CL Training Duel - August 10, 2026

Carbon Freezing Chamber (Dagobah)

Here we go Dueling fans - season THIRTEEN is underway!!!  The 12-way league calendar always starts with the CL Training retreat, and this year was no different.  13!?!

You can see Rob off the reflection of the glass!

We had a good mix of new and returning Duelers to start the evening - that's crucial at the CL Training Duel!  And folks didn't take too long to start mixing it up either.  After Alex/Saw Gerrera subtly moved from the light side to the dark, and Mason/K-2SO played Switzerland, the remaining light side started taking damage.  Yoyo/Krennic was the first to let the lasers start flying.  Shang, not a newbie to Dueling but playing his first 12-way, became the early target.  Emmanuel's Ponda Baba got the kill shot and Shang and Sol were out first!

The light side was in complete disarray.  Mark, playing with Chirut and Baze, tried to flip to the other side too.  But Rob had ten cards and a Knight of Ren ready to start swinging.  The dark side followed suit and Junior went into self-preservation mode by knocking out his own alliance partner!  On the plus side, Mark hasn't snapped a hamstring yet.

A drowning Dueler will climb over his alliance to survive!

Alex used an 8 point attack on David's Chewbacca...who was out of defense cards!  The wookie was eliminated and that left his Han Solo exposed.  Junior/Kit Fisto kept clawing his way up the death order by attacking and eliminating his second alliance partner!  David was out in tenth, but this did serve as his sixth Duel, meaning he's turned professional.  Congrats, David!

Time finally ran out for Junior.  Mason was keeping a low profile but Kit Fisto was there for an easy elimination.  One 4-point K-2SO shot later and Junior was retired in ninth.

Tealthica

Rob/Kylo Ren could sense early in the game that the four members from Teal would likely work together deep into the match.  Sure enough, Nayshaun/Grand Moff Tarkin initiated an attack against Kylo!  But the sequels-Sith was ready and returned fire with a Force Choke.  That left Tarkin weak on health, and Mason used a Sarcastic Kick to "boot" Nayshaun from the game!

Meanwhile, on another area of the board, Kaizer/Reva and Yoyo/Krennic started to tussle.  Yoyo was aggressive with her cards earlier in the game and was left a bit short on options, especially as Kaizer was using all of Reva's big attacks.  He finally eliminated Yoyo in seventh, but there was no question Yoyo made a big impression in the game!

The doctor writing prescriptions...

The pace of play was great all night (we finished before 12AM!) and before we knew it we were down to six Duelers.  Folks were worried about K-2SO and maneuvered to vacate him next.  Kaizer's Reva once again dropped a 5-point attack to eject Mason from the game.  Kaizer's graveyard for the game was scary!

Rob/Kylo and Eric/Migs & Q9-O could sense the Teal alliance was definitely still a thing, so Kylo swooped in and started swinging at Reva.  She got down to three points of health, but her minors were still on the board so she couldn't heal.  One turn later Kylo used Force Choke and Kaizer's reign of terror was finally over.  What a debut for the rookie, though!

Lies?  Deception?

Rob wasn't keen on the two shooters left on the board (Eric and Emmanuel's Dr. Evazan) as the only blade still standing, so he tried to form an alliance with Alex/Saw.  Alex was initially receptive to that, but then used a Boom! to damage Kylo and his last Knight of Ren.  Rob used a Force Leap to move in and attack Saw!!  Alex made a great last stand but was unable to defend against Kylo and the remaining shooters.  Rob's Force Dyad parked Alex in fourth.  Alex has played well in 2026!

Rob hoped Emmanuel's insane run with Dr. Evazan might include a partnership against Eric, who still had both Migs and Q9-O on the board, but you can't trust anyone with a doctorate in this game (wait a minute...) so Rob dropped the Mos Eisley bully with his 12-point attack!  Emmanuel was gobsmacked by the point value, just as the rest of the table was with his amazing rookie debut!  Congrats to Emmanuel on third place!

Goodluck handshakes at final two!

Smoking Dr. Evazan looked cool, but Rob/Kylo were in real trouble.  Both of Eric's double-minor characters were at full health, standing on either end of a flat map and able to shoot with ease.  Rob did his best to isolate his attacks on Migs, but both shooters kept bobbing and weaving.  Eric was flawless and Rob was drawing nothing but minor cards after the shuffle.  Migs put the final laser into Kylo for the win!!!  Congrats to Eric, this was his first career victory in a 12-way!!!  This also marked the first career win for Migs and Q9-O!!!

Final order of finish:

12.  Shang/Sol

11.  Mark/Baze

10.  David M./Han

9.  Junior/Kit Fisto

8.  Nayshaun (CLMentoress)/Tarkin

7.  Yoyo/Krennic

6.  Mason B/K-2SO

5.  Kaizer/Reva

4.  Alex/Saw

3.  Emmanuel/Dr. Evazan

2.  Rob/Kylo

1.  Eric/Migs and Q9-O

That was a fantastic kickoff to the new year of Dueling!!!  Congrats again to Eric - what a great win.  Our next Duel is actually TWO Duels - THE DOUBLEHEADER!  We'll play twice in one day.  We have a *tentative* date of Saturday, August 29, set for that, but Rob will circle back with more details soon.

