The Last Jedi Standing - December 14th, 2017

Geonosis Arena

First and foremost, have you seen The Last Jedi yet???

YOU MUST.

Here are some of my spoiler free thoughts.  It's definitely a fun movie, but in my humble opinion, it runs a little long and could easily have cut one of the sub-plots to tighten up the run time and keep the suspense up.  That being said, if you love Star Wars, you'll like it just fine.  I want to say a LOT more, but it's too soon.

One of these guys will be the last Jedi standing.

What we CAN talk about is what went down before the world premiere of the latest movie - The Last Jedi Standing Duel!  Who doesn't love an early matinee Duel?!?

Stephen drew the first chair and the first character - Anakin Skywalker.  He also picked the board, Geonosis Arena.  We hadn't played there since September.  I think we should nickname it "The Dust Bowl."  I feel like I get sand in my Jedi boots just looking at it.  I don't like sand.  It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.  Everyone else grabbed their characters, shuffled their cards, and Rob pushed play on The Force Awakens, which we got to watch on the overhead projector to get us PUMPED UP for the movie!  But for those people sitting with their backs to the screen, it looked like the Duelers across the table were trying to make eyes with them when in reality they were just digging Episode VII.

Many nails died to bring us
this Duel recap...

Geonosis is a tricky board but it looked like the light and dark sides would stay aligned...until Curtis' Luke and Leia flipped!  Rob's Greedo Desperate Shot a clone trooper to get the death toll rolling, but Stephen's Anakin Wrathed Greedo off the board in retaliation. 

Rookie Luke R., playing in his first ever Duel as a last minute sub, had Mace Windu, who has never finished last. 

Until now.

Poor Luke R., he wasn't playing badly, but after a Boba Fett Thermal Detonator wiped out three more clones he was left exposed and unprotected.  The dark side concentrated their attacks on him and then Kaleb's Darth Vader brutalized him with a double Debris and it was quickly a seven-on-four battle.

Did I say seven on four?  Because I meant eight on three!  Jacob's Han Solo, deathly afraid of a battle droid and royal guard, defected to the dark side too, using a Never Tell Me The Odds on Toby's Yoda, Andrew's Obi, and Stephen's Anakin.  But the trio wouldn't go down without a fight.  Andrew played Force Balance and everyone had to unload their hands and start with three new cards.  That left Toby's Yoda exposed and without defense cards and it would be Ben's battle droid that killed him in eleventh.

Rob loves this part of the movie.

Andrew still refused to go quietly into the night.  He played two Force Controls to mix and match the board and create discomfort for the dark side.  Sadly for Stephen, that second attack came at his own expense after he expressed an openness to turn on Obi.

With nine Duelers left the dark side finally cannibalized one of their own.  Curtis marched his Leia behind Ben's Darth Maul and squeezed off two shots to end Ben's game.  He had taken damage from the early light side counterattacks and was repaid for his loyalty with death.  It happens.

At this point in the game most folks wanted Jacob's Han Solo dead, but he was conveniently hidden behind the columns.  That left Andrew's Obi-Wan Kenobi hanging out to dry and it was Nathan's super battle droid that laid down the kill shot.  Still, a big congrats goes out to Andrew - this was his sixth Duel, meaning he's joined the professional ranks.  Way to go, Andrew!

Jacob figured out he was the next target so he got aggressive with everyone's favorite Wookie.  He Bowcasted Joel's Emperor Palpatine within two points of dying, and then Wookie Tossed him for the trophy.  I don't think we paid that enough attention at the time, but as I write this...THAT WAS AWESOME.  Not for Joel, who finished in seventh, but still.  No shame in being Chewey's punching bag.  Not long after, Jacob's Han got taken down by Curtis' Leia, which just don't seem right!

The Rey trophy watches from afar.

That left five to go:  Rob's Boba, JD's Jango, Curtis and Luke, Nathan's Dooku, and Kaleb with Vader and both storm troopers.  Rob was convinced he was next to go, but Nathan dropped a Taunting on JD's Jango and chaos ensued.  The Kaleb/Vader and Curtis/Luke joined JD in flipping the script on Nathan, whose Dooku was fully healthy.  That didn't last long.  As he accumulated damage Kaleb's Vader finally Wrathed him off the board.  It was good to have Nathan playing with us, though.  He had a busy semester and hasn't been able to play as much.

And then there were four!  It was Curtis' turn, and his Luke had a big decision to make - who to attack.  This was the biggest negotiation of the game.  The Fetts didn't want to attack each other but they couldn't vocalize that for fear of being attacked.  After a LOT of debate and anxiety Curtis attacked Jango, with Kaleb/Vader and Rob/Boba promising to follow suit.  Kaleb upheld his end of the bargain but Rob Fetted like a Fett and dropped a Thermal/Wrist Cable on Vader!  Jango Wrist Cabled him too but couldn't finish Vader off and that resulted in JD dying in fourth.

