Galactic Credits - May 3, 2019

Kamino Platform

It was a historic day in our Duel League.  We played our newly purchased, league-owned Dueling board.  And as we counted the freshly opened cards, we discovered a bonus!  The Obi-Wan deck came with an extra 5-1 attack card.  I have no idea what we should do with it.  Frame it?  Each Dueler who sat down at the table would be the first to shuffle that character's cards.  What an honor!

It was also a day of goodbyes and welcome-backs.  Courtney was playing her last match while Nathan, the Hall of Famer, came back to the fold.  So many mixed emotions on a Friday afternoon!

"Cash rules everything around me CREAM!
Get the money, dollar-dollar bills yo..."

Grant drew the #1 chair and picked Kamino for the battleground.  With this Duel being our fundraiser for the game, we decided the winning Dueler would get to sign their name on the square they were standing on when they won the game.  You can tell by the lump of cash on the table folks were feeling pretty serious about it.  That signature is forever...who would earn that glory?

The first couple of rounds of play were relatively uneventful until Courtney's Han Solo decided to flip to the dark side.  The light side tried to convince Nathan's Dooku to flip back to them, but he wasn't having it.  However, after Rob's Luke played an "I Will Not Fight You" and Ian's Anakin double-Wrathed Dooku's Super Battle Droids, Nathan saw the light and joined up. 

JD's Maul moved his Battle Droids forward to help protect Han while Courtney managed a Bowcaster on Viktor's Mace.  It wasn't a hot start for the light side and the dark side tried to convince Chris' Obi-Wan to abandon the Jedi ranks.  But Chris is a gentleman of the highest moral fortitude and would not leave his post, which buttressed the courage of Kaleb's Yoda.  He had a choice to Force Push JD's Maul (who also just got an "I Will Not Fight You" played on him) or Courtney's Han into a light side kill box.  Knowing it was her last Duel, Kaleb boldly moved into the dark side territory and sent JD flying to his death in 12th.  JD was required to carry the golden Jar Jar everywhere with him until the next day's Duel.

Viktor before he dropped a Whirlwind on his own alliance.

While everybody was wild for the bold play, the dark side saw a great opportunity to eliminate Yoda.  Troy played You Will Die and dumped Kaleb's entire hand.  Suddenly he was surrounded by all three shooters and a couple of Royal Guards.  He took some hits but somehow used his mouth to convince them all to stop attacking.  It's like he used a real-life Jedi Mind Trick!

When JD got tossed Ben used his Jango to attack the Emperor while he Rocket Retreated to the light side.  But with Maul down and the rest of the dark side in trouble Rob/Luke, Viktor/Mace, and Ian/Anakin used the opportunity to lessen their full hands and kill Jango in a surprising eleventh place.  Ben might have been a little salty.  The next tragic kill was Chris' Obi-Wan.  While it was his early decision to hold true to the light side, he was rewarded with attacks from Nathan's Dooku and Courtney's Han.  It was the Never Tell Me The Odds special card that ended him in tenth.

Shout-out to Troy for being our twelfth!  

The four-way alliance of Rob/Luke, Viktor/Mace, Ian/Anakin, and Nathan/Dooku were planning their advancement on the Vader/Emperor/Boba side of the board when, completely out of the blue, Viktor dropped a Whirlwind on his own team!!!  He promised he wouldn't do it again, and for some reason his alliance believed him.  But as Mace marched across the board towards Coleman's Boba Fett, Courtney had one more trick up her sleeve.  She played her SECOND Bowcaster against Mace!  This time he had no defense and bowed out in ninth.

Coleman's Boba Fett never had a true alliance as he had targeted multiple folks on the board, but he finally had too many enemies when Troy's Emperor eliminated the junior Fett in eighth.  Coleman played well, though, especially for somebody who basically got forced into sitting at the table.

The Three Amigos

With seven to go it clearly became Yoda/Emperor/Vader vs. Luke/Ani/Dooku with Han as the swing vote.  But Courtney was convinced Rob was her true enemy and kept sniping at him.  That forced him to use a Justice card on Han, followed up by a Precise Shot from Padme.  That was all Courtney could take as she retired in seventh. 

That made a very interesting mix for a three on three battle.  Ian's Anakin boldly charged the skinny side of the board behind Jango's ship to engage the Emperor.  Though Troy managed to heal a couple of times he couldn't withstand the barrage and was forced out in sixth.  He played a patient game, though, it was a great rookie 12-way debut!  He also saved our butts by being the last person to help us make numbers.

