.jpg)
Carbon Freezing Chamber (Dagobah Board)
The night started a bit chaotically as we had a last minute cancel, but we were super blessed to have Jocelyn join the fray and save Thanksdueling! Thanks Jocelyn!!!
 |
| The kid's table! |
Jocelyn impacted the game out of the gate by being the first person in ages to question the light/dark side dichotomy we operate with so frequently. As Rob tries to remind folks, "there are no sides." Jocelyn's Count Dooku started out in the middle of the board, and was happy to roam there as she got a sense for how everyone was going to play. Andrew's Zam Wesell started the fighting when she attacked Riley B.'s Qui-Gon Jinn. That pretty much solidified light vs. dark, as even Jocelyn wandered back to the dark end of the Dagobah swamp.
 |
| Bella displaying 50% sense of humor, 50% Dueling anxiety |
The game truly busted open when Riley E., playing with the genuinely terrifying Supreme Leader Snoke, used Tied To A String to pull poor Michael's Rey into a dark side kill box. Jocelyn was appalled by the brutality, while Bella laughed at the chaos. It was a devastating turn of events for the light side, as Rey was clearly their best character. The light side tried desperately to kill some minors to enable Michael to escape. Michael even pulled off a Rise Of Skywalker to stave off elimination, but he eventually fell in last place. It was brutal!
The light side needed to rally, and rally they did. Andrew's Jango Fett was leading the front lines of the dark side alliance, but that also left him a bit exposed. The light side jumped at the opportunity to start whittling him down. It would be Riley B. who bravely charged into the middle of the board, after an assist from Parker's Princess Leia, to punch Andrew's ticket in eleventh.
 |
| Rob needed a Battlemind! |
With ten to go, the dark and light sides were once again balanced. This was when the dark side decided to launch another kill box. This time it would be Jocelyn's Count Dooku using a Force Push to send Riley B.'s Qui-Gon to the back row. Just like in football, might as well run the same play if they can't stop it! The light side knew it was time to rush, and Rob/Mace, Corona/Yoda, and Penny/Anakin started moving forward. They identified Jocelyn's Dooku as the key to springing Qui-Gon from captivity. Riley B. contributed by using a There's Always A Bigger Fish on Jocelyn, but Jocelyn countered with Gain Power. Touché! Dooku couldn't hold out forever, though, and Jocelyn had to exit in tenth after Penny's Anakin landed a 5-point attack.
This was the juncture in the Duel when the dark/light factions dissolved. Grant H.'s Cad Bane made a quiet flip to the light side, but for two rounds, kept throwing Parker's Leia out as a target. Parker was quite vocal in the attack, but Rob's Mace and Kat's Darth Vader both agreed to go in on the surprise kill box. Parker's jaw dropped, and he had no help to escape the predicament. Leia was finally eliminated in ninth by a 3-point attack from Kat's Storm Trooper. The indiginity!
 |
| Riley isn't trapped on the dark side, the dark side is trapped with Riley! |
We should pause and take a moment to recognize how crazy-good Riley B. was playing with Qui-Gon. Despite Riley E./Snoke and Bella/Moff Gideon's best attacks, they could not destroy Qui-Gon. They were essentially doomed when Kat declined to assist. With Kat and Grant playing on the other side, Riley E.'s Snoke was the next target. She fell out in eighth when her own sister Penny cracked her with an Anger!
This enabled Riley B. to finally flee his dark side prison, using Jedi Meditations to begin healing himself. He was ready to let Qui-Gons be Qui-Gons. But his Jedi robes weren't made of Teflon. Bella's Moff Gideon chose to attack, and Riley chose not to defend. Little did he know it was Astute Panic! That attack was the exact value needed to eliminate Riley B. in seventh!!!
 |
| Decision time for Jedi Corona |
Bella pulled off the attack of the night, but she was also left without an alliance when Riley E. was removed from the game. Penny was still low carded, but she dropped a 5-point attack on Bella to finish off Moff Gideon in sixth place.
