Doubleheader #2 - August 29, 2020

 

Kamino Platform

The first Duel of the day started at 1PM, with the second one scheduled for 7PM.  Rob figured that would give about a two hour cushion in between games to give folks a break from staring at their screens and time to eat (or grocery shopping in Lucas' case).

WRONG!

The first Duel didn't end until about 6:40, giving Rob about five minutes to reset the board and be ready to teach rookie Duncan the ropes!  That just isn't enough time, Duelers!  But because Rob loves you all so very much, he sacrificed a real meal to give the masses what they wanted:  MORE DUELING!

Rob remembered this time!

After giving Duncan a quick crash course (he had already studied the front desk copy of Epic Duels in North Village - YOU CAN'T TEACH HEART!!!), we were off and running again!  Six folks were playing their second Duel of the day while six came in fresh and rested.  

The Kamino Platform is an interesting battleground because the dark side start split apart from each other while the light side is congested on a narrow gangway.  Flipping can happen in several different spots, but we went through a cycle of turns with the sides knotted at six-six.  That's when Elliot's Darth Maul accepted an invite from Rylie's Han Solo to come to his senses and come over.  Seeing this, Hall of Famer Joel (another alum playing with us!), quickly moved his Dooku to the light side as well, and all of a sudden the dark side was in trouble.

It's Complicated

Miguel, finally playing somebody besides Darth Maul, got into trouble very early when Rylie's Han smoked his Mandalorian armor with the Bowcaster.  He survived, but he was seriously wounded.  That's when Ian's Emperor assumed the position of actual Emperor and began directing a defensive strategy to his foursome.  At the same time, he kept trying to persuade Elliot to flip back to his original tribe.  Elliot was conflicted.  He knew he should attack Hannah's Boba Fett, but she used a solid 1-2 punch of berating him and charming him into confusion on how to proceed.  

While this was all going down, Troy's Mace Windu rolled in a little too aggressively and started taking on major damage from the dark side, especially with the distance attacks of Ian and Delaney/Vader.  To counter the offensive and protect Mace, Ben's Anakin Wrathed to the back row to keep the pressure on Jango before Wrathing back out.  Meanwhile, Joel's Dooku continued to push forward behind Jango's ship to confront Delaney's Vader.  While Delaney managed to escape, she left a shooting lane open, exposing Jango.  She still had a Storm Trooper, though, plugging the backside pathway.

And that's when Hall of Famer Joel did something I've never seen in nearly 20 years of playing Star Wars Epic Duels:  he Force Pushed his own Super Battle Droid into attack position on Jango, and then delivered a five point attack to stun Miguel into last place.

It was one of the most brilliant moves anyone has ever seen in a Duel.  DON'T MESS WITH JOEL.

The chips fell somewhat quickly after that.  Elliot, still unable to bring himself to attack Hannah's vulnerable Boba Fett, instead flipped out and hit poor Troy!  Ben used Padme's Precise Shot to get rid of Maul, but the mortal wounds left behind on poor Mace were too much.  Delaney chucked a Throw Debris and Troy was out in tenth.  But!  In the first game of the Doubleheader, Troy reached professional status, so bravo to him!

The light side had broken through the dark side ranks at that point, and Ian's Emperor was the next target.  Padme pumped him with three attack points to end his night in ninth.  Delaney's Darth Vader was the next victim.  Lucas's used a six-point attack from his Obi-Wan Kenobi to end the evening of our recent CL Training Duel winner.

And then there were seven!

With only the original alliance, plus Hannah's Boba Fett still alive, it was Rob's turn.  His Yoda was full carded, but he was nowhere near the bounty hunter.  So with his roll he had to choose between Duncan's Luke (who pulled off a nifty I Will Night Fight You against Vader early in the game) or Lucas' Obi.  Rob figured folks would be down to remove the powerful Jedi from the game.

He thought wrong.

Despite being Force Lifted and Pushed into a kill box, Joel talked everyone into going after Rob's Yoda instead.  *gulp*  Lucas made the situation worse for Yoda by playing Force Balance, which emptied his Rebound.  Not long after Rylie's Han shot Yoda down in seventh.

