Doubleheader #2 - August 26, 2017

Emperor's Throne Room

It was no small miracle that the second Duel of the night started by 9:30.  Austin peaced out, Ryan took his place, and Elijah couldn't be late because he was already here.

Our tradition now for the second game of the Doubleheader is to make things dorkier than possible.  To go farther past Dork Town than folks knew you could travel.

We play with Legos!

That's right, Ryan, our master architect, once again brought his Lego creations to take the place of our normal game board and figurines.  He intended to use the Kamino layout but with a Hoth overlay.  Unfortunately he didn't quite have enough pieces to make it work, so he went back to his masterpiece from last year - the Emperor's Throne Room:

Don't ask us why we own more Legos now as grown adults than we did as kids.  Just embrace the nerdery!  Seriously, though, look at that thing.  It's so awesome!!!

As you can tell by the picture of Duelers to the left, folks weren't playing any games this time around, they were getting serious.  I mean yes, technically, we were all still playing a game (and toys now too), but the gloves were off!  Or folks were tired and just wanted to get this thing over with.  Or they were hopped up from a second infusion of yoda soda.

Ryan grabbed chair number one, just like the man he replaced (Austin).  Curtis suggested a "grand reveal," meaning we all opened our character envelopes at the same time.  Three folks were stunned to see they were playing with the same character again!  Grant had Boba, Stephen had Maul, and JD got Luke!  JD was really excited about it, too.  I mean, over the moon ecstatic.  Who wouldn't be - he's the only character to never win a 12-Way in our league!

Trick Shot McGee

Rob, fresh off his Jango victory in game one, got Obi-Wan for game two and became the immediate target of the dark side alliance.  Ryan's Vader Threw Debris and soon others followed suit.  The light side was stuck on what to do.  JD stalled as he struggled to decide whether to flip or not.  Elijah's Anakin was trapped behind Ethan's Han, who couldn't move for risk of getting hit again by the dark side shooters.  Andrew's Mace was jammed behind Luke, and Kerri's Yoda was in the far corner, hoping nobody paid her any attention.

As Obi-Wan's health continued to dwindle he got bolder.  He decided to play a Force Control and move everyone around the board up to three spaces.  Suddenly Jedi and Sith lords were face to face in the center of the board while the dark side shooters were relegated to the back.  Rob conveniently moved himself into the back corner.

In the ensuing chaos it would be Ethan's Han Solo, and not Rob's Obi-Wan, who would die first.  Stephen's Darth Maul sliced him down for the second game in a row.  Elijah's Anakin Skywalker fell soon after.  Vader had already Choked Padme out of the game and Nathan's Jango put the final laser into is poor Lego body, sending Elijah home in 11th place.  But, there was fun news!  After almost a year and a half off, Elijah reached professional status as the second game was the sixth of his career.  Congrats Elijah!

"You get an 'I Will Not Fight You,' and you get
an 'I Will Not Fight You'..."

Rob was down to one card, sitting in the back corner.  JD's Luke and Leia flipped before Obi played Force Control, and they were the only ones from the dark side alliance who could move in on Rob.  He pleaded for Kerri to move her Yoda directly in front of him so JD couldn't attack.  But instead of doing that, she Force Lifted him!  It was crushing for Rob, who was going to play his last card next - Force Balance!  The remaining ten players all would have discarded their hands and picked three new cards.

From there JD really wrecked shop.  He played three straight "I Will Not Fight You" cards on Andrew/Mace, Nathan/Jango, and, most comically, Grant's Boba Fett.  Those three were all weakened and the rest of the board pounced.  Kat's Count Dooku moved in on Mace and sent Andrew packing in ninth place.  Boba was next to go, he dropped nearly his entire hand thanks to young Luke Skywalker and Ryan used a Storm Trooper to put on the kill shot.  Boba wouldn't be winning his own trophy this night.

Kerri fell asleep with her eyes open

That left seven Duelers on the board, all more or less in the same alliance.  Kat tried to take charge by going after Stephen's Darth Maul.  But Ryan/Vader, Curtis/Emperor, and Nathan/Jango wouldn't follow suit.  Abandoned, Kat suffered a barrage of Maul attacks and petered out in seventh.  But Kat made a heck of a splash in her first two games!

