Eravana Cargo Hold
There wasn't love in the air this Valentine's Duel...no, that was smoke from Thermal Detonators, overheating blasters, and rathtar farts! I know, I know, I paint pretty pictures with my words. You're welcome.
Before we dive too deep into the recap, let's give a special shoutout to the THREE Duelers who turned professional at the Valentine's Duel! Andrew R., Michael, and Parker all played in their sixth match, meaning they're seasoned veterans now. Rob hadn't realized it ahead of the game, so a big shoutout to those three!!!
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| 12 Duelers and their sweet treats. |
Once the rules of the Eravana Cargo Hold were explained, and the chairs and characters were assigned, we were off and running. At the start of the game it looked like it would be a traditional light vs. dark battle. Both sides engaged in trench warfare, trying to secure the middle four squares, which were free from rathtars but controlled the doors of their holding cells. Ian's Black Krrsantan made it to the middle first, but he was soon joined by Michael's Cad Bane. They immediately started duking it out, and in the chaos rathar RC was released! Cad quickly found out, though, that he was no match for the dark Wookie. Ian hit him with a combo Electric Knuckles/Cannon Blast and Cad was in bad shape. Though Cad retreated out of the middle row and behind the closed gold door, Miguel suddenly flipped by using Sudden Arrival for Greedo and knocking out Cad in last! Poor Michael has gone from last to first to last. What a way to become a new professional! It also knocked Cad Bane out of the top ranking on the character side.
With Boba jumping sides, the rest of the dark side descended into confusion. They started attacking each other, and Duncan's Snoke became a target when they suspected he was going to open and close doors for the benefit of the light side alliance. Parker's Jango Fett started taking shots, but he was startled when Snoke moved adjacent to him, hitting him with a Make Them Suffer and a Force Lightning. Jango was sent to the opposite corner of the board, and the rest of the light side made short work of him. The kill shot came from JD M.'s Lando Calrissian. Parker has been stuck with some rough finishes of late, but he did turn pro, so welcome to that prestigious club at least!
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| RC on the loose, CJ waiting her turn... |
Though the dark side was growing weaker by the minute, the light side of the board found themselves fully carded with few people to attack. That's when Andrew decided to spend a Yoda Clone Trooper shot on Rob's Rey. Andrew didn't think it was too big a deal, but Rob responded with two shots on Yoda from Finn. Unfortunately for Andrew, those led to some significant damage. Others on the light side joined in. Yoda was near death, but the light side let up when Andrew agreed to spend an action on opening doors for CJ to join the fray. However, Miguel made his alliance flip official when he came to the light side and blasted Yoda with a Kyber Dart. Andrew was done in tenth while also turning pro. Our three new professionals joined the league in 12th, 11th, and 10th place. Hazing has no place in our Duel league and the Jedi Council will review these actions...
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| Ian and JD calling shots from the middle. |
Meanwhile, Riley B.'s Orson Krennic was navigating his dwindling odds when he played Peace and Security, dropping everyone else's hands. That put a pretty big target on his back. He started receiving damage from multiple characters, but it would be Elliot's Obi-Wan Kenobi that eliminated him in ninth with an efficient 2-point attack.
With eight Duelers left, there was a clear power alliance running the game in Ian/Fennec and JD/Lando. They controlled the middle of the board and were hard to attack in those middle spaces. That's when Elliot made the biggest move of the night. His Obi-Wan played a Force Control, that moved Fennec and Lando out of the middle and replaced them with himself, Rob/Rey, and Julia/Beckett. It was a bold move and turned everyone's game upside down.
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| The tables are turned! |
Elliot stayed aggressive, trying to put targets on Lando or Fennec. However, he inadvertently moved himself into a kill box by standing in one of the rathar spaces. The whispering grew strong at the table, and all of a sudden, Obi was hurting. This was especially complicated when Duncan, whose Supreme Leader Snoke had been lurking on the outside track of the board, getting trampled by rathtars, used a combo Tied To A String and Force Lightning on Rob's Rey! Ian got very nervous when Snoke placed him near Fennec instead of in front of Obi-Wan. Rob promised he wouldn't go after Fennec, so Ian eventually accepted it. Even though Rob had told Elliot/Obi earlier in the game they needed to stick together, Rob found himself needing to stay in the good graces of the other Duelers too. Miguel tipped Rob off, though, that a Thermal Detonator was headed towards Lando/Obi/Beckett. So instead of joining in against Obi, Rob's Rey opened a door to let his Finn take a shot on a surprised Supreme Leader Snoke! When it was Miguel's turn the Thermal was indeed chucked, and poor Elliot was done in eighth.
