The Fall Brawl - September 13, 2025

Narkina-5 Imperial Prison

We had an interesting rule adjustment for the dreaded Narkina prison board!  One of the characters playing was the Viper Probe Droid, the minor for the Wampa.  If you've ever watched Empire Strikes Back you realize...they don't walk - they hover!  And the scariest part of Narkina is the floor turning into an electric shock if the Duelers aren't on program.  So it was declared by the Jedi Council...the Viper Droid would be immune to the prison floor!  Would that prove to be important in this Duel???  Read on to find out!  #foreshadowing 

Smile if you love being "on program"!

It was fun to be back in the North Village Fine Arts Studio, our first Duel there since May.  The Fall Brawl had five characters that debuted this summer, and everyone scrambled to look at their decks before the game began.  It didn't take long for the fireworks to launch.  Josiah/Jod Na Nawood and Curtis/Krennic encouraged folks to concentrate on the table of Eric/Ahsoka, Rob/Mace, and Ian/Rey.  And that's what folks started to do!  But then Ian's Finn landed some cross-prison shots on Jod Na Nawood and the tides shifted.  The coup d'état was when Junior/Wampa turned on his own table, mauling Josiah/Jod in last place!!!  LET THE BIG WAMPA EAT!

Meanwhile, poor Michael, Dueling for the first time in months after welcoming a new padawan into the world, got stuck with Fennec Shand for the 147th time.  He played her aggressively, though, including using Black Krrsantan to rip off Finn's arm and kill him!  He thought they were putting Ahoska in a kill box, but the neighboring table decided to go after Fennec instead.  Nayshaun's KX Security Droid used an Arakyd Attack and Fennec was sacrificed to the Imperial Prison Complex in eleventh place.

Why are the Narkina tables so small???

Fennec dying was but a brief reprieve for poor Ahsoka.  Nayshaun was more than happy to explore all of the factory settings of his KX unit, including Crowd Control, which knocked Eric clear out of the game in tenth.  Ouch!!!  But the tables turned (literally?) after that, because Rob/Mace and others went off program while the KX droid was on the ground, and then Mace began attacking it.  Others followed suit, and it would be David's Galactic Marine who landed the final blow.  Nayshaun got short-circuited in ninth.

Curtis/Krennic could only look on in horror as his early rally to kill Ahoska/Rey/Mace had gradually turned everyone against him.  Without an alliance partner to count on, he played Peace and Security, just as Ian's Rey approached his work table.  Though everyone's hands got dumped, it wasn't long after that Rey got her sweet revenge, playing The Last Jedi to thwart Curtis in eighth place.

They call Mark's basketball shooting technique "off program."

David was giddy he had survived being first out, as this was just his second career Duel and that was his experience in his first.  His Ki-Adi-Mundi was unafraid to move attacks from one Dueler to the next, including James' Kit Fisto.  Ian's Rey migrated to David's table, though, and that's when the cone-headed Jedi was in trouble.  He couldn't withstand the multi-front attack, including a Flamethrower from Justin's Jango Fett.  Rey rang the final bell, and David was out in seventh.  That's much better than his first Duel, though!

A first-time Dueler finding his groove...

Rob's Mace was finally reloaded from that pesky Krennic Peace and Security, so he hopped over to the table with Mark's two Droidekas.  Mark didn't want to tangle with Mace, but Rob knew those two droids are super-hard to take down late in games.  An unblocked Battlemind/Whirlwind combo destroyed his full-health robot.  The second one moved over to the table hitting Ki-Adi-Mundi.  In a surprise move, motivated largely by rankings (!), Mark used his final volley of attacks against his teammate Justin/Jango!  That seriously crippled the senior Fett.  But Ian was on mop-up duty at that point, and Rey collected another trophy.  Congrats to Mark, who turned pro at the Fall Brawl and debuts in fourth place in the rankings!

Half of the final four!

Justin/Jango was on life support, so James/Kit Fisto put him out of his misery in fifth place with Form One.  That left four Duelers in the prison:  Ian/Rey, James/Kit, Rob/Mace, and Junior/Wampa.

