings continues.  Since Ryan won with him at the 2014 Championship, Boba hasn't placed higher than sixth.

Dalton was navigating the other Fett, Jango, but couldn't find a peaceful spot on his home court board.  He was grounded in 9th when Ryan's Princess Leia blasted him.  My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I know Han was low carded and injured (did Curtis play "You Will Die" on him before expiring?).  Ryan tried to sweet talk his solid standing in the alliance, but Stevie's Mace Windu could smell his weakness and decided to clear the board of everyone's favorite smuggler.  That meant eighth place for Ryan/Han.

Ducky will not fight Mace.

With seven to go, Heidi's Darth Maul was the only non-member of the current alliance left.  Padme, a Yoda clone trooper, and an Obi-Wan trooper had formed a wall to keep her at bay. but Rob brain farted and approved Joel's Yoda to pull his solider back.  That left an easy path for Heidi to advance and take down Rob's Obi-Wan in seventh.  Low-carded after her big move on Obi, Heidi couldn't take the subsequent attacks and Yoda's clone trooper eliminated her in sixth.  It was a very good rookie debut for Heidi!

With five to go Grant, who had Count Dooku and his two Super Battle Droids camped out behind Slave One, used his Jedi mind persuasion skills on the other Duelers left to team up against Stevie's Mace Windu.  That's when Donald's Luke, who had discarded a card to draw a card more times than I've ever seen in a single game, played "I Will Not Fight You" on Stevie.  Stevie wasn't impressed, but he was also somewhat insulated from the other aggressors.  As folks tried to move in on Mace, Stephen's Anakin decided to make a big move.  He had both of his "Anger" attack cards but not their paired cards, the "Calms."  Tired of waiting for them, he used both on Donald's Luke!  That eliminated Donald in fifth place but also left him without cards.

Around this time Stevie/Mace, Joel/Yoda, and Stephen/Anakin got wise that maybe Grant and his fully healthy Count Dooku was going to win the game.  They started turning on Dooku and chipping away at his damage indicator card.  But Grant got the drop on Stevie, and Mace finished in fourth place.  That left three to go, but instead of continuing their two on one attack against Dooku, Grant again used his powers of influence to get them to start fighting against themselves!  Observers couldn't believe the power Grant was wielding!  Joel's Yoda was the next victim.  A big congrats goes out to Joel, he had a great first official Duel!

Only two were left, and it looked like Stephen's Anakin was going to be victorious, but Grant's deft play and a couple of mistakes and unlucky card draws by Stephen meant...you guessed it, victory for Grant!  He snatched a win out of a Rancor's jaws of defeat.  Stephen was devastated, but he would have another shot at redemption in game two.  #foreshadowing

Grant won his fifth career Duel, moving him into sole possession of second place on the all-time list and just one behind Rob's six.  He's also the leading active Dueler in career win percentage!  I apologize for not having a picture of the victory, Grant deserved it.  I was busy getting game #2 ready and restocking the Yoda Soda and Wookie Cookies.  mmm...Yoda Soda...

Final order of finish:

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

Preview: The Doubleheader - August 27th, 2016

There's only one date during the calendar year when our league plays more than one Duel... and that's the DOUBLE HEADER!  Twice the insanity, twice the chance to win, twice the opportunity to have your dreams crushed.  This will also be the first time a Duel is played at Rob's new house.  No worries though, there will still be Tie-Fighter Ties, Kernel Detonators, and of course YODA SODA.

Two weeks ago the Duel at CL Training sparked a new wave of would-be victors to sign up and play at the Double Header.  Four folks will make their official debut while eight students will represent two-thirds of the Duelers at the table.  The times they are a changing!

But there's also BIG NEWS regarding the Double Header this year.  We have special surprise in store...but we won't share what that is until the proper time.  We want to "build" the suspense.

HISTORY:

2014 - In the first game Alex took Darth Maul the distance on the Kamino Platform for the win.  In the second game he was the first one dead as Curtis won the very first time he ever played, using Yoda.

