Twin Suns Slam #2 - June 4, 2022

 

Ewok Village

Before Game 2 started, we ate!  That's the best part of the Twin Suns Slam, the fellowship between hours of backstabbing!  You also capture moments like this, Duncan sitting on a tiny chair:

Anyhoo, after the burgers were grilled and the Yoda Soda was ladled, it was time for the character draft!  That's right, this Duel would be the first ever all-dark side match!  The poor Ewoks of Endor, I'm not sure what they did to deserve this unholy terror in their treetops.  Here is how the draft went:

1.  Kat - Kylo Ren

2.  Natalie - Emperor Palpatine

3.  Karson - General Grievous

4.  Elliot - Supreme Leader Snoke

5.  JD M. - Count Dooku

6.  Duncan - Cad Bane

7.  Ian - Darth Maul

8.  Ben - Tobias Beckett

9.  John - Boba Fett

10.  Evan - Moff Gideon

11.  Riley - Darth Vader

12.  Rob - Orson Krennic

not picked - Jango Fett

Once the characters were picked, the board placement commenced and the minor characters were deposited too.  We actually had to alter the last starting spot on the bridge for Kat, so her Knights of Ren could start adjacent to Kylo.

To the trees!

Elliot predicted before the game even started this would be a fast Duel, and he was mostly right!  After a couple of rounds of carding up, Rob's Death Trooper couldn't resist chucking a Grenade across the length of the bridge, catching damage on JD/Dooku and Kat/Kylo.  That started a chain reaction of chaos.  The early victim was Karson's General Grievous.  He started on the bridge of death, and a couple of Duelers began peppering him, including Elliot's Supreme Leader Snoke, who sent him banged up with a Force Lightning to the back corner of the board.  He took a couple of more hits, and then Natalie's Emperor Palpatine finished him with a Force Lightning of her own!  BRUTAL!!!

Kat's Kylo was a bit feisty with bloodlust after all the early action, and swung here and there at nearby targets.  But out of nowhere, Evan's Dark Trooper Kidnapped Kylo and plopped her down right in front of Ian's fully carded Darth Maul!!!  Kat survived the initial onslaught, but with just a couple of health points left...you guessed it, Natalie's Emperor landed her second Force Lightning kill of the game!  OH THE HUMANITY!!!

So much malice behind these smiles!

JD organized a counter-offensive on the bridge, and that's when Elliot was locked into trouble. There was nowhere to run, and JD's Dooku eventually speared him with a Taunt.  That ended Elliot's day in 10th, a hard fall after second in the first game.

Unfortunately for JD, that also meant he was now exposed to attacks.  The rest of the boar didn't resist, and before he knew it, JD was just a few points from dying.  Tell me if you've heard this one before...THE EMPEROR FORCE LIGHTNINGED HIM TO DEATH.  Natalie is stone cold!!!

This board is legit gorgeous.

Ian's Maul had been running around swinging at different folks, but Riley's Vader had been stuck in her starting position for most of the game.  She was contributing with her distance attacks, but she was itching to do more.  The only character in her range to attack was Natalie's Emperor.  It may not have been the soundest strategy, but she plunged into battle like it was the climatic scene in Return of the Jedi.  Instead of throwing Emperor over the rope bridge, though, she got peppered by a lot of shooters. Ben P., playing his first Duel in a few years (it was great to see you, Ben!), used a combination of attacks from Beckett to end Riley's night in 8th.

Natalie's Emperor was still on the big bridge, and Duncan's Cad Bane had been largely silent all night, minus his strange fascination with Mr. & Mrs. Pike (you had to be there).  He was in perfect position to rain distance shots, and caught her low health.  The first ranked Dueler in the league was out in 7th, but her overall average is still good enough for top of the leaderboard!

Wicket looks on in disgust.

It was around this point of the game Ian had been obsessed with killing John's Boba Fett, who had hit him once or twice.  But that end of the board began debating who should go next.  I don't remember all the details, but Evan's Moff Gideon suddenly found himself without friends.  It was due in part to a shot or two he took on Beckett if I recall.  This was the third time Evan has played with Gideon.  There's some sort of special bond between the two!  Beckett got the final shot and Evan exited in 6th.

Now there were five Duelers left.  It seemed clear Ben/Beckett, Duncan/Cad, and John/Boba were in cahoots, while Ian's Maul and Rob's Krennic were on the outs.  Rob tried to convince Ian they were in trouble and should partner up...but Ian refused!  Rob was bewildered and went on quite the rant.  It wasn't really him talking, it was all of the Raspberry Iced Tea he had been drinking all night.  No matter how many times Rob pledged his loyalties, Ian wasn't interested.  Rob shifted into a new gear, and started poke holes in the alliance of other shooters.  Sure enough, a crack developed when John intimated he may not be secure with one of his alliance partners.  When the dust settled Ben's Beckett, who was in the driver's seat all night, was suddenly turned against and stuck fighting Maul and Cad Bane at the same time.  Maul dropped the 4-point attack, and Ben was done in 5th.  But that was the best ever finish for the retired Dueler, and we'll keep him on the call list for backup Duelers!

