(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:
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!
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