One of these two were about to add their John Hancock
to the Kamino Platform

Kaleb, who was somehow still in this game, had managed to heal back half of his health.  But Nathan pulled a sneaky move by Force Pushing him into his alliance's kill box and they slowly eliminated his defense cards and hit points.  It was a powerful combo Drain and Taunt from Nathan's Dooku that finally did in Yoda.  That was a well-earned fifth place by Kaleb, who just as easily could have been last.

With four to go Grant's Darth Vader was the obvious target.  He was pretty cranky with the last I Will Not Fight You Rob played on him so he used a double Throw Debris on Luke Skywalker to crush Rob in fourth.  To Rob's credit, he laughed when it happened.  Grant couldn't fight two blades at once, though, and followed soon after in third place.  Another stellar finish for the top Dueler in the league.

That left the former supervisor/supervisee final two of Ian and Nathan.  Nathan used a Force Drain that jacked up Ian - he lost his 8 attack and his rebound.  Two taunts later and the Hall of Famer Nathan, playing in his return match to the league, won the game!!!

The final order of finish:

12.  JD/Maul
11.  Ben/Jango
10.  Chris/Obi
9.  Viktor/Mace
8.  Coleman/Boba
7.  Courtney/Han
6.  Troy/Emperor
5.  Kaleb/Yoda
4.  Rob/Luke
3.  Grant/Vader
2.  Ian/Anakin
1.  Nathan/Dooku

Thanks to everyone for raising the money to provide a set for future use in the league!

Doubleheader #2 - August 26, 2017

Emperor's Throne Room

It was no small miracle that the second Duel of the night started by 9:30.  Austin peaced out, Ryan took his place, and Elijah couldn't be late because he was already here.

Our tradition now for the second game of the Doubleheader is to make things dorkier than possible.  To go farther past Dork Town than folks knew you could travel.

We play with Legos!

That's right, Ryan, our master architect, once again brought his Lego creations to take the place of our normal game board and figurines.  He intended to use the Kamino layout but with a Hoth overlay.  Unfortunately he didn't quite have enough pieces to make it work, so he went back to his masterpiece from last year - the Emperor's Throne Room:

Don't ask us why we own more Legos now as grown adults than we did as kids.  Just embrace the nerdery!  Seriously, though, look at that thing.  It's so awesome!!!

As you can tell by the picture of Duelers to the left, folks weren't playing any games this time around, they were getting serious.  I mean yes, technically, we were all still playing a game (and toys now too), but the gloves were off!  Or folks were tired and just wanted to get this thing over with.  Or they were hopped up from a second infusion of yoda soda.

Ryan grabbed chair number one, just like the man he replaced (Austin).  Curtis suggested a "grand reveal," meaning we all opened our character envelopes at the same time.  Three folks were stunned to see they were playing with the same character again!  Grant had Boba, Stephen had Maul, and JD got Luke!  JD was really excited about it, too.  I mean, over the moon ecstatic.  Who wouldn't be - he's the only character to never win a 12-Way in our league!

Trick Shot McGee

Rob, fresh off his Jango victory in game one, got Obi-Wan for game two and became the immediate target of the dark side alliance.  Ryan's Vader Threw Debris and soon others followed suit.  The light side was stuck on what to do.  JD stalled as he struggled to decide whether to flip or not.  Elijah's Anakin was trapped behind Ethan's Han, who couldn't move for risk of getting hit again by the dark side shooters.  Andrew's Mace was jammed behind Luke, and Kerri's Yoda was in the far corner, hoping nobody paid her any attention.

As Obi-Wan's health continued to dwindle he got bolder.  He decided to play a Force Control and move everyone around the board up to three spaces.  Suddenly Jedi and Sith lords were face to face in the center of the board while the dark side shooters were relegated to the back.  Rob conveniently moved himself into the back corner.

In the ensuing chaos it would be Ethan's Han Solo, and not Rob's Obi-Wan, who would die first.  Stephen's Darth Maul sliced him down for the second game in a row.  Elijah's Anakin Skywalker fell soon after.  Vader had already Choked Padme out of the game and Nathan's Jango put the final laser into is poor Lego body, sending Elijah home in 11th place.  But, there was fun news!  After almost a year and a half off, Elijah reached professional status as the second game was the sixth of his career.  Congrats Elijah!

