2023 Championship - December 2, 2023

Eravana Cargo Hold

The Championship match should be a hard-fought battle of expert Duelers with surprising moves, tactics, and game play.  This Duel did not disappoint!  Read the pictorial recap of eliminations to find out who the winner was!

12th Place - Isaiah

Character - Supreme Leader Snoke

Card that Killed Him - 4 point Princess Leia attack

The best rookie of 2023 came into the Championship looking to turn professional by winning his first league title.  In-fighting on the dark side and the constant trample of rathtars limited what Isaiah could do.  Princess Leia eliminated him in last...but congrats on turning pro!

11th Place - Riley E.

Character - Jango Fett

Card that Killed Her - Obi-Wan Kenobi's Jedi Attack

Riley tried to flip sides once Julia's Boba Fett Rocket Retreated to the middle of the board.  She attacked her own sister (Darth Vader) before getting pulled into a kill box by Isaiah.  She survived the onslaught...only to be killed moments later by her dad (Obi-Wan)!

10th Place - Penny

Character - Darth Vader

Card that Killed Her - 3 point Princess Leia attack

Penny was left reeling when Julia/Boba Fett used a Rocket Retreat on Vader to move to the control panels in the center of the board.  Isaiah/Snoke nearly turned on her too, but she survived temporarily to keep fighting.  In the end there were too many in the light side alliance and she was done in tenth.

9th Place - Kat

Character - Cad Bane

Card that Killed Her - 4 point The Mandalorian attack

Kat did a great job staying out of the path of the rathtars, and she wisely evacuated the dark side of the board when the alliance crumbled.  However, she couldn't get any inroads with the light side alliance and her Cad Bane soon found himself in a kill box after an Obi-Wan Force Control.  There weren't enough Rocket Boots to survive.

8th Place - Curtis

Character - Yoda

Card that Killed Him - 3 point MagnaGuard attack

Curtis was one of the vocal leaders for the light side, giving orders on how to use the walls to move rathtars towards the enemy.  But when Michael/Rey and Miguel/Lando's characters were fully carded with nobody to attack, Curtis unexpectedly found himself the target.  He deployed a nice Force Rebound but nobody came to his side in his time of need.

7th Place - Grant

Character - General Grievous

Card that Killed Him - Cara Dune's Heavy Weapon

Grant was left with few options when his dark side teammates collapsed against each other almost immediately.  He did manage to sneak his General Grievous to the middle squares to help control doors.  But once he retreated when the light side alliance advanced, his only other major success was brining his minor characters back on line.

6th Place - Evan

Character - The Mandalorian

Card that Killed Him - 3 point Rey attack

Last year's 2022 Champion hoped to retain his Vader trophy.  He started off strong, as his Mandalorian character established dominance and chased down opponents like General Grievous.  But he also picked up some damage.  When the dark side alliance was eliminated, he became the target thanks to Rob/Obi-Wan.  

5th Place - Michael

Character - Rey

Card that Killed Him - 4 point Obi-Wan Kenobi attack.

After helping take down Curtis' Yoda earlier in the game, he next put a big target on Rob's Obi-Wan Kenobi.  He lost any hope of future partnership when he successfully played Rise of Skywalker twice!  Everyone was terrified of Rey, so the rest of the board united and Rob's Obi-Wan scored the knockout punch.

4th Place - Julia

Character - Boba Fett

Card that Killed Her - 3 point Obi-Wan Kenobi attack

The most influential move of the game was Julia shooting Darth Vader to Rocket Retreat to the safety of the inner squares of the cargo hold.  Julia managed to roost there for most of the game.  But when she opened a door to direct the rathtars towards Ian's Princess Leia, she acquired a huge target on her back.  Rob and Ian eliminated her before she could drop her Thermals.

3rd Place - Ian

Character - Princess Leia

Card that Killed Him - Obi-Wan Kenobi's Force Control

Ian played masterfully, ruling a corner of the board in the early going and teaming with Miguel to eliminate Rob in the final three.  But just as Rob was on the cusp of dying, a false promise from Rob prompted Miguel to attack Ian.  Ian and Rob then joined forces, but Miguel's Lando made it hard for Leia and Rob eliminated Ian after he lost both I Know cards.

2nd Place - Miguel

Character - Lando Calrissian

Card that Killed Him - 5 point Obi-Wan Kenobi attack

The retired Dueler, birthday boy, and current Ivy League grad student flew into Waco to play his best personal board - the Eravana Cargo Hold.  Just like the 2022 Valentine's Duel, it got down to Rob, Miguel, and the rathtars.  Rob was just a couple of health points away from dying, but the nimbleness of Obi-Wan allowed him to slowly heal as Miguel's Lando desperately tried to finish off Rob...but he couldn't!

1st Place - Rob

Character - Obi-Wan Kenobi

How He Won - by being a survivor!

