Doubleheader #1 - August 31, 2025

Rancor Dungeon

A little known secret to the annual Doubleheader Duels in late August/early September is that they double as Rob's birthday party every year.  He doesn't like to make a fuss about his b-day, but he does enjoy hanging out with people he likes playing the game he loves - Star Wars Epic Duels!  And this year Rob turned the big 5-0, which is insane and he doesn't really want to wrap his brain around that, but his lovely wife Jessica and his awesome daughters really went all out decorating the house and cooking up treats for the Duelers.  He just wants to say...thank you!!!  His family and fellow Duelers mean the world to him...

It's Dueling time!

 ...ok, enough of that mushy stuff, there's hardcore Dueling to recap!  The first game of the Doubleheader went down in the Rancor Dungeon, and the youngest pro in the league, CJ, was the designated monster.  Newbie Matthew couldn't help himself and killed one of Grant's MagnaGuards right out of the gate.  How did CJ react?  Let's just say she understood the assignment!  She ate Nayshaun's Qi'ra, Rob's Q9-0, and Jordyn's Baze!!!  Those three Duelers were immediately devastated in the game, as all three needed those minors to even hope to survive.  RANCORS GONNA DO WHAT RANCORS GONNA DO!

There was no recovery for poor Jordyn, as her double-minor character deck was all dead Baze cards and nothing for the remaining Chirrut.  The Rogue One heroes were done in twelfth when Josiah's Clone Trooper put her out of her misery.  Brutal!

CJ analyzing who to eat next...

Rob got a modicum of revenge against his youngest daughter when his Migs used the Cycler Rifle to put the Rancor out of the game.  But he didn't last long after that when James/Vader directed a bunch of distance damage to him.  A Wrath did him in and Rob was gone in eleventh.  Being 50 is hard!

Matthew, soaking up his first Duel like a kid in a candy shop, was bouncing everywhere with his Luke Skywalker, but the attention turned to him next.  Grant's General Grievous got some payback for his MagnaGuard by destroying Luke with A Fine Addition, which also meant he could pick up a 5-point attack from Luke's discard pile.  That card is the best!

Alex G.'s Kylo Ren had been hopping between factions, but finally settled on an alliance.  Riley's Sol became the target as she was quickly surrounded.  Kylo delivered the death blow and Riley was out in ninth.

Who put this Magnetic Thermal Detonator in the middle of the board?

Nayshaun had fought valiantly against the Rancor and others, but without Qi'ra, his Dryden Vos was definitely operating at half capacity.  He got caught without defense and Grant once again cleared the board.  Nayshaun, in just his second career Duel, was gone in eighth.  Considering how things started with the Rancor, though, that was a good showing!

James' Vader, meanwhile, had received some early heavy damage but managed to lay low for a good portion of the game, even dodging several 6-7 jokes hurled around the table  (you had to be there).  But his game-long nemesis, Ally's Ki-Adi-Mundi, proved to be his undoing.  This was just Ki-Adi-Mundi's second game, but Ally was dropping Hostile Environment attacks all over the place, and that's what ousted James in seventh.

Grant can't convince the others of the Clone Commando threat.

With six Duelers left, it clearly became Ally/Ki-Adi, Grant/Grievous, and Josiah/Obi against Curtis/Clone Commandos, Justin/Maul, and Alex/Kylo.  That was a pretty even split, but Curtis got the drop on Obi-Wan by using the double-damage of the DC-17 pistol to send Josiah back to the HRC in sixth place.

Ally and Grant rallied, though, and took down Alex's Kylo Ren.  I didn't catch the card that did him in, but I know it was delivered by Ki-Adi-Mundi.  

The final four!

The Rancor Dungeon usually plays fast, but the thermal detonator Curtis planted in the middle of the board really slowed things down.  We were pushing up against our second game start time before the levee broke.  Grant nobly protected the healthier Ally, desperate to find his Reinforcements card.  Alas, when Grant got excited and moved in to attack Justin's Maul, he forgot he was standing in the blast radius of the Clone bomb, and Curtis blew him up in fourth place.

Curtis was clearly in the pole position with his Clone Commandos while Justin was trying to live the Dueling dream of defending his trophy from last year's DH1.  He took down Ally's Ki-Adi-Mundi with an Athletic Surge to improve his odds!  Congrats to Ally - third place in just her second Duel!  She played Ki-Adi-Mundi at EXPERT level!

Sadly for Justin, he wasn't in any shape to take down the two remaining Clone Commandos.  Curtis dispatched Maul in short order to win the Duel!!!  Congrats to Curtis!  And is the Clone Commandos deck the most powerful in the league???  They've played twice and won twice!!

Final order of finish:

12.  Jordyn/Chirrut

11.  Rob/Migs

10.  Matthew/Luke

9.  Riley/Sol

8.  Nayshaun/Dryden

7.  James/Vader

6.  Josiah/Obi

5.  Alex G./Kylo

4.  Grant/Grievous

3.  Ally/Ki-Adi-Mundi

2.  Justin/Maul

1.  Curtis/Clone Commandos

Check out the recap for game 2 next!

