12x12-Way Weekend Episode 12: It's Been A Ride, Babes! - June 22, 2025, 8AM

Carbon Freezing Chamber

All good things - and all long, grueling things, must come to an end!  The 12x12 weekend concluded with the original 12 characters on one of the original boards that came in the box, the Carbon Freezing Chamber!  The play moved quickly as folks were ready to pack up and hit the road.  The light side dwindled the dark and Elliot managed to win the last two Duels of the weekend, this time with Anakin Skywalker!

Episode 12 - classic 12 characters in their starting positions.

12x12-Way Weekend Episode XI: Rogue Fun - June 21, 2025 (8PM)

Naboo Reactor Pit

We finally made it to Saturday night and the most anticipated Duel of the weekend - the all-new character Duel!!!  That's right, we introduced 12 new characters into the league, and saved their first Duel for the penultimate Duel of the weekend!  Though we were closing in on midnight before the match even started, everyone insisted we play the Naboo board so we could see as many cards as possible from the new decks.  Here are the new decks!

It's a nice mix of prequels heroes, recent tv shows, and even a character from the original trilogy!  The last team standing, though, which included the insane new card "Order 66," was Elliot with the Clone Commandos!  This triple-minor deck carried the day!!

2024 Championship - December 6, 2024

Carbon Freezing Chamber (via Dagobah)

The best and the brightest of the 2024 Dueling year gathered on Friday night to award the Darth Vader trophy to a victor among victors.  Only those who won a Duel in the past calendar year and/or who were ranked high enough got a seat at the table.  The mood was light but determined - every Dueler there wanted to be the Champion!  Alas, only one would pull it off...

Who shall be crowned champion?

A tradition of the Championship recap blog is to post the Duelers with the card that killed them.  It's just a little extra salt in the wound!

12th place - Riley B.

Character - Rey

Card that killed him - 5-point attack from Grievous

Though Riley has moved into a reserve player status after graduating last spring, his win this summer promised him a spot at the Championship.  Julia's Armorer defecting to the dark side out of the gate left the light side deficient.  Riley tried to mind the gap by boldly moving Rey to the front of the battleline, but he couldn't survive Alex's General Grievous.

11th place - Julia

Character - The Armorer

Card that killed her - Justice

The big news of the night was Julia announcing to the table that she and Michael are expecting their first child in May!  Congrats Julia!!!  She got stuck with an unfortunate starting spot but defected early to the dark side.  A second flip much later in the game by Michael unintentionally left Julia exposed to the last stand of the light side.  Grant's Luke hammered her with Justice.

10th place - Ian

Character - Sol

Card that killed him - Hero of the Empire

Ian was the defacto leader of light side alliance and did his best to hold his troops together.  But with a non-shooting minor character and a starting position in the back corner, he was limited in what he could do.  He did help coordinate Julia's ouster, but the presence of Justin's Orson Krennic proved too much and the #1 chair was excused in tenth.

9th place - Grant

Character - Luke Skywalker

Card that killed hi - 2-point attack from Anakin

One of the big moves of the first half of the Championship was Grant playing I Will Not Fight You on Rob's Darth Maul.  That sent the whole dark side into a scramble as they tried to save the horned sith.  Everyone wanted Leia off the board but she was nearly impossible to kill until Michael's Wrath.  Still, it must have felt good to use Justice before being eliminated.

8th place - Jonah

Character - Bo-Katan Kryze

Card that killed him - Faster Than You

Jonah was low-key the MVP for the light side, deftly using Bo and the Night Owls to deliver damage or provide cover when their team was in a pinch.  His Teal buddy Alex kept giving him the "flip" hand signal, but Jonah was noble and stuck to his side of the board.  Even better?  This was Jonah's sixth Duel, meaning he's now a professional Dueler.  Congrats Jonah!

7th place - Alex G.

Character - General Grievous

Card that killed him - 5-point attack from Kylo Ren

When Michael's Anakin became the second flipper to the dark side, that meant an original alliance member was getting squeezed out.  Alex drew the short straw, as folks were nervous about him, especially after seeing how well he played Grievous at last month's Thanksdueling!.  He was justifiably disappointed by the betrayal.  

6th place - Justin

Character - Orson Krennic

Card that killed him - Athletic Surge

Justin proved quite pesky for the light side in the early stages of the game, as Orson and his Death Troopers gave the Jedi and friends all they could handle.  At the final six, negotiations became quite tense as folks were trying to figure out who to take to the final three and beyond.  Justin was loyal to Elliot/Cad and Rob/Maul throughout, but in a surprise move Rob unloaded on him!

5th place - Curtis

Character - Reva - Third Sister

Card that killed him - Athletic Surge

Curtis was heroic in the first half of the game, using his Purge Troopers to protect Rob's depleted Darth Maul.  But in the second half of the game he was clearly aligned with Jordann/Kylo.  He and Rob tried to turn the table against each other, and he was shocked when Michael turned against him too.  But Rob got the death blow when he used his final action after killing Justin to get Curtis too.

