Preview: The 2021 Championship - December 4, 2021

 

It's hard to believe, but we've reached the last Duel of 2021...THE CHAMPIONSHIP!!!  The best of the best from the 2021 campaign shall gather round the table, but just one will lay claim to the Darth Vader trophy!  If you're new to the Duels league, this is the biggest game of the year.  It's our Super Bowl/World Series/Oscars/Final Tribal Council all rolled into one.  The glory...the GLORY of it all!!!  It takes the breath away.

This year, our first with 24 characters in action, led us to make a couple of changes to the Championship.  First, if you won a duel during the calendar year, you received an automatic bid to play.  Second, if a character won a duel, they received the same!  We filled the remaining spots with the top ranked Duelers and Duelers who played the most games in 2021.  In addition, the board randomly selected for the Championship is...CARBON FREEZING CHAMBER.  The ultimate crucible.  How fitting!

There were 11 characters who won a Duel in 2021, six light side and five dark!  That was nearly perfect!  We added the top ranked dark side character who didn't win.  The characters in the 2021 Championship are:  Lando Calrissian, Yoda, Mace Windu, Anakin Skywalker, Rey, Princess Leia, Orson Krennic, Darth Maul, Jango Fett, Emperor Palpatine, General Grievous, and Darth Vader (the lone non-win character).

Before meeting the 2021 Championship Duelers, let's take a look at our Championship history!

CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY:

2020 - Ben H. won with Boba Fett in the Naboo Reactor Pit

2019 - Ian won with Darth Maul in the Emperor's Throne Room

2018 - Ben H. won with Jango Fett on the Kamino Platform
2017 - Austin won with Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Carbon Freezing Chamber
2016 - Curtis won with Mace Windu on the Kamino Platform
2015 - Nathan won with Count Dooku in the Carbon Freezing Chamber
2014 - Ryan won with Boba Fett on the Kamino Platform

MEET THE DUELERS:

Another tweak to our Championship Duel is the seating order is ranked!  Here are the Duelers and a couple of their 2021 highlights!

12th chair - Grant H.  He nearly reached professional status despite only starting in the league at CL Training in August.  His best finish so far is 6th place at Doubleheader #2.

11th Chair - Kevin.  He is currently the second ranked amateur Dueler in the league, and made his debut with a splashy 4th place finish at Fight Night.

10th Chair - Elliot.  This Dueling veteran played in seven matches in 2021, and became the first Dueler in league history to make a minor character his major character (Jyn and Cassian at the Valentine's Duel).

9th Chair - Rylie. Ever the strong and silent type, Rylie logged six Duels this year and finished in the top four in half of them, including her last two games.

8th Chair - Riley.  The tiny titan of terror, just like her name-twin, played in six Duels and scored three top-three finishes, including third with Han Solo at Fight Night.

7th Chair - Duncan.  Currently the most seasoned student Dueler, Duncan sat at the table nine times in 2021, including a memorable 5th place finish with The Mandalorian at the New Year's Duel.

6th Chair - JD M.  The Championship will mark his professional debut!  JD earned his spot at the table by winning Doubleheader #1, the first-ever win for General Grievous.

5th Chair - Kat.  The Prodigal Daughter returned to Dueling in 2021, and managed her (and Rey's!) first career win at Fight Night in October.

4th Chair - Natalie.  She came out of retirement to do all of us a favor, and in one night, turned professional, won with Anakin, and became the top ranked Dueler in the league!

3rd Chair - Rob.  "The Godfather" punched his ticket twice for the Championship, once back in January at A New Hope, and then again this summer at the Twin Sun Slam.

2nd Chair - Ian.  He grabbed an amazing five top-three finishes in 2021, including wins at The Imperial March and CL Training!

1st Chair - Curtis.  He became just the second Dueler to win FOUR times in one year!  He took home trophies for Valentines Duel, The Centurion, Duel of the Fates, and Doubleheader #2.  Remarkable!!!

MONOPOLY PREDICTS THE WINNER:

Oh boy!!!  The championship!!!  That reminds me of
the time I entered a beauty pageant... 

Monopoly, nobody cares, please, just give us your prediction on which character will win the Duel...

...I won second place!  The prize was $10!!!
It was strange to win second, though...

Please make it stop...

...I was the only entrant!

As always, I'm at a loss for words, Monopoly.  It's also interesting you picked the only character who DIDN'T win a Duel in 2021...yet?

I guess we'll find out on Saturday!  8PM - North Village Classroom!  Anybody can come and watch it go down!!!