Kamino Platform
Game #2 started a bit later than intended thanks to the length of the first Duel and the dramatic ending of Episode III that was playing in the Loser's Lounge during dinner. But once the burgers were consumed and a fresh vat of Yoda Soda was poured, we were ready for the dark side Duel!
Everyone grumbled when Ian, who had won the first match of the day, once again got the first pick! The complaints only grew louder when he selected Darth Maul!! Here's how the draft went down:
1. Ian picked Maul
2. Isaiah picked Dooku
3. Grant D. picked Gideon
4. Rob picked Captain Phasma
5. Kat picked Vader
6. Michael picked Grievous
7. Riley B. picked Snoke
8. Curtis picked Krennic
9. Chris K. picked Palpatine
10. Grant H. picked Cad Bane (!!!)
11. Caleb picked Boba
12. Riley E. picked Kylo
Not picked: Jango and Beckett
 |
| Don't get comfortable, Caleb... |
When everyone had placed their characters on the Kamino Platform...history was made in the first round of play. It's not an official record, but Caleb, big brother to Miles and padawan of Curtis, had his Boba Fett attacked by Ian's Maul right out of the gate! Sith Speed, a 4-point attack, and Athletic Surge killed the rookie in less than 5 minutes of game play!!! It was the fastest (most brutal?) elimination ever seen! It was so mean, which is to say, so like Darth Maul. BRUTAL!!!
As you could imagine Curtis was quite ticked to see his progeny destroyed that fast, so he took out his anger by destroying the Super Battle Droids of Isaiah's Count Dooku. But a series of minor characters from the other end of the board started whittling Krennic down, which enabled Riley E.'s Knight of Ren to come out of hiding behind Jango's ship (can you believe nobody picked Jango on Jango's board?) and strike him down in eleventh. Not a great day of Dueling for Clan Curtis!
 |
| School's in session and Chris is teaching! |
It was great to have retired Dueler Chris K. play with us in game 2! He's soon to depart to visit the studios where they shot the original Star Wars, and though he wasn't pleased to see all the new characters, he had no problem schooling newer Duelers on the ways of Emperor Palpatine. Riley B. used Snoke's Tied To A String and Force Lightning to send Chris/Emperor to a kill box on the other side of the board. Folks got nervous when Chris didn't look at all fazed. On his turn he used Royal Command and You Will Die to go right back to his hiding spot behind the ship while dumping Riley B.'s hand!!! *insert laughing Emperor GIF* The side Riley B. tried to defect to turned on him after that catastrophic sequence and Riley was out in tenth.
Ian's early aggression against Boba, combined with a dust-up against Riley E.'s Kylo Ren, had him retreat deep towards his alliance but banged up and low carded. He slowly realized he was in trouble, and Grant D.'s Dark Trooper proved it when a Concussive Punch put the game one winner down in ninth.
The Dark Troopers weren't done, though. On that same turn they managed to kidnap Chris' Emperor and bring him into a kill box. That's where Isaiah's Dooku used a 5-point attack to end the Emperor's reign.
 |
| The end of the table that was having the most fun. |
We were quickly down to seven Duelers (we should have played Kamino first!). Grant H. hilariously was playing with Cad Bane AGAIN, but not having as much fun as he had hoped. He was pinned in the back corner with both Michael/Grievous and Riley E./Kylo bearing down on him. He was desperate to find Rocket Boots but his card luck wasn't there for him. When he was down to two health points Kat's Vader Wrathed him into seventh place. Grant H. still reserves the right to play with Cad Bane at all future Duels, though.
Riley E.'s Kylo Ren was the last character standing from her end of the board. She tussled with numerous folks throughout, but her luck was finally running out. Grant D.'s Moff Gideon used Astute Panic to end Ben Solo's night in sixth.
 |
| Isaiah dictating the flow! |
The final five would prove to be new Dueler Isaiah's coming out party! Michael/Grievous and Kat/Vader had put the target on Grant's Gideon, and Rob's Captain Phasma followed suit by making an attack. But when it came time for Isaiah to join in...he didn't! He passed on his first round by drawing, and then on his next turn he made it be known he was more worried about Michael's General Grievous. This caused a lot of unrest on the board. When Michael's Grievous started moving toward Rob's Phasma, Rob took that as a sign of aggression and used a Let's Make This Hurt on one of Grievous' minor characters. That further muddied the waters, but eventually, largely by Isaiah's will, Michael became the target and was out in fifth, killed by a Storm Trooper.
With four to go it became quite clear that Isaiah/Dooku and Grant D./Moff Gideon were sticking together, which forced Rob and Kat to align. They managed to concentrate their efforts on a loaded Dooku, thanks in part to Kat playing Your Skills Are Not Complete on Gideon. Captain Phasma, playing just her second Duel, finally got to play New Recruit on the last remaining minor character on the board, Kat's Storm Trooper. But Rob was loaded with minor character cards, and now that FN-216 was on his team, he fired a volley of shots that finally ended the wily Isaiah's night in fourth! Holy cow we have a great new Dueler in our ranks, folks!
 |
| Final three silliness. |
Rob and Kat were galvanized to stay together against Moff Gideon. Rob was in rougher shape than Kat but kept popping shots, and Kat stayed active too. She eventually knocked out Gideon in third. Grant played a heck of a game, though.
At the final two it looked like Vader would trounce Captain Phasma, but Vader wasn't pulling great cards and Phasma had a few tricks up her sleeve. Rob managed to start docking health points on Kat's Vader, but Kat stayed calm and collected, and eventually landed a Dark Side Drain for the win! Kat becomes the first woman in league history with three wins!!! Congrats, Kat! Vader's win increases his league-leading total to 16.
 |
| Like a boss. |
With all the new boards in the league, it's nice to be reminded how fun the original four arenas can be! Kamino was a great battleground for the dark side to do combat. Here's the final order of finish:
12. Caleb/Boba
11. Curtis/Krennic
10. Riley B./Snoke
9. Ian/Maul
8. Chris K./Emperor
7. Grant H./Cad
6. Riley E./Kylo
5. Michael/Grievous
4. Isaiah/Dooku
3. Grant D./Gideon
2. Rob/Phasma
1. Kat/Vader
Our next 12-way Duel will be in August, when we kick off year ten (!!!) at CL Training. Before that, though, we have our annual Singles Tournament! It looks like we'll play that on Sunday, July 30, starting at 2PM. We need 32 Duelers to sign up! It's one of the coolest things we do each year, and it uses a very different part of your Dueling brain. Stay tuned for more info on that, but mark your calendars now!
Congrats again to Kat!
No comments:
Post a Comment