Twin Sun Slam #2 - June 15, 2019

Kamino Platform

It was already 10PM by the time the second Duel started, and that just means folks are tired and ready to act a little crazy to get home to their bed.  That, and the skunky Yoda Soda, was enough to start game number two off with a bang.

Seats were redistributed and characters recycled, unless you were Alex or Chris, who got the exact same character as the first Duel of the evening (Han and Maul, respectively).  And since those two were the first two dead in game number one, they weren't excited about their next chance at success.  Turns out, they had nothing to worry about...  #foreshadowing

I apologize up front, I remember very few details from this one.
Ask one of these smiling maniacs for more info...

This game was played on Kamino, and the three big thinkers from the first game (JD, Ben, and Ian) just happened to all be sitting next to each other at the table and on the same light side starting block.  And wouldn't you know it, Ben got a Force Control to start the game.  But instead of pulling a dark side character into a kill box, they got all cute with their Clones and minor characters by pushing them to the front of the class.  The dark side couldn't believe their luck.  As soon as Ben's Obi was done the dark side went to work.  Grant/Emperor and Rob/Vader commenced distance attacks on Obi, Kaleb's Jango landed a couple of shots, and their precious Clones started dropping like flies.  In fact, it was a Jango Rocket Retreat that killed Ben in a quick last place.

Ian thinking about whose night to ruin...

You could see the frustration mounting on JD's face as he realized Yoda would be the next target.  He made a bold speech by drawing attention to the historical tendency for Joel, Kaleb, and Alex to align before Grant unleashed Force Lighting and the game one winner was out in eleventh.

The dark side tried to talk Kat into attacking Ian's Luke, but instead she sent some damage Courtney/Dooku's way from Padme.  We've said it before, people.  Kat doesn't flip.  The stubbornness proved fatal, though, when previous flipper Alex used his Chewbacca to Wookie Toss Anakin off the platform to his watery grave.

Ian was the last remaining light side alliance member and the obvious next target, but when it got to his turn, he had one last trick up his sleeve.  He revealed he had an I Will Not Fight You and asked the alliance who he should play it on.  Nobody would reply so he declared he'd use it on Rob's fully carded Vader.  This forced Rob into suggesting Curtis' Mace Windu.  Ian got exactly what he wanted, because the once tight alliance began planning their siege of Vader and Emperor behind Jango's ship.  Ian still played the card on Rob, who went from the driver's seat to road kill with just two puny Storm Trooper cards.

Curtis/Mace, Courtney/Dooku, and Chris/Maul all took turns rolling into the power duo and it was a Maul attack of 5 that killed a shocked Rob in ninth.  Kaleb's Boba, not directly involved in the skirmish, chucked a Thermal Detonator at Ian's Luke to put him down in eighth.  Ian had a pretty big grin on his face, though.

Five for Fighting

Grant was damaged by Maul too, so Courtney's Dooku, who earlier had been protected and possibly even saved by Vader and Emperor, drove the dagger all the way into Grant's back to leave him in seventh.  It was rough for Vader and Emperor, that's for sure.

The person who writes these blogs took a step away from the table to drown his sorrows in Oreos and a fresh bowl of Yoda Soda, so he's not quite sure how Kaleb's Boba got on the outs, but that was the result nonetheless.  Joel's Jango Fett, with the home court advantage, eliminated his biological offspring and real-life mentor in a cruel, foul, swoop. 

That left five Duelers, and boy, it was a tough vibe on the board.  A lot of talk started shifting the negative attention from one Dueler to the next.  They finally zeroed in on Courtney's Dooku.  She fought valiantly but couldn't withstand the multi-pronged attack.  4th and 5th in the same night is a good way to pad your retired resume.

Chris, playing with Maul, was now officially in his highest position ever in a Duel.  The new status wouldn't last long, though, as he had few friends left at that point.  It was Alex, using Heroic Retreat, that would send Maul to rails.  Congrats to Chris on a personal best, however!

Curtis, using Mace Windu, was in great health but now stuck alone with two shooters on the board.  That's the dream scenario for shooters and they methodically whittled down Curtis.  He did manage to eliminate Chewbacca before dying in third.  He was happy with a good showing, though.

The loss of Chewbacca put Han at a big disadvantage against Jango.  He was loaded with attack cards but Jango would rarely stay in one place long, using an effective hit and run technique.  Eventually Han fell to a Wrist Cable and Joel, in all of his recent graduate glory, claimed his sixth (!) victory in the league.  That also brought his win percentage to the D.Coy line (20%).  Congrats Joel!!!

