May the 4th Be With You - May 1, 2026

Ewok Village

It is official.  We've now logged TWELVES years of play for our TWELVE-WAY Duel League.  What an incredible journey!!!  202 unique Duelers have sat at the round table over the years, and 182 games have been played.  It's absolutely bonkers.  To all who have contributed to the madness over the last dozen trips around the sun...THANK YOU!  PEW PEW!!!

May the 4th Be With You!

This Duel was all kinds of kooky.  Riley was playing her last Duel as a minor - she turns 18 next week! But she managed to log 72 Duels before reaching legal voting age.  David C. joined us for the first time in...over ten years!!!  His last match was the Valentines Duel back in 2016!  

But the craziest character at the table was newbie Chris, a senior from Brooks who had played in the BRC games but never a 12-way.  He had Migs and Q9-0 in the back corner of the dark side of Ewok village...and started shooting Riley/Beckett!  All kinds of chaos erupted after that, and Chris was running his mouth and cracking jokes the whole time.  Meanwhile, David C./K-2SO defected from the light side and high-tailed it across the big bridge.  It was a lot to process!

Mark serving Sic 'Ems to everybody at the table.

Chris' shenanigans couldn't be tolerated, so the dark side enveloped him and Jonah's KX Security Droid cruelly ended his night in last place by playing Hang.  Ouch!  But Jonah found himself in trouble when the light side concentrated shots across the bridge to his spot near the Ewok hut, including some pestering attacks from Rob's/Obi's maniacal Clone Trooper (bloody clankers!).  It would be Junior, though, playing his first game as a professional who would do the most damage to poor Jonah.  His Luthen emptied his own hand with Sacrifice Everything and Kleya made the eventual kill shot.  Jonah was out in eleventh, but shout out to him for being our super-sub this semester, we're calling him back up to the active roster in the fall!

The main bridge saw a big standoff between the Jedi of the light side (Curtis/Yoda, Rob/Obi, Kat/Ki-Adi) and the rest of the dark side alliance.  David M., playing the Clone Commandos, couldn't find his footing or choose a side.  When he declined to detonate his well-placed Magnetic Thermal Detonator, the Jedi had enough and David M. was out in tenth, with the last Clone falling to Obi-Wan's Jedi Attack.

A CL class padawan's first Dueling action...

Hans, playing Darth Vader, was also making his debut at May the 4th.  He'll be a CL next year, but he was bent on taking down his CL class instructor, Rob!  He did manage to Choke one of the Clones, but Obi's Force Control moved Hans into his first kill box.  Is there anything quite as cute as a Dueler stuck in their first kill box??  Give Hans credit, he wrecked some shop during the game, but Curtis' Yoda struck him down in ninth.  Play with us again in the fall, Hans!

The Jedi somehow managed to hold the bridge, but the dark side finally got wise and concentrated all of their attacks on a specific character.  Unfortunately for Curtis, they chose his Yoda.  His own son Miles, playing Reva, managed to knock his old man down to his last couple of health points.  David C. used the card effects of K-2SO's Clear A Path to auto-damage Curtis into the night.  It was eighth place for Yoda.

David using his "readers".

Things were still very much up in the air with multiple characters carrying damage.  But Mark/Dryden decided to flip sides and join Luthen and the Jedi!  That was back-breaking for the dark side alliance, none more so than Miles.  Miles passed on the chance to flip a round or two earlier, and despite a couple of expert uses of In The Gutter, Rob's Obi-Wan used a 5 point attack to finally eliminate the Third Sister.  Congrats to Miles, though, who has been promoted to the amateur rankings!

With six Duelers to go, it looked like Riley/Beckett and David C./K-2SO would be the next two to go, but those two were still feeling sour about Mark's flip, and Rob and Kat thought they saw Mark trying to organize the shooters against Obi-Wan and Ki-Adi-Mundi, so Dryden became the new target!  There were too many corners to defend so Mark was out.  Sic 'Em Sixth Place.

The Tiny Titan all growns-up.

It was deep into the night at this point, and that's never a good sign for sleepy Riley.  Give her credit, she was the first person attacked in the game, and here she was still in the top five.  But she and David parted ways, and the light side alliance used that rift to isolate her.  Junior's Kleya got another kill shot and Riley was done in fifth.  Give it up for Rob's first born - 70+ Duels, 3 wins (including the 2025 Championship!), and all before she turned 18.  Next year she'll be a college student Dueler...where did the time go?!?!?!

Speaking of the passage of time...David C., with ten years of rust to shake off, was still in the game!!!  He was the first defector and had a heck of a night, even if he spent too much time at the Pizza Hut.  But the octave-raising Kat used her Binary Brain to strike down the program director in fourth.  The early word on the street is that David won't wait ten years again to play his next Duel!

Just Jedi doing Jedi things.

And then there were three!  Junior/Luthen, Kat/Ki-Adi, and Rob/Obi.  Poor Junior's Luthn had been stuck on his final two health points for hours, thanks in large part to Riley's Double Blasters.  And he was bummed to discover the Jedi were going to stick together against the slippery founder of the rebel alliance.  But Junior indirectly determined the outcome of the game when he focused most of his final shots on Rob's Obi-Wan.  Rob got a little revenge by knocking him out with a Force Control.  But Junior turned pro and had his strongest performance to date in the league.  Well done, sir!

Rob knew he had his work cut out from him, because Junior/Luthen had roughed him up and Kat had wisely healed up over the past hour (and had Griffin make an In 'n' Out run).  It took a few rounds, but Kat navigated multiple Force Balances throughout the night and emerged victorious against Rob - congrats Kat!!!  She becomes the first female Dueler to win four games in the league - and did so after taking a year off from her last Duel!!!  This also marks Ki-Adi-Mundi's first career win!  He's quickly proving to be a formidable presence on the Dueling board.

New office decor!

The final order of finish:

12.  Chris/Migs & Q9-0

11.  Jonah/KX Security Droid

10.  David M./Clone Commandos

9.  Hans/Darth Vader

8.  Curtis/Yoda

7.  Miles/Reva

6.  Mark/Dryden

5.  Riley/Beckett

4.  David C./K-2SO

3.  Junior/Luthen

2.  Rob/Obi-Wan

1.  Kat/Ki-Adi-Mundi

In all seriousness, for those members of the league graduating and/or moving on from the department, please know how much you are loved and appreciated and that you made such a positive impact in our little Dueling universe.  May the Force be with you.  Always!

And stay tuned - Rob will try and organize a movie Duel for the new Mando & Grogu movie.  It looks like Dueling the afternoon of May 23rd and then headed to the movies for an evening showing could be the plan.  He'll email more info on that soon!

12x12-Way Duel Weekend Episode X: Book of No Regrets (4PM)

 Ewok Village

This was easily the most sentimental Duel of the weekend - Episode X was the "knows how to play them" Duel, where each Dueler was paired with a character their known for over the years.  And we saved one of the very best boards for it too - Ewok Village!

This game got started very late because of the last one, but it also marked the most exciting finish of the weekend.  Both Riley/Vader and Ian/Maul got down to their last point of health, but Ian pulled it off for his SIXTH WIN WITH DARTH MAUL WHICH IS SOOOO GROSS!!!

Episode 10 - "knows how to play them" Duel.

Doubleheader #1 - September 1, 2024

Ewok Village

The 2024 Doubleheader Duels took place on a Sunday this year, something a bit out of the ordinary, but with a home football game and Labor Day weekend conspiring together, it just kind of made sense!  We had three new Duelers and handful of veterans to make for a good mix.  Ewok Village was the board, and folks were in awe of the design and esthetic.  

To the trees!

As is normal on the Ewok board, the big bridge became the tension point.  Cate, playing with Bo-Katan in her first-ever Duel, was eager to start blasting!  Joined by Michael's Leia and Wicket, they held the front of the bridge while Alex G.'s Boba Fett made way for Ian's Mother Koril and Kelnacca (possessed!), one of the new characters made their way for reinforcements.  But the dark side was shocked my lil' Wicket, who used a Surprise Attack to lay major damage.  Ian kept at it, but after attacking Leia twice, got shocked by 8 points of defensive damage from the two ...I Know cards!  Cate, playing with bloodlust, shot Ian off the board in last place!

Michael's commitment to the front line defense was noble, but the light side had a lot of sabers stuck on the back row.  By the time they had moved forward Leia was hurting.  Alex used a shot from Boba Fett to send Michael to the bacta tank in eleventh.  Two top ranked Duelers were gone just like that!

Michael and Cate strategizing.

Alex/Boba, who came into the game fresh off his CL Training debut victory, learned it's hard to win two games in a row the hard way.  He became the new target, despite Julia/Krennic's continued invitations for Cate to flip sides.  Curtis' Yoda Clone Troopers got the drop on him, eliminating their identical brother in tenth.

The view from above.

Julia tried to keep her side rallied, and managed to off Rob's Padme while she was at it.  She also wrecked everyone with Peace and Security, but when Jordann/Indara and Justin/Rey rolled in, there wasn't much left in her tank.  Justin dropped the hammer with The Last Jedi and a four point attack.  Julia outlasted her husband but not a ninth place finish.

Poker-faced James, also playing his first Duel, was dug in as Count Dooku at the base of the tree.  He was quickly surrounded by Rob/Anakin, Curtis/Yoda, Justin/Rey, and Jordann/Indara.  No matter how strong a Sith Dooku is, nobody can outlast that kind of a threat.  Jordann, piloting Indara's debut Duel, used a Mission Leader attack to park James in seventh.

Maybe we should play this board every month?

Mark, playing with Jango, was stuck in the back corner all game and didn't have a lot of options.  When Rob/Anakin and Sam/Beckett rolled in, his Jango managed to Rocket Retreat to the opposite corner.  His new spot on the board didn't last, though, and Cate pulled off a nifty Ariel Assault to end a fellow Mandalorian in seventh place.

Hand it to Cate, she wanted to get her money's worth in her first Duel!  It pained her not to drop at least one attack on each of her turns.  She didn't realize that the remaining sabers weren't too keen on leaving shooters on the board.  She was quickly surrounded but it would be fellow shooter Sam/Beckett who used Double Blasters on her in sixth place.  It was a great first Duel, Cate!

Rob/Anakin had tried to stick with Sam, but he was perceived as too passive, so when Jorann/Indara put the target on him, Rob followed suit by Wrathing Val.  Sam pulled off a slick Grappling Line/It's Been A Ride, Babe combo, though, jacking up Indara, Yoda, and Rey.  But Ani hit Beckett with Anger and Sam was gone in fifth.

That left the final four, and Curtis' Yoda was in the best shape card and health wise.  That led to Rob putting the target on him and Jordann/Indara and Justin/Rey agreeing.  Curtis went to the hidey-hole spot on the board and dug in like a tic on a bantha.  But even the little green Jedi Master couldn't hold out forever.  Just once again used The Last Jedi and Curtis exited late to his small group in fourth.

.5 selfies are not skibidi cringe

Jordann's Indara was hurt but couldn't heal because Torbin was still alive and kicking, so she and Ani/Rob formed an alliance against Justin's Rey.  Rob went in for a big attack, but Justin used The Force Awakens to heal Rey eight points.  He then used a Backflip to off Jordann!  Rob misremembered the direct damage of that card, and was in big trouble as Rey and Finn started lighting him up.  He managed to finally Wrath Finn but it was too little, too late.  Justin/Rey eliminated Rob in second.  Justin was his second-ever career Duel!!!  How about these new Duelers this year!??!?  The win also marked Rey's third career victory.

The final order of finish:

12.  Ian/Mother Koril

11.  Michael/Princess Leia

10.  Alex G./Boba Fett

9.  Julia/Orson Krennic

8.  James/Count Dooku

7.  Mark/Jango Fett

6.  Cate/Bo-Katan Kryze

5.  Sam/Tobias Beckett

4.  Curtis/Yoda

3.  Jordann/Indara

2.  Rob/Anakin Skywalker

1.  Justin/Rey

Congrats again, Justin!!!  You played great.  But this is just the first recap on the day...

Duel of the Fates - April 19, 2024

Ewok Village

Friends - we finished a Duel before midnight!  IT'S ABOUT TIME.  What a great pace, people!  We were wrapped up around 11:15, which is a welcome change.  What's that?  You want to know who actually won??  Ok, ok, let's get into it...

Duel of the Fates was played in the treetops of Ewok Village.  Those poor forest dwellers didn't deserve the carnage that was about to take place.  Rob pushed play on "Duel of the Fates" on repeat, and poor CJ was almost immediately plugging her ears.  THAT'S WHY WE DO IT, BWAHAHAHAHA!

Those smiles will soon fade...

As with past Duels, the main bridge area became the spot for early conflict.  Rico/Han and Riley B./Fennec chose to put their respective Wookies facing their light side alliance instead of the threats on the dark side of the board.  That might have been in part because they didn't know Curtis was signaling the desire to flip to the dark side.  Riley B. took one of the first shots of the game, targeting Riley E./Moff Gideon.  The dark side then focused their attacks on Fennec.  It took a couple of rounds, but Moff Gideon blasted Riley B. with Astute Panic and it was a quick night for poor Riley B.

Not going well on the light side of the board...

Curtis' flip to the dark side was solid at that point, making Rico's Han Solo the next easiest target.  Grant D./Kylo Ren managed to march a Knight of Ren to the far end of the bridge, landing a three point attack on poor Han and sending Rico home in eleventh.  This was all in within the first half hour or so!

Bekah/Bo-Katan, who skipped a formal and had homework due at midnight (!!!), was playing in her sixth Duel, meaning she's now a professional.  Congrats Bekah!  Unfortunately, she tried to flip to the dark side a tad too late.  She landed next to Rob/Emperor and Parker/Vader.  They welcomed her with open arms...holding light sabers!  A You Will Die from Rob helped off Bekah in tenth, but she's debuting in the professional rankings in ninth place, and that ain't shabby!

Ahsoka Oh-no!

Julia/Ahsoka and Bella/Luke were hiding around the tree on the light side of the board, but with the rest of their alliance falling, they were suddenly exposed.  Bella played I Will Not Fight You on CJ's General Grievous, who had been stuck on the opposite end of Ewok Village discarding and drawing.  Curtis, meanwhile, used Grappling Line to pull Ahsoka into a dark side kill box.  She took hits from multiple people, and even used a nifty I Choose to Live, but Parker's Storm Trooper blasted her into ninth.

While half of the dark side alliance turned their attention to Bella/Luke, Grant/Kylo was the first to break the dark side bonds.  He began attacking Parker's Darth Vader.  Parker responded with a well-timed Your Skills Are Not Complete.  Ian/Cad stayed in hot pursuit of Luke Skywalker...literally!  Ian used his Flame Gauntlet to finish Bella in eighth place.  This was also Bella's sixth Duel, adding her to the professional level too.  Well done, Bella!

Mandone

Ian wasn't done pulling people's cards.  He used a two-point Pike attack to eliminate Parker in seventh.  Ian did a great job throughout the game keeping Cad Bane on the move and directing the action.

The final six were a very tight unit, but then it was that awkward moment in every Duel when the superior alliance has to start eating itself.  It was Rob's turn and he secretly wanted to go after Curtis' Mandalorian.  He wasn't alone, as Riley E. verbalized the same urge.  Rob promptly used a Force Lightning on Mando and Riley followed with The Great Purge (which that card is SICK, btw...).  The kill shot, however, came from CJ's General Grievous, who had finally crawled out of her back corner to join the action.  She successfully used A Fine Addition, meaning she got to add a five-point Mandalorian attack card to her own hand!  We think that's only the second time in league history Grievous has actually killed somebody with the card.

This board is so sweet!!!

That made it five Duelers left: Rob/Emperor, Grant/Kylo, Ian/Cad, CJ/Grievous, and Riley/Moff Gideon.  It was once again Rob's turn, and he asked for feedback.  Ian bravely put it on CJ's Grievous, who had literally been carding up the whole game.  A half second behind Ian saying that, Grant put his foot in his mouth and named Riley (which was pretty funny as it happened).  Arguments were presented, but Grant and Rob signaled they wanted to stick with blades, so Rob called open season on the remaining shooters.

Rob used a couple of Force Lightnings on Cad Bane, and CJ chased Ian down with Grievous.  Grant/Kylo, meanwhile, engaged with Moff Gideon.  Ian and Riley decided to focus their shared attacks on Grievous, greatly weakening CJ's hand and characters.  Riley, however, finally fell to the combined attacks of Kylo and the Royal Guards.  She was out in fifth.  CJ had Ian pinned in the back corner of the board, and would not accept his overtures to work together as near-dead Duelers.  Cad got chopped down with a five-point attack.  Ian rested in fourth.

The dark side three.

Once Cad Bane was gone the Royal Guards started shooting at Kylo Ren, which did not surprise Grant in the least.  He moved to eliminate CJ next though, and did so in brutal fashion when CJ didn't defend Vader's Bloodline.  This was just CJ's fourth career Duel, and her third place finish is her personal best.  She may have wrestled the "Tiny Titan of Terror" title from her big sister!

Grant had managed to hold onto his I Know What I Must Do (12 attack), and used it to annihilate one of Rob's Royal Guards while also reshuffling that same card back into his fresh draw pile.  Rob had reshuffled too, but he was quickly in danger as he started pulling Guard cards who were now gone from the board.  A couple of attacks later the Emperor was down to three points of health, and Grant used Choke to win the game!!!  Grant went six years between wins after his last victory, and now he went six DAYS between first place finishes!!!  He played fantastic, and it's a good reminder for the league that, despite his low character ranking, Kylo Ren is a BOSS!

Smiles all around!

Final order of finish:

12.  Riley B./Fennec

11.  Rico/Han

10.  Bekah/Bo-Katan

9.  Julia/Ahsoka

8.  Bella/Luke

7.  Parker/Vader

6.  Curtis/Mandalorian

5.  Riley E./Moff Gideon

4.  Ian/Cad Bane

3.  CJ/General Grievous

2.  Rob/Emperor

1.  Grant D./Kylo

Grant has won the last two Duels in a row, all in the span of a week.  That's a hot Dueler!!!  

Our next Duel is the last of the academic year:  MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU, which will be played on, you guessed it, May the 4th!!!  Invites will go out for that next weekend, and Rob will reserve spots for anybody graduating/leaving Waco to get one last Duel in.  It's a sad time of year for the Dueling league in that regard...

Oh - and next month will be an ALL-SHOOTERS DUEL - pew pew!!!

A New Hope - January 14, 2023

 

Ewok Village

Here we are again.  A new year is upon and still...WE DUEL.  The league is relentless.  Like camouflaged Ewoks protecting their moon from a battalion of Storm Troopers.  And in the worst segue in this blog's history, we happened to be playing the A New Hope Duel on the Ewok Village board!  Yub nub!

Happy pew-pew year!

Julia secured the #1 chair and the roll to go first.  The tension was tight right out of the gate.  The big bridge is always congested at the start of a game in Ewok Village, but this time there were two Wookies guarding the light side!  Riley B.'s Chewbacca and Julia's Black Krrsantan!  That intimidated the dark side for sure.  Riley B. was interested in moving his Han deeper into the light side of the board, but Curtis, piloting Luke Skywalker, kept pushing for him to stay on the bridge to allow for the other light side characters to maneuver into better positions.  Rob's Beckett and Ian's Cad Bane immediately cleared a path and sent overtures for Riley to flip to the dark side...which he did!  And he did it in spectacular fashion - his Chewbacca Bowcastered Curtis' Luke!!!

Guess which Duelers are grumpy on the bridge...

Things seemed tough for the light side, but they immediately rallied and began focusing their ranged shots on Parker's Darth Vader, who was stuck without cover on the hut side of the board.  The dark side repaid the light in kind when Kevin's Boba Fett chucked BOTH Thermal Detonators on the same turn!  In the end, it wasn't enough to save Parker, who came in a shocking last place.  That is only the third time in 111 Duels that Vader has come in last, and the first time since 2016!

Part of the Thermal Detonator damage included a dead Leia, which meant Curtis was free to use Justice.  He just so happened to have both in his hand, and he used them both on his arch nemesis Chewbacca!  Chewey was down to his last two health points, and he fittingly Wookie tossed Luke and Curtis to an eleventh place finish.

Marital strife!

Things only got spicier from there.  With the light side in chaos, JD M. made a personally uncharacteristic decision to forgo his current alliance and make a pact with the dark side.  That included his Yoda Force Lifting and Pushing Julia's Fennec to a dark side kill box which included...her real life husband Michael B./General Grievous.  Let's just say she was not impressed when Michael did indeed begin the attack on her.

Meanwhile, Philip's Mandalorian was under fire and running out of friends.  That's when he decided to go rogue and inflict as much damage as he could on one turn.  That included Rising Phoenix, Heavy Weapon, and Whistling Birds!  Philip was in his first Duel, and eventually got eliminated by a fellow noobie, Michael T., who used Emperor's Force Lightning to zap Philip in tenth place.  Julia was gone right after that, as JD's Clone Trooper landed a long distance shot on Fennec for ninth.

Thumbs up for blindsides!

With eight to go, Ian/Cad and Rob/Beckett were feeling real good.  Their dark side alliance was kicking butt and taking names.  But you can never feel too comfortable in a Duel...because the two most experienced Duelers at the table got schooled by the newer generation!  The table pulled a vicious blindside that included poor Ian in a kill box on the bridge and Kevin's Boba Fett betraying Rob's Beckett.  Rob's Beckett was in a better spot on the board to try and survive, but there was no hope for escape with Ian, and his Cad Bane died in a shocking eighth place.

Rob began plotting and scheming, trying to find a weak link in the new alliance.  He thought he could convince Evan's Qui-Gon Jinn to join him, who had somehow largely remained a free agent throughout the game.  But despite playing every trick up Beckett's sleeves, Rob could only last so long and finally died at the hands of Michael T.'s Emperor.  

JD deserves a lot of credit as the leader and architect of that move...but what happened next was painful to watch.  The final six had no idea what to do next.  Here, I took a great picture of it:

I'm not kidding, it took them 20+ minutes to come to any kind of a decision.  It was all so polite and awkward.  It was like watching a den full of bears who had no idea how to kill a baby bunny.  The tension finally gravitated between JD's Yoda and Evan's Qui-Gon Jinn.  JD was convinced they were super-solid but Evan felt like Yoda was a barrier to victory, and poor JD became the target.  He went from Ceaser to dead in sixth.  Et tu, Qui-Gon?

With JD's elimination, Michael B. put the target on Riley's Han Solo who, true to character, had weaseled and wormed his way out of trouble countless times during the Duel but finally faced a reckoning.  He could not move the target off himself, and Kevin used a massive over-kill with a Kyber Dart to end Riley's night in fifth.  That wasn't too shabby considering the risk of his early flip.

Final three on a glorious board.

And then there were four!  You could feel Evan's excitement slowly building, as he had his sights set on a back to back victory after his 2022 Championship performance.  But the rest of the board finally wised up to how hard Qui-Gon can be in the end game.  Evan made them work for it, but once he finally got weak enough Michael T. used another Force Lightning for the kill.  Evan continues to move up the Dueler rankings, though!

It was a little fuzzy on who would team with who with three to go, and initially it was leaning towards a Michael T./Emperor and Kevin/Boba alliance, but at the last second, Michael B.'s Grievous made a pact with Kevin's Boba to unite against Palpatine.  Michael T. was playing in his first official 12-way, but you never would have known it based on his performance.  And he decided to use every last card in his hand against Kevin's Boba on his way out.  That included a You Will Die and Meditation to dump Boba's hand and keep it empty.  Michael B. hated to move against the Emperor, but it was the only logical move after Boba became cardless.  Michael T. finally died after a Make Them Suffer, but tip your caps to the new Dueler on the block!

A flannel final two.

Michael B. had the clear advantage after the Emperor jacked up Boba's cards, but Kevin managed to evade elimination with a Rocket Retreat to the other side of the village.  But Michael took the extra time to resurrect his minor characters and heal with spare parts.  It was all over but the stabbin', and Boba was gone in second.  Michael B. won his first Duel!!!  Congrats Michael!!  That also marked General Grievous' second win.  Kevin played a great game too, tying a career best finish.

Final order of finish:

12.  Parker/Darth Vader

11.  Curtis/Luke Skywalker

10.  Philip/The Mandalorian

9.  Julia/Fennec Shand

8.  Ian/Cad Bane

7.  Rob/Tobias Beckett

6.  JD/Yoda

5.  Riley B./Han Solo

4.  Evan/Qui-Gon Jinn

3.  Michael T./Emperor Palpatine

2.  Kevin/Boba Fett

1.  Michael B./General Grievous

This was a great Duel to start the year!  Next month is February, so that means it's the Valentine's Duel!  We're tentatively planning for Saturday, February 4th.  Save that on your calendars, official invites will go out the weekend before.  See you then!

Twin Suns Slam #2 - June 4, 2022

 

Ewok Village

Before Game 2 started, we ate!  That's the best part of the Twin Suns Slam, the fellowship between hours of backstabbing!  You also capture moments like this, Duncan sitting on a tiny chair:

Anyhoo, after the burgers were grilled and the Yoda Soda was ladled, it was time for the character draft!  That's right, this Duel would be the first ever all-dark side match!  The poor Ewoks of Endor, I'm not sure what they did to deserve this unholy terror in their treetops.  Here is how the draft went:

1.  Kat - Kylo Ren

2.  Natalie - Emperor Palpatine

3.  Karson - General Grievous

4.  Elliot - Supreme Leader Snoke

5.  JD M. - Count Dooku

6.  Duncan - Cad Bane

7.  Ian - Darth Maul

8.  Ben - Tobias Beckett

9.  John - Boba Fett

10.  Evan - Moff Gideon

11.  Riley - Darth Vader

12.  Rob - Orson Krennic

not picked - Jango Fett

Once the characters were picked, the board placement commenced and the minor characters were deposited too.  We actually had to alter the last starting spot on the bridge for Kat, so her Knights of Ren could start adjacent to Kylo.

To the trees!

Elliot predicted before the game even started this would be a fast Duel, and he was mostly right!  After a couple of rounds of carding up, Rob's Death Trooper couldn't resist chucking a Grenade across the length of the bridge, catching damage on JD/Dooku and Kat/Kylo.  That started a chain reaction of chaos.  The early victim was Karson's General Grievous.  He started on the bridge of death, and a couple of Duelers began peppering him, including Elliot's Supreme Leader Snoke, who sent him banged up with a Force Lightning to the back corner of the board.  He took a couple of more hits, and then Natalie's Emperor Palpatine finished him with a Force Lightning of her own!  BRUTAL!!!

Kat's Kylo was a bit feisty with bloodlust after all the early action, and swung here and there at nearby targets.  But out of nowhere, Evan's Dark Trooper Kidnapped Kylo and plopped her down right in front of Ian's fully carded Darth Maul!!!  Kat survived the initial onslaught, but with just a couple of health points left...you guessed it, Natalie's Emperor landed her second Force Lightning kill of the game!  OH THE HUMANITY!!!

So much malice behind these smiles!

JD organized a counter-offensive on the bridge, and that's when Elliot was locked into trouble. There was nowhere to run, and JD's Dooku eventually speared him with a Taunt.  That ended Elliot's day in 10th, a hard fall after second in the first game.

Unfortunately for JD, that also meant he was now exposed to attacks.  The rest of the boar didn't resist, and before he knew it, JD was just a few points from dying.  Tell me if you've heard this one before...THE EMPEROR FORCE LIGHTNINGED HIM TO DEATH.  Natalie is stone cold!!!

This board is legit gorgeous.

Ian's Maul had been running around swinging at different folks, but Riley's Vader had been stuck in her starting position for most of the game.  She was contributing with her distance attacks, but she was itching to do more.  The only character in her range to attack was Natalie's Emperor.  It may not have been the soundest strategy, but she plunged into battle like it was the climatic scene in Return of the Jedi.  Instead of throwing Emperor over the rope bridge, though, she got peppered by a lot of shooters. Ben P., playing his first Duel in a few years (it was great to see you, Ben!), used a combination of attacks from Beckett to end Riley's night in 8th.

Natalie's Emperor was still on the big bridge, and Duncan's Cad Bane had been largely silent all night, minus his strange fascination with Mr. & Mrs. Pike (you had to be there).  He was in perfect position to rain distance shots, and caught her low health.  The first ranked Dueler in the league was out in 7th, but her overall average is still good enough for top of the leaderboard!

Wicket looks on in disgust.

It was around this point of the game Ian had been obsessed with killing John's Boba Fett, who had hit him once or twice.  But that end of the board began debating who should go next.  I don't remember all the details, but Evan's Moff Gideon suddenly found himself without friends.  It was due in part to a shot or two he took on Beckett if I recall.  This was the third time Evan has played with Gideon.  There's some sort of special bond between the two!  Beckett got the final shot and Evan exited in 6th.

Now there were five Duelers left.  It seemed clear Ben/Beckett, Duncan/Cad, and John/Boba were in cahoots, while Ian's Maul and Rob's Krennic were on the outs.  Rob tried to convince Ian they were in trouble and should partner up...but Ian refused!  Rob was bewildered and went on quite the rant.  It wasn't really him talking, it was all of the Raspberry Iced Tea he had been drinking all night.  No matter how many times Rob pledged his loyalties, Ian wasn't interested.  Rob shifted into a new gear, and started poke holes in the alliance of other shooters.  Sure enough, a crack developed when John intimated he may not be secure with one of his alliance partners.  When the dust settled Ben's Beckett, who was in the driver's seat all night, was suddenly turned against and stuck fighting Maul and Cad Bane at the same time.  Maul dropped the 4-point attack, and Ben was done in 5th.  But that was the best ever finish for the retired Dueler, and we'll keep him on the call list for backup Duelers!

Rob gets animated, Ian laughs.

At the final four Rob once again said he was with Ian until the end, something none of the other Duelers would commit to.  Ian still didn't care!  Krennic had been in his starting corner for most of the game, but he moved to start attacking Duncan's Cad Bane, and dumped everyone's hands with Peace and Security.  The card dump switched the current on the board, and John, believing in his partnership with once enemy Ian/Maul, sensed the time was ripe to flip on the still mysterious Cad Bane.  Duncan was taking hits and low carded, and John put the nail in the coffin with a Kyber Dart!  Duncan finished 4th, his second top-5 finish on the night!

Pew pew in the woods!

 That left three Duelers.  Ian's Maul was certainly bleeding, and he still had a Battledroid on the field, meaning he couldn't heal.  Rob's Krennic was running out of defense, but was still annoyingly hard to reach.  John, playing his first in-person Duel (he played with us online last year), was playing great, but Ian finally saw that Boba might be a bigger threat than Rob's Krennic.  It pained him to do it, but an Athletic Surge chopped John down in third.  That's John's best finish, and we're hopeful to see him battle with us again this coming school year!

And then there were two...the old guys, the bitter rivals with nothing but respect for the other!  Rob pulled a couple more tricks out of his bag to delay his demise, but after several minutes of carding and shuffling, Ian was finally ready to move in for the kill.  Rob was hoping for another Peace and Security, but couldn't find it in time.  One more Athletic Surge, and Ian was the winner.  Congrats Ian!!!  That was his tenth career win, moving him into a tie with Curtis for 2nd on the all-time list.  This also marked Maul's 13th win, moving him one behind Vader's all-time lead of 14!

Ian thinking, "I've got this..."

Let's check that final order of finish again:

12.  Karson/Grievous

11.  Kat/Kylo

10.  Elliot/Snoke

9.  JD/Dooku

8.  Riley/Vader

7.  Natalie/Emperor

6.  Evan/Gideon

5.  Ben/Beckett

4.  Duncan/Cad

3.  John/Boba

2.  Rob/Krennic

1.  Ian/Maul

Well...that's the final 12-way until the CL Training retreat in August!  Stay tuned for details on July's Singles Tournament!  We're looking at the final Sunday in July.  We'll need 32 folks for that!!!

Until then...

Doubleheader #2 - August 28th, 2021

 

Ewok Village

We got the first Duel done in under 4 hours - yay us!  After a brief break to stuff our faces with Tacos and set up the new board, we were ready.  For game 2 we were in Ewok Village, probably the prettiest board we play on and a lasting testament to the design stylings of Ryan.  We miss you Ryan!

Nine of these fools decided to play twice!

Ewok Village is a tricky board because of its odd design and starting points.  It doesn't favor the typical 6v6 pattern.  Nonetheless, early in the game it looked like the dark side would try to stay united.  However, Ian's Lobot was on the big bridge and positioned himself to Disarm four cards each from JD's Kylo Ren and Karson's Darth Vader!  Not long after Karson saw the light and flipped sides.  JD, still glowing from his game 1 victory but now threatened with a last place finish, attacked Vader.  He played his 12 attack - I Know What I Have To Do - on Karson...who didn't defend!!!  OUCH!!!  