4th place - Rob

Character - Darth Maul

Card that killed him - I Know What I Have To Do

Rob went from nearly being the first one dead to the final four after a double elimination of two characters in one turn.  That proved problematic as he attempted to maneuver into the top three.  Neither Michael nor Jordann would work with him and Elliot couldn't stick his neck out for him.  The 2023 Champion couldn't survive and got destroyed by Kylo's best card.

3rd place - Jordann

Character - Kylo Ren

Card that killed her - Flame Gauntlet with a side of Bounty

The best dressed Dueler played a deft and strategic game all night but fell short when her rotating allegiances between Elliot and Michael ultimately led to them teaming up against her.  It took a looooooong time to eliminate her, which is a credit to both Kylo Ren and the great way Jordann was piloting him.  Her first win remains elusive but within reach!

2nd place - Michael

Character - Anakin Skywalker

Card that killed him - No Shame In It

In the history of our league the "second flipper," the frowned upon moniker of the second person who jumps a sinking ship late in the process, is usually the first to go in the remaining alliance.  However, Michael moved to the front of the line and nearly took the whole thing down.  A determined bounty hunter and an unlucky run of Padme cards at the end doomed him in second, though.

1st place - Elliot!!!

Character - Cad Bane

How he won - ...he's Batman!

Elliot had a terrible starting spot on the board, a weaker character, and constantly shifting alliance dynamics throughout the game.  But he also had Cad Freakin' Bane - a slick and slippery villain made for the tensions of a Championship.  He kept his head down, was never the perceived threat, and was always on the right side of the numbers.  Well done on career victory number two, Elliot!!!

What a night!  That was some high caliber Dueling that went late into Saturday morning.  Shoutout to Cad Bane, too, who becomes the first new character to reach 4 wins.  That's impressive - he's only one win away from tying original character Luke Skywalker for 12th place in wins!

Thank you everyone for a fantastic 2024!  What a year - one of the most exciting in league history.  Let's carry that mojo into 2025.  We're tentatively planning the January Duel - A New Hope - for Satruday, January 17th.  Announcements will go out for that in the new year...

Until then, may the force be with you.  Always.

 

Valentine's Duel - February 9, 2024

Kamino Platform

Before we jump into the recap...Elliot, one of our seasoned Duelers, is doing something truly sacrificial at the end of the month.  He's donating one of his kidneys to his uncle!  We said a prayer for him last night, but we'd ask you be thinking about him as he does this incredibly daunting thing.  We already know Elliot is an incredible person, so here's to a speedy recovery!!!  We're sending lots of Wookie Healing his way.

February has proven to be a busy time of year.  Many of our Dueling regulars found themselves stuck with other obligations, so we had FIVE newbies join our ranks to get the Valentine's Duel off the ground.  We want to offer a big thanks to everyone who made their debut last night!  It sure looks like they enjoyed themselves...let's get into it!

Not pictured:  the table of sweet treats!

Kamino historically plays as a tricky map at the start of the game.  Do the light and dark sides stay true to each other?  Do smaller fights break out?  Julia/Jyn Erso made the first move in this regard.  She quietly slid over to the dark side, since her starting spot was essentially on their end of the board.  Elliot/Bo-Katan was cranky when she shot at one of his Night Owls...so he decided to join her!  He used an Ariel Assault to rocket deep into dark side territory.  Rob's Armorer became the target for that, especially after his Paz had shredded Sam L.'s Super Battle Droids.  The light side was in complete disarray, capped off by Jordan's Obi-Wan Kenobi finishing off Rob in last place!  That did allow Rob to use Instagram Live for our first official live broadcast of a Duel, though!  #littlevictories

Hunter itching to reach the Emperor.

With Rob gone and Julia/Elliot defecting, the negative attention was focused on Samuel/Han and Jackson/Lando.  However, Hunter's Reva was buried deep on the back line.  When he casually asked about being able to shoot the Emperor - his own alliance mate! - others in the back of the dark side put the target on the rookie Dueler.  While Reva has an impressive offensive skillset, her defense is lacking.  Caleb, also playing his first Duel, used Kylo Ren's Laserguard to make the kill!  The bonus damage put Reva on tilt, and Hunter was gone in eleventh.

Samuel M. learned the hard way Han is hard to protect in a 12-way.  Despite some nice attacks from Chewbacca, the onslaught was too much.  Michael maneuvered a Royal Guard to put the final hit on everyone's favorite smuggler.  No worries Samuel - there's nothing you can do in that situation!

Deflecting attention away from the power couple.

There were nine Duelers left, and eight of them wanted poor Jackson's Lando Calrissian off the board.  Everyone knows Lando is a tenacious defender.  Jackson proved it by lasting several rounds, pinned down on the far side of the board.  He eventually succumbed to his injuries after trading spots with Count Dooku.  But congrats to Jackson - by playing his sixth 12-way, he's turned professional in the rankings!

