The Fall Brawl - September 19, 2020

 

Arvala-7

"Does anybody really know what time it is?
Does anybody really care?
If so I can't imagine why
We've all got time enough to cry..."

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

- Chicago

Well, let's address the rumors now.  

Yes.  We played an 8 hour Duel.

I don't know why it was 8 hours.  I don't know where the sands of the hourglass went.  I don't know if, when laying on my deathbed (hopefully decades from now), I'll think back to this Duel and say, "no regrets!"  I don't even know if the game actually ended.  Maybe this blog post is a fever dream, a subconscious me seeking a way out of the Dueling matrix.  Who's to say?

What I do know is our new board, Arvala-7, which debuted at this here Fall Brawl, is fantastic.  Kaleb theorized, though, it might have contributed to the long match.  Folks trying to figure it out, splintered from others.  We'll have to analyze that the next time we play.  I could be a member of AARP by the time that one ends.  Hopefully it will be a MUCH faster Duel, though...  

And not only did we try a new board, Ryan actually created it in 3D in time for us to play!  Check out a couple of pics I snapped before we started:

The game started cautiously, but soon enough, Rob's Vader used a Choke on one of Joel's (Mace Windu) Clone Troopers.  That was all Ian needed to publicly declare he was ok with Kendall's Yoda but had every intention to hunt down Mace.  It was the chaotic energy Arvala-7 was created for!

But as Ian moved towards Mace, the infighting on each end of the board commenced.  Rookie Karson, playing with Anakin, took a hit on Riley's Obi-Wan.  The tiny titan of terror was none to pleased, and made it known she would return the favor.  Meanwhile, Ryan's Jango Fired Up the Jet Pack to Lucas' Boba Fett and layed down two big hits before retreating back to his starting spot, where he would remain for approximately five hours.  Lucas retreated to the light end of the board, where everyone decided Riley's Obi-Wan would be winner of the Golden Jar Jar for 12th place.  Riley did pull off a nifty Jedi Block on Duncan's Bowcaster.  It was a Princess Leia attack that offed her, but not before she dropped her last three cards to stand up Joel's Mace, who had been recently Force Lifted by Kendall's Yoda.

The first 12 to play on Arvala-7!

Duncan, in just his second game but sounding like a grizzled veteran throughout the night, declared his support of the duo of Kendall/Yoda and Ian/Yoda, as well as promising safety for Lucas' Boba, but he did not offer the same olive branch to Joel, whose Mace was taking a beating caught behind one of the many rock columns.  Rob's Vader got nervous thinking about a shootout at the end of the game with Boba and Han united, so he Threw Debris to put Lucas out of his misery in eleventh.

Joel fought valiantly, but Ian was obsessed with taking him down.  His Maul finally negotiated the log jam on that part of the board.  Joel had a number of defense cards to play, but Ian used a surprising Athletic Surge with the first attack instead of a Sith Speed, and that was enough to put the Hall of Famer in the dirt, good for tenth place.

Danger around every corner.

Folks were fully loaded with cards again, and targets were needed.  Despite being deep in the light side of the board, Maul had maintained a general alliance with the dark side.  He was, though, interested in targeting Rylie's Emperor Palpatine.  To get there he needed to pass by Karson's Anakin, and Anakin was bleeding.  Ian offered his genuine condolences before cracking him with his second Athletic Surge of the game, and the rookie grounded out in ninth.  Play with us again, Karson, and keep trash talking your brother while you do!

Ian retreated to the dark side of the board after the Surge, and his partner Kendall kept making it known Rylie's Emperor should be next.  That's when Rob's Vader realized Maul was in a kill box, and he lobbied Ryan's Jango and Rylie's Emperor to go after Ian with him, while Curtis' Dooku started to duke it out with Kendall's Yoda.  Duncan's Han and Kaleb's Luke were too far from the action to do much of anything.  Ian was incredulous that Rob turned on him, but what are you gonna do when the horned Sith is low carded and vulnerable?  A combo of Rylie's healing card and a double wrist cable by Jango doomed Ian in eighth.

