The Kamino Platform
We had a very strange start to the night. First, the round table we ordered was only five feet in diameter instead of the requested six, meaning we needed to abandon it in favor of a square set up. Second, we had a couple of last minute Dueler changes, that brought Ian P. into the game as well as retired amateur Natalie. Those are two names that would make an impact later in the game... #forshadowing
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| Brawlers! |
JD not only picked chair #1, but he also won the roll-off to go first. His Mace Windu wanted the light side to start moving forward to engage the dark, but his teammates were a bit reluctant and hesitant with their actions. This made rookie Ian M. nervous, so his Luke Skywalker started to wander forward in hopes of avoiding a kill box. He didn't realize Rob's General Grievous, starting near Jango's ship, was about to create a spot for Ian P.'s Han Solo to flip to. Before Ian M. knew what was happening, he got Wookie Tossed into the Dark Side!
JD's Mace, ever the noble spirit, attempted to rally the light side to Luke's rescue. But alas, a blood-thirsty Corona, also playing in his first Duel, used his fully carded Darth Maul to combo some Sith Speeds and an Athletic Surge to kill his fellow staff member in last! I'm requesting the Earle RHD conduct a roommate mediation between the two.
With Han flipped and Luke dead, the light side was in utter chaos. That's when Karson, turning professional and playing with Obi-Wan, pulled a page out of his big brother's book and put the target on JD's Mace!!! The dark side was happy to follow suit, and out of nowhere JD got stuck with his second eleventh place finish in a row. Ouch.
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| Sponsored by Lucasfilm to advertise the new cartoon. |
Despite Karson's willingness to overturn apple carts with the dark side, he soon found himself to be the next target. But he pulled a move that changed the rest of the game - he dropped Force Balance! The entire table had to dump their hands and draw three new cards. Let's just say folks were cranky. Natalie, standing by him with her Anakin, actually used two of her three cards to kill him right away, and nobody bothered taking advantage of her low hand because we were so happy she avenged the Force Balance.
With nine Duelers left in the game, it sure did look like Grant H./Qui-Gon, Evan/Snoke, and Juan/Krennic were thick as thieves. Likewise, those three called out a tight bond between Rob/Grievous and Ian P./Han. There was a lot of verbal sniping, but it would be Evan who declared himself a free agent, attacking Juan's Krennic! Others followed suit, and it would be Corona's lowly battledroid who eject Juan in ninth. That was Juan's first Duel, but hopefully not his last!
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| Maul Madness |
At this point nobody was having more fun than Corona. His Darth Maul kept jacking people up and he was thirsty for more kills. Grant H. once again tried to call out the Rob/Ian partnership, so Rob flipped the script and had his MangaGuard attack Han! That took the attention off Rob, but nobody could really reach Han for further attacks, so Qui-Gon ended up becoming the next target. Ian satisfyingly got the kill shot with a Heroic Retreat. Though Grant wasn't too excited about eighth place, that is Qui-Gon's second best finish to date.
It was around this point in the game Rob and Ian noticed Duncan's Beckett had retreated to the far end of the board and had discarded Val cards two turns in a row. They feared he was sitting on a monster hand and called him out to the others. As everyone found out after the game, poor Duncan had terrible cards post-Force Balance, and he was just trying to stay safe. Elliot, who had been feisty all night as Jango Fett, got the final drop on him with a Rocket Retreat. Unfortunately for Duncan, that was yet another seventh place finish in his ledger.
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| Jetpack view of the Kamino Platform |
Just like that we reached the top six! Evan's Supreme Leader Snoke was on life support, but he still had a few tricks up his robe sleeves. Elliot's Jango had Rocketed back to the dark side of the board, where he was soon the next target. It would be a Cruelest Stroke and Force Lightning for Elliot, who bowed out in sixth. That's twice as good as his Jango finish from Doubleheader #2, though!
Rob's General Grievous was hiding out behind Jango's ship the entire game after the Force Balance, stuck with unhelpful Specials and defensive MangaGuard cards. But Snoke was down to one point of health, so he finally rolled out and dropped a five point attack on Evan. That was enough to eliminate him, but Evan deserves a round of applause because he's looking VERY good early in his Dueling career.
There were just four Duelers left: Natalie/Anakin, Ian/Han, Rob/Grievous, and Corona/Maul. Rob meekly suggested they go after Natalie's Anakin, especially since that would take Corona's Maul in the opposite direction of his Grievous. Ian was playing the classic "gun for hire" role late in a Duel and was fine with it, and Corona started moving Maul in her direction. However, Natalie pointed out that Maul was at full health and would be quite difficult to deal with. Rob saw the light and decided to have his MangaGuard start to attack Maul. Everyone else agreed, and soon Corona's reign of terror was over, as Anakin chopped him down in fourth. What a debut for Corona, though!
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| Picture edited in post... |
That left a final three of a half dead Anakin/Natalie, a banged up Ian/Han, and a pretty healthy Rob/Grievous. If Rob could roll a "move all", he likely would have killed Han, but the single movement allowed Ian's Han to begin retreating. Grievous started playing all of his sneaky cards, including Spare Parts and Reinforcements, and then he used a Spider Crawl to come face to face with Han. But Rob screwed up royally when he didn't use his 4 defense against Ian's last attack...which turned out to be Gambler's Luck! Ian discarded Grievous' A Fine Addition - an 8 point attack! - and all of a sudden Rob was in deep trouble. He and Ian continued to batter each other as Natalie helped Ian with potshots from Padme. Rob used his last decent attack card to kill Ian in third place, but he only had three cards left and none of them were defense.
Natalie had stayed aggressive and low carded for most of the game, so she rolled in on Grievous with both Padme and Anakin. With just five cards in her hand after shuffling her deck, she unloaded Shot on the Run and Anger to win the game!!! Natalie wasn't even supposed to play, she came out of retirement, and now debuts in the professional rankings for the first time in FIRST PLACE!!! Talk about your fairytale ending!!! Rob's second place with Grievous moves the General into first place among the character rankings, and Anakin has now won the last two games. Craziness!!!
Let's look at that final order of finish one more time:
12. Ian M./Luke Skywalker
11. JD M./Mace Windu
10. Karson/Obi-Wan Kenobi
9. Juan/Orson Krennic
8. Grant H./Qui-Gon Jinn
7. Duncan/Tobias Beckett
6. Elliot/Jango Fett
5. Evan/Supreme Leader Snoke
4. Corona/Darth Maul
3. Ian P./Han Solo
2. Rob/General Grievous
1. Natalie/Anakin Skywalker
What a kooky night of Dueling, and once again, congrats to Natalie, our new top ranked Dueler! Next month is October, and that means...FIGHT NIGHT! Due to the Baylor football schedule, we're likely going to have to play on October 23rd, which is Fall Break, so know that now and plan accordingly!
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