With six to go it looked like Kerri/Yoda and JD/Luke were next to depart, but Curtis flipped his Emperor with a Royal Guard to join them on the other side of the board, and Stephen's Maul jumped in too!  It was a stunning turn of events for Ryan's Vader, who looked like he was well on his way to the final two.  He wasn't easy to topple, but the Emperor finally eliminated the Lego mastermind in sixth.

That made it the new alliance of four against Nathan's Jango.  But Curtis was badly wounded and increasingly paranoid about his vulnerability to attacks and the intentions of his teammates.  Nathan's Jango was proving to be elusive to target so the alliance eventually chose to eat one of their own.  Curtis retired in fifth place when Luke struck him down.  Not a bad night for Curtis, who got a 4th and 5th place finish.

Kerri/Yoda, Stephen/Maul, and JD/Luke were resolute in their agreement that Nathan had to go next.  But over the course of the next HOUR (I wish I was exaggerating...) Jango couldn't be defeated as he continually minimized the angles by which the others could attack.  Nathan's strategy was to wait it out, plant seeds of doubt with his verbal shenanigans, and hope they would turn on each other.

It worked.

Kerri, sleep deprived and wanting to go home, twice nearly attacked JD's Luke.  JD, meanwhile, was increasingly skeptical that Stephen's Maul was contributing enough to the hunt for Jango.  JD finally cracked, and went after Maul.  Stephen was outraged and Nathan was smirking while Luke and Maul exchanged blows.  That's a fight Luke won't normally win, and JD found himself in fourth place.

Nathan's second trophy, and Jango's second
win of the night!

Kerri's Yoda was helping JD against Darth Maul, and so the best offensive player in the game went to battle with the best defensive player in the game.  It was a sight to behold, and Nathan took advantage by taking pot shots at Yoda while Stephen dwindled his attack cards against Kerri.  Kerri eventually ran out of defense and finally came to rest in third.  What an outstanding finish for the rookie Dueler in only her second career game!

Nathan couldn't believe the turn of events, and celebrated with a Missle Launch right into Maul's gut to win the game!  This is Nathan's fourth career victory and his second trophy, the other one coming at January's A New Hope match.  And how about Stephen!!!  Two second place finishes with Darth Maul in the same night!  In his last four Doubleheader games he's finished second, first, second, and second!

Finally...Jango Fett!  He won BOTH Duels on the night and is now in a three-way tie for most career victories with six.

How does he keep doing it!?!?

Final order of finish:

12.  Ethan/Han Solo
11.  Elijah/Anakin Skywalker
10.  Rob/Obi-Wan Kenobi
9.  Andrew/Mace Windu
8.  Grant/Boba Fett
7.  Kat/Count Dooku
6.  Ryan/Darth Vader
5.  Curtis/Emperor Palpatine
4.  JD/Luke Skywalker
3.  Kerri/Yoda
2.  Stephen/Darth Maul
1.  Nathan/Jango Fett

Ok - it took me all day to get all the stats and the blog updated, I'm going to sleep!  Check your email for the next invite - September's "Fall Brawl."  Tentative date is the 16th - more details and the official invite to come.

Thanks to everyone who played at the Doubleheader!

"Wonder Fett powers - activate!"

Doubleheader #1 - August 26, 2017

Kamino Platform

Everything was set.

The "tie-fighter ties" were warm and ready for consumption, the wookie cookies were lined on their plate, and the yoda soda flowed in its frothy goodness, blessing each Dueler who consumed it.

But something was missing.

A quick headcount confirmed it - we only had eleven Duelers!  Where the heck was Elijah?!?  His fellow Duelers quickly contacted and reminded him of where he was supposed to be.  As he raced to his car we drew seats and characters without him and only half-jokingly talked about killing him first.

Elijah not pictured.

Austin got seat number one and he picked the Kamino Platform.  It was the first time we played Kamino since February, so the rainy launch pad seemed appropriate given the storms.  Elijah finally showed up and was not surprised to learn it was already his turn!