Miguel and Ian nearly eliminated Rob, but Rob managed to drop everyone's hands in his most desperate hour.  The redraw saw Rob's Obi get all three Jedi Blocks very early from his new deck.  He slowly healed to stay out of danger of the rathtars, and a late alliance split between Miguel and Ian created the crack Rob needed to win his second-ever Championship!  Rob joins Ben H. as the only Duelers to ever repeat as Championship winners.  Rob also becomes the first Dueler to win a Duel four times with the same character.  The win also moved Obi-Wan Kenobi into a tie for second place for career wins among characters.

What an incredible night of Dueling!!!  Exceptional play from start to (a very late) finish!  You can't ask for much more from a Championship.

We'll kick off 2024 (!!!) with the January Duel - A New Hope - on Friday, January 12th, 7PM, to avoid overlap with a men's basketball game.  Thanks to everyone who sat at a table in 2023!!!  This league continues to thrive because of invested Duelers like you!!!

PEW PEW!

 

2023 Singles Tournament - July 30, 2023

 

Yikes!  I'm a week late, but here is your glorious (and very brief) recap of the 2023 Singles Tournament!  Pictured above are the 32 brave souls who each got four chances to traverse a field 128 entries to become the last person standing.  After a great day of Dueling it would be...KALEB AND OBI-WAN KENOBI who came out victorious!!!

Way to make the drive worth it, Kaleb!  We've never had the same person win the Singles tournament twice, which is just the absolute coolest little bit of trivia.  It just goes to show it's anybody's game!  Props to Brannon too, who took two characters into the Final Four!  Click below the page break to see the final brackets and a bunch of fun pictures from the day...

Twin Sun Slam #1 - June 3, 2023

 

The Trash Compactor

The best part of summer Dueling is it's casual, man!  Like chill out, grill burgers, Whirlwind your friends...you know, laid back!  This year's Twin Sun Slam marked the last two Duels at the Jedi Temple, AKA Rob's house!  His family is moving to a new home in town with a bacta tank in the backyard, so next year's Twin Sun Slam should be even more refreshing!

This will be fast, right y'all?  Y'all....?

We carried forward the same rules we used from last year's Twin Sun Slam.  The first game would be all light side characters and the second would be the dark, and you draft the player you want to play with!  The only hitch is if you draft first you place your character last.  Here's how the draft turned out for game one:

1.  Ian picked Obi-Wan

2.  Riley B. picked Yoda

3.  Riley E. picked Rey

4.  Grant H. picked Fennec

5.  Kat picked Luke

6.  Isaiah picked The Armorer

7.  Rob picked Qui-Gon

8.  Curtis picked The Mandalorian

9.  Grant D. picked Lando

10.  Elliot picked Jyn

11.  Michael picked Mace

12.  Miles O. picked Anakin

Not picked:  Han Solo and Princess Leia.  

Leia not getting picked was a surprise, given her strength, and Grant D. not picking Han was blasphemous but not surprising at all.

Welcome to the big leagues, Miles!

We picked the Trash Compactor for the first game because historically it plays fast, which we wanted so we could have plenty of time to grill and eat before the second game started.  Naturally for this league, that completely backfired.  We played well over two hours before the first person died!  The drudgery of that experience has dulled my memory, but the two sides of the board stayed fiercely loyal to each other as they constantly maneuvered to trap an enemy only to see them escape.  Shots were fired across both sides, with the two Riley's gaining the most attention due to their use of Yoda and Rey.  Riley B.'s Yoda would finally go out first after a mortally wounded Miles O./Anakin betrayed his own side to avoid dying last.  Nobody deserves a last place finish after 2+ hours of Dueling, but alas, that was Riley B.'s fate.

Miles, playing in his first-ever Duel, got knocked out next by Grant H.'s Fennec, who used Martial Skills as he flipped to the other side after Riley B.'s death.  Miles' eleventh place finish belies his great Dueling, including a beautiful Double Wrath that offed Jar Jar Binks earlier in the game.  You showed spunk, kid!

Grant always knows when the camera is on him.

With two Duelers dead, everyone started scrambling to the middle of the board to avoid the first level of the closing Trash Compactor walls.  It was right about here that one of the most controversial moments in league history occurred!  Ian, playing as Obi-Wan, had devised a super-sneaky way to kill all but one of the remaining Duelers with a Force Control.  However, he played his search card BEFORE moving his character into position!  It was an honest mistake, and the board broke out into an extended rules debate, centered around intent vs. technicality.  There was no easy resolution, as the league has been both forgiving and sticklers depending on the situation in the past.  In the end we decided to put it to a vote with the remaining Duelers at the table.  And it was decided...Ian couldn't rescind his action!  Ian's integrity was never in question, let it be known, but folks voting against wanted to maintain consistency with past rulings.

When Ian/Obi finally reached the middle with Riley E.'s Rey, the remaining Duelers realized they were going to eliminate Grant's Fennec to close the walls anyway, which would have killed multiple Duelers after a delayed Obi-Wan Force Control.  But Grant is a sly Dueler, and he used Fennec's Interrogation to escape his proximity to Obi and Rey.  This allowed everyone else to move into better spots on the board, but after some more character displacements Curtis' Mandalorian eliminated Fennec in tenth...which triggered the walls that killed Grant D./Lando and Elliot/Jyn at the same time!

