Eravana Cargo Hold
Love was in the air! No, wait. That wasn't love. That was the dank odor of two RATHTARS anxious to burst through their cages and start eating Duelers. But they do it together, like the ultimate power couple in love! Good lord, what a terrible start to this recap...
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| Q: What's better than a dozen roses? A: A dozen Duelers. |
This was a significant Duel for several reasons. First, Evan was finally turning professional. Congrats Evan!!! His professional debut was delayed when he insisted on picking the Rancor back at Thanksdueling!. This Valentine's Duel also marked Rico's first Duel. Welcome aboard, Rico! Hopefully we didn't scar you too badly.
After a brief review of the rules of the board, particularly how the Rathtars and doors worked, we were ready to begin. Rico won the roll-off, and without even hesitating, he moved his Zam and Jango into the center squares to start opening doors! Check out this rookie, raining terror in the form of invulnerable space monsters! We love that moxie, Rico
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| RC is on the loose! |
It looked like the game would start off with six dark vs. six light, but Rob's Rey subtly let the dark side know he was really working for them. That didn't stop Duncan's Anakin double-Wrathing both of Curtis' Knights of Ren out of the middle squares, giving the light side some door control too. Curtis was none too pleased to be out of minor characters so early in the game.
Rob finally showed his true colors when he used a Jedi Mind Control to force Cara to attack her own Mandalorian. Kevin was dumbstruck and the tide began to turn. JD's Qui-Gon decided partnering with Rob's Rey might be a better long term strategy, and he among others began to attack Duncan's Anakin. Rico was a big contributor on that front too, with his Zam continuously pot-shotting him.
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| Uh, why again did we let the Rathtar out? |
With the RC Rathtar on the loose, and the dark side pressing, the light side were taking their lumps. Duncan/Anakin, Kevin/The Mandalorian, and Elliot/Yoda were all hurting. In a particularly bitter turn, Elliot decided he wanted to avoid last place, and turned on his teammate Kevin! Ouch. That's two last places in a row for both Kevin in the league and The Mandalorian in the Eravana Cargo Hold.
Duncan knew he was going down next, but he had a special, maniacal twinkle in his eye. He decided to let out the CJ Rathtar, just for giggles. And he was nice enough to stay around a long time after Ian's Vader Wrathed him in eleventh place, rolling for the Rathtar, spreading around the 2 points of damage wherever he could.
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| Jar Jar tries to warn Moff Gideon of the approaching Rathtar. |
Now that there were two Rathtars on the board, all heck was breaking loose. Elliot's Yoda, who took a number of distance shots from different dark side members, suddenly found himself in the path of the RC Rathtar. For the first time (we think?) in Eravana history...a major character was killed by a Rathtar! The Rathtar also took out JD's Jar Jar on the same roll. LET THE BIG DOGS EAT!
After the Rathtar burped Gungan, there were nine Duelers left on the board. Karson's Lando was basically the last light side character left, but he was proving difficult to catch. Rob's Finn finally trapped him in one of the Rathtar cages, but JD's Qui-Gon Jinn became the target first. JD's game was on tilt all night, so in some ways, his ninth place ouster wasn't too bad.
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| Karson tries to tip the alliance. |
Karson, stuck in his cage and slowly surrounded by the dark side, made many valid points about the impending breakdown of the alliance, but the dark side was satisfied in taking down Lando first. Karson peaced-out in eighth.
With seven to go, Miguel's Maul was fully loaded and ready to rock. He did a good job all night hitting and moving, and he set his sites on Ian's fully healthy Vader. Miguel, sitting by Rob/Rey, asked for his help taking down Vader. Rob was shocked because that move wasn't on his radar, but he stepped out in faith and landed the first two attacks. Ian tried to turn Miguel against Rey in response, but Miguel stuck to his initial proposal and unleashed a volley of attacks.
