Birthday Surprise - December 8, 2018

Carbon Freezing Chamber

Everyone in our league, minus one poor bewildered soul, knew the 2018 Championship was NOT our last Duel of the year.  No, Grant's wife wanted to throw a surprise Duel for her husband's birthday, and who are we to deny our top ranked Dueler a memorable gift like that???

So we gathered at Grant's house while he was out on an errand and we invaded his living room.  Soon enough he was home, believing the glut of cars on the street were for a party at his neighbor's house.  As he rounded the corner his worst nightmare came true - eleven ruthless Duelers had invaded his home, were eating his food, and wanted to ruin his Saturday night!

We gave Grant the honor of picking the board, and he picked the Carbon Freezing Chamber.  It was a nice bit of revenge for showing up at his house unbeknownst to him!

Happy birthday, Grant!

It was a night of mixed blessings for Chris W.  The Birthday Surprise was his sixth Duel, meaning he's turned professional!  But he also got stuck with Luke Skywalker, right in the middle of the board.  And Rob's Zam Wessell drew two Sniper Shots in his first four cards, so he decided to drop them on poor Chris for a combined eight points of damage before it was even his turn.  It also produced a couple of defections as Kaleb's Obi-Wan moved to the dark side of the board and Grant's Anakin eventually Wrathed in too.  Ian's Super Battle Droid rolled forward to take additional shots on Skywalker and then Ryan's Emperor used Force Lightning to register the first casualty of the night.

Andrew's Mace Windu was starting to take hits, so Charlie's Han Solo tried to defect to the dark side too.  Except the dark side wasn't having it.  He was immediately attacked by Chris K.'s Greedo.  Ian would eventually swing in his Count Dooku to drop the final hit with a Taunt.  Poor Charlie!

Before Chris W. had died, he did manage to play an I Will Not Fight You on Ben P.'s Darth Vader.  He literally had to drop all eight of his cards.  As he was frantically trying to restock the rest of the dark side could smell the blood in the water and descended on him.  Ryan's Emperor claimed his second victim of the night when he laid the final shot, a four point attack.  It was rough luck for Ben P.

But Ryan wasn't done there!  He advanced one of his Royal Guards into firing range of the light side, where he had Andrew's Mace in his sights after Mace had moved in on a suicide run.  Andrew was gone too and the light side collapse was nearly complete.

Ben H., winner of our last two Duels, was piloting Yoda and trying to figure out a way to turn the tides.  It was slim pickings but he forced himself next to Kaleb's Obi-Wan clones.  Kaleb started getting nervous about his spot in the pecking order and took a hit and run shot on Rob's Jango, which he was none too pleased by.  That skirmish subsided and the rest of the Duelers agreed to finish off Yoda.  It took a concentrated effort, but Kaleb did land the last blow.

"I'm coming for you, buddy!"

JD's Darth Maul didn't like Kaleb's lack of commitment to pursuing Yoda, and didn't want to see Rob's Jango off the board either.  Rob used that to his advantage, hitting Obi-Wan with a Wrist Cable.  The other Duelers followed suit as Kaleb tried to find a safe haven on the board.  But Rob and Ian had boxed Kaleb out from the rest of the group, making him an easier target.  Eventually Ian used a Force Push to kill Kaleb in seventh, his second Duel in a row with Obi-Wan Kenobi.

That left six Duelers:  Rob/Jango, JD/Maul, Ryan/Emperor, Chris K./Boba, Grant/Anakin, and Ian/Dooku.  It was JD's turn and he was fully loaded with cards, but he agonized over what to do next.  At one point he indicated he would go after Grant or Ian, but after long debate, he switched tactics and went for Boba Fett.

Chris K. was ticked!

Boba planned to go after Ryan's Emperor but had to switch gears and tussle with JD instead.  It left the Fett badly injured and Ryan once again mopped the body, using his Royal Guard to put in the final shot.  However, that also left Ryan exposed and the remaining Duelers decided Emperor should go next.  Poor Ryan didn't have his You Will Die card or many of his Force Lightnings.  He did have two Meditations, though, which made eliminating him painfully long, especially as he kept calling them "Mediations."  He couldn't hold out forever, though, and Ian dropped him in fifth.