May The 4th Be With You - May 4, 2025

Rancor Dungeon

My apologies for the delayed recap of our awesome May the 4th Duel!  Playing on Sunday and then jumping into the last week of classes is a bad recipe for blogging productivity!

He's in the niceness HOF too!

Alas, we did Duel on May the 4th...but before the action started, we held a sacred ceremony at the Jedi Temple.  A new Dueler joined the Hall of Fame!  Playing in his last league Duel before moving to North Carolina, Elliot more than earned his spot in the league history books by ranking in the top ten all-time in Duels played, being the first Dueler to win with Bo-Katan Kryze (#foreshadowing!), and winning the 2024 Championship.  We're going to miss all of our departing Duelers, but Elliot certainly holds a special place in all of our hearts! 

May the 4th be with you!

For the last Duel of the academic year we were stuck in the rancor's dungeon!  And Riley B. was gracious enough to stop by and guest star as the rancor!  It wasn't long before the rancor was released, as Kat's (back after a year and a half layoff!) Pyke hoodlum was offed first!  While some folks were focused on attacking the rancor, and the rancor was focused on eating minor characters, Rob's Rey and Finn were creeped out by Justin/Morgan's future zombie night troopers.  The rest of that end of the board, fully carded, took the fight to Morgan herself when the troopers were gone.  HOFer Elliot/Boba Fett used a Kyber Dart for the kill shot!  Poor Justin!!!  He did turn pro though, joining the long line of Duelers whose sixth Duel was also a last place.

But Morgan wasn't the only Dueler bleeding out early.  CJ's Krennic, stuck in the middle of the board and down a minor character thanks to the rancor, took the full force of James' Bowcaster to put her within one health point of death!  She retreated to the control panel and dropped the gate on the rancor, causing ten points of damage.  That enraged the rancor, who crushed Krennic in eleventh.  RAWRRR!!!

The character he was born to play!

Despite a crazy-lucky string of Thick Skin defense cards, the gate crash jacked up the rancor.  The rest of the board realized it was a good time to eliminate the monster from the board.  Jonah's Cara Dune landed the final attack.  Thanks Riley B. for your cameo!

The dungeon is a tough board to navigate because there aren't any easy dividing lines to form sides.  Alex G./Indara found himself on the wrong side of that when a gang of shooters put the target on his Acolyte heroine.  It was once again Elliot's Boba who got the deathblow.  Alex got to leave early to get back to studying after finishing tenth.

Another Dueler caught in the crossfire of bad board position was Riley E.'s Moff Gideon.  Her sister Penny immediately attacked her early in the game, and others joined in on picking on Gideon.  Boba used a Wrist Cable to collect his third major character trophy of the night!

Kat Bane!

James was feeling himself as Han Solo, and in a bold move, began attacking Penny's The Stranger.  In real life that wouldn't end well, but Penny was low carded and not expecting the attacks.  But she moved straight to the source of her problems after that and landed a blow on Han.  That was enough damage to let Rob/Rey use The Last Jedi to finish Solo and the wookie in eighth!

It was about this time in the game Rob realized his melee Rey was surrounded by a LOT of shooters on the board.  Though he had tussled with Josiah's Ahsoka earlier in the game, he made a deal to heal Ahoska if Josiah would attack Jonah's Mandalorian.  The deal was struck and Jonah was in critical health.  ONCE AGAIN Elliot swooped in for the kill shot, using Greedo and a Sudden Arrival to do the deed this time.  Jonah's last Duel of the year netted him a seventh place finish, but he'll be joining eleven others of us for the 12 12-Way in June!

Penny showing James what's up.

Some of the shooters weren't crazy about the Mandalorian being the most recent target, so they returned the focus on Penny's Stranger.  There's nowhere to hide in the dungeon, AND YES AGAIN Elliot took out the trash with a kill shot.  Penny was gone in sixth.

Rob/Rey made his expected social move of the game in the top five.  He tried to rally Elliot/Boba to join himself and Josiah's Ahsoka for a final three, suspecting Grant/Bo-Katan and Kat/Cad Bane were in a tight alliance.  Grant didn't like that kind of talk, so he used the Dark Saber to knock out Josiah in fifth!  But Josiah did turn pro at this Duel.  Congrats, Josiah!

Grant plotting a path forward...

And then there were four!  Elliot decided to stick with Rob, at least at this stage, partnering up against Kat and Grant.  They decided to concentrate their efforts on Kat's Cad Bane.  Despite her fancy Rocket Boots, she couldn't hold out forever.  Kat was done in fourth, but that was a great performance after her prolonged absence from play.  Let's hope we'll see more of her this fall!

Elliot came to his senses at the final three, especially after Rob used the eight points of healing from the Rise of Skywalker.  Boba and Bo-Katan joined Mandalorian forces against Rey.  Rob hung tough for several rounds, but the rancor dungeon is nearly impossible to survive with its lack of raised terrain when facing two shooters at once.  Rob concentrated his attacks on Boba, hoping Elliot would partner with him if he was sufficiently banged up.  But when he used Scavenger Scum to put the heal card back in his hand, Elliot shocked Rob with a Thermal Detonator!  It was adios for Rob after that - he was out in third.

