7th Annual Singles Tournament - July 31st, 2022

 

Friends, this post is late, but the 7th annual Singles Tournament did indeed take place!  32 folks gathered to whittle each other down until only one was standing!  History was made in two ways at the tourney!  First...Obi-Wan Kenobi finally won the tournament!  And that was because...secondly, a Dueler placed THREE OF THEIR FOUR CHARACTERS INTO THE FINAL FOUR!!!  That's right, veteran JD N. finally did what he never had.  He won it all!  And he didn't even have to play the last game, because both of his characters were in the final!!!  Congrats JD!  Here are some pics of him celebrating, the final brackets,  and the rest of us trying to make it to the end.

Twin Sun Slam #1 - June 15, 2019

Geonosis Arena

Well, we'll start with the pressing question on the minds of all Duelers who weren't able to attend the Twin Sun Slam.

No, nobody brought cupcakes with icing that read "kill Rob first."  Your concern for Rob in this trying time is appreciated.

But folks did bring a lot of good food!  Hamburgers were grilled, stomachs were stuffed.  Really, there was only one thing missing that could have made it the perfect balance of friendship and sportsmanship.  Did I say only one thing was missing?  Because I meant to say there were TWO things missing.  The trophies!  JD remembered the mac'n'cheese but not R2D2 and C-3PO.  Everyone except Ian tried to make him feel guilty about it.  (And no worries, Kaleb brought them with him when he arrived for game #2.)

"Smile if you ate too much!"

Ben drew chair number one and picked Geonosis for our playing surface.  Everyone else grabbed their respective characters and we were off and running with the Duel.

Out of the gate the light side stayed strong with each other and the dark side did the same.  But, a couple of rounds later, Chris decided the grass might be greener on the other side and had his Darth Maul flip to the light!  The dark side were quite cranky about it and wasted no time going after him.  A big blow was delivered when JD's Boba Fett sent a Thermal Detonator into the crowd the wiped out half of the Clone Troopers, who were looking quite good in their newly painted uniforms.  But the lane Boba used also left Grant's Count Dooku exposed for attacks.  If Rob/Anakin and Ben/Mace could each roll a four, it would be game over for Grant.  However, neither did, so Ben flipped to the dark side!

That's Alex's "I don't have the Bowcaster" face.

Ben's defection was a gut punch for the light, I've never seen Curtis (Obi-Wan) look so disgusted.  It also spelled certain doom for Chris, whose Darth Maul finally died in last thanks to a Throw Debris from Riley's Darth Vader.

But the light side had a couple of tricks up their sleeves.  Curtis sent Obi-Wan deep into enemy territory to drop a Force Control.  They were able to pull Kat's Emperor Palpatine into a light side kill box.  They offered Kat the chance to flip but everyone knows Kat never plays the turncoat.  She started getting jacked up but the dark side rallied by focusing on Alex's Han Solo.  Both Fetts (JD/Boba and Ian/Jango) unloaded on Han and Chewey but failed to land the kill shot.  That left Chewbacca in position to launch the Bowcaster on Boba...except he didn't have it.  Kat finished him off in eleventh with a blast of Force Lightning.

Kat couldn't deny her own fate after that.  Courtney used a Yoda Clone Trooper to force Kat into tenth place.  Nobody likes dying to a minor character who doesn't even have a proper name. 

An interesting twist occurred right around this time.  Ben's Mace, who had flipped over to the dark side early in the game, wandered over to the light side and assumed a position on the board that seemed to indicate he had flipped back.  He stood next to Rob's Anakin, who was badly damaged, so Rob had to accept this unexpected turn of events.  But just a couple of turns later Ben revealed his true intentions - to attack Joel's Luke Skywalker!  Joel seethed after JD kicked him out with a Rocket Retreat in ninth.

These new bases are sweet!