The light side and dark sides stayed pretty tight, and it looked like it was going to be a real slug fest.  Andrew, playing in his first 12-Way Duel, drew first blood when his Obi-Wan Kenobi killed Rob's Zam Wessell.  But Andrew over-extended himself and soon discovered he was in attack range of multiple dark side characters.  Many took shots but it was Stephen's lil' old Battle Droid that ended Andrew's first game in a disappointing last place.  The silver lining?  He got the travelling Jar Jar trophy for finishing last!  The other silver lining?  He only had to own it for another three hours!

Elijah pictured.

The dark side continued their press as Curtis' Darth Vader dropped a double Choke on Kerri's Padme.  Kerri was stuck in the back row, unable to attack the bad guys and unwilling to stab her alliance in the back.  But it was Austin who was next to fall.  For the third game in a row he got Han Solo, and despite early thoughts about flipping, he stuck to the light side.  His loyalty was rewarded by repeated blows from Stephen/Darth Maul's double bladed light saber.  We didn't realize it at the time, but this was Austin's sixth Duel - he's reached professional status!  Congrats Austin!  Hopefully one day you'll pick a character besides Han!  Two-thirds of his characters have been bottom three ranked combatants.

JD reads the writing on the wall.

With two light side characters down the mass exodus commenced.  First Nathan/Mace and then Ethan/Yoda scooted over to the dark side.  That left Kerri/Yoda and JD and his Luke Skywalker twisting in the wind.  Kerri didn't want to go down without a fight, so she Wrathed in, killing Grant's Greedo in the process.  But Wrist Cables from Rob/Jango and Grant/Boba left Kerri all tied up (pun!).  It was Rob's Jango that finally shot her off the board.  A tenth place finish wasn't the greatest way for a rookie Dueler to make her debut, but Kerri would strike back later in the night - #foreshadowing.

I can't remember how, but JD was flying solo and deep in the dark side territory.  Kat, also a rookie but playing the Emperor at an expert level, finally ended his night in ninth place.  That left eight Duelers in the game, who were supposedly all on the same "side"...

Elijah/Dooku and Ethan/Yoda kept having on and off again conflict with each other, but perhaps the biggest moment of the game occurred when Nate/Mace suggested to Rob/Jango that they go after Stephen's Darth Maul.  Stephen was stunned, thinking they were good.  Rob left Nate hanging by telling him he was loyal to Maul.  Nate apologized and picked cards instead, but the social gaff hung in the air.  On Rob's next turn he Wrist Cabled Nate and then Rocket Retreated over to Curtis/Vader behind Jango's ship.  Others followed suit but it was Grant's Boba Fett, firing his deadly Kyber Dart, that killed Nathan in eighth place.

Those Athletic Surges sting are no
laughing matter!

The obvious choice after Nathn was Ethan's Yoda.  Nobody was excited to face the defensive wizard late in the game.  Ethan tried his best but bowed out after Dooku Force Pushed him into a kill box.  Curtis/Vader delivered the final blow.  That meant an all-dark side final six!

With six to go everybody remembered they hadn't taught Elijah a lesson about showing up late.  Dooku fought valiantly, retreating to the opposite side of the board and forcing the Fetts, Vader's Storm Troopers, and Maul's Battle Droids to corner him and take multiple shots.  Jango finally got the deathblow and Elijah was done in sixth place.

That left a final five of Rob/Jango, Curtis/Vader, Kat/Emperor, Grant/Boba, and Stephen/Maul.   Kat ended up being the odd Dueler out.  Darth Maul dropped multiple attacks, including a final shot with Athletic Surge.  Kat laughed out loud, having never experienced an eight point attack before.  She survived they volley but lost the war - Darth Vader Wrathed her and Kat was out in fifth.  But that was an amazing debut for the rookie!  Folks were impressed with her wits and instincts.

Betrayed by the Fetts!

Curtis assumed they would all go after Boba Fett next...but Curtis was wrong!  Rob was tightly aligned with both Stephen and Grant, so when Rob began to fire upon Curtis, Vader got angry!  He Threw Debris and Wrathed Grant's Boba, and hid for a time behind Jango's ship.  But once he peaked his head out Grant was ready, dropping a double Thermal Detonator!  After the smoke cleared Vader's charred body was swept off the platform and Curtis had to settle for fourth place.