Isaiah making a strong rookie debut!

There were only seven Duelers left at this point, and everyone knew the next death would close the walls yet again.  So if you're reading this and weren't there, surely you're thinking, "they killed Ian's Obi-Wan next so he couldn't Force Control again...right?"  Uh, no.  We were all idiots.

Instead, Riley/Rey, Kat/Luke, Isaiah/Armorer, and Curtis/Mando scrambled to the inner four spaces, the only spaces that can't be touched by the walls of the compactor.  That left Rob/Qui-Gon, Ian/Obi, and Michael/Mace on the outside looking in.  Rob became the target of everyone's attack, as nobody wanted him or Qui-Gon around for the endgame.  

It's a trap!

Ian started taking some heat too, and that's when he played Force Balance, which dumped everyone's hand and made them draw three new cards.  You wouldn't believe Ian's luck!  He got both his 6 attack and his last Force Control!  He used that to kill Rob in seventh and move everyone else to the back rows, where they were crushed to death by the walls!!!  Good golly the Trash Compactor is always good for a dramatic ending!

Ian recovers from his gaff to still win the day.

That win gives Ian a dozen for his career, good for second on the all-time rankings.  Well done, Ian!  That was also Obi-Wan's 12th win, which ties him for third among the characters and first among the light side characters!  Here's the final order of finish:

12.  Riley B./Yoda

11.  Miles O./Anakin

10.  Grant H./Fennec

T8.  Grant D./Lando

T8.  Elliot/Jyn

7.  Rob/Qui-Gon

T2.  Michael/Mace

T2.  Riley E./Rey

T2.  Kat/Luke

T2.  Isaiah/Armorer

T2.  Curtis/Mando

1.  Ian/Obi-Wan

That game lasted WAY too long, and Rob hopped outside to the grill to get the burgers going!  Check out the next recap to see how game #2 went!

Twin Suns Slam #1 - June 4, 2022

 

Naboo Reactor Pit

It sure was exciting to play in person again at Rob's house.  This was the first Duel at the Godfather's abode since COVID started, and the Twin Sun Slam also marked the one year anniversary of playing in person again.  These moments we used to take for granted feel so much sweeter now!

It was also exciting to be playing a doubleheader for the Twin Sun Slam too.  It was the first time since 2019 we managed to acknowledge both balls of fire which Tatooine orbits.  How exactly does that work, anyway?  Any astrophysicists in the house?

And maybe the most exciting component of the first Twin Sun Slam of the day was, for the first time in Duels history...we played an all-light side Duel!  With the new characters (13 light, 13 dark), we have more than enough to do it.  We also picked characters via draft for the first time, with the caveat being the person with the first pick got the last board placement, etc.  Here's how the draft went:

1. Lawson - Fennec Shand

2.  Ian - Rey

3.  Kat - Anakin Skywalker

4.  Rob - Yoda

5.  Miles - Mace Windu

6.  Karson - Princess Leia

7.  Duncan - Qui-Gon Jinn

8.  Jillian - Obi-Wan Kenobi

9.  Elliot - Lando Calrissian

10.  Grant D. - Jyn Erso

11.  JD M. - Luke Skywalker

12.  Riley - The Mandalorian

Not Picked - Han Solo (Grant...how could you???)

Duncan is already thinking about the burgers.

Once the characters were picked, the spots on the board were filled and we were off and running!  The afternoon Duel was short on Duelers, so Grant stepped up by bringing three of his kids.  Don't think these three were mere cannon fodder, as all of them have played in the Singles Tournament.  They came to play!  Unfortunately for Lawson, though, his starting position was brutal after his first overall pick of Fennec Shand.  As enticing as it is to play the new character, he wasn't set up to defend himself well, and he was quickly taking hits from behind and the main reactor room.  It would be Karson's Princess Leia that landed the final shot, and poor Lawson got stuck posing with the Golden Jar Jar in his first Duel.

No worries, Lawson.  The Loser's
Lounge recently upgraded to 
Disney+.  Enjoy Star Wars cinema!

Historically the main reactor room Duelers try to shoot down the hallway with the laser shields on the Naboo board.  This game, however, saw each side move to the sides like an awkward 8th grade school dance.  The infighting started up, and though it looked like Karson's Princess Leia might be an early target, especially after Riley's Mandalorian blasted him with Disintegration!  But Grant's Jyn didn't like the backstab, and soon it would be Riley, not Karson, bowing out in 11th.  This is NOT the way.

Meanwhile, in the laser wall rooms on the other end of the board, the infighting had begun.  The conflict was especially heavy between siblings Jillian/Obi-Wan and Miles/Mace.  That's when Jillian proposed using a Force Control to put Miles in a kill box right next to Ian's Rey.  Nobody could recall Ian ever smiling with a bigger Cheshire grin than at that moment.  He was practically salivating!  We managed to get a picture of it, as you can see below!  Miles soon found himself surrounded by four Duelers, and it was an ignominious 2-point attack from Duncan's Jar Jar that put him away in 10th.