The Pied Piper of Dueling

It was right about here three significant things happened.  1) Joel, through his verbal influencing, started dictating the game.  2) Rylie played Wookie Instincts...but never used the Bowcaster again, instead wielding the card in her hand as a threat to others.  3) Ben subtly moved away from everyone else to watch the chaos at a safe distance.

Joel called out Lucas' Obi, and despite a heroic defense, he finally bowed out in sixth.  Joel called out Duncan, who at that time was full health and still had Leia.  The rest of the board complied, and the rookie made a drastic exit from the game in fifth.  Duncan played great in his first Duel!  Let's hope we see him back out there in the future.

Once it got down to four, Rylie/Han and Hannah/Boba verbally committed to working together.  That made Ben's Anakin quite nervous, so he swooped in and put big, unexpected hits on Boba.  She couldn't hold out, so Hannah was done in fourth.  A major tip of the cap to Hannah!  She somehow survived her starting side collapsing and maneuvered into a career-best fourth place.

At this juncture both Joel/Dooku and Ben/Anakin were pleading for Rylie/Han to side with them against the other.  She was quite conflicted, as Enneagram 9's often are in that situation.  Ben made an unexpected move, though, when he double-Wrathed Chewbacca, eliminating the threat of the still unused Bowcaster.  Rylie was stunned and fuming.  Despite flip-flopping a few times (no shame in that, that's what shooters do in the final three!), she basically agreed to work more with Ben than Joel.  Ben was super weak, though, so Joel moved in with two Taunts...only to receive two points of damage from both of Anakin's Counter-Attacks!  Clutch!!!  Dooku and Ani were both just a couple of points from dead, so it was Riley's fully-healthy Han who would choose who would get second and third.  It took two attacks, but Joel and his non-stop mouth were done in third!  He put on an EPIC performance.  That's why he's a Hall of Famer.

Everyone, including Riley, assumed just an attack or two would finish off Ben's Anakin.  She fired at him twice, but he somehow had enough defense to cover it.  He then attacked her twice, and Han being Han, she took significant damage.  Still, with two more actions left, it seemed obvious Han had it in the bag.  Except...

...nobody told that to Anakin!  YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME.  After surviving yet another attack, Rylie was panicked and had to retreat!  But Ben rolled a huge number and moved in for two attacks.  The second card?  ANGER.  Han couldn't defend it, and seemingly out of nowhere, Ben won the game!!!  This is no disrespect for Rylie at all - she played Han beautifully - but this had to be the biggest comeback in final two history of the league.  Fully health Han vs. two points from dying Anakin.  That double-Wrath of Chewey turned out to be the difference maker.  If you see Rylie empathize with her because she did everything right and got second.  Brutal!

The final order of finish:

12.  Miguel/Jango

11.  Elliot/Maul

10.  Troy/Mace

9.  Ian/Emperor

8.  Delaney/Vader

7.  Rob/Yoda

6.  Lucas/Obi

5.  Duncan/Luke

4.  Hannah/Boba

3.  Joel/Dooku

2.  Rylie/Han

1.  Ben H./Anakin

Our next Duel will be the seventh annual FALL BRAWL.  We'll be playing online again, and right now the tentative date is September 19th, so block your schedules now.  Rob will send out an email for sign-ups later in September.

Before signing off, I wanted to acknowledge something.  I don't think anybody in the second game knew Ben was playing from his hometown, out of state.  His father passed away a short while ago and his family picked this weekend to lay him to rest.  I know he was looking forward to playing with us this night, I'm guessing as a small relief to such a hard day, and how amazing is it he could have a little victory in the middle of all this hardship.  I think that says a lot about the fun and camaraderie a community like our Duels league can provide others in times of need.  So be it in our residence halls or around friendly board games, don't forget how privileged we are to walk alongside others.  Ben - congrats on an epic win, and know we're here for you.  And that goes to everyone else - stay safe Duelers.  I love doing life with you.

Doubleheader #1 - August 29, 2020

 

Geonosis Arena

Friends, I usually put a lot of time and effort into these recaps, but forgive me, tonight I'm just trying to get to bed!!!  I typically get the stats updated and stories posted the day after a Duel.  So I'm burning the midnight oil to churn these out and have them in your hand when you wake up Monday morning (or got to bed REALLY late Sunday night).  It's the Doubleheader, so that means it takes twice as long to write!