"You get an 'I Will Not Fight You,' and you get
an 'I Will Not Fight You'..."

Rob was down to one card, sitting in the back corner.  JD's Luke and Leia flipped before Obi played Force Control, and they were the only ones from the dark side alliance who could move in on Rob.  He pleaded for Kerri to move her Yoda directly in front of him so JD couldn't attack.  But instead of doing that, she Force Lifted him!  It was crushing for Rob, who was going to play his last card next - Force Balance!  The remaining ten players all would have discarded their hands and picked three new cards.

From there JD really wrecked shop.  He played three straight "I Will Not Fight You" cards on Andrew/Mace, Nathan/Jango, and, most comically, Grant's Boba Fett.  Those three were all weakened and the rest of the board pounced.  Kat's Count Dooku moved in on Mace and sent Andrew packing in ninth place.  Boba was next to go, he dropped nearly his entire hand thanks to young Luke Skywalker and Ryan used a Storm Trooper to put on the kill shot.  Boba wouldn't be winning his own trophy this night.

Kerri fell asleep with her eyes open

That left seven Duelers on the board, all more or less in the same alliance.  Kat tried to take charge by going after Stephen's Darth Maul.  But Ryan/Vader, Curtis/Emperor, and Nathan/Jango wouldn't follow suit.  Abandoned, Kat suffered a barrage of Maul attacks and petered out in seventh.  But Kat made a heck of a splash in her first two games!

With six to go it looked like Kerri/Yoda and JD/Luke were next to depart, but Curtis flipped his Emperor with a Royal Guard to join them on the other side of the board, and Stephen's Maul jumped in too!  It was a stunning turn of events for Ryan's Vader, who looked like he was well on his way to the final two.  He wasn't easy to topple, but the Emperor finally eliminated the Lego mastermind in sixth.

That made it the new alliance of four against Nathan's Jango.  But Curtis was badly wounded and increasingly paranoid about his vulnerability to attacks and the intentions of his teammates.  Nathan's Jango was proving to be elusive to target so the alliance eventually chose to eat one of their own.  Curtis retired in fifth place when Luke struck him down.  Not a bad night for Curtis, who got a 4th and 5th place finish.

Kerri/Yoda, Stephen/Maul, and JD/Luke were resolute in their agreement that Nathan had to go next.  But over the course of the next HOUR (I wish I was exaggerating...) Jango couldn't be defeated as he continually minimized the angles by which the others could attack.  Nathan's strategy was to wait it out, plant seeds of doubt with his verbal shenanigans, and hope they would turn on each other.

It worked.

Kerri, sleep deprived and wanting to go home, twice nearly attacked JD's Luke.  JD, meanwhile, was increasingly skeptical that Stephen's Maul was contributing enough to the hunt for Jango.  JD finally cracked, and went after Maul.  Stephen was outraged and Nathan was smirking while Luke and Maul exchanged blows.  That's a fight Luke won't normally win, and JD found himself in fourth place.

Nathan's second trophy, and Jango's second
win of the night!

Kerri's Yoda was helping JD against Darth Maul, and so the best offensive player in the game went to battle with the best defensive player in the game.  It was a sight to behold, and Nathan took advantage by taking pot shots at Yoda while Stephen dwindled his attack cards against Kerri.  Kerri eventually ran out of defense and finally came to rest in third.  What an outstanding finish for the rookie Dueler in only her second career game!

Nathan couldn't believe the turn of events, and celebrated with a Missle Launch right into Maul's gut to win the game!  This is Nathan's fourth career victory and his second trophy, the other one coming at January's A New Hope match.  And how about Stephen!!!  Two second place finishes with Darth Maul in the same night!  In his last four Doubleheader games he's finished second, first, second, and second!

Finally...Jango Fett!  He won BOTH Duels on the night and is now in a three-way tie for most career victories with six.

How does he keep doing it!?!?

Final order of finish:

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

Ok - it took me all day to get all the stats and the blog updated, I'm going to sleep!  Check your email for the next invite - September's "Fall Brawl."  Tentative date is the 16th - more details and the official invite to come.

Thanks to everyone who played at the Doubleheader!

"Wonder Fett powers - activate!"

A New Hope - January 14, 2017

Carbon Freezing Chamber

The first Duel of 2017 started off on a somber note as the dozen combatants dedicated the night's battle to the memory of Carrie Fisher, the late actress who so expertly portrayed Princess Leia on the big screen for generations of Star Wars fans.