Three very distinct emotions happening right here!

 Not long after that Ian's Rey decided to go bold into the reactor room to take on Kat's Anakin Skywalker.  At the same time, JD's Luke Skywalker moved in the opposite direction, dropping two I Will Not Fight You's on Kat and Grant/Jyn.  It was a stunning turn of events, as the reactor room side of the board was in total collapse.  Elliot/Lando and Karson/Leia agreed to turn on their own alliance.  The walls turning on and off with great regularity (especially when Rob's Yoda ever tried to move out of the back compartment) merely delayed the inevitable.  Rob's Yoda gave a somewhat friendly Force Push to Duncan's Qui-Gon to join the fray since he was fully carded and couldn't get there himself.  Duncan would indeed take down Kat with a 7-point Prophecy.  Grant didn't last too much longer, though he proved how tricky Jyn Erso is to pin down.  Ian's Finn finally shot him into 8th.  Grant and his sons had a rough go, but his daughter was still in the thick of it!

Walls up!

It was down to the final seven Duelers, and the walls were going up and down so frequently it was hard to maintain long term strategies.  Karson's Leia had been loyal since the flip, but the searing effects of the Disintegration had kept him low health, and at the encouragement from others, Jillian's Obi moved in for the kill.  Karson used I Know to defend with auto-damage, but Ian generously used Jedi Healing to negate Obi's lost health points.  Ironically, it was JD's minor Leia who shot major Leia off the board in 7th.

Rob's Yoda was still stuck in the laser rooms, and he had taken half-hearted attacks at Elliot's Lando and JD's Luke, mostly because he was fully carded.  But JD and Elliot ultimately decided to lock horns against each other, and really started laying the hits on each other.  Around the same time, Ian made a declaration that he thought the board should go after Rob's Yoda.  But Duncan's Qui-Gon was playing very conservatively, so Rob kept giving Ian the "are you really going to let him get away with that?" eyes, and Ian finally relented, switching the target to Qui-Gon.  Elliot's Lando headed in to help on that, leaving a low-health JD next to Rob.  Rob dispatched Luke in 6th to make it five Duelers to go.

The sooner we finish, the sooner we eat!

Duncan's Qui-Gon went on a Quixotic quest to redraw There's Always a Bigger Fish, but it was to no avail.  After a tough final stand, Ian's Rey chopped him down in 5th place.  From there Ian suggested the half-damaged Obi-Wan (Jillian) and mostly healthy Lando (Elliot) join him against Rob's Yoda.  Rob was peeved, thinking he and Ian/Rey should partner to eliminate the other two.  Jillian knew, however, that Rob's Yoda had yet to play Force Rebound, and she couldn't yet risk auto-damage coming back to her, especially with her Clone Trooper still alive.  When Ian wouldn't partner with Rob, Rob talked Jillian into helping him go against Ian.  Elliot basically went along with that, assuming Jillian would join him against Rob/Yoda after that.  Ian was chagrinned by the turn of events, but went out in 4th place all the same.

Obi at the end in Reactor Room...feels familiar...

Elliot/Lando and Jillian/Obi did indeed pair together to go after Rob, while Ian and Grant started grilling the burgers on the back porch.  Rob tried his best to sustain a two-front defense, but eventually died when Lando hit him with a 3-point attack.  Rob loves Yoda, and always will.

And then there were two!  And two who had never won before!  NEW WINNER ALERT!!!  Jillian was holding on despite all the damage, but Lando is hard to beat one on one.  Jillian evened the odds with a Force Balance.  Despite that, Elliot stayed aggressive and had Obi down to one point of health.  But Jillian pulled through with a Force Attack to win...in her very first 12-Way Duel!!!  That hadn't been done since the second game in league history (Curtis)!!!  That's a span of 113 Duels!!!  CONGRATS JILLIAN!!!  She became the second youngest Dueler to ever win.  She also played Obi-Wan into the final four at the last Singles Tournament.  What a pair!

Historic performance!

Let's give a shoutout to Elliot, too!  He was SO CLOSE to his first win, tying a career-best finish in second place.  The final order of finish:

12.  Lawson/Fennec

11.  Riley/Mando

10.  Miles/Mace

9.  Kat/Ani

8.  Grant/Jyn

7.  Karson/Leia

6.  JD/Luke

5.  Duncan/Qui-Gon

4.  Ian/Rey

3.  Rob/Yoda

2.  Elliot/Lando

1.  Jillian/Obi-Wan

Ok, time for a dinner break...we'll be back for game 2 in the next post!

Fight Night - October 24, 2020

 

Naboo Reactor Pit

The lights...they were so pretty!  I'm talking about our new board, of course - the Naboo Reactor Pit!  Ryan created a brilliant LED board to turn the playing surface different colors.  Just like the setting in Episode I, the laser walls would turn on or off if a Dueler rolled a 2-ALL or a 5.  And it created a lot of drama...TO THE RECAP!

