5th Annual Singles Tournament - July 28th, 2019

The official rogue's gallery

Look at these 32 beautiful faces!  (Well, 31...somebody had to take the picture!)  You can see the hope and optimism brimming from them all, united in their quest to bury the other 31...to win the biggest single's tournament in the land!

Whooooo-doggy, 31 one of them went home losers!  But one, JUST ONE, hoisted the trophy and claimed the title of SINGLES CHAMP!  So...who won?  Let's start with the final four!

One year we'll figure out how not to stand in the light...

Ryan's Obi-Wan Kenobi tore through the Emperor's Throne room with relative ease, even defeating Darth Maul in the sweet 16 (JD) and elite 8 (Kaleb).  On the flip side of the board, Rob's Yoda took a long and hard haul across the Carbon Freezing Chamber, securing his second straight final four with Yoda.  That included an impossible come-from-behind victory over Ryan's Jango Fett of all people, and an EPIC elite 8 battle with Curtis' Obi-Wan that ended on a Force Push.

On the prequel side of the tournament, newcomer Troy came out of NOWHERE to ride his Emperor Palpatine all the way to the final four on the Kamino Platform.  Nobody ever saw the Emperor go so deep in the tournament before!  On Geonosis, it was Grant's Count Dooku turning his middle of the board starting point into a butt-whippin' station!  Improbably, he had to get through Troy's other elite 8 character (Obi-Wan) to do it.

Ryan's well timed Force Balance against Rob won him a spot in the finals against Troy's Emperor, who continued to surprise those still left in the building with his tenacity as he sent home Grant.

Who won...?

Your 2019 Singles Champion!

TROY!!!  The rookie to the single's tournament took his knowledge gained from the underground games in North Village and turned it into a decisive win!  And with the Emperor!?!?!  THAT'S INSANE!  Poor Troy has to undergo ACL surgery tomorrow - he's going to wake up from anesthesia and think it was all a dream!

Thanks to everyone who turned out, helped behind the scenes, brought their copy of the game, etc.  We couldn't do it without you!!!  Enjoy the final brackets and these other pics from the day...

Oodles of Odles with love from their home planet

Rachel wins for Best Dressed and Most Likely
to Cause Nightmares

Shawn was runner-up for Best Dressed.
Ryan won for Biggest Troll.

Duelers as far as the eye can see!

Congrats to Miles - youngest Dueler ever!

Riley sneaking that smile before declaring
victory over her nemesis Joel!

That's Aly's "I'm having fun" face!

The Committee for Getting Jasmine W. to Play - Annual Meeting.
The Honorable Chairperson Jocelyn presiding.

Rematch from last year's final!

Elite 8 - Geonosis

Elite 8 - Carbon Freezing Chamber

Elite 8 - Emperor's Throne Room

Elite 8 - Kamino Platform

Rob doesn't care - he'll Force Lift everyone!!!

Prequel Boards Final

Original Trilogy Boards Final

The Final Two

Preview: The 5th Annual Singles Tournament - July 28, 2019

The world is facing a record heatwave across the surface of the earth right now, and it's only getting hotter on Sunday, July 28th, when 32 Duelers will meet in the North Village Community Center to play in the fifth annual Singles Tournament!

Long a favorite of regular Duelers and casual fans alike, this year marks the third in a row with a field of 32.  That is a lot of Dueling love!

THE DRAFT
Newcomer Beth got the first pick of the snake draft and gobbled up Obi-Wan Kenobi with the introductory choice and Boba Fett with the last.  Eight different characters were selected in the first round and everyone got their first pick.  Lil' Miles, the youngest Dueler in this year's draft, was the only Dueler to get all four of his top picks (Vader, Luke, Anakin, and Jango)!

Here's the order of the characters who were off the board from first to last:

1.  Yoda
2.  Obi-Wan Kenobi
3.  Count Dooku
4.  Darth Maul
5.  Mace Windu
6.  Emperor Palpatine
7.  Anakin Skywalker
8.  Darth Vader
9.  Luke Skywalker
10.  Jango Fett
11.  Han Solo
12.  Boba Fett

THE BRACKETS
Feel free to click on the pics and see how it all stacks up...

KEY MATCH-UPS:

There is no shortage of personal rivalries and unsettled vendettas in this year's bracket, but here are a few of the battles worth paying attention to...

Emperor's Throne Room - Round one features an epic father vs. son pairing with two shooting characters!  Grant will pilot Boba Fett against his son Garrett, who will wield Han Solo.  And focus your eyes on the bottom of the bracket as three current/former HRC members (Kaleb/Maul, Alex/Jango, and Joel/Dooku) plus Ian/Yoda make up the prickliest quadrangle of the tournament!

Carbon Freezing Chamber - Brannon is the reigning champion with Darth Maul, but it's his first round match-up (Dooku) with brother-in-law JD and Boba Fett that is sure to spark some bad blood at this year's Thanksgiving meal!

Kamino Platform - There are a lot of intriguing battles over on the Kamino Platform, but one pairing that looks particularly tough is Courtney's Yoda (who she took to the elite eight last year) vs. Ryan C.'s Count Dooku.  That one could go either way!

Geonosis Arena - I swear the first round match-ups are randomly selected, but you have to LOVE the fate involved to see mortal enemies Joel (Anakin Skywalker) and Riley (Yoda) squaring off in a rematch that caused a lot of tension in last year's tournament.  And that character pairing...this is the best first round battle of the tourney!!!

FINAL THOUGHTS:

The Force will Awaken next Sunday - the chaos starts at 1PM - feel free to come by and root for your favorite Duelers!!!