Rob gets animated, Ian laughs.

At the final four Rob once again said he was with Ian until the end, something none of the other Duelers would commit to.  Ian still didn't care!  Krennic had been in his starting corner for most of the game, but he moved to start attacking Duncan's Cad Bane, and dumped everyone's hands with Peace and Security.  The card dump switched the current on the board, and John, believing in his partnership with once enemy Ian/Maul, sensed the time was ripe to flip on the still mysterious Cad Bane.  Duncan was taking hits and low carded, and John put the nail in the coffin with a Kyber Dart!  Duncan finished 4th, his second top-5 finish on the night!

Pew pew in the woods!

 That left three Duelers.  Ian's Maul was certainly bleeding, and he still had a Battledroid on the field, meaning he couldn't heal.  Rob's Krennic was running out of defense, but was still annoyingly hard to reach.  John, playing his first in-person Duel (he played with us online last year), was playing great, but Ian finally saw that Boba might be a bigger threat than Rob's Krennic.  It pained him to do it, but an Athletic Surge chopped John down in third.  That's John's best finish, and we're hopeful to see him battle with us again this coming school year!

And then there were two...the old guys, the bitter rivals with nothing but respect for the other!  Rob pulled a couple more tricks out of his bag to delay his demise, but after several minutes of carding and shuffling, Ian was finally ready to move in for the kill.  Rob was hoping for another Peace and Security, but couldn't find it in time.  One more Athletic Surge, and Ian was the winner.  Congrats Ian!!!  That was his tenth career win, moving him into a tie with Curtis for 2nd on the all-time list.  This also marked Maul's 13th win, moving him one behind Vader's all-time lead of 14!

Ian thinking, "I've got this..."

Let's check that final order of finish again:

12.  Karson/Grievous

11.  Kat/Kylo

10.  Elliot/Snoke

9.  JD/Dooku

8.  Riley/Vader

7.  Natalie/Emperor

6.  Evan/Gideon

5.  Ben/Beckett

4.  Duncan/Cad

3.  John/Boba

2.  Rob/Krennic

1.  Ian/Maul

Well...that's the final 12-way until the CL Training retreat in August!  Stay tuned for details on July's Singles Tournament!  We're looking at the final Sunday in July.  We'll need 32 folks for that!!!

Until then...

Twin Suns Slam #1 - June 4, 2022

 

Naboo Reactor Pit

It sure was exciting to play in person again at Rob's house.  This was the first Duel at the Godfather's abode since COVID started, and the Twin Sun Slam also marked the one year anniversary of playing in person again.  These moments we used to take for granted feel so much sweeter now!

It was also exciting to be playing a doubleheader for the Twin Sun Slam too.  It was the first time since 2019 we managed to acknowledge both balls of fire which Tatooine orbits.  How exactly does that work, anyway?  Any astrophysicists in the house?

And maybe the most exciting component of the first Twin Sun Slam of the day was, for the first time in Duels history...we played an all-light side Duel!  With the new characters (13 light, 13 dark), we have more than enough to do it.  We also picked characters via draft for the first time, with the caveat being the person with the first pick got the last board placement, etc.  Here's how the draft went:

1. Lawson - Fennec Shand

2.  Ian - Rey

3.  Kat - Anakin Skywalker

4.  Rob - Yoda

5.  Miles - Mace Windu

6.  Karson - Princess Leia

7.  Duncan - Qui-Gon Jinn

8.  Jillian - Obi-Wan Kenobi

9.  Elliot - Lando Calrissian

10.  Grant D. - Jyn Erso

11.  JD M. - Luke Skywalker

12.  Riley - The Mandalorian

Not Picked - Han Solo (Grant...how could you???)

Duncan is already thinking about the burgers.

Once the characters were picked, the spots on the board were filled and we were off and running!  The afternoon Duel was short on Duelers, so Grant stepped up by bringing three of his kids.  Don't think these three were mere cannon fodder, as all of them have played in the Singles Tournament.  They came to play!  Unfortunately for Lawson, though, his starting position was brutal after his first overall pick of Fennec Shand.  As enticing as it is to play the new character, he wasn't set up to defend himself well, and he was quickly taking hits from behind and the main reactor room.  It would be Karson's Princess Leia that landed the final shot, and poor Lawson got stuck posing with the Golden Jar Jar in his first Duel.

No worries, Lawson.  The Loser's
Lounge recently upgraded to 
Disney+.  Enjoy Star Wars cinema!

Historically the main reactor room Duelers try to shoot down the hallway with the laser shields on the Naboo board.  This game, however, saw each side move to the sides like an awkward 8th grade school dance.  The infighting started up, and though it looked like Karson's Princess Leia might be an early target, especially after Riley's Mandalorian blasted him with Disintegration!  But Grant's Jyn didn't like the backstab, and soon it would be Riley, not Karson, bowing out in 11th.  This is NOT the way.