Until then...PEW PEW!

  

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!

CL Training Duel - August 12, 2024

Emperor's Throne Room (via Mustafar) 

Here we go again!!!  Season 11 of our 12-Way Star Wars Epic Duels league launched this week at our annual CL Training Duel.  This is an important Duel for us because we introduce padawans to the game for the first time, in hopes of raising them up into professional Duelers.  This year's match didn't disappoint - we had EIGHT brand new Duelers play for the first time with many more joining the mailing list.  The future looks bright!

Nobody has any clue how late they're about to stay up...

With so many newbies it took a minute to teach the game and pass out the seats and characters, but our new friends figured it out quickly.  Folks explored alliances and the bounds of their characters.  The first big move of the game was definitely Caden and his Obi-Wan Kenobi.  He became an early target and, just as folks were reaching their 10-card hand limit...he played Force Balance, dumping everyone's hands and resetting the action!  He didn't win over any new friends that way, as even light side characters joined the dark in knocking him out.  Justin's Han Solo put in the kill shot and Caden became the proud owner of the Golden Jar Jar trophy.

Josiah, Caden, and Jordyn - welcome rookies!

With Obi gone it looked like the dark side alliance, which included Jonah's Mace Windu, would roll through the light.  But Jonah couldn't resist the siren call to backstab, and Mace Whirlwinded Rob's Dark Troopers!  The first time Dueler locked horns with the Godfather of the league!  I gotta tell you, I like his moxie.  The dark side didn't let that pass without punishment.  Spencer's Supreme Leader Snoke used Tied to a String to yank Mace into a dark side kill box.  Liam annihilated him in eleventh with Kylo's I Know What I Have to Do (12 point attack!!!).  Ouch!

There was a lot of buzzing around the table after that, and the new Duelers weren't afraid to leave their seats to whisper into others' ears.  Normally that would put a huge target on yourself...and that's kind of what happened to poor Jordyn!  She wanted to move in against Jordann's Darth Vader and said as much to Rob/Moff Gideon and Elliot/Qui-Gon Jinn.  But when Elliot's name came up as the next target, he spilled the beans on Jordyn and her Captain Phasma was quickly surrounded and attacked.  Liam's Kylo once again offered the death blow with double Force Chokes from Kylo.

Was there, or was there not, a Teal alliance?  We may never know...

That left 9 Duelers at the table and we were well into the wee hours of night at that point.  Josiah's Fennec Shand took early damage, especially after losing Black Krrsantan.  But he slipped off the radar and instead a new Wookie became the target - Han and Chewbacca!  Justin had done a good job keeping the pair out of trouble, but the attention soon fell to them.  Elliot's Qui-Gon absolutely unloaded on Chewey, leaving Han exposed for a final shot from Connor's Jyn Erso, who was playing a similar game of hiding in the corner and keeping his head down.

The dark side alliance cracked after that.  After some nervous haggling at the table, Spencer's Supreme Leader Snoke found himself short on partners.  In a cruel twist, his Snoke was caught without defense and Jordann used her Vader's All Too Easy to administer 20 points of auto-kill on Spencer.  Spencer was one of just four Duelers at the table with playing experience.  The newbies were out for blood!!

Happy or delirious?  It's hard to tell...

And then there were seven!  In many ways, Liam's Kylo Ren had been the backbone of the dark side alliance.  But folks were getting nervous and the alliance started to disintegrate.  The center couldn't hold and the fear of Kylo making a deep run took root.  He became the new enemy and was pounced on when he was low carded.  The final blow came from Jordann's Throw Debris.  Liam played Kylo quite well, though!

That board is gorgeous.

That left two sabers (Jordann/Vader and Elliot/Qui-Gon) and four shooters (Rob/Moff Gideon, Connor/Jyn Erson, Josiah/Fennec, and Alex/Cad Bane).  Rob didn't like how healthy Vader was or how easy it would be for Jordann to do auto-distance damage.  Elliot, meanwhile, wanted Connor's Jyn gone and his alliance with Rob splintered.  There was some side-switching going for the next couple of rounds, but eventually, the shooters formed a final four agreement.  Elliot's Qui-Gon couldn't hang on longer than Jordann's Vader, and he was sent to bed after Connor's Looks Like a Killer was delivered by Cassian.

It took a long time to eliminate Jordann's Darth Vader, thanks in large part to a Storm Trooper who was jacked on steroids, but she couldn't hold out forever.  She left some parting damage on Alex's Cad Bane before settling for fifth place.  Alex picked up the Vader trophy with a 3-point attack.

Rob being told it was past 3AM.

The four remaining shooters were quite pleased to make it to the final four together, as they had stuck with each other.  Connor/Jyn and Josiah/Fennec survived being early targets, while Rob/Moff Gideon and Alex/Cad Bane had stayed loyal throughout.  But someone had to go next, and the pleasantries evaporated when the three rookies named Rob as the next target.  It would be hard to describe the next bits if you weren't there, but let's just say Rob used some verbal jujitsu to move the target off himself and onto Connor's Jyn Erso.  Connor proved early in the game he had good instincts for Dueling, but Rob managed to rally the others and go after Jyn.  Josiah's Fennec played a 4-point attack to finally eliminate Jyn, but kudos to Connor with an amazing fourth place finish in his first Duel.