The Inaugural Naboo Duelers

The laser walls started up, and everyone tensely started drawing cards, expecting chaos.  The first few times they turned on or off were anxiety-inducing, which was fantastic and expected.  It was Miguel's Dooku, though, who got caught with the early attention.  When the walls came down a host of folks near the reactor, led by Ian's Luke Skywalker, targeted the first Sith in the hallway.  Just as things looked grim, though...the walls came on to protect him!  That turn of events, however, hurt an unsuspecting Rylie, president of the Boba Fett Fan Club.  Kaleb's Darth Maul was standing right next to her and was fully carded.  He decided to unload on the bounty hunter!  Rylie was stunned and left critically damaged.  She fell to another attack from him a turn later.  Ouch!!!  Rylie might slash Rob's tires if she gets Boba again anytime soon.

We laugh so we don't cry...

The walls were still up when the dust settled from Boba's exit, and Kaleb's Maul was left exposed across the open air of the reactor pit.  Ryan's Chewbacca took advantage by unloading his Bowcaster for nine points of damage on the horned Sith.  It was a big blow but Ryan assured Kaleb they were good moving forward.

Meanwhile, Curtis' Anakin Skywalker abandoned the hallway to join the reactor room folks.  But his Padme got offed when Rob/Mace and Miguel/Dooku eliminated her.  Rob managed a couple of attack-Wisdom combos to thin the reactor room minor characters, but they had the advantage for sure, and Rob used a Whirlwind on them that caught Miguel in the crossfire.  It was an inglorious end for poor Dooku.

Alex's Jango was loyal to Rob's Mace the whole time, painfully discarding cards while the walls were up, but as he saw the reactor room moving forward against Mace he Rocket Retreated the heck on out of there, to hang out with Ryan's Han Solo.  It would be attacks from Hannah's Yoda and Lucas' Emperor, though, that proved damning and Rob was out in a disappointing tenth.

Lucas had a good plan

From there it was obvious the reactor room alliance wanted to march down the hallway and take out Emperor and Yoda.  But the laser walls going up and down were hampering their movement, and the alliance got twitchy as they all became full carded with nobody to hit.  Ian's Luke sensed he was on the chopping block, so he made a dramatic move to charge down the hallway, standing next to Lucas and Hannah.  This confused the rest of the alliance, especially Curtis' Anakin.  He rolled a five on his next turn and, in his stress, commented how he was in position to attack anybody on the board but not knowing who to go after.  He settled on Ben's Darth Vader, expecting Kaleb/Maul to join suit.  But his hemming and hawing didn't gain him any support, and instead, Maul attacked Ani!  Several Duelers joined in, and by the time it got back to Ben, Curtis had no defense left, and Vader eliminated him with an All Too Easy in ninth.

By this point Duncan's Obi-Wan, who had partnered with Ian's Luke the whole game, joined the Skywalker twins near Yoda and Emperor.  That's when Lucas suggested the four of them, along with Alex's Jango Fett, turn against Han/Ryan, Vader/Ben, and Maul/Kaleb.  It looked like a good move, but Hannah wasn't feeling it and turned on the Emperor!  Luke and Obi followed suit, and poor Lucas was eliminated in eighth.

Things got crazy after that.  Obi used a Force Control to make a kill box around Yoda as well as Ryan's Han, which was a bit shocking.  Kaleb's Maul was in on the attack of Ryan, so when it came to Ryan's turn, he attacked Maul but Maul used a Blinding Surge to absorb the damage but deliver three back to kill Han!  But because it was Gambler's Luck, the dying Han still got to discard another card out of Kaleb's hand.  We'd never seen that move before!

Post-Yoda kill box.

With Han off the board that left Hannah's Yoda as the next target.  The laser walls and superior defense of Yoda, though, made it tough sledding.  Hannah eventually succumbed to a Latent Force attack from Leia to die in sixth.  That's three Duels for Hannah, and she's finished top-six each time!

That left five to go - Ian/Luke, Alex/Jango, Duncan/Obi, Kaleb/Maul, and Ben/Vader.  It was pretty clear Ian and Duncan were together, even though Ian hinted that was circumstantial more than anything else.  The other three wanted Obi dead, but Ian couldn't support that.  Instead, Vader became the focus of attack, especially after Ian pitched that to the injured Kaleb.  It would be a five point attack from Maul that ended Ben's strong run in fifth place.

The final four!  By this point Duncan had taken control of the board, and favored Jango's ouster.  His Obi, though, took a number of hits from indirect damage from both Vader as well as a double Wrist Cable from Jango.  Kaleb's Maul, also banged up, figured he and Obi could partner to take out Ian's healthy Luke, so he sided with Duncan to take down Alex's Jango.  It was a Jedi Attack from Obi that ended Alex's run in fourth place.  