Though Stephen assumed (and with good reason) that Rob/Jango was his ally to the end...Stephen was wrong!  Grant and Rob had made a secret pact from the very beginning to stay together to the end!  The father and son combo began to rain down shots on the dark lord of the Sith.  Stephen wasn't going down without a fight, though.  While Rob had multiple Rocket Retreats to keep his distance, Grant got caught too close and Stephen swooped in.  After a flurry of "does not count as an action" cards, poor Boba was gone in third place.  Rob moved in after that to land a two point attack and then another Rocket Retreat.  Stephen survived - but was down to zero health points.  He couldn't heal either because both (!!!) of his Battle Droids were somehow alive.  While Maul hid behind the ship Rob flew to the opposite end of the board.  He already had a Fire Up The Jet Pack, so he only need to wait and draw a Wrist Cable or Flame Thrower.  The Cable came up first, so he flew in and wrapped Maul and Stephen to death.

pew pew!

After holding all the previous trophies in his office without being their rightful owner, Rob finally got his first piece of hardware.  And in a stunning coincidence, he won the Jango-on-Kamino trophy with Jango Fett...on the Kamino Platform!  Stephen's second place finish with Maul was awesome in that his last three Doubleheader games were all second place or above!

The final order of finish:

12.  Andrew/Obi-Wan
11.  Austin/Han Solo
10.  Kerri/Anakin
9.  JD/Luke Skywalker
8.  Nathan/Mace Windu
7.  Ethan/Yoda
6.  Elijah/Count Dooku
5.  Kat/Emperor Palpatine
4.  Curtis/Darth Vader
3.  Grant/Boba Fett
2.  Stephen/Darth Maul
1.  Rob/Jango Fett

Well, until next time...wait?!  Next time was like five minutes later!  On to the next post...

Interior decorating provided by JD

Preview: The Doubleheader - August 26, 2017

After an obnoxiously long Duel at CL Training, the hope is that the matches this Saturday will be FASTER - they'll have to be.  We're playing two games!!!

That's right, this is our annual Doubleheader!  The only thing better than playing one Duel is playing TWO!  And on top of that, the second match will be played with LEGOS.  Because secretly, we're all little kids at heart.

HISTORY:

2016 - Game 1, Grant and Count Dooku won
2016 - Game 2, Stephen and Jango Fett won

2015 - Game 1, Ryan and Jango Fett won
2015 - Game 2, Grant and Yoda won

2014 - Game 1, Alex and Darth Maul win
2014 - Game 2, Curtis and Yoda won

MEET THE DUELERS:

Andrew - He was all set to make his 12-Way Duel debut at CL Training, but he literally lost a tooth and had to leave early!  But he's CHOMPING at the bit (seewhatididthere???) to play two on Saturday.

Austin - Apparently Austin can only handle so much awesomeness in one night, so he'll only be playing the first match.  He's still smarting from his epic fifth place death when Vader dropped "All Too Easy" on him.

Curtis - He'll try to replicate his first ever Duel three years ago, when he took Yoda the distance for a win.  Or he'll at least hope his night lasts longer than his surprise Birthday doubleheader in the spring...  #toosoon

Elijah - He better shake the rust off, because Elijah hasn't played since May the Fourth, 2016.  That's nearly a year and a half drought!  But that's a thirst a little Yoda Soda can quench in no time flat.

Ethan - Ethan has to be pumped to be playing in his third-ever Duel.  His first couple of matches featured early exits so he's hoping to make a couple of deep runs this time around.

Grant - Nobody loves a Doubleheader like Grant!  He has two victories in the last three years.  Another one on Saturday could move him into second place...if not first!

JD - If JD seems a little dizzy, it might be from inhaling the gold paint fumes from TWO trophies!  That's right, JD will be debuting Jango and Boba hardware for the winners.  He'd love to take at least one of them back home.

Kat - Her Star Wars wardrobe is on point, so if she can Duel half as good as her swag this rookie Dueler will be a force to be reckoned with!

Kayelee - It was Kayelee's pivotal Force Push of the  Emperor at the CL Training Duel that turned the tide in that match.  Despite her heroics she died early in the game.  She's hoping for a better finish in her second and third Duels.