Duncan was desperate to claw his way into the top half of the finishers, and it looked like Julia's Beckett might be next. But Grant's Padme avoided Snoke's I Cannot Be Beaten defense and eliminated Duncan with a Precise Shot in seventh. The I Cannot Be Beaten still hasn't been successfully played in a Duel!
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| Your top six. |
Julia's Beckett still looked like the odd-Dueler out, but Rob's Rey was itching to make a big move. Ian's Fennec had received damage against Elliot's Obi-Wan, making her vulnerable. Black Krrsantan was still on the board too, so on Rob's next turn, he used a Backflip for four automatic points of damage on Fennec, and then attacked with Last Jedi Standing, which was just big enough to eliminate Ian in sixth!
Luck had finally run out for Julia. JD's Lando was in no mood to negotiate, as Beckett had put the target on him more than once. Once Beckett had two health points left, Miguel's Boba used a Wrist Cable to send her packing in fifth. But that tied for Julia's best finish, and her next Duel will put her in the professional ranks too!
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| Three, oh three, it's the magic number... |
And then there were four! At this point Rob couldn't believe he had made it this deep with Rey, the same character/board combo he won last year's Valentine's Duel with. And though the remaining three put a soft target on Rob, Miguel sensed he would be better off without the other shooter on the board, so he committed to eliminating Lando and put the final shot on him with a 3-point attack. JD was out in fourth, but he played a heck of a game considering all of the chaos he was in the middle throughout the Duel.
I won't bore you, dear reader, with too many details on what happened next, but I will say Miguel/Boba and Grant/Anakin agreed to work together to eliminate Rob's Rey...and it took a loooooong time to do it, lol. He played every sneaky card in Rey's deck (and some more than once), but the two-pronged attack and roving rathtars eventually proved too much. It would be Padme, still on the board, who got the kill shot on Rob in third place.
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| It all came down to this! |
What a final two! Miguel's previous best finish was second place on this board at last year's Valentine's Duel, and he had never won a game. Grant is one of the best and most respected Duelers in the league, but he's been on a frustrating winless streak going back to the Han Solo movie Duel.
Boba and Anakin were right next to each other after eliminating Rob's Rey. Miguel deployed another Thermal Detonator, moving Grant to within two points of death. Grant moved in for the kill, dropping an Anger on Miguel's already injured Boba Fett. He brought Boba to within a point of dying! Grant had to drop all of his cards but one. Most veterans know the best card to have is Calm, so you can retreat and draw five new cards. But Grant was holding both of his Counterattacks, which would have put an auto-kill on Boba should Boba attack with a non-special card. Grant didn't think about that option, though, and stuck to keeping the Calm. Miguel rolled a 4, enabling him to move into attack position on a bloodied Anakin. He didn't have anything to attack with, though, so he drew a card for his first action. That card? DEADLY AIM. He played it against Grant but Anakin no longer had a big enough defense card to block it. MIGUEL WON!!! I wish more folks could have seen Miguel's emotions as the reality of a win washed over him. Well done Miguel! This marks the fourth Duel in a row where a first-time winner was crowned. Unbelievable!
Final order of finish:
12. Michael B./Cad Bane
11. Parker/Jango Fett
10. Andrew R./Yoda
9. Riley B./Orson Krennec
8. Elliot/Obi-Wan Kenobi
7. Duncan/Supreme Leader Snoke
6. Ian/Fennec Shand
5. Julia/Tobias Beckett
4. JD M./Lando Calrissian
3. Rob/Rey
2. Grant D./Anakin Skywalker
1. Miguel/Boba Fett
Well friends, that was an awesome night of Dueling. It was great to see Miguel take home a trophy that didn't feature Jar Jar Binks! Our next Duel, The Imperial March, will likely take place on Saturday, March 25. That's quite a long time from now, but have no fear, Rob will keep you posted via the email list and Instagram account. He's also working on a NEW BOARD for the May Duel, and this could be the most diabolical one yet...MWAHAHAHAHA!!!
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