Happy birthday...to you!
Happy birthday...to you!
Happy birthday...dear Riley,
Happy birthday...to-wait, what? You want to attack your dad who organized this whole Duel for you on your birthday?
Before we're done singing?
Before you blow out the candle? Oh you want to use a Bowcaster to blow it out all over his face?
Welp, that's pretty much how things started!
This special edition Duel was in honor of Riley, who wanted to play a 12-way for her twelfth birthday. We were more than happy to oblige! And she thanked her dad by immediately lobbying to kill his Emperor first. I raised her well...TOO well!
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| Birthday Party |
It would be Rob's Emperor Palpatine who fell first. He broke his own record for most last place finishes in league history. That's kind of a badge of honor and respect, but mostly a badge of enormous disappointment. It was Diego's second Force Control that did the trick. Lucas' Count Dooku wasn't far behind after the birthday girl swung her Wookie into attack position to finish him off in eleventh.
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| Those baby-blues looking for her next victim. |
Everyone assumed Kaleb's Darth Maul would be the next target (and I really wish you could see the Survivor-themed text exchange he and Rob were having), but Elliot, seemingly out of nowhere (but also lightly inspired by Kaleb's gift for dying gab), made a stand and called for the stronger Jedi on the light side to take down the experienced Duelers in the league. His first target? Alex's Anakin! The top Dueler in the game! THE NOOBIES HAVE TAKEN OVER! THEY'RE THE CAPTAIN NOW! Alex's jaw dropped as Christopher's Boba ended his night early in ninth. It was a stunning turn of events.
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| The herd is thinning... |
That left seven Duelers, all members of the post-flip alliance. The gang of Rylie/Yoda, Diego/Obi, and Elliot/Mace struck again, making Christopher's Boba the odd shooter out. Grant's Luke, who somehow survived starting in the middle of the board and going 11th out of twelve Duelers at the beginning, laid down the final hit. Nobody knew it, but sadly, this was Christopher's last Duel with us! I'm really sorry we didn't get to announce it, he made a lasting impression in his lone season of Dueling with us. We salute you, Christopher!
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| Not looking good for Curtis' Vader. |
Though Grant was a loyal soldier to the light side, he had that same stink of experienced Dueler all over him that got the others in trouble. Curtis started noting how powerful Diego's Obi and Rylie's Yoda looked in the moment, but the others weren't having it. They converged on him and it would be Elliot's Mace that did the deed. That was a sixth place finish, which if you had told Grant at the start of the game that's how things would end, he'd probably have taken it!
And then there were five! Riley, newly blessed with twelve years of life experience, made it known she thought they should go after Curtis' Vader. Curtis tried to make his case that the remaining Duelers would need his help to take down one of the remaining Jedi. Again, the newer Duelers declined the overtures and it was a gruesome Wookie Toss from Riley that ended Curtis' night.
That left four Duelers, with only one career victory (Riley!) between them. The odds were strong for a new player to be crowned victor. It was about this time Diego made his play for the end game. He attacked Riley's Han, but Elliot/Mace and Rylie/Yoda were hesitant to follow suit. Diego even took a Clone Trooper shot at Yoda, and that's when the other three decided his days of running the table were numbered. Diego was extra crafty as he bounced around, but he eventually fell to the combined attack in fourth place.
The not-so-secret female alliance of Riley and Rylie turned their attention to Elliot's Mace Windu. Riley was doing her part to whittle Mace down, but she got major damage from Obi prior. With Chewbacca still on the board she couldn't heal, and Elliot ended up ending her birthday party with a Whirlwind. Have no fear, she was quite pleased with her finish.
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| A winning smile |
Your final order of finish:
12. Rob/Emperor
11. Lucas/Dooku
10. Troy/Jango
9. Alex/Anakin
8. Kaleb/Maul
7. Christopher/Boba
6. Grant/Luke
5. Curtis/Vader
4. Diego/Obi
3. Riley/Han
2. Elliot/Mace
1. Rylie/Yoda
Rylie's victory also propels her to second place in the rankings - whoa!
To everyone out there...thanks for a GREAT sixth season of Dueling. We have 88 Duels under our league's belt and, God willing, more to come. The last two summers we've played the Twin Sun Slam, a doubleheader that traditionally doubles as a cookout at Rob's house. We probably can't do that due to Covid, but we'll try and squeeze those in online. As for the single's tournament in July...that might be harder to do. We can't go and have 32 Duelers in the same room under current conditions. Who knows - we'll figure that out later.
For now, we're signing off. The stats are updated.
May the Force Be with You. Always.
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