It was Rob's turn, and he suggested Ian's Rey was the most powerful character left in the game.  He assumed the others would feel the same way, but Ian made his own arguments that Mace and his Battleminds and Whirlwinds were to be feared as well.  Junior had been playing Switzerland for most of the game, and decided to Viper shoot Kit Fisto.  Rob got the feeling James wouldn't turn against his table buddy Ian, so he launched an attack against Kit Fisto.  A Battlemind ended James' night in fourth as a result.  It was a nice rebound Duel for Kit Fisto, who debuted in last this past summer, and James continues his nice string of Duels of late.

How many times will you attack Rey on this turn?

Junior finally, begrudgingly, agreed to help dispatch Rey next.  The tension levels rose when both Junior and Rob realized Ian hadn't redrawn Rise of Skywalker, the 12 defense/8-point heal card yet.  It became a race - could they knock out Rey before she found it in her deck???  It helped that Rob used both Whirlwinds on Ian in the process.  When it was all said and done, Ian suffered bad deck luck and Mace struck Rey down in third!

Have we mentioned this was Junior's first official Duel yet!?!?!  And here he was, guaranteed a top-two finish!  Rob's Mace was banged up, especially getting caught on the electric floor a couple of times in the final four, but the Wampa couldn't heal since the floor-immune Viper Droid was still in the game.  Rob also knew the range of attacks the Wampa was capable of, so he played a tedious and patient game to slowly heal, chip away at the Wampa, and wait for the Whirlwinds to finally get back in his hands.  And that's just what happened - Junior/Wampa received the auto-4 damage for second place!  What a sensational first Duel though!!!  Congrats Junior - you played the Wampa like you grew up on the ice planet Hoth.

A lot of Mace up in your face!

This was career win #34 for Rob (obnoxious), his second win a row (gross), and he defended the Fall Brawl trophy to boot!  It also marked the tenth win for Mace Windu, who hadn't won since The Centurion, back in the Covid days of 2021.  

Final order of finish:

12.  Josiah/Jod Na Nawood

11.  Michael/Fennec Shand

10.  Eric/Ahsoka Tano

9.  Nayshaun/KX Security Droid

8.  Curtis/Orson Krennic

7.  David/Ki-Adi-Mundi

6,  Mark/Droidekas

5.  Justin/Jango Fett

4.  James/Kit Fisto

3.  Ian/Rey

2.  Junior/Wampa

1.  Rob/Mace Windu

Next month is the October Duel - FIGHT NIGHT - and we have 12 new treats with plenty of tricks in store for you!  The word on the street?  Twelve.  New.  Characters!  Have we lost our minds?!?!  YES.  And if you think we've already mined all of the possible characters in the Star Wars universe...I promise you, there will be some EPIC new combatants, drawing from the original trilogy, prequels, sequels, and beyond!!!  You won't want to miss it!  The tentative date is Friday, October 3, but Rob will send out more info on that as the date draws near...

PEW PEW!

Preview: The Fall Brawl - September 13, 2025

How in the heck is it already mid-September!?  And Family Weekend??  There's only one family that counts this weekend though - YOUR DUELING FAMILY!

(Ok - we maybe took it a pinch too far there...)

This is the 12th annual FALL BRAWL, an autumn tradition!  And to make things nice and pumpkin spicy, we're playing prison rules...NARKINA prison rules!!  That's right, the board this weekend is the Narkina-5 Prison Complex, made famous from season one of Andor.  You best get "on program" or the floor will jolt you for up to three points of damage!  This will all go down in the North Village Fine Arts Studio at 7PM. 

HISTORY OF THE FALL BRAWL:

2024 - Rob won with General Grievous in the Eravana Cargo Hold

2023 - Isaiah won with Cad Bane in the Rancor Dungeon

2022 - Ian won with Tobias Beckett in the Rancor Dungeon

2021 - Natalie won with Anakin Skywalker on the Kamino Platform

2020 - Ryan won with Jango Fett on Arvala-7

2019 - Ryan won with Mace Windu in the Carbon Freezing Chamber                                                
2018 - Courtney H. won with Emperor Palpatine in the Emperor's Throne Room
2017 - JD won with Han Solo in the Geonosis Arena
2016 - Ian won with Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Carbon Freezing Chamber
2015 - Rob won with Obi-Wan Kenobi on the Kamino Platform
2014 - David C. won with Darth Maul on the Kamino Platform

MEET THE DUELERS:

Ok, let's see who's pretending it's sweater weather in Waco...

Curtis - Everyone's favorite facilities manager made the most of his lone game at the Doubleheader two weeks ago...he won with the Clone Commandos!  The Clone Commandos have won both games they've played!!