To the recap!

The first thing you might note is...I forgot to take the picture of all the Duelers at the table on the screen before we started battle.  Our punishment for that mishap?  A FIVE AND A HALF HOUR DUEL.  Brutal and way too long.  So in place of the missing group shot, here's a pic of my favorite Dueler:

Look closely at the painting...THAT'S NO MOON.

Thanks for humoring me - I do the Doubleheader each year for my birthday, and I love the fact my oldest daughter loves to play this game.  And I noticed this year my middle child was lurking in the living room, watching and listening.  Perhaps a second daughter is nearing her Dueling destiny!?  THERE IS ANOTHER.

Seriously, back to the recap.  The game started roughly for the light side.  After swearing up and down he was loyal to the good guys, Alex's Luke Skywalker immediately bailed and defected to the dark.  That's all Lucas' Mace Windu needed to see before he came over too.  The light side, particularly Troy's Yoda and Rylie's Obi-Wan, were the early targets.  Retired Dueler Jonathan, playing with Anakin, tried to jump ship too.  He laid a hit and started running down the alley behind the columns, but Grant's Han (yes Grant got Han again!) lowered a BOWCASTER to put a serious hurt on him.  Alex on the dark side laid the final hit, and just like that, our former Singles Champion was done.  Brutal.

The light side was doomed after that.  Rylie, who called out Rob during the player introductions (not the first time that's happened to him), received payback when his Emperor hit her with a Force Lightning or two.  It would be retired Hall of Famer Stephen B., though, who killed her with Vader's Wrath in eleventh.  Troy's Yoda tried to move forward to cause some chaos, but got chewed up and spat out in tenth, dying on a four point attack from Greedo of all people (Kaleb would have been proud).

Folks, he hates it every time it happens, but there is no finer character/Dueler combo than Han Solo and Grant.  It's poetry in motion.  It's like peanut butter and jelly.  But this day, there was nothing even Grant could do to escape a ninth place finish.  And it was Ian's Greedo again!  GREEDO SHOT FIRST!

Rob finally remembered to take a picture.

With eight to go and Rob just finishing his turn, Alex made a bold suggestion and said the entire back row of dark side characters should kill the emperor in eighth.  Rob was startled but also secretly impressed with the move.  A very Russell on Survivor kind of a play.  But the dark side wasn't feeling it, and that left Alex out to dry.  They made Luke the next target and it was Riley's Dooku who knocked our top ranked Dueler out of the game.  But newer Duelers, Alex made a good try there - learning something from it.  Big moves can pave your way to victory, it just didn't work out for Alex this time.

With seven left, the attention turned to Miguel's Darth Maul.  This was only his second career Duel but his second time playing with Maul.  Grant temporarily brainwashed him and convinced him to flip to the dying light side, but Miguel came to his senses and killed Han.  That moment of weakness, though, but a huge target on him and Ian's Boba Fett led the charge.  With one point of health left, Riley's Dooku Force Pushed him to seventh for the second game in row.  #symmetry.

The alliance had held together to make top six, but that's when the infighting occurred.  Ian publicly named his fear of the father/daughter combo of Emperor and Dooku.  Rob countered by noting Boba had not even played his best cards yet.  Stephen's Vader and Ryan's Jango hemmed an hawed, while Lucas faced the painful decision of whether to back-stab Riley, who had been vocally loyal with him.  

After much debate most of the board decided on Riley's Dooku and started in on her, but Rob was still fearful of the Thermals and Kyber Darts and made a bold move to attack Boba instead.  That caused some chaos but Riley couldn't survive and peaced out in sixth place.

With five to go Lucas' Mace happened to be caught in the middle of the board at full health, and the other four dark side characters thought, why not?  Mace got peppered by attacks and finally succumbed to his wounds after Stephen Threw Debris at him.  That fifth place finish, though, was a nice little rebound game for Lucas.