With three to go Rob/Boba and Kaleb/Vader had to put aside their differences and work together to take down Curtis, who still had Leia and a very healthy Luke.  The partnership didn't last long, though, because Vader was down to fourth health points.  Rob was holding his Kyber Dart, which rewards three cards if it kills the character.  Being low-carded and fearing Leia was about to kill Vader anyway, Rob/Boba dropped the dart on Vader!

That left Boba Fett against the Skywalker twins.  Rob soon killed Leia, activating Curtis' Justice attacks but eliminating Leia's long range attacks.  He Rocket Retreated to the far side of the board.  Curtis rolled out soon after that.  His small dice rolls enabled Rob to inflict some critical damage, including another Kyber Dart and a Thermal Detonator.  All of a sudden Curtis only had two health points while Rob was sitting at five.  Rob could withstand any non-Justice attack.  Curtis played his second "I Will Not Fight You" and dumped both of their hands.  From there, it was a race for cards.  Rob drew a useless Greedo card for his first action but then his SECOND Thermal Detonator with his second!  Knowing Curtis had to draw a card for his first action, as long as it wasn't Justice, Rob was going to win!!!

Curtis picked a card for his first action.  He attacked with his second action.

The card?

JUSTICE.  Game Over.

LUKE SKYWALKER WAS THE LAST JEDI...STANDING!!!

That's Luke's first-ever 12-Way Duel win in the league.  It was also Curtis' fifth career victory, giving him five career wins.  That also moves him into a three-way tie for second on the career victory list.  Most importantly, it also means Pez Vader picked the right character, against all logic and probability.

The final order of finish:

12.  Luke R. - Mace Windu
11.  Toby - Yoda
10.  Stephen - Anakin Skywalker
9.  Ben H. - Darth Maul
8.  Andrew - Obi-Wan Kenobi
7.  Joel - Emperor Palpatine
6.  Jacob - Han Solo
5.  Nathan - Count Dooku
4.  JD - Jango Fett
3.  Kaleb - Darth Vader
2.  Rob - Boba Fett
1.  Curtis - Luke Skywalker

That closes the books on 2017.  We'll kickoff 2018 with our annual A New Hope Duel.  And guess what - that's our 50th Duel in league history.  Stay tuned for some special stuff related to that!

Preview: The Last Jedi Standing, December 14th, 2017

If you are newer to our Duels league you've learned we have 12 annual Duels (one for each major character) throughout the year.  However, we also like to celebrate special events with one-off Duels.  Surprise birthday Duels are a great example.  Another tradition we started last year was Dueling before a new movie.  Can we just take a moment and be thankful and excited that there are NEW MOVIES!!!???!!!

So, in honor of the Episode VIII - The Last Jedi - we are DUELING!  That's right, and we're calling it the "Last Jedi Standing."  Get it!?! 


MEET THE DUELERS:

Let's meet the Last Jedi Standing Duelers by the number of Porgs they deserve...

Andrew - Andrew is playing in his sixth Duel, so he's going professional.  Congrats Andrew!  That deserves six Porgs:

Austin - Austin just won the 2017 Championship for his first ever career win!  He gets one Porg for being #1:

Ben H. - Can you believe Ben's last two Duels were both with Han Solo?  Woof!  That deserves one Porg plus a Chewie:

Curtis - Poor Curtis.  After the Championship he's now without the Darth Vader trophy, or any other trophy for that matter.  He's quite sad.  Let's give him a lot of Porgs:

Jacob - Jacob will be playing in his third career Duel, but he's never finished above 11th.  Let's give him warrior Porgs to help him do better:

JD - Do you know JD has a deep yearning to be the first Dueler to ever win in our league with Luke Skywalker?  Let's improve his odds by giving him Luke and Porgs:

Joel - I was recently at an HRC event and saw Joel drinking hot chocolate.  True story.  He gets a Porg mug:

Kaleb - After a 7th place finish at the 2017 Championship he's still the number one ranked Dueler in the league.  That warms his heart.  He deserves a heart Porg:

Nathan - Man, it feels like forever since Nathan has Dueled with us.  He's back in action, so he gets all the returning Porgs.  And...BB-8's head?

Rob - This blog preview might be the goofiest Preview Rob's ever written.  He gets the silly Porgs:

Stephen - He only finished in 11th place at the 2017 Championship, but his move swooping in with Mace Windu was brave and honorable.  He deserves a flying Porg:

Toby - Toby plays crazy and you never know what you're going to get from him.  Lets just give him all the Porgs left:

PEZ VADER PREDICTS THE WINNER:

"Just for once... let me... look on you
with my own plastic eyes."

