Doubleheader #1 - August 29, 2020

 

Geonosis Arena

Friends, I usually put a lot of time and effort into these recaps, but forgive me, tonight I'm just trying to get to bed!!!  I typically get the stats updated and stories posted the day after a Duel.  So I'm burning the midnight oil to churn these out and have them in your hand when you wake up Monday morning (or got to bed REALLY late Sunday night).  It's the Doubleheader, so that means it takes twice as long to write!

To the recap!

The first thing you might note is...I forgot to take the picture of all the Duelers at the table on the screen before we started battle.  Our punishment for that mishap?  A FIVE AND A HALF HOUR DUEL.  Brutal and way too long.  So in place of the missing group shot, here's a pic of my favorite Dueler:

Look closely at the painting...THAT'S NO MOON.

Thanks for humoring me - I do the Doubleheader each year for my birthday, and I love the fact my oldest daughter loves to play this game.  And I noticed this year my middle child was lurking in the living room, watching and listening.  Perhaps a second daughter is nearing her Dueling destiny!?  THERE IS ANOTHER.

Seriously, back to the recap.  The game started roughly for the light side.  After swearing up and down he was loyal to the good guys, Alex's Luke Skywalker immediately bailed and defected to the dark.  That's all Lucas' Mace Windu needed to see before he came over too.  The light side, particularly Troy's Yoda and Rylie's Obi-Wan, were the early targets.  Retired Dueler Jonathan, playing with Anakin, tried to jump ship too.  He laid a hit and started running down the alley behind the columns, but Grant's Han (yes Grant got Han again!) lowered a BOWCASTER to put a serious hurt on him.  Alex on the dark side laid the final hit, and just like that, our former Singles Champion was done.  Brutal.

The light side was doomed after that.  Rylie, who called out Rob during the player introductions (not the first time that's happened to him), received payback when his Emperor hit her with a Force Lightning or two.  It would be retired Hall of Famer Stephen B., though, who killed her with Vader's Wrath in eleventh.  Troy's Yoda tried to move forward to cause some chaos, but got chewed up and spat out in tenth, dying on a four point attack from Greedo of all people (Kaleb would have been proud).

Folks, he hates it every time it happens, but there is no finer character/Dueler combo than Han Solo and Grant.  It's poetry in motion.  It's like peanut butter and jelly.  But this day, there was nothing even Grant could do to escape a ninth place finish.  And it was Ian's Greedo again!  GREEDO SHOT FIRST!

Rob finally remembered to take a picture.

With eight to go and Rob just finishing his turn, Alex made a bold suggestion and said the entire back row of dark side characters should kill the emperor in eighth.  Rob was startled but also secretly impressed with the move.  A very Russell on Survivor kind of a play.  But the dark side wasn't feeling it, and that left Alex out to dry.  They made Luke the next target and it was Riley's Dooku who knocked our top ranked Dueler out of the game.  But newer Duelers, Alex made a good try there - learning something from it.  Big moves can pave your way to victory, it just didn't work out for Alex this time.

With seven left, the attention turned to Miguel's Darth Maul.  This was only his second career Duel but his second time playing with Maul.  Grant temporarily brainwashed him and convinced him to flip to the dying light side, but Miguel came to his senses and killed Han.  That moment of weakness, though, but a huge target on him and Ian's Boba Fett led the charge.  With one point of health left, Riley's Dooku Force Pushed him to seventh for the second game in row.  #symmetry.

The alliance had held together to make top six, but that's when the infighting occurred.  Ian publicly named his fear of the father/daughter combo of Emperor and Dooku.  Rob countered by noting Boba had not even played his best cards yet.  Stephen's Vader and Ryan's Jango hemmed an hawed, while Lucas faced the painful decision of whether to back-stab Riley, who had been vocally loyal with him.  

After much debate most of the board decided on Riley's Dooku and started in on her, but Rob was still fearful of the Thermals and Kyber Darts and made a bold move to attack Boba instead.  That caused some chaos but Riley couldn't survive and peaced out in sixth place.

With five to go Lucas' Mace happened to be caught in the middle of the board at full health, and the other four dark side characters thought, why not?  Mace got peppered by attacks and finally succumbed to his wounds after Stephen Threw Debris at him.  That fifth place finish, though, was a nice little rebound game for Lucas.