The final four featured both Fetts (Ian and Ryan) with the wombo-combo of Rob/Emperor and Stephen/Vader.  There was a lot of talk back and forth, and even though it looked like Stephen wanted to stay loyal to his former RHD Ian, he realized he couldn't survive two shooters on a shooter's board, so the two on two battle commenced.  Rob and Stephen decided to focus their attacks on Ian's Boba, and they had him down to his last couple of health points.  Rob's Emperor was in rough shape.  Stephen rolled a high enough number to finish off Boba, but he reversed course and started chasing Jango instead.  That frustrated Rob, who was now open for more attacks from both Fetts.  Stephen did eventually eliminate him fourth, though.

Ian managed to heal up quite a bit, and Stephen finally realized Rob's banged up Emperor was the better dance partner at the end.  He rained down a double-Debris and smoked Ian in third.  Ouch!  Stephen began chasing Rob around the columns while he desperately looked for distance attacks or defense cards after reshuffling.  He moved far enough away where Stephen had a 50/50 chance to reach him for attack.  Rob could draw or heal twice, which would prevent him automatically dying.  He chose the double heal and Stephen rolled strong enough to attack him and use Wrath to win!  And what was the first card Rob would have drawn had he not healed?  YOU WILL DIE.  He would have dumped Vader's whole hand!!!  But that's not the real story, the real story is HALL OF FAMER Stephen coming out of retirement to show the league his induction was no joke!  Congrats Stephen!!!

  The final order of finish:

12.  Jonathan/Anakin

11.  Rylie/Obi

10.  Troy/Yoda

9.  Grant/Han

8.  Alex C./Luke

7.  Miguel/Maul

6.  Riley/Dooku

5.  Lucas/Mace

4.  Ryan/Jango

3.  Ian/Boba

2.  Rob/Emperor

1.  Stephen/Vader

...on to game two!

Preview: The Doubleheader - August 29, 2020

An Ewok drumming two helmets.
Get it?  DOUBLEHEADER!

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times.  What's the only thing better than playing a game of Star Wars Epic Duels?  PLAYING TWO GAMES OF STAR WARS EPIC DUELS!

I don't understand you lightweights who aren't playing in both.  You can't teach heart!

But yes, here we are early in season seven of our Duel league, and if it's late August that means it's time for the Doubleheader!  Normally Rob has everyone out to the house and, in between games, he would stuff your faces with tie-fighter ties (think pigs in a blanket), wookie cookies, and his galaxy famous YODA SODA.  Yoda Soda is the best.  It tastes so good because it's packed with midi-chlorians.  Now, some will tell you Yoda Soda is just church punch.  To that I say...how dare you.  How dare you spread those lies.  Shame on you.

Alas, stupid COVID has forced us back online to play...but that's better than not playing at all.  The one bonus about playing online is we get to reconnect with past generations of Duelers - we have some alums playing in the Doubleheader, and that's exciting.

If you're newer to the Duel league, Rob always posts a "preview" before the big game, where he reviews the history of the annual Duel, introduces those who plan to enter the arena, and then somebody/something makes a prediction on who will win the game.  In the past the prognosticators have included toy versions of Obi-Wan and Jar Jar, a Lego Admiral Ackbar, Trey-Rey (don't ask), and last year it was a remote controlled BB-8.  Who/what is making the prediction this year?  Keep reading to find out!

HISTORY:

2019 Game #1 - Alex C. and Yoda won on the Kamino Platform
2019 Game #2 - Rob and Emperor Palpatine won in the Emperor's Throne Room

2018 Game #1 - Alex C. and Darth Vader won in the Emperor's Throne Room
2018 Game #2 - Joel and Darth Maul won on the Kamino Platform

2017 Game #1 - Rob and Jango Fett won on the Kamino Platform
2017 Game #2 - Nathan and Jango Fett won in the Emperor's Throne Room

2016 Game #1 - Grant and Count Dooku won on the Kamino Platform
2016 Game #2 - Stephen and Jango Fett won in the Emperor's Throne Room

2015 Game #1 - Ryan and Jango Fett won in the Geonosis Arena
2015 Game #2 - Grant and Yoda won in the Emperor's Throne Room

2014 Game #1 - Alex R. and Darth Maul won on the Kamino Platform
2014 Game #2 - Curtis and Yoda won in the Geonisis Arena

MEET THE DUELERS:

Game 1 - Geonosis Arena

Chair #1 - Ryan playing w/Jango Fett.  Ryan has quietly moved into second place in the league, riding five top five finishes in his last five games.