Nathan - In his third year of playing Nathan continues to wreck shop.  He has four top five finishes in his last six Duels.  He's hoping to rebound after a ninth place finish at CL Training.

Rob - He loves Obi-Wan, but finished an unsatisfying sixth place at CL Training.  He won two of his previous three Duels with Kenobi before that.  He's already working on his Yoda Soda formula for Saturday.

Ryan - Our Lego architect can't make the first match, but he'll be bringing his toys, including a reconstruction of the Emperor's Throne Room, for the second round of play.  This is in the running for the dorkiest thing we do in this league and there's absolutely no shame in it.

Stephen - Nobody had a better Doubleheader last year than Stephen, he finished first and second!  He's coming off an awesome kill shot and fourth place finish at CL Training to boot.

PEZ VADER PREDICTS THE WINNER:

Last year's prognosticator, Magnetic Lego Admiral Ackbar, was a complete train wreck at predicting winners, so we've enlisted a new expert:  Pez Vader!  Pezzy, baby, who you got winning on Saturday?

"I find your lack of candy dispensers disturbing."

*sigh*  Really?  Candy humor?  That's what we're going to have to put up with this year?  I apologize in advance, folks.  It will only get worse from here.  That being said, Pez Vader likes Dooku and Anakin to win on Saturday, so place your bets accordingly.

Get pumped, because in just FOUR days we're playing TWO 12-Way Duels!!!

CL Training - August 8, 2017

Geonosis Arena

Oh doctor...here we are again!  The start of our FOURTH season of 12-Way Duels!!!  Can you believe it???  Over the first three years of Dueling we logged 40 Duels.  FORTY.  And that made this year's CL Training Duel our 41st.  Somewhere along the line this Dueling juggernaut became unstoppable, so thank you to ALL OF YOU who play the game, read the blog, and share an enthusiasm for all things epic.

Rob, hold your cards closer to the chest!

 This year's CL Training, our fifth Duel (we didn't count stats from the first year), featured three folks brand new to a 12-Way Duel!  Alex, Kayelee and Toby made their debuts, which was awesome, especially because they each had prior experience in playing the game.  And JD brought TWO trophies to the Duel!  One for the winner, and a Jar Jar trophy for the twelfth place finisher.  Even when you lose, you win!  Unless you hate being mocked with a Jar Jar trophy.  Then it's just like salt being rubbed into your open light saber wounds.

Jonathan drew chair number one and picked Geonosis Arena for the game board.  The characters were quickly selected and as a huge crowd gathered the game commenced!  As has been the tradition recently, it started as light side versus dark, with each side looking for the first defector.  Kayelee and Count Dooku, stuck with the tough starting position in the middle of the board, looked like she was changing first but Toby was the one who got the party officially started!  His Boba Fett chucked a Thermal Detonator into a gaggle of Sith and then Rocket Retreated behind the columns on the light side!

Toby - Inaugural Winner of the Golden Jar Jar

It was a bold move by Toby, and he was sure to win favor with his new alliance, right!?  WRONG!  In a shocking move Nathan/Anakin and Jonathan/Luke rewarded him with multiple attacks.  Stephen, playing as Vader on the opposite end of the board, but in the final shot as he Threw Debris in a final act of revenge, ending poor Toby's night in last place.  But Toby was really pumped to get the Jar Jar!

I'd like to say that the action only kept churning at that point, but I'm going to spoiler alert you and say it didn't.  In fact, this was the LONGEST Duel I think we've ever played.  Part of that grind was caused when Nathan/Anakin Wrathed to the dark side of the board while Jonathan/Luke Children of the Forced to the other end too!  All of a sudden it was six on five as Anakin, Luke, Emperor/Alex, Jango/Ian, Josh/Maul and Stephen/Vader looked like an unstoppable alliance.  The light side, which included JD/Mace, Rob/Obi, Joel/Yoda, Austin/Han, and welcomed defector Kayelee/Dooku dug their heals in for a long, protracted fight.

The light side group was dealt a serious blow when Anakin/Nathan successfully defended Chewie's Bowcaster.  Anakin later double-Wrathed the Wookie to kill him, making it a hard night for Han.  Before Chewbacca died, though, he did manage to Wookie Toss Padme to her death too.