While that was going down, Kendall and Curtis negotiated a truce to make Duncan the next target.  Despite that, Rylie's Emperor had taken a ton of damage, so her Yoda moved in and strong-armed Rob's Vader into helping her finish Palpatine.  Rob's Vader was wounded, so he used a couple of Force Drain's on Rylie while he threw up a little in his mouth for back-stabbing his alliance partner.  Kendall Force Pushed Rylie, who could mercifully go to sleep since we were well past 1AM at that point.

Duncan shot first.

That made it six to go, and Duncan could not believe Kaleb's Luke and Kendall's Yoda were no longer siding with him.  He made some good arguments, but after threatening everyone with finding his second Bowcaster, the board united to bring him down.  It would be a three point attack from Yoda that sealed the deal.  In just his second game you can tell Duncan has a bright future in the league!

The most crucial moment in any Duel is the final five, and the Fall Brawl was no different.  Kaleb went first, and after much deliberation, he decided to I Will Not Fight You on Curtis' Count Dooku for the second time in the game.  But he kept another one of those cards in his hands, which forced Rob to make a half-hearted attack on on his partner Curtis.  Kendall didn't follow suit, which sent things into chaos again.  Curtis charged forward to attack Kaleb's Luke, and that is where the last stand for several characters took place.

Kaleb and Curtis exchanged blows, but Kendall's Yoda came over to put hits in as well.  Curtis eventually ran out of cards and health as Leia notched her second kill shot of the game with a four point attack that logged off Curtis in the wee small hours of the morning.

Kendall's Yoda was near Kaleb's Luke when Rob's Vader charged forward.  He knew he had to take out Skywalker before another I Will Not Fight You was played.  But Kaleb talked Yoda into knocking off Leia, which activated the ten-point power of Justice.  Kaleb got two attacks off on Rob, including the Justice, before finally bowing out in fourth.  It was a heck of an effort for the birthday boy, who was never on strong ground but made it work to his advantage.  For his sake, though, let's hope he finally picks a new character next time!

With three to go, Ryan's Jango and Rob's Vader knew they had to work together to take down rookie Kendall, who was playing Yoda like she had been doing it for years.  Both Duelers were reshuffling, and that was providing them the distance attacks they needed, though both got Insighted at various points by Yoda, who discarded cards each was clearly trying to hold onto for the final two.  Just as they whittled down Yoda to one point of health, Ryan used a Missile Launch on Rob's Vader!  He then Fired Up the Jet Pack and finished off Yoda, ending Kendall's early morning in third.  That was one of the best rookie Duels in league history, way to go Kendall!

And then there were two!  Rob's Vader was in bad health after the Missile Launch, but he was loaded with Trooper cards to heal while Ryan worked his way back into attack range.  That proved hard, and after he went in for two attacks, Rob countered with a blocked All Too Easy but a successful Force Drain, which powered him back up and sent Ryan scrambling away.  Rob didn't know it, but Ryan was drowning in Zam cards.  They chased each other across the board a couple of more times before Ryan used his Flamethrower to cash out Rob in second place.  Congrats Ryan!  He was last year's Fall Brawl winner too, so he gets to keep the Mace trophy for another year!  Here's the final order of finish:

12.  Riley/Obi-Wan Kenobi

11.  Lucas/Boba Fett

10.  Joel/Mace Windu

9.  Karson/Anakin Skywalker

8.  Ian/Darth Maul

7.  Rylie/Emperor Palpatine

6.  Duncan/Han Solo

5.  Curtis/Count Dooku

4.  Kaleb/Luke Skywalker

3.  Kendall/Yoda

2.  Rob/Darth Vader

1.  Ryan/Jango Fett

If you're still reading, I promise you this.  We will NEVER play an eight hour Duel again.  Scout Trooper's honor.  I think that was an anomaly because of the new board.   Speaking of which...

...next month is October, and that means it's time for our FIGHT NIGHT Duel!  And we're using another new board!  Don't worry, this one is much more congested than Arvala-7.  Here's a hint about what to expect:  it's the first Board that doesn't stay static during the game!  Intrigued?  We'll email out the invite once the date is picked.  Until next month...stay safe!  PEW PEW!