One last Duel together!

That left a final two of a slightly wounded Elliot/Boba Fett and Grant/Bo-Katan.  Rob had peaked at Grant's deck earlier and knew he was loaded with defense cards.  Elliot fought valiantly and they each landed hits, but Bo-Katan proved relentless and an Arial Assault eliminated Elliot in second.  Grant won his tenth career Duel!!!  PEW PEW!!!  He becomes the fourth Dueler in league history to reach double digits in wins.  Well done Grant!  And congrats to Elliot, who wrapped up his league tenure with a second place finish and a killed character graveyard that was enormous.  Elliot is flying back to Texas for the 12 12-way in June, so we still have a dozen more times to enjoy is presence at the table.

Grant wins the Golden Obi!

Final Order of Finish:

12.  Justin/Morgan Elsbeth

11.  CJ/Orson Krennic

10.  Alex G./Indara

9.  Riley E./Moff Gideon

8.  James/Han Solo

7.  Jonah/The Mandalorian

6.  Penny/The Stranger

5.  Josiah/Ahsoka Tano

4.  Kat/Cad Bane

3.  Rob/Rey

2.  Elliot/Boba Fett

1.  Grant/Bo-Katan Kryze

Thanks for an awesome year Dueling, everyone!!!  We aren't playing the June Twin Sun Slam this summer since we're doing the 12 12-way.  Save the date for the last Sunday of July - we'll be playing the Singles Tournament!  We need 32 Duelers to make that work - more details to come.  Until then...

May the Force be with you.  Always.

Twin Sun Slam #2 - June 15, 2024

Rancor Dungeon

With the first game of the night being brutally long, the remaining Duelers were anxious to move fast and lay big hits in the nightcap.  An all-dark side battle with a bonus Rancor was just the thing to speed things along!

Two hour delayed start, but who's counting???

We had a late no-show for the night, which meant we needed a Dueler to pilot the Rancor.  Heeding our distress signal, Jess stepped in to help eat minor characters and wreak havoc.  Jess hadn't played in a 12-way Duel since May of 2015 - nobody is sure how she avoided it for nine years, but she was more than game to crack skulls.

Of course, the Rancor can't be released until the first character dies.  Ian, to the surprise of nobody who has Dueled with him on this board before, was excited to make the first sacrifice.  His Dooku Taunt-ed one of Julia's Snoke Guards to release the Rancor!  The Rancor didn't disappoint - in its first few rounds three minor characters were eaten, Sheer Terror and Bone Crusher were played, as well as a Big Swing on Joe's Darth Maul!!!

Rob's wife can be a real Rancor when she wants to...

Speaking of Darth Maul...Joe was going crazy playing in just his second Duel.  He picked an early fight with Michael's Emperor Palpatine, and then took it upon himself to use an Athletic Surge to finally off the Rancor!  But his wild play drew a LOT of attention from others, and Riley B. was happy to end his night in last after a 5-point attack from Reva.  Joe clearly had too much sugar waiting for the second game to start!

Ian's Dooku had drawn a lot of complaints early in the game, but he retreated to the control panel square on the board, and was joined by Rob's Dark Trooper and a kidnapped Sam/Boba Fett.  Those two flew there to take shots on the Rancor, so Sam assumed he could Rocket Retreat back next to Rob's Moff Gideon after tossing a couple of Thermal Detonators.  But Rob could see Jonathan's Morgan Elsbeth would eventually use Boba against him, so he stabbed poor Sam with the Dark Saber!   One four point attack later and Sam was stunningly gone.

The rest of the alliance tolerated it, and directed their attention towards Kevin/Grievous, Julia/Snoke, and Michaela/Kylo.  They tried their best to stick together, but when Riley E., playing the brand new Droidekas deck, defected to the majority alliance, their days were numbered.  Julia was first to go, thanks to Jonathan's Morgan.

Rancor came to play!!!

Ian emerged from his hidey-hole spot on the board just in time to lay out Kevin in ninth.  Just afterwards, though, Rob's prediction for Jonathan proved right.  He stated Rob/Moff Gideon should go next.  But Rob was able to argue Morgan was going to be very tough to deal with, especially since the minor characters had already converted to their zombie forms.  Michael/Emperor and Riley E./Droidekas agreed, and even Michaela/Kylo jumped in for an attack.  Michaela didn't live to see Morgan's demise, though, because Riley B. used Reva's Ringed Lightsaber to punch her ticket in eighth.  Jonathan did indeed bow out next, with Morgan gone in seventh.

The Dark Side characters putting in work...