David - Talk about a terrible initiation...poor David played his first career game in the second half of the Doubleheader and was eliminated in last place!  He's happy to unload the Golden Jar Jar from his collection.

Eniefiok - Rookie Dueler alert!!!  After a spirited debut at the side table game during CL Training, Eniefiok is making it league official at the Fall Brawl.  Congrats!!!

Eric - Good or bad news for Eric?  Reva won't be one of the 12 characters at the Duel this month.  While Eric might be relieved, his last two Duels were top-five finishes with the Third Sister.

Ian - New Duelers to the league, prepare to meet your destiny!  His name is Ian, destroyer of Duelers and fresh off a trip from Scotland.  The Fall Brawl will be the season 12 debut for Ian, our top ranked Dueler!

James - He is the only current CL who has a trophy in the league...and he has two of them!  He'd love to rebound from some middle of the pack finishes at the Doubleheader and go for the hardware trifecta.

Josiah - Josiah is the top ranked professional Dueler without a career victory.  Will the Fall Brawl be his debut atop the medal stand???

Justin - Nothing is quite as baller as defending your trophy, and Justin nearly pulled it off at Doubleheader #1 two weeks ago, finishing in second place with Darth Maul!

Mark - New professional alert!!!  The Fall Brawl will be Mark's sixth career Duel, moving him into the professional rankings.  Congrats on the milestone, Mark!  

Michael - Welcome back to league play proud papa Michael!!!  It's a big deal to get a night away from the baby.  It's an even bigger deal to secure career win number two!  No pressure, Michael!

Nayshaun - This rookie Dueler has played three career Duels and now sits atop the amateur rankings.  His third place finish at Doubleheader #2, with Moff Gideon, was particularly slick.  He's a Dueling natural!

Rob - He is trying to defend the Mace Windu trophy, which he won last year for his 30th career victory.  Doubleheader #2 last month marked his 33rd win.  Not bad for an officially old man!

MEET THE CHARACTERS:

We have FIVE of the new characters who debuted this summer throwing down in the Narkina Prison on Saturday!  Check them out...

There are some powerful characters who will be fighting for a spot on the board Saturday night!  Feel free to swing by the Fine Arts Studio and watch the action go down if you aren't playing!!!

Doubleheader #2 - August 31, 2025

Naboo Reactor Pit

Blessings to all Duelers who get to play twice in one day!  Let's recap game #2, which took place in the Naboo Reactor Pit and its glowing red laser walls...

Let's roll 2's and 5's!

We had some new blood at the table for game 2, and that included first-timer David.  Welcome to the league, David!  Unfortunately, the Duelers were not kind to him or his Captain Phasma.  He got stuck in the dreaded front chamber starting spot, which historically is awful on the Naboo board.  His night was short and not particularly sweet.  James' Grand Inquisitor finished him off in last to award him the Golden Jar Jar!  I'm so sorry David - play with us again next time!!!

Things didn't go much better for our other reinforcement, Caden.  He was playing The Armorer for the second game in a row, and thought the was secure with a good spot on the board.  However, Grant's Mandalorian played Rising Phoenix to attack him twice and knock the Armorer to near death!  When the red laser walls went up, his alliance on the reactor pit side of the board turned against him.  Rob's Royal Guard sent him packing in eleventh.

Jordyn holding court.

Justin's Princess Leia was stuck in the same starting chamber as David, and he too was taking hits and didn't appreciate it when Rob's Emperor Palpatine played You Will Die on him!  There was no recovery after that.  Nayshaun, all hopped up on Yoda Soda, charged forward with bloodlust in his eyes.  Justin was gone in tenth.  Ouch!

Before Caden was killed off, he got his revenge on Grant by playing A Mandalorian No More.  That dumped Grant's whole hand!!!  His chamber-mate James couldn't resist the easy target.  The Grand Inquisitor struck him down in ninth.  Thanks for subbing in game two though, Grant!

Alex begging for shooting lanes...

Rob's Emperor grew weary of Ally's Ahsoka at the other end of the board, so he started sending Force Lightning her way.  Eric decided to jump on board that bandwagon, and suddenly poor Ally was the target.  A Purge Trooper managed the final blow.  Ally was gone in eighth after a long day of Dueling.

