Trash Compactor
After a couple of hiccups leading up to the Doubleheader (the round table we ordered wasn't delivered and we had a couple of late Dueler switches), it was a welcome relief when all 12 Duelers were able to sit around the square table to take in the frightening glory of the Trash Compactor. Not only do the walls close every time three main characters die, there's also the dianoga, who randomly swims under the surface to pull people down for two points of damage!
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| Let the games begin! |
Out of the gate it looked like it would be the six light side characters versus the six dark side characters. There were some real heavy hitters on both teams. The dianoga did some early damage to Yoda and Boba Fett, while the minor characters began peppering the opposite sides of the board. The first major move was when Ian, playing as Supreme Leader Snoke (which he joked was appropriate considering how many of his CLs were playing), decided to use Tied To A String. The debate was whether to bring Rob's Mace or Grant H.'s Qui-Gon. Rob got pressured into aligning with the dark side at the expense of Grant getting pulled into a kill box. But Ben's Obi-Wan Kenobi saved the day with a Force Control. His post-attack movement disrupted the dark side and freed Qui-Gon. Rob immediately went back on his word and stayed loyal to the light side.
A lot of damage was exchanged throughout this early stage, but it would be poor Qui-Gon who fall first. At least Jar Jar dropped the Booma Bombad on the dark side before he departed! Grant H. was bummed. Qui-Gon has finished last in three of his four Duels!
The tide broke in favor of the light side when brand new Dueler Jared used his Thermal against the dark side and Rocket Retreated with Boba to the light. Riley's Chewbacca also blasted Grant D.'s Beckett with the Bowcaster. Grant exacted revenge, though, when Val used the Grappling Gun and It's Been A Ride Babe card to do major damage on Boba and Han. The light side was eager to close the walls to possibly catch Duncan's Emperor off-guard, so Ben eliminated the wounded Boba in 11th, much to Jared's surprise. Welcome to Dueling, Jared!
Elliot's Dooku was super grumpy at that point, and he moved forward in an effort to help protect the Emperor and Beckett. But his loyalty proved to be his downfall when the light side went after him. Rob's Mace got the kill shot to move the walls in. Unfortunately for Grant's Beckett, he was displaced on the back line and got smashed to death in 9th!
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| Future Pancakes |
At this point Riley's Han Solo was in bad shape post-Val's explosion, and Duncan's Emperor was low carded and vulnerable. Rob's Mace moved in to attack Emperor, but the devious Ian hatched a plan. He suggested to Curtis that they work together to Force Push/Force Lightning Rob's Mace and Evan's Rey to the back row, and then kill Emperor and Han to squish Mace and Rey before they could move. And that's just what they did! Han got leveled by Yoda's Force Strike in 8th, and JD's Grievous used Cruelest Stroke to eliminate Duncan in 7th. As a result...Evan/Rey and Rob/Mace tied for 5th, crushed by the walls!
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| Ben and Ian trying to make it to the center row. |
Those two auto-kills put Curtis/Yoda and JD/Grievous in the driver's seat, as they were now overtly working together against Ben/Obi and Ian/Snoke. They concentrated their efforts on Obi, much to Ben and Ian's chagrin. They tried to convince JD his Grievous had no chance against Yoda at the end. But JD was confident, and his Whirling Arms killed Old Ben in 4th. That shut the walls AGAIN...killing Ian's Snoke!
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| Snack time for the dianoga! |
Curtis' Yoda was stacked, holding his three best defense cards as well as a Lift or two. But two key things happened next, with only four spaces left on the board. First, JD played Reinforcements, which trapped Yoda and buffered him from Grievous. Second...the dianoga went to town on Yoda! For four straight rounds he dragged Yoda under the water for two points of damage!!! Curtis was livid and convinced the random number generator was broken (it wasn't). The dianoga eventually hit Grievous a couple of times too. Yoda and Grievous went back and forth, but JD was able to dump the big defense cards, and he eventually caught Curtis without defense. He attacked twice...and won!!! JD, playing in only his second Duel, and following up a 3rd place debut...WON!!! He's also the first player to win with General Grievous. Most importantly, he could finally eat tacos. (Rob ordered tacos for everyone, but you weren't allowed to eat them until you died or the game was over - to speed things up!)
Let's check that final order of finish one more time!
12. Grant H./Qui-Gon Jinn
11. Jared/Boba Fett
10. Elliot/Count Dooku
9. Grant D./Beckett
8. Riley/Han Solo
7. Duncan/Emperor Palpatine
T5. Rob/Mace Windu
T5. Evan/Rey
4. Ben/Obi-Wan Kenobi
3. Ian/Supreme Leader Snoke
2. Curtis/Yoda
1. JD M./General Grievous
Well done everyone! But this was only the FIRST Duel of the night....onto game 2!
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