And then there were four!  Grant/Anakin and Ian/Dooku were both in good shape, while JD and Rob were less so.  JD started in on Padme, who was still Force Lifted from Yoda earlier in the game.  Rob's Jango didn't want to commit to a side quite yet, leading Ian and JD to think they needed to stick together.  They did in killing Padme, but then Rob and Grant reminded Ian that Maul was his biggest threat moving forward.  It pained Ian, but he stepped aside as Jango and Anakin tag-teamed Maul.  Maul was within an inch of his life when he promised to join Rob and Ian in now going after the birthday boy.  Sadly, Rob saw no reason to keep Maul around.  JD launched into a 10 minute diatribe, some of which Kaleb captured below:



There are many reasons JD is so fun to play with this, and that video is just one of them!  (And JD did shake Rob's hand a couple of minutes later...)

Ian vs. the Birthday Boy

With three to go Rob told Ian he was all in on helping him attack Grant's Anakin.  The two worked together...until they didn't!  Out of nowhere Ian dropped two Tauntings on Jango!  Rob survived and Rocket Retreated back to Grant, but he was too damaged to do much good.  Ian moved in and finished him off in third.

That left a classic set up as the two top ranked Duelers squared off!  Ian was card strong after playing his special card that allows him to draw three at a time.  But Ian was especially crafty in setting up a kill box with his two remaining Super Battle Droids.  He Force Pushed Grant into the kill box, a bold an unexpected play, straight out of Curtis' playbook.  Grant did manage to escape by Wrathing out, and even dropping an Anger on Ian.  It was just about all he could do in the situation.  But Ian saved one last Taunting to kill Grant on his surprise birthday Duel!  Second place wasn't too shabby for Grant, who didn't even know he was playing that night!  And a big congrats goes out to Ian - why did we all forget Dooku was his favorite/best character???  That's career victory number six, which moves him into third on the all time list.  Here's the final order of finish:

12.  Chris W./Luke Skywalker
11.  Charlie/Han Solo
10.  Ben P./Darth Vader
9.  Andrew/Mace Windu
8.  Ben H./Yoda
7.  Kaleb/Obi-Wan Kenobi
6.  Chris K./Boba Fett
5.  Ryan/Emperor Palpatine
4.  JD/Darth Maul
3.  Rob/Jango Fett
2.  Grant/Anakin Skywalker
1.  Ian/Count Dooku

Ok, for real this time, that was the last Duel of 2018!  We'll get back at it in January for...A NEW HOPE.  Stay tuned!

2018 Championship - December 1, 2018

Kamino Platform

Friends, Duelers, Countrypersons-becausewe'resensitivetogenderdynamics, lend me your Jar-Jar sized ears.

What a night!

For the first time in league history we had the top 12 ranked Duelers able to play in the Championship, as it was meant to be.  Indeed, as it should be!  That also meant it would be the toughest.

The night started off with an epic roll-off for who would go first, as both Grant and Rob rolled a 5 three times in a row before Rob choked with a 2-all.  Grant, sitting in the only padded chair around the table, picked Kamino, still one of only two boards to be played for a Championship.  He also chose for us to open our character envelopes all at the same time, for an extra dose of tension.  Well played, Grant!

There will be blood.

As is custom and tradition in Championship Duels, this recap will feature a post of the dead Dueler with the card that did them in.  An extra brutal way to rub defeat into eleven Duelers faces!

12th Place Dueler:  Chris K.

Character:  Darth Maul

How He Died:   2 point attack from Mace Windu's Clone Trooper

This was one of the quickest 12th place finishes in Championship history.  Woof!  His Darth Maul allowed a lane at the start of the game for JD's Han Solo and Chewbacca to defect to the dark side of the board.  Instead, Chewbacca Wookie Tossed him to the light side, Ryan's Luke played I Will Not Fight You, and Chris' night was done.

11th Place Dueler:  JD

Character:  Han Solo

How He Died:  4 point attack from Greedo

JD broke the game wide open when he Wookie Tossed Maul, but that also meant his Chewbacca was deep in enemy territory with a potential Bowcaster.  Grant's Vader and Rob's Emperor began raining down distance attacks to neutralize the threat (and maybe exact a little revenge).  Ian's Greedo landed the kill shot.