Riley E.'s double-minor Droidekas were pretty banged up at this point, and Riley B. cut their hands off (Hands Go First) to send his namesake doppelganger out in sixth.  That set up a pivotal moment in the game.  Michael/Emperor put the target on Ian's Dooku, and backed up his words with You Will Die.  A now cardless Ian implored the remaining Duelers to jump in on Emperor instead.  It was Rob/Moff's turn, and when Riley B. made it clear he and Parker/Vader would follow suit, he used Concussive Punch on a Royal Guard, limiting Michael to one action on his next turn.  It was a stunning turn of the tide after the You Will Die.  Ian was very lucky on his redraws and soon used double Taunts to slice Michael into fifth.

Rob knew Ian was still low carded and exposed, though, so Moff shot Gideon next.  When Parker realized Ian didn't have any defense left, he did what every Epic Dueler yearns to do - play ALL TOO EASY on a defenseless character!!!  20 points of damage later and Ian was done!!

Unchartered territory for both Duelers!

That left three to go, and despite 45 minutes of pleading from Rob, Riley/Reva and Parker/Vader agreed to stay together until the final two.  Rob even got Riley to crack and say he'd attack Parker if Rob played It Means More to Me, but Parker stayed true.  Reva's Purge trooper shot down Moff Gideon once he was out of cards.  Rob followed his first place finish from the first Duel of the night with a third place - not too shabby but he was mentally wrecked!

Neither Parker nor Riley had ever been this close to victory before, and both fumbled a bit as they tried to secure the win.  Parker ended up regretting using a Throw Debris on Rob, though, because Reva was down to her last few points of health and in range of the auto-damage.  Riley, meanwhile, was kicking himself for not being more aggressive in his first opportunity to attack.  He stayed patient, though, and ended up eliminating Parker's Darth Vader with just one health point left on his Reva card!!!  Congrats to Riley B.!!!  This was his first win and a long time coming for one of the most dedicated Duelers in league history.  He was beaming!!!  This is Reva's first win too.  Parker deserves credit too, that was a career-best finish and he played Vader wonderfully.

The Third Sister and First Winner

Final Order of Finish:

12.  Joe/Maul

11.  Sam/Boba

10.  Julia/Snoke

9.  Kevin/Grievous

8.  Michaela/Kylo

7.  Jonathan/Morgan

6.  Riley E./Droidekas

5.  Michael/Emperor

4.  Ian/Dooku

3.  Rob/Gideon

2.  Parker/Vader

1.  Riley B./Reva

That's our last 12-way Duel until August's CL Training Duel, which will kick off our eleventh (!!!) year of league play.  However, we're doing the Singles Tournament on Sunday, July 29, so mark your calendars now.  More details coming!

The Fall Brawl - September 30, 2023

Rancor Dungeon

A crazy kind of history was made at this year's Fall Brawl.  For the first time in 135 12-way Duels, Rob was not one of the official 12 Duelers playing the game!!!  And that's because his lucky number was picked to be...the Rancor!

I guess when you wear the shirt of the monster on the board, you're destined to pull his deck!  Most folks looked relieved to not play the Rancor and quickly began worrying about how they would avoid it once the game started...

First 12-Way w/out Rob among the 12!

The Rancor doesn't appear until the first character dies.  Riley E.'s Darth Vader wasted no time on that, as she quickly used a Choke to eliminate one of Kevin's Death Trooper!  With that, the gate was raised, and Rob's Rancor was ready to wreak havoc!  He played two straight Sheer Terrors, which forced each Dueler at the table to reveal the top card of their deck and discard it.  The Rancor was VERY lucky as a whole host of iconic cards were wasted before they were played.

Folks got cranky about that and began whittling down the Rancor's health.  The rest of the table didn't know Rob no longer had defense cards, so he risked 12 points of damage by standing underneath the gate and using two Tastes Like Gamoreans...which means he could eat two minor characters!  He made those count, as the Rancor ate both Evan's Black Krrsantan and Rico's Cassian Andor!  Atticus finally had enough, and he sent Val via a Grappling Line to the gate control panel, doing 12 points of damage and a kill shot on the Rancor.  It was a short but chaotic life for Rob's Rancor.  RIP.

Why scoot away from the Rancor???

With the Rancor gone, the infighting really took off.  Kevin couldn't shake the blood-in-the-water stink from losing his Death Trooper early.  He started taking shots from everyone, and Parker's Obi-Wan eventually ended Krennic in last.  Brutal.

Atticus' Tobias Beckett wasn't fairing much better.  After he took a crack at Jordann's Luke Skywalker, others responded by putting the target back on Beckett.  Atticus couldn't withstand the multi-pronged attack, and Jordann's Princess Leia got revenge for her brother by outing Atticus in eleventh.  That was not how Atticus wanted to break his ninth place streak...

Riley B.'s The Armorer, meanwhile, decided to play The Forge, adding +2 to all attacks and defenses until his next turn.  He lined up Paz Vizsla against Evan's Fennec Shand and used multiple Blaster Cannons to eviscerate poor Evan in tenth.  Evan didn't have a shred of luck in this one.

Bella talking trash to Parker.

