Geonosis Arena (Hoth board)
Well it felt a bit weird to be Dueling in person with our COVID masks on, especially when face to face Dueling usually means whispering or mouthing secret communication across the table. However, Dueling with masks on and keeping ourselves safe is better than not Dueling at all! So we started 2022 with A New Hope...for more Duels, an end to COVID, and an appreciation of what the league provides each and every one of us!
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| Can you tell which Dueler is sticking their tongue out? |
I'll just say it up front - the 2022 A New Hope Duel will not be remembered as the most logical, standard, rational match in league history. It will more likely be remembered as one of the most chaotic, head-scratching, and goofy battles we've ever played!
Out of the gate Duncan's Emperor defected to the light side of the board, but Miguel's Lando responded by flipping to the dark! Not be out done, JD's Kylo Ren headed to the light side too. It was all quite dizzying. Despite the dark side being down on numbers, occupying the open end of the board with a number of shooters gave them some tactical advantages. They started attacking minors, and Ian's Jar Jar was the first to fall. That exposed his Qui-Gon, who started in the inner elbow of the columns/snow drift. Thanks to some crafty defending by Miguel's Lando, they were eventually able to move Qui-Gon into a kill box. But just as Kevin's Darth Maul was about to send home Ian first...he flipped too! He attacked Rob's Snoke!
That was a back-breaker because the very next Dueler, Corona, was jumping from the light side with his Mandalorian! Instead of killing Ian first, Ian was now accepted on the dark side and they in turn went after Kevin's Maul. It looked like Kevin might escape, but Rob used one of his last two cards on him...it was Force Lightning! It would have been a very different night had Maul stayed on the dark side, that's for sure...
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| Nobody in this pic knew what the heck was going on. |
Rob self-sacrificed taking Maul out, because it left him exposed to Curtis' Light Them Up from Cassian. The 2021 Championship winner was gone in eleventh. The new alliances continued attacking each other, with the dark side holding out hope that they could overcome the light side logjam of major characters on the other end of the board. However, it would be a brutal and undefended shot from Jyn Erso that left Corona's Mandalorian in critical condition. Duncan's Emperor killed him in tenth with a Force Lightning.
Right around this point of the game Ian's Qui-Gon quietly moved away from the dark side alliance, and Riley's Jango Fett was recruited to flip sides. The writing was on the wall for Karson's Beckett and Miguel's Lando. Despite both playing well and trying to keep their side together, hope was gone once Riley's Jango turned on them too. It would be Ian's Qui-Gon, trying to curry favor with the light side again, who cut down Karson in ninth with a 7 point Prophecy. Then Elliot's Mace Whilwinded Miguel to his doom in eighth place.
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| Ian watches JD's foot enter his mouth. |
That left seven Duelers, and the most crucial moments of the night. Ian's Qui-Gon appeared to be the odd Dueler out, but he pointed out it sure seemed like JD/Kylo, Elliot/Mace, and Riley/Jango looked like a tight final three alliance. JD basically confirmed that when he said Elliot was his #1 and Riley his #2. Despite that verbal confirmation, Duncan still wanted a piece of Qui-Gon. The board cleared for those two to go head to head, but a couple of shots from Riley's Jango angered Ian and he went after the tiny titan of terror instead. Ian got beat up fast, though, cashing in his chips in seventh when Mace chopped him down.
JD and Elliot tried to make their move in the final six. But the rest of the board started to realize they were in danger. Duncan finally played You Will Die, and directed it at Elliot's Mace Windu. Poor Elliot - he had his cards dumped multiple times during the game, first by Qui-Gon's There's Always a Bigger Fish and then the Emperor. Unable to defend, he was gone soon after, with the Emperor landing the final shot.
JD, now without his buddy, swooped in on an unsuspecting Kat/Luke, which was the opposite of what happened at the Championship last month. Kat was none too pleased when she was unable to defend Kylo's Vader's Bloodline. It seems like she's been stuck with Luke ten times in the last five Duels! She was dunzo in fifth.
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| Well past midnight at this point... |
It was pretty clear at this point Curtis and Duncan were trying to simultaneously work together and card up to defeat the other in the final two. They had no interest in taking JD's Kylo any further, and talked Riley into joining them against JD. He had little chance against three at once, and it was a kill shot from Riley's Jango that parked JD in fourth. Still, that's a career-best finish for Kylo, who is still the last ranked character in the league.
Curtis put the target on a healthy Jango next. Duncan feigned agreement, but once Jyn roughed up Riley a bit, Duncan was suddenly willing to partner with Jango. Curtis used a nifty defense card against Riley, preventing her from Rocket Retreating and staying within attack range of Jyn. Riley was in danger the whole game, but managed a nifty third place finish for her troubles.
That left two Duelers! Jyn was a bit banged up, and as the Emperor began chasing her around the columns/snow, it looked like Duncan's Emperor was going to be able to slowly whittle Curtis' Jyn down...and that's just what happened! It took a bit of time, but Duncan was patient and eliminated Curtis in second. Congrats to Duncan and the Emperor!!! This marked Duncan's third career victory, and his first in over a year.
Let's see that final order of finish one more time:
12. Kevin/Darth Maul
11. Rob/Supreme Leader Snoke
10. Corona/The Mandalorian
9. Karson/Tobias Beckett
8. Miguel/Lando Calrissian
7. Ian/Qui-Gon Jinn
6. Elliot/Mace Windu
5. Kat/Luke Skywalker
4. JD/Kylo Ren
3. Riley/Jango Fett
2. Curtis/Jyn Erso
1. Duncan/Emperor Palpatine
Duncan has the best win percentage of active Duelers now - not too shabby, Duncan! It looks like we'll play our February match - The Valentine's Duel - on the 5th. And it will feature the return of the craziest board in the league...stay tuned for details!