But there were things to celebrate, too.  Donald sat down for his sixth Duel, meaning he has now reached professional status.  And this was the first Duel in league history that featured laminated playing cards.  That's right - Rob finally bit the bullet and upgraded his game to better protect it in the future.  A big thanks to Chris for his help in that effort, as he met with Rob over Christmas break to walk him through the process.

Grant wastes no time!

Liz drew the first chair and picked Carbon Freezing Chamber.  For the first time in almost a year we were back on the scariest board there is.  It's essentially a giant kill box - nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.  And Grant proved that right out of the gate!  In only the fourth turn of the match, Obi swooped in to attack Jonathan's Jango and he used the attack that enables him to move the entire board around.  He promptly made frightening kill boxes around Kaleb's Emperor and JD's Darth Vader.  It looked like it was going to be a quick night for the both of them...but that wasn't to be!  Kaleb was actually working with Grant and Curtis/Yoda, while JD convinced his light side oppressors that his Darth Vader was coming over all along.  Suddenly, Rob's Dooku, Stevie's Maul, and Ryan's Boba Fett were endangered species!

Kaleb, exposed and vulnerable.

Sure enough, that's what started to transpire.  The mega-light side alliance were raining down shots on Dooku, but Rob had managed to pull most of Dooku's defense in the early going to hang in there.  Meanwhile, Ryan's Boba sent a thermal at Grant/Obi and Curtis/Yoda in an attempt to shake up the too-big alliance.  But it would be Rob's incessant chatter with Stephen, his neighbor at the table, that would cause the first kill.  Stephen was playing Anakin but his light side brothers feared he was flipping, so out of nowhere, they killed him first with JD/Vader delivering the final blow!  During that same stretch Boba gave Liz's Han Solo a beat-down, knocking him down to two health points.  Rob then force pushed his alliance partner, Stevie/Maul, to Obi-Wan in one last attempt to shake up the light side.

It didn't ultimately work.  Rob was bleeding out and Liz used her Bowcaster to kill Dooku, leaving the board a lot quieter without his psychological warfare.  They got Ryan's Boba next, ending his night in tenth.  Stevie, still stuck in the middle of the light side but without the Sith Speed's Rob assumed he had, did knock out Liz in ninth.  But Jonathan's Jango punched Maul's ticket to leave Stevie falling short in eighth.

Rain Man dropping card knowledge.

With the have-nots out of the game, the large alliance had to start looking inward.  Grant/Obi was clearly linked with Kaleb/Emperor, while Nathan/Mace and JD/Vader started making silent overtures to Donald/Luke and Jonathan/Jango.  Meanwhile, Curtis/Yoda was stuck uncomfortably between the two factions, with loyalties to both.  Grant tried to focus the group against Mace and Vader, but he quickly realized it was going to be he and Emperor against the other five.  So he went to work!  Not only did he move everyone around the board again, but he also dropped a "Force Balance," meaning everyone had to discard their hands and draw three.  It.  Was.  HILARIOUS!  You have to hand it to Grant, even against stiff odds he knows how to maximize the talents of his character.

While the committee of five deliberated (that's my kind way of saying took FOREVER to do anything), Grant and Kaleb went to work.  They caught Donald napping and loaded with special cards, meaning Luke had no defense.  Kaleb ejected him in seventh.  It wasn't quite the finish Ducky was looking for, but he is indeed a professional Dueler know.  Congrats Donald!  With Luke dead the remaining four in the alliance started zeroing in on Emperor.  You wouldn't have known it by his bluffing skills, but Kaleb was rocking it in his rookie Duel.  He finally ran out of cards and finished in fifth, but not before playing "You Will Die" on Curtis/Yoda and knocking his health points down.  Keep your eye out for Kaleb in the future, he's got the right stuff.

The Final Showdown

That left five to go:  Curtis/Yoda, JD/Vader, Nathan/Mace, Jonathan/Jango, and Grant/Obi-Wan.  Everybody agreed Grant should die next, but nobody was going out of their way to get the dirty work done.  It was obvious all four Duelers were trying to stay strong handed for the final run to first place.  Grant took advantage of the malaise by getting some shots in where he could, but Jonathan pulled off a massive deception by feigning a low attack against Grant.  Grant chose not to defend, but it was really the "Missile Launch!"  Grant was finally done in fifth.  Ironically, he had a perfect 5.00 average heading into the Duel, and his fifth place finish kept the whole number.  Nobody made a bigger impact in this Duel than Grant, that's for sure.