Rico wasn't doing much better than Evan.  Both of them lost their awesome minor characters to the Rancor (*burp*) and Rico found himself in a kill box courtesy of Bella/Kylo and Parker/Obi-Wan.  Grant H.'s Moff Gideon wasn't sure what to take of that unsteady alliance, so he Kidnapped Rico's Jyn Erso to the other end of the dungeon, placing Jyn in a new kill box.  That group complied with the fresh meat, and Riley E.'s Vader stabbed Rico for the last time.  Jyn was out in ninth.

Most people assumed Parker's Obi-Wan would be next, especially with the public knowledge he held Force Balance.  But in one of the early surprises of the night, Curtis' Mandalorian put the target on Grant's Gideon instead.  It was just like a real episode on Disney+!  Grant had little room to negotiate, and he was frustrated when Parker - granted amnesty for a round by the other Duelers - put him down in eighth.

Kylo's last stand.

Moff Gideon was gone, and Bella found herself the next target, especially after tangling with Jordann's Luke.  But Kylo is a tough customer, and Bella swung I Know What I Have To Do - a 12 point attack! - on a stunned Skywalker.  Kylo and Luke really need counselling.  Bella could exit knowing she left an impact, and that's just what Isaiah's Cad Bane arranged, using Faster Than You to fell the sequel Sith in seventh.

Somehow Parker's Obi-Wan was still alive, despite being the preferred target for most of the game.  Riley E. played a Your Skills Are Not Complete to neutralize the Force Balance, and Parker was in scramble mode after that.  He started taking multiple attacks and Isaiah once again eliminated a Dueler, this time with There's No Shame In It.

Best Side-Eye in Duels History

The final five was tense because Riley B. (mistakenly?) accused Jordann of putting the target on Isaiah, and Riley B. ratted it out to Isaiah.  Jordann was emphatic in saying that wasn't what happened.  When the dust settled, Curtis once again named the target, and put it on Riley B.'s Armorer.  No sooner had he done that when Riley B. pulled A Mandalorian No More, dumping Curtis' entire Mandalorian hand!!!  Jordann was also weak because she had just played double I Will Not Fight You's.  In the end it would be Riley B.'s turn to bow out.  Isaiah's Cad Bane once again got the kill shot.

Final Four Machinations

The final four took a looooooooong time to play out, and alliances switched several times.  It started with Curtis' Mandalorian surprisingly naming his alliance-mate Riley E./Vader as the target.  Jordann initially agreed but flipped to join Riley.  Isaiah tried to play Switzerland throughout.  Eventually everyone was taking shots on Riley and, despite a late re-alliance with Curtis, Riley's Vader was blown away by Leia's Latent Force Abilities in fourth.  Daddy issues for sure!

Curtis popped Jordann's Luke with a Disintegration, mortally wounding the Skywalker twins.  He used a Rising Phoenix to get two 4-point shots on Luke, which Jordann couldn't successfully defend.  Jordann was done in third.  This new Dueler has played twice and finished third twice!!!  Well done, Jordann!

It was more or less a miracle Curtis made it to the final two considering all the great cards he had to drop along the way, be it Rancor or The Armorer.  Meanwhile, Isaiah's Cad Bane had been stockpiling his best attacks, and another No Shame In It killed Curtis in second!  Isaiah won his second Duel in just his fourth game played!!!  Only Kaleb has done the same thing in the history of this league!!!  It also marked Cad Bane's second career win.

The final order of finish:

(13.  Rob/Rancor)

12.  Kevin/Krennic

11.  Atticus/Beckett

10.  Evan/Fennec

9.  Rico/Jyn

8.  Grant H./Gideon

7.  Bella/Kylo

6.  Parker/Obi-Wan

5.  Riley B./Armorer

4.  Riley E./Vader

3.  Jordann/Luke

2.  Curtis/Mandalorian

1.  Isaiah/Cad freakin' Bane!

Well played, everyone!  And congrats to Isaiah's truly historic night.  The October's Duel, FIGHT NIGHT, will be played on Saturday, Oct. 21st, at 7PM.  Mark your calendars now.  The official invite will go out in a couple of weeks.

The Fall Brawl - September 24, 2022

 

Rancor Dungeon

Perhaps the most easily overlooked aspect of this year's Fall Brawl was that it marked our return to the North Village fine arts studio as our on-campus Dueling spot.  It was the first time since COVID that we had Dueled there, since it was used as a testing center the past couple of years.  No place on the face of the earth has hosted more Duels than the fine arts studio, and it was good to be back in the friendly confines!

The Baker's Dozen

We also played in the Rancor Dungeon!  This meant one Dueler would be randomly selected to play with the Rancor, and amateur Dueler Riley B. got the lucky honors!  Everyone else picked their seat and characters and we were ready to do battle.

It came as a surprise to absolutely no one who has ever Dueled with Miguel before that he couldn't resist killing a character right away to open the dungeon door to let the Rancor out.  His Boba Fett chucked a Thermal Detonator into Mace Windu (JD) and Jango Fett (Rob), instantly killing both of  Mace's clone troopers and releasing the Rancor!

