2020 Championship - December 5, 2020

 

Naboo Reactor Pit

What a doozy, folks!  The action was fast and furious (at least until the final five) and at the end of the night we had our first ever two-time winner of a Championship!  In normal years we take a picture of each person as they die, holding the card that eliminated them, but stupid COVID has disrupted that a bit.  I'll sprinkle in a few pictures as we do our Championship breakdown!

The top 12 Duelers of 2020

12th Place - Rob

Character - Darth Maul

Card that killed him  - Precise Shot from Padme

Padme finished him off, but it was Boba Fett's shocking attack and Rocket Retreat that doomed Rob.

11th Place - Grant

Character - Obi-Wan Kenobi

Card that killed him - 4 point attack from Greedo

It was a rough night for Grant too.  He tried to get the board to go in on Count Dooku, but others rallied to his aid and Grant's alliance crumbled and betrayed him.

Ryan working on 3D boards...

10th Place - Rylie

Character - Luke Skywalker

Card that killed her - Han Solo's Heroic Retreat

Rylie tried to argue going after her was silly and short-sighted, but her own backline alliance member finished her off in tenth.

9th Place - Duncan

Character - Han Solo

Card that killed him - Throw Debris from Vader

Duncan legitimately drew mostly defense cards at the start of the game, precluding him from helping any alliance, but it left a sour taste in folks' mouths so they offed him early.

The "where are my defense cards???" look

8th Place - Alex C.

Character - Jango Fett

Card that killed him - 3 point attack from a Super Battle Droid

We've played Naboo twice.  Alex has been Jango both times.  Both times the doors never opened for him.  Then everyone killed him.  Twice.

7th Place - Delaney

Character - Darth Vader

Card that killed her - 5 point attack from Mace Windu

This should have been a joyous evening for Delaney, who was turning pro with a good character, good placement, and solid allies.  The only thing missing from her night?  Not a single defense card.  One of the worst luck decks we've seen in years.  Brutal.

Ryan makes a move.

6th Place - Nathan

Character - Count Dooku

Card that killed him - 3 point attack from an Imperial Guard

Nathan was the first person attacked in the game but he stuck with the corridor folks with his have-no-cares attitude and was cruising until he launched an attack against Yoda.  It didn't end well after that.

5th Place - Ryan

Character - Anakin Skywalker

Card that killed him - Force Push by Yoda

Nobody had more character kills on the night than Ryan, and towards the end he made a bold move by Wrathing to the Emperor to attempt a kill box, but nobody followed.  He weaseled his way out of it but finally bowed out in fifth.

4th Place - Curtis

Character - Mace Windu

Card that killed him - 4 point attack from the Emperor

Curtis kept his head down at the start of the game and moved around the board well.  He just ran up against a three-person alliance that wasn't interested in shaking things up.  It was a solid night for the former champ.

A super-tense final two.

3rd Place - Kaleb

Character - Yoda

Card that killed him - Force Lightning by the Emperor

At one point Yoda was the strongest character on the board, health-wise, and that scared the other two.  He hung around a long time messing with the final two, trying to find a crack, but they weren't willing to make a deal.  Kaleb played great!

2nd Place - Ian

Character - Emperor Palpatine

Card that killed him - Wrist Cable

From his very first turn on the night, Ian made it clear the road to victory ran through the Emperor as he took control and haunted Duelers beyond reach at the end of the hall.  He was the mafia don ordering many of the hits, he just ran out of cards at the end.  Three straight second place finishers, and he almost defended his Vader trophy.  Outstanding!!!

TWO championship titles???

1st Place - Ben H.

Character - Boba Fett

How he won the game - by being a mother fetting fett!!!

Ben laid the first big attack on the night, and somehow survived a nightmare final three against Yoda and Emperor to become the first person to win the Championship twice in our league!  He consistently moved around the board and took the knee in bowing to Ian's Emperor.  He was down to his last two health points before Ian was drawing cold.  He survived multiple You Will Die's and landed an undefended Kyber Dart to put the Emperor in big time trouble.  The laser walls stayed open and he finally drew an auto-damage card - the Wrist Cable - to win the day!  This dude will now have two years of his life with the prized Darth Vader trophy in his possession.  Unreal!!!

FINAL ORDER OF FINISH:

12 - Rob/Darth Maul

11 - Grant/Obi-Wan Kenobi

10 - Rylie/Luke Skywalker

9 - Duncan/Han Solo

8 - Alex C./Jango Fett

7 - Delaney/Darth Vader

6 - Nathan/Count Dooku

5 - Ryan/Anakin Skywalker 

4 - Curtis/Mace Windu

3 - Kaleb/Yoda

2 - Ian/Emperor Palpatine

1 - Ben H./Boba Fett

Our next Duel isn't an official Duel, it's a "test" Duel for our 12 new characters!  We're playing on December 18, and Rob still has two spots open.  Let him know if you want to play!!!

