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!
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| 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.
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| It's Complicated |
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.
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| 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...
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