Release the hound!

Riley made his presence known right away, playing Bone Crusher, which reduced everyone's actions on their next turn to one.  He next hurled one of Grievous' (Julia) MagnaGuards across the room to its death.  

Meanwhile, infighting broke out across the board.  Andrew's Cassian shot Rob's Jango with a brutal 8-point attack, severely injuring the elder Fett.  Rob responded by Rocket Retreating to the control panel spot on the board behind the Rancor.  Riley's Rancor had advanced to stand under the gate.  But instead of pushing the button to hurt the Rancor...Rob drew a card!  The board gasped with displeasure as the Rancor moved deeper into the dungeon.

The board finally quieted down a bit and committed to hunting the Rancor.  Though Riley made a valiant stand, the poor beast was no match for the unified front the rest of the Duelers presented.  Riley was done for the night on a 4-point attack from Ian's Beckett.  That won't count against Riley in the rankings, and we thank him for his service in Jabba's Palace.

Curtis explaining how weak Rey is...

Miguel wasn't done being mischievous, though.  He threw his second thermal into one side of the board again, but this time, he didn't retreat afterwards.  Rob's Jango was down to his last point of health as a result, but on his first action, drew his Missile Launch.  He chuckled evilly as he finished Miguel in last place by using it against Boba.  Miguel seemed a little too happy to be reunited with the Golden Jar Jar trophy.

Curtis (Rey) was leading a six-person alliance against the rest of the board, and called out Andrew's Jyn Erso to be the next target.  This was a bit startling as Andrew thought he was part of that group.  Curtis moved Rey in front of Jyn, seemingly trapping her, but Jyn used Jail Break, and in doing so, moved Curtis into a kill box in enemy territory!  That end of the board began attacking him, and he eventually had to use Rise of Skywalker to heal back up.  Just as it was Parker/Fennec's turn to attack him...he instead used Martial Skills to kill Rob/Jango in eleventh!  The weaker alliance was totally confused by the sudden betrayal.

Ian trying to lobby alliances with Parker.

JD's Mace had moved forward to try and eliminate Curtis, but all of a sudden Curtis was still very much alive and Mace was in easy attack range from the dominant alliance.  Poor JD got left hung out to dry, and it would be Finn who got the kill shot of Mace in tenth.

Ian/Beckett, Elliot/Snoke, Andrew/Jyn, and kind of Parker/Fennec decided to keep the pressure up against Curtis.  It proved to be too much for Curtis, who got stuck loaded with a hand full of Finn cards just as Andrew's Kyber Crystal Luck took him out of the game in eighth.  It became Jyn's last hoorah.  After the stronger alliance put Cassian in an unnecessarily large kill box, Michael's Han Solo ended Andrew's run in eighth place.

Momentum shifting...

We were down to the last seven Duelers and a smoldering Rancor corpse at this point.  Parker's Fennec was the keystone, as both sides continually sent overtures to him to remain true to their respective sides.  In that unstable environment Michael's Han Solo suddenly found himself Tied to a String, and placed in a kill box after not being willing to switch sides.  Though he survived the original capture with a nice Wookie Toss for the rescue, Duncan/Dooku and Evan/Leia were suddenly willing to switch sides!  Supreme Leader Snoke landed the final blow, and Michael peaced-out in seventh.

Julia and her General Grievous went from an early favorite to win the match to suddenly being without any alliance partners.  She played Grievous deftly, including regenerating her MagnaGuards, but she could only hold out so long before the piper came piping.  Elliot's Snoke once again scored the final hit and Julia bowed out in sixth.

Final Four negotiations.

Now there were only five Duelers:  previous dominant alliance members Duncan/Dooku and Evan/Leia, free agent Parker/Fennec, and amazingly, the short-sticked Ian/Beckett and Elliot/Snoke.  Evan had been playing so far below the radar I'm not sure everyone even realized he was at the table, but in the final five, the others became keenly aware of him.  Duelers misconstrued previous comments about Leia's card strength and started inventing imaginary cards in Evan's hand that would strike them all down in one fell swoop.  Poor Evan was the target, and a self-healing Improvise from Ian's Tobias Beckett punched Evan's card in fourth place.

A remarkable final three.

With Evan off the board, Parker made a bit of a social gaff by saying those with minor characters should work against those without.  He was trying to put the target on Elliot's Snoke, but Ian was without Val at that point, and he didn't take too kindly to the implication.  Parker was just playing his second Duel, and it's hard to remember a more plot-twisting night than what he achieved with Fennec.  However, he soon found himself the odd Dueler out, and rested in fourth.  Well done, Parker!

And then there were three!  Elliot and Ian had been partners the whole evening, but Elliot was concerned about going against a shooter at the end, so he tried to align with Duncan's Dooku.  However, that proved disastrous, as Duncan ultimately chose to partner with Ian's Beckett instead.  Try as Elliot might, he couldn't get Duncan to join him.  Once his Snoke was on his last line of health, he got a final attack in on Duncan's Dooku, who had been mostly healthy prior to that.  It included using his Force Lightning to push him to Ian's Beckett.  Ian stayed true to his alliance, though, and finished off Elliot in third.  Both he and Snoke were so close to their first-ever victory!