May the 4th Be With You - May 4, 2020

Kamino Platform

Last year's May the 4th Duel was momentous in that it featured one of the most memorable wins in league history.  Riley, at ten years and 364 days old, shocked the world when her Emperor, about to be destroyed by Ben's Dooku, pulled out a second You Will Die and rode to a win.  It was insane and joyful and maybe the only time the other eleven Duelers didn't mind losing.

This year's May the 4th?

...not so much!

It always starts so innocently...

Right out of the gate, Ryan, using Han and Chewy, targeted lil' Riley's Darth Maul.  He Wookie Tossed her to the edge of the light side alliance, and then Elliot's Yoda further pushed her back to get decimated by the Jedi.  But Rob, whose dad anger was raging, rolled in and Force Pushed her back to the dark side, and then Gave Orders to hide again behind his Super Battle Droids.

The dark side was certainly roughed up at that point, but the scales were balanced again...until Nathan's Jango killed Riley's Maul and then Rocket Retreated to the light side!  Riley, the defending champ, was eliminated first!  The day before her 12th birthday!  May God have mercy on all of our souls...

...but make sure you have a power cord. 

The dark side got cranky after that and tried their best to retaliate.  It wasn't easy.  Rob's Dooku got shot up by Ryan's Han Solo.  That was largely assisted by Christopher's Luke Skywalker, who played his second I Will Not Fight You of the game.  That's when Diego went for the Hail Mary and played his You Will Die on Nathan's Jango, who had betrayed them.  The play worked.  The light side was bottle-necked and fully carded, so they turned on their new teammate.  It was Kaleb's Greedo, though, using a Desperate Shot, that put him down in eleventh!  What is it with Kaleb and Greedo???

Obi looks on.

After that, though, the light side pushed forward to eliminate the light side.  Rob and Kaleb tried to find cracks in the alliance but couldn't get a toehold.  That's when Rob did something so, so dirty.  His Dooku Force Pushed Troy's Darth Vader!  Poor Troy did nothing wrong, but he landed in a light side kill box with very little defense.  It didn't take long for them erase him in tenth.

From there Diego/Emperor, Rob/Dooku, and Kaleb/Boba were huddled behind Jango's ship.  And that was also when Rachel's internet connection went out because her computer ran out of power.  She literally dialed in a Force Control attack that left Diego exposed.  Rylie used her Padme's Shot on the Run and Diego was done in ninth.

The logistical issue with Rachel being out of the loop proved a nightmare.  Just as Kaleb and Rob convinced Elliot to Force Push Ben's Mace back to their corner, Rachel dialed in one last time and laid a hit on Boba before stopping.  We eventually decided to remove her Obi from the game.  As penalty for the "did not finish" we're going to mark her in last place.  You gotta be in it to win it!

LONESTAR!

Rob and Kaleb got their hits in on Ben's Mace, but Mace survived and Whirlwinded Dooku, leaving Rob in eighth.  Kaleb's Boba had Rocket Retreated to the other end of the board, right into the arms of Christopher's Luke and Rylie's Anakin.  They made short work of him, and with that, there were five left!

Ben/Mace and Rylie/Anakin were a little put-off by Elliot's previous Force Push, so the attacks started in on his Yoda.  Elliot went behind the ship to hide, but an unrelenting volley of shots finally landed him in fifth place.  Congrats to Elliot, though - that was his best finish!

That left four Duelers, and in a bit of a surprise move, Rylie's Anakin went after Christopher's Luke.  Ben and Ryan didn't mind the move and started to help.  But Christopher was playing brilliantly as Luke and managed to, at different points, drop a Justice on both Anakin and Han as well as playing another I Will Not Fight You on Mace.  He finally clipped Rylie with a four point attack and she finished in fourth.

Evil will always win, because "good" is dumb!

Christopher's expertise couldn't withstand a two-point attack, though.  While he locked horns with Ryan's Han, Ben's mangled Mace rolled up and put a big hit first on Luke, and then he Whirlwinded them both.  That knocked Christopher our, but he played arguably the best game at the table that night.  Great job Christopher!