Eric's Reva, who had just helped out against Ahsoka, was the implied next target, but the laser walls went up again.  Fully carded, Rob suggested to Riley/Anakin and Jordyn/Lando they take down Alex's Tobias Beckett.  They agreed and soon discovered most of Alex's good cards were still buried in his draw pile.  It was a frustrating match for Alex, who was often blocked from shooting and then betrayed by the laser walls.  He was out in seventh.

James trying to plot the rise of Darth Vader.

James' Grand Inquisitor got caught between Eric's Reva and an aura-farming Moff Gideon (Nayshaun), and had trouble defending the two-front attacks.  He almost pulled off the defense card that would enable him to play with Darth Vader should the Grand Inquisitor fall in battle.  Alas, he couldn't make it work, and Moff Gideon claimed another trophy.  James fell in sixth.

Everyone agreed Eric's Reva was the next target, and Eric's impassioned pleas and threats were as entertaining as they were logical, but the alliance held strong.  Riley's Anakin Wrathed to that end of the board and delivered the deathblow with a 5-point attack.  This was Eric's second game in a row getting into the top five with Reva!  

And then there were four!  Rob dropped a Force Lightning on Jordyn's Lando, declaring his belief Lando was the best defensive character left on the board.  Jordyn proved that with her valiant deflections and parries.  She tried to convince Nayshaun/Moff Gideon to partner with her against Riley/Anakin and Rob/Emperor, but the longer it took to take her down the stronger the other three became to eliminate her.  Jordyn played a heck of a game but Lando was a goner in fourth.

That Emperor-Anakin bond!

At the final three Emperor and Anakin did indeed go after Moff Gideon, but Nayshaun had a pretty big trick up his sleeves.  Anakin was about half health and Gideon was taking on damage, but he used It Means More To Me against the fully healthy Rob/Emperor!  That special card basically dumped Rob's entire hand, minus his Meditations!!  All three characters were now in mortal danger, but Riley's Anakin was fully loaded and seemed to be in the driver's seat.  But Rob got blessed with major deck luck when he pulled YOU WILL DIE!  He immediately played it on Riley/Anakin as he ran away from the other two!!

The laser walls went up, protecting Rob from the other two but trapping Nayshaun with Riley.  Though both were empty handed, Riley got to draw first.  She pulled an Anakin attack and Nayshaun bit the farm (that's really funny if you were at the table) in third.  What a game, Nayshaun!  Third place in his third career Duel.  The kid is a natural!

Rob and Riley, father and daughter, Sith Master and soon-to-be Sith Apprentice, in the final two!  Both were low carded and Rob was chipping away at Anakin's health with Force Lightnings.  But in a bold move, Riley got a 4-all with the walls up and moved in against Emperor with double Angers - 8 point attacks!  That left Rob at his LAST point of health!  But he had planted his last Force Lightning with a Future Foreseen as his next draw card, and used the draw and play on his turn to win the game in a thrilling ending!!!  This is the fourth time Rob has won with Emperor Palpatine!  Let's hear it for the old, wrinkly guys in the league!!!  Shoutout to Riley too, who once again came THIS CLOSE to her third career win.

Final order of finish:

12.  David/Phasma

11.  Caden/Armorer

10.  Justin/Leia

9.  Grant/Mando

8.  Ally/Ahsoka

7.  Alex/Beckett

6.  James/Grand Inquisitor

5.  Eric/Reva

4.  Jordyn/Lando

3.  Nayshaun/Gideon

2.  Riley/Anakin

1.  Rob/Emperor - just two guys at least 50 years old...

What a great day of Dueling - thanks to everyone who played!!!  Our September Duel, THE FALL BRAWL, will likely be the evening of September 13.  More details to come!!!

PEW PEW!

Doubleheader #1 - August 31, 2025

Rancor Dungeon

A little known secret to the annual Doubleheader Duels in late August/early September is that they double as Rob's birthday party every year.  He doesn't like to make a fuss about his b-day, but he does enjoy hanging out with people he likes playing the game he loves - Star Wars Epic Duels!  And this year Rob turned the big 5-0, which is insane and he doesn't really want to wrap his brain around that, but his lovely wife Jessica and his awesome daughters really went all out decorating the house and cooking up treats for the Duelers.  He just wants to say...thank you!!!  His family and fellow Duelers mean the world to him...

It's Dueling time!