Blood Red

The final three featured both Kaleb and Ian pleading with Duncan's Obi to partner and eliminate the other.  This was a long debate, highlighted by Kaleb's promise/threat to use two Blinding Surges on Obi, which would have him critically damaged should he attack.  Ian, in turn, promised to use yet another I Will Not Fight You on Maul.  Duncan got the best case scenario when his Obi was safe behind laser walls while Luke and Maul went at it.  Maul smacked Luke around, but Luke won the day when he dropped a ten point Justice to kill Maul in the Naboo Reactor Pit, which is kind of meta when you think about it.

Luke was bleeding out, and Obi-Wan was loaded in defense cards, but instead of charging in to attack Luke, Duncan retreated down the hallway to play it safe and try to card and heal up.  Though this stretched the Duel out, it proved to be a patient and justified tactic.  Despite two more I Will Not Fight Yous, Duncan's Obi outlasted Luke and eliminated his real world boss with a pair of four attacks!  Congrats Duncan!  This was just the amateur Dueler's third Duel, but just like the movie, he left the Reactor Pit the victor!!!

Let's check that final order of finish again:

12.  Rylie/Boba Fett

11.  Miguel/Count Dooku

10.  Rob/Mace Windu

9.  Curtis/Anakin Skywalker

8.  Lucas/Emperor Palpatine

7.  Ryan/Han Solo

6.  Hannah/Yoda

5.  Ben H./Darth Vader

4.  Alex C./Jango Fett

3.  Kaleb/Darth Maul

2.  Ian/Luke Skywalker

1.  Duncan/Obi-Wan Kenobi

My goodness, that new board was fun!!!  And congrats again to Duncan - very, very few Duelers have ever won a Duel that early in their careers.  You deserve that Dooku trophy hanging in your room!!!

Next month's Duel is Thanksdueling!  The tentative plan is to play on the evening of Saturday, November 14th.  We have yet another new board on tap, and this one is unlike anything we've seen before.  It is our Thanksgiving-themed Duel, so here's a hint:  GOBBLE GOBBLE!

Is that not enough of a hint?  Ok, here's one more:

Stay tuned to your emails and our instagram account for more info soon!!!
 

CL Training Duel - August 10, 2020

Emperor's Throne Room

Boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, wookies and ewoks...here we go again!

SEASON SEVEN!!!

That's right, our 12-way Duel League is now in its seventh season of existence.  That is insane.  That means our rookie student Duelers were in eighth grade when this league started. It also means some of us who have played since the very beginning are OLD.

Every season usually starts in Glen Rose, TX, at the Community Leader training retreat.  Because of stupid COVID-19, we had to stay in town and play online.  That's ultimately not a big deal when facing a devastating pandemic, but man, it sure is fun playing in the rec room at camp and stuffing our faces with snacks.

It also means Rob had to recruit people virtually instead of face to face, but a nice balance of Duelers signed up to play.  We had four professionals, four amateurs, and four rookies.  But of the twelve Duelers playing, it seemed like most of them were connected to Brooks Residential College.  One concerned Dueler texted Rob before the game (it was Kaleb) and asked, "should we be concerned about all the BRC folks playing?"  Rob responded, "oh, we're doomed for sure."  #foreshadowing #brooksmafia

 

Smile if Samuel Palmer Brooks is your homeboy.

After a quick tutorial for the newbies, we were off and running!  Poor Rylie got stuck with Boba Fett for her second game in a row, but at least she got to go first, right?  But the very next Dueler after her, David T./Han Solo, playing in his very first Duel, swung Chewbacca towards Rylie's Greedo and dropped a card for his very first action.  The card?  BOWCASTER!  An 11-point attack and Greedo was dead out of the gate and Rylie was reeling!  THIS KID CAME TO PLAY.

It didn't get any less chaotic.  Kaleb, piloting Luke Skywalker, appeared to lead the charge against the dark side.  Ian/Mace followed him up the bridge, but as it turned out...Kaleb was flipping!  Rob used his Yoda to Insight Luke and discarded a Latent Force Abilities card, but was also startled to see Kaleb already had both Justices.  Rob didn't communicate that well to Ian, and the light side started shooting Leia.  By the time Ian realized what was happening, it was too late.  Kaleb convinced his own alliance to kill his minor character in order to activate the Justices.  Despite Ian's scary-serious promise to unload on Kaleb (one rookie noted he sounded like Liam Neeson in Taken), they sided with Luke, and Kaleb double-Justiced Ian's Mace into last place.

You probably thought Kaleb was now in tight with the dark side.  You would be wrong.  The dark side alliance turned on him faster than the Millenium Falcon making the Kessel Run.  Everyone chipped in with attacks, but it was a shot from Rachel's Padme that ended his night in eleventh.

The Epic Meltdown

Rylie's Boba had begun firing on David's Han Solo, but the blood lust on the dark side couldn't be quenched.  They turned on the bounty hunter, especially after Delaney non-committally wandered to their side of the board.  Migual Miguel, also playing in his first Duel, blurted out he had 20 points worth of attacks for Boba.  Rob explained how Sith Speed actually works, and Miguel cracked Rylie out of the game in tenth.  Brutal.