So much evil plotting happening here...

Despite having the numbers advantage, the dark side wasn't being overly aggressive, giving the light side an opportunity to turn the tide.  That happened when Kayelee's Dooku moved into attack position against Alex's Emperor.  She Force Pushed him in a kill box consisting of Mace, Obi, and Yoda and then she Gave Orders to retreat back to the light side.  Joel/Yoda had recently Insighted the Emperor and knew his hands, so the light side gave him the opportunity to use some of his cards to attack his former alliance...or face certain death.  But Alex didn't realize his Let Go of Your Hatred cards counted, and so when he didn't play them the Jedi took him down in eleventh place.

Despite Kayelee's awesome move, the dark side retaliated by concentrating on her.  Josh, who has only played three Duels with all of them being at the CL retreat, moved his Darth Maul into position to attack.  Dooku survived the first onslaught but eventually fell in tenth place when Vader Wrathed her.

The light side reacted by creating another Jedi kill box.  This time Rob/Obi used his Jedi Control attack to suck in Nathan's Anakin.  Mace and Yoda delivered repeated blows, with Mace's Whirlwind putting the final nail in Nathan's coffin.  It was a shocking end for Nathan, whose defection had seemingly assured himself a top six finish.

ALL TOO EASY!!!

After the Force Control Josh's Maul was left in the open and exposed to long distance gun fire from Austin/Han's blaster.  After yet another Force Control that Rob/Obi played, Austin eliminated Maul in eighth with a Never Tell Me The Odds.

The dark side started to focus their attacks on Rob's Obi-Wan.  Obi was deflecting it pretty well but was getting desperately low carded.  Jonathan/Luke delivered a lot of it but Joel's Yoda took him out for a seventh place finish.  Rob didn't last much longer, despite avoiding certain death from two Darth Vader attacks, Ian's Zam Wessell punched his ticket from across the board.

That left a final five of Ian/Jango, Joel/Yoda, JD/Mace, Stephen/Vader, and Austin/Han.  Ian and Stephen were the last two from the dark side alliance, and they tried to tempt Austin to flip and join them against the two superior Jedis.   After a longgggggg deliberation Austin stuck to his alliance and they tried to eliminate Jango and Vader...but they weren't going down without a fight!  As Stephen began taking on excessive damage he was down to two health points and two cards.  He moved in against Han and attacked once.  Austin defended.  With his last card, he attacked again.  Han didn't defend this time.  The attack card?  ALL TOO EASY.  TWENTY POINTS OF DAMAGE!!!  Han/Austin were out in a shocking fifth place finish!!!

These two are going to need couple's counseling...

JD/Mace eliminated Stephen/Vader next, but Stephen was quite pleased with his fourth place finish.  As it turns out, he had been holding the All Too Easy in the first four cards of his hand!

What happened next was long and quite nuanced, but I'm running out of energy to adequately describe it.  So let me sum it up.  Ian/Jango repeatedly aligned and then betrayed JD/Mace in their attempt to leverage their own best odds at defeating Joel/Yoda, who was full-bar health and had yet to use any of his big three defense cards.  It was hilarious, as Ian's cat and mouse game continued to fluster JD and produced many memorable reactions and counter arguments.

In the end, as Mace was nearly dead and Ian was about to, once again, join JD in a fight against Yoda, Ian became suddenly worried that, rather than play to win, JD might try to attack his Jango just to improve his final finish.  Ian then decided to just kill Mace, and poor JD was done in third place.  We're going to need to help these two process their emotions and how they feel about each other...

Joel's first win!

The final act was, once again, long, but the writing was on the wall.  A half-damaged Jango was going against a fully healthy Yoda.  Ian did his best to hit and run, Rocket Retreat, etc., but Joel's Yoda was just too strong.  He just had to stay healthy and patient, which he did.  Jango finally fell and Joel won!!!  That's Joel's first career victory, and the second win in a row for Yoda.  That places Yoda in second place for career victories with five.

The final order of finish:

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

Thanks to everyone who played and watched...at least initially.  We ended at 1:30AM for crying out loud!  The next Duel is a DOUBLEHEADER!  That's right - two games in one night!  That will be August 26, more details coming soon!