Curtis, meanwhile, commenced on his own travels and ended up on the back line with the rest of the dark side alliance.  Curiously, he didn't attack, seeming to bate the dark side into attacking him.  Eventually they did, and as he moved back across the board he used one last Force Control to try and buy himself some time.  It didn't work out for him, and Riley's Vader registered another kill, this time with a Wrath.  That left Curtis in eight place.

Rob's card combination with Anakin had been a mess all night, especially when he was forced to discard one of his precious Angers.  Even though he kept following Ben around like a little lost puppy, the rest of the dark side weren't so keen to keep the godfather on the board any longer.  They chased him down to the back of the pillars and it would be his original alliance partner, Courtney/Yoda, who killed him in seventh with a 4-point attack.

Chris checks in with the final three.

With six to go the remaining Duelers realized the match had taken so long the second game should have already started.  Despite some protracted negotiations the infighting started once Rob was gone.  Ian's Jango got the short end of the stick, and he took one for the team to not fight to hard against the rationale - he was ready for the next Duel to start too.

That left five Duelers, and Riley's Darth Vader became the target.  She herself was under the weather all night and seemed to welcome the sweet oblivion when Grant's Dooku sent her there in fifth place.  The plucky May the 4th champ improved her average to 6 for her career with that finish.

Nobody was too excited to find Yoda still alive and kicking so late in the game, and thus Courtney began defending a three on one attack.  She held in there as long as she could but it was a Boba Fett Wrist Cable that ended her run.

And then there were three!  Grant/Dooku and JD/Boba were both roughed up that late in the game while Ben's Mace was nearly full-health.  That was all Grant and JD needed to see to justify joining forces against Mace.  Ben hung in there for quite a while, and even left some critical damage on Grant before succumbing to third place.

The Sweet Taste of Victory

Grant's Dooku charged at JD's Boba Fett several times but his Rocket Retreats kept Dooku at bay as he fired off distance attacks.  Dooku's health slowly drained away while Boba seemed to stay just out of reach of the Taunts.  Sensing weakness in Grant, JD pulled off two attacks on his turn, ending in a game-winning Rocket Retreat.  That win moved JD into second place in league history for wins.  Thank goodness Kaleb delivered him his trophy...

Your final order of finish:

12.  Chris/Darth Maul
11.  Alex/Han Solo
10.  Kat/Emperor Palpatine
9.  Joel/Luke Skywalker
8.  Curtis/Obi-Wan Kenobi
7.  Rob/Anakin Skywalker
6.  Ian/Jango Fett
5.  Riley/Darth Vader
4.  Courtney/Yoda
3.  Ben/Mace Windu
2.  Grant/Count Dooku
1.  JD/Boba Fett

This wasn't the last Duel of the night...

Fight Night - October 12, 2018

Carbon Freezing Chamber

It was mentioned in the Preview post that it was hard to secure 12 Duelers for this match.  That's so depressing!  Hopefully that's just an anomaly and not an indication that the league is succumbing to the Dark Side...

...but we did have 12!  And they came to kick butt and chew bubblegum...and they were all out of bubblegum.  It was an interesting mixture of veterans (5 professional Duelers) and amateurs (seven Duelers who had fewer than three Duels under their belts).  It just about guaranteed a volatile outcome.

Rob, always serving the role of host before a game starts, was embarrassed to pull the #1 chair.  It makes his job of facilitating the board and character distribution all the more difficult.  And he couldn't turn to chair #2 to make the picks for him because that seat was occupied by his daughter, Riley!  So Rob fanned the envelopes to chair #12, Brandon, who picked the Carbon Freezing Chamber.  This would be the first time in Carbon since the Twin Sun Slam doubleheader back in June.

The "I'm with Riley" fan club.

Brandon was also kind enough to gift Rob with Obi-Wan Kenobi.  Riley picked next and got Yoda.  Right away it was a bad look - father and daughter with the two best Jedi, sitting next to each other, and starting next to each other as well.  And to top things off?  Rob got to go first!

