The Fall Brawl - September 19, 2020

 

Arvala-7

"Does anybody really know what time it is?
Does anybody really care?
If so I can't imagine why
We've all got time enough to cry..."

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

- Chicago

Well, let's address the rumors now.  

Yes.  We played an 8 hour Duel.

I don't know why it was 8 hours.  I don't know where the sands of the hourglass went.  I don't know if, when laying on my deathbed (hopefully decades from now), I'll think back to this Duel and say, "no regrets!"  I don't even know if the game actually ended.  Maybe this blog post is a fever dream, a subconscious me seeking a way out of the Dueling matrix.  Who's to say?

What I do know is our new board, Arvala-7, which debuted at this here Fall Brawl, is fantastic.  Kaleb theorized, though, it might have contributed to the long match.  Folks trying to figure it out, splintered from others.  We'll have to analyze that the next time we play.  I could be a member of AARP by the time that one ends.  Hopefully it will be a MUCH faster Duel, though...  

And not only did we try a new board, Ryan actually created it in 3D in time for us to play!  Check out a couple of pics I snapped before we started:

The game started cautiously, but soon enough, Rob's Vader used a Choke on one of Joel's (Mace Windu) Clone Troopers.  That was all Ian needed to publicly declare he was ok with Kendall's Yoda but had every intention to hunt down Mace.  It was the chaotic energy Arvala-7 was created for!

But as Ian moved towards Mace, the infighting on each end of the board commenced.  Rookie Karson, playing with Anakin, took a hit on Riley's Obi-Wan.  The tiny titan of terror was none to pleased, and made it known she would return the favor.  Meanwhile, Ryan's Jango Fired Up the Jet Pack to Lucas' Boba Fett and layed down two big hits before retreating back to his starting spot, where he would remain for approximately five hours.  Lucas retreated to the light end of the board, where everyone decided Riley's Obi-Wan would be winner of the Golden Jar Jar for 12th place.  Riley did pull off a nifty Jedi Block on Duncan's Bowcaster.  It was a Princess Leia attack that offed her, but not before she dropped her last three cards to stand up Joel's Mace, who had been recently Force Lifted by Kendall's Yoda.

The first 12 to play on Arvala-7!

Duncan, in just his second game but sounding like a grizzled veteran throughout the night, declared his support of the duo of Kendall/Yoda and Ian/Yoda, as well as promising safety for Lucas' Boba, but he did not offer the same olive branch to Joel, whose Mace was taking a beating caught behind one of the many rock columns.  Rob's Vader got nervous thinking about a shootout at the end of the game with Boba and Han united, so he Threw Debris to put Lucas out of his misery in eleventh.

Joel fought valiantly, but Ian was obsessed with taking him down.  His Maul finally negotiated the log jam on that part of the board.  Joel had a number of defense cards to play, but Ian used a surprising Athletic Surge with the first attack instead of a Sith Speed, and that was enough to put the Hall of Famer in the dirt, good for tenth place.

Danger around every corner.

Folks were fully loaded with cards again, and targets were needed.  Despite being deep in the light side of the board, Maul had maintained a general alliance with the dark side.  He was, though, interested in targeting Rylie's Emperor Palpatine.  To get there he needed to pass by Karson's Anakin, and Anakin was bleeding.  Ian offered his genuine condolences before cracking him with his second Athletic Surge of the game, and the rookie grounded out in ninth.  Play with us again, Karson, and keep trash talking your brother while you do!

Ian retreated to the dark side of the board after the Surge, and his partner Kendall kept making it known Rylie's Emperor should be next.  That's when Rob's Vader realized Maul was in a kill box, and he lobbied Ryan's Jango and Rylie's Emperor to go after Ian with him, while Curtis' Dooku started to duke it out with Kendall's Yoda.  Duncan's Han and Kaleb's Luke were too far from the action to do much of anything.  Ian was incredulous that Rob turned on him, but what are you gonna do when the horned Sith is low carded and vulnerable?  A combo of Rylie's healing card and a double wrist cable by Jango doomed Ian in eighth.

While that was going down, Kendall and Curtis negotiated a truce to make Duncan the next target.  Despite that, Rylie's Emperor had taken a ton of damage, so her Yoda moved in and strong-armed Rob's Vader into helping her finish Palpatine.  Rob's Vader was wounded, so he used a couple of Force Drain's on Rylie while he threw up a little in his mouth for back-stabbing his alliance partner.  Kendall Force Pushed Rylie, who could mercifully go to sleep since we were well past 1AM at that point.

Duncan shot first.

That made it six to go, and Duncan could not believe Kaleb's Luke and Kendall's Yoda were no longer siding with him.  He made some good arguments, but after threatening everyone with finding his second Bowcaster, the board united to bring him down.  It would be a three point attack from Yoda that sealed the deal.  In just his second game you can tell Duncan has a bright future in the league!