Residential Colleges at their finest.

Rob put a LOT of pressure on Alex and Josiah since they were dead set on making sure a newbie walked out of this Duel with the CL Training trophy.  He wielded cold, hard Dueling logic while dealing hit points, cycling defense cards, and sowing seeds of doubt.  His last move was to try and strong arm Josiah into an alliance by making him weaker than Connor, but Alex was loyal to Connor and Rob was out in third!  A first time Dueler was going to win!!

It looked like Josiah's Fennec Shand would be an easy target since he was badly damaged, but Josiah was deft in combatting Alex's Cad Bane.  In the end, though, he couldn't gain an advantage and Alex used There's No Shame In It to knock out Josiah.  Alex G. and Cad Bane were the victors!!!  Alex becomes the third Dueler in league history to win their debut Duel - that's rare air!!  This also makes it three career wins for Cad Bane, which is quite impressive given how new to the league he is.  A big spotlight should be put on Josiah too.  How he survived the early light side demise to make it to the final two is incredible.  Well done everyone!!!

Dueling skills > 9 square in the air skills

Final order of finish:

12.  Caden/Obi-Wan Kenobi

11.  Jonah/Mace Windu

10.  Jordyn/Captain Phasma

9.  Justin/Han Solo

8.  Spencer/Supreme Leader Snoke

7.  Liam/Kylo Ren

6.  Elliot/Qui-Gon Jinn

5.  Jordann/Darth Vader

4.  Connor/Jyn Erso

3.  Rob/Moff Gideon

2.  Josiah/Fennec Shand

1.  Alex G./Cad Bane

What a great way to start off the year!!!  Our next Duel is The Doubleheader - that's right, we're playing two Duels in one day!  Rob will send out an official RSVP for that in a couple of weeks, but we're targeting the Sunday of Labor Day weekend (September 1st) at 2PM and 7PM out at Rob's house.  More info soon!!!

 

CL Training Duel - August 7, 2023

 

Emperor's Throne Room (via Mustafar)

I can't believe this is true, but we're off and running with our TENTH season of 12-Way Duels!!!  How in the world did we get to ten years of Dueling???

One thing is for sure, to keep the league alive for ten seasons, you need new recruits!  CL Training has historically been the introductory Duel for many folks who went on to become Hall of Fame Duelers.  So it was especially exciting when this year's CL Training Duel featured eight folks playing a 12-way Duel for the very first time, with only three Duelers who ranked as professionals, and only two who had ever won a Duel before!   

Look at these padawans!

Once Rob had explained the rules, the Duelers had drawn characters, and everyone had shuffled their cards, we were off!  Cole got excited early when his Jyn Erso started taking on Austin's Armorer.  Rob/Luke Skywalker and Elliot/Fennec Shand tried to calm their light side alliance down, explaining to the newer Duelers that if we started infighting the dark side opponents on the other end of the board would find us easy targets.

Cooler heads started to prevail, and the light side, made up of almost entirely shooting characters, concentrated their fire power on the dark side of the board.  Even Jackson's Ewok, Wicket, got into the action when he threw Whirling Rocks at Atticus' Darth Vader for four points of damage!  The dark side, however, were worried about the two Wookies on the board.  The first significant loss of the game came when Elliot's minor character, Black Krrsantan,  got eliminated before he could even use Cannon Blast.

That was a big blow for the light side, but several dark side characters got caught taking major damage when they advanced forward to attack the light.  That included Michael's Moff Gideon.  When he retreated, he blocked an escape lane for his alliance mate Alex/General Grievous.  With nowhere to escape the light side shooters took advantage and Elliot's Fennec Shand eliminated Alex in 12th!  If you're new to Star Wars Epic Duels, you might be amused to learn whoever finishes last gets the "Golden Jar Jar" trophy until the next game.  Here is Alex humbly accepting it:

The light side was feeling pretty good that they suddenly had a numbers advantage against the dark, but that's a dangerous feeling because dark side Duelers are always so tricky!  Riley B.'s Orson Krennec looked like he was exposed and would be the next Dueler dying, but he managed to pull his guards in front of his main character with a special defense card and then he played Peace and Security, which forces all opponents to discard their hand and draw four new cards.  That devastated Rob's Luke Skywalker, who had just advanced with a fist full of attacks.  The dark side sensed his vulnerability and, before too long, poor Rob was out in eleventh after a Wrath from Atticus' Darth Vader.

The remaining Duelers hunker down...

Despite Jordann's Beckett and Michael's Moff Gideon being forced to hide on the back row due to severe injuries, the dark side still managed to turn the tide of the game.  Austin's Armorer became the next focal point of attack, and after a couple of misplays he found himself cardless when Isaiah's Supreme Leader Snoke moved in with a 5-point attack to off Austin in tenth place.

Atticus, who had been fixated on killing Jackson's Ewok after those rocks to the helmet, got caught moving too far forward in his lust for revenge.  That's when Rafael's Chewbacca unloaded a Bowcaster on Vader!  Atticus learned the hard way it's not wise to mess with a Wookie!  He was done in ninth place.