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| Ian examining his options. |
Ian survived the attack, but was put in near critical condition when Evan's Dark Trooper also landed a hit. Rob agreed to let Vader run away...straight towards Rico/Jango, who had already given Rob the covert head nod that he would land the final strike. Rico...are you sure this was your first Duel??? Jango used the Rocket Retreat to eliminate Ian in seventh, and then moved into position to use a Missile Launch against Miguel's Maul! Miguel used Blinding Surge, meaning he took the 7 points of damage, but also dealt 3 back to Rico.
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| Fett on Fett violence. |
With only six Duelers left, the tide turned against the rookie Rico. He and Carona's Boba had tussled before that, so Corona was more than happy to help eliminate his fellow namesake. Rico couldn't defend all the angles, and it would be Rob's Rey who landed the kill shot. Give it up for Rico, a top six finish in his first-ever Duel, and he caused most of the chaos in the front half of the game. We've got ourselves a hot prospect!
That left five Duelers: Rob/Rey, Carona/Boba, Miguel/Maul, Evan/Gideon, and Curtis/Kylo. Rob had tried all game to let Curtis know he thought a Rey/Kylo final two would be all kinds of Epic, but Curtis put Rob's name out there, claiming Rey would be nearly impossible to kill at the end of the game. Likewise, Rob pointed out that Kylo had been drawing and discarding for hours, meaning his hand was fully loaded with all of Kylo's scariest cards. The other three rocked themselves gently as mom and dad were fighting. Ultimately, rather than Carona, Evan, and Miguel sticking together, cracks formed. Evan agreed to join Curtis in taking down Boba Fett. Evan used Astute Panic to vanquish Carona in fifth. That was a nice rebound game for Carona, though, who had a couple of rough finishes of late.
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| Under the pressure. |
Rob and Curtis began chirping at each other again, but Miguel and Evan eventually sided with Rob, and the three of them focused their efforts against Kylo. Curtis was none too pleased, fought as hard as he could, but he did go down in fourth with an undefended I Won't Let Them Win from Finn.
In securing Evan and Miguel's help against Curtis, Rob basically conceded those two would work against him and put him in a likely third place. And that's how things started, as they tried to chip away at him. But Maul took some damage, and Rey played Rise of Skywalker, which healed her all the way back to the first row of her damage indicator. Rob/Rey also started manipulating the doors to make things harder. The cat and mouse game continued, but at some point, Miguel sensed Evan was holding back or about to pounce on Maul instead, so in a shocking turn of events, he rolled in on Gideon! Evan was stunned. He managed a Dark Saber attack, but on his second action, Miguel defended with Blinding Surge, and Gideon was out in third!!! Congrats to Evan, who debuts seventh in the professional standings after this Duel.
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| Baltimore represent! |
Rob couldn't believe the turn events, as all of a sudden his Rey went from imminent demise to a fair shot at winning. Miguel was cagey, staying out of reach and healing Maul, all while Rob desperately tried to redraw Back Flip to get to him. Rob eventually manipulated the doors in a way that trapped Maul and sent the Rathtars towards him. This took quite a bit of time to play out, but in the end, Rey caught up to him and delivered The Last Jedi to win the game!!! Rey becomes the first new character to win more than once, and Rob now has 20 wins in league history. That's gross.
Also...a huge congrats to Miguel! He played like an absolute mob boss with Maul, and this second place finish was a career best for him. Well done, your training video is obviously paying off.
Let's get that final order of finish again:
12. Kevin/The Mandalorian
11. Duncan/Anakin Skywalker
10. Elliot/Yoda
9. JD/Qui-Gon Jinn
8. Karosn/Lando Calrissian
7. Ian/Darth Vader
6. Rico/Jango Fett
5. Corona/Boba Fett
4. Curtis/Kylo Ren
3. Evan/Moff Gideon
2. Miguel/Darth Maul
1. Rob/Rey
Thanks everyone for a great Valentine's Duel! Due to Spring Break, it will be a few weeks before we play again, but we're looking at March 19th as our IMPERIAL MARCH DUEL! Once we get closer to March Madness we'll solidify that. We can tell you the board, though...The Naboo Reactor Pit! This is probably our most unique board, and it is a TON of fun to play.
Until then...stay away from Rathtars.