The final four featured both Fetts (Ian and Ryan) with the wombo-combo of Rob/Emperor and Stephen/Vader.  There was a lot of talk back and forth, and even though it looked like Stephen wanted to stay loyal to his former RHD Ian, he realized he couldn't survive two shooters on a shooter's board, so the two on two battle commenced.  Rob and Stephen decided to focus their attacks on Ian's Boba, and they had him down to his last couple of health points.  Rob's Emperor was in rough shape.  Stephen rolled a high enough number to finish off Boba, but he reversed course and started chasing Jango instead.  That frustrated Rob, who was now open for more attacks from both Fetts.  Stephen did eventually eliminate him fourth, though.

Ian managed to heal up quite a bit, and Stephen finally realized Rob's banged up Emperor was the better dance partner at the end.  He rained down a double-Debris and smoked Ian in third.  Ouch!  Stephen began chasing Rob around the columns while he desperately looked for distance attacks or defense cards after reshuffling.  He moved far enough away where Stephen had a 50/50 chance to reach him for attack.  Rob could draw or heal twice, which would prevent him automatically dying.  He chose the double heal and Stephen rolled strong enough to attack him and use Wrath to win!  And what was the first card Rob would have drawn had he not healed?  YOU WILL DIE.  He would have dumped Vader's whole hand!!!  But that's not the real story, the real story is HALL OF FAMER Stephen coming out of retirement to show the league his induction was no joke!  Congrats Stephen!!!

  The final order of finish:

12.  Jonathan/Anakin

11.  Rylie/Obi

10.  Troy/Yoda

9.  Grant/Han

8.  Alex C./Luke

7.  Miguel/Maul

6.  Riley/Dooku

5.  Lucas/Mace

4.  Ryan/Jango

3.  Ian/Boba

2.  Rob/Emperor

1.  Stephen/Vader

...on to game two!

Fight Night - October 8, 2016

Geonosis Arena

Duelers from long ago and rookies in their first and second Duels converged for Fight Night, the annual October Duel where twelve friends step into the arena and treat each other horribly.

It was a blast!

Sakina, playing her first Duel since the 2015 Championship, had the honor of picking the #1 chair.  Thus it was her responsibility to pick the board we played on.  She pulled the Geonosis Arena envelope.  A strong murmur carried over the table as the fears and history of carnage on this dusty looking playing surface came racing back into Duelers' minds.  Sakina also got the first crack at characters, and she pulled Darth Maul.  Daniel immediately became frightened, having been destroyed first in a Duel when Sakina had the horn rimmed Sith Lord!

Padme was already dead before we took the group photo!

Chris got the game started, not just by being the first to roll, but the first to defect!  He used "Children of the Force" to run Luke and Leia from behind the columns and over to the dark side.  That got Jonathan's Han Solo squawking, which didn't prevent a second defection.  JD's Anakin swung a light saber at him before Wrathing over to the dark side too!  That made it eight on four as the remaining light side characters tried to figure out what the heck happened.  Padme was the first character to die during that chaos.

Luke (the rookie Dueler, not the character) was piloting Obi-Wan and decided he wanted an honorable death and began to rally the last of his side to press into the dark side.  He started lashing out at anyone he could get his light saber on, and poor Sakina started taking some big hits, especially after Luke moved everyone around the board up to three spaces.  Not long after Daniel's Greedo popped a shot on Obi-Wan to bring Luke into last place in his debut 12-Way.  Sakina barely survived her assault by the aligned Jedi, but saw no mercy after she retreated deep into the Sith ranks.  Stephen/Emperor and Curtis/Dooku put her out of her misery.  It was a rough night for Sakina, as her bad character placement and unlucky cards ruined her return.

Rob's Zam had snuck down behind the columns to fire off a round or two at Jonathan's Han, and he talked Brannon/Mace into joining him on the fun.  That ended Jonathan's night in tenth, but not before Chewey Bowcasted Daniel's Boba Fett.  It looked like Liz/Yoda or Brannon/Mace would die next, but Chris, Rob and Daniel sensed they were on the outs within the large dark side alliance.  After Liz Force Rebounded JD's Anakin for five points of damage, they enacted a devious plan.  Boba threw a Thermal on Anakin, and then Rob/Jango Wrist Cabled him for two more points.  Chris/Luke put the final hit on JD who was stunned in ninth place.  He left to get a carbonated beverage and cool off before coming back to see the finale.  Chris/Luke also ended the night of JD's brother-in-law, as Mace was also weak.

