Kamino Platform
Holy smokes and gee whiz, we're off and running for our NINTH season of 12-Way Duels! How is that even possible!?!
As always, we begin at the CL Training retreat, and this game was actually the TENTH time we've played in that environment (the league didn't start in full until the 2nd Training Duel). 12 brave souls rushed to the table after lip sync, and we had even more playing on the side table. It was quite the turnout!
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| Where else would you want to be on a Monday night? |
The Kamino Platform was the randomly selected board to kick off our season, and we had three brand-spanking-new Duelers debut, which made for a healthy mix of veterans and newbies. John won the right to roll first, and we were off and running. It didn't take long for Drue's Black Krrsantan to rip the arm off one of Parker's Dark Troopers!
The craziest move of the first round of play, however, belonged to the Godfather himself, Rob. He was once again playing with The Mandalorian, and just like last season, he had Whistling Birds in his first four cards! And once again...he couldn't resist playing them right out of the gate! He used Rising Phoenix to defect deep into the dark side of the board, and unleashed 22 points of frustrating damage to the light side! This time, though, he didn't die first. (Rob stands by his actions in both cases - if you have Whistling Birds in your first four cards, YOU HAVE PLAY IT!)
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| Curse you, Jar Jar!!! |
Drue's Fennec Shand was taking hits from all sides of the board, and it didn't help that Black Krrsantan died early too. It would be a final Astute Panic card from Parker's Moff Gideon that left Drue frustrated but the proud, temporary holder of the Golden Jar Jar trophy, given to the Dueler who finished last. Drue, you get him for a couple of weeks until we play the Doubleheader on the last Saturday of August!
Evan's Jyn Erso was also getting jacked up by the dark side, but in a surprise twist, he was attacked from behind by his supposed alliance partner Juan/Luke Skywalker. Princess Leia dealt a lot of early damage, including a 3-point attack to park Evan in 11th. Ouch
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| Half the lights still work! |
The light side was in complete chaos at this point, as those remaining on that side were trying to flip to the dark side too. Kevin's Obi-Wan Kenobi thought he was coming over for just that purpose when he was suddenly surrounded and attacked by the dark side alliance. He was shook and perturbed when Kat's Beckett booted him in 10th with a 2-point attack.
With nine Duelers left at the table, rookie Andrew learned the brutal lesson of the dreaded kill box. He thought he was surrounded by a friendly alliance, but they quickly turned on his Krennec and attacked! The final blow was delivered by one of Duncan's MagnaGuards. Andrew, not too bad a job for your first Duel. Play with us again!!!
Parker, another new Dueler, was turning paranoid as his Moff Gideon was bouncing from one flashpoint to the next. But the remaining Duelers soon set their sights on him too. Parker pulled some pretty good moves with Gideon, but he couldn't withstand the onslaught and was eliminated in 8th by a 5-point attack from Juan's Luke.
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| The poo is about to hit the fan... |
John's Qui-Gon and Jar Jar somehow survived multiple waves of attacks up to this point. He also pulled off a crafty There's Always A Bigger Fish special that jacked up JD's Darth Maul hand. But once Jar Jar was killed, it was open season on John's Qui-Gon. It was a faster than anticipated elimination, though, because Rob used the 10-point Disintegration card from The Mandalorian for the kill shot.
At this point we were down to the final six, and Grant H.'s Darth Vader was in fantastic shape, lurking behind Jango's ship and running his portion of the alliance. At the same time, Duncan's General Grievous, who was playing aggressively, became a target for the remaining Duelers. Grievous' frustrating retreat tactics caused Vader to finally move from behind the ship. Rob immediately pounced on the attack angles and suggested he, JD/Maul and Beckett/Kat, work to take down Vader. Duncan helped by not moving and forcing Vader to confront the multi-front attack. Juan further backstabbed Grant by not killing off Grievous and letting Grant's Vader escape. Grant was quite cranky, as he had been running up that hill all night, but it would be Duncan, playing for a higher finish, landing the elimination blow.
And then there were five! Duncan's Grievous was the obvious target, and he was gone right after Duncan when Juan's Luke Skywalker diced him into 4th place. The biggest moment of the game came next...who to go after next???
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| This is the way. |
JD/Maul threw out Rob/Mandalorian as a target, but Rob immediately returned and said Juan should play I Will Not Fight You on JD and let Rob and Kat finish Maul off with their shooters. But after the haggling the unofficial alliance of Rob/Kat/JD was formed, and they were united in getting Luke. Juan was deft in running away from everyone else, but he eventually fell in 4th thanks to an Athletic Surge from Dark Maul.
This left it at three Duelers, and Rob/Mando and Kat/Beckett knew, as two shooters, they should stick together and go after JD's Maul. Kat, however, would go on to experience one of the worst streak of minor cards in the draw deck EVER! She counted 17 straight minor character cards between the end of the first deck and the reshuffled draw pile. BRUTAL!!! Kat got a pinch too close to JD's Maul, who had been hiding behind Jango's ship. Kat was left mortally wounded, so Rob's Mandalorian took the final shot since he was at ten cards. Poor Kat!!!
This left an EPIC final two of Rob/The Mandalorian and JD/Darth Maul. Both players at different times chased and ran away from their remaining opponent. Mando took damage but Maul really started to look worse for the wear. Rob finally ended the evening by using a two-card action of another Disintegration and 5-point attack. This bonkers win gives Rob 22 victories in his career! It also marks the first-ever win for The Mandalorian!!! Congrats to JD, whose Darth Maul did brilliantly too.
The final order of finish:
12. Drue/Fennec Shand
11. Evan/Jyn Erso
10. Kevin/Obi-Wan Kenobi
9. Andrew/Orson Krennec
8. Parker/Moff Gideon
7. John/Qui-Gon Jinn
6. Grant H./Darth Vader
5. Duncan/General Grievous
4. Juan/Luke Skywalker
3. Kat/Tobias Beckett
2. JD M./Darth Maul
1. Rob/The Mandalorian
Thanks again to all who came out to watch and/or play! We'll play TWO games at the Doubleheader next, which should be the last Saturday of August. Rob's hosting folks at his house, where there will be TONS of treats and his world famous YODA SODA! More details to emerge.
Season 9 is up, up, and away!!!
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