At this point it should be noted Michael had done an outstanding job at the social component of the Duel as he continually had alliance members moving their characters in front of Moff Gideon, who was still badly injured.  But Michael supported them in return by playing The Great Purge on Cole's Jyn Erso.  That let him pick three of Cole's cards to dump while at the same time adding three cards for Gideon.  It was an absolute backbreaker for Jyn, and eventually Michael's last Dark Trooper shot Cole off the board in eighth.

Rafael declares himself a free agent!

Nobody was having more fun at the table than Rafael.  After his Han/Chewey had blown a hole straight through Vader, Rafael got that Dueling blood lust!  With Riley/Krennec and Michael/Gideon whispering in his ear to start shooting his own light side alliance, Rafael suddenly declared himself an independent contractor.  What was bad news for everyone else was Rafael had the Bowcaster back in his hand.  He couldn't resist using it again on poor Jackson's Princess Leia, who couldn't withstand the 11 points of fury.  Jackson was gone in seventh.

Elliot/Fennec, who had tried to keep the light side together, was obviously cranky.  But hope emerged when a dark side Dueler made an unexpected attack!  Jordann, whose Beckett was deeply wounded by one of Jackson's defense cards, had been permitted to heal and card up behind her enemy alliance.  In that time she pulled both Double Blaster cards, which deal 3 points of damage each to anyone she can attack.  So Jordann rolled up on Michael/Moff Gideon and Riley/Krennec and put six points of damage on each of them!  That was enough to kill Michael in sixth, but don't let that middle-of-the-order finish diminish the fantastic night Michael had orchestrating his survival in the game.  Bravo!

Jordann just flipped the whole game!

Jordann assumed she was next after that betrayal, but to her surprise, it actually prompted Isaiah's Supreme Leader Snoke to go after the badly injured Riley's Krennec.  Before that could go down, however, Elliot had unfinished business with Rafael's Han Solo.  He used Fennec's I Don't Miss to zap Rafael/Han into fifth place.  

After that Riley was hard-pressed to find help against Isaiah's Snoke.  Jordann actually came to Isaiah's aid when she used a Trust No One attack on Riley, and Krennec bowed out in fourth place.  Poor Riley!  The undisputed general of the dark side was blindsided by his alliance, but it was a very strong Duel for Riley.

And then there were three!  Jordann's Beckett was still in rough shape.  Elliot's Fennec was at full health but, unbeknownst to the other two Duelers, he had ten minor character cards in his hand!  In what had to be one of the worst reshuffles in league history, Elliot had nothing that could help his Fennec despite holding 10 cards.  Isaiah realized he was going to have to eliminate both shooters all by himself, so he used two Force Lightnings on Jordann to eliminate her in third.  Well done, Jordann, what an amazing debut!

That left Isaiah/Snoke and Elliot/Fennec.  Elliot tried desperately to stay away from Snoke and his last Guard, but with so many BK cards in his hand his options were limited.  Isaiah, who had taken significant damage, managed to land the death blow and put Elliot out in second.  In just his third career Duel, Isaiah won!!!

Who knew Snoke could smile that big?

Congrats to Isaiah!  That win also marked the second victory for Supreme Leader Snoke.  Elliot was so close to his first career win - it's coming soon, Elliot!  Let's review that final order of finish:

12.  Alex A./General Grievous

11.  Rob/Luke Skywalker

10.  Austin E./The Armorer

9.  Atticus/Darth Vader

8.  Cole/Jyn Erso

7.  Jackson/Princess Leia

6.  Michael/Moff Gideon

5.  Rafael/Han Solo

4.  Riley B./Orson Krennec

3.  Jordann/Tobias Beckett

2.  Elliot/Fennec Shand

1.  Isaiah/Supreme Leader Snoke

Mark you calendars for Saturday, August 26, as that is the likely date for the Doubleheader!  That's right, we play two duels in one evening!  Rob has everyone out to his house and feeds you Star Wars snacks all night, including his galaxy famous YODA SODA.  The official invite email will come out soon.

We're off and running in season ten...PEW PEW!!!

CL Training Duel - August 8, 2022

 

Kamino Platform

Holy smokes and gee whiz, we're off and running for our NINTH season of 12-Way Duels!  How is that even possible!?!

As always, we begin at the CL Training retreat, and this game was actually the TENTH time we've played in that environment (the league didn't start in full until the 2nd Training Duel).  12 brave souls rushed to the table after lip sync, and we had even more playing on the side table.  It was quite the turnout!

Where else would you want to be on a Monday night?

The Kamino Platform was the randomly selected board to kick off our season, and we had three brand-spanking-new Duelers debut, which made for a healthy mix of veterans and newbies.  John won the right to roll first, and we were off and running.  It didn't take long for Drue's Black Krrsantan to rip the arm off one of Parker's Dark Troopers!

The craziest move of the first round of play, however, belonged to the Godfather himself, Rob.  He was once again playing with The Mandalorian, and just like last season, he had Whistling Birds in his first four cards!  And once again...he couldn't resist playing them right out of the gate!  He used Rising Phoenix to defect deep into the dark side of the board, and unleashed 22 points of frustrating damage to the light side!  This time, though, he didn't die first.  (Rob stands by his actions in both cases - if you have Whistling Birds in your first four cards, YOU HAVE PLAY IT!)

Curse you, Jar Jar!!!