Meanwhile, in the laser wall rooms on the other end of the board, the infighting had begun.  The conflict was especially heavy between siblings Jillian/Obi-Wan and Miles/Mace.  That's when Jillian proposed using a Force Control to put Miles in a kill box right next to Ian's Rey.  Nobody could recall Ian ever smiling with a bigger Cheshire grin than at that moment.  He was practically salivating!  We managed to get a picture of it, as you can see below!  Miles soon found himself surrounded by four Duelers, and it was an ignominious 2-point attack from Duncan's Jar Jar that put him away in 10th.

Three very distinct emotions happening right here!

 Not long after that Ian's Rey decided to go bold into the reactor room to take on Kat's Anakin Skywalker.  At the same time, JD's Luke Skywalker moved in the opposite direction, dropping two I Will Not Fight You's on Kat and Grant/Jyn.  It was a stunning turn of events, as the reactor room side of the board was in total collapse.  Elliot/Lando and Karson/Leia agreed to turn on their own alliance.  The walls turning on and off with great regularity (especially when Rob's Yoda ever tried to move out of the back compartment) merely delayed the inevitable.  Rob's Yoda gave a somewhat friendly Force Push to Duncan's Qui-Gon to join the fray since he was fully carded and couldn't get there himself.  Duncan would indeed take down Kat with a 7-point Prophecy.  Grant didn't last too much longer, though he proved how tricky Jyn Erso is to pin down.  Ian's Finn finally shot him into 8th.  Grant and his sons had a rough go, but his daughter was still in the thick of it!

Walls up!

It was down to the final seven Duelers, and the walls were going up and down so frequently it was hard to maintain long term strategies.  Karson's Leia had been loyal since the flip, but the searing effects of the Disintegration had kept him low health, and at the encouragement from others, Jillian's Obi moved in for the kill.  Karson used I Know to defend with auto-damage, but Ian generously used Jedi Healing to negate Obi's lost health points.  Ironically, it was JD's minor Leia who shot major Leia off the board in 7th.

Rob's Yoda was still stuck in the laser rooms, and he had taken half-hearted attacks at Elliot's Lando and JD's Luke, mostly because he was fully carded.  But JD and Elliot ultimately decided to lock horns against each other, and really started laying the hits on each other.  Around the same time, Ian made a declaration that he thought the board should go after Rob's Yoda.  But Duncan's Qui-Gon was playing very conservatively, so Rob kept giving Ian the "are you really going to let him get away with that?" eyes, and Ian finally relented, switching the target to Qui-Gon.  Elliot's Lando headed in to help on that, leaving a low-health JD next to Rob.  Rob dispatched Luke in 6th to make it five Duelers to go.

The sooner we finish, the sooner we eat!

Duncan's Qui-Gon went on a Quixotic quest to redraw There's Always a Bigger Fish, but it was to no avail.  After a tough final stand, Ian's Rey chopped him down in 5th place.  From there Ian suggested the half-damaged Obi-Wan (Jillian) and mostly healthy Lando (Elliot) join him against Rob's Yoda.  Rob was peeved, thinking he and Ian/Rey should partner to eliminate the other two.  Jillian knew, however, that Rob's Yoda had yet to play Force Rebound, and she couldn't yet risk auto-damage coming back to her, especially with her Clone Trooper still alive.  When Ian wouldn't partner with Rob, Rob talked Jillian into helping him go against Ian.  Elliot basically went along with that, assuming Jillian would join him against Rob/Yoda after that.  Ian was chagrinned by the turn of events, but went out in 4th place all the same.

Obi at the end in Reactor Room...feels familiar...

Elliot/Lando and Jillian/Obi did indeed pair together to go after Rob, while Ian and Grant started grilling the burgers on the back porch.  Rob tried his best to sustain a two-front defense, but eventually died when Lando hit him with a 3-point attack.  Rob loves Yoda, and always will.

And then there were two!  And two who had never won before!  NEW WINNER ALERT!!!  Jillian was holding on despite all the damage, but Lando is hard to beat one on one.  Jillian evened the odds with a Force Balance.  Despite that, Elliot stayed aggressive and had Obi down to one point of health.  But Jillian pulled through with a Force Attack to win...in her very first 12-Way Duel!!!  That hadn't been done since the second game in league history (Curtis)!!!  That's a span of 113 Duels!!!  CONGRATS JILLIAN!!!  She became the second youngest Dueler to ever win.  She also played Obi-Wan into the final four at the last Singles Tournament.  What a pair!

Historic performance!

Let's give a shoutout to Elliot, too!  He was SO CLOSE to his first win, tying a career-best finish in second place.  The final order of finish:

12.  Lawson/Fennec

11.  Riley/Mando

10.  Miles/Mace

9.  Kat/Ani

8.  Grant/Jyn

7.  Karson/Leia

6.  JD/Luke

5.  Duncan/Qui-Gon

4.  Ian/Rey

3.  Rob/Yoda

2.  Elliot/Lando

1.  Jillian/Obi-Wan

Ok, time for a dinner break...we'll be back for game 2 in the next post!