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!