2015 - Ryan notched his second (and last) career victory with Jango Fett in game one.  Grant won his third career Duel with Yoda in the Emperor's Throne Room during the second game.

MEET THE DUELERS:

Brandon - the rookie from K-Not played the side game at the retreat and is ready to sit at the grown-up's table now.

Curtis - he's still in pain over his 9th and 10th place finishes at last year's Double Header.

Dalton - this is career game #2 for Big D, and he's hoping to improve upon his 11th place finish at CL Training.

Donald - another Dueling noob who is one of six North Village Duelers at the games.

Heidi - a saboteur in rookie clothing, she keenly observed the CL Training Duel and is ready to test her knowledge.

Ian - he used Mace at the last Duel to earn his first career victory and jumped all the way to third place in the Dueler rankings.

Joel - yet another rookie hoping to use his sense of humor and gregarious personality to go deep into the match.

Nathan - the 2015 champion navigated Han to a respectable 5th place finish at CL Training.

Rob - he hasn't won in almost a year but nearly made it with a 2nd place showing at the last Duel.

Ryan - the number one ranked Dueler needs to shake off the rust, he hasn't played since Duel of the Fates in April.

Stephen -  this professional with solid experience is looking for his first career victory.  He's got two shots at it.

Stevie - he hung tough at CL Training with Jango Fett but is surely looking for a more powerful character to play with.

MAGNETIC LEGO ADMIRAL ACKBAR PREDICTS THE WINNER(S)

Last year toy Jar Jar and Obi-Wan were our prognosticators, but this season we're switching it up...introducing General Ackbar!  Take it away, Fish Lips!

"You can see here the North Village Duelers orbiting Rob's house.
Although Dooku and Yoda are not yet operational, CL's do have a strong
defense mechanism.  They are protected by an energy shield which is
generated from the nearby duty phone on campus."

Uh...if I can decipher that correctly, it looks like Ackbar is picking Dooku and Yoda to do well...?

Who knows?  The only sure thing is that this Saturday, 6PM, the Dueling commences!!!

CL Training Duel - August 9, 2016

Geonosis Arena

Oh friends...we were gone too long.  The singles tournament this summer was nice, but there is nothing quite like a 12-way Duel!  No worries though...we are back, baby!!!

The first duel of the 16-17 season took place in Glen Rose, TX, the fourth time we've played there during CL Training.  And just like last year, we had an enormous turnout.  The first 12 open spots quickly filled, but we had enough for ten others to play a side game next to the main event, which amateur Austin won.  That was a nice rebound for Austin, who had the unlucky distinction of being the only Dueler to ever finish last with Darth Vader this past spring.

The league-official Duel featured two brand new players.  Victoria navigated Count Dooku, and Dalton selected Anakin Skywalker.  Four amateurs (Elysa, David, Jonathan and Josh) and six professionals (Rob, JD, Ian, Nathan, Stevie and Stephen) rounded out the combatants.  It was a nice mix of experience and new blood.

Jonathan and Stephen with fans on the rail.

The game started...slowly.  S...L...O...W...L...Y. Elysa was assigned seat #1 and chose Geonosis for the first battleground of the season.  The light side formed a quick alliance out of the gate, but all of their shooters were stuck behind the fallen columns.  Making matters worse, Dalton kept rolling green numbers, meaning he couldn't move Anakin and Padme at the same time, making it hard for the light side to get unclogged.

The dark side took advantage of the logjam.  Jonathan's Boba Fett chucked a Thermal Detonator that wrecked Yoda and Obi-Wan, killing three clone troopers.  Josh's Darth Vader began raining down Throw Debris (which he loved to pronounce "deb-RIS"), Chokes, and Wraths.  After an hour and a half (I told you it was slow) the knot finally loosened.  Victoria's Count Dooku, stuck in her original starting position in the middle of the board, finally died after tussling with Ian's Mace Windu.  Dalton followed soon after, as his alliance betrayed him to further clear the middle of the board.