Rob saw the writing on the wall and tried to get Elliot/Jango, Delaney/Obi, and Hannah/Vader to join him, Rachel/Anakin, and David/Han.  He tried pointing out the tiered nature of their alliance.  It was to no avail.  David's Han was the next target, and it was Elliot who used a Rocket Retreat to punch out Han Solo in ninth.  Still, you have to hand it to David.  His first-ever card played was a Bowcaster!  That's so awesome!!!

Rachel, playing with Anakin, tried to lay low all game and hide in the corner, but the dark side alliance, aka the Brooks Mafia, turned on one of their own.  It was the seemingly innocent Hannah, using Darth Vader, that marched down and punched Rachel's ticket in eighth place.  That next one-on-one will be a bit awkward...

And then there were seven!  Miguel/Maul was up and decided to card up after he was told to pipe down by his partners.  Rob's Yoda knew this was his chance.  He noted how Maul was already in a kill box and would never be weaker to attack.  Miguel, sweet Miguel, sweet, innocent, never been back-stabbed because it was his first Duel Miguel.  He was so loyal to his alliance.  But his alliance saw an opportunity!  And after Noah's Dooku and Delaney's Obi both verbally committed to going in on him, Natalie's Emperor was forced to follow suit.  Miguel...did not take it well.  But those are the breaks!  And that's what makes this game so deliciously fun.  Everyone contributed attacks against him and he was in rough shape.  The Brooks Mafia counted on Hannah's Vader to finish him off...but she didn't!  She ran away!  It was a jaw dropper.  And it also let Miguel survive until his turn, and he took his vengeance out on Natalie's Emperor.  She survived, but he did not.  He finished seventh after Noah offed him, one spot short of his desired goal of sixth or better.  So close, yet so far away.

Coming to blows.

With six to go, Rob was sure he was next, and that was the initial plan.  His hand got gutted when Delaney played Force Balance, dumping his three best defense cards.  Just as he carded up again, Natalie finally let loose with the You Will Die.  Rob was running out of options fast, but Delaney had a score to settle with Hannah for bailing out on the Maul kill.  Poor Hannah, who started the day in Ohio and ended it late in the night and out in sixth.

Elliot's Jango popped some shots on Yoda, but it was Natalie's Force Lightning that finally put down the last light side alliance player.

There were four players left, and Noah's Dooku was already taking damage.  He pulled off some nifty attacks, though, whittling Natalie's Emperor back down after she had played two Meditations to recover from Miguel's attacks.  But the Brooks Mafia was ready to eliminate the last non-Brooks player, and Delaney swooped in with a Force Attack.  It was a heck of a night for Noah, though, who survived some early skirmishes to make it to the top four.

And then there were three!  And what a final three it was.  Besties Natalie/Emperor, Delaney/Obi, and Elliot/Jango.  Each cringed as their core alliance was about to come undone.  Natalie decided early to team up with Jango, and Delaney was incensed.  She marched down and clobbered the Emperor close to death.  Meanwhile, Elliot's Jango was fully healthy and Obi was wounded.  He figured he didn't need Natalie on the board any longer, and shot her down in third!  Natalie played a great game, easily seen as the leader of the Brooks family Dueling syndicate.  

The Nervous Nellies in the final two

Delaney still had both of her clone troopers alive (one still pinned down from a Yoda Force Lift), and thus couldn't heal.  Elliot's Zam Wessell was long gone, so he was healing Jango back to the top bar.  It didn't look good for Delaney, but there's a reason Obi-Wan is often considered the best character in the game!  She came roaring back, all while Elliot was loaded with Zam cards.  To Delaney's credit, she didn't hold back and chased Elliot all around the board.  There was a suspenseful moment where he was a point away from dying, and with her second attack, she laid down a two...only to be countered by Jango's last two defense!  But a few moments later it was over, and Delaney, in just her fourth career Duel, won the game!!!  She became the fourth female winner in league history, and as of this posting, has the highest win percentage (25%) in league history!  And she's not even a professional yet!  Let's also not overlook the fact she won with Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Emperor's Throne Room, one of the lowest ranked character/board combos out there.  It's usually a bad outcome but Delaney pulled it off!  She also had a money line at the end of the game:  "I won because I had the high ground."

Let's also give a hand to our runner-up, Elliot, who was the last major character to take damage in the game and nearly pulled off the upset.  Well done Elliot!

Our next match will likely be on Saturday, August 29th - THE DOUBLEHEADER.  And if you're new to the league, I will confirm, we're playing two games in one day.  GET READY.  As we bring our 90th (!!!) game in league history to a close, let's review the final order of finish once again:

12.  Ian/Mace Windu

11.  Kaleb/Luke Skywalker

10.  Rylie/Boba Fett

9.  David T./Han Solo

8.  Rachel O./Anakin Skywalker

7.  Miguel/Darth Maul

6.  Hannah/Darth Vader

5.  Rob/Yoda

4.  Noah/Count Dooku

3.  Natalie/Emperor Palpatine

2.  Elliot/Jango Fett

1.  Delaney/Obi-Wan Kenobi

Yoda's #1 Fan

Duel of the Fates - April 6, 2019

Emperor's Throne Room

I can still hear it ringing in my ears.

