Duel of the Fates - April 19, 2024

Ewok Village

Friends - we finished a Duel before midnight!  IT'S ABOUT TIME.  What a great pace, people!  We were wrapped up around 11:15, which is a welcome change.  What's that?  You want to know who actually won??  Ok, ok, let's get into it...

Duel of the Fates was played in the treetops of Ewok Village.  Those poor forest dwellers didn't deserve the carnage that was about to take place.  Rob pushed play on "Duel of the Fates" on repeat, and poor CJ was almost immediately plugging her ears.  THAT'S WHY WE DO IT, BWAHAHAHAHA!

Those smiles will soon fade...

As with past Duels, the main bridge area became the spot for early conflict.  Rico/Han and Riley B./Fennec chose to put their respective Wookies facing their light side alliance instead of the threats on the dark side of the board.  That might have been in part because they didn't know Curtis was signaling the desire to flip to the dark side.  Riley B. took one of the first shots of the game, targeting Riley E./Moff Gideon.  The dark side then focused their attacks on Fennec.  It took a couple of rounds, but Moff Gideon blasted Riley B. with Astute Panic and it was a quick night for poor Riley B.

Not going well on the light side of the board...

Curtis' flip to the dark side was solid at that point, making Rico's Han Solo the next easiest target.  Grant D./Kylo Ren managed to march a Knight of Ren to the far end of the bridge, landing a three point attack on poor Han and sending Rico home in eleventh.  This was all in within the first half hour or so!

Bekah/Bo-Katan, who skipped a formal and had homework due at midnight (!!!), was playing in her sixth Duel, meaning she's now a professional.  Congrats Bekah!  Unfortunately, she tried to flip to the dark side a tad too late.  She landed next to Rob/Emperor and Parker/Vader.  They welcomed her with open arms...holding light sabers!  A You Will Die from Rob helped off Bekah in tenth, but she's debuting in the professional rankings in ninth place, and that ain't shabby!

Ahsoka Oh-no!

Julia/Ahsoka and Bella/Luke were hiding around the tree on the light side of the board, but with the rest of their alliance falling, they were suddenly exposed.  Bella played I Will Not Fight You on CJ's General Grievous, who had been stuck on the opposite end of Ewok Village discarding and drawing.  Curtis, meanwhile, used Grappling Line to pull Ahsoka into a dark side kill box.  She took hits from multiple people, and even used a nifty I Choose to Live, but Parker's Storm Trooper blasted her into ninth.

While half of the dark side alliance turned their attention to Bella/Luke, Grant/Kylo was the first to break the dark side bonds.  He began attacking Parker's Darth Vader.  Parker responded with a well-timed Your Skills Are Not Complete.  Ian/Cad stayed in hot pursuit of Luke Skywalker...literally!  Ian used his Flame Gauntlet to finish Bella in eighth place.  This was also Bella's sixth Duel, adding her to the professional level too.  Well done, Bella!

Mandone

Ian wasn't done pulling people's cards.  He used a two-point Pike attack to eliminate Parker in seventh.  Ian did a great job throughout the game keeping Cad Bane on the move and directing the action.

The final six were a very tight unit, but then it was that awkward moment in every Duel when the superior alliance has to start eating itself.  It was Rob's turn and he secretly wanted to go after Curtis' Mandalorian.  He wasn't alone, as Riley E. verbalized the same urge.  Rob promptly used a Force Lightning on Mando and Riley followed with The Great Purge (which that card is SICK, btw...).  The kill shot, however, came from CJ's General Grievous, who had finally crawled out of her back corner to join the action.  She successfully used A Fine Addition, meaning she got to add a five-point Mandalorian attack card to her own hand!  We think that's only the second time in league history Grievous has actually killed somebody with the card.

This board is so sweet!!!

That made it five Duelers left: Rob/Emperor, Grant/Kylo, Ian/Cad, CJ/Grievous, and Riley/Moff Gideon.  It was once again Rob's turn, and he asked for feedback.  Ian bravely put it on CJ's Grievous, who had literally been carding up the whole game.  A half second behind Ian saying that, Grant put his foot in his mouth and named Riley (which was pretty funny as it happened).  Arguments were presented, but Grant and Rob signaled they wanted to stick with blades, so Rob called open season on the remaining shooters.

Rob used a couple of Force Lightnings on Cad Bane, and CJ chased Ian down with Grievous.  Grant/Kylo, meanwhile, engaged with Moff Gideon.  Ian and Riley decided to focus their shared attacks on Grievous, greatly weakening CJ's hand and characters.  Riley, however, finally fell to the combined attacks of Kylo and the Royal Guards.  She was out in fifth.  CJ had Ian pinned in the back corner of the board, and would not accept his overtures to work together as near-dead Duelers.  Cad got chopped down with a five-point attack.  Ian rested in fourth.

The dark side three.

Once Cad Bane was gone the Royal Guards started shooting at Kylo Ren, which did not surprise Grant in the least.  He moved to eliminate CJ next though, and did so in brutal fashion when CJ didn't defend Vader's Bloodline.  This was just CJ's fourth career Duel, and her third place finish is her personal best.  She may have wrestled the "Tiny Titan of Terror" title from her big sister!