Chris, right after they did him dirty.

With seven to go it looked like the alliance would target Yoda next, but Curtis/Dooku, Stevie/Vader, and Stephen/Emperor pulled off a vicious back stab, pinning Rob's Jango on the back row and ending the Fett's life in an unceremonious seventh place.  It was a fitting fate after Rob did JD so dirty.  That left Chris/Luke and Daniel/Boba reeling - they realized they were on the outs.  They attempted to feign loyalty by going after Liz/Yoda, but Curtis pulled off another one of his patented Dooku Force Pushes.  This time, he threw Stevie's Vader at Luke, and then Stephen played "You Will Die" on him.  All that was left to do was for Stevie to play "All Too Easy" and the fully healthy Luke Skywalker was out in sixth.  All Chris could do was sit back, lick his wounds, and file the experience in his mental Rolodex of revenge!

All eyes on Stephen

That left five players on the board:  Liz/Yoda, Daniel/Boba, Stephen/Emperor, Curtis/Dooku, and Stevie/Vader.  Liz dug her heals in and Force Pushed Vader back out of there, but despite a strong final stand, Daniel's Boba Fett shot her and she placed fifth.  That's a heck of a sophomore effort from Liz, though!  She has the makings of a strong Dueler!

What happened next was pretty fantastic.  As the four remaining Duelers looked around the table at each other, Curtis suggested they all go after Stevie's Darth Vader, since he was still quite healthy as he loomed on the board.  But Stevie stepped up his social game and instead focused the attention back at Curtis, suggesting his equally if not more powerful Count Dooku was the true menace remaining!  Daniel too began to observe the same thing, and all three pleaded their case to Stephen's Emperor...who was the ACTUAL character in charge at that point!  Stephen pretended to be more confused on what to do than he really was, and the infighting commenced.  Stevie couldn't withstand it as his Vader bowed out in fourth.  You have to tip your cap to Stevie, though, he played a great Duel!

Only one of these guys isn't worried.
Guess which one!

With three left Curtis/Dooku and Daniel/Boba were both bloodied but standing.  Each had a minor character in tow, which included Greedo.  I don't know why, but I always laugh when Greedo goes deep into a Duel.  The comedic effect of it gets me every time.  I digress...Curtis was essentially playing for second place, so he went after Boba.  But after a Taunt and a Give Orders, he mismanaged his character placement, leaving Dooku open for an attack by Greedo.  Sure enough, Daniel finally pulled the "Desperate Shot" card, and Greedo fired it off at Dooku.  Curtis would die in third.  That was a good rebound Duel for Curtis, who has suffered from a string of mediocre finishes as of late.  And how about Greedo!  He killed two main characters!!!

With two left history was about to occur.  Emperor Palpatine was one of only two characters never to have won a 12-Way Duel in our Waco league, but Stephen's masterful performance was about to change that.  Daniel fired off a few attacks, but Stephen finally redrew another Force Lightning, which he used to fry Boba in second.  Daniel was happy, though!  That was his best-ever career finish, and with the worst ranked character in our game no less!  And we have to give it up for Stephen!  He's won two of the last three Duels and made history with Palpatine!!!  He's finished in the top five of his last four Duels - outstanding.

Final order of finish:

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

Thanks to everyone for a great Fight Night!  And for those of you who weren't there...we finished in three hours!  See - it can be done.  The stats are updated, feel free to peruse them at your leisure.  Stay tuned for details on the upcoming November Duel - Thanksdueling!  It's the last match of the year before the 2016 Championship in December, where the top twelve ranked Duelers square off for the Superbowl of 12-Way Duels.  Boom.

Doubleheader #2 - August 27, 2016 (featuring Legos!)

The Emperor's Throne Room

We promised a big surprise for this year's Doubleheader...and we think it was pretty cool!  For months a group of us dreamed of playing a Duel with Star Wars Legos, and we finally pulled it off! Though Curtis and Rob provided a bit of help with the figures, Ryan undertook the herculean task of not only finding all 31 characters needed, but actually reconstructing one of the game boards!  For that reason, instead of randomly picking a board for game two, we