We'll kick off 2021 with the A New Hope Duel...which will be the 12 new characters too!  After that, we'll mix all the characters for future Duels.  And...we have more new boards coming.  2021 is shaping up to be out biggest year yet!

Congrats to Ben H. again, and Merry Christmas everyone!  Christ the Savior is born!

Doubleheader #2 - August 29, 2020

 

Kamino Platform

The first Duel of the day started at 1PM, with the second one scheduled for 7PM.  Rob figured that would give about a two hour cushion in between games to give folks a break from staring at their screens and time to eat (or grocery shopping in Lucas' case).

WRONG!

The first Duel didn't end until about 6:40, giving Rob about five minutes to reset the board and be ready to teach rookie Duncan the ropes!  That just isn't enough time, Duelers!  But because Rob loves you all so very much, he sacrificed a real meal to give the masses what they wanted:  MORE DUELING!

Rob remembered this time!

After giving Duncan a quick crash course (he had already studied the front desk copy of Epic Duels in North Village - YOU CAN'T TEACH HEART!!!), we were off and running again!  Six folks were playing their second Duel of the day while six came in fresh and rested.  

The Kamino Platform is an interesting battleground because the dark side start split apart from each other while the light side is congested on a narrow gangway.  Flipping can happen in several different spots, but we went through a cycle of turns with the sides knotted at six-six.  That's when Elliot's Darth Maul accepted an invite from Rylie's Han Solo to come to his senses and come over.  Seeing this, Hall of Famer Joel (another alum playing with us!), quickly moved his Dooku to the light side as well, and all of a sudden the dark side was in trouble.

It's Complicated

Miguel, finally playing somebody besides Darth Maul, got into trouble very early when Rylie's Han smoked his Mandalorian armor with the Bowcaster.  He survived, but he was seriously wounded.  That's when Ian's Emperor assumed the position of actual Emperor and began directing a defensive strategy to his foursome.  At the same time, he kept trying to persuade Elliot to flip back to his original tribe.  Elliot was conflicted.  He knew he should attack Hannah's Boba Fett, but she used a solid 1-2 punch of berating him and charming him into confusion on how to proceed.  

While this was all going down, Troy's Mace Windu rolled in a little too aggressively and started taking on major damage from the dark side, especially with the distance attacks of Ian and Delaney/Vader.  To counter the offensive and protect Mace, Ben's Anakin Wrathed to the back row to keep the pressure on Jango before Wrathing back out.  Meanwhile, Joel's Dooku continued to push forward behind Jango's ship to confront Delaney's Vader.  While Delaney managed to escape, she left a shooting lane open, exposing Jango.  She still had a Storm Trooper, though, plugging the backside pathway.

And that's when Hall of Famer Joel did something I've never seen in nearly 20 years of playing Star Wars Epic Duels:  he Force Pushed his own Super Battle Droid into attack position on Jango, and then delivered a five point attack to stun Miguel into last place.

It was one of the most brilliant moves anyone has ever seen in a Duel.  DON'T MESS WITH JOEL.

The chips fell somewhat quickly after that.  Elliot, still unable to bring himself to attack Hannah's vulnerable Boba Fett, instead flipped out and hit poor Troy!  Ben used Padme's Precise Shot to get rid of Maul, but the mortal wounds left behind on poor Mace were too much.  Delaney chucked a Throw Debris and Troy was out in tenth.  But!  In the first game of the Doubleheader, Troy reached professional status, so bravo to him!

The light side had broken through the dark side ranks at that point, and Ian's Emperor was the next target.  Padme pumped him with three attack points to end his night in ninth.  Delaney's Darth Vader was the next victim.  Lucas's used a six-point attack from his Obi-Wan Kenobi to end the evening of our recent CL Training Duel winner.

And then there were seven!

With only the original alliance, plus Hannah's Boba Fett still alive, it was Rob's turn.  His Yoda was full carded, but he was nowhere near the bounty hunter.  So with his roll he had to choose between Duncan's Luke (who pulled off a nifty I Will Night Fight You against Vader early in the game) or Lucas' Obi.  Rob figured folks would be down to remove the powerful Jedi from the game.

He thought wrong.

Despite being Force Lifted and Pushed into a kill box, Joel talked everyone into going after Rob's Yoda instead.  *gulp*  Lucas made the situation worse for Yoda by playing Force Balance, which emptied his Rebound.  Not long after Rylie's Han shot Yoda down in seventh.

The Pied Piper of Dueling

It was right about here three significant things happened.  1) Joel, through his verbal influencing, started dictating the game.  2) Rylie played Wookie Instincts...but never used the Bowcaster again, instead wielding the card in her hand as a threat to others.  3) Ben subtly moved away from everyone else to watch the chaos at a safe distance.

Joel called out Lucas' Obi, and despite a heroic defense, he finally bowed out in sixth.  Joel called out Duncan, who at that time was full health and still had Leia.  The rest of the board complied, and the rookie made a drastic exit from the game in fifth.  Duncan played great in his first Duel!  Let's hope we see him back out there in the future.

Once it got down to four, Rylie/Han and Hannah/Boba verbally committed to working together.  That made Ben's Anakin quite nervous, so he swooped in and put big, unexpected hits on Boba.  She couldn't hold out, so Hannah was done in fourth.  A major tip of the cap to Hannah!  She somehow survived her starting side collapsing and maneuvered into a career-best fourth place.

At this juncture both Joel/Dooku and Ben/Anakin were pleading for Rylie/Han to side with them against the other.  She was quite conflicted, as Enneagram 9's often are in that situation.  Ben made an unexpected move, though, when he double-Wrathed Chewbacca, eliminating the threat of the still unused Bowcaster.  Rylie was stunned and fuming.  Despite flip-flopping a few times (no shame in that, that's what shooters do in the final three!), she basically agreed to work more with Ben than Joel.  Ben was super weak, though, so Joel moved in with two Taunts...only to receive two points of damage from both of Anakin's Counter-Attacks!  Clutch!!!  Dooku and Ani were both just a couple of points from dead, so it was Riley's fully-healthy Han who would choose who would get second and third.  It took two attacks, but Joel and his non-stop mouth were done in third!  He put on an EPIC performance.  That's why he's a Hall of Famer.

Everyone, including Riley, assumed just an attack or two would finish off Ben's Anakin.  She fired at him twice, but he somehow had enough defense to cover it.  He then attacked her twice, and Han being Han, she took significant damage.  Still, with two more actions left, it seemed obvious Han had it in the bag.  Except...

...nobody told that to Anakin!  YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME.  After surviving yet another attack, Rylie was panicked and had to retreat!  But Ben rolled a huge number and moved in for two attacks.  The second card?  ANGER.  Han couldn't defend it, and seemingly out of nowhere, Ben won the game!!!  This is no disrespect for Rylie at all - she played Han beautifully - but this had to be the biggest comeback in final two history of the league.  Fully health Han vs. two points from dying Anakin.  That double-Wrath of Chewey turned out to be the difference maker.  If you see Rylie empathize with her because she did everything right and got second.  Brutal!

The final order of finish:

12.  Miguel/Jango

11.  Elliot/Maul

10.  Troy/Mace

9.  Ian/Emperor

8.  Delaney/Vader

7.  Rob/Yoda

6.  Lucas/Obi

5.  Duncan/Luke

4.  Hannah/Boba

3.  Joel/Dooku

2.  Rylie/Han

1.  Ben H./Anakin

Our next Duel will be the seventh annual FALL BRAWL.  We'll be playing online again, and right now the tentative date is September 19th, so block your schedules now.  Rob will send out an email for sign-ups later in September.

Before signing off, I wanted to acknowledge something.  I don't think anybody in the second game knew Ben was playing from his hometown, out of state.  His father passed away a short while ago and his family picked this weekend to lay him to rest.  I know he was looking forward to playing with us this night, I'm guessing as a small relief to such a hard day, and how amazing is it he could have a little victory in the middle of all this hardship.  I think that says a lot about the fun and camaraderie a community like our Duels league can provide others in times of need.  So be it in our residence halls or around friendly board games, don't forget how privileged we are to walk alongside others.  Ben - congrats on an epic win, and know we're here for you.  And that goes to everyone else - stay safe Duelers.  I love doing life with you.

The Imperial March - March 28, 2020

Kamino Platform

We did it!

We played a 12-way Duel online!

Honestly, it wasn't that bad.  Outside of the occasional lag time or spotty internet it worked quite well.  We made a decision Friday night to move to Zoom instead of Microsoft Teams.  Rob set up his webcam to have one shot on the board at all times.  Rob's daughter Penny picked the Kamino Platform ahead of time, much to the relief of most of the Duelers.  It was the first time on that board since an August Doubleheader.

"Here's the story, of a lovely Dueler..."

It looked like Elliot either forgot or was standing us up, but turns out, his internet was wonky at the house.  Riley almost played in his place but once he was logged on we were ready to go.  Very early it was clear there would be no flipping.  Elliot/Dooku stayed loyal to the dark side while Christopher's Han Solo hung in there with the light.  Kaleb, acting as Yoda, rallied the light side to begin moving forward while the dark side retreated their main characters back to let their minors begin with distance attacks.

The setup at Rob's house

Early in the match it was clear Curtis/Emperor and Ben/Vader were going to focus distance attacks on Jordan's Obi-Wan.  Christopher's Chewbacca was also a favorite target, and it was a brutal double-Choke from Vader that removed the Wookie from the game.

Elliot's Dooku got Force Pushed by Kaleb's Yoda into a light side kill box, but Ryan valiantly sent his Greedo into the fray with a Sudden Arrival that blocked attack lanes.  That wasn't Ryan's only significant contribution.  Two early Thermal Detonators had wiped out most of the Clone Troopers on the lights side.  It looked especially desperate when Elliot eliminated Jordan in 12th place with a five point attack.  The silver lining is that Jordan turned professional this Duel!  But like Rylie before him, the last two Duelers to go pro did so in last place.  Oof!  Welcome to the club...

Elliot couldn't do much after the Force Push and elimination of Jordan.  He succumbed to a Yoda Clone Trooper attack in eleventh place.  Playing Dooku on the Kamino Platform is always a tricky situation.  Elliot, come back again next month!

With Elliot off the board it was back to an even fight between the light side and the dark.  But things slowed down.  A lot.  Like seriously.  Why does it take ten minutes to decided and move a minor character one space!??!  It wasn't an online issue, that's for sure.  There was finally a moment where it looked like the dark side was going to break through, and Alex's Jango had a Missile Launch pointed at Rob's Mace, but he promised Alex he would Whirlwind and Wisdom to the dark side if he spared him the attack.  Alex showed mercy and retreated.  Rob lied!

Dead Duelers leaving funny messages is the new "it" thing...

With the light side escaping a near-fall, Ben's Vader finally accepted their repeated offer to have him flip.  On his way out from Jango's ship, he started in with distance attacks on Curtis' Emperor.  Curtis was not amused.

But the next death would actually be a light side character...Christopher's Han Solo!  He was wounded and had retreated backwards, but was still getting his shots in.  Rylie's Anakin was fully carded, though, and with Vader on their side she decided to take out the smuggler.  It was a stunning turn and poor Christopher went home in tenth.

Alex's Jango was the next one in trouble.  He had moved to the front line to lay attacks, but hadn't retreated.  That's when Grant's Luke swooped in.  Leia was dead, so his Justice attacks were now worth ten points!  He cracked one on Jango and Alex was near death.  But much like Rob had earlier, he begged Grant for mercy and promised to attack whoever Grant picked.  Grant picked Lucas' Darth Maul, who he had previously played an I Will Not Fight You on but Lucas had regained his hand and looked ready to strike.  Surprisingly, Alex kept his word and launched a Rocket Retreat on Maul, hoping to land on the light side and finally lay the Missile Attack on Rob.  Except...Lucas played Blinding Surge!  Alex was dead in ninth!!!  Rob laughed hard, knowing he had barely escaped Alex's wrath.

Bird's Eye View

I don't remember all the details, but Maul somehow landed deep in the light side.  Maybe Kaleb Force Pushed him?  Anyway, Lucas was in trouble.  Rylie's Anakin laid a hit and then it was Rob's turn.  The only problem was, at the same time, the rest of the light side was trying to kill Curtis, but Grant's last hit on the Emperor didn't finish him, he had one point of health left!  This was bad news for Grant, who was close to death himself.  Rob had to decide between killing Lucas or killing Curtis.  Rob thought he could do both.  He used a Masterful Fighting to knock out Lucas' Maul in eighth.  Then he used Seal Team Six with a two point attack on Curtis.  He was sure Curtis had no defense left.  The light side was crestfallen when Curtis turned over the two defense!  Grant had no defense and his Luke Skywalker was done in seventh.

Curtis finally bit it after that.  One of Ben's Storm Troopers sent him to the rails in sixth.  That left five Duelers, with only Ryan alive from the original dark side alliance.  His Boba tried to strike a deal, but he couldn't find any takers.  He shot Rylie's Anakin, who had Wrathed next to him, and Rocket Retreated to the other end of the board.  Rob was the only Dueler left back there, but he didn't want to align with the Fett.  Boba was done after a Battlemind.  It was fifth for Ryan, but the local morgue ran out of room after all the characters he destroyed in this game.

And then there were four!  Kaleb's Yoda was still full health and hadn't played any of his big defense cards.  This scared everyone a lot, and they started circling him.  Rylie got a little reluctant to go after him with Seal Team Six still on the board, and decided to kill him next.  This perturbed Rob, who had an irrational love for his last Clone.  He decided to go after Rylie, who finished in fourth after another Battlemind.  That was a nice rebound finish after her last place at the Valentine's Duel!

Ben lifts his trophy.

That left three, and Kaleb's Yoda still looked like the most healthy, but he was equally worried about Ben's distance attacks and Mace's generally strong character.  Ben and Rob aligned and cornered Kaleb's Yoda.  Kaleb is crafty, though, and Yoda is a boss, so he Force Pushed Mace back to the opposite side of the board.  While he came walking back across the platform Kaleb convinced Ben to use a Wrath on Rob.  That stung.

Ben and Rob decided to patch things up again, but then Rob almost flipped when Kaleb made the valid point they were destroying each other to the benefit of Vader.  But Rob drew a Whirlwind and couldn't help himself, he used it on Yoda.  Ben Threw Debris at him as well, and a five point attack from Mace later left Kaleb in third place.  It was a decision that would haunt Rob, because Ben had too much health for Mace to overcome.  Rob's card luck went cold while Ben's went hot.  It would be a long distance Wrath that left Rob one spot short of being the first Dueler ever to win the same trophy three times in a row.  But all the congrats go to Ben, who had gone a year and a month since his last victory.  And who did he win with that time?  Darth Vader!  It also marks Vader's 12th career victory, extending his lead.

The final order of finish:

12.  Jordan/Obi-Wan Kenobi
11.  Elliot/Count Dooku
10.  Christopher/Han Solo
9.  Alex C./Jango Fett
8.  Lucas/Darth Maul
7.  Grant/Luke Skywalker
6.  Curtis/Emperor Palpatine
5.  Ryan/Boba Fett
4.  Rylie/Anakin Skywalker
3.  Kaleb/Yoda
2.  Rob/Mace Windu
1.  Ben H./Darth Vader

We'll be sticking to the online format while the sheltering in place and social distancing rules are still in place.  Stay tuned for Duel of the Fates info, our April Duel.  What a crazy time, I'm glad we have this league to distract us.  Stay safe and wash your hands!

Valentine Duel - February 8, 2019

The Emperor's Throne Room

On a cold and snowy night twelve brave souls gathered to eat sweets, trade Valentine cards (thanks JD!), and...oh yeah...

...murder each other.  But not for real, this is just a game.  Right???  *gulp*

There was little reason to believe this night would be as intense as it turned out.  It started out kind enough.  Daniel was back in action for the first time as a married man, and he brought his traditional red velvet cupcakes with him.  Jack was debuting in his first ever match.  Courtney was turning pro, as this was her sixth Duel.  And Riley, the youngest Dueler at just ten years old, was wearing a sweatshirt with gold sequenced lettering that read "TEAM HAPPY."  But things went from happy to mad/sad real quick...

We made Ian look at the camera this time.

Jack drew the number one chair in his first Duel, and picked the Emperor's Throne Room and Obi-Wan Kenobi in his position of power.  Clearly he wasn't here to mess around.  After a round of drawing cards Chris W. made the first flip, running his Han Solo past Chewbacca towards the dark side.  Rob was getting the toe taps from JD/Luke under the table indicating he wanted to come over too.  But, he didn't move either of his characters to the other side so it was hard to demonstrate his intended loyalties. 

About that time Curtis decided he was coming over to the dark side for sure.  He sensed JD wanted to join but knew that was probably one too many defectors so he unloaded both of Padme's major attack cards on the exposed Luke Skywalker.  JD was stewing as Curtis beat him to the flip.  Chewbacca put the final hit on JD before it got back to him and he decided to vacate the premises without his Jar Jar Trophy.

Danny Cupcakes

The remaining light side characters were in a free fall.  Ian's Yoda started taking distance attacks from Ben/Vader and Riley/Emperor.  Jack's Obi-Wan was suddenly exposed as one of his Clone Troopers bit the dust.  Rob/Dooku suggested a tag team on Obi, and Daniel rolled in first with a fully loaded Darth Maul.  Turns out, it was only a solo mission!  Jack had jack-squat for defense and bowed out in eleventh.  Right after that Riley pulled the You Will Die card and dropped it immediately on Ian's Yoda.  There was nothing he could do as a volley of dark side lasers peppered the air with Joel's Greedo ending Ian in tenth place.

The mega-alliance turned their eyes towards Courtney's Mace Windu, the lone light side character left.  But Rob sensed a need to thin the herd of shooters so he dropped two Taunts on Chris' Han Solo and convinced Kaleb to finish him off with Zam.  From there the remaining players started attacking Mace, and it was actually Riley and a Force Lightning that finished off Courtney.  Don't feel too bad about her eighth place finish, though.  Now that she's a professional Dueler, she just debuted in SECOND place in the rankings!!!  Congrats, Courtney!

Daddy-Daughter Dance Duel

That left seven Duelers to go.  Ben and Kaleb made a head-nod to Rob which he interpreted as a signal to go after Joel's Boba Fett.  He was shocked to learn it was actually for Riley's Emperor!  Curtis moved in first, laying a hit that she defended.  Rob, going next, couldn't wrap his brain around attacking an alliance partner who was also his daughter so he improvised an attack on Curtis instead.  Ben and Kaleb were kind enough to follow suit and poor Curtis, who was only doing what he thought the group wanted, had to settle for seventh place.

Joel didn't like the looks of that at all, especially after Dooku's last remaining Super Battle Droid took a shot at Boba.  Joel and Rob engaged in an on-board and verbal spar as they tried to sway the remaining Duelers to their side.  Both were taking their fare share of hits, too, but it was Dooku who outlasted Boba and a Taunt sent Joel to the rails. 

That left five Duelers:  Rob/Dooku, Daniel/Maul, Jango/Kaleb, Ben/Vader, and Riley/Emperor.  Daniel started targeting Rob, who was now damaged but still engaged.  The other four seemed loosely determined to kill Maul, though, until a spacing error left Jango vulnerable for a fully carded attack.  Kaleb pinky-promised Daniel he wouldn't attack him and then promised Rob the same but ultimately attacked Rob.  Rob...was cranky.  Kaleb and Rob had their horns locked but Ben bartered a truce so they could finish off Daniel first.  Red Velvet bled red in fifth, but it was a nice Duel for Daniel who inflicted a lot of damage on the board.

With four to go Kaleb's Jango looked healthiest so he started receiving the attacks.  But his ability to move and take ranged shots started hurting Ben's Vader, especially after a Missile Launch.  Kaleb could smell the panic coming from Ben and bullied him into finally killing Rob, who was acting as a meat shield for Vader as he desperately hunted Jango.  Rob couldn't talk him out of it and his Dooku was done in fourth.

This was actually a fast paced game...until the final three.  Ben/Vader and Kaleb/Jango decided to team up against Riley's fully healthy Emperor.  And it took them over an HOUR to finally whittle her down.  She deftly deflected and healed as she chased both of them around the board.  Finally, though, they started to catch up to her.  Riley made a tactical error by not playing a Meditation before Ben played Your Skills Are Not Complete, dumping them from her hand.  But she did find a second You Will Die and hit Kaleb with it.  All Ben had to do was roll a 4 or more to use All Too Easy...but he rolled a three!  He finally Threw Debris at Riley and her best ever Duel was done in third place.  It was quite hilarious to see how hard she made those two earn her elimination.

Riley's You Will Die card was devastating for Kaleb but he still had the health advantage over Ben.  They circled each other around the board but Ben eventually pinned him with Vader and his last Storm Trooper.  On his second attack, a defenseless Jango got the All Too Easy right in the face.  That's back to back second place finishes for Kaleb, who slides up in the standings and is on a nice roll of late.  But all the glory goes to Ben, who won his third trophy of the season!  Nobody is playing better than him right now!

Final order of finish:

12.  Jd/Luke
11.  Jack/Obi
10.  Ian/Yoda
9.  Chris/Han
8.  Courtney/Mace
7.  Curtis/Anakin
6.  Joel/Boba
5.  Daniel/Maul
4.  Rob/Dooku
3.  Riley/Emperor
2.  Kaleb/Jango
1.  Ben/Vader

Stay tuned for more details for next month's Duel:  The Imperial March!  Also, JD, you can pick up your JD trophy in my office Monday...

2018 Championship - December 1, 2018

Kamino Platform

Friends, Duelers, Countrypersons-becausewe'resensitivetogenderdynamics, lend me your Jar-Jar sized ears.

What a night!

For the first time in league history we had the top 12 ranked Duelers able to play in the Championship, as it was meant to be.  Indeed, as it should be!  That also meant it would be the toughest.

The night started off with an epic roll-off for who would go first, as both Grant and Rob rolled a 5 three times in a row before Rob choked with a 2-all.  Grant, sitting in the only padded chair around the table, picked Kamino, still one of only two boards to be played for a Championship.  He also chose for us to open our character envelopes all at the same time, for an extra dose of tension.  Well played, Grant!

There will be blood.

As is custom and tradition in Championship Duels, this recap will feature a post of the dead Dueler with the card that did them in.  An extra brutal way to rub defeat into eleven Duelers faces!

12th Place Dueler:  Chris K.

Character:  Darth Maul

How He Died:   2 point attack from Mace Windu's Clone Trooper

This was one of the quickest 12th place finishes in Championship history.  Woof!  His Darth Maul allowed a lane at the start of the game for JD's Han Solo and Chewbacca to defect to the dark side of the board.  Instead, Chewbacca Wookie Tossed him to the light side, Ryan's Luke played I Will Not Fight You, and Chris' night was done.

11th Place Dueler:  JD

Character:  Han Solo

How He Died:  4 point attack from Greedo

JD broke the game wide open when he Wookie Tossed Maul, but that also meant his Chewbacca was deep in enemy territory with a potential Bowcaster.  Grant's Vader and Rob's Emperor began raining down distance attacks to neutralize the threat (and maybe exact a little revenge).  Ian's Greedo landed the kill shot.

 10th Place Dueler:  Ian

Character:  Boba Fett

How He Died:  5 point attack from Anakin

Hand it to Ian, he stayed loyal as the dark side collapsed.  Curtis' Dooku and Ben's Jango both peaced out, leaving Ian, Rob, and Grant with a daunting future.  Ian did manage a sweet thermal detonator that took out Padme and a pack of clones, but as the Jedi marched forward there was nowhere left for Boba to go.

9th Place Dueler:  Grant

Character:  Darth Vader

How He Died:  Anakin's Anger

Grant and Rob got stuck behind Jango's ship, praying for a miracle that never came.  As the Jedi descended they chose Vader before the Emperor and it resulted in an unfortunate exit for the top ranked Dueler.

8th Place Dueler:  Rob

Character:  Emperor Palpatine

How He Died:  Jango's Missile Launch

Rob grew a special, disgusting handle-bar mustache for the Duel and his creativity was awarded with an early death.  He rocked the boat before he left, though.  He dropped a You Will Die on Kaleb's Obi-Wan, hoping his alliance would stab him in the back.  His Force Lightning on Mace proved helpful too.

7th Place Dueler:  Joel

Character:  Mace Windu

How He Died:  Yoda's Force Strike

Joel faced a stunning fall from grace as his nearly fully healthy Mace, side by side with Anakin and Obi, moved to take out Yoda.  But Luke (the person, not the character), had a couple of tricks up his sleeve.  He double Force Lifted Mace and Obi and Ryan's Luke (the character) played a double I Will Not Fight You.  Alex's Anakin stood up Obi-Wan, which made Joel the unfortunate target.

6th Place Dueler:  Luke R.

Character:  Yoda

How He Died:  3 point attack from Jango

Luke was ducking and diving as his seeming partnership with Curtis' Count Dooku deteriorated.  His double Force Lift of Mace and Obi was brilliant, but he misplayed a Force Rebound which left him weak and exposed.  Despite a logical plea to spare his life as the strong characters planned to attack each other, Ben felt more comfortable eliminating the defensive wizard.

 5th Place Dueler:  Kaleb

Character:  Obi-Wan Kenobi

How He Died:  5 point attack from Luke

Kaleb's fifth place finish was somewhat miraculous given the enormous misfortune he face throughout the game.  When Rob played You Will Die on him he lost ALL THREE 12 point defense cards!  He then lost his 6 and 7 point attacks when Ryan played I Will Not Fight You.  He talked his way a couple of spots up the order of finish but he was too weak to withstand Ryan's Luke attack.

4th Place Dueler:  Curtis

Character:  Count Dooku

How He Died:  5 point attack from Luke

Curtis made an early defection to the light side work for a deep run in the Championship as he pursued his second title.  Once it got to the final four, though, he ran out of partners.  He had a shot at attacking Jango but instead tried to rally the board against Alex's Anakin.  It didn't work for him and Ryan rolled in for his second 5 point elimination in a row.

3rd Place Dueler:  Ryan

Character:  Luke Skywalker, because of course

How He Died:  3 point attack from Anakin

There was a moment in time that it looked like Ryan might pull his second Championship title, but ultimately, Jango and Anakin teamed against him.  The crucial play might have been his Justice play on Anakin, who used his Counterattack to neutralize the 10 points of damage.  Still, Ryan played an outstanding Duel.  He pulled off four I Will Not Fight Yous and escaped a Force Lift/Push combo.

2nd Place Dueler:  Alex C.

Character:  Anakin Skywalker

How He Died:  4 point attack from Jango

Alex played a masterful game!  The Trey Rey pick might have been cursed, but you couldn't tell from the dominance he displayed throughout.  Ultimately, his attacks from Dooku and Luke left him a little too weak to survive a shooter.

First Place Dueler:  Ben H.

Character:  Jango Fett

How He Won:  pew pew!

Ben played an outstanding game!!!  His early flip made a huge difference as he sneaked behind the light side and made his distance attacks count, always staying in the majority partnership.  Plus, how cool is it to win with the number one character on his home court board???  Congrats to Ben!!!

Well friends, that's all for now - we'll be back to kick off 2019 with A New Hope in January, stay tuned for more details!

Thanksdueling! - November 10, 2018

Geonosis Arena

The first surprise of the night came when Ryan brought all three of his 3D boards for us to play on!  And it just so happened that all three would be eligible for use since the Carbon Freezing Chamber was played last time.

He also brought brownies, which would prove to be a vital lifeline of energy for those of us who died early and had to endure watching the longest Duel in league history.  This is nothing any of the Thanksdueling! Duelers should be proud of. 

(And before we move on, Ryan showed me a sneak preview of the new board he's working on - a facsimile of Carbon but on a whole new world - and level - of insanity.  I can't wait to see the finished product...)

Ian forgot to say "cheese."

For the second game in a row Rob drew the #1 chair and the Trey Rey pick for the win, this time being Jango Fett.  Kaleb was pumped to have Han Solo for his second consecutive Duel as well.  That's sarcasm if you can't tell.

Geonosis was the board we selected so we brought out the Hoth 3D version.  It's amazing how much the color of the figurines pop against the stark snowy background.  Bryant, a rookie Dueler sitting by his wife in his first ever game, won the honor of rolling first and before we knew it, we were off and running.

Grant's Emperor and Ian's Vader made some initial movements to try and secure their borders, but it had a couple of unintended consequences.  Grant moved an Imperial Guard in front of Ben H./Luke Skywalker, preventing them from being able to flip.  They also didn't give a clear lane for Chris W.'s Darth Maul to retreat backwards.  That slight misplay turned the tide as Chris, in an unusual move based on his previous playing style, made the bold decision to flip to the light side.  Bryant and his Count Dooku followed suit and the remaining dark side of the board was in deep doodoo.

Curtis making a promise to Ryan and then immediately breaking it.

The only glimmer of hope for the bad guys on the board was that the light side alliance were doing a weird square dance with their characters instead of immediately advancing.  The delay in support left Bryant exposed, and his Count Dooku got chewed up by Rob's Zam Wessell and ultimately died when Ian Threw Debris.  It was a rough first Duel for Bryant, but Dooku's starting spot on Geonosis is notorious for poor finishes.  Let's hope Bryant comes out again and gets a better character/spot combo!

