Whereas most of the Duels this season consisted of a dozen grizzled veterans, already keen on the tendencies of their peers, the 2021 Imperial March saw FIVE first time Duelers enter the fray! This week conflicted with a lot of the professional players, leaving the door wide open for a host of rookies!
The other big story of note was the use of our new board - the Conveyex Train! The train car covers the center of the board as its pursued by three Enfys Nest speeders and an Imperial cargo ship, just like the Han Solo movie! Each Dueler was provided one tow cable, which allowed characters to move from one vehicle to the next once played. This is the first board in Duels history that is edited by the players during the game.
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| There's a clue in this picture of who ends up winning... |
Everyone took Rob's pregame advice and carded up over the first two rounds of the game, but when rookie Fiona, playing with Rey and Finn, took a potshot at one of Delaney/Snoke's guards, all hell broke loose. Two alliances formed, split roughly diagonally across the board. While Fiona tried to escape to the other end of the train, Miguel's Anakin started up and attacked John B.'s Kylo Ren. It got sassy real quick!
Stephanie's Grievous started moving towards the back of the train to allow Kylo and Rey a place to escape. Meanwhile, Duncan/Obi-Wan and Delaney/Snoke tried to orchestrate a counterstrike with Jessica/Emperor and Rob/Luke basically joining in by default. Ian/Yoda sat stoically on his speeder, Riley's Lando kept her head down in the corner of the cargo ship, and Jon W.'s Darth Maul loomed menacingly in the background.
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| All-aboard the PAIN TRAIN!!! |
Miguel/Anakin and Fiona/Rey took the brunt of most of the attacks, and Stephanie's Grievous attempted to board the train to add her support. But Delaney's Snoke played Tied to a String and suddenly the General was in a kill box! And wouldn't you know it, Jon W.'s Maul was fully carded and chomping at the bit. This was Stephanie's first game and she didn't do anything wrong, but sometimes them's-the-breaks in Epic Duels. She became the first victim of the evening.
It looked like the alliance being led by Duncan's Obi-Wan were going to run over their opponents, but Elliot's Val had other ideas. For the first time in league history, we finally saw It's Been A Ride, Babe played! That's a five point self-destruct card that killed both of Jessica's royal guards and jacked up Anakin, Leia, and Yoda to boot. And Val didn't even die! With the alliance still on tilt, Jon W'.s Maul was still at the back of the train and fully loaded again, so he shocked Delaney's Snoke by launching a Sith-Speeded assault! Delaney couldn't hang and she was gone in a shocking 11th place.
The majority alliance regrouped and kept pinging Kylo Ren. Duncan was finally able to get a couple of decent rolls and and landed damage too. It was Riley's Lobot, though, hanging in the corner, who betrayed her tentative alliance with an Activation kill shot! John W. finished 10th with Kylo, but if there's a silver lining, that's Kylo's best finish in three games. Folks are clearly scared of the sequel villain.
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| Keep feeding Maul! |
Poor Fiona, her Rey was chased throughout the game and now she was absent any partners. Despite pulling of a clutch Rise of Skywalker heal, and receiving Kylo's Redemption heal points, her damage indicator card was nearing the red dot. She tried once again to get Riley's Lando to join her, but Riley coldly shot that down. Fiona learned the hard way why they call Riley the tiny titan of terror. She landed hits on a cardless Rey, but it would be Fiona's own CL, Jessica, that put the final hit to send her home in 8th! Fiona has a meeting set for Monday morning to discuss the situation with their hall director.
And then there were seven!
Miguel's Anakin was down to a couple of points of health, and it was Rob/Luke's turn. He knew good and well Duncan's Obi-Wan was loaded with cards and ready to win the game. That's when he rallied the remaining characters to focus their fire on Duncan! Obi was chagrinned but understood, but also wasn't done fighting. Leia landed a full 7 points of damage with her Latent Force Abilities, and that's when Miguel made a desperate plea to help secure him a sixth place finish, his highest ever, by Wrathing in and attacking Obi. However, he landed on the tow cable that was the only entry point to go after Obi, so Duncan dispatched Anakin in seventh. You fought valiantly, Miguel! A top six finish is on the horizon some day...