A big swing came after Lando's ouster.  Ian/Captain Phasma and Michael/Emperor Palpatine declared war against each other, and tried to rally everyone else to their respective sides.  The tide turned when Michael played You Will Die on Phasma.  The other Duelers couldn't resist the unblocked attacks.  Caleb finished him off with a Kylo Force Choke.  Last month's big winner was gone in eighth.

A post-Phasma world...

The next stretch of game reallllllllyyyyyyyyy dragged on.  I mean close to two hours, it was silly.  There was a ton of debate on how to proceed, alliances formed and disappeared like the swirling Kamino seas.  By the end of it Sam L.'s Count Dooku was in trouble.  Up to that point he had implemented a brilliant floating Switzerland strategy, never staying one place too long and always malleable to what was happening around him.  But he got caught in the middle of a loose alliance, led largely by Elliot/Bo-Katan and Julia/Jyn.  Cassian delivered the kill shot and Sam was gone in seventh.  It was a heck of a debut, Sam!

Obi-Wan emerging as a force on the board.

Riley B./Morgan had long been advocating an anti-shooters alliance, but he was chagrinned to learn some of the blades wanted to join the blasters.  Everyone moved in on Morgan, but Riley activated his zombie Night Troopers, protecting Morgan and frustrating the other Duelers.  Caleb, who had been stalking the board all night with Kylo, finally agreed with Riley and joined with him.  They were crestfallen to learn Michael/Emperor and Jordan/Obi wouldn't join them.  Caleb obliterated Julia's Cassian with an undefended Vader's Bloodline (we think the first time that's worked in league history?), but Kylo was finally caught without defense.  Jyn got revenge and shot Caleb down in sixth.  Caleb looked like a veteran though, and not the rookie he actually was.

Morgan - the alleged least powerful character on the board...

And then there were five!  Unfortunately for Riley B., everyone was sick (and kind of scared) of zombies and Nightsister Magicks.  Riley delivered some masterful taunting, but once the other Duelers finally buckled down with serious attacks, Morgan wasn't long for this world.  The Emperor actually made the deathblow.  Riley expired in fifth.

Cute dog alert.

In a continuing theme of the night, the alliances stayed rather fluid.  Jordan/Obi and Michael/Emperor eventually connected with each other against the shooters, but Michael had caught some damage when the Emperor left the protection of Jango's ship.  He dropped another You Will Die, this time on Elliot's Bo-Katan.  But the shooters rallied.  Julia brilliantly used Kyber Crystal Luck to dump both of the Emperor's Meditation cards!  Jordan sensed this was the time to turn on Emperor too.  But it would be a combo Darksaber - Ariel Attack from Bo-Katan that shockingly eliminated Michael in fourth!

It was nothing short of stunning to see three light side characters as the last ones standing.  That was the side which had imploded at the start of the game, but they managed to oust the entire dark side!  It wasn't surprising when Julia/Jyn and Elliot/Bo-Katan stuck together against Jordan's superior Obi-Wan Kenobi.  This was Jordan's first game, but you never would have known it!  Despite a valiant effort, he couldn't maintain a two-front battle.  The shooters whittled him down to nothing.  But Jordan - third place in your first game!?!  Incredible!

Julia and Elliot - the first two Duelers to attack each other in the game, were the last two!  Elliot had the advantage, as Jyn was without Cassian but undoubtedly burdened with useless Cassian cards in her hand.  Elliot was patient, chose his spots, and with a lightly wounded Jyn he made his move.  He attacked with the Darksaber and Julia...chose not to defend!!!  The eight point attack secured Elliot his first career win!!!  He previously had the league record for most games played without a win, but that is now erased from the history books.  Congrats Elliot!!!  This also marked Bo-Katan Kryze's first victory...in just her fourth Duel!  Big shout-out to Julia too, who stayed one step ahead of trouble all night.

Elliot - our thoughts and prayers are with you this month as you and your uncle head into surgery.  You are amazing - congrats on your first win!!!

Final order of finish:

12.  Rob/The Armorer

11.  Hunter/Reva - Third Sister

10.  Samuel M./Han Solo

9.  Jackson/Lando Calrissian

8.  Ian/Captain Phasma

7.  Sam L./Count Dooku

6.  Caleb/Kylo Ren

5.  Riley B./Morgan Elsbeth

4.  Michael/Emperor Palpatine

3.  Jordan/Obi-Wan Kenobi

2.  Julia/Jyn Erso

1.  Elliot/Bo-Katan Kryze

Next month brings us...THE IMPERIAL MARCH!  We'll need to wait and see where Baylor falls in the NCAA Tournament, but we're looking at either the night of March 22 or 23.  Until then...

PEW PEW!