The final two were quite interesting.  Ryan had healed up but was hurting from the Justice.  Meanwhile, Ben couldn't heal because he still had a Clone Trooper on the board.  Ryan played Heroic Retreat, knocking Mace within three points of death.  Han also ran away.  Ben figured he had one shot left.  So he used a Wisdom and Masterful Fighting, hoping for the knockout.  Ryan just survived it, and that's when he played the two cards he held onto for the entire night - both NEVER TELL ME THE ODDS!

Ryan won with Han on Kamino!!!

Your final order of finish, edited to reflect the rankings after the Rachel logoff:

12.  Rachel/Obi-Wan Kenobi*
12. 11.  Riley/Darth Maul
11. 10.  Nathan/Jango Fett
10. 9.  Troy/Darth Vader
9. 8.  Diego/Emperor Palpatine
8. 7.  Rob/Count Dooku
7.  Rachel/Obi-Wan Kenobi*
6.  Kaleb/Boba Fett
5.  Elliot/Yoda
4.  Rylie/Anakin Skywalker
3.  Christopher/Luke Skywalker
2.  Ben H./Mace Windu
1.  Ryan/Han Solo

Congrats again to Ryan - any win with Han is special, but especially on that board.  I need to check the stats, but Ryan might be the first person to win with all three shooters!

Stats won't be updated until after the Birthday Duel...which is later tonight!

The Fall Brawl - September 21st, 2019

Carbon Freezing Chamber (via Dagobah)

It took us all week to find our 12th Dueler, but Jordan bailed us out Saturday morning and we were ready to Duel!

The Fall Brawl marked the return of Ben H., who is newly hired back to the department, allowing for the Hall of Famer to resume his playing career.  It also marked the debut of Natalie, who caught the Dueling bug from Rylie.  We love rookie Duelers!  #ibelievethatrookiesarethefutureteachthemwellandletthemleadtheway

Tan table?

Kaleb drew the #1 chair and also Boba Fett.  He didn't care about Boba as much as his suction-cupped minor character, Greedo.  The bromance was reignited and it felt so right!  Christopher avoided one Fett but picked Jango for Rob.  His fingers having a homing beacon for bounty hunters!

Ryan won the right to go first and he was off and running.  Literally.  His Mace Windu scampered across the middle of the board as he defected to the dark side.  It was the "Cohenour Run 2.0"!

Ian, playing with Luke Skywalker, began to coordinate a defensive strategy but was stuck going second to last on the first turn.  That's extremely problematic if you're Luke starting in the middle of the board.  Kaleb, playing Boba Fett, used the shield of Mace's minor characters to step forward and land both the 9 and 7 point attacks on poor Ian!  Ian had held onto the Golden Jar Jar since the May the 4th Duel, and his symbiotic relationship with it would prove fatal as he finished in last after Mace cut him down for the final blow.

Lucas and Sam embrace reality while Ben and Kaleb laugh.

That was a tough start for the light side, as they were now down seven to four.  They hung tough, though, knocking out Greedo and Zam as they mounted a counter-attack.  In fact, it was Jordan's Anakin that killed Greedo with an Anger, but then he used his Calm to run over to the dark side in an attempt to join them!  The dark side was fairly gobsmacked by the move, and after Rob got the nod from Rylie/Maul, they launched their attack on the Padawan.  It was Ryan's Mace again that made the kill shot and Jordan was done in 11th, his second time playing Anakin in two career Duels.

Lucas, playing just his third career Duel, had Han Solo and came to the realization that he wasn't going to advance very far in this battle.  He was faced with the decision many of us have been confronted with before: go down with the ship or attack your own alliance.  He chose the noble route and kept fighting with his team but a four point attack from Jango ended Lucas' night in tenth.

Not looking good for Obi-Wan.

The next sequence would prove fateful for the rest of the match.  Sam, who had Obi-Wan, attacked his last teammate Christopher/Yoda.  It was so dirty!  But it helped out Sam because he Force Controlled Yoda into the dark side.  Ben's Emperor played You Will Die on Yoda and Rylie's Maul went in for the kill.  Poor Christopher was out in ninth place.

That opened the door for the first strong alliance back-stab.  Rob's Jango held two Wrist Cables, and he played them both on Ben's Emperor!  The rest of the alliance was down for the attack, and it was rookie Natalie's Vader who made the kill shot on Ben in eighth.  But welcome back Ben, glad you're with us again!

