Preview: The Doubleheader - August 31, 2025

Holy bantha fodder, we're already at the end of August!  And that means it's time for the annual DOUBLEHEADER!  As always, Rob's hosting it at his house, so there will be Star Wars-themed snacks, plenty of Yoda Soda, and dips in the bacta tank (his backyard pool) for anybody who needs to heal from a light saber plunged in their back.

"Doubleheader" means exactly what you think - we're playing twice in one day!  The first game will be at 2PM and will be in the lovely Rancor Dungeon.  And that means, you guessed it...there will be a Rancor to deal with!  Game two will start at 7PM and be contested in the Naboo Reactor Pit, the famous setting of the epic Darth Maul vs. Qui-Gon Jinn battle from Episode I.  This is a fun but frustrating board as the laser walls will spontaneously open and close throughout the night.  But both travelling Fett trophies are up for grabs!  PEW PEW!

HISTORY OF THE DOUBLEHEADER:

2024 Game #1 - Justin won with Rey in Ewok Village

2024 Game #2 - Alex G. won with Darth Maul in the Trash Compactor

2023 Game #1 - Ian won with Jango Fett in the Narkina 5 Imperial Prison

2023 Game #2 - Rob won with Yoda on the Conveyex Train

2022 Game #1 - Rob won with Count Dooku in the Trash Compactor

2022 Game #2 - Riley E. won with Darth Vader in the Naboo Reactor Pit

2021 Game #1 - JD M. won with General Grievous in the Trash Compactor

2021 Game #2 - Curtis won with Anakin Skywalker in the Ewok Village

2020 Game #1 - Stephen won with Darth Vader in the Geonosis Arena

2020 Game #2 - Ben won with Anakin Skywalker on the Kamino Platform

2019 Game #1 - Alex C. and Yoda won on the Kamino Platform
2019 Game #2 - Rob and Emperor Palpatine won in the Emperor's Throne Room

2018 Game #1 - Alex C. and Darth Vader won in the Emperor's Throne Room
2018 Game #2 - Joel and Darth Maul won on the Kamino Platform

2017 Game #1 - Rob and Jango Fett won on the Kamino Platform
2017 Game #2 - Nathan and Jango Fett won in the Emperor's Throne Room

2016 Game #1 - Grant and Count Dooku won on the Kamino Platform
2016 Game #2 - Stephen and Jango Fett won in the Emperor's Throne Room

2015 Game #1 - Ryan and Jango Fett won in the Geonosis Arena
2015 Game #2 - Grant and Yoda won in the Emperor's Throne Room

2014 Game #1 - Alex R. and Darth Maul won on the Kamino Platform
2014 Game #2 - Curtis and Yoda won in the Geonisis Arena

MEET THE DUELERS:

Let's take some time to introduce the folks who are playing the 12th annual Doubleheader!

Alex G. - game 1 & 2 - Alex certified himself as a rookie sensation at last year's Doubleheader, when he won his second Duel in just his third career game.  He's love to defend his trophy.

Ally - game 1 & 2 - This rookie Dueler played her first match at CL Training, and she's already back for more!  That's the kind of determination that leads to future trophies.

Caden - game 1 & 2 - Lost in the hubbub of CL Training and move-in was that Caden turned pro at the CL Training Duel!  Once a Dueler hits six career games they're considered a veteran.  Congrats, Caden!

Curtis - game 1 - Everyone's favorite facilities manager is jumping in for game one to meet some of the new CLs entering the league.  Curtis won twice at this summer's 12x12-way weekend, which was quite impressive.

David M. - game 2 - new Dueler alert!!!  Welcome to the table, David!  We're glad to have you join for the nightcap.  

Eric - game 2 - speaking of BRC Duelers...Eric had a career-best third place finish at the CL Training Duel, and turns pro at the Doubleheader!  Perhaps he'll do so by winning a trophy...?

Grant - game 1 - this seasoned veteran is officially appearing in his 12th year of the league with his Doubleheader match.  And he's still never finished in last place!!!

James - game 1 & 2 - nobody had a better night than James at the CL Training Duel a couple of weeks ago!  After losing his minor character early, he came back to win it all with The Stranger, good for James' second career victory!

Jordyn - game 1 & 2 - shoutout to Jordyn, who helped run the side game at CL Training!  The best Star Wars pun distributor in the league gets two shots at her first career win on Sunday.

Josiah - game 1 & 2 - it sure seems like Josiah is due for a career-first win, right?  The league vet is now in season two and ready to make a mark.

Justin - game 1 & 2 - Justin has one career victory, and it came at last year's Doubleheader!  He would love nothing more than to defend his trophy and bring it back home to the HRC.

Matthew I. - game 1 & 2 - new Dueler alert!!!  Welcome to the table, Matthew!  He will be appearing in his first two league-official games at the Doubleheader.  We love the padawans!

Nayshaun - game 1 & 2 - for CL Training being his first career Duel, Nayshaun demonstrated an incredible amount of poise!  Let's hope his character doesn't get stuck in a corner for half the game again...

Rob - game 1 & 2 - there's a dirty rumor the Dueling Godfather is turning !!!!! lightyears old this weekend!  Can an old-timer still hang with these young Jedi at the Dueling table???

MEET THE CHARACTERS:

Ok - we know who the Duelers are...how about the characters???  Here's game 1, in the Rancor Dungeon!

And here's game 2!

It should be a fun day of Dueling!!!

CL Training Duel - August 11, 2025

The Kamino Platform

Wake up sleepy heads - the new school year has arrived and that means it's SEASON TWELVE of our 12-way Duels League!!!  TWELVE YEARS OF STAR WARS EPIC DUELS!!!  PEW PEW!!!