The final order of finish:

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

Congrats to all, and it was great to have some of our recent retirees join us for a victory lap.  Our next big event is the Singles Tournament - July 28 - mark your calendars now!!!

A New Hope - January 12, 2019

Geonosis Arena (via Hoth)

Happy New Year, everybody!

It's hard to believe but we're already over half way through the Dueling "season" with our first Duel of 2019.  If that's confusing, just think of our season coinciding with the academic year.  There are five official "Duels" left in the season, including A New Hope.

The smiles wouldn't last long...

Rookie Dueler Joe got the honor to sit in the #1 Chair and he picked the Geonosis Arena.  Ryan brought all three of his 3D boards so we got to enjoy the wintry confines of Hoth once again.  It's really quite beautiful...especially the way the blood splatters on the snow!

The faces you make when two Jedi defect...

 After the characters got divvied up Grant, operating Mace Windu, got to roll first.  He promptly defected to the dark side, which isn't uncommon on Geonosis.  The light side thought it could handle the defection...until Alex's Obi-Wan Kenobi left town too!  And he hit Joe's Yoda on his way out.  He also used a Force Control to better position the dark side. It looked bleak for the good guys.

Ryan, playing with Anakin Skywalker, decided "no guts, no glory," and started taking out minor characters on the dark side, including Greedo.  That allowed Rob's Chewbacca to move forward and Wookie Toss Zam to open a lane for a startled Boba Fett, being controlled by Ben.  And as it so happened...Chewy had the Bowcaster!  And Boba only had a one point defense!  Ouch!  ROOOWWWWRRRR!!!!

That moral victory didn't last long, because for the first time in 39 Duels, Ryan finally finished in last place.  He took multiple shots but it was Kaleb's Darth Vader that Wrathed him to his demise.  You have to hand it to Ryan, that was a heck of a never-last place streak!  If I'm not mistaken only Grant's is longer. 

Victims of the Earle massacre

Joe's Yoda was dead next, a victim of Courtney's Zam Wessell.  Poor Joe, he was playing in his first Duel but the two Jedi defecting left him hanging in the wind.  Let's hope he comes back for a second chance!

At that point Rob's Han and Scott's Luke and Leia were huddled in the corner behind the giant snow bank.  Rob, as he's prone to do, started running his mouth incessantly, looking for any crack he could.  Mostly, he was trying to point to the horribly injured Boba Fett.  But as the dark side slowly converged it would be Kat's Emperor Palpatine who would be the first one ejected from the dark side alliance!  Ben's Boba put in the final hit with a Deadly Aim.  And it didn't stop there!  Han and Luke were annoyingly inaccessible so the infighting started again, this time focused on poor Anna's Count Dooku.  She wandered into a secret kill box and her so-called alliance made her pay the price.  Geonosis is a bad board for Dooku, let's hope Anna plays again too!

It's hip to be square!

It looked like there might be a glimmer of hope for Rob and Scott.  Rob killed a Clone Trooper with Gambler's Luck, discarding an already short-carded Mace/Grant for Scott to attack with a Justice.  But instead...Scott attacked Rob's Han!  Rob couldn't believe it, or defend it, and died in eighth.  He still doesn't know how to feel about the loud applause during his demise.

Scott thought the back-stab might endear him to the remaining dark side but that was not the case.  Joel/Maul and Kaleb/Vader began immediate attacks.  Maul's Athletic Surge finished Scott, who was previously the top ranked amateur but not falls to second place in those standings.  That ain't bad for only ever playing Luke Skywalker!

That left six Duelers:  Kaleb/Vader, Alex/Obi, Ben/Boba, Grant/Mace, Courtney/Jango, and Joel/Maul.  Kaleb didn't like so many Fetts on the board and decided to attack Courtney's Jango.  Before the dice could get to her, she got attacked again...by her husband and fellow Fett!!!  We haven't seen a family dilemma like that since the infamous daddy/daughter feud at Fight Night.  The shock was palpable, and Grant's Mace decided he didn't care for that turn of events and laid a hit on Boba.  Courtney followed up with a Missle Launch, ending Ben's night in sixth and providing Courtney with a modicum of revenge.  Alex didn't let her enjoy the moment, though.  He killed her in fifth with a Force Control, which he also used to turn Hoth into a square dance.  Props to Courtney for another stellar finish, though.

Alex wanted everyone to do-si-do in the middle of the board but they all took two steps back instead.  What transpired was quite fascinating, since the remaining Duelers were all in relatively great health and loaded with cards.  There was a lot of open discussion but the opening salvos gravitated towards battles between Maul/Joel vs. Obi/Alex and Mace/Grant vs. Kaleb/Vader.