Drue's Fennec Shand was taking hits from all sides of the board, and it didn't help that Black Krrsantan died early too.  It would be a final Astute Panic card from Parker's Moff Gideon that left Drue frustrated but the proud, temporary holder of the Golden Jar Jar trophy, given to the Dueler who finished last.  Drue, you get him for a couple of weeks until we play the Doubleheader on the last Saturday of August!

Evan's Jyn Erso was also getting jacked up by the dark side, but in a surprise twist, he was attacked from behind by his supposed alliance partner Juan/Luke Skywalker.  Princess Leia dealt a lot of early damage, including a 3-point attack to park Evan in 11th.  Ouch

Half the lights still work!

The light side was in complete chaos at this point, as those remaining on that side were trying to flip to the dark side too.  Kevin's Obi-Wan Kenobi thought he was coming over for just that purpose when he was suddenly surrounded and attacked by the dark side alliance.  He was shook and perturbed when Kat's Beckett booted him in 10th with a 2-point attack.  

With nine Duelers left at the table, rookie Andrew learned the brutal lesson of the dreaded kill box.  He thought he was surrounded by a friendly alliance, but they quickly turned on his Krennec and attacked!  The final blow was delivered by one of Duncan's MagnaGuards.  Andrew, not too bad a job for your first Duel.  Play with us again!!!

Parker, another new Dueler, was turning paranoid as his Moff Gideon was bouncing from one flashpoint to the next.  But the remaining Duelers soon set their sights on him too.  Parker pulled some pretty good moves with Gideon, but he couldn't withstand the onslaught and was eliminated in 8th by a 5-point attack from Juan's Luke.

The poo is about to hit the fan...

John's Qui-Gon and Jar Jar somehow survived multiple waves of attacks up to this point.  He also pulled off a crafty There's Always A Bigger Fish special that jacked up JD's Darth Maul hand.  But once Jar Jar was killed, it was open season on John's Qui-Gon.  It was a faster than anticipated elimination, though, because Rob used the 10-point Disintegration card from The Mandalorian for the kill shot.

At this point we were down to the final six, and Grant H.'s Darth Vader was in fantastic shape, lurking behind Jango's ship and running his portion of the alliance.  At the same time, Duncan's General Grievous, who was playing aggressively, became a target for the remaining Duelers. Grievous' frustrating retreat tactics caused Vader to finally move from behind the ship.  Rob immediately pounced on the attack angles and suggested he, JD/Maul and Beckett/Kat, work to take down Vader.  Duncan helped by not moving and forcing Vader to confront the multi-front attack.  Juan further backstabbed Grant by not killing off Grievous and letting Grant's Vader escape.  Grant was quite cranky, as he had been running up that hill all night, but it would be Duncan, playing for a higher finish, landing the elimination blow.

And then there were five!  Duncan's Grievous was the obvious target, and he was gone right after Duncan when Juan's Luke Skywalker diced him into 4th place.  The biggest moment of the game came next...who to go after next???

This is the way.

JD/Maul threw out Rob/Mandalorian as a target, but Rob immediately returned and said Juan should play I Will Not Fight You on JD and let Rob and Kat finish Maul off with their shooters.  But after the haggling the unofficial alliance of Rob/Kat/JD was formed, and they were united in getting Luke.  Juan was deft in running away from everyone else, but he eventually fell in 4th thanks to an Athletic Surge from Dark Maul.

This left it at three Duelers, and Rob/Mando and Kat/Beckett knew, as two shooters, they should stick together and go after JD's Maul.  Kat, however, would go on to experience one of the worst streak of minor cards in the draw deck EVER!  She counted 17 straight minor character cards between the end of the first deck and the reshuffled draw pile.  BRUTAL!!!  Kat got a pinch too close to JD's Maul, who had been hiding behind Jango's ship.  Kat was left mortally wounded, so Rob's Mandalorian took the final shot since he was at ten cards.  Poor Kat!!!

This left an EPIC final two of Rob/The Mandalorian and JD/Darth Maul.  Both players at different times chased and ran away from their remaining opponent.  Mando took damage but Maul really started to look worse for the wear.  Rob finally ended the evening by using a two-card action of another Disintegration and 5-point attack.  This bonkers win gives Rob 22 victories in his career!  It also marks the first-ever win for The Mandalorian!!!  Congrats to JD, whose Darth Maul did brilliantly too.

The final order of finish:

12.  Drue/Fennec Shand

11.  Evan/Jyn Erso

10.  Kevin/Obi-Wan Kenobi

9.  Andrew/Orson Krennec

8.  Parker/Moff Gideon

7.  John/Qui-Gon Jinn

6.  Grant H./Darth Vader

5.  Duncan/General Grievous

4.  Juan/Luke Skywalker

3.  Kat/Tobias Beckett

2.  JD M./Darth Maul

1.  Rob/The Mandalorian

Thanks again to all who came out to watch and/or play!  We'll play TWO games at the Doubleheader next, which should be the last Saturday of August.  Rob's hosting folks at his house, where there will be TONS of treats and his world famous YODA SODA!  More details to emerge.

Season 9 is up, up, and away!!! 

