Thanksdueling! - November 10, 2018

Geonosis Arena

The first surprise of the night came when Ryan brought all three of his 3D boards for us to play on!  And it just so happened that all three would be eligible for use since the Carbon Freezing Chamber was played last time.

He also brought brownies, which would prove to be a vital lifeline of energy for those of us who died early and had to endure watching the longest Duel in league history.  This is nothing any of the Thanksdueling! Duelers should be proud of. 

(And before we move on, Ryan showed me a sneak preview of the new board he's working on - a facsimile of Carbon but on a whole new world - and level - of insanity.  I can't wait to see the finished product...)

Ian forgot to say "cheese."

For the second game in a row Rob drew the #1 chair and the Trey Rey pick for the win, this time being Jango Fett.  Kaleb was pumped to have Han Solo for his second consecutive Duel as well.  That's sarcasm if you can't tell.

Geonosis was the board we selected so we brought out the Hoth 3D version.  It's amazing how much the color of the figurines pop against the stark snowy background.  Bryant, a rookie Dueler sitting by his wife in his first ever game, won the honor of rolling first and before we knew it, we were off and running.

Grant's Emperor and Ian's Vader made some initial movements to try and secure their borders, but it had a couple of unintended consequences.  Grant moved an Imperial Guard in front of Ben H./Luke Skywalker, preventing them from being able to flip.  They also didn't give a clear lane for Chris W.'s Darth Maul to retreat backwards.  That slight misplay turned the tide as Chris, in an unusual move based on his previous playing style, made the bold decision to flip to the light side.  Bryant and his Count Dooku followed suit and the remaining dark side of the board was in deep doodoo.

Curtis making a promise to Ryan and then immediately breaking it.

The only glimmer of hope for the bad guys on the board was that the light side alliance were doing a weird square dance with their characters instead of immediately advancing.  The delay in support left Bryant exposed, and his Count Dooku got chewed up by Rob's Zam Wessell and ultimately died when Ian Threw Debris.  It was a rough first Duel for Bryant, but Dooku's starting spot on Geonosis is notorious for poor finishes.  Let's hope Bryant comes out again and gets a better character/spot combo!

After Dooku died the light side finally started whittling down the over-matched dark side.  After Rob's Zam was killed his Jango Fett was sitting exposed and open deep in his own territory.  He made an unexpected move by Rocket Retreating directly next to Ben's Luke behind the snow drift.  Ben wasn't too crazy about it and Joel brought his Mace Windu around to begin the attack.  Kaleb's Chewbacca laid the final hit and Rob died in 11th.  His night wasn't nearly done, though...

"Oh the Dueling outside is frightful..."

Ian's Vader was the next target.  Curtis' Yoda Force Pushed him into a kill box and Ian couldn't survive so it was tenth place for them.  From there the alliance converged on Grant's Emperor Palpatine.  He actually hung in there for a bit, but Chris used a volley from Darth Maul to give Grant his worst finish in over two years.  What was especially frustrating for Grant was his best cards were buried  in his deck. 

It looked like Charlie's Boba Fett was next to die, but Curtis suggested Ryan's Obi-Wan instead.  Some of the alliance agreed and started laying some hits.  Ryan was stacked on defense and successfully held off the first wave.  That's when he got Curtis to agree to call of the dogs in exchange for not playing his Force Balance card.  As soon as Ryan's turn ended Curtis reneged  on the deal.  It was stunning and made many folks feel dirty.  Like that dirty feeling that doesn't go away no matter how many times you take a shower.  But Curtis didn't care!  He finally got his Birthday Massacre revenge on Ryan as Obi-Wan died in eighth.

With seven to go Charlie, sporting funny Storm Trooper pajamas, had nowhere left to run.  He tried to rally the board against Katie's Anakin, but he was unsuccessful in getting others to join.  Joel's Clone Trooper capped the final laser round in the bounty hunter's head.  Charlie, a rookie to our league but a veteran of the Martin underground scene, handled himself quite well in his debut.

This game was so long Kaleb, Chris, Joel, Curtis, and Ben all shaved
and grew their full beards back before it was done.

That left six Duelers...and it was midnight.  I wish I was kidding.  A painfully deliberate and overly consultative style of play made Thanksdueling! a death march.  It was decided that Curtis's Yoda was too powerful and thus he was surrounded by a kill box.  But after a round of attacks, Curtis somehow convinced the board he was no longer a threat.  Kudos to Curtis because his argument made zero sense but the others bought it.  Ben threw out Katie's name and everyone got excited to focus their attention on Anakin.  She was able to use a Calm after Ben's I Will Not Fight You and escape to the other end of the board but it only delayed the inevitable.  Katie was done in sixth after Kaleb Bowcasted her.

And then there were five!  Curtis, still running his influential mouth, moved the target to Chris' Darth Maul.  The rest of the board went along with it and poor Chris, the first defector, ran out of gas in fifth.  It was a nice bounce-back performance for Chris, though, and he's only one Duel away from gaining professional status.

"Ring around the rosey, pocket full of Latent Force Ability ..."

The jig was finally up for Curtis.  Ben/Luke, Kaleb/Han, and Joel/Mace were no longer interested in his little green Jedi.  It took a couple of rounds to beat him down, but fourth place was as far as he'd go.  It was a nice comeback performance by Curtis, who was M.I.A. in the league for a few months.

With three to go Kaleb could see victory but had a hard time playing Joel and Ben against each other.  He successfully landed another Bowcaster, this time against Mace Windu, but both Mace and Leia returned fire.  Kaleb made a last plea to Joel to spare his life, but Joel ultimately couldn't count on Han to stay with him so he gutted him in third.  It was great to see Kaleb make a deep run again, especially with a weak character like Han Solo.

And then there were two!  Ben had the health advantage as his Luke Skywalker was still going strong, but Joel wouldn't kill Leia, leaving Luke's Justice cards a pedestrian 5 point attack.  They began to chase each other around the snow bank.  Would Joel land a double Whirlwind?  Would Leia rain down shots???

In the end Mace's previous damage proved to be too fatal.  Joel hung in there but he couldn't withstand the combined attacks of the Skywalker children.  Congrats to Ben on his first ever 12-Way Duel win!!!  His household now displays two trophies as he finally has one to pair with Courtney's.  And let's not ignore another outstanding finish by Joel, who has been second or above in three of his last four Duels.  The final order of finish:

12.  Bryant/Count Dooku

11.  Rob/Jango Fett

10.  Ian/Darth Vader

9.  Grant/Emperor Palpatine

8.  Ryan/Obi-Wan Kenobi

7.  Charlie/Boba Fett

6.  Katie/Anakin Skywalker

5.  Chris W./Darth Maul

4.  Curtis/Yoda

3.  Kaleb/Han Solo

2.  Joel/Mace Windu

1.  Ben H./Luke Skywalker

And that brings us to our last Duel of 2018...THE CHAMPIONSHIP!  The top twelve ranked Duelers will get first invite to play.  The match is set for December 1st.  More details to come!