Rancor Dungeon
With the first game of the night being brutally long, the remaining Duelers were anxious to move fast and lay big hits in the nightcap. An all-dark side battle with a bonus Rancor was just the thing to speed things along!
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| Two hour delayed start, but who's counting??? |
We had a late no-show for the night, which meant we needed a Dueler to pilot the Rancor. Heeding our distress signal, Jess stepped in to help eat minor characters and wreak havoc. Jess hadn't played in a 12-way Duel since May of 2015 - nobody is sure how she avoided it for nine years, but she was more than game to crack skulls.
Of course, the Rancor can't be released until the first character dies. Ian, to the surprise of nobody who has Dueled with him on this board before, was excited to make the first sacrifice. His Dooku Taunt-ed one of Julia's Snoke Guards to release the Rancor! The Rancor didn't disappoint - in its first few rounds three minor characters were eaten, Sheer Terror and Bone Crusher were played, as well as a Big Swing on Joe's Darth Maul!!!
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| Rob's wife can be a real Rancor when she wants to... |
Speaking of Darth Maul...Joe was going crazy playing in just his second Duel. He picked an early fight with Michael's Emperor Palpatine, and then took it upon himself to use an Athletic Surge to finally off the Rancor! But his wild play drew a LOT of attention from others, and Riley B. was happy to end his night in last after a 5-point attack from Reva. Joe clearly had too much sugar waiting for the second game to start!
Ian's Dooku had drawn a lot of complaints early in the game, but he retreated to the control panel square on the board, and was joined by Rob's Dark Trooper and a kidnapped Sam/Boba Fett. Those two flew there to take shots on the Rancor, so Sam assumed he could Rocket Retreat back next to Rob's Moff Gideon after tossing a couple of Thermal Detonators. But Rob could see Jonathan's Morgan Elsbeth would eventually use Boba against him, so he stabbed poor Sam with the Dark Saber! One four point attack later and Sam was stunningly gone.
The rest of the alliance tolerated it, and directed their attention towards Kevin/Grievous, Julia/Snoke, and Michaela/Kylo. They tried their best to stick together, but when Riley E., playing the brand new Droidekas deck, defected to the majority alliance, their days were numbered. Julia was first to go, thanks to Jonathan's Morgan.
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| Rancor came to play!!! |
Ian emerged from his hidey-hole spot on the board just in time to lay out Kevin in ninth. Just afterwards, though, Rob's prediction for Jonathan proved right. He stated Rob/Moff Gideon should go next. But Rob was able to argue Morgan was going to be very tough to deal with, especially since the minor characters had already converted to their zombie forms. Michael/Emperor and Riley E./Droidekas agreed, and even Michaela/Kylo jumped in for an attack. Michaela didn't live to see Morgan's demise, though, because Riley B. used Reva's Ringed Lightsaber to punch her ticket in eighth. Jonathan did indeed bow out next, with Morgan gone in seventh.
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| The Dark Side characters putting in work... |
Riley E.'s double-minor Droidekas were pretty banged up at this point, and Riley B. cut their hands off (Hands Go First) to send his namesake doppelganger out in sixth. That set up a pivotal moment in the game. Michael/Emperor put the target on Ian's Dooku, and backed up his words with You Will Die. A now cardless Ian implored the remaining Duelers to jump in on Emperor instead. It was Rob/Moff's turn, and when Riley B. made it clear he and Parker/Vader would follow suit, he used Concussive Punch on a Royal Guard, limiting Michael to one action on his next turn. It was a stunning turn of the tide after the You Will Die. Ian was very lucky on his redraws and soon used double Taunts to slice Michael into fifth.
Rob knew Ian was still low carded and exposed, though, so Moff shot Gideon next. When Parker realized Ian didn't have any defense left, he did what every Epic Dueler yearns to do - play ALL TOO EASY on a defenseless character!!! 20 points of damage later and Ian was done!!
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| Unchartered territory for both Duelers! |
That left three to go, and despite 45 minutes of pleading from Rob, Riley/Reva and Parker/Vader agreed to stay together until the final two. Rob even got Riley to crack and say he'd attack Parker if Rob played It Means More to Me, but Parker stayed true. Reva's Purge trooper shot down Moff Gideon once he was out of cards. Rob followed his first place finish from the first Duel of the night with a third place - not too shabby but he was mentally wrecked!
Neither Parker nor Riley had ever been this close to victory before, and both fumbled a bit as they tried to secure the win. Parker ended up regretting using a Throw Debris on Rob, though, because Reva was down to her last few points of health and in range of the auto-damage. Riley, meanwhile, was kicking himself for not being more aggressive in his first opportunity to attack. He stayed patient, though, and ended up eliminating Parker's Darth Vader with just one health point left on his Reva card!!! Congrats to Riley B.!!! This was his first win and a long time coming for one of the most dedicated Duelers in league history. He was beaming!!! This is Reva's first win too. Parker deserves credit too, that was a career-best finish and he played Vader wonderfully.
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| The Third Sister and First Winner |
Final Order of Finish:
12. Joe/Maul
11. Sam/Boba
10. Julia/Snoke
9. Kevin/Grievous
8. Michaela/Kylo
7. Jonathan/Morgan
6. Riley E./Droidekas
5. Michael/Emperor
4. Ian/Dooku
3. Rob/Gideon
2. Parker/Vader
1. Riley B./Reva
That's our last 12-way Duel until August's CL Training Duel, which will kick off our eleventh (!!!) year of league play. However, we're doing the Singles Tournament on Sunday, July 29, so mark your calendars now. More details coming!
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