Meanwhile, Grant D.'s Jyn/Cassian, Kat's lil' Leia, Evan's Mando, and Lando were peppering the dark side with shots and they weren't coping with it well.  Elliot's Jango Rocket Retreated to stand by Grant H.'s Moff Gideon...who promptly attacked him!  Jango didn't last long, and Elliot ended a frustrating day in last place.

JD had run down to the bridge, hoping to curry favor with the light side as he was bleeding health points.  That's when Rylie's Dark Trooper threw not one but TWO grenades!!!  Those did a lot of damage, but it hurt an already wounded Kylo the most.  Evan's Cara Dune used Heavy Weapon to knock him out in 11th.  It's always tough to win the first game of a Doubleheader, the target is immediately on you!

Rylie's use of the Grenades was slick, but she had taken damage from two Camouflage attacks from Rob's Big Leia.  The rest of the bridge shooters whittled her down, and Big Leia got the kill shot, allowing Rylie to play her farming game for the rest of the night.

Feed Maul or Else

Ben's Darth Maul started the game in the back corner, and by this point he was fully carded and ready for revenge on Karson for flipping.  He used an Athletic Surge to kill a Storm Trooper and move in on Vader.  Karson never recovered from the Kylo 12 attack, and Maul deep-sixed him in 9th place.  

Kat's Luke and Leia were fully carded on the other end of the board, and she took the opportunity to fire a shot at Ian's Lando, who was near Maul and Grant H.'s Gideon.  Ian used a defense card that allowed him to switch places with another Dueler, and he was going to do it on Kat's Luke when Ben mentioned he'd prefer Rob's Leia.  This was probably because Wicket the Ewok had used Whirling Rocks to put 4 points of damage on Maul, which was hilarious no matter how grumpy Ben was about it.  Ian agreed and Rob went from great standing within his alliance to alone against Maul and Gideon.  Maul and Leia did battle, with Leia using an I Know defense and Covert Operation to put auto damage on Maul.  Grant H. decided, however, to kill Ben instead of Rob, so Maul was gone in 8th.

Rising Phoenix nesting in the trees.

Ian was really grumpy Rob had survived, so he started going after Leia with renewed purpose.  He couldn't get the kill shot, though.  Rob assured the rest of the light side his only purpose in the game was to take down Lando, but Kat couldn't pass up the easy kill, so Rob came to a halt in 7th.

Evan, playing the Mandalorian, kind of took over the game at this point.  He played the brutal Disintegration on an unsuspecting Grant H., and just like the card implies, Gideon disappeared in sixth!  That's a career best finish for both the character and Grant, though! 

When you get the character of the guy
on your shirt.

Ian/Lando tried very hard to align with anyone who would take him, but it was fairly obvious he was unwanted.  It would be Mando again rising to the occasion (get it!?!?) with Rising Phoenix.  While flying among the treetops he attacked Lando and then played Whistling Birds on everyone else...and that's how Lando died!  A beskar spike to the head.  Brutal!

This brought things to the final four.  It looked like the team would go after Curtis' Anakin, who had been laying low for most of the game.  However, he was fairly isolated from the others, and he managed to put damage on Evan's Mando.  In a surprising move, Kat's lil' Leia killed The Mandalorian in 4th!  What a great run for Evan, though.  He finished tied for 5th in the first game and in 4th for his second.

Three-way tension.

With three to go it looked like Grant's Jyn and Kat's Luke would work together to knock out Curtis' Anakin.  However, Curtis got into Kat's head by commenting on how healthy Jyn and Cassian were and how hard it would be to defend against two shooters.  There was a lot of chaotic attacks between the three of them.  Eventually, though, Grant and Kat were pretty banged up while Anakin was still on his first row of health.  Rather than work together, though, Kat went for a bold strategy.  She eliminated Jyn with a Justice and then dropped I Will Not Fight You.  Curtis had the health advantage but Kat was banking on luck of the draw.  They ran around the board quite a bit, but a patient Curtis somehow pulled out the victory!!!  It was a notable victory for several reasons, too.  Not only did Curtis become the second Dueler in league history with double-digit wins, but he also became the first person to win with all six original light side characters!!!  And it was his 4th win in his last SIX games!!!!  That's insane!  Let's tip our caps to Kat too - her second place finish with Luke was a career best finish!

The final order of finish:

12.  Elliot/Jango Fett

11.  JD M./Kylo Ren

10.  Rylie/Orson Krennic

9.  Karson/Darth Vader

8.  Ben/Darth Maul

7.  Rob/Princess Leia

6.  Grant H./Moff Gideon

5.  Ian/Lando Calrissian

4.  Evan/The Mandalorian

3.  Grant D./Jyn Erso

2.  Kat/Luke Skywalker

1.  Curtis/Anakin Skywalker

That was a great night of Dueling!  And there were only 2 tacos left from an order of 50!  Next month's Duel - THE FALL BRAWL - will likely take place on September 18th.  More info to come!