A second in-fight occurred when Ryan's Mace attacked Kaleb's Boba.  Kaleb returned fire and the rest of the alliance wasn't sure what to do as those two had scored significant damage on each other.
They called truce and he remaining alliance once again fixed their attention on Sam's Obi-Wan. 

The levee breaks.

Sam still had some tricks up his sleeve, as he used another Force Control to move everyone away from him, and then a Force Balance to dump everyone's hand.  That was rough for quite a few folks.  Sam proved how powerful Obi is, even when fighting six characters at once.  Stop me if you've heard this before, but Mace made yet another kill shot...and then there were six!

The remaining alliance just stared at each other, spread out across the board, and waited for the standoff to break.  It was more awkward than a middle school dance.  Rylie's Maul finally became the focus of attack, and she bowed out after a final shot from Kaleb's Boba Fett.

And then there were five!  Nobody knew how to proceed, so Rob threw out Alex's name.  That was met with the sound of crickets and a dirty look from Alex, so Rob used his Flamethrower on Boba to move Kaleb over to Alex/Dooku and Natalie/Vader, and then Rocket Retreated the heck out of there.  Ryan moved in and did a Whirlwind to send Kaleb to the rails in fifth.

Final two!

That left four Duelers, and Alex/Dooku and Ryan/Mace were happy to make Natalie the next victim of the game.  Her Vader couldn't withstand a two-front attack and so she peaced out in fourth.  But - that's a heck of a debut for the rookie Dueler!  Good job, Natalie!

With three to go Alex was hoping he and Ryan could partner up against Rob's Jango, but that's when he was in for the rude awakening that Ryan and Rob were already in a committed relationship.  At least that's what Rob thought.  Just as Alex was approaching them at their end of the board, Ryan used a Wisdom to get the heck out of Dodge, leaving Rob alone to face Alex.  Rob made a super dirty promise to join Alex against Ryan in order to avoid an attack, and then burned that promise by attacking Dooku and Firing Up the Jet Pack to get out of there.

Rob was loaded with Zam cards ever since the Obi-Wan Force Control was played, so he had very few options, but he and Ryan/Mace managed to whittle down Dooku to near death.  Alex made one last offer to partner against Ryan, but Rob figured they were both too damaged anyway and shot Alex to secure a second place finish for himself.  Sure enough, Ryan swooped in and finished Rob off in second place.  Congrats to Ryan, who won his fouth career Duel!  He also won the Mace trophy while playing with Mace!  It also means BB-8 made the right pick - whoa!!!

Final Order of Finish:

12.  Ian/Luke Skywalker
11.  Jordan/Anakin Skywalker
10.  Lucas/Han Solo
9.  Christopher/Yoda
8.  Ben H./Emperor Palpatine
7.  Sam/Obi-Wan Kenobi
6.  Rylie/Darth Maul
5.  Kaleb/Boba Fett
4.  Natalie/Darth Vader
3.  Alex C./Count Dooku
2.  Rob/Jango Fett
1.  Ryan/Mace Windu

That was a good Duel all the way around.  And, more importantly, we knocked it out in about three hours!  Stay tuned for details on next month's Duel - FIGHT NIGHT - it looks like we'll be playing on October 19th, so pencil it in now.

Thanks to everyone who played tonight!

Valentine's Duel - February 2, 2018

The Emperor's Throne Room

With our propensity for making up excuses to throw in extra Duels on top of our monthly battles, I'm surprised it didn't occur to us to make this the "Groundhog's Day" Duel and find an additional date in February to make war.  That's an opportunity lost.  Try harder, Duelers!

There was a real synergy around the number "one" for the Valentine's Duel.  Kaleb, our number ONE ranked Dueler, picked the number ONE chair, picked the number ONE ranked character (Jango), and won the dice role to go FIRST.  Unfortunately, nobody really likes playing with Jango, especially if you're stuck playing him two games in a row like Kaleb.  He wasn't the only one repeating with a character.  JD got Yoda for the second game in a row and Grant, playing for the first time since the 2017 Championship, got Boba Fett, for the second consecutive time.

A lot of shenanigans going on here... 