CL Training Duel - August 9, 2021

 

Carbon Freezing Chamber via Degobah

Ladies, gentlemen, Wookies...we're back!!!  That's right, last night was the official kickoff for our EIGHTH season of 12-Way Duels!!!  It was also just our second live, face-to-face Duel, since coming out of the COVID restrictions.  Look at these excitable faces:

Loki Rob spent most of the day hyping up the new CL&L staff about the game, and by the time he made it to the snack room at camp, there was a line of newbies forming around the building.  In fact, we set up a side table with the North Village game to accommodate the interest!  Welcome to all of the new Duelers!

Kat came out of retirement this year and got things started by scoring the #1 chair at the table.  The gaggle of newbies and veterans sat down behind her and we were off and running.  

Now that we have eleven different playing boards, Rob has already randomly selected them for each of the Duels this season.  What better way to kick off the new Dueling year than with the ultimate killing room...the Carbon Freezing Chamber!  And though Ryan has left Waco, he bequeathed the league his boards, so we got to play on the Dagobah version to boot.  

Miguel officially started the mayhem when his Jango Fett attacked Duncan's Kylo Ren and then flipped to the back line of the light side of the board.  Duncan was horrified as others followed suit, including JD M.'s Count Dooku and Elliot's Orson Krennic.  Elliot was particularly ruthless as he lobbed a Grenade into the Knights of Ren.

Duncan/Kylo, Evan/Vader, and Katie/Maul were in a real pickle, but they kept their wits about them and staved off the lopsided odds.  That was due in large part to Katie, who quickly amassed ten cards and dared anyone to step towards her Darth Maul.  The tension finally broke when fully carded Rob/Mace and Kat/Luke let loose on poor Miguel's Jango Fett.  Miguel escaped with just a couple of health points to spare, but ultimately bit the dust when JD M.'s Super Battle Droid popped him with a 5 point attack.  Miguel has played Jango twice and finished last with him both times.  Ouch!!!  Fortunately he was carrying around Old Bay to season his tears.

Duncan wondering what he did to deserve this...

Duncan had to be surprised he didn't finish last, but the thought was fleeting because Elliot lobbed yet ANOTHER Grenade into him and Kylo was smoked out in eleventh.  The sequel anti-hero has yet to finish above tenth place in league play.

It was assumed the light side alliance would finish off Evan/Vader and Katie/Maul next, but infighting broke out once again.  This time it would be poor Kat on the wrong end of it.  John M.'s Anakin Wrathed little Leia to death, and not long after, JD/Dooku, Ian/Yoda, and John/Anakin agreed to take her down.  Hot shot rookie Grant H. used his Lando for the kill shot.

With nine to go the attention was once again focused on the dark side of the board.  That was disappointing news for Evan, who for never having played before, was navigating Darth Vader quite well despite the odds.  The constant peppering of shots from light side minor characters, along with Grant/Lando and Drue/big Leia, was too much.  JD's Super Battle Droid once again collected the trophy.

Rookies trying not to make eye contact with Darth Maul

We should take a moment now to appreciate the incredible combination of Dueler Katie and her character Darth Maul.  What a match made in heaven!  She was fully loaded and ready to destroy, but she patiently hung back and slowly sewed doubt into the light side alliance, drawing special attention to Ian/Yoda and Rob/Mace.  The mental warfare worked, when all of a sudden Drue/Leia and Grant/Lando weren't willing to shoot Maul.  Furthermore, Katie reached a tenuous truce with Elliot's Krennic.  She was hell-bent on digging out of her hole and it worked!

Ian's Yoda wasn't having it, though.  He targeted Grant's Lando and he pushed him into a kill box where he, JD/Dooku, Rob/Mace, and John/Anakin soon dispatched the Cloud City scoundrel in eighth place.  This ticked off Drue's Leia, who formally joined sides with Krennic and Maul.  That in turn galvanized the remaining four, which was a good thing because John's Anakin/Padme combo were chomping on the bit to attack any number of them.  Rob started doing an attack/Wisdom combo to lower Krennic's health points, and Elliot eventually succumbed to his wounds when JD's Dooku bounced him with a Taunt for seventh place

Darth Maul vs. The World

With six Duelers left, Katie's Darth Maul finally started creeping forward, protected by Drue's Princess Leia.  She continued to explore cracks in the alliance, and that's when Rob reached a verbal agreement, fearing Maul would come for him first.  He agreed to go after Ian's Yoda too if Maul unloaded on him.  What happened next was...beautiful.  Darth Maul unloading Sith Speed after Sith Speed while Yoda deflected with just the occasional point of damage or two.  PURE OFFENSE VS DEFENSE!  Miraculously, Yoda survived without using either of his 15-point defenses or the Force Rebound.  Rob was clearly trying to play both sides in the Maul/Yoda showdown, but he knew he was doing zero damage to Yoda with all of the big defense in play.  Instead...he attacked John M.'s Anakin!  It was a bit risky because Anakin still hadn't used his second Counterattack, but it turned out it was still buried in the draw pile.  John, in his rookie game, finished a more than respectable sixth place!

The exact point in time the Duelers realized they would be 
useless at tomorrow's training...

With five left, JD/Dooku, Ian/Yoda, and Rob/Mace were trying to figure out how to finish off Katie's Maul, who had retreated back to her original end of the board.  Rob, however, vocalized how concerned he was that Drue's Leia had yet to use either "...I Know" defense cards or her auto-damage Covert Mission Specials.  That's when Ian hatched a combo Dooku-Force Drain and Yoda Force Lift.  Rob's Mace came in and finished off Drue.  But Holy Hannah, what a debut for Drue!!!  That was only Leia's second game in the League too, she's a force to be reckoned with.