Whoa!!!  The proud father is picking his son, Luke Skywalker, the LAST JEDI, to be...THE LAST JEDI STANDING!  It must be his destiny!

Pez Vader prediction record:  1-5

So next Thursday, December 14th at 1PM, we'll be playing in the North Village Community Center.  I'm going to stream The Force Awakens on the big screen at the same time.  Afterwards we'll grab a bite to eat and head to the 7:40PM showing of The Last Jedi at the AMC/Galaxy on Valley Mills.  Come on by and hang out if you aren't playing, or join us later at the theater.  Tickets are going fast!

2017 Championship - December 2, 2017

Carbon Freezing Chamber

After a long day of Rob texting GIFs of each main character to various Duelers in anxious anticipation of the night's big battle, it was finally time for the twelve combatants to meet and wage war.  JD and Ian arrived earlier in the day to straighten up the room and make a special delivery - a replica of the Emperor's Throne!  To celebrate this masterpiece each Dueler agreed to sit on it for their picture of death (see below).  It added a nice bit of ambiance to the room!

Kaleb, the top ranked Dueler and thus the one charged with picking the Championship battlefield, drew the CARBON FREEZING CHAMBER!  This sent an immediate chill down the spines of the Duelers.  There is no more frenzied environment than the Carbon Chamber.  There's nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.  This guaranteed the Championship would be a real slobber-knocker.

The Carbon Chamber also meant you didn't want to get stuck with Luke or Vader, who start dead center on the board.  Kaleb, picking for Rob in the #2 chair, did him dirty by selecting Darth Vader!  Jonathan was the other unlucky Dueler, getting stuck with Luke.  Austin won first roll, the Duelers shuffled their cards, and they were off and running!

One of these Duelers is the 2017 Champion...

As we did with last year's Duel, we'll tell the story of the 2017 Championship through pictures!  Keep reading to see the Duelers in their pained attempts at not looking bitter in their snapshots...

12th Place Dueler:  Jonathan

Character:  Luke Skywalker

How He Died:  Emperor Palpatine's Force Lightning

Everyone needs a little luck to win a 12-Way Duel, especially the Championship match.  Jonathan had NONE.  Everything that could go wrong did.  Worst character and starting position for the board?  Check.  Get stuck rolling the dice last?  Check.  Draw all minor character cards in your first six?  Check.  Finally get a main character card but is has no defense?  Check.  Decide to use your minor character's two biggest attacks, only needing to roll anything besides a "2 all", and rolling a "2 all"?  CHECK.  A thermal detonator, Zam sniper shot, and Force Lightning ended poor Jonathan's night very early.

11th Place Dueler:  Stephen

Character:  Mace Windu

How He Died:  5 point attack from Darth Vader

There was a loooooong period of time between Jonathan and Stephen's deaths.  During that span the light side stayed strong as did the dark.  But the light side was getting chewed up faster than the dark during that period of time.  Ian's Dooku swooped in and Force Pushed Kat's Anakin to a dark side kill box.  JD and Stephen hatched a "last stand" plan.  Mace would Wisdom in and JD's Yoda Force Pushed Obi-Wan to flip the kill box and make Kaleb's Emperor Palpatine the new point of focus.  But in the biggest turning point of the game, Austin's Obi-Wan made one of the most cold-blooded decisions in Dueling history.  He attacked Mace!  Stephen, JD, and Kat were outraged but Obi's Force Control created yet another new kill box, where Rob's Vader finished off Mace.  BRUTAL!!!

10th Place Dueler:  Kat

Character:  Anakin Skywalker

How She Died:  3 point attack from Greedo

Poor Kat!  She was super awesome by subbing in for Chris, who had to bow out of the Championship just two days before the big fight.  But the top ranked amateur heeded the call and came to stake her claim.  Sadly, she was collateral damage from Austin's light side betrayal.  She had lost Padme very early in the game but deftly defended attacks from both Darth Maul and Obi-Wan Kenobi.  She was determined to extract revenge on Austin's Obi, but Grant's Greedo put the final nail in the proverbial coffin.  With four Duels under her belt she's just two games away from professional status!

9th Place Dueler:  Joel

Character:  Jango Fett

How He Died:  5 point attack from Count Dooku

Joel was loyal to the dark side alliance but his evil peers felt he was timid in his game play.  At this point in the game folks were fully loaded with cards and Ryan's Han Solo and JD's Yoda were too far away to attack.  That made Joel's Jango the sacrificial lamb.  Grant's Boba and Ian's Dooku made quick work of him.  It wasn't the outcome Joel was looking for, but credit him with a masterful Sniper Shot that set up Jonathan's last place finish.

