As the twin suns set on the Baylor Campus, twelve brave warriors rendezvoused at the North Village Community Center. The nice spring weather betrayed the true intent of these combatants...to conquer and kill until the new Emperor's Trophy was theirs and theirs alone! It was only fitting that Grant picked the Throne Room for the killing field.
The 2017 Imperial March was important for a few reasons. First - we welcomed two new professionally ranked Duelers into our midst! Both Liz and Dalton are now officially sanctioned veterans - congrats to both! We are now at FIFTEEN ranked professionals - a record for our Duels league! And we also had two Duel debuts - Ethan and Samuel made their first ever 12-Way starts. One would finish much stronger than the other... #foreshadowing
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| JD deploys his Battle Droids |
The game started but not without some laughs (at least for eleven of us). Poor Jonathan, the unluckiest picker of characters ever, landed Han Solo for a second game in a row...this after picking second for characters! Needless to say, he wasn't happy. But both he and Dalton's Obi-Wan Kenobi soon defected and all of a sudden it was eight to four in favor of the Dark Side.
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| Four of the Duelers in this pic are about to stage a coup! |
Ian's Yoda was an early victim of Grant's "Throw Debris" and Rob's "Force Lightning," and eventually bowed out in twelfth because of it. That's the second time in Ian's career he's won one month and finished last the next. That's a form of consistency with mixed blessings.
Ethan was awarded Anakin and Padme for his first Duel, but the other Duelers were unforgiving with the novice. Grant's Vader "Choked" Padme and soon Ani was flying solo. That's when Ethan got aggressive and "Wrathed" Zam and Greedo in the same turn, killing both. Despite his valiant efforts, Stevie's Boba Fett sent Ethan packing in eleventh. Come back next time, Ethan! Liz/Mace, who had also been loyal to the original Light Side starters, got struck down by Stephen/Dooku in tenth. That was a career-worst finish for Liz, which her mother quickly pointed out via text message.
With nine to go and facing long odds, Samuel was on the ropes with Luke Skywalker. He almost played an "I Will Not Fight You" on Rob/Emperor, but didn't realize he would have to discard his own cards too. A couple of rounds later he decided it was worth the risk, but Rob suggested Jonathan's Han Solo, who was in full health with Chewie on the board and no Bowcaster blasts at that point. Jonathan was devastated when JD/Maul, Grant/Vader, and Rob/Emperor took him...but not before Han played double "Never Tell Me the Odds" on both of them.
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| Stephen can't look as he attacks Stevie. |
That turned out to be the turning point in the game, because out of nowhere, Ryan/Jango "Fired Up the Jet Pack" and used his "Flamethrower" on the trio of Dark Side characters, who were so comfortable in their back row alliance they didn't realize the Fetts, Obi-Wan, and Dooku had turned on them! It was a masterful flip with devastating results. JD's Maul was first to perish, and with a fistful of "Sith Speed" unused. It was not the night JD hoped for, though he did become just the second Dueler in league history to reach 30 games played during the match. That left seven Duelers to go, but Grant's Vader ran out of health points when Dalton's Obi-Wan finished him in seventh place.
The alliance of four, plus Samuel's lone wolf Luke, all stared across the board at Rob's Emperor Palpatine. As he's prone to do, Rob's mouth went on rapid fire, looking for cracks in the alliance while also whispering strategy suggestions for Samuel in the case of Rob's likely demise. Rob did bait Ryan/Jango into confirming Stevie was on the bottom of the alliance, and rewarded Rob with the final blow for his efforts.
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| Stephen still can't look. |
That left five Duelers: Samuel/Luke, Ryan/Jango, Stephen/Dooku, Stevie/Boba, and Dalton/Obi. Sure enough, the tribe of four ignored Luke Skywalker, injured and alone at the other end of the board, to start in on Stevie. Boba wouldn't go down without a fight, but accidentally got caught in his own "Thermal Detonator" blast when he tried to blow up Dooku and Obi. Dalton eventually got the upper hand and removed Stevie in fifth, but not without taking some damage.
The final four was set, which is ironic, because that's what was happening in March Madness at the exact same time. And for the first time in recent memory, there were no clear alliances. Suddenly Samuel/Luke had healed a lot of his damage and carded up during the chaos, and he organized Ryan/Jango's ouster in fourth place. Dalton's Obi-Wan Kenobi was down to just three health points, and just as Luke thought Dooku would help him finish Kenobi off he betrayed him like the Sith he is! Samuel, who looked like he could win his first ever 12-Way with the only character to have never won, had to stop in third place and with two "Justice" cards still in his hand. Ouch.
Stephen and Dalton, the two North Village staff members, looked each other in the eye, sized up what needed to be done, and got to work. Obi was still quite bloody, so he ran away for a stretch to heal up a bit. Dooku didn't pursue him too quickly, preferring to card up. But the delay appeared to benefit Obi more than the Count. Stephen moved in with Dooku and got Obi all the way back down to two health points. But he had little defense left himself, and rather than turn and run, Obi gambled with two of his own attacks. It was enough...DALTON WON! His first game as a professional and he won his first 12-Way! Congrats Dalton!!!
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| They're both smiling. |
This was a storybook victory for Dalton. In his previous five Duels, he had placed higher than each of his previous finishes. Since he was second place at the Valentine's Duel, the only way to maintain the streak was to win...which he did! This also marks Obi-Wan's sixth career victory, which moves him into FIRST PLACE in career character wins...not to mention making Ackbar's day by fulfilling his prediction!
Final order of finish:
12. Yoda/Ian
11. Anakin/Ethan
10. Mace/Liz
9. Han/Jonathan
8. Maul/JD
7. Vader/Grant
6. Emperor/Rob
5. Boba/Stevie
4. Jango/Ryan
3. Luke/Samuel
2. Dooku/Stephen
1. Obi-Wan/Dalton
Thanks to everyone for playing, and my apologies for those on the wait list who didn't get a chance. I'm humbled to know so many folks want to partake in this experience. Stay tuned for next month's Duel...THE DUEL OF THE FATES!
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