Grant had managed to hold onto his I Know What I Must Do (12 attack), and used it to annihilate one of Rob's Royal Guards while also reshuffling that same card back into his fresh draw pile.  Rob had reshuffled too, but he was quickly in danger as he started pulling Guard cards who were now gone from the board.  A couple of attacks later the Emperor was down to three points of health, and Grant used Choke to win the game!!!  Grant went six years between wins after his last victory, and now he went six DAYS between first place finishes!!!  He played fantastic, and it's a good reminder for the league that, despite his low character ranking, Kylo Ren is a BOSS!

Smiles all around!

Final order of finish:

12.  Riley B./Fennec

11.  Rico/Han

10.  Bekah/Bo-Katan

9.  Julia/Ahsoka

8.  Bella/Luke

7.  Parker/Vader

6.  Curtis/Mandalorian

5.  Riley E./Moff Gideon

4.  Ian/Cad Bane

3.  CJ/General Grievous

2.  Rob/Emperor

1.  Grant D./Kylo

Grant has won the last two Duels in a row, all in the span of a week.  That's a hot Dueler!!!  

Our next Duel is the last of the academic year:  MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU, which will be played on, you guessed it, May the 4th!!!  Invites will go out for that next weekend, and Rob will reserve spots for anybody graduating/leaving Waco to get one last Duel in.  It's a sad time of year for the Dueling league in that regard...

Oh - and next month will be an ALL-SHOOTERS DUEL - pew pew!!!

Preview: Duel of the Fates - April 19, 2024

 

How are we already at our second to last Duel of the academic year???  We snuck in a surprise bachelor party Duel for Ian, but the only April Duel is usually Duel of the Fates.  And that means tonight, when the Duelers gather, they'll have to listen to "Duel of the Fates" on REPEAT for the entire match!!!  Sanity will be tested, blood will boil, and ears will bleed.  We can't wait!!!

HISTORY OF DUEL OF THE FATES

2023 - Rob won with Boba Fett in the Geonosis Arena

2022 - Grant H. won with Cad Bane on Arvala-7

2021 - Curtis won with Darth Maul in Ewok Village

2020 - Alex C. won with Darth Maul in the Geonosis Arena

2019 - Kaleb won with Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Emperor's Throne Room

2018 - Ian won with Count Dooku in the Emperor's Throne Room
2017 - Kaleb won with Darth Vader in the Geonosis Arena
2016 - Alex R. won with Count Dooku in the Carbon Freezing Chamber
2015 - Curtis won with Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Emperor's Throne Room

MEET THE DUELERS

Bekah - She's riding high after securing her first career win in last month's Imperial March, and turns pro (Duel of the Fates) this month!

Bella - Pinch-hitter supreme Bella is back at the table, graciously helping us get to 12.  Duel of the Fates will also elevate her to pro status!

CJ - The Duelers will have to contend with one of the fiercest Duelers in recent league history.  She had a good run last month, finishing fifth at the Imperial March.

Curtis - After a string of subpar finishes, Curtis nearly won the Power Coupling Duel last week, finishing third with Yoda.

Grant D. - Nobody will be smiling bigger than Grant tonight.  He's still aglow from his win last weekend at the bachelor party Duel.  It was his first win in nearly six years!

Ian - My apologies for not taking a picture of Ian's surprised face when he walked in on his surprise bachelor party Duel.  He had a good showing too, finishing fifth with his favorite Darth Maul.

Julia - Julia comes into Duel of the Fates with three straight top-four finishes, including second place at the Valentine's Duel.

Parker - Shout out to Parker, pinch-hitting tonight.  He's hoping to place better than his last match, where he finished in 11th at the Fight Night duel last October.

Rico - Rico is jumping into the Duel tonight too, and like Parker, hasn't played since October.  But he did finish in fourth at that Duel!

Riley B. - The Dueling diehard is running out of time to win his first Duel before his impending graduation.  He got ganged up on at last week's Power Coupling, finishing 11th.

Riley E. - She'll hope to escape the wrath of her little sister CJ, who was responsible for Riley's lackluster seventh place ouster last month.

Rob - He's defending his Darth Maul trophy, having won Duel of the Fates last year.  Can he retain the creepiest trophy in the league?

Tonight will be high anxiety - swing on by if you want to watch some of the action!

Power Coupling Duel (surprise bachelor party for Ian) - April 13, 2024

Conveyex Train

With Ian's pending nuptials coming soon, the Jedi Council determined a surprise bachelor's party Duel was in order for one of the legends of the league.  Our only regret?  We didn't invite his lovely fiancé, who for some reason, Ian won't let come and play with us.  I wonder why...?

Surprise, Ian!

Our 12 Duelers spanned the ten-year history of the league, including Hall of Famers (JD! Nathan! Kaleb! Duncan!) and current players, all excited to pepper Ian with awkward questions about his future wife.  We owe a big thanks to JD and Jonathan, who helped orchestrate the surprise.  Speaking of surprises...none of us were when Ian, picking his character last, ended up with his favorite - DARTH MAUL!!!