With four to go, the mortally wounded Yoda had to face three attackers at once.  Though Curtis fought valiantly, Jango Wrist Cable-ed him to death in fourth.  That was the second game in a row with Yoda for Curtis.

There were only three left.  Mace/Nathan and Vader/JD were pretty much full health, but Jonathan/Jango was still carrying his initial damage from the start of the game, and with Zam still alive, he wasn't able to heal.  Jonathan and JD made the agreement to work together against Nathan's Mace Windu.  At that point, it looked like JD would be the likely victor but he got caught being too close to Mace with too many special cards and not enough defense.  Nathan ripped off a couple of Battleminds and the audience was stunned as poor JD had to go home in third.  That left Jango and Zam against Mace.  Jonathan decided to go down in a blaze of glory.  It looked like an impossible task: he had less than half of his health left and Mace barely had a scratch.  But Nathan ran through a bad streak with cards that Jango took advantage of.  As Mace chased Jonathan around the board his health was rapidly declining, and before you knew it, both characters only had two health points left!  But Nathan's persistence paid off.  On his last turn he drew a card for his first action.  It was a Whirlwind!  He used that for his second move and Jonathan/Jango was dead!  Jonathan, a newly minted professional, finished in second for a career-best effort.  And you have to hand it to him, he was the first one damaged in the game yet he took out four main characters and was the last one to exit.  And a big round of applause goes out to Nathan!  This was his third career victory and the fourth for Mace (and the second Mace win in the last three games).

Nathan and his New Hope loot.

Final order of finish:

12.  Stephen/Anakin
11.  Rob/Dooku
10.  Ryan/Boba
9.  Liz/Han
8.  Stevie/Maul
7.  Donald/Luke
6.  Kaleb/Emperor
5.  Grant/Obi
4.  Curtis/Yoda
3.  JD/Vader
2.  Jonathan/Jango
1.  Nathan/Mace

Thanks to all the Duelers who played in A New Hope!  And thanks to Ian who reserved the room and table for us!  And thanks to JD for another kick-butt trophy!  And thanks to all of you reading this!  And thanks to - what?  I should shut up now?  Ok...

February's Valentine's Duel will be the next battle - stay tuned for the details, they'll be coming soon enough!

2015 Championship - December 5, 2015

Carbon Freezing Chamber

It only made sense for the most intense Duel of the year to take place on the most intense board in the game - the Carbon Freezing Chamber!  A chill went down the spines of all 12 top ranked duelers, especially Stephen and Rob, who had Luke and Darth Vader, respectively, starting in the middle of the board.  Those are arguably the two worst starting spots on any playing surface.

The best of the best.

The game began with Stephen retreating to the light side and Rob to the dark, and it looked like folks were aligning with their sides of the board.  Rob/Vader and Grant/Emperor started inflicting long distance special cards on Ian's Yoda while a number of dark side minor characters were taking shots on Alex's Han Solo.  Nathan/Dooku played a "Dark Side Drain" on Han, taking two of his cards at random.  And wouldn't you know it, one of them was the bowcaster!!!  That was a tough blow for Alex, and as he was bleeding out, he was surprisingly eliminated first when Daniel's Mace Windu finished him off, the first crack in the light side alliance.

Not long after that Ian's Yoda, unable to rally an attack against the dark side, bowed out after a final "Wrath" from Rob's Darth Vader.  JD's Boba Fett managed to land a thermal detonator on a trio of Jedi, including Stephen's Luke Skywalker.  Banged up, Nathan and Curtis (Darth Maul) had an amusing sequence of attacks.  Nathan used a "gentleman's" force push on Maul, sending the double-bladed Sith next to Luke.  Curtis made short work of Stephen, and Luke was done in tenth.  JD and Chris/Obi-Wan had been exchanging blows since the thermal detonator, and despite an attempt by Chris to join the board against Rob and Ryan/Jango, Boba shot Kenobi into ninth place.

mmm...cookies!

It looked like the dark side was going to make a clean sweep of the light, with Daniel's Mace and Sakina's Anakin as the next targets, but the backstabbing started early!  JD's Boba, loyal in his ranged attacks against the light side, was eliminated by Grant/Emperor.  Then in another surprise move, Nathan/Dooku and Curtis/Maul flipped on an unsuspecting Rob/Vader, who landed in seventh but did end his streak of last place finishes.