Kaleb also picked the Emperor's Throne Room, which hadn't been used since Fight Night back in October.  This is the same setting as the dramatic climax in Return of the Jedi, and let's just say a similar scene would end up playing out... #forshadowing

As most Duels of late have started, the early action was focused on getting a flip from one side or another.  The dark side was making offers to Toby/Han, Ethan/Luke, and Alex/Obi, but they were slow to accept.  It was impolite, really.  It got ruder when Chewbacca threw a Battle Droid down the energy shaft.  That forced Rob's Count Dooku to use a Taunting.  With the Wookie wounded (alliteration!), Grant's Boba Fett dropped his Kyber Dart and all of a sudden Han was feeling lonely.  Meanwhile, Ryan's Vader and Ian's Emperor picked out a target to be on the receiving end of their long distance attacks.  The winner?  JD's Yoda!  He wasn't as amused as the master and apprentice were.

Wookie of the Year

Ethan's Luke could feel the tide turning against the light side so he took a quick shot at Curtis' Mace Windu before Children of the Forcing his way to dark side territory.  That was enough incentive for Toby's Han, now wounded and without his Wookie (alliteration 2.0!), to flip too.  He took on more damage when Nathan's Padme blasted him for defecting.

The dark side minor characters began pouring shots on the light side, but the remaining Jedi were slow to improve their lot.  They were taking on damage and not in position to respond.  Ethan arranged to smuggle his table-mate Alex (Obi) over to the dark side too but that set off warning bells for the original alliance.  Rob rallied his teammates to take out Ethan's Skywalker twins before they could start using I Will Not Fight You's.  Ian/Emperor, Kaleb/Jango, and Ben/Maul came through, and in a stunning turn of events, Ethan was out in last.  On the bright side, his wife loves the Jar Jar trophy.

Nathan's Padme got Choked out by Ryan's Vader, so his Anakin crept up to chase Toby's Han.  But Rob's Dooku moved forward to Force Push him into a kill box of Emperor, Vader, and Boba.  The final blow came from Zam's Sniper Shot and Nathan was dunzo.  JD was still bleeding out in his starting corner before Ian put him out of his misery with a little Force Lightning.  That makes two straight tenth place finishes with Yoda for JD.  It was funny the first time but now it's just sad.

SUDDEN ARRIVAL!

The next two targets were Curtis/Mace and Alex/Obi.  On his way to dispatch Mace, though, Rob's Dooku dropped Taunting #2 on a mangled Han Solo, and Toby had to bow out in ninth.  Toby is only one Duel away from going professional, but for the love of Pete, he needs to pick a character with a better starting position one of these days!  It's hard to outmaneuver bad luck.

The rest of the dark side alliance crushed Alex's Obi in eighth and Rob worked his way over to Curtis to finish off Mace.  But Curtis did drop both Whirlwinds before he became dust in the wind in seventh place.  That left Rob as the weakest on the dark side health-wise.

All six light side characters were dead, so the infighting was up next.  Rob suggested Kaleb's Jango was a good candidate to send packing...right after Jango had finished his turn.  Ouch.  Jango got diced within two points of his life before striking back and Rocket Retreating.  But he landed near Dooku and Rob dropped him in sixth place.  After a number of months ranked as the top Dueler, Kaleb's sixth place finish guaranteed he would no longer reign.

That left five Duelers:  Ian/Emperor, Ryan/Vader, Ben/Maul, Grant/Boba, and Rob/Dooku.  Rob was half dead thanks to Mace, so Ian declared Dooku should be next.  Rob was none-too-pleased by that turn of events, especially as Ben threatened to roll in with Darth Maul with ten cards in his hand.  But Rob gave one of his infamous stump speeches and helped Ben see the light - Maul would most likely die next, so why not take out Boba and hope to flip Ryan's Vader against Ian's Emperor?  Grant and Ian seethed as Ben agreed to take down the last Fett.  An undefended Athletic Surge ended Grant's night in fifth place.

With four to go Ian came out swinging.  His Royal Guard dropped a big hit on Dooku and then he played You Will Die on Ben's Maul.  Ben chose not to retreat as he drew two new cards before Ryan's Vader rolled in with his probable All Too Easy attack.