The most crucial moment in any Duel is the final five, and the Fall Brawl was no different.  Kaleb went first, and after much deliberation, he decided to I Will Not Fight You on Curtis' Count Dooku for the second time in the game.  But he kept another one of those cards in his hands, which forced Rob to make a half-hearted attack on on his partner Curtis.  Kendall didn't follow suit, which sent things into chaos again.  Curtis charged forward to attack Kaleb's Luke, and that is where the last stand for several characters took place.

Kaleb and Curtis exchanged blows, but Kendall's Yoda came over to put hits in as well.  Curtis eventually ran out of cards and health as Leia notched her second kill shot of the game with a four point attack that logged off Curtis in the wee small hours of the morning.

Kendall's Yoda was near Kaleb's Luke when Rob's Vader charged forward.  He knew he had to take out Skywalker before another I Will Not Fight You was played.  But Kaleb talked Yoda into knocking off Leia, which activated the ten-point power of Justice.  Kaleb got two attacks off on Rob, including the Justice, before finally bowing out in fourth.  It was a heck of an effort for the birthday boy, who was never on strong ground but made it work to his advantage.  For his sake, though, let's hope he finally picks a new character next time!

With three to go, Ryan's Jango and Rob's Vader knew they had to work together to take down rookie Kendall, who was playing Yoda like she had been doing it for years.  Both Duelers were reshuffling, and that was providing them the distance attacks they needed, though both got Insighted at various points by Yoda, who discarded cards each was clearly trying to hold onto for the final two.  Just as they whittled down Yoda to one point of health, Ryan used a Missile Launch on Rob's Vader!  He then Fired Up the Jet Pack and finished off Yoda, ending Kendall's early morning in third.  That was one of the best rookie Duels in league history, way to go Kendall!

And then there were two!  Rob's Vader was in bad health after the Missile Launch, but he was loaded with Trooper cards to heal while Ryan worked his way back into attack range.  That proved hard, and after he went in for two attacks, Rob countered with a blocked All Too Easy but a successful Force Drain, which powered him back up and sent Ryan scrambling away.  Rob didn't know it, but Ryan was drowning in Zam cards.  They chased each other across the board a couple of more times before Ryan used his Flamethrower to cash out Rob in second place.  Congrats Ryan!  He was last year's Fall Brawl winner too, so he gets to keep the Mace trophy for another year!  Here's the final order of finish:

12.  Riley/Obi-Wan Kenobi

11.  Lucas/Boba Fett

10.  Joel/Mace Windu

9.  Karson/Anakin Skywalker

8.  Ian/Darth Maul

7.  Rylie/Emperor Palpatine

6.  Duncan/Han Solo

5.  Curtis/Count Dooku

4.  Kaleb/Luke Skywalker

3.  Kendall/Yoda

2.  Rob/Darth Vader

1.  Ryan/Jango Fett

If you're still reading, I promise you this.  We will NEVER play an eight hour Duel again.  Scout Trooper's honor.  I think that was an anomaly because of the new board.   Speaking of which...

...next month is October, and that means it's time for our FIGHT NIGHT Duel!  And we're using another new board!  Don't worry, this one is much more congested than Arvala-7.  Here's a hint about what to expect:  it's the first Board that doesn't stay static during the game!  Intrigued?  We'll email out the invite once the date is picked.  Until next month...stay safe!  PEW PEW!

Preview: The Fall Brawl - September 19, 2020

 

Hello fellow Duelers!  Before we dive into the preview (which will be a bit longer for reasons that will soon be evident), I wanted to share some reflections and updates regarding the league.

(Did you know you were part of something formal enough to call itself a league?  If not, don't worry, we use that term loosely).

It has been evident that, pretty much since normal day to day life went down the toilet thanks to COVID last March, our collective energy has been drained by the new difficulties of life.  One such example is interest in our Duel league.  When you spend an inordinate amount of time cooped up inside either on Zoom calls for class or work, or killing brain cells watching reruns on Netflix for the billionth time...you get unmotivated.  It's happening to the best of us!  But I think it's also impacted the desire to sit in front of yet another screen to play the greatest board game on earth.  While playing online is a nice substitute, it doesn't beat looking for that trickle of nervous sweat running down the forehead of an alliance partner who is lying to you, or giving that quick head nod across the table to non-verbally say, "we're good."  So I want to thank all of you who have played online with us - it's not the way we'd like to play, but it is helping our league ride out the difficulties of COVID until we can gather in person again.  