Duncan had one more trick up his sleeve. He used a Force Control attack to trap Rob's Luke Skywalker in a kill box! Duncan argued he was injured and less threatening than Luke at that point. Rob promised he was still going after Obi. But Jessica's Emperor moved to let Luke out, and nobody attacked. Instead, there was a different shocking conflict...out of nowhere, Jon W.'s Maul went after the Emperor! Poor Jessica didn't see it coming. Maul knocked her down to her last final points before death. It was Obi's turn next, and he had the choice to get a last hit on Rob, or to play for ranking and finish off the Emperor. He chose the stats and Jessica, in her first Duel, finished a more than respectable 6th place. Good job Jessica! Riley's Lobot got his second kill of the night by finishing Duncan in 5th.
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| Father and daughter divided! |
With four to go, it was Ian/Yoda's turn. Rob told him he would follow his lead. Riley piped in she would too. Maul just sneered menacingly. Ian made the call...on Riley's Lando! It killed Rob to go against his own daughter, but he wanted to win and knew how hard Lando is take down after winning with him in January. Maul retreated to the far end of the board and Rob and Ian started chasing Riley.
They landed a few hits without much success when, ominously, Jon W.'s Maul started creeping forward. It was Rob's turn next, and he suddenly worried about their survival against the horned Sith. Ian and Rob made the call to hit Maul instead, and Riley agreed to help. Maul made a semi-offer to work with Lando, but Riley was terrified of him by that point in the game.
Luke and Lando were landing hits, but at one point Ian called out Riley for not doing more. He had Insighted her earlier and knew how powerful her hand was, but she was just taking pot shots. Rob was shocked as he had no clue his daughter was stockpiling and was instantly proud yet terrified of her. During the battle with Maul Ian landed a Force Rebound on an Athletic Surge, which was a back-breaker. It would be Rob's Luke who finally knocked out Jon's Maul. Jon is OLD SCHOOL with Duels - he bought the game when it was first released and loved his first 12-way Duel! We'll hit you up again in the future, Jon!
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| Always the bride's maid...finally the bride! |
That left two, and Rob knew Ian still hadn't played his redrawn Force Rebound, which was problematic. He actually tricked Yoda into using it with just a 2-point attack, but he was quickly overwhelmed. At one point Luke played an I Will Not Fight You, but Ian's Yoda got to keep all nine cards in his hand. OUCH! I'll save you the gritty details, but Luke ran all over the train multiple times before finally getting put down with a 4-point attack from Ian. Congrats Ian!!! Ian finished in second place in his last FOUR Duels, which is both an awesome and horrific record to have. But you know what they say, fifth time's the charm! Wait, what...? Ian is also now tied for second in league history with 8 wins. That also makes it 8 career victories for Yoda.
The final order of finish:
12. Stephanie/Grievous
11. Delaney/Snoke
10. John B./Kylo
9. Elliot/Beckett
8. Fiona/Rey
7. Miguel/Anakin
6. Jessica/Emperor
5. Duncan/Obi-Wan
4. Jon W./Maul
3. Riley/Lando
2. Rob/Luke
1. Ian/Yoda
Believe it or not, this Duel was the 99th game in league history. Our April Duel, Duel of the Fates, will be in April like normal. But in honor of our 100th game, we are inviting back 12 of the most decorated Duelers in league history for a match we're calling...The Centurion! If you stacked a Duel with the 12 best to every play...these would likely be your picks! They span all seven years of the league's history, and some have never sat across from each other at the table. It will be EPIC!!! That match goes down on March 27th.
Thanks to all our new folks for playing tonight - rookie Duelers become professional Duelers, you're the lifeblood of the league! Until next time...may the Force be with you.
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