Though it appeared obvious Dooku and Maul were together until the end, the other remaining duelers didn't join together to change the tide. Sakina was soon gone in sixth place, which was a nice rebound from her last Championship match. #neverforget.  The remaining four duelers not using Mace Windu converged on poor Daniel, including Grant dropping the "You Will Die" card on him.

It's not who has the most trophies - it's who has the last!

This left a final four of Nathan/Dooku, Curtis/Maul, Ryan/Jango, and Grant/Emperor. Grant believed he was on equal footing with Nathan and Curtis, but was soon confronted with the hard truth that he was on the outs when both Dooku and Maul began attacking. Ryan kept his Jango on the periphery while Maul put the death blow on Grant.  Grant continued his impressive streak of high finishes as he left in fourth.  Ryan commenced with his powers of persuasion, trying to convince both Nathan and Curtis that they needed him to finish off the other.  Neither took the bait, so Ryan started unloading on Curtis, significantly weakening Maul who couldn't heal because he still had a Battle Droid on the board.  Even as Curtis went in for the kill, Ryan offered one last promise to align versus Dooku, but Maul stayed loyal and chopped Jango to pieces.  Ryan made a great run at defending his Championship title, but fell just short in third.

Darth Maul was on a kill spree, having delivered the death blow against five major characters, while Nathan's Count Dooku hadn't eliminated a single character yet.  But the Count and his lone remaining Super Battle Droid had the health advantage and after a short skirmish were able to make Curtis the runner up.  Big congrats to Nathan, our 2015 Championship winner!!!  He's just recently reached professional status but has won the last two duels!

The final order of finish was:

12.  Han Solo - Alex
11.  Yoda - Ian
10.  Luke Skywalker - Stephen
9.  Obi-Wan Kenobi - Chris
8.  Boba Fett - JD
7.  Darth Vader - Rob
6.  Anakin Skywalker - Sakina
5.  Mace Windu - Daniel
4.  Emperor Palpatine - Grant
3.  Jango Fett - Ryan
2.  Darth Maul - Curtis
1.  Count Dooku - Nathan

This represents the first ever league win for Count Dooku, so that's another feather in Nathan's cap.  Nathan also leaps into third place in the dueler rankings, which are now updated.  Interestingly, this is only the second last place finish for Han Solo over twenty league duels.

The Championship match is usually the last duel of the calendar year, but we might try to arrange one more 12-way on the day The Force Awakens opens (December 17).  Stay tuned for more details!

As always, thanks to all of you who dueled in 2015!  We couldn't do this without your interest and support.

Thanksdueling! - November 7, 2015

Geonosis Arena

Cut the turkey and pass the yams - "Thanksdueling!" came early this year!  Let's gobble up another recap with the story below...

Twelve folks gathered, once again, in the newly renovated North Village Community Center to commence with a cornucopia of deceit, treachery, and strategy.  I'm growing more suspicious with every match that Curtis commissioned the former Sushi bar for the specific purpose of Dueling.  And that's why we all love Curtis - he gets it.  Duelers need a home for the Dueling holidays, a place where friends can come to argue, back stab, and treat each other poorly...just like real families on Thanksgiving!

What?

That's not your typical Thanksgiving experience too?

I'm oversharing?  Ok, let's just move on...

Grant made the Cohenour Run
 in less than 12 parsecs

This Duel was special because Nathan and Stephen reached professional status.  It was also the first ever Duel for Leslie and Nate.  Nate played the side game at the CL retreat and Leslie is simply a long time CL&L employee whose resistance to playing the game has eroded over time due to the constant bombardment of Epic Duels propaganda that plagues the department.  In other words, our recruiting tactics continue to work!

Geonosis Arena was the board picked by Nate, who had the #1 chair.  As folks settled in a strange thing had occurred, the seats around the table were nearly perfectly divided between those playing on the light side and those on the dark.  But that didn't stop Grant from implementing the "Cohenour Run," a move made famous last year when Ryan ran his Mace Windu to the dark side of the Geonosis board.  To the chagrin of the light side, Grant had flipped. Tommy moved his Dooku to the same corner, and the sides were set...or so Rob/Jango thought!  Jango fired up his jet pack to the light side corner where he promptly wrist-cabled Ryan's Han Solo and then shot him in the head with his Rocket Retreat.  Stevie's Luke ran behind the columns after Leia made an early exit, leaving Han unprotected.  Zam took two more shots at Han, who was down to one point of health.  And that's when Grant flipped on Rob, assisted by Daniel's Emperor.  Just as it appeared Ryan would die first, Rob was out in twelfth place for the second game in a row!  But he's not bitter!  No way, it's not slowly eating away at his insides, consuming his spirit with rage.  It's just a game.  It's just a game...