8th Place Dueler:  JD

Character:  Yoda

How He Died:  Emperor Palpatine's Force Lightning (x2)

JD made the quick and valiant decision to Force Push Obi-Wan to the dark side in an attempt to turn the tide against the Sith, but it backfired spectacularly when Austin refused to play along.  From there JD was left with little to do.  And he barely got to play any of his great defense cards!  That's because Rob's Darth Vader and Kaleb's Emperor Palpatine kept damaging him with Special Cards.  Kaleb brought it to a scorching close with two Lightnings at once.  JD is a great Dueler but his bad luck streak at the Championship matches continues.

7th Place Dueler:  Kaleb

Character:  Emperor Palpatine

How He Died:  4 point attack from Obi-Wan Kenobi

Kaleb dodged certain death all night long, especially in his miraculous sales pitch to Austin's Force Pushed Kenobi.  But as the number one ranked Dueler with a scary character who had yet to play "You Will Die," Curtis' Darth Maul was getting nervous.  In a covert alliance with Austin (!), they jumped Kaleb!  It was a startling turn of events for poor Kaleb, especially with the kill shot coming from Austin, who he had more or less protected after his flip.  Don't worry about Kaleb, though!  The breakout star of 2017 is still the league's #1 ranked Dueler.

6th Place Dueler:  Curtis

Character:  Darth Maul

How He Died:  Boba Fett's Kyber Dart

After Maul and Kenobi had eliminated the Emperor, it was clear to Vader/Rob, Dooku/Ian, Han/Ryan, and Boba/Grant that those two were in cahoots.  Rob suggested the four of them team together to make them the next two out.  It helped that Maul and Kenobi were on one end of the board and everyone else, flush with shooters and long range attacks, were on the other.  Curtis was frustrated, but couldn't withstand the barrage, and Grant went for the style points too when he ended Maul's night with the Kyber Dart.

5th Place Dueler:  Ryan

Character:  Han Solo

How He Died:  Count Dooku's Taunting

Ryan, like he's prone to do, somehow survived the disintegration of his light side alliance and had joined up with Dooku, Boba, and Vader.  It was at this juncture that the second biggest moment of the night occurred.  Rather than finish off Austin's Obi-Wan, Ian got nervous about Han and tried to change the alliance's focus of attack, going in on Ryan.  That's when Rob really stuck his neck out and suggested he, Ryan, Austin and Grant instead go after Ian's Dooku, who was in full health and still had a Super Battle Droid on the board.  It made sense strategically but was a brutal thing to commit to, especially for Grant who was obviously tight with Ian the whole game.  But everyone agreed to go along.  Everyone expected Ian to start attacking Rob for revenge's sake, but he surprised everyone by using a Gain Power and then a Taunt to get the drop on Ryan's Han Solo.

4th Place Dueler:  Ian

Character:  Count Dooku

How He Died:  Darth Vader's Throw Debris

Despite Ian being one point from dying, Grant was more concerned with Rob's Darth Vader and began attacking him instead.  Rob tried in vain to align with Austin's Obi-Wan Kenobi, but instead of putting the kill shot on Ian, he drew cards instead, slowly healing his injured main character.  That frustrated Rob, who couldn't reach Dooku for a direct attack.  That forced him to use Throw Debris on Dooku instead of Boba.

3rd Place Dueler:  Rob

Character:  Darth Vader

How He Died:  Obi-Wan Kenobi's Force Control

Rob tried many different attempts to align with Austin's Obi-Wan or Grant's Boba Fett, but neither were excited to play with Darth Vader anymore.  Rob couldn't maintain a two-front attack on a board like Carbon Freezing Chamber and slowly fell from his wounds.  Austin, once Rob's student in a leadership class, had bested his teacher.  It was fitting, poetic even.  It didn't make Rob any less salty...

2nd Place Dueler:  Grant

Character:  Boba Fett

How He Died:  5 point attack from Obi-Wan Kenobi

Boba Fett nearly won back to back Duels but fell just short in second place.  Give huge credit to Grant, who played a masterful game.  It was a bittersweet Duel for the fourth ranked Dueler and second on the all-time wins list.  His drought since his last victory is still in place, but it's a testament to his skills and strengths that he did so well in the Championship!

1st Place Dueler:  Austin

Character:  Obi-Wan Kenobi

How He DIDN'T Die:  by being a ruthless son of a gun!

Austin flipped a certain bottom three finish to a Championship victory through grit and a complete commitment to gutting everyone in his way!  It might be the most brutal win in league history, and I meen that as the highest compliment!  It's his first career win and ties Obi-Wan with Darth Vader for the most character wins in league history.

Thanks to everyone who played in the Championship or at any point in 2017.  It's you who makes all the nerdery possible!

And finally...a fun announcement!  We're looking to play one last Duel in 2017!!!  LAST JEDI STANDING will be our pre-The Last Jedi screening Duel.  More details to come, but we're trying to play the afternoon of December 14th and then head to the new movie after that.  Clear your schedules now!!!