Chair #2 - Miguel playing w/Darth Maul.  What???  This is only Miguel's second Duel, and he has Darth Maul again??  He must have a special bond with the horned Sith.

Chair #3 - Alex C. playing w/Luke Skywalker.  The top ranked Dueler in the league is looking to be the first one to ever win the same trophy three years in a row.

Chair #4 - Stephen B. playing w/Darth Vader.  The retired Hall of Famer joined us for the Twin Sun Slam, and now he's back for more.

Chair #5 - Ian playing w/Boba Fett.  Ian will try to wash the stink off of him after his last place finish at CL Training.  He will be disappointed Kaleb isn't playing.

Chair #6 - Lucas playing w/Mace Windu.  Our friendly Chaplain is now in his second year in the league, and he and his 'stache are looking for their first win.

Chair #7 - Troy playing w/Yoda.  The 2019 Singles Champ didn't get to defend his crown this summer due to COVID, but he'd settle for a win here.

Chair #8 - Jonathan playing w/Anakin Skywalker.  Another alum is back!  He's got a Singles Championship but wants his first 12-way victory.

Chair #9 - Rob playing w/Emperor Palpatine.  What's that you say?  Rob won the second game of the Doubleheader last year with Palpatine?  NOTHING TO SEE HERE!

Chair #10 - Rylie playing w/Obi-Wan Kenobi.  She will be relieved to learn she isn't playing with Boba Fett.  The most recent b-day Duel winner wants a trophy now.

Chair #11 - Grant playing w/Han Solo.  He will kill Rob for the character draw, but there is no better player/character combo in league history.  

Chair #12 - Riley playing w/Count Dooku.  The junior high Dueler is back in action for the fourth time this year and would love a second career win.

Game 2 - Kamino Platform

Chair #1 - Duncan playing w/Luke Skywalker.  Rookie Dueler alert!!!  The league welcomes Duncan to his first career Duel.  Cherish it, Duncan!

Chair #2 - Joel playing w/Count Dooku.  Yes, you read that right.  Hall of Famer Joel is jumping back in.  He won the last time he played, so there's that.

Chair #3 - Lucas playing w/Obi-Wan Kenobi.  Lucas made his debut last year at the Doubleheader with a fourth and second place finish.

Chair #4 - Troy playing w/Mace Windu.  Troy will look for a slightly better finish than his last adventure with Mace on Kamino.

Chair #5 - Rob playing w/Yoda.  Are you telling me after only getting Yoda twice in 88 games, he's now had him in three of his last four?  SHENANIGANS!

Chair #6 - Elliot playing w/Darth Maul.  If there's a winless Dueler in the league better primed for his first victory, I'd be shocked.  It's his time!

Chair #7 - Rylie playing w/Han Solo.  Remember that bad Boba Fett mojo?  Did that just transfer to Han?  Asking for my friend Rylie...

Chair #8 - Hannah playing w/Boba Fett.  After making her rookie debut in a respectable sixth place at CL Training, she's back and has a top five finish in her sights.

Chair #9 - Miguel playing w/Jango Fett.  Finally, he's free from the clutches of Darth Maul!  Jango Fett is just about the polar opposite...

Chair #10 - Ben H. playing w/Anakin Skywalker.  This marks just Ben's second time playing with Anakin Skywalker in a 12-way Duel.

Chair #11 - Ian playing w/Emperor Palpatine.  Ian has four top three finishes in his last five Duels.  He'll try to make that five with the Emperor.

Chair #12 - Delaney playing w/Darth Vader.  The reigning champion of the CL Training Duel would love to join the rarefied air of consecutive wins.

And now...what you have been waiting for...

STAR WARS POSTER BOOK PICKS THE WINNERS!

This year we're hitting the books to make better, more educated picks for our league.  Enough of these wild guesses.  We're doing this scientifically.  So, all-wise poster book...who will win game one?

Anakin and Padme!  And look - the poster features the Geonosis Arena, and that's where we're playing!  It's working...IT'S WORKING!!!  Ok poster book, what about game two?

Darth Vader!  Ooooh, scary.  Anakin and Vader, two sides of the same coin.  The poster book must have a very good feeling about this.  