"The worst" is where the money is.

The final two was quite interesting, as Dooku was the superior character but Ian's veteran status was surely its own advantage.  He and Duncan traded blows, and both characters took their lumps for sure.  But Ian used his second Improvise of the night to heal, do major damage to Dooku, and recover cards for his last stand.  Duncan didn't know it, but Ian only had one non-Val card left in his hand, a 4-point attack for Beckett.  Ian used it and it was enough to finish off Duncan in second!  Ian won!!!

This was the first victory for the character of Beckett.  The win was also Ian's eleventh, moving him into second place on the all-time list!  Ian also moved into second place in the Dueler rankings.  Though Duncan didn't get the win, there's no denying he's on a major role right now with high finishes.  

Let's check the final order of finish again:

Unofficial 13.  Riley B./Rancor

12.  Miguel/Boba Fett

11.  Rob/Jango Fett

10.  JD/Mace Windu

9.  Curtis/Rey

8.  Andrew/Jyn Erso

7.  Michael/Han Solo

6.  Julia/General Grievous

5.  Evan/Princess Leia

4.  Parker/Fennec Shand

3.  Elliot/Supreme Leader Snoke

2.  Duncan/Count Dooku

1.  Ian/Tobias Beckett

Our next Duel is the October FIGHT NIGHT.  Based on the Baylor football schedule, it looks like Saturday, October 8th, will be the date.  Official confirmation and email for sign-ups should go out next Sunday.  Until then...may all your Rancors stay caged.

 

Thanksdueling! - November 6, 2021

 

Rancor Dungeon

It was mentioned during the preview but we need to mention it again here.  The 2021 Thanksdueling! battle marked Alex's last Duel in the league.  He's moving down to Austin and plans to start wearing a lot of ugly orange in his wardrobe.  But we can't fault him for his new career opportunity - we wish you well, Alex!  In his time in the league he played 33 times (tied for 11th all-time) and won six times (tied for 7th all-time).  He also retires as the top ranked Dueler!  For all of these reasons we inducted Alex into the Duels Hall of Fame.  Congrats!!!

Two grown men trying not to cry.

Ok, ok, enough with the mushy stuff.  We have a Duel to recap!  We were playing in the Rancor Dungeon, and Rob came with a fresh new Rancor t-shirt along with matching stickers for all the Duelers.  The big intrigue, though, was who would be randomly picked for the Rancor!  After entering all of the names in the random list generator, the lucky Dueler was...Evan!!!  This was supposed to be his sixth/professional debut Duel, but he got the Rancor instead!!!

Evan wearing a Jabba shirt - he must have known!

The rest of the Duelers took their seat, knowing Evan/Rancor couldn't join them until a character died.  Surely nobody would want to do that early in the game...right?!?  Wrong!  To absolutely nobody's surprise, Miguel (The Emperor) just couldn't help himself.  He got a Force Lightning right out of the gate, and decided to fry one of Kevin's (Maul) Battle Droids!  The gate opened and The Rancor was loose!  He immediately ate one of Karson's (Mace) Clone Troopers.

In one of the more ironic moments in league history, Ian (Dooku) took great offense at Miguel's shenanigans.  The same Ian who did the exact same thing as Miguel at the last Thanksdueling! in the Rancor Dungeon!  He, combined with an outraged Kevin (who had ever seen someone so attached to a measly Battle Droid before???) lobbied the board to go after the Emperor.  Despite being in the best position on the board, Miguel had his hands full as the attacks started coming from everywhere.  He retaliated by...using Force Lightning on the other Battle Droid!  God bless Miguel, he was entertaining all the way to his last place finish - a kill shot of retribution from Kevin's Maul.

The rest of the board did little to stop the Rancor, so it made it's way into the center of the board and kept eating minor characters and attacking majors.  On one end of the board Karson/Mace and Rylie/Grievous found themselves fully carded and needing to attack.  They took out their aggression on an unlucky Juan/Beckett.  Juan couldn't do anything, stuck between a Rancor and the Whirling Arms of Grievous.  Poor Juan was out in 11th.

Behold the Rancor buffet!

JD/Boba finally started talking sense into the rest of the Duelers, encouraging them to band together to take care of the elephant Rancor in the room.  Folks complied and the Rancor started taking damage...but not before he ate two Clone Troopers, a Super Battle Droid, Lobot, and Padme!  My goodness, that guy's appetite is disgusting.  But after Rob's Lando got the Rancor within a point of dying, it would be Alex's Clone Trooper #1 that killed him with a one point attack.  Well played, Evan!

Remember that time we were friends, lol?!?