V-V-Vader and the Fetts

The resulting board alignment was quite humorous.  JD's Maul and Elysa's Emperor had joined the light side, leaving Darth Vader and the two Fetts alone in a corner of the board.  They stayed huddled together for protection and warmth.  The light side eventually converged, and Elysa ousted Boba Fett in tenth place.  Stephen's Obi-Wan was the surprising next exit.  He had made the light side nervous with his frequent conversations with Jonathan's Boba Fett, and was stuck sitting on the side of the table where no other light side characters were.  Elysa dropped the "You Will Die" on him and JD's Maul mopped the floor with him after that.  Meanwhile, Ian's Mace put the finishing blow on Darth Vader.  Give Josh credit, though.  His Vader wrecked Darth Maul, Leia, and a whole mess of Clone Troopers.

That left seven duelers - six of the original light side alliance and Stevie's Jango Fett.  David, controlling Yoda, suggested eliminating Nathan's Han Solo before finishing off Jango.  The rest of the alliance balked and focused their efforts on the little green Jedi when David proceeded with an attack on Han.  It was about this time we discovered David had unintentionally overdrawn above the maximum ten cards in his hand.  We decided to require him to randomly discard back to the appropriate level and he lost some of his big defense.  That allowed Mace to add another trophy to his shelf.

JD pleads his case.

With Yoda gone Jango was next, falling to JD's Darth Maul.  That left a final five of Rob/Luke, Nathan/Han, Elysa/Emperor, JD/Maul, and Ian/Mace.  Folks at the table didn't realize it, but Rob and Nathan were aligned from the beginning of the game.  Luke was full health, and became concerned that Chewbacca was too.  Vader and Yoda had hurt Han, and seeing how injured he was, Rob betrayed his partner by dropping a Justice on Han to finish Nathan in fifth place.  Rob will surely pay for that in the future!

With four to go, game play was interrupted because Elysa had to email her professor before midnight.  During the break JD got up from the table.  That's when Rob and Ian struck a deal - Rob would eliminate JD and Ian would do the same to the Emperor.  As Elysa and JD sat back down, that's what went down.  JD began the attack on the Emperor, and Rob allowed him to do that before hitting him with an attack and using "Children of the Force" to run away.  Elysa eventually bowed out in fourth, which was a personal best finish for her!  With three left, Ian had to decide who he wanted to end the game against.  Despite a compelling argument from JD/Maul, Ian decided he didn't want the double-bladed Sith lord hanging around and JD's start to the season was done in third place.

Victory a la Whirlwind

So that left Rob/Luke, full health but short carded after playing "I Will Not Fight You" on JD...twice.  Ian/Mace, who had killed half the board but was hurting, and his two Clone Troopers were still hanging in there.  Rob retreated behind the columns, figuring that would cut down on the cheap shots from the Clones.  Mace slowly moved in, and Luke welcomed him, even dropping a new Justice card on him.  But Rob slowly realized he had fallen for Ian's trap.  With a Clone Trooper on either end of the columns, Rob suddenly remembered Mace's two best cards:  the WHIRLWINDS!  It was too late, Luke was too damaged to defend their automatic damage and Ian brought home his FIRST VICTORY!!!  Congrats Ian!!!  He played a masterful game - not a single mistake made.  Simply brilliant!

This was Mace's second career victory, and moves him into third place on the character rankings.  Ian takes a jump in the professional rankings too.  Elysa is now one Duel away from reaching professional status, and David only needs two more to gain that same level.  Thanks to everyone for playing, whether you were in the main event or the side game!  Stay tuned for the next Duel...or should I say DUELS.  That's right - the Double Header is up next.  That's two games in one night.  Egads!

Order of Finish:

12. Dooku/Victoria
11. Anakin/Dalton
10. Boba/Jonathan
9.  Obi-Wan/Stephen
8.  Vader/Josh
7.  Yoda/David
6.  Jango/Stevie
5.  Han/Nathan
4.  Emperor/Elysa
3.  Maul/JD
2.  Luke/Rob
1.  Mace/Ian