 10th Place Dueler:  Ian

Character:  Boba Fett

How He Died:  5 point attack from Anakin

Hand it to Ian, he stayed loyal as the dark side collapsed.  Curtis' Dooku and Ben's Jango both peaced out, leaving Ian, Rob, and Grant with a daunting future.  Ian did manage a sweet thermal detonator that took out Padme and a pack of clones, but as the Jedi marched forward there was nowhere left for Boba to go.

9th Place Dueler:  Grant

Character:  Darth Vader

How He Died:  Anakin's Anger

Grant and Rob got stuck behind Jango's ship, praying for a miracle that never came.  As the Jedi descended they chose Vader before the Emperor and it resulted in an unfortunate exit for the top ranked Dueler.

8th Place Dueler:  Rob

Character:  Emperor Palpatine

How He Died:  Jango's Missile Launch

Rob grew a special, disgusting handle-bar mustache for the Duel and his creativity was awarded with an early death.  He rocked the boat before he left, though.  He dropped a You Will Die on Kaleb's Obi-Wan, hoping his alliance would stab him in the back.  His Force Lightning on Mace proved helpful too.

7th Place Dueler:  Joel

Character:  Mace Windu

How He Died:  Yoda's Force Strike

Joel faced a stunning fall from grace as his nearly fully healthy Mace, side by side with Anakin and Obi, moved to take out Yoda.  But Luke (the person, not the character), had a couple of tricks up his sleeve.  He double Force Lifted Mace and Obi and Ryan's Luke (the character) played a double I Will Not Fight You.  Alex's Anakin stood up Obi-Wan, which made Joel the unfortunate target.

6th Place Dueler:  Luke R.

Character:  Yoda

How He Died:  3 point attack from Jango

Luke was ducking and diving as his seeming partnership with Curtis' Count Dooku deteriorated.  His double Force Lift of Mace and Obi was brilliant, but he misplayed a Force Rebound which left him weak and exposed.  Despite a logical plea to spare his life as the strong characters planned to attack each other, Ben felt more comfortable eliminating the defensive wizard.

 5th Place Dueler:  Kaleb

Character:  Obi-Wan Kenobi

How He Died:  5 point attack from Luke

Kaleb's fifth place finish was somewhat miraculous given the enormous misfortune he face throughout the game.  When Rob played You Will Die on him he lost ALL THREE 12 point defense cards!  He then lost his 6 and 7 point attacks when Ryan played I Will Not Fight You.  He talked his way a couple of spots up the order of finish but he was too weak to withstand Ryan's Luke attack.

4th Place Dueler:  Curtis

Character:  Count Dooku

How He Died:  5 point attack from Luke

Curtis made an early defection to the light side work for a deep run in the Championship as he pursued his second title.  Once it got to the final four, though, he ran out of partners.  He had a shot at attacking Jango but instead tried to rally the board against Alex's Anakin.  It didn't work for him and Ryan rolled in for his second 5 point elimination in a row.

3rd Place Dueler:  Ryan

Character:  Luke Skywalker, because of course

How He Died:  3 point attack from Anakin

There was a moment in time that it looked like Ryan might pull his second Championship title, but ultimately, Jango and Anakin teamed against him.  The crucial play might have been his Justice play on Anakin, who used his Counterattack to neutralize the 10 points of damage.  Still, Ryan played an outstanding Duel.  He pulled off four I Will Not Fight Yous and escaped a Force Lift/Push combo.

2nd Place Dueler:  Alex C.

Character:  Anakin Skywalker

How He Died:  4 point attack from Jango

Alex played a masterful game!  The Trey Rey pick might have been cursed, but you couldn't tell from the dominance he displayed throughout.  Ultimately, his attacks from Dooku and Luke left him a little too weak to survive a shooter.

First Place Dueler:  Ben H.

Character:  Jango Fett

How He Won:  pew pew!

Ben played an outstanding game!!!  His early flip made a huge difference as he sneaked behind the light side and made his distance attacks count, always staying in the majority partnership.  Plus, how cool is it to win with the number one character on his home court board???  Congrats to Ben!!!

Well friends, that's all for now - we'll be back to kick off 2019 with A New Hope in January, stay tuned for more details!