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...
No comments:
Post a Comment