Carbon Freezing Chamber via Degobah
Ladies, gentlemen, Wookies...we're back!!! That's right, last night was the official kickoff for our EIGHTH season of 12-Way Duels!!! It was also just our second live, face-to-face Duel, since coming out of the COVID restrictions. Look at these excitable faces:
Kat came out of retirement this year and got things started by scoring the #1 chair at the table. The gaggle of newbies and veterans sat down behind her and we were off and running.
Now that we have eleven different playing boards, Rob has already randomly selected them for each of the Duels this season. What better way to kick off the new Dueling year than with the ultimate killing room...the Carbon Freezing Chamber! And though Ryan has left Waco, he bequeathed the league his boards, so we got to play on the Dagobah version to boot.
Miguel officially started the mayhem when his Jango Fett attacked Duncan's Kylo Ren and then flipped to the back line of the light side of the board. Duncan was horrified as others followed suit, including JD M.'s Count Dooku and Elliot's Orson Krennic. Elliot was particularly ruthless as he lobbed a Grenade into the Knights of Ren.
Duncan/Kylo, Evan/Vader, and Katie/Maul were in a real pickle, but they kept their wits about them and staved off the lopsided odds. That was due in large part to Katie, who quickly amassed ten cards and dared anyone to step towards her Darth Maul. The tension finally broke when fully carded Rob/Mace and Kat/Luke let loose on poor Miguel's Jango Fett. Miguel escaped with just a couple of health points to spare, but ultimately bit the dust when JD M.'s Super Battle Droid popped him with a 5 point attack. Miguel has played Jango twice and finished last with him both times. Ouch!!! Fortunately he was carrying around Old Bay to season his tears.
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| Duncan wondering what he did to deserve this... |
Duncan had to be surprised he didn't finish last, but the thought was fleeting because Elliot lobbed yet ANOTHER Grenade into him and Kylo was smoked out in eleventh. The sequel anti-hero has yet to finish above tenth place in league play.
It was assumed the light side alliance would finish off Evan/Vader and Katie/Maul next, but infighting broke out once again. This time it would be poor Kat on the wrong end of it. John M.'s Anakin Wrathed little Leia to death, and not long after, JD/Dooku, Ian/Yoda, and John/Anakin agreed to take her down. Hot shot rookie Grant H. used his Lando for the kill shot.
With nine to go the attention was once again focused on the dark side of the board. That was disappointing news for Evan, who for never having played before, was navigating Darth Vader quite well despite the odds. The constant peppering of shots from light side minor characters, along with Grant/Lando and Drue/big Leia, was too much. JD's Super Battle Droid once again collected the trophy.
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| Rookies trying not to make eye contact with Darth Maul |
We should take a moment now to appreciate the incredible combination of Dueler Katie and her character Darth Maul. What a match made in heaven! She was fully loaded and ready to destroy, but she patiently hung back and slowly sewed doubt into the light side alliance, drawing special attention to Ian/Yoda and Rob/Mace. The mental warfare worked, when all of a sudden Drue/Leia and Grant/Lando weren't willing to shoot Maul. Furthermore, Katie reached a tenuous truce with Elliot's Krennic. She was hell-bent on digging out of her hole and it worked!
Ian's Yoda wasn't having it, though. He targeted Grant's Lando and he pushed him into a kill box where he, JD/Dooku, Rob/Mace, and John/Anakin soon dispatched the Cloud City scoundrel in eighth place. This ticked off Drue's Leia, who formally joined sides with Krennic and Maul. That in turn galvanized the remaining four, which was a good thing because John's Anakin/Padme combo were chomping on the bit to attack any number of them. Rob started doing an attack/Wisdom combo to lower Krennic's health points, and Elliot eventually succumbed to his wounds when JD's Dooku bounced him with a Taunt for seventh place
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| Darth Maul vs. The World |
With six Duelers left, Katie's Darth Maul finally started creeping forward, protected by Drue's Princess Leia. She continued to explore cracks in the alliance, and that's when Rob reached a verbal agreement, fearing Maul would come for him first. He agreed to go after Ian's Yoda too if Maul unloaded on him. What happened next was...beautiful. Darth Maul unloading Sith Speed after Sith Speed while Yoda deflected with just the occasional point of damage or two. PURE OFFENSE VS DEFENSE! Miraculously, Yoda survived without using either of his 15-point defenses or the Force Rebound. Rob was clearly trying to play both sides in the Maul/Yoda showdown, but he knew he was doing zero damage to Yoda with all of the big defense in play. Instead...he attacked John M.'s Anakin! It was a bit risky because Anakin still hadn't used his second Counterattack, but it turned out it was still buried in the draw pile. John, in his rookie game, finished a more than respectable sixth place!
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| The exact point in time the Duelers realized they would be useless at tomorrow's training... |
With five left, JD/Dooku, Ian/Yoda, and Rob/Mace were trying to figure out how to finish off Katie's Maul, who had retreated back to her original end of the board. Rob, however, vocalized how concerned he was that Drue's Leia had yet to use either "...I Know" defense cards or her auto-damage Covert Mission Specials. That's when Ian hatched a combo Dooku-Force Drain and Yoda Force Lift. Rob's Mace came in and finished off Drue. But Holy Hannah, what a debut for Drue!!! That was only Leia's second game in the League too, she's a force to be reckoned with.
JD had made it no secret he wanted to go to the final two with Ian's Yoda, so Rob knew he needed to partner with Katie's Maul. They were once again in a loose alliance, but despite Maul jacking up Dooku, JD went for it and withstood a Blinding Surge to Force Push Katie to her fourth place finish. What a night for Katie!!!
With three to go Rob begged JD to reconsider his partnership with Ian, knowing it was doomed. JD wanted to honor his verbal decrees (while also sensing he had an honest shot at Yoda in the final two), so he declined. This forced Rob to eliminate Dooku instead of saving his cards for Yoda. JD M. finished in third place in his FIRST Duel...are you kidding me?!? These rookie Duelers all look promising!
Rob's Mace was damaged from his two-front defense, and Ian's Yoda was back to full health and STILL hadn't played any of the big defense cards yet. Rob used about 342 Wisdom cards to runaway, but the scary reality of the Carbon Freezing Chamber is that you can't run for long. Yoda eventually Force Pushed Mace for the win! Congrats Ian!!!! He won the YODA trophy, with YODA, on the DAGOBAH board. That's what you call synergy people!!! That's also Ian's ninth career win, moving him into a tie for second place all-time.
Let's take a look at that final order of finish once again...
12. Miguel/Jango Fett
11. Duncan/Kylo Ren
10. Kat/Luke Skywalker
9. Evan/Darth Vader
8. Grant H./Lando Calrissian
7. Elliot/Orson Krennic
6. John M./Anakin Skywalker
5. Drue/Princess Leia
4. Katie/Darth Maul
3. JD M./Count Dooku
2. Rob/Mace Windu
1. Ian/Yoda
For all of our new Dueling friends...welcome to the league! Make sure you let Rob know if you want to be put on the mailing list for future Duels! Speaking of which...on Saturday, August 28th, we'll be playing our 8th Annual Doubleheader! That's right, two Duels on the same day! And don't worry, the first game is being played in the TRASH COMPACTOR, so we know that one will be short! Rob will send more information and invites out for that after move-in.
That's all for now - congrats again to Ian!
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