 ...ok, enough of that mushy stuff, there's hardcore Dueling to recap!  The first game of the Doubleheader went down in the Rancor Dungeon, and the youngest pro in the league, CJ, was the designated monster.  Newbie Matthew couldn't help himself and killed one of Grant's MagnaGuards right out of the gate.  How did CJ react?  Let's just say she understood the assignment!  She ate Nayshaun's Qi'ra, Rob's Q9-0, and Jordyn's Baze!!!  Those three Duelers were immediately devastated in the game, as all three needed those minors to even hope to survive.  RANCORS GONNA DO WHAT RANCORS GONNA DO!

There was no recovery for poor Jordyn, as her double-minor character deck was all dead Baze cards and nothing for the remaining Chirrut.  The Rogue One heroes were done in twelfth when Josiah's Clone Trooper put her out of her misery.  Brutal!

CJ analyzing who to eat next...

Rob got a modicum of revenge against his youngest daughter when his Migs used the Cycler Rifle to put the Rancor out of the game.  But he didn't last long after that when James/Vader directed a bunch of distance damage to him.  A Wrath did him in and Rob was gone in eleventh.  Being 50 is hard!

Matthew, soaking up his first Duel like a kid in a candy shop, was bouncing everywhere with his Luke Skywalker, but the attention turned to him next.  Grant's General Grievous got some payback for his MagnaGuard by destroying Luke with A Fine Addition, which also meant he could pick up a 5-point attack from Luke's discard pile.  That card is the best!

Alex G.'s Kylo Ren had been hopping between factions, but finally settled on an alliance.  Riley's Sol became the target as she was quickly surrounded.  Kylo delivered the death blow and Riley was out in ninth.

Who put this Magnetic Thermal Detonator in the middle of the board?

Nayshaun had fought valiantly against the Rancor and others, but without Qi'ra, his Dryden Vos was definitely operating at half capacity.  He got caught without defense and Grant once again cleared the board.  Nayshaun, in just his second career Duel, was gone in eighth.  Considering how things started with the Rancor, though, that was a good showing!

James' Vader, meanwhile, had received some early heavy damage but managed to lay low for a good portion of the game, even dodging several 6-7 jokes hurled around the table  (you had to be there).  But his game-long nemesis, Ally's Ki-Adi-Mundi, proved to be his undoing.  This was just Ki-Adi-Mundi's second game, but Ally was dropping Hostile Environment attacks all over the place, and that's what ousted James in seventh.

Grant can't convince the others of the Clone Commando threat.

With six Duelers left, it clearly became Ally/Ki-Adi, Grant/Grievous, and Josiah/Obi against Curtis/Clone Commandos, Justin/Maul, and Alex/Kylo.  That was a pretty even split, but Curtis got the drop on Obi-Wan by using the double-damage of the DC-17 pistol to send Josiah back to the HRC in sixth place.

Ally and Grant rallied, though, and took down Alex's Kylo Ren.  I didn't catch the card that did him in, but I know it was delivered by Ki-Adi-Mundi.  

The final four!

The Rancor Dungeon usually plays fast, but the thermal detonator Curtis planted in the middle of the board really slowed things down.  We were pushing up against our second game start time before the levee broke.  Grant nobly protected the healthier Ally, desperate to find his Reinforcements card.  Alas, when Grant got excited and moved in to attack Justin's Maul, he forgot he was standing in the blast radius of the Clone bomb, and Curtis blew him up in fourth place.

Curtis was clearly in the pole position with his Clone Commandos while Justin was trying to live the Dueling dream of defending his trophy from last year's DH1.  He took down Ally's Ki-Adi-Mundi with an Athletic Surge to improve his odds!  Congrats to Ally - third place in just her second Duel!  She played Ki-Adi-Mundi at EXPERT level!

Sadly for Justin, he wasn't in any shape to take down the two remaining Clone Commandos.  Curtis dispatched Maul in short order to win the Duel!!!  Congrats to Curtis!  And is the Clone Commandos deck the most powerful in the league???  They've played twice and won twice!!

Final order of finish:

12.  Jordyn/Chirrut

11.  Rob/Migs

10.  Matthew/Luke

9.  Riley/Sol

8.  Nayshaun/Dryden

7.  James/Vader

6.  Josiah/Obi

5.  Alex G./Kylo

4.  Grant/Grievous

3.  Ally/Ki-Adi-Mundi

2.  Justin/Maul

1.  Curtis/Clone Commandos

Check out the recap for game 2 next!