An "Honors" Duel...

And for the first time in CL Training Duel history...we had eleven Community Leaders at the table!  Not a hall director or resident chaplain in sight.  Just a crusty old senior associate director and a gaggle of padawans.  The fireworks started fairly early.  When the light side retreated backwards instead of charging forward, Rob's Mace flipped to the dark side!  Then James' Mae used The Acolyte to try and put the kill shot on Caden's Paz...but Caden used a ONE point defense, which was enough to save Paz and auto-kill Mae!!!  BRUTAL start for James!

After a lot of back and forth shots and smack talk, the light side started to implode.  Alex/Plo Koon (new character alert!) flipped too, and Makaelyn/Lando tried to join him.  But Makaelyn became the target when she used Lando's defense card that could switch places with any other character on the board...sending poor Ally and her Darth Vader to the front lines of the light side alliance!  Makaelyn fought valiantly but Mark/Dryden Vos (new character alert!) eventually knocked her out, bestowing Makaelyn with the Goldent Jar Jar trophy for 12th place.

How many actions does Lando have?

Ally couldn't survive her sudden bad luck, despite her dark side alliance trying to clear a path to rescue her.  Caden used an Armorer Hammer Throw to knock her out in eleventh.  Ally said she was going to go home and study Epic Duels on YouTube, so I think it's a safe bet she'll play with us again.

Caden/Armorer had a rough starting spot from the get-go, and he soon found himself peppered from all angles by both light and dark side characters.  But James, seeking revenge for his loss of Mae at the start of the game, got sweet relief when his 5-point attack eliminated the Mandalorian leader in tenth place.

Check out the action from the side game!

Josiah, running on three hours of sleep and blurry interpretations of his card, started playing recklessly with his Luthen Rael (new character alert!).  Lauren/Moff Gideon had been blasting him all game, but as he suspected his end was near, he pulled his big attack, Sacrifice Everything, and did eight points of damage to Lauren!  Rob's Clone Trooper finally took down Josiah/Luthen, but the damage was done to poor Lauren/Moff Gideon.  Justin's Princess Leiah, somehow still alive, used a Camouflage shot to knock out the Penland CLM.  Mad respect for Lauren - she doesn't mess around at the Duel table!

Rob's Mace Windu moved in to try and finish off Justin's Leia, but made the mistake of not using both of his Whirlwind Attacks.  As such, he took four points of auto-damage in return from Justin, weakening the Jedi in the process.  That's when Nayshaun's Jango Fett, finally free to roam about the cabin, swooped in to use his Flamethrower!  But when it caught Rob's Mace for damage too, Rob got cranky and started attacking Jango!  Meanwhile, Mark's Qi'ra offed Justin/Lei in seventh place.

Things getting serious in the middle of the game...

Nayshaun played a great game for his first Duel, especially being stuck in the corner with Jango for half of it, but there were a lot of big blades left, and James had no problem dispatching him in sixth place with his Stranger.  That left five Duelers:  Rob/Mace, James/Stranger, Alex/Plo Koon, Eric/Reva, and Mark/Dryden.  Alex had settled down behind Jango's ship, so Rob put the target on him and the rest of the board followed suit, especially after a really awkward/maybe sincere (?) handshake with Eric (one of those you had to be there moments...).  Alex fought the best he could, further wounding Rob's Mace (who couldn't heal because his Clone was still alive).  

Just as it looked like Alex would die next...Mark attacked Rob!!!  It was a major blindside!!!  Rob's jaw dropped - he was shook.  Mark pulled off a major surprise.  He had already redrawn both Whirlwinds, but when he rolled a two instead of a three or greater, he was forced to dispatch Alex instead of going after Mark.  Alex was done in fifth.

We need more Eric at the table.

As things turned out, there was a Brooks alliance occurring right under everyone's noses!  Mark/Dryden and Eric/Reva were in cahoots.  James was just as surprised as Rob, but not nearly as wounded.  There wasn't much left for Rob to do but bleed out.  James nearly killed Dryden...but just as he was about to die, Mark played Crimson Dawn, killing Dryden himself and making his minor character Qi'ra the main character!  Rob was doomed after that.  Eric's Reva sent him packing in fourth.

Your final three CLs of the CL Training Duel!

Things looked grim for James...but don't count any good Dueler out who has The Stranger!  He and Eric locked horns...and Eric got caught with no defense!  James used a Shoto Sith attack - meaning he got two attacks for one action - and shockingly eliminated Eric in third!  Reva - Third Sister in third place.  How appropriate!

That left two Duelers!  Mark's Qi'ra was surprisingly capable in defending the first barrage from James, forcing James to Levitate his Sith in retreat.  Instead of chasing him, Mark decided to wait and card up.  That might have been the difference, as James was able to cycle through a whole mess of Mae cards to heal and get to the good Stranger attacks.  Mark eventually charged, quite bravely, but two 8-point swings from The Stranger was all James needed - he became the CL Training champion!!!  That's a crazy turnaround from his crashout with Mae to start things off.  Well done, James!!

What a night!!!

Final order of finish:

12.  Makaelyn/Lando

11.  Ally/Darth Vader

10.  Caden/Armorer

9.  Josiah/Luthen

8.  Lauren/Moff Gideon

7.  Justin/Leia

6.  Nayshaun/Jango

5.  Alex/Plo Koon

4.  Rob/Mace

3.  Eric/Reva

2.  Mark/Dryden Qi'ra

1.  James/The Stranger

What a great start to season 12!!!  The tentative date for the next match - THE DOUBLEHEADER - is Sunday, August 31, 2PM & 7PM at Rob's house!  More info to come...  Until then - PEW PEW!