And that's when the most controversial moment in league history, at least since David P's 14 hold-cards at the 2015 CL Retreat, occurred.  And I happened to catch it on video:

 
If you couldn't tell, on Ryan's second attack, his Vader did indeed drop the All Too Easy on Ben's Darth Maul.  If it's not blocked it counts for 20 points of damage.  But Ben countered with his Blinding Surge, which has a defense value of zero while damaging the attacker with three points.  And that's when a 20 minute debate commenced.  Did Ben technically block the attack?  What's the difference between block and defend?  Is there one?  What's the meaning of life?  All of these questions were pondered.  We even called JD and Curtis on the phone after they had already left to get their opinions on the matter.  Naturally, they each took a different side.

Ultimately, it was decided that the 20 points of damage would not count, and would only go for three.  Rob promised to convene the Jedi Council to discuss the matter more before the next Duel.  I want to thank Ryan and Ian for being so gracious about the ruling, as it clearly was to their disadvantage (and even Rob's too, since he would have finished one spot higher). 

It was suddenly quiet after Rob died.

Ben survived the first barrage and desperately tried to card up.   Meanwhile, Rob kept dragging his bloody Dooku carcass around the Throne Room, trying to dodge shots from FOUR minor characters.  That's right, I forgot to mention that unusual fact.  Both Emperor and Vader had both of their minor characters alive and kicking.  Ian was hellbent on getting the kill shot on Rob after the way he ran his mouth, and sure enough, a weak 3 point shot from his guard killed him in fourth.

Ian's Emperor had picked up some damage, and curiously, Ben still refused to fall back.  His bravado was rewarded when he drew and played TWO Athletic Surges.  In fact, the second attack knocked Ian within one point of dying!  Ryan stayed true to Ian, though, and Threw Debris at Ben to finally kill him (or kill him again depending on how you feel about All Too Easy/Blinding Surge...).  That's a big congrats to Ben, though, who finished a career-best third place in his sixth Duel...which means he's reached professional status.  Way to go Ben!

This has to be the prettiest damage
indicator card at the end of a game
in league history!

Ian immediately used Meditation, hoping he could heal enough to repeat as the victor of the Anakin Valentine trophy.  But Ryan was well prepared for the final moment.  He had beautifully saved his last Wrath and Throw Debris, which is what he used to kill Ian in second and win his third career Duel!  That was a huge win for Ryan, who ended the longest drought in League history between victories.  It was his first win in two and a half years!  And by the end of the match there was only one point of damage showing on any of his characters thanks to a couple of Force Drains.  It was just about a flawless victory, and mimicked the end of Return of the Jedi to boot.  Truly impressive.

Don't sleep on Darth Vader, either!  He now retakes the lead for career character victories with eight.  He's also slowly creeping towards Jango Fett's top ranking.

Thanks to everyone who played!  I promise we'll review that card ruling in the coming weeks.  Next month is my favorite titled Duel - THE IMPERIAL MARCH!  We'll probably wait until after spring break to schedule it, so enjoy this little siesta between matches.

The final order of finish:

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

Doubleheader #1 - August 29, 2015

Geonosis Arena

As mentioned in the previous post, even though this was supposed to be the first Duel of the day, it was already the second!  Geonosis Arena was the board picked, and the characters were assigned.  Curtis and Alex were surprised to see themselves repeating their use of Anakin and Mace.  One would fair better than the other by the end of the game...

Excitement and tensions were high as the game started.  There seemed to be a natural divide, once again, between the light and dark sides.  However, after some tricky board maneuvers, including JD's Emperor joining Rob's Dooku in the Dooku hidey-hole, Alex's Mace made a bold defection by running down to the dark side.  It was reminiscent of Ryan's same move from last Spring.  Not long after that, Nathan's Luke did the same thing.  The dark side characters were welcoming while the light side had to scramble to try and turn the tide.

That's when the first brutal take down of the night occurred.  The dark side had been slowly advancing towards the Jedi, and doing damage along the way, but out of nowhere Stephen's Obi-Wan played the "Force Balance" and moved all of the characters in play up to three spaces each.  The terrible effect was poor Elysa/Darth Maul being completely surrounded by the light side characters!