And guess what friends...if you win the Duel, not only do you get one of the Fett trophies for a year...you get this poster FOREVER.  I expect you to frame it and hang it proudly.

Ok folks - big day tomorrow - rest up now.  For tomorrow...WE DUEL.  TWICE!

CL Training Duel - August 10, 2020

Emperor's Throne Room

Boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, wookies and ewoks...here we go again!

SEASON SEVEN!!!

That's right, our 12-way Duel League is now in its seventh season of existence.  That is insane.  That means our rookie student Duelers were in eighth grade when this league started. It also means some of us who have played since the very beginning are OLD.

Every season usually starts in Glen Rose, TX, at the Community Leader training retreat.  Because of stupid COVID-19, we had to stay in town and play online.  That's ultimately not a big deal when facing a devastating pandemic, but man, it sure is fun playing in the rec room at camp and stuffing our faces with snacks.

It also means Rob had to recruit people virtually instead of face to face, but a nice balance of Duelers signed up to play.  We had four professionals, four amateurs, and four rookies.  But of the twelve Duelers playing, it seemed like most of them were connected to Brooks Residential College.  One concerned Dueler texted Rob before the game (it was Kaleb) and asked, "should we be concerned about all the BRC folks playing?"  Rob responded, "oh, we're doomed for sure."  #foreshadowing #brooksmafia

 

Smile if Samuel Palmer Brooks is your homeboy.

After a quick tutorial for the newbies, we were off and running!  Poor Rylie got stuck with Boba Fett for her second game in a row, but at least she got to go first, right?  But the very next Dueler after her, David T./Han Solo, playing in his very first Duel, swung Chewbacca towards Rylie's Greedo and dropped a card for his very first action.  The card?  BOWCASTER!  An 11-point attack and Greedo was dead out of the gate and Rylie was reeling!  THIS KID CAME TO PLAY.

It didn't get any less chaotic.  Kaleb, piloting Luke Skywalker, appeared to lead the charge against the dark side.  Ian/Mace followed him up the bridge, but as it turned out...Kaleb was flipping!  Rob used his Yoda to Insight Luke and discarded a Latent Force Abilities card, but was also startled to see Kaleb already had both Justices.  Rob didn't communicate that well to Ian, and the light side started shooting Leia.  By the time Ian realized what was happening, it was too late.  Kaleb convinced his own alliance to kill his minor character in order to activate the Justices.  Despite Ian's scary-serious promise to unload on Kaleb (one rookie noted he sounded like Liam Neeson in Taken), they sided with Luke, and Kaleb double-Justiced Ian's Mace into last place.

You probably thought Kaleb was now in tight with the dark side.  You would be wrong.  The dark side alliance turned on him faster than the Millenium Falcon making the Kessel Run.  Everyone chipped in with attacks, but it was a shot from Rachel's Padme that ended his night in eleventh.

The Epic Meltdown

Rylie's Boba had begun firing on David's Han Solo, but the blood lust on the dark side couldn't be quenched.  They turned on the bounty hunter, especially after Delaney non-committally wandered to their side of the board.  Migual Miguel, also playing in his first Duel, blurted out he had 20 points worth of attacks for Boba.  Rob explained how Sith Speed actually works, and Miguel cracked Rylie out of the game in tenth.  Brutal.

Rob saw the writing on the wall and tried to get Elliot/Jango, Delaney/Obi, and Hannah/Vader to join him, Rachel/Anakin, and David/Han.  He tried pointing out the tiered nature of their alliance.  It was to no avail.  David's Han was the next target, and it was Elliot who used a Rocket Retreat to punch out Han Solo in ninth.  Still, you have to hand it to David.  His first-ever card played was a Bowcaster!  That's so awesome!!!

Rachel, playing with Anakin, tried to lay low all game and hide in the corner, but the dark side alliance, aka the Brooks Mafia, turned on one of their own.  It was the seemingly innocent Hannah, using Darth Vader, that marched down and punched Rachel's ticket in eighth place.  That next one-on-one will be a bit awkward...