After explaining the Conveyex Train board to our senior Duelers, we were ch-ch-chugging along (get!?!).  There was a lot of nervous energy thanks to the cramped board, but things got off to a brutal start when Kaleb's Emperor Palpatine dropped JD/Anakin's hand with YOU WILL DIE.  Woof!!!  JD paid for half of the Airbnb and got sent to the (train) rails in last place when Elliot's Greedo finished him off.

Ouch.

Things didn't get any more friendly.  Riley B.'s Jango, caught on one of the side speeders, was taking shots when all of a sudden Ian's Darth Maul laid his tow cable and boarded Riley's area!  I don't have to tell you how that turned out.  Fortunately, though, JD had just bought a new Star Wars card game so he and Riley played that together for the rest of the night.

Hobby Lobby Chic

Rob's Darth Vader was looking for a character on the opposite side of the board to start doing distance damage too, and with a nod of approval from Nathan's Count Dooku, Jonathan/Mace were shelled.  That end of the board collapsed when Elliot/Boba joined in.  The fatality shot came from one of Duncan/Obi's Clone Troopers.  

Despite trying to join the other side of the board, Elliot found himself the next target.  He's had a strong run of late, but his Boba was landlocked for most of the game, and folks weren't excited to see him start using Thermal Detonators.  Fittingly, Michael's Han Solo finished him off with Gambler's luck.

Friends become our chosen Dueling family.

Nathan/Dooku, Ian/Maul, and Grant/Luke looked to be a firm alliance.  Duncan used double Force Controls, however, to isolate Nathan's Count Dooku.  He fought bravely but couldn't withstand the onslaught, especially when Luke and Maul were moved so far away from supporting him.  Kaleb reluctantly used a Force Lightning to stop Nathan in eighth.  It was fun having him back at the table, though!

Duncan thinking about his drive back to Houston...

Ian, the man of the hour, became cranky that his alliance kept shrinking.  He made it known he was headed over to Rob/Vader to pay his respects and share his feelings about it.  But this wasn't Rob's first rodeo with an upset Ian, and he managed to flip the attention to Duncan's Obi-Wan Kenobi.  He hated to do it, but Vader isn't known for his sympathy.  Others rallied to that idea, and with Duncan losing a number of his cards, he was blasted into seventh courtesy of Michael's second Bowcaster of the game.

And then there were six!  Nobody was sure which direction to go, and Curtis moved in on Ian's Maul.  He survived a Force Push but, once again, wanted to tangle with Rob's Darth Vader.  Despite Rob's pleas to work with Grant/Luke to eliminate Michael's Han, Ian wasn't having it.  It was his party, and he'll Sith Speed if he wants to!  The kill shot, though, came from a Justice by Grant's Luke Skywalker.

Rob and Ian tangling - some things never change!

That left five and, just as Rob had tried to explain to Ian, Darth Maul was the next target!  Han Solo took shots and nobody else seemed excited to keep him around, bachelor party or not.  It took a couple of rounds, but Kaleb/Emperor made his second Force Lightning kill of the night.  Good game, Ian, we wish you many years of wedded bliss.

The final four players finally realized Kaleb's Emperor Palpatine was sitting pretty.  Despite taking a Bowcaster very early in the game Kaleb had deftly floated into the final four with little attention.  That finally came to an end, though.  There was a lot of haggling and some side-switching, but Curtis/Yoda didn't want to stay united.  His Force Strike parked Kaleb in fourth.  He's so good!

Three married guys at the bachelor party.

The final three had a lot of twists and turns too, and eventually all three of Grant/Luke, Michael/Han, and Curtis/Yoda were damaged.  Michael still had Chewbacca on the board, so he was the only one of the three who couldn't heal.  Over a period of time Michael somehow had the lead.  He was about to finish off a near-dead Grant with a Wookie Toss, but Grant pointed out to Michael he could use both Tosses and kill the healthier - and harder to eliminate - Yoda.  Much to Curtis' dismay, that's what Michael did!  Curtis/Yoda finished with the bronze.

Michael/Han still had the health advantage, though he was low-carded too.  Grant was just two points from dying, and only had a couple of Leia cards in his hand.  In a Hail Mary move, he charged Han with nothing in his hand, and drew for his first action.  He got a 5 point attack for Luke and used it for his second action...killing Han!!!  GRANT WON!!!  GRANT FINALLY WON AGAIN!!!  It had been nearly six years since his last victory, and this one makes it eight for his career.  He also becomes just the fifth Dueler in league history to win with Luke Skywalker, one of the original 12 characters from the game but the one with the least amount of wins.  Congrats to Michael too, who somehow survived with Han on a tough board and nearly took it down.

Together Grant has it all!!!

Final order of finish:

12.  Anakin/JD N.

11.  Jango/Riley B.

10.  Mace/Jonathan

9.  Boba/Elliot

8.  Dooku/Nathan

7.  Obi/Duncan

6.  Vader/Rob

5.  Maul/Ian

4.  Emperor/Kaleb

3.  Yoda/Curtis

2.  Han/Michael

1.  Luke/Grant

What a fun night celebrating our friend and Dueler, Ian!!!