She fought valiantly and inflicted damage, but it wasn't enough to escape a twelfth place finish.  Not long after Chris/Yoda and Curtis/Anakin were gone, victims of a blind-side by Ethen/Han Solo.

My memory is a bit fuzzy on what happened next, but I do know Alex's Mace made numerous public declarations that all he was seeking in this Duel was "friendship," going so far as to have his Mace hold hands with Ryan/Jango for numerous rounds.  That was especially ironic given the two characters and the board we were playing on.  Alex was clearly drinking too much Yoda Soda.  Tommy's Boba was next to die, and then Stephen/Obi and Ethen/Han got thrown into the triangle of death by Rob/Dooku.  The triangle consisted of Nathan/Luke, Alex/Mace, and Ryan/Jango, who rewarded each arrival with exits from the game.  Ethen did manage to drop seven points of damage on Dooku with the "Bowcaster," though.  That brought the game down to six players.  Nathan, lacking defense cards for Luke, was identified as next to go, and then there were five.

What happened next was one of the most grueling, painful, un-fun hours in league history.  The final five were stuck in a stalemate.  Rob/Dooku and JD/Emperor were strongly aligned.  Alex/Mace and Ryan/Jango were more or less aligned, but Jango was feeling weak and Sakina's Vader was hard to pin down as far as her alliances went.  The five traded barbs and slowly started whittling each other down.  Sakina eventually bowed out in fifth, but not after hanging on much longer than anyone thought.  Rob became delirious and worried about the start time for the next Duel, so when Alex proposed that they align to take out Emperor and Jango, he agreed.

That didn't go well for either, as they were next out.  That's right, we had the same final two from earlier in the afternoon:

This time, though, it would be Ryan with the upper hand!  Ryan had played the stalemate the most patiently and evasively, giving him a strong hand to finish off the battered Emperor.  Congrats to Ryan!  He won his second career Duel with the victory, which includes the 2014 Championship.  It also marked the second victory for the topped ranked character in the league, Jango Fett.

Order of finish:

12.  Elysa - Darth Maul

11.  Chris - Yoda

10.  Curtis - Anakin Skywalker

9.  Tommy - Boba Fett

8.  Stephen - Obi-Wan Kenobi

7.  Ethen - Han Solo

6.  Nathan - Luke Skywalker

5.  Sakina - Darth Vader

4.  Rob - Count Dooku

3.  Alex - Mace Windu

2.  JD - Emperor Palpatine

1.  Ryan - Jango Fett 



2014 Championship - December 7, 2014

Kamino Platform

This game represents the Super Bowl/World Series/NBA Finals of the 12-way Dueling world.  The top twelve ranked duelers are invited to play, and sit in that order around the board.  The results were:

12.  Sakina - Yoda
11.  Curtis - Count Dooku
10.  Tyler - Han Solo
9.  JD - Obi-Wan Kenobi
8.  Chris - Anakin Skywalker
7.  Alex - Luke Skywalker
6.  Simeon - Emperor Palpatine
5.  Connor - Darth Vader
4.  D. Coy - Mace Windu
3.  Kristin - Jango Fett
2.  Rob - Darth Maul
1.  Ryan - Boba Fett

Key Moments:

• Sakina suffered the most brutal death in our dueling league's history.  She was PUMPED to have Yoda in the biggest game of the year.  But in an attack started by JD, nearly every light sided character attacked her, including Tyler's undefended bowcaster, and Sakina was out of the game in less than five minutes.  So.  Much.  ANGER.
• Ryan, Rob and Kristin had a tight alliance in the starting corner of Kamino.  JD ran over there to join the alliance, but was the odd one out when they turned on him.
• The light side charged into the Maul/Vader corner of Kamino, but pulled out, leaving Chris unprotected and eventually dead.
• Ryan, Rob, and Kristin kept their heads down while those two sides continued to battle and kill themselves.  Only D. Coy would survive.
• As Rob moved to attack Coy, Ryan threw a thermal detonator that hit both of them.  It would prove to be the difference because Maul couldn't recover to defeat Boba.  Ryan won his first game, and it was the toughest game of the year!!!
• Boba won his second game in a row.  Which is ludicrous.