With the Rancor mercifully off the board, the next phase of the game commenced.  Peach/Han and Fiona/Anakin had been whispering furiously for most of the game.  A lot of folks assumed they were thick as thieves, so Ian's Count Dooku Force Pushed Han into a kill corner at the other end of the board while Rob's Lando took a shot at Anakin, followed by a Maul attack.  While it looked like both of them were in trouble, only one would fall...and that was Peach!  She took hits from Obi-Wan and then was shocked to see her tablemate Rylie move in to attack with Grievous!  Han fell to the Whirling Arms in 10th.

Fiona went next, and she used a Wrath to get the heck out of Dodge.  Some folks thought she was still the target...but then a surprise occurred!  A group of Duelers had conspired to go after Ian's Dooku!  Obi used a Force Control to place Ian in a custom-made kill box!  It was a shocking turn of events, and Ian had no hope for survival.  In what would be a theme for the night, Rylie's Grievous delivered the final blow and Ian, out of nowhere, was gone in 9th!

A doomed Dooku.

JD's Boba had made it known earlier he was keen on working with Ian, but he suddenly found himself without an alliance.  Rob was equally nervous, having been unaware that the hit was on for Ian.  So he positioned himself near the leftover kill box and attacked Boba with an Altered the Deal, meaning he could switch places with the Fett!  The lingering kill box participants thought, "eh, why not?", and roughed up JD's Boba.  Alex's Clone, the same one who killed the Rancor, eliminated Boba Fett too!  JD was ousted in 8th, but Boba Fett has a new series coming out on Disney+ so I think he'll be fine.

That left seven to go, and folks were getting antsy.  Kaleb (Leia) casually threw out Rob's Lando, but in a surprise twist, the majority of folks remaining went after Kevin's Darth Maul!  Kevin wasn't expecting it, and got caught low carded.  It would be Fiona's Anakin, who once looked doomed for 10th, that landed the elimination.  Kevin was gone in 7th.

Of course we didn't forget to take a group pic!

Once it was down to six Duelers, some folks were back to being fully carded, and Rylie's Grievous decided it was Anakin's turn to walk the plank.  Fiona was outraged but funny about it.  She didn't last long, and using a MagnaGuard, Rylie had yet ANOTHER kill!  Congrats to Fiona, who has played before but never in person.  Top six!

Immediately after Fiona's exit it was Rob's turn, and the board waited to see what he proposed.  A grown man wearing a cape should never be the leader in that type of situation, but alas, that was the predicament.  After some deliberation, Rob's Lando attacked Karson's Mace, noting he still hadn't used his Whirlwinds and he was at full health.  Karson went on the defensive, but his hand was unluckily weak so he had to retreat.  This had the unfortunate effect of making him look vulnerable.  Other Duelers started to attack him too.  Despite his best efforts, Karson had to bow out when - GUESS WHO - a Grievous MagnaGuard took him out in 5th.  (On a side note, Rylie looked like a Duels hustler with her hat pulled low and her eerily silent demeanor all night!)

Final Four Focus

And then there were four!  Rather than stick with his fellow shooter, Kaleb proved the only things certain in life are death, taxes, and Rob and Kaleb not working together at the end of a Duel.  He decided to use Wicket's Whirling Rocks...but rolled a 2-all!  That means they hit Wicket instead of Lando, hahahaha!  Thought it was temporarily three against one, Rob warned Alex's Obi that he would likely land in third without Lando at his side, so it turned into a Rob/Alex vs. Kaleb/Rylie battle.  This went on for quite a while before Alex played Force Balanced and dumped everyone's hand.  Not long after a badly injured Lando once again faced Whirling Rocks, but this time the Ewok's coordination was better and Rob got concussed in 4th.

Meanwhile, Alex's Obi and Rylie's Grievous were trading blows.  They were both weak and starting to turn their attention against Kaleb's Princess Leia.  Kaleb sprung into action and eliminated Rylie's Grievous in 3rd place with a You're Going to Regret This attack.  Alex was also badly wounded and now risked an automatic death if Kaleb defended with an I Know card.  But Obi had his two best attack cards in his hand, so he risked the homerun swing.  Alas...Kaleb had I Know, and Alex, in his last Duel, finished second, eliminated by his BFF and fellow Duel Hall of Famer Kaleb!  Well done to both of them, but especially Kaleb who came out of retirement to pad his resume!  This also marks the first character win for Princess Leia.

Who invited this guy???

Let's see that final order of finish one more time:

12.  Miguel/Emperor

11.  Juan/Beckett

10.  Peah/Han

9.  Ian/Dooku

8.  JD/Boba

7.  Kevin/Maul

6.  Fiona/Anakin

5.  Karson/Mace

4.  Rob/Lando

3.  Rylie/Grievous

2.  Alex/Obi

1.  Kaleb/Leia

The December Duel is the 2021 Championship!  This is a special invite Duel and the biggest Duel of the year!  Any Dueler who won a game in 2021 gets an automatic bid, and the remaining slots will be filled by the top ranked Duelers.  And now that we have 24 characters, we're doing the same for them!  Characters who won in 2021 will be used in the Championship.  Rob will contact those who qualified, but it looks like Saturday, December 4th, will be the date for the best and toughest Duel of 2021!!!