Grant was doing better than everyone else in that arrangement, which didn't go unnoticed by the others.  They whittled him down until Alex's Obi-Wan finally finished him.  That fourth place finish cemented Grant's stranglehold on first place in the rankings.  He's a beast! 

With three to go Joel and Kaleb started tagging each other, but their mutual fear of facing Obi-Wan at the end forced them to join forces against the best character in the game.  Alex put a ton of damage on Maul but not enough to survive the double-bladed Sith apprentice.  Alex's third place finish moved him up to third in the rankings - good job!

That left two!  It looked like Kaleb's Vader had the health advantage, and by quick math, a probable victory over Joel based on indefensible Special attacks.  But Kaleb ran into some bad luck on his redraws and Joel started chasing Vader around the board.  One funny sequence included Vader attacking with a Force Drain against a Blinding Surge, which was a zero sum gain for Vader's health and detrimental to Maul.  But Kaleb made a risky move by killing Maul's last Battledroid, allowing Joel to heal past the point of automatic death.  After a couple of solid dice rolls he moved in to attack.  After two Sith Speeds and a 5-1, he dropped the Athletic Surge for his fifth career victory - congrats Joel!!!  And well played, Kaleb!

The final order of finish:

12.  Ryan/Anakin
11.  Joe/Yoda
10.  Kat/Emperor
9.  Anna/Dooku
8.  Rob/Han
7.  Scott/Luke
6.  Ben/Boba
5.  Courtney/Jango
4.  Grant/Mace
3.  Alex/Obi
2.  Kaleb/Vader
1.  Joel/Maul

What a great way to start 2019!  Stay tuned for details on the February battle...the Valentine's Duel!

Doubleheader #2 - August 31, 2018

Kamino Platform

...and on to game two!

For just the second time in 2018, the Kamino Platform was selected as the field of battle.  And just like the first game, Ryan brought his 3D board for Kamino, complete with pretty Christmas Lights.  Twinkle twinkle, little Dueler, which of the 12 will be the ruler...?

Both Ben H. (Yoda) and Rob (Dooku) got their same characters from the first game, while Chris K. (Han) got stuck with his second shooter.  In his last four games he's been a shooter.  Thanks for taking one for the team, Chris!

We started on time - hooray!

One of the best parts about Kamino is the crazy way it disrupts the typical light vs. dark starting points.  There are three distinct clumpings on the board and anything can happen.  And anything did!  Luke, assigned Boba Fett and Greedo for the second game, used a Sudden Arrival and Desperate Shot right out of the gate, shooting toward Alex's Obi-Wan.  It was a big risk to lose Greedo right out of the gate...and he did zero damage after Alex used Jedi Block!  Greedo got obliterated, which is never not funny.  However, that also painted an enormous, Bowcaster-sized target on Alex.  Sure enough, Chris K.'s Chewey dropped the eleven point attack on Obi-Wan, and a couple of attacks later he was dead!  Brutal!!!  Alex won a first place trophy and the Golden Jar Jar all in the same night.  #hardware  This also marked the third game in a row Obi-Wan finished in last place, and I'm pretty sure that's a new 12-Way Duel record.

Curse you, JD!!!

Obi-Wan's dramatic demise sent the board in chaos.  Rob's Dooku had moved away from Vader and Emperor in the back row, but popped right back over with Obi dead.  Chris K.'s Han Solo had blood lust after bumping off the biggest Jedi on the board.  He continued an offensive press but finally bit it when Ryan's Padme zapped him in eleventh.  Ryan, at the half-hearted suggestion of Rob, then Wrathed to the dark side of the board.

It looked like the remaining light side would be pelted by more than the Kamino rain, when COMPLETELY out of the blue, JD/Emperor and Ben P./Vader jacked up Rob's Dooku with a wombo-combo!!!  Dooku was dead in eleventh.  Rob was so $$*%&*$&% ticked the #(*$&#%^ off!!!!!!  RAGE!!!!

Ahem.  Back to the recap.

Grant and Ben H., laying as low as possible...

Dooku's death gave the light side a brief reprieve, but it wouldn't last long.  Grant's Mace was getting wounded left and right by the ranged shots of dark side minor characters.  That's when Ben, for the third time that night, Force Pushed one of his own teammates to a kill box.  But instead of Mace, it was Chris W.'s Luke Skywalker!  JD said he wouldn't attack Chris...which was technically true.  Instead, the rest of his alliance did and Chris W. was eliminated in ninth. 