After Dooku died the light side finally started whittling down the over-matched dark side.  After Rob's Zam was killed his Jango Fett was sitting exposed and open deep in his own territory.  He made an unexpected move by Rocket Retreating directly next to Ben's Luke behind the snow drift.  Ben wasn't too crazy about it and Joel brought his Mace Windu around to begin the attack.  Kaleb's Chewbacca laid the final hit and Rob died in 11th.  His night wasn't nearly done, though...

"Oh the Dueling outside is frightful..."

Ian's Vader was the next target.  Curtis' Yoda Force Pushed him into a kill box and Ian couldn't survive so it was tenth place for them.  From there the alliance converged on Grant's Emperor Palpatine.  He actually hung in there for a bit, but Chris used a volley from Darth Maul to give Grant his worst finish in over two years.  What was especially frustrating for Grant was his best cards were buried  in his deck. 

It looked like Charlie's Boba Fett was next to die, but Curtis suggested Ryan's Obi-Wan instead.  Some of the alliance agreed and started laying some hits.  Ryan was stacked on defense and successfully held off the first wave.  That's when he got Curtis to agree to call of the dogs in exchange for not playing his Force Balance card.  As soon as Ryan's turn ended Curtis reneged  on the deal.  It was stunning and made many folks feel dirty.  Like that dirty feeling that doesn't go away no matter how many times you take a shower.  But Curtis didn't care!  He finally got his Birthday Massacre revenge on Ryan as Obi-Wan died in eighth.

With seven to go Charlie, sporting funny Storm Trooper pajamas, had nowhere left to run.  He tried to rally the board against Katie's Anakin, but he was unsuccessful in getting others to join.  Joel's Clone Trooper capped the final laser round in the bounty hunter's head.  Charlie, a rookie to our league but a veteran of the Martin underground scene, handled himself quite well in his debut.

This game was so long Kaleb, Chris, Joel, Curtis, and Ben all shaved
and grew their full beards back before it was done.

That left six Duelers...and it was midnight.  I wish I was kidding.  A painfully deliberate and overly consultative style of play made Thanksdueling! a death march.  It was decided that Curtis's Yoda was too powerful and thus he was surrounded by a kill box.  But after a round of attacks, Curtis somehow convinced the board he was no longer a threat.  Kudos to Curtis because his argument made zero sense but the others bought it.  Ben threw out Katie's name and everyone got excited to focus their attention on Anakin.  She was able to use a Calm after Ben's I Will Not Fight You and escape to the other end of the board but it only delayed the inevitable.  Katie was done in sixth after Kaleb Bowcasted her.

And then there were five!  Curtis, still running his influential mouth, moved the target to Chris' Darth Maul.  The rest of the board went along with it and poor Chris, the first defector, ran out of gas in fifth.  It was a nice bounce-back performance for Chris, though, and he's only one Duel away from gaining professional status.

"Ring around the rosey, pocket full of Latent Force Ability ..."

The jig was finally up for Curtis.  Ben/Luke, Kaleb/Han, and Joel/Mace were no longer interested in his little green Jedi.  It took a couple of rounds to beat him down, but fourth place was as far as he'd go.  It was a nice comeback performance by Curtis, who was M.I.A. in the league for a few months.

With three to go Kaleb could see victory but had a hard time playing Joel and Ben against each other.  He successfully landed another Bowcaster, this time against Mace Windu, but both Mace and Leia returned fire.  Kaleb made a last plea to Joel to spare his life, but Joel ultimately couldn't count on Han to stay with him so he gutted him in third.  It was great to see Kaleb make a deep run again, especially with a weak character like Han Solo.

And then there were two!  Ben had the health advantage as his Luke Skywalker was still going strong, but Joel wouldn't kill Leia, leaving Luke's Justice cards a pedestrian 5 point attack.  They began to chase each other around the snow bank.  Would Joel land a double Whirlwind?  Would Leia rain down shots???

In the end Mace's previous damage proved to be too fatal.  Joel hung in there but he couldn't withstand the combined attacks of the Skywalker children.  Congrats to Ben on his first ever 12-Way Duel win!!!  His household now displays two trophies as he finally has one to pair with Courtney's.  And let's not ignore another outstanding finish by Joel, who has been second or above in three of his last four Duels.  The final order of finish:

12.  Bryant/Count Dooku

11.  Rob/Jango Fett

10.  Ian/Darth Vader

9.  Grant/Emperor Palpatine

8.  Ryan/Obi-Wan Kenobi

7.  Charlie/Boba Fett

6.  Katie/Anakin Skywalker

5.  Chris W./Darth Maul

4.  Curtis/Yoda

3.  Kaleb/Han Solo

2.  Joel/Mace Windu

1.  Ben H./Luke Skywalker

And that brings us to our last Duel of 2018...THE CHAMPIONSHIP!  The top twelve ranked Duelers will get first invite to play.  The match is set for December 1st.  More details to come!