But it's hard playing online, and especially for those who have played multiple seasons in the league, it felt like we were kind of in a rut.  So earlier this week I gathered the Jedi Council and we tried to process how to make things more enticing, especially for online play.  We're still exploring some of the options we discussed, but one common complaint was the seemingly pre-determined outcomes on each of the four Duel boards (or at least three of them - the Carbon Freezing Chamber is and always will be sheer and unpredictable terror).  Ryan and I had already been thinking about creating a new board to play our 100th anniversary Duel (coming up this Spring!), so I thought...why not now!?

So - here is the official announcement - for the next three Duels, we're playing on a newly created, never-been-played-on-before, board!  That will lead us up to the December Championship, which will then be played at random from one of seven (four that came with the game, three we're creating this semester) playing surfaces.  The Fall Brawl, Fight Night (October Duel), and Thanksdueling will be a completely new Dueling experience!  I hope this helps all of us stay excited and linked together until we can play again.

So without further ado...here is the board we're playing on this Saturday!  It is...ARVALA-7!!!  Now most of you are saying, Rob, what the heck is Arvala-7???  I'm glad you asked!  Here's a reminder:

Do you remember the planet in season one, episode two of The Mandalorian, after Mando has saved The Child and is walking back to his ship through the creepy canyon?  Where danger lurked around every corner?  And he got jumped by other bounty hunters?  Can you imagine playing a Duel where it doesn't start with the traditional light and dark sides grouped together, but scattered between nooks and crannies and in constant danger of attacks from others?  Raised terrain everywhere??  THIS IS THE WAY!

There's nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide.  Behind every corner is another Dueler trying to carve out a sense of safety in a game where there can only be one winner.  Do you stand together...or immediately attack each other?  NOBODY KNOWS.  But Saturday, we'll find out!!!  All of the brown boxes are raised terrain, and Ryan is already working on the three-dimensional board and all I can say is...wow.  It is awesome.

And our new board for next month is an iconic setting from the prequels...stay tuned.  It introduces a new element to game we've never tried before!  Now, let's get on with the traditional preview!

FALL BRAWL HISTORY:

2019 - Ryan won with Mace Windu in the Carbon Freezing Chamber                                                
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:

Which 12 brave souls will endure the first new board in league history?  Let's find out!

Chair #1 - Rob playing with Darth Vader.  The very first win in league history was...Rob with Darth Vader!  Just over six years ago!

Chair #2 - Rylie playing with Emperor Palpatine.  Everyone who watched Rylie come so close to winning Doubleheader #2 last month is still shook.  I can't unsee it!

Chair #3 - Karson playing with Anakin Skywalker.  New Dueler alert!  Truett grad and brother of Kaleb is crashing our league.  There is...another Skywalker!

Chair #4 - Ryan playing with Jango Fett.  He's none-to-pleased with having to play Jango two Duels in a row, but he did finish fourth with him at DH #1, and that ain't bad!

Chair #5 - Curtis playing with Count Dooku.  Curtis got an early sneak-peak at the new board design, and he's already stressed out.  Never change, Curtis!

Chair #6 - Duncan playing with Han Solo.  Welcome back to the table, Duncan!  He made his debut at Doubleheader #2 last month, and did great, landing in fifth place with Luke.

Chair #7 - Ian playing with Darth Maul.  He was thinking of taking this month off, but got inspired by Duncan's commitment.  You can't teach heart!

Chair #8 - Joel playing with Mace Windu.  The Pied Piper, dusting off his retired status with a huge third place finish at DH#2, is back to terrorize us.

Chair #9 - Kendall playing with Yoda.  New Dueler alert #2!  Welcome to the fun, Kendall.  And I hope you have a very open definition of "fun"...

Chair #10 - Kaleb playing with Luke Skywalker.  I don't know what the Dueling powers that be have against, Kaleb, but this is his third Duel in a row with Luke.  Insert power converter whining.

Chair #11 - Riley playing with Obi-Wan Kenobi.  The tiny titan of terror scared everyone so bad at DH#1 a near consensus took her out in sixth place purely out of fear.  And she's just a seventh grader...

Chair #12 - Lucas playing with Boba Fett.  He's coming off two top-six finishes at the Doubleheaders, and that's not a bad day of Dueling.  He still needs win #1...

STAR WARS POSTER BOOK PICKS THE WINNER:

Holy cow!!!  For last month's Doubleheaders, the poster book picked Anakin and Darth Vader to win...and that's who won!  Now, granted, the poster book picked them in the wrong order, but I don't care, I'm calling that 2-0 for the year!!!  Take a look, it's in book, a Dueling Rainbow!!!  Alright, poster book, who you got for the Fall Brawl?

Whoa!!!  A Mandalorian character for a Mandalorian planet???  But the poster ripped coming out of the book...what does it mean!?!?  We'll find out tomorrow night!