Here we are, a brand new year! And for the first *official* time in league history...we're playing with new characters! After testing the new characters last month and getting feedback from the Jedi Council and others, we've settled on an additional dozen figures from Star Wars lore. We're making history!
This Duel will be all of the new characters, and then starting next month, we'll randomly draw six light side and six dark side from the total pool of 24 characters. Who knows how that will change things, but it sure will be fun finding out.
We're also playing on one of the newer boards, Arvala-7. It's nice and spread out, so it should give the Duelers a chance to see what these new characters are made of.
A NEW HOPE HISTORY:
2020 - Curtis won with Darth Maul in the Emperor's Throne Room
2019 - Joel won with Darth Maul in the Geonosis Arena
2018 - Ethan won with Anakin Skywalker on the Kamino Platform
2017 - Nathan won with Mace Windu in the Carbon Freezing Chamber
2016 - JD won with Anakin Skywalker in the Geonosis Arena
2015 - Rob won with Mace Windu in the Emperor's Throne Room
2018 - Ethan won with Anakin Skywalker on the Kamino Platform
2017 - Nathan won with Mace Windu in the Carbon Freezing Chamber
2016 - JD won with Anakin Skywalker in the Geonosis Arena
2015 - Rob won with Mace Windu in the Emperor's Throne Room
MEET THE DUELERS:
Since we're still stuck playing online due to COVID, we've already drawn for character and chair assignments. Here are the folks who will go down in the record books as the first person to play with the new character!
Chair #1 - Grant w/ Rey. Grant, one of our veteran superstars, is coming off a bummer finish at the 2020 Championship. Perhaps Rey will deliver him a win for the first time since the 2018 Twin Sun Slam?
Chair #2 - Delaney w/ Supreme Leader Snoke. She debuted in eighth place in the professional rankings after the 2020 Championship with a nifty 5.33 average finish.
Chair #3 - Duncan w/ The Mandalorian. Professional Dueler alert!!! Our hot shot rookie Duncan goes pro at A New Hope. He would love to add an unprecedented third trophy to his mantle at the same time. THIS IS THE WAY.
Chair #4 - Ben H. w/ Qui-Gon Jinn. Nobody had a better December than Ben! He won the 2020 Championship (the first person to ever repeat as a Championship winner) and then welcomed his son into the world! No word on the padawan's m-count yet...
Chair #5 - David T. w/ Princess Leia. After helping us with the test Duel, we've lured David back into action with his second official Duel, and he's piloting the character who won the test to boot.
Chair #6 - Ian w/ General Grievous. My goodness, is there a better character/Dueler combo from the new batch than this? Ian is riding three consecutive second place finishes, which is awesome and maddening at the same time.
Chair #7 - Elliot w/ Orson Krennic. It's great to have Elliot back in the fold as we haven't seen him since his rough ouster in game two of the Doubleheader. He's got a pesky character who he hopes will help him rebound.
Chair #8 - Rylie w/ Kylo Ren. Nobody had as much fun flexing a new character at the test Duel than Rylie, and she's been rewarded with the same character! Kylo has a powerful deck, perhaps he'll be the first new character winner?
Chair #9 - Hannah w/ Jyn Erso. The Brooks Mafia is all over the A New Hope Duel, which includes Hannah. This is her fourth career Duel, and she's yet to finish below sixth place!
Chair #10 - Ryan w/ Moff Gideon. I have a feeling Ryan is going to enjoy causing havoc with Mando's chief nemesis! After his 5th place finish at the 2020 Championship, he snuck back into the top ranking among all professional Duelers.
Chair #11 - Rob w/ Lando Calrissian. The less said about Rob's last place finish at the Championship, the better! He's excited to finally play with one of his new creations, as he merely observed during the test Duel in December.
Chair #12 - Kaleb w/ Tobias Beckett. Just like Rylie, Kaleb gets to repeat his test Duel character, the pseudo-villain/mentor from Solo: A Star Wars Story. He was bummed to not get to play Val's self-destruct card, perhaps he'll get the chance this time?
STAR WARS POSTER BOOK PREDICTS THE WINNER:
Ah geez - the poster book was printed before half the new characters ever appeared on screen! Let's see if it can make the call...
Ok...! The book says Qui-Gon, but the title of that poster is a bit ominous too. Who the heck knows? The book is 3-3 on the season...
Well, that's all for now. By the end of the night on Saturday, for the first time in league history, we'll have a character win a Duel that didn't come in the original game box! Who will it be?!?!?!
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