The Fall Brawl - September 21st, 2019

Carbon Freezing Chamber (via Dagobah)

It took us all week to find our 12th Dueler, but Jordan bailed us out Saturday morning and we were ready to Duel!

The Fall Brawl marked the return of Ben H., who is newly hired back to the department, allowing for the Hall of Famer to resume his playing career.  It also marked the debut of Natalie, who caught the Dueling bug from Rylie.  We love rookie Duelers!  #ibelievethatrookiesarethefutureteachthemwellandletthemleadtheway

Tan table?

Kaleb drew the #1 chair and also Boba Fett.  He didn't care about Boba as much as his suction-cupped minor character, Greedo.  The bromance was reignited and it felt so right!  Christopher avoided one Fett but picked Jango for Rob.  His fingers having a homing beacon for bounty hunters!

Ryan won the right to go first and he was off and running.  Literally.  His Mace Windu scampered across the middle of the board as he defected to the dark side.  It was the "Cohenour Run 2.0"!

Ian, playing with Luke Skywalker, began to coordinate a defensive strategy but was stuck going second to last on the first turn.  That's extremely problematic if you're Luke starting in the middle of the board.  Kaleb, playing Boba Fett, used the shield of Mace's minor characters to step forward and land both the 9 and 7 point attacks on poor Ian!  Ian had held onto the Golden Jar Jar since the May the 4th Duel, and his symbiotic relationship with it would prove fatal as he finished in last after Mace cut him down for the final blow.

Lucas and Sam embrace reality while Ben and Kaleb laugh.

That was a tough start for the light side, as they were now down seven to four.  They hung tough, though, knocking out Greedo and Zam as they mounted a counter-attack.  In fact, it was Jordan's Anakin that killed Greedo with an Anger, but then he used his Calm to run over to the dark side in an attempt to join them!  The dark side was fairly gobsmacked by the move, and after Rob got the nod from Rylie/Maul, they launched their attack on the Padawan.  It was Ryan's Mace again that made the kill shot and Jordan was done in 11th, his second time playing Anakin in two career Duels.

Lucas, playing just his third career Duel, had Han Solo and came to the realization that he wasn't going to advance very far in this battle.  He was faced with the decision many of us have been confronted with before: go down with the ship or attack your own alliance.  He chose the noble route and kept fighting with his team but a four point attack from Jango ended Lucas' night in tenth.

Not looking good for Obi-Wan.

The next sequence would prove fateful for the rest of the match.  Sam, who had Obi-Wan, attacked his last teammate Christopher/Yoda.  It was so dirty!  But it helped out Sam because he Force Controlled Yoda into the dark side.  Ben's Emperor played You Will Die on Yoda and Rylie's Maul went in for the kill.  Poor Christopher was out in ninth place.

That opened the door for the first strong alliance back-stab.  Rob's Jango held two Wrist Cables, and he played them both on Ben's Emperor!  The rest of the alliance was down for the attack, and it was rookie Natalie's Vader who made the kill shot on Ben in eighth.  But welcome back Ben, glad you're with us again!

A second in-fight occurred when Ryan's Mace attacked Kaleb's Boba.  Kaleb returned fire and the rest of the alliance wasn't sure what to do as those two had scored significant damage on each other.
They called truce and he remaining alliance once again fixed their attention on Sam's Obi-Wan. 

The levee breaks.

Sam still had some tricks up his sleeve, as he used another Force Control to move everyone away from him, and then a Force Balance to dump everyone's hand.  That was rough for quite a few folks.  Sam proved how powerful Obi is, even when fighting six characters at once.  Stop me if you've heard this before, but Mace made yet another kill shot...and then there were six!

The remaining alliance just stared at each other, spread out across the board, and waited for the standoff to break.  It was more awkward than a middle school dance.  Rylie's Maul finally became the focus of attack, and she bowed out after a final shot from Kaleb's Boba Fett.

And then there were five!  Nobody knew how to proceed, so Rob threw out Alex's name.  That was met with the sound of crickets and a dirty look from Alex, so Rob used his Flamethrower on Boba to move Kaleb over to Alex/Dooku and Natalie/Vader, and then Rocket Retreated the heck out of there.  Ryan moved in and did a Whirlwind to send Kaleb to the rails in fifth.