"Psst, Nate, I'm going to flip to the light side
and kill you next..."

Ryan went our next when Nathan's Vader wrathed him to death.  Ian made a bold play with his Obi-Wan, including using the Force Balance card.  This moved a number of players around the board, and ended up trapping Nate's Boba Fett within a circle of bounty hunter-hating Jedi.  But the ultimate betrayal was Nathan, who was invited to ditch the now crumbling dark side and join the light.  He made the switch, just as Nate had secured a thermal detonator to throw at the Jedi posse.  Nathan killed Nate right before his turn to roll, sending the rookie out in tenth place.  The Force Balance play left Anakin exposed in the alley behind the columns, though, and Stephen couldn't withstand the barrage of attacks.  The newly professional dueler went out in ninth at the hands of Leslie's Darth Maul.  It should be noted that, by this point in the game, Leslie was clearly enjoying herself and personally committing herself to future duels.  I may or may not be trying to use a Jedi Mind Trick as I type this.

The dark side was down to Leslie/Maul, Grant/Mace, and Daniel/Emperor.  Tommy's Dooku had flipped by this point too.  The light side targeted Maul, and Leslie was gone though she put up a heck of a fight on the way out.  Daniel dropped the "You Will Die" card on Tommy, who ran away to try and card up.  Grant's Mace chased after him, leaving Daniel alone with the gaggle of Jedi.  Needless to say, Daniel finished seventh.

Things got a little chippy as Tommy continued to run away from Grant's Mace.  Stevie, playing with Luke, became consumed with paranoia and convinced himself Tommy wasn't pulling his weight. He vowed to take him out next, even before Mace.  This caused a lot of turmoil within the alliance, and Grant and Tommy continued to attack each other throughout.  But David P., playing with Yoda, seized an opportunity and struck down Tommy in sixth, whose major crime was having the "You Will Die" card played on him.  Ian's Obi-Wan finally ended Grant's night in fifth.

Daniel could have left two hours ago when this
picture was taken.  

That left a final four of Luke, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Darth Vader.  That's kind of an awesome final four, don't you think?  Stevie played "I Will Not Fight You" cards on both Ian and Nathan when he realized he was next to go.  It was a valiant effort, but not enough to survive Darth Vader's deathblow.  With three to go Ian/Obi-Wan and Nathan/Vader made the difficult decision to align with each other and go after Yoda, who was still pretty strong at that point.  David P. put on a clinic of why Yoda is so awesome in this game, but even he couldn't withstand the constant barrage.  Vader maintained his health as Obi and Yoda were bleeding out.  As they were both near death, Nathan made an awesome combo attack.  With one swing of his red light saber Yoda was finally out in third, and with a "Throw Debris" card on the same turn, Obi was done as well.  Nathan reached professional dueler status in the best way possible - by winning his first ever Epic Duel!!! Congrats Nathan!  He really played well.  His early flip was the biggest move of the game, and Nathan got the kill shot on SEVEN main characters.  That's right, it was Vader doing all the dirty work in this Duel.  And of course, that increases Darth Vader's lead in character victories to five.  Obi-Wan is next closest at three.  Congrats to Ian and David P. too, who both played very strong games.

Here's the final order of finish:

12.  Rob - Jango
11.  Ryan - Han
10.  Nate - Boba
9.  Stephen - Anakin
8.  Leslie - Maul
7.  Daniel - Emperor
6.  Tommy - Dooku
5.  Grant - Mace
4.  Stevie - Luke
3.  David P. - Yoda
2.  Ian - Obi-Wan
1.  Nathan - Vader

And now... the exciting news!  As is customary, December is our annual Championship Match.  Instead of being an open invite, the Championship Match is reserved for the top 12 ranked duelers.  It's the toughest, most competitive Duel of the year - our version of the Super Bowl.  You can check the rankings on the Duelers tab near the top of the page.  I'll send out official invites and work on a date for the Championship in the next couple of weeks.  In the meantime...thank you everyone for your continued interest in Epic Duels!!!  And congrats once again to Nathan on a big win!