That left a final five of Kat/Vader, Grant/Cad, Rob/Mace, Penny/Anakin, and Corona/Yoda. (Something funny to note - Corona often wears a Yoda t-shirt to the Duels, but for Thanksdueling! he dressed up as Anakin. But then he picked Yoda to play with!) Rob sensed Kat and Grant were tight, and that they wanted to target Penny's Anakin, who was a bit injured and low carded. But Rob feared he could do no better than third place in that scenario, so he suggested to Corona and Penny that their three Jedi stick together to eradicate the remaining dark side characters. Penny liked it because she was the target, and Corona eventually decided it made sense for him too. Kat and Grant were cranky for good reason, and they presented good counter-arguments, but the Jedi decided to stay strong.
 |
| The Grave Digger |
Rob created a wall with his Mace and two Clone Troopers for Anakin to hide behind, while Padme continued to roam the board. Kat's Vader pursued Anakin anyway, trying to get Rob to reconsider. It turned out Vader was low on defense, and the attacks from Yoda and Mace did her in. Corona landed a Force Strike and Kat finished the evening in fifth place.
And then there were four! Grant was working Rob REAL hard to readjust his alliance. His logic was sound, but Rob's gut told him his best chance was sticking with the Jedi. While Kat's parting attacks weakened Penny's Anakin, Grant saved his last damage for Rob's Mace Windu, which was leaving Corona in good position with Yoda. Cad couldn't withstand a 3 vs. 1 Duel, though. Yoda's Clone Trooper popped him in fourth place.
 |
| The two pros Penny played like a fiddle. |
When Cad Bane perished Rob immediately unloaded a Whirlwind on Corona's Yoda. Corona and Penny had agreed to work together to attack Mace Windu. Penny was in the worst shape, as she only had about seven points of health left, and couldn't heal because Padme was still very much alive. Rob's strategy was to tell Penny, just hang back, and let him go head to head with Corona's Yoda. That's how things started, Rob and Corona chasing each other around the board, spending 5 minutes on each of their turns trying to convince Penny to work with them to eliminate the other. And that's when Penny used the guise of a new Dueler (this was just her second Duel) to fool two Duelers who should have known better!
Penny started taking pot shots at both Yoda and Mace, weakening them both, and pretending like she was being swayed from one side to the other. Not once did Rob and Corona stop and say, hey, maybe we should work together? The night ended with two consecutive actions by Penny. She moved Padme in a direct firing line of Yoda, who was just two health points from death. Corona tipped off he didn't have any defense left, but begged to stay in the game to use a Force Lift on Rob. Padme killed Corona in third with a 3-point attack, which was crushing for poor Corona. But with Yoda dead, Rob's Mace was no longer protected from Padme. He had more health left than Yoda, but not by much. He had enough defense in his hand to survive a smaller attack, but Penny pulled out the...PRECISE SHOT! Nine points of damage on her dad, and Penny won her first 12-Way Duel in just her second game!!! Rob couldn't be more proud in second place - his two oldest daughters won Duels in 2022!!! I'm not crying, you're crying!
 |
| Slay! |
The final order of finish:
12. Michael/Rey
11. Andrew/Jango Fett
10. Joceyln/Count Dooku
9. Parker/Princess Leia
8. Riley E./Supreme Leader Snoke
7. Riley B./Qui-Gon Jinn
6. Bella/Moff Gideon
5. Kat/Darth Vader
4. Grant H./Cad Bane (Grant got Cad again, lol!)
3. Corona/Yoda
2. Rob/Mace Windu
1. Penny/Anakin Skywalker
That was a fun night of Dueling, as the Carbon Freezing Chamber map always produces drama. And this was the last Duel of the year except for December, which is...THE 2022 CHAMPIONSHIP! This is the one Duel of the year that is invite only - anyone who won a Duel has an automatic seat at the table, and the top ranked Duelers fill the remaining spots. This is what we've worked for all year! The Championship is our Super Bowl. More details are coming on all of that. In the meantime...congrats again to Penny!!!
