Rancor Dungeon
Not unlike after a Thanksgiving meal, when you push back from the table and start to question your gluttonous behavior, twelve gathered and braved a different kind of feast...the Rancor Dungeon!
We continued our streak of new boards, this time playing the basement of Jabba's Palace, but in a league-first, we had a 13th character...the Rancor!
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| Release the Kraken! |
We had a not-so-mysterious Dueler lined up to play the Rancor...Riley! The youngest winner in league history was more than excited to play the mindless killing machine. We hid the identities of the other Duelers and chatter to eliminate any possible bias. She had one directive - cause as much chaos and destruction as possible.
Of course, for the Rancor to be released, a character on the board had to be killed first. And just like the preview post predicted, it was Ian's Luke Skywalker who opened the gate! He destroyed one of Troy's Battle Droids to release the Rancor, and she made her presence known by immediately attacking and killing the other Battle Droid and then playing Sheer Terror, which discarded several valuable draw cards of the 12 Duelers.
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| Those nervous "we're fighting a Rancor???" smiles... |
But just as the Rancor entered the fray, Miguel, using Boba Fett, asked Stephen/Obi and Rob/Emperor if they wanted to join him in taking out Ryan's Anakin. That was a bold declaration for a weaker character with Padme's gun pointed at him. It would come back to haunt Miguel because Ryan and Rob unleashed attacks on him to nearly kill him.
Meanwhile...there was still a Rancor on the loose! After playing the Bone Crusher card (every player has one less action), the Rancor took a Big Swing and sent Lucas' Mace Windu flying across the board. But the rest of the Duelers started peppering the Rancor with distance attacks, including a Sniper Shot from Kaleb's Zam. As the characters backed up, the Rancor couldn't help but move out of its caged area, putting itself at risk for getting crushed by the gate. Sure enough, Troy's Darth Maul rushed past and destroyed the gate control panel, crushing and killing the Rancor! Give Riley credit, she took down four minor characters before exiting the game, and giggled the entire time.
Miguel's Boba was bleeding out, and Stephen's Clone Trooper showed no mercy by shooting the Fett out in 12th place. After that, Rob/Emperor, Stephen/Obi, and Ryan/Anakin formed up near each other, inadvertently signaling to the rest of the board they were together. Ian's Luke wasted no time calling it out and rallying the other Duelers, including Kevin's Count Dooku. Rob scrambled by playing You Will Die on Kaleb's Jango, hoping to put some blood in the water to distract them. Sure enough, the mega-alliance decided they didn't need the other Fett and he was done in eleventh after Lucas' Mace finished him off.
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| How did Stephen save himself??? |
Kevin, literally playing next to Stephen from his home in Florida, Force Pushed his houseguest into the alliance kill box. But Obi-Wan went next and, using two Force Controls, somehow wiggled out of danger while creating the biggest mess of characters anyone can remember in a long time. That led to poor Kevin's Dooku becoming the next target, falling to Troy's Darth Maul in tenth.
From there Ian once again led the charge, putting the focus back on Ryan/Anakin and Rob/Emperor. Ryan and Rob tried desperately to form a new alliance against Curtis/Yoda, Grant/Han, and Ian/Luke. The rest of the board wasn't having it, though, and Duncan Threw Debris to finish off Ryan in ninth.
It got a little testy after that. Troy's Maul was making his way across the board to attack Rob's Emperor, but Ian got nervous about Troy's intentions and called on everyone to go after Maul next. Troy was incensed as the others betrayed him. It would Duncan again with the kill shot, this time using a Wrath.
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| First time a Dueler played from a moving vehicle. |
Rob was next to go, but before falling, he knocked Ian's Luke down to one point of health. Surely somebody would finish him off immediately after, right? Right!?!?!? Wrong! Ian stayed around for a LONG time after, but I'm getting ahead of myself...
With six to go, nobody was quite sure who to go after next, until Grant reluctantly pointed at the fully healthy Yoda who had been reluctant to do much damage against Troy's Maul. The rest of the board eventually came around to that line of thinking. The big damage came from Chewbacca's Bowcaster, which Yoda didn't defend! It was brutal. Stephen's Obi finished it and Curtis was out in sixth.
That left five Duelers, and Kevin finally kicked Stephen out of his house, meaning he had to play from his phone in the car (don't worry, his wife was driving). His Obi, though, became the next target, led by Lucas' Mace Windu. Obi fought valiantly, but he ran out of defense before Mace Whirlwinded him into fifth.
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| Final Three Chaos |
At this point in the game it really looked like Grant's Han Solo was going to bring it home but, after Wookie Tossing Ian's still-weak Luke, Ian rolled a five, bringing him in range of Han. He got an evil grin and moved in to hit him with the Justice - ten points! Duncan's Vader got the last shot, and Grant was gone. He almost became the first Dueler in league history to win four times with one character!
That left a final three of Mace/Lucas, Vader/Duncan, and Luke/Ian. Lucas was in a strong position, but as Ian continued to heal up, the balance shifted. They couldn't agree to team with each other against Duncan, and damaged each other in the process. Ultimately it was Luke who got the final hit on Mace, and Lucas was done in third. He played a great game, though, especially after getting smacked early by the Rancor!
That left the same final two from last month's Fight Night - Ian and Duncan! Master and apprentice! Jedi and Padawan! Both were only at half health, and Duncan combo-ed a Throw Debris and Wrath to bring Ian within two points of death. Ian responded by charging Vader and unleashing his second Justice. He followed up with a four point attack, which left Vader within two of dying too! But Duncan had one last Wrath, and he used it to win his second Duel in a row!!! No amateur Dueler has EVER won back to back, and it was the first back to back win since Ben H. two years ago (Thanksdueling! and the 2018 Championship). Duncan might be the chosen one Qui-Gon Jinn was speaking of!!! Congrats Duncan!!! And let's not forget Ian, who finished second two games in a row and somehow got this second place despite only having a point of health for a good portion of it!
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| Hand it over, Alex! |
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