And then there were seven!  Miguel/Maul was up and decided to card up after he was told to pipe down by his partners.  Rob's Yoda knew this was his chance.  He noted how Maul was already in a kill box and would never be weaker to attack.  Miguel, sweet Miguel, sweet, innocent, never been back-stabbed because it was his first Duel Miguel.  He was so loyal to his alliance.  But his alliance saw an opportunity!  And after Noah's Dooku and Delaney's Obi both verbally committed to going in on him, Natalie's Emperor was forced to follow suit.  Miguel...did not take it well.  But those are the breaks!  And that's what makes this game so deliciously fun.  Everyone contributed attacks against him and he was in rough shape.  The Brooks Mafia counted on Hannah's Vader to finish him off...but she didn't!  She ran away!  It was a jaw dropper.  And it also let Miguel survive until his turn, and he took his vengeance out on Natalie's Emperor.  She survived, but he did not.  He finished seventh after Noah offed him, one spot short of his desired goal of sixth or better.  So close, yet so far away.

Coming to blows.

With six to go, Rob was sure he was next, and that was the initial plan.  His hand got gutted when Delaney played Force Balance, dumping his three best defense cards.  Just as he carded up again, Natalie finally let loose with the You Will Die.  Rob was running out of options fast, but Delaney had a score to settle with Hannah for bailing out on the Maul kill.  Poor Hannah, who started the day in Ohio and ended it late in the night and out in sixth.

Elliot's Jango popped some shots on Yoda, but it was Natalie's Force Lightning that finally put down the last light side alliance player.

There were four players left, and Noah's Dooku was already taking damage.  He pulled off some nifty attacks, though, whittling Natalie's Emperor back down after she had played two Meditations to recover from Miguel's attacks.  But the Brooks Mafia was ready to eliminate the last non-Brooks player, and Delaney swooped in with a Force Attack.  It was a heck of a night for Noah, though, who survived some early skirmishes to make it to the top four.

And then there were three!  And what a final three it was.  Besties Natalie/Emperor, Delaney/Obi, and Elliot/Jango.  Each cringed as their core alliance was about to come undone.  Natalie decided early to team up with Jango, and Delaney was incensed.  She marched down and clobbered the Emperor close to death.  Meanwhile, Elliot's Jango was fully healthy and Obi was wounded.  He figured he didn't need Natalie on the board any longer, and shot her down in third!  Natalie played a great game, easily seen as the leader of the Brooks family Dueling syndicate.  

The Nervous Nellies in the final two

Delaney still had both of her clone troopers alive (one still pinned down from a Yoda Force Lift), and thus couldn't heal.  Elliot's Zam Wessell was long gone, so he was healing Jango back to the top bar.  It didn't look good for Delaney, but there's a reason Obi-Wan is often considered the best character in the game!  She came roaring back, all while Elliot was loaded with Zam cards.  To Delaney's credit, she didn't hold back and chased Elliot all around the board.  There was a suspenseful moment where he was a point away from dying, and with her second attack, she laid down a two...only to be countered by Jango's last two defense!  But a few moments later it was over, and Delaney, in just her fourth career Duel, won the game!!!  She became the fourth female winner in league history, and as of this posting, has the highest win percentage (25%) in league history!  And she's not even a professional yet!  Let's also not overlook the fact she won with Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Emperor's Throne Room, one of the lowest ranked character/board combos out there.  It's usually a bad outcome but Delaney pulled it off!  She also had a money line at the end of the game:  "I won because I had the high ground."

Let's also give a hand to our runner-up, Elliot, who was the last major character to take damage in the game and nearly pulled off the upset.  Well done Elliot!

Our next match will likely be on Saturday, August 29th - THE DOUBLEHEADER.  And if you're new to the league, I will confirm, we're playing two games in one day.  GET READY.  As we bring our 90th (!!!) game in league history to a close, let's review the final order of finish once again:

12.  Ian/Mace Windu

11.  Kaleb/Luke Skywalker

10.  Rylie/Boba Fett

9.  David T./Han Solo

8.  Rachel O./Anakin Skywalker

7.  Miguel/Darth Maul

6.  Hannah/Darth Vader

5.  Rob/Yoda

4.  Noah/Count Dooku

3.  Natalie/Emperor Palpatine

2.  Elliot/Jango Fett

1.  Delaney/Obi-Wan Kenobi

Yoda's #1 Fan