No, not the sounds of the mega-dice making clacking noises on the plastic table.  Not the sound of Grant grinding his teeth after drawing Han Solo AGAIN.  Not the sound of Boba Fett's rocket pack, searching for a place to land.

No...I can only hear...DUEL OF THE FATES.  On repeat.  For two and a half hours!  But that's the good news!!!  We proved you can play a Duel in under three hours!

Kaleb trolling us in his "Star Wars" t-shirt

God bless the twelve who played in Duel of the Fates and committed to fast but strategic play.  Especially for those of us who died early.  Ahem.

When Alex picked the Throne Room it was pretty obvious the front row light side characters would defect and that's just what happened.  Grant's Han leapt behind Chewey and Kaleb's Obi-Wan flipped behind his Clones.  Rob's Anakin was cranky for not using Padme cards before the defection so moved in with a double-Wrath to kill Chewbacca...except he miscalculated the Wookie's hit points and he lived with one point of health remaining!  The blunder led to Rob's Padme and Anakin getting jacked up.

The Prodigal Dueler

Viktor's Yoda was also taking hits, especially after Alex's Luke and Leia defected too.  Courtney's Mace was stuck in the back row with them but all indications were she was safe with the dark side alliance.  Rob begged Viktor to throw her into a kill box on the other side of the board, and with a burdened conscience, he did!  Ian's Darth Maul was excited for the fresh meat and Rob was giggling because he thought he escaped last place.  But, after killing Chewbacca (and Grant pulled the Bowcaster right after he died, lol), Grant shot Anakin and Rob died in last.

Ian's Maul used four heavy attack cards to eliminate Mace in eleventh but that resulted in immediate chaos because Joel's Vader immediately petitioned to go after Maul next, and did just that with an attack.  Multiple fights broke out among the alliance while Viktor kept his head down, thankful for his well-timed Force Push.

Grant died in tenth because Chris W., playing with Boba Fett for the second game in a row, was loaded with heavy attacks.  He used the Kyber Dart to send him to the rails.  Meanwhile, Joel/Vader and Ben/Dooku were working over Ian's Maul but not without taking their own licks from the horned Sith.  Riley, hanging tight with Jango, became the rope in a faction tug-of-war.  Joel and Ben wanted her to stay loyal while Ian/Maul and Elijah/Emperor hoped she stay true to them.  It was somewhat shocking when Riley killed Maul in ninth to send Ian packing.

Your final four on Final Four weekend

All eyes turned to Elijah's Emperor after that, and with so many blades surrounding him, he didn't last long, bowing out in eighth.  At that point the Duelers remembered Viktor's Yoda was still hanging on the other end of the board and the dark side began to move in their minor characters to take pot shots.  But it was Chris' Greedo who made the risky kill with the Desperate Shot.  That was a heck of a finish for Viktor, who looked to be a surefire early kill.

The remaining six Duelers had a multitude of perceived and true alliances, but it would be a fateful Thermal Detonator from Chris that would set the final tone.  After a Rocket Retreat he looked for a place to cast the grenade and that's when Kaleb's Obi-Wan made the call to go after Ben/Dooku and Joel/Vader.  The chaos was glorious.  But Riley's Jango saw no loyalty towards Boba and ended Chris' night with her Missile Launch!

You got the sense Kaleb could smell victory because he boldly entered the fray and took down Ben's Dooku in fifth with a 7-point Force Control.  Riley, however, was begging Joel and Alex to help her with Obi-Wan.  While they agreed in theory but Luke and Vader couldn't help but take shots at each other.  Joel couldn't survive so he was done in third.  From there Alex was more or less with Riley's Jango but Kaleb moved in and took out Riley in third.  This marked Riley's sixth Duel - so she's professional now!  The youngest ever to do so!!!

I could write about the final two...but why not watch it for yourself!



That wink at the end!!!  A super big congrats to Kaleb, who hadn't won in two years.  That last victory?  DUEL OF THE FATES!  He recaptured his Maul trophy.  He and Alex both moved into a tie for second as the Dueler rankings were shook up after this one.  They're right behind Grant now.  And Alex almost made Trey Rey's first correct prediction of the year...

Here's your final order of finish:

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

So...big news to announce for the last two Duels of the season!  On the afternoon of May 3rd we'll have a one-time only Duel called "Galactic Credits."  This is a fundraiser Duel for the league - JD bought a brand new copy of the game for $60 off eBay.  We're going to charge $5 a seat to pay and this board will become property of the league.  And, the winner of the game will be able to sign their name on the square of the board they win the match!  That's for all-time, folks!  And then the next day, May 4th, will be the last Duel of the seasong - MAY THE 4th BE WITH YOU!  Stay tuned for more details...