Final two!

That left four Duelers, and Alex/Dooku and Ryan/Mace were happy to make Natalie the next victim of the game.  Her Vader couldn't withstand a two-front attack and so she peaced out in fourth.  But - that's a heck of a debut for the rookie Dueler!  Good job, Natalie!

With three to go Alex was hoping he and Ryan could partner up against Rob's Jango, but that's when he was in for the rude awakening that Ryan and Rob were already in a committed relationship.  At least that's what Rob thought.  Just as Alex was approaching them at their end of the board, Ryan used a Wisdom to get the heck out of Dodge, leaving Rob alone to face Alex.  Rob made a super dirty promise to join Alex against Ryan in order to avoid an attack, and then burned that promise by attacking Dooku and Firing Up the Jet Pack to get out of there.

Rob was loaded with Zam cards ever since the Obi-Wan Force Control was played, so he had very few options, but he and Ryan/Mace managed to whittle down Dooku to near death.  Alex made one last offer to partner against Ryan, but Rob figured they were both too damaged anyway and shot Alex to secure a second place finish for himself.  Sure enough, Ryan swooped in and finished Rob off in second place.  Congrats to Ryan, who won his fouth career Duel!  He also won the Mace trophy while playing with Mace!  It also means BB-8 made the right pick - whoa!!!

Final Order of Finish:

12.  Ian/Luke Skywalker
11.  Jordan/Anakin Skywalker
10.  Lucas/Han Solo
9.  Christopher/Yoda
8.  Ben H./Emperor Palpatine
7.  Sam/Obi-Wan Kenobi
6.  Rylie/Darth Maul
5.  Kaleb/Boba Fett
4.  Natalie/Darth Vader
3.  Alex C./Count Dooku
2.  Rob/Jango Fett
1.  Ryan/Mace Windu

That was a good Duel all the way around.  And, more importantly, we knocked it out in about three hours!  Stay tuned for details on next month's Duel - FIGHT NIGHT - it looks like we'll be playing on October 19th, so pencil it in now.

Thanks to everyone who played tonight!

Preview: The Fall Brawl - September 21, 2019

You can tell it's Fall in Waco when it drops from the upper 90's to the mid 90's.  What a cold front!!!

You can also tell it's Fall in Waco when we play the FALL BRAWL.  I love the title of this month's Duel because it rhymes.  Every time.  Say no to crime.  Look, I found a dime!  Good lord this is the stupidest intro I've ever written for a blog post.  I've been sick for the past few days, the flu meds are messing with my creative juices.  This rest of this post will be worse than usual, proceed with caution...

HISTORY OF THE FALL BRAWL:

2018 - Courtney H. won with Emperor Palpatine in the Emperor's Throne Room
2017 - JD won with Han Solo in the Geonosis Arena
2016 - Ian won with Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Carbon Freezing Chamber
2015 - Rob won with Obi-Wan Kenobi on the Kamino Platform
2014 - David C. won with Darth Maul on the Kamino Platform

MEET THE DUELERS:

Alex C. - the league's second ranked Dueler had a topsy-turvy night at the Doubleheader.  He defended his trophy with a first place finish in game #1 and then got the Golden Jar Jar in game #2.

Ben H. - your eyes don't deceive you - the 1/2 Hall of Famer has returned!  Congrats to Ben, who got hired by the department and already has his three trophies proudly displayed in his new office.

Christopher - Christopher has a fever, and the only cure is MORE DUELS.  It's only September and the amateur Dueler is already playing in his 4th Duel.  Let's just hope he stops picking Boba Fett.

Ian - he missed the Doubleheader but has two second place finishes in his last five Duels, including CL Training back in August. 

Jordan - he made a spectacular debut at CL Training when he finished in 4th place with difficult-to-use Anakin Skywalker.  The Fall Brawl will be his second Duel ever.

Kaleb - it seems like Kaleb is always one step ahead of danger, as he deftly navigated the Doubleheader with a sixth and fourth place finish, allowing him to remain the #1 ranked Dueler.