JD had made it no secret he wanted to go to the final two with Ian's Yoda, so Rob knew he needed to partner with Katie's Maul.  They were once again in a loose alliance, but despite Maul jacking up Dooku, JD went for it and withstood a Blinding Surge to Force Push Katie to her fourth place finish.  What a night for Katie!!!

With three to go Rob begged JD to reconsider his partnership with Ian, knowing it was doomed.  JD wanted to honor his verbal decrees (while also sensing he had an honest shot at Yoda in the final two), so he declined.  This forced Rob to eliminate Dooku instead of saving his cards for Yoda.  JD M. finished in third place in his FIRST Duel...are you kidding me?!?  These rookie Duelers all look promising!

Rob's Mace was damaged from his two-front defense, and Ian's Yoda was back to full health and STILL hadn't played any of the big defense cards yet.  Rob used about 342 Wisdom cards to runaway, but the scary reality of the Carbon Freezing Chamber is that you can't run for long.  Yoda eventually Force Pushed Mace for the win!  Congrats Ian!!!!  He won the YODA trophy, with YODA, on the DAGOBAH board.  That's what you call synergy people!!!  That's also Ian's ninth career win, moving him into a tie for second place all-time.

Let's take a look at that final order of finish once again...

12.  Miguel/Jango Fett

11.  Duncan/Kylo Ren

10.  Kat/Luke Skywalker

9.  Evan/Darth Vader

8.  Grant H./Lando Calrissian

7.  Elliot/Orson Krennic

6.  John M./Anakin Skywalker

5.  Drue/Princess Leia

4.  Katie/Darth Maul

3.  JD M./Count Dooku

2.  Rob/Mace Windu

1.  Ian/Yoda

For all of our new Dueling friends...welcome to the league!  Make sure you let Rob know if you want to be put on the mailing list for future Duels!  Speaking of which...on Saturday, August 28th, we'll be playing our 8th Annual Doubleheader!  That's right, two Duels on the same day!  And don't worry, the first game is being played in the TRASH COMPACTOR, so we know that one will be short!  Rob will send more information and invites out for that after move-in.

That's all for now - congrats again to Ian!

CL Training Duel - August 10, 2020

Emperor's Throne Room

Boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, wookies and ewoks...here we go again!

SEASON SEVEN!!!

That's right, our 12-way Duel League is now in its seventh season of existence.  That is insane.  That means our rookie student Duelers were in eighth grade when this league started. It also means some of us who have played since the very beginning are OLD.

Every season usually starts in Glen Rose, TX, at the Community Leader training retreat.  Because of stupid COVID-19, we had to stay in town and play online.  That's ultimately not a big deal when facing a devastating pandemic, but man, it sure is fun playing in the rec room at camp and stuffing our faces with snacks.

It also means Rob had to recruit people virtually instead of face to face, but a nice balance of Duelers signed up to play.  We had four professionals, four amateurs, and four rookies.  But of the twelve Duelers playing, it seemed like most of them were connected to Brooks Residential College.  One concerned Dueler texted Rob before the game (it was Kaleb) and asked, "should we be concerned about all the BRC folks playing?"  Rob responded, "oh, we're doomed for sure."  #foreshadowing #brooksmafia

 

Smile if Samuel Palmer Brooks is your homeboy.

After a quick tutorial for the newbies, we were off and running!  Poor Rylie got stuck with Boba Fett for her second game in a row, but at least she got to go first, right?  But the very next Dueler after her, David T./Han Solo, playing in his very first Duel, swung Chewbacca towards Rylie's Greedo and dropped a card for his very first action.  The card?  BOWCASTER!  An 11-point attack and Greedo was dead out of the gate and Rylie was reeling!  THIS KID CAME TO PLAY.

It didn't get any less chaotic.  Kaleb, piloting Luke Skywalker, appeared to lead the charge against the dark side.  Ian/Mace followed him up the bridge, but as it turned out...Kaleb was flipping!  Rob used his Yoda to Insight Luke and discarded a Latent Force Abilities card, but was also startled to see Kaleb already had both Justices.  Rob didn't communicate that well to Ian, and the light side started shooting Leia.  By the time Ian realized what was happening, it was too late.  Kaleb convinced his own alliance to kill his minor character in order to activate the Justices.  Despite Ian's scary-serious promise to unload on Kaleb (one rookie noted he sounded like Liam Neeson in Taken), they sided with Luke, and Kaleb double-Justiced Ian's Mace into last place.

You probably thought Kaleb was now in tight with the dark side.  You would be wrong.  The dark side alliance turned on him faster than the Millenium Falcon making the Kessel Run.  Everyone chipped in with attacks, but it was a shot from Rachel's Padme that ended his night in eleventh.

The Epic Meltdown

Rylie's Boba had begun firing on David's Han Solo, but the blood lust on the dark side couldn't be quenched.  They turned on the bounty hunter, especially after Delaney non-committally wandered to their side of the board.  Migual Miguel, also playing in his first Duel, blurted out he had 20 points worth of attacks for Boba.  Rob explained how Sith Speed actually works, and Miguel cracked Rylie out of the game in tenth.  Brutal.

Rob saw the writing on the wall and tried to get Elliot/Jango, Delaney/Obi, and Hannah/Vader to join him, Rachel/Anakin, and David/Han.  He tried pointing out the tiered nature of their alliance.  It was to no avail.  David's Han was the next target, and it was Elliot who used a Rocket Retreat to punch out Han Solo in ninth.  Still, you have to hand it to David.  His first-ever card played was a Bowcaster!  That's so awesome!!!

Rachel, playing with Anakin, tried to lay low all game and hide in the corner, but the dark side alliance, aka the Brooks Mafia, turned on one of their own.  It was the seemingly innocent Hannah, using Darth Vader, that marched down and punched Rachel's ticket in eighth place.  That next one-on-one will be a bit awkward...

And then there were seven!  Miguel/Maul was up and decided to card up after he was told to pipe down by his partners.  Rob's Yoda knew this was his chance.  He noted how Maul was already in a kill box and would never be weaker to attack.  Miguel, sweet Miguel, sweet, innocent, never been back-stabbed because it was his first Duel Miguel.  He was so loyal to his alliance.  But his alliance saw an opportunity!  And after Noah's Dooku and Delaney's Obi both verbally committed to going in on him, Natalie's Emperor was forced to follow suit.  Miguel...did not take it well.  But those are the breaks!  And that's what makes this game so deliciously fun.  Everyone contributed attacks against him and he was in rough shape.  The Brooks Mafia counted on Hannah's Vader to finish him off...but she didn't!  She ran away!  It was a jaw dropper.  And it also let Miguel survive until his turn, and he took his vengeance out on Natalie's Emperor.  She survived, but he did not.  He finished seventh after Noah offed him, one spot short of his desired goal of sixth or better.  So close, yet so far away.

Coming to blows.

With six to go, Rob was sure he was next, and that was the initial plan.  His hand got gutted when Delaney played Force Balance, dumping his three best defense cards.  Just as he carded up again, Natalie finally let loose with the You Will Die.  Rob was running out of options fast, but Delaney had a score to settle with Hannah for bailing out on the Maul kill.  Poor Hannah, who started the day in Ohio and ended it late in the night and out in sixth.

Elliot's Jango popped some shots on Yoda, but it was Natalie's Force Lightning that finally put down the last light side alliance player.

There were four players left, and Noah's Dooku was already taking damage.  He pulled off some nifty attacks, though, whittling Natalie's Emperor back down after she had played two Meditations to recover from Miguel's attacks.  But the Brooks Mafia was ready to eliminate the last non-Brooks player, and Delaney swooped in with a Force Attack.  It was a heck of a night for Noah, though, who survived some early skirmishes to make it to the top four.

And then there were three!  And what a final three it was.  Besties Natalie/Emperor, Delaney/Obi, and Elliot/Jango.  Each cringed as their core alliance was about to come undone.  Natalie decided early to team up with Jango, and Delaney was incensed.  She marched down and clobbered the Emperor close to death.  Meanwhile, Elliot's Jango was fully healthy and Obi was wounded.  He figured he didn't need Natalie on the board any longer, and shot her down in third!  Natalie played a great game, easily seen as the leader of the Brooks family Dueling syndicate.  

The Nervous Nellies in the final two

Delaney still had both of her clone troopers alive (one still pinned down from a Yoda Force Lift), and thus couldn't heal.  Elliot's Zam Wessell was long gone, so he was healing Jango back to the top bar.  It didn't look good for Delaney, but there's a reason Obi-Wan is often considered the best character in the game!  She came roaring back, all while Elliot was loaded with Zam cards.  To Delaney's credit, she didn't hold back and chased Elliot all around the board.  There was a suspenseful moment where he was a point away from dying, and with her second attack, she laid down a two...only to be countered by Jango's last two defense!  But a few moments later it was over, and Delaney, in just her fourth career Duel, won the game!!!  She became the fourth female winner in league history, and as of this posting, has the highest win percentage (25%) in league history!  And she's not even a professional yet!  Let's also not overlook the fact she won with Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Emperor's Throne Room, one of the lowest ranked character/board combos out there.  It's usually a bad outcome but Delaney pulled it off!  She also had a money line at the end of the game:  "I won because I had the high ground."

Let's also give a hand to our runner-up, Elliot, who was the last major character to take damage in the game and nearly pulled off the upset.  Well done Elliot!

Our next match will likely be on Saturday, August 29th - THE DOUBLEHEADER.  And if you're new to the league, I will confirm, we're playing two games in one day.  GET READY.  As we bring our 90th (!!!) game in league history to a close, let's review the final order of finish once again:

12.  Ian/Mace Windu

11.  Kaleb/Luke Skywalker

10.  Rylie/Boba Fett

9.  David T./Han Solo

8.  Rachel O./Anakin Skywalker

7.  Miguel/Darth Maul

6.  Hannah/Darth Vader

5.  Rob/Yoda

4.  Noah/Count Dooku

3.  Natalie/Emperor Palpatine

2.  Elliot/Jango Fett

1.  Delaney/Obi-Wan Kenobi

Yoda's #1 Fan