By the time the dominant alliance got around to killing Grant in eighth, a couple of slow, tedious hours had passed.  Just as it looked like Ben H.'s Yoda would be next, Ben P. got squirrely and started planning to betray his back row partner, JD.  JD hasn't played 40+ Duels to not sense a change in the tide and immediately picked up on it.  He rallied the rest of the board (which wasn't hard, because boy, folks sure seemed like they were kissing up to the Emperor) and Ben P. got burned in seventh.  You have to love his moxie, though, this kid has potential!

God I love this picture!

There were only six soldiers left on the board, and poor Luke suddenly found himself on the outs.  His Boba inflicted a nice amount of damage, but his alliance wanted to avoid and remaining big attacks.  Luke was out in sixth, but this also marked his sixth Duel, meaning he's a professional now.  Congrats Luke!  And even better, he's debuted in tenth place in the rankings - nice!!!

Ben H., still hobbling around the board as Yoda after it looked like he would be second to die on the night, was loud and proud about telling the remaining Duelers he was loyal to his hamburger buddy JD.  JD didn't necessarily like the extra attention.  It was pretty clear Ryan/Anakin and Joel/Maul were going to have to work together to defeat the golden oldies characters.  But instead of recruiting Kayla's Jango, Maul used an attack to remove her in fifth.  This was just Kayla's second Duel, though, and she's already landed a top five finish - good job Kayla!

Yoda/Emperor started defending each other around Jango's ship as Maul/Anakin tried to figure out how to isolate one of them.  The Emperor eventually got attacked when Joel rolled a five and unloaded on JD, who was holding a lot of special cards but not much defense.  That left little ol' Yoda versus Maul and Anakin.

And Yoda started kicking @$$.

Ben ran a clinic on how awesome Yoda is, consistently defending and outmaneuvering the twin attacks of Maul and Anakin.  The twosome were losing health points at the same rate Yoda was, which was incredible.  Eventually, Yoda started running out of cards.  Ryan went in for the kill.  For his first attack Ben defended with a 15 defense that also allowed him to draw a card.  Ryan made an even more aggressive move by using Anger, an eight point attack.  Ben turned over the card he just drew:  Force Rebound.  Eight points right back at Ryan's Anakin...who only had seven health points left!!!  It was incredible deck luck and Dueler skill.  Ryan can't complain - two third place finishes on the night is excellent work.

It took Joel a minute to track him down, but Darth Maul finally overwhelmed Yoda and Joel secured his fourth career victory in just over a year.  Amazing!  Ben H. finished second, but he put on the performance of the night by far.

Your final order of finish:

12.  Obi/Alex C.
11.  Han/Chris K.
10.  Dooku/Rob
9.  Luke/Chris W.
8.  Mace/Grant
7.  Vader/Ben P.
6.  Boba/Luke R.
5.  Jango/Kayla
4.  Emperor/JD
3.  Anakin/Ryan
2.  Yoda/Ben H.
1.  Maul/Joel

A big thank you to everyone who came out and played two games - it was an awesome night!  The next 12-Way Duel is the FALL BRAWL.  That will happen sometime in September but I don't have a date yet.  Stay tuned!  Meanwhile, the stats have been updated, feel free to peruse the tabs...

Birthday Surprise - April 26, 2018

Geonosis Arena/The Ice Planet Hoth

Sith Lordy
Sith Lordy,
Look who's 40!

That's right - Ryan, the most sinister Dueler in the league, celebrated four decades on the third rock from the sun this week, so naturally, we had to hold a surprise Duel!

Well, it was mostly a surprise.  I think he started to figure it out the day of.  Now that we've done this a few times it's getting harder to be clandestine!

Ryan's wife brought Rudy's BBQ and a Star Wars cake, which made the normal pre-game tension a little less severe.  We also had to be beat the clock with this Duel, because most of us had tickets or were trying to get tickets for the opening night of Avengers: Infinity War.  It just proves our nerdery isn't contained to the Star Wars Universe!

It's weird to Duel in the daylight.

Since it was Ryan's birthday we also decided to play on his Hoth board, a replication of the Geonosis arena.  It's a beautiful battlefield.  You practically want to wear mittens while moving your characters around.

Characters and chairs were picked and we were off to the races.  Curtis' Count Dooku stayed loyal to the dark side, so Rob's Luke Skywalker departed the light side to tip the scales.  Ethan's Mace and JD's Obi-Wan tried to hold the line, but Daniel's Boba Fett chucked a thermal detonator that wiped out three Clones and the light side was quickly hurting.  Coleman, playing in his rookie Duel, started moving his Han and Chewie from around the columns...er, snowbank...to move into attack position.  Except...he attacked his own alliance!  Chewie dropped the Bowcaster on Ethan's Mace, and followed up with a three point attack to put Mace in last place for just the second time in 54 league duels.

What if, instead of fighting, we just made
snow angels instead?  Who's in?!?

Ryan/Yoda, Kaleb/Anakin, and JD/Obi had retreated behind the snowbank to make the dark side come marching down and enter a bottleneck to try and damage them.  They figured that would improve their defensive hopes.  It was a good strategy, except Coleman's Han was still back there too.  He popped off two more attacks and JD's Obi-Wan was out in eleventh.  It's been a rough stretch for both JD and Obi.

The remaining light side finally had enough of Han and Coleman was ousted them in tenth.  It was a daring, if not confusing, debut for the rookie.  That left Kaleb and Ryan as the focal points for the dark side to attack.  Unfortunately for the birthday boy, Ryan/Yoda were out in ninth, fittingly killed by Curtis, who was and still is fuming from his own birthday ouster at Ryan's hands last year.

Just as it seemed obvious Kaleb/Anakin would be next to go the dark side started squabbling and called out a possible Ben/Emperor, Rob/Luke, and Grant/Jango alliance.  Rob tried to squash that by attacking Jango, but the rest of the alliance didn't follow suit.  Rob tried to backtrack and point out the equally strong power trio of Nathan/Maul, Curtis/Dooku, and Daniel/Boba, but folks weren't interested in keeping Rob or Luke on the board.  Ben's Imperial Guard killed him in eighth.

That left seven to go, and Jango, who had Rocket Retreated after being attacked by Rob, suddenly found himself surrounded by less-than-friendly allies.  They circled and attacked.  Curtis' Dooku dropped the final shot and Grant's evening was done.  His terrible luck at picking shooters, though, remains strongly intact.

Curtis' paranoia ratcheted up to eleven as he saw his former partners starting to circle.  Before he knew it he was the focus of attack and crashed out in sixth.  That left a final five of Ben/Emperor, Daniel/Boba, Nathan/Maul, Kaleb/Anakin, and Joel/Vader...a (mostly) dark side fight!

Multiple alliances formed and changed, and just as it looked like Kaleb's Anakin might be gaining control, Daniel's Boba Fett dropped an un-defended Kyber Dart that shockingly exited Kaleb from the board.  Don't feel too sorry for him, though, because he's reclaimed the #1 Dueler ranking!

After Daniel's fierce firepower the remaining Duelers turned their attention on him.  Joel's Vader eliminated him in fourth.  Daniel's had quite a nice little run as of late!  And then there were three...

Initially it looked like Nathan/Maul and Ben/Emperor would team against Joel's Vader.  But as they worked Vader's health marker toward zero Ben started addressing Maul.  That forced Nathan into attacking the Emperor instead.  Joel's Vader retreated to the snow bank end of the board while Maul and Emperor duked it out.  Ben played extremely well, including dropping a You Will Die on Vader, but Nathan pulled an Athletic Surge at the exact right time to kill Ben in third place.  Ben continues to rise up the Dueler rankings as he continues to stalk his first victory.

Nathan, damaged from the Emperor, had no choice but to advance towards Vader before Joel re-drew a Throw Debris or Wrath.  He got an attack or two in, but Joel rolled out to confront him.  Despite dropping a Blinding Surge to knock Joel down to two points from dying, he didn't have an adequate enough defense to block Vader's second attack.  Joel won his third career Duel!  And that extends Vader's character lead to nine career wins.  The final order of finish:

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

Happy birthday again, Ryan!  Thanks to everyone who came out to play.  Now let's start talking Avengers spoilers...

Fight Night - October 7, 2017

Emperor's Throne Room

If you are newer to the league and/or blog, I thought I should take a moment and explain how we do our Dueler rankings.  Essentially, we just average out your order of finish, but with a twist.  If you finish in first place, we subtract one point from your finish.  For instance if you have a fourth place finish in your first Duel and a first place finish in your second Duel, your dueler average would be "2" (4+1-1/2) instead of "2.5" (4+1/2).  We have that rule in place to incentivize winning the game instead of playing for ranking.  Over the course of the league folks can forget what the ultimate goal is - to be the last Dueler standing!

You can tell a lot about a Dueler
by their pre-game picture pose...

The other factor we bring into play is a handicap bonus for operating with a bottom ranked character.  The theory is that you are at a disadvantage if your character stinks.  So after every Duel we recalculate the character rankings, and if you have ever played with a character who is in the bottom three, we subtract one point for each instance.  So using the example above, if you finished fourth and first, and one of those characters was in the bottom three, we would add five, subtract one for winning and another for the handicap, and divide by the two Duels played.  That would be a "1.5" average. 

I bring all of this up because, after yesterday's Fight Night, the tenth and ninth place characters (Darth Maul and Count Dooku) tied for the last spot in handicap points.  It's a major pain to recalculate a change in character handicap points, especially knowing they won't be tied again after the next Duel.  So I kept Maul in the bottom three and didn't award handicap points to Dooku.  You may commence carrying pitchforks and torches on behalf of Dooku now.

Nobody puts Obi in the corner

Anyway, enough boring ranking talk.  Let's get to the Duel!  Ben H., playing in his second Duel, got the number one chair and picked the Emperor's Throne Room for the battle.  Unfortunately, he also picked Han Solo.  Woof.  Everyone else grabbed their character and we were off to the races.

Nathan's Obi-Wan Kenobi became an early target of the dark side and he lost both of his Clone Troopers very early.  That's when Ian's Count Dooku moved in.  He Force Pushed Obi into a dark side kill box at the back of the board!  But Nathan wasn't going down without a fight.  He used his Force Control attack and created a path for his escape while also boxing out the big-bads on the dark side.  He then used Force Quickness to get the heck out of Dodge.

While this completely ruined Dooku's plan it did leave Ben's Chewbacca exposed to attacks.  Despite holding his Bowcaster he couldn't use it because they killed the Wookie before he had the chance.  I'm going to fast forward through the painstaking "dark side by committee" play to the part where Andrew's Jango killed Ben's Han.  Ben didn't play poorly, he just got unlucky with character and placement.

Despite his boss escape, Nathan's Obi-Wan continued to receive damage and he misplayed his last turn by not using two of his big attack cards.  The dark side didn't miss a beat and Ian's Dooku finally tasted misery by eliminating Obi in eleventh.  What had been a stand up, knock down fight between the six dark and six light side characters was now a 6 on 4 route.

That's Chris' evil Darth Maul smile

Kat, playing with Mace Windu, decided to flip the script.  She attacked Austin's Yoda!  The light side alliance was now officially kaput.  They traded blows and Force Lifts but Austin was really unlucky in his Yoda cards, lacking several of his big defenses and the Force Pushes.  He was out in tenth.

Rob, playing with Luke Skywalker, and Chris, playing with Darth Maul, were seated next to each other and constantly trying to convince the other to switch sides.  Now was there chance to work together!  Sensing he was at the bottom of the dark side alliance, or perhaps just beaten down by Rob's incessant talking, he pulled a big move when he attacked JD's Boba!  Rob followed suite by Children of the Forcing over to the Fett to kill JD in ninth.  But instead of staying near Luke, Maul used his Athletic Surge movement to stand by Dooku, Joel's Vader, and Jonathan's Emperor.  They were not happy to lose Boba and began attacking Maul.  But Ian's Dooku was already damaged and Chris used a couple of desperation attacks to set up a kill for Curtis' Anakin, who was stuck hiding in the corner for most of the game. 

hehehe...look at Ian and JD venting in the background...

The kids who play over in the HRC are fond of calling the Emperor "You Will Die" followed by the Vader "All Too Easy" a "wombo combo."  I don't know how I feel about that corny name, but it doesn't help that I WAS KILLED WITH IT.  That's right, Rob's Luke, who only had one point of damage, got purged by Jonathan and Joel for seventh place.  It was a shocking turn of events and cemented Vader and Emperor as the pair to beat. 

Chris tried to start talking with the other Duelers to alert them to the danger of not attacking this dangerous duo but Andrew's Jango Fett was eager for a trophy, so Maul went out in sixth.  That was kind of ironic because Rob kept mentioning the best Chris could do if he didn't flip was finish sixth.  All roads led to sixth place for Chris.

The final five were Andrew/Jango, Kat/Mace, Curtis/Anakin, Joel/Vader, and Jonathan/Emperor.  The smart play would have been for Anakin, Mace, and Jango to form an alliance to oust Vader and Emperor, but they couldn't mobilize that before Vader and Emperor shocked Andrew's Jango by going after the last remaining shooter.  Andrew finished fifth but that was a career best for him - way to go Andrew!

Jonathan and Joel used their evil persuasion skills to turn Kat's Mace against Curtis' Anakin.  Despite Anakin's pleas to work together, Kat stuck with the dark lords of the Sith.  Kat was a tough negotiator, though, forcing Joel to move in on Anakin with her.  Despite a brief Wrath escape, Vader Wrathed his younger self, sending Curtis out in fourth.

A fitting final two, considering the board...

With three to go Joel and Kat made an agreement to go against Jonathan's Emperor.  Both he and Vader were full health.  Their combined attacks deeply damaged the wrinkled old goon, but not before he dropped a Force Lightning on Mace to end Kat's night in third.  That's her best finish, though, and now she's tied for first in the amateur rankings!  If we had a rookie of the year award Kat would be the leading candidate.  (Note to self, consider implementing a Rookie of the Year...)

...and then there were two!  Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine!  In the Emperor's Throne Room!  It was Return of the Jedi recreated!!!  Joel had positioned himself well for the take down.  He and Mace already roughed up Jonathan, and despite a Meditation, Joel moved in for the kill.  That's Joel's second win of the year, and his second in the last three games he's played.  EN FUEGO!  It also means, at seven victories, Darth Vader has regained sole possession of the lead for character wins.  And a big congrats to Jonathan, too.  He tied a career best second place finish.

Remember, no nails in your residence
hall room!

The final order of finish:

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

Thanks to all for a great Duel!  Stay tuned for details and dates for next month's Thanksdueling! match.  It's a cornucopia of death and destruction.

AND ONE MORE THING!  Tune into Monday Night Football tomorrow because the NEW TRAILER FOR THE LAST JEDI WILL DEBUT!!!!!  You KNOW we're going to do a movie premiere Duel.  Oh yes, we will...

CL Training - August 8, 2017

Geonosis Arena

Oh doctor...here we are again!  The start of our FOURTH season of 12-Way Duels!!!  Can you believe it???  Over the first three years of Dueling we logged 40 Duels.  FORTY.  And that made this year's CL Training Duel our 41st.  Somewhere along the line this Dueling juggernaut became unstoppable, so thank you to ALL OF YOU who play the game, read the blog, and share an enthusiasm for all things epic.

Rob, hold your cards closer to the chest!

 This year's CL Training, our fifth Duel (we didn't count stats from the first year), featured three folks brand new to a 12-Way Duel!  Alex, Kayelee and Toby made their debuts, which was awesome, especially because they each had prior experience in playing the game.  And JD brought TWO trophies to the Duel!  One for the winner, and a Jar Jar trophy for the twelfth place finisher.  Even when you lose, you win!  Unless you hate being mocked with a Jar Jar trophy.  Then it's just like salt being rubbed into your open light saber wounds.

Jonathan drew chair number one and picked Geonosis Arena for the game board.  The characters were quickly selected and as a huge crowd gathered the game commenced!  As has been the tradition recently, it started as light side versus dark, with each side looking for the first defector.  Kayelee and Count Dooku, stuck with the tough starting position in the middle of the board, looked like she was changing first but Toby was the one who got the party officially started!  His Boba Fett chucked a Thermal Detonator into a gaggle of Sith and then Rocket Retreated behind the columns on the light side!

Toby - Inaugural Winner of the Golden Jar Jar

It was a bold move by Toby, and he was sure to win favor with his new alliance, right!?  WRONG!  In a shocking move Nathan/Anakin and Jonathan/Luke rewarded him with multiple attacks.  Stephen, playing as Vader on the opposite end of the board, but in the final shot as he Threw Debris in a final act of revenge, ending poor Toby's night in last place.  But Toby was really pumped to get the Jar Jar!

I'd like to say that the action only kept churning at that point, but I'm going to spoiler alert you and say it didn't.  In fact, this was the LONGEST Duel I think we've ever played.  Part of that grind was caused when Nathan/Anakin Wrathed to the dark side of the board while Jonathan/Luke Children of the Forced to the other end too!  All of a sudden it was six on five as Anakin, Luke, Emperor/Alex, Jango/Ian, Josh/Maul and Stephen/Vader looked like an unstoppable alliance.  The light side, which included JD/Mace, Rob/Obi, Joel/Yoda, Austin/Han, and welcomed defector Kayelee/Dooku dug their heals in for a long, protracted fight.

The light side group was dealt a serious blow when Anakin/Nathan successfully defended Chewie's Bowcaster.  Anakin later double-Wrathed the Wookie to kill him, making it a hard night for Han.  Before Chewbacca died, though, he did manage to Wookie Toss Padme to her death too.

So much evil plotting happening here...

Despite having the numbers advantage, the dark side wasn't being overly aggressive, giving the light side an opportunity to turn the tide.  That happened when Kayelee's Dooku moved into attack position against Alex's Emperor.  She Force Pushed him in a kill box consisting of Mace, Obi, and Yoda and then she Gave Orders to retreat back to the light side.  Joel/Yoda had recently Insighted the Emperor and knew his hands, so the light side gave him the opportunity to use some of his cards to attack his former alliance...or face certain death.  But Alex didn't realize his Let Go of Your Hatred cards counted, and so when he didn't play them the Jedi took him down in eleventh place.

Despite Kayelee's awesome move, the dark side retaliated by concentrating on her.  Josh, who has only played three Duels with all of them being at the CL retreat, moved his Darth Maul into position to attack.  Dooku survived the first onslaught but eventually fell in tenth place when Vader Wrathed her.

The light side reacted by creating another Jedi kill box.  This time Rob/Obi used his Jedi Control attack to suck in Nathan's Anakin.  Mace and Yoda delivered repeated blows, with Mace's Whirlwind putting the final nail in Nathan's coffin.  It was a shocking end for Nathan, whose defection had seemingly assured himself a top six finish.

ALL TOO EASY!!!

After the Force Control Josh's Maul was left in the open and exposed to long distance gun fire from Austin/Han's blaster.  After yet another Force Control that Rob/Obi played, Austin eliminated Maul in eighth with a Never Tell Me The Odds.

The dark side started to focus their attacks on Rob's Obi-Wan.  Obi was deflecting it pretty well but was getting desperately low carded.  Jonathan/Luke delivered a lot of it but Joel's Yoda took him out for a seventh place finish.  Rob didn't last much longer, despite avoiding certain death from two Darth Vader attacks, Ian's Zam Wessell punched his ticket from across the board.

That left a final five of Ian/Jango, Joel/Yoda, JD/Mace, Stephen/Vader, and Austin/Han.  Ian and Stephen were the last two from the dark side alliance, and they tried to tempt Austin to flip and join them against the two superior Jedis.   After a longgggggg deliberation Austin stuck to his alliance and they tried to eliminate Jango and Vader...but they weren't going down without a fight!  As Stephen began taking on excessive damage he was down to two health points and two cards.  He moved in against Han and attacked once.  Austin defended.  With his last card, he attacked again.  Han didn't defend this time.  The attack card?  ALL TOO EASY.  TWENTY POINTS OF DAMAGE!!!  Han/Austin were out in a shocking fifth place finish!!!

These two are going to need couple's counseling...

JD/Mace eliminated Stephen/Vader next, but Stephen was quite pleased with his fourth place finish.  As it turns out, he had been holding the All Too Easy in the first four cards of his hand!

What happened next was long and quite nuanced, but I'm running out of energy to adequately describe it.  So let me sum it up.  Ian/Jango repeatedly aligned and then betrayed JD/Mace in their attempt to leverage their own best odds at defeating Joel/Yoda, who was full-bar health and had yet to use any of his big three defense cards.  It was hilarious, as Ian's cat and mouse game continued to fluster JD and produced many memorable reactions and counter arguments.

In the end, as Mace was nearly dead and Ian was about to, once again, join JD in a fight against Yoda, Ian became suddenly worried that, rather than play to win, JD might try to attack his Jango just to improve his final finish.  Ian then decided to just kill Mace, and poor JD was done in third place.  We're going to need to help these two process their emotions and how they feel about each other...

Joel's first win!

The final act was, once again, long, but the writing was on the wall.  A half-damaged Jango was going against a fully healthy Yoda.  Ian did his best to hit and run, Rocket Retreat, etc., but Joel's Yoda was just too strong.  He just had to stay healthy and patient, which he did.  Jango finally fell and Joel won!!!  That's Joel's first career victory, and the second win in a row for Yoda.  That places Yoda in second place for career victories with five.

The final order of finish:

12.  Toby/Boba
11.  Alex/Emperor
10.  Kayelee/Dooku
9.  Nathan/Anakin
8.  Josh/Maul
7.  Jonathan/Luke
6.  Rob/Obi-Wan
5.  Austin/Han
4.  Stephen/Vader
3.  JD/Mace
2.  Ian/Jango
1.  Joel/Yoda

Thanks to everyone who played and watched...at least initially.  We ended at 1:30AM for crying out loud!  The next Duel is a DOUBLEHEADER!  That's right - two games in one night!  That will be August 26, more details coming soon!