The first major action of the game, though, came courtesy of Jonathan B.'s Darth Vader.  He wasn't about to start stuff with Katie's Luke Skywalker in the middle of the board.  So he flipped towards the light side.  Katie did the same, leaving Leia up front while Luke hung back.  Things only got worse for the dark side when Rob jokingly told Owen to use his Thermal Detonator and Rocket Retreat right out of the gate.  Sure enough...he did!!!  Joel/Maul, Coleman/Emperor, and Matthew/Dooku all got stung with four points of damage.

Joel's last stand.

With those three in major trouble and receiving excessive attacks, Riley's Clone Trooper decided to welcome Owen's Boba, who had landed next to her, with a surprise attack!  Brutal!  What kind of compassion is her father teaching her?  The light side alliance were wincing at Riley's ruthless decision but they all followed suit, most of them pledging loyalty by saying "I'm with Riley."  Poor Owen is still haunted by the words - Grant's Anakin dropped the final attack for the kill.

Things only got worse for the dark side.  Matthew B., playing in his very first Duel, began battling Maul and Emperor!  He felt liberated by his CL's death and decided to go crazy.  He Force Pushed Coleman's Emperor into a light side kill box.  Once again, Riley the Executioner was ready, Force Lifting and then killing poor Coleman in eleventh. 

From there it was a desperate, bloody battle for ninth place between Joel's Maul and Matt's Count Dooku.  Joel was enraged and determined to take out the saboteur as he ignored the gentle heckling from his nemesis, Riley.  He did indeed take down Dooku, ending Matt's first ever Duel in tenth place.  Sadly for Joel, as he looked across the board, all he saw were eight characters staring back at him, chomping at the bit.  Grant's Padme finally put him out of his misery.  Rarely are ninth place finishes so valiantly fought for...

Jonathan's Vader chooses a new path...

There was nobody left outside of the light side alliance (Brandon's Jango had joined earlier as well) so Rob's Obi-Wan thought Kaleb's Han and Chewy were ripe for elimination.  He dropped his first attack on Kaleb but, to Rob's astonishment, Riley was outraged!  She considered Kaleb to be a close ally and declared to the table she was going after Obi-Wan.  Controlled by Rob.  Her actual father in real life.  This is what we've sunk to, Dueling fanatics.  Family bonds are now secondary to alliance partnerships.  And most twisted of all, Rob actually admired the moxie his offspring was showing. 

But that wasn't going to stop him from rallying a new alliance against his own daughter.

He used Force Quickness to give himself some distance as Riley's minions began to probe ways to attack Obi-Wan.  On Rob's next turn he tried to make amends with his old comrades by creating a kill box around Brandon's Jango.  Strangely, nobody really attacked him.  It wasn't looking good for Rob, so he fired up a stump speech to point out how strong Riley's alliance was and how we needed to work against her now or fall to her later.  Jonathan/Vader saw the logic in it, and committed to the alternative alliance.  Katie's Luke Skywalker was suddenly down with it too and she eliminated Kaleb in eighth place.

Riley didn't quite realize it at first, but she was the next target.  The look of shock on her face when JD's Mace, her most trusted partner, went in for the kill...I don't know how JD can look at himself in the mirror.  Riley the rabble-rouser bowed out in seventh.

So...much...pleading...

It looked like JD's Mace was still in deep trouble, but Katie shocked the table by directing her attacks on Jonathan's Vader.  It was a stunning development.  Jonathan couldn't survive the treachery and he finished in sixth.  But that's a career best finish for the up and coming Dueler!

The final five were Rob/Obi, Grant/Anakin, JD/Mace, Katie/Luke, and Brandon/Jango.  Mace and Luke were clearly in league with each other, so Grant finally agreed to work with Rob and both assumed Brandon was down for the cause too.  But he decided to attack both sides on his next turn and the table collectively agreed it was time for the rookie to go night-night.  Still, that was a great debut for Brandon!

The final four took a lot of twists and turns but Katie's Luke and Rob's Obi-Wan were both damaged and weak carded.  That was partially because of the I Will Not Fight You Katie dropped on Obi.  Grant was most fearful of JD, who was vehemently arguing to kill Obi-Wan next.  Grant feared Katie and JD would stay united, though, and eventually eliminated Katie in fourth.  You can't say enough about her night, though.  It's clear the league has a new hot-shot Dueler who will use her knowledge of psychological development to her advantage.

I'm going to skip a lot of the details about the final three, because it was mostly 20 minutes of JD and Rob trying to convince Grant to kill the other.  He ultimately sided with Rob, but as they whittled JD down, Rob had a convenient change of heart and started attacking Grant instead. 

JD accepted the temporary reprieve but didn't trust Rob in the least.  Rob told JD to use his two Whirlwinds on Grant or he was going to use the Force Balance card to dump them anyway.  JD got one of them off on Rob before having to discard his full hand. 

On the redraw Rob's luck finally ran out as JD convinced Grant to finish him off.  But having to use two attacks on Obi proved to be fatal for Grant.  JD was reshuffling his draw pile and got a fortuitous sequence of cards and, despite being more damaged than Grant's Anakin, he quickly turned the tide and finished Grant off for the win!  It really seemed to come out of nowhere as all of the spectators assumed Grant would carry the day.  Congrats JD, who becomes the second Dueler in league history to complete his GECK (wins on Geonosis, Emperor's Throne Room, Carbon, and Kamino).  He also moved into a tie with Grant on the all-time win list (seven).

The final order of finish:

12.  Owen/Boba Fett
11.  Coleman/Emperor Palpatine
10.  Matthew B./Count Dooku
9.  Joel/Darth Maul
8.  Kaleb/Han Solo
7.  Riley/Yoda
6.  Jonathan B./Darth Vader
5.  Brandon/Jango Fett
4.  Katie/Luke Skywalker
3.  Rob/Obi-Wan Kenobi
2.  Grant/Anakin Skywalker
1.  JD/Mace Windu

It was a humorous and tense night - let's do it again next month!  Stay tuned for details on the fifth annual THANKSDUELING match in November!

CL Training - August 7, 2018

The Emperor's Throne Room

Well, here we are.

The FIFTH season of our 12-Way Duels League.

They said it wouldn't last.  That it was just a fad.  A flash in the pan.  No potential for staying power.

They were wrong.  So very, very wrong!  This is year five, baby!  And that means it's no holds barred!  Anything goes!  Chaos reigns!  There ain't no stoppin' us now, we're on the move!  Why do I keep using so many exclamation points!?!

Your combatants for the 6th Annual CL Training Duel

As fate would have it, Rob drew the #1 chair, so he let Brianna, a rookie Dueler sitting in the second chair, pick the board.  The Emperor's Throne Room was the venue selected.  If I'm not mistaken, we haven't played on Kamino since this past January.  The drought continues.

Brianna was also kind enough to give Rob Yoda, though in the Throne Room, that's not always good.  All the other characters were distributed and we were off and running, though not before Ben nearly had a panic attack as he had a 50/50 shot at being stuck with Han Solo again.

The dark and light sides stayed clustered for the first couple of cycles around the table, but Joel/Luke Skywalker decided the dark side was more promising and began his evacuation procedures.  Didn't he see Return of the Jedi???  That's not what he's supposed to do on this board!  That also left poor Brianna, piloting Obi-Wan, alone on the front lines, fighting multiple dark side characters all by herself.  Through no fault of her own she was slowly whittled down into last place.

JD and Kaleb, plotting and scheming.

That turn of events was all Luke R./Anakin needed to also high-tail it over to the dark side.  He popped Kat's Han Solo on his way out the door.  From there JD/Emperor and Kaleb/Vader (yes, you read that right, Kaleb got hired over the summer so the Hall of Famer is back in the league!) started using their distance attacks on Rob's Yoda.  It looked bleak for the remaining light side.

Rob tried a Hail Mary maneuver when he Force Lifted and then Force Pushed Ben's unsuspecting Mace Windu into the middle of a dark side viper pit.  It was a brutal betrayal and Ben died in eleventh.  The distraction proved fruitless for Rob, though, because after a Thermal Detonator Kaleb's Storm Trooper shot him off the board in tenth.

Hi Luke!

Kat's Han Solo was still bleeding out on a corner of the board when the dark side in-fighting began.  Ian/Maul and Joel/Luke weren't too excited by Katie's fully healthy Count Dooku on the board.  The rookie Dueler was playing well but she was caught on the wrong end of the first inner-alliance fight.  That made it ninth place for her, which isn't bad for one's first 12-Way Duel!

It looked like the board was going to converge on Han before continuing their weeding process when Mason, also playing in his first Duel, made the aggressive decision to pop off a couple of shots on Ian's Darth Maul.  Mason didn't have the support from his fellow fighters and soon found himself on the wrong end of multiple attacks.  Chris W.'s Jango Fett landed the final blow and Mason was sent to the rails.  After that, Kat, who at one point looked like she might be first out, finally succumbed to her wounds.  It was one of the coolest seventh place finishes I've seen in a long time.

Joel will not fight JD.

With six to go all the remaining light sabers and blasters started pointing at Luke R's Anakin.  He was loyal to his alliance but it was that point in the game that hard decisions had to be made.  His sixth place finish matched his current average.  #math

At this point it appeared JD/Emperor, Kaleb/Vader, and Chris/Jango were solid while Ian/Maul and Joel/Luke were loyal to each other.  In a mildly shocking move, though, all four Duelers not named Chris decided the Fett's services were no longer needed.  Chris didn't have a chance after that, but he deserves a big congrats for doing so well in his first 12-Way!

Things got awkward with the final four.  JD and Kaleb were together, and Ian and Joel were together.  But Ian and JD didn't want to fight each other, which meant JD and Kaleb wanted to take out Joel's Luke while Ian and Joel wanted to eliminate Kaleb's Vader.  If you were confused by that sentence imagine being there live and watching it play out!  There was a lot of nuanced play I can't recall well at this point, but I know Joel started playing "I Will Not Fight You" cards and that Ian's Darth Maul nearly killed Kaleb's Vader.  Joel and Ian were particularly scared of the fabled "wombo-combo," when Emperor plays "You Will Die" and Vader follows up with "All Too Easy."  Eventually Kaleb couldn't protect himself and he retired in fourth place.

With three Duelers left JD's Emperor was clearly the healthiest.  He still had the You Will Die card as well as both of his Royal Guards.  Those observing the Duel assumed Joel/Luke and Ian/Maul would start to work together, but there was an undercurrent of respect between Ian and JD that muddled the situation.

And that's when one of the weirdest moments in league history occurred.

As JD tried to talk Ian into attacking Joel's Luke Skywalker, Joel pointed out that if Ian attacked him it would leave JD free to play the You Will Die on Maul, essentially guaranteeing victory for JD.  Ian could see Joel's point.  That's when JD promised to play the You Will Die card on Joel instead.  Except...when JD's turn came up Joel didn't have any cards in his hand!  He used both to attack Ian!  But JD had promised to play the card...and he did!  He played the card that dumps a player's entire hand on a player who did't have a hand to dump.  Nobody would have blamed Ian for betraying JD and immediately attacking him, but he honored their deal and finally finished off Joel in third.  With two to go JD was in perfect position to take down Maul in second, which he did.  Congrats to JD!  That was his first win after a long streak of unhappy finishes.  He's also just the third Dueler to ever win with the Emperor.  Here's the final order of finish:

12.  Brianna/Obi-Wan
11.  Ben/Mace Windu
10.  Rob/Yoda
9.  Katie/Count Dooku
8.  Mason/Boba Fett
7.  Kat/Han Solo
6.  Luke/Anakin Skywalker
5.  Chris W./Jango Fett
4.  Kaleb/Darth Vader
3.  Joel/Luke Skywalker
2.  Ian/Darth Maul
1.  JD/Emperor Palpatine

This was an exciting start to season #5!  Our next Duel is actually our next TWO Duels - that's right, the annual DOUBLEHEADER will be on Friday, August 31st.  Stay tuned for the official invite!

The Fall Brawl - September 16, 2017

Geonosis Arena

The Duelers gathered in the North Village Community Center to face their worst fears...all in hopes to win the coveted Mace Windu trophy for the Fall Brawl!  But there was an added "pressure."  In their bladders!  An improv group was using the main community area, meaning a pee break would interrupt their show!  Rob didn't care as he drank a tall can of Arnold Palmer.  He would regret that decision about 45 minutes later...

Joel drew the first chair and picked Geonosis.  That means our Carbon Freezing Chamber drought continues - we haven't played there since last spring.  He also grabbed Mace Windu, which was good luck since he was featured on the night's trophy!

JD grabbed Han Solo, as all of the shooters were picked within the first four chairs at the table.  He laughed because of the text exchange he had with Rob earlier in the day (pictured below).  He wanted the scruffy looking nerf herder in order to prove Pez Vader's prediction correct.  If you understood any of that previous sentence I both respect and feel sorry for you.

JD calling his shot!

The game started with a quick flare of action.  Ryan, playing with Luke Skywalker for the billionth time, honored a half-in-jest offer from the Dark Side to switch alliances.  He shot at Kaleb's Anakin and used Children of the Force to do just that!  JD/Han Solo was having none of that.  He marched Chewbacca down to that end of the board and Bowcasted Luke!  Ryan was injured but the rest of his new alliance slowly chipped away at the Wookie, who was the first character to succumb to his injuries.

The 44th time 12 have gathered...

Rob, who had Count Dooku, planned to stick with the Dark Side too from his middle-board starting spot, but Elijah advanced his Greedo up the alley Dooku wanted to occupy.  So he flipped over to the light side and spent several rounds convincing Andrew and his Darth Maul to do the same.

The Dark Side weren't too keen on that turn of events, so Stephen/Vader and Toby/Emperor started riding Rob's Dooku like a pack mule, raining down Force Lightning, Debris, and Wraths.  Rob was quickly approaching his death but he wouldn't end up going out first.  Elijah, who had lost a Thermal Detonator and Greedo's Desperate Shot from a Dooku Force Drain, found himself face to face with Andrew's fully carded Darth Maul.  Three attacks later and Elijah was off the board thanks to the Athletic Surge.

TWO AND A HALF HOURS (I wish I was kidding) transpired before the next death.  The light side clump had pot-shotted the Dark Side for a long time, and the Sith decided it was time to move out.  They tried to isolate Andrew's Maul but Toby's Emperor was getting hit pretty badly.  JD's Han took the mercy shot from long distance to eliminate Toby in eleventh.  Stephen's Vader was next when Andrew threw down another volley of Sith Speed.

Ani and Mace sleeping on the job

Rob's Dooku was still bleeding out, and prior to Vader and the Emperor's deaths he had Force Pushed Kaleb's Anakin because he didn't feel like Kaleb was doing his fair share of the heavy lifting.  That ended up rearranging the rest of the alliances on the board.  Ryan/Luke and Grant/Jango looked like they were going to be the next two to go but suddenly they found themselves flush with suitors.  Their new club turned their attention on Andrew and it was Joel's Mace who delivered the death knell.

Dooku begged an approaching Jango Fett to spare his life as he was hoping to go after Anakin, but Grant wasn't having it and Rob bowed out in eighth with a Wrist Cable.  The remaining seven stared at each other until the suggestion was made to converge on rookie Dueler Ben and his fully healthy Yoda.  Ben put up a heck of a fight.  He dropped three Force Lifts, including two at the same time on Anakin/Kaleb and Mace/Joel!  But eventually the gang of six wore him down.  He got off his Force Rebound on JD's Han before Ethan's Obi-Wan clone blasted him for good.  It was a great debut for the rookie Dueler!

Kaleb and Ethan in deep doo-doo

What transpired next was another key moment of the game.  Ryan, who looked mortally wounded at the start of the game, was thriving with his new partnerships.  And then he dropped a bomb on Kaleb/Anakin and Ethan/Obi-Wan...DOUBLE "I WILL NOT FIGHT YOU."  Kaleb basically lost his entire hand while Ehtan, holding all three of his 12 defense cards, lost two big attacks.  That's when JD stepped up in a big way.  He used two Gambler's Luck cards to not only kill Kaleb but also steal cards from Obi-Wan!  This was Kaleb's sixth Duel, meaning he's a professional now!  You'll want to check the Dueler rankings too because he's making an unprecedented debut.

That meant there were five Duelers left:  Ryan/Luke, Joel/Mace, Ethan/Obi, JD/Han, and Grant/Jango.  Ethan realized he was the next target so he played the nuclear option by dropping his Force Balance card.  That was a crazy move to make with two of his 12 defense cards still in his hand.  The move would prove to be unlucky as Ryan's Leia smoked him with a seven point attack.  That set up the final kill for Grant's Jango.  This was Ethan's career best finish, though, and he'll go professional in his next match.

A real nail biter...

The final four salvaged what was an obnoxiously tedious Duel up to that point.  JD's Han was the only character without a minor still alive, as Leia, Sha-ZAM, and a purple Clone were still alive and kicking.  Folks were wanting to eliminate Joel's Mace Windu, but there were several subtle changes in partnerships and strategies in the ensuing play.  Joel eventually got the drop on Grant's Jango, though, which I just realized happened in the REAL Geonosis Arena!  Dang it, wish we had realized that at the time...  It was another stellar finish for both Grant and Jango.

That meant three were left and Ryan's Luke gravitated towards JD's Han Solo.  But Joel wouldn't rest without voicing all of his strategic opinions.  For a brief moment Ryan actually flipped, which would have been disaster for JD's Han.  He was nearly fully recovered health-wise, while his two opponents still couldn't heal because of their living minor characters.  Ryan ended up switching back, though, and it was Luke who dropped the ax on Mace.  That's not a bad run for Joel!  He finished first at CL Training and third in his next match.

That meant Luke Skywalker, who has never won a Duel in the Waco league but leads the league in second place finishes, was once again in the final two.  And who was he facing?  Pez Vader's pick to click, Han Solo!  Even more crazy?  Ryan and JD had the first major tussle of the match, when  his Chewbacca bowcasted Luke and then his Wookie died.  Who could have predicted they would be the last two standing!?

Once Joel was gone, though, the match didn't last long.  Ryan was down to his final health point when JD finally shot and killed Leia with his first action to remove Luke's human shield.  And in a dramatic chorus, the rest of the spectators echoed JD as he said, "And for my second action, NEVER TELL ME THE ODDS!"  That was the automatic damage JD needed to make Luke the bridesmaid and Han the bride.  That marks JD's fifth career win, which ties him with Grant for second all time.  It was also Han's fourth career victory even  though he's the last ranked character.  Anyone can win a Duel!  Except Luke, apparently...  And we'd be remiss not to point out that Kaleb debuts in the TOP SPOT of the Professional Dueler rankings!  Well done Kaleb!

The final order of finish:

12.  Boba Fett/Elijah
11.  Emperor Palpatine/Toby
10.  Darth Vader/Stephen
9.  Darth Maul/Andrew
8.  Count Dooku/Rob
7.  Yoda/Ben
6.  Anakin Skywalker/Kaleb
5.  Obi-Wan Kenobi/Ethan
4.  Jango Fett/Grant
3.  Mace Windu/Joel
2.  Luke Skywalker/Ryan
1.  Han Solo/ JD

The blog stats are updated!  Our next match will be October 7, 8PM - our fourth annual Fight Night!  Stay tuned for more details.