Lucas - he made his debut at the Doubleheader with amazing results.  In his first ever game he finished fourth with Darth Maul, and then nearly won game #2 with a second place finish as Jango Fett.

Natalie - rookie Dueler alert!!!  Natalie got recruited by Rylie to join the ranks of our Epic Duels league, and we're excited to have her in the fold!

Rob - Rob had the opposite Doubleheader experience of Alex; he finished last in game #1 but first place with the Emperor in game #2.  He's the first Dueler with two Emperor wins.

Ryan - you could say Ryan was quite unlucky by drawing Han Solo for both Doubleheader games, but he finished in second and sixth place with a handicapped character.  Not bad!!!

Rylie - after her Doubleheader experience, including a third place finish in game #2, Rylie is a Duels convert and preaches the Duels gospel to her fellow staff members now.  #blessed

Sam - he made his rookie debut at the Doubleheader as well, and is looking to shake off his 11th place finish in game #2.  His wit and humor are a welcome addition to our league!

BB-8 PREDICTS THE WINNER:

So...my intention this season was to post a video of rolling BB-8 with a Duel card for each preview post, but we accidentally threw him away last week (long story), so I have to go with JPEGs for now.  Here's who BB-8 likes:

Mace Windu!  Not a bad choice, BB-8.  BB-8 is 0-2 on picks so far this year...

That's all for now!  The Duel is tonight at 7PM in the North Village Community Center.  If you aren't playing feel free to come by and catch the action!

Epic Duels Philosophy - Machiavelli's The Prince

Recently in my doctoral class I was required to read Machiavelli's The Prince.  It was brutal...until I realized it was secretly a strategy book for Duelers.  Here now are selected quotes from The Prince:

"And here it is to be noted that a Dueler ought to take care never to make an alliance with one more powerful than herself/himself for the purposes of attacking other Duelers, unless necessity compels her/him, as is said above; because if they conquer you are at their discretion, and Duelers ought to avoid as much as possible being at the discretion of any other Dueler."

"Thus it will always happen that she/he who is not in your alliance will demand your neutrality, whilst she/he who is in your alliance will entreat you to declare yourself with cards to attack."

"A Dueler, therefore, ought always to take counsel, but only when she/he wishes and not when other Duelers wish; she/he ought rather to discourage every one from offering advice unless she/he asks it...also, on learning that a Dueler, on any consideration, has not told them the truth, she/he should let her/his anger be felt with a Thermal Detonator."

"The Dueler who has more to fear from their own alliance ought to draw cards, but the Dueler who has more to fear from the enemy alliance ought to play cards."

"Therefore, it is unnecessary for a Dueler to be merciful, faithful, humane, upright, and religious.  But it is very necessary to appear to be."

"Nevertheless our experience has been that those Duelers who have done great things have held good faith of little account, and have known how to circumvent the intellect of other Duelers by craft, and in the end have overcome those Duelers who have relied on their word."

"We have not seen great things done in a Duel except by those who have been considered mean; the rest have failed."

"And of that alliance's minor characters, you can be a ready giver; because it does not take away your health points if you squander the minor characters of your alliance partners, but adds to it; it is only squandering your minor character that injures (but then heals) you."

"A wise Dueler ought to observe some strategies, and never in peaceful times discard a card to draw a card, but increase his hand with industry in such a way that they may be fully carded in adversity, so that if fortune chances it may find her/him prepared to resist her blows with a Force Rebound."

"For a Dueler who wishes to act entirely up to her/his professions of virtue soon meets with what destroys her/him among so many Force Lightnings."

"Therefore, if she/he who is in an alliance cannot recognize who will betray them first, she/he is not truly wise; and this Insight is given to few.  Like Yoda."

"Hence it is to be remarked that, in attacking a Dueler, the usurper ought to examine closely all the hit points which are necessary to inflict, and to do them all in one turn so as not to have to repeat them on the next turn." 

"A wise Dueler ought always to follow the paths beaten by better Duelers, and to imitate those who have been supreme, so that if one's ability does not equal theirs, at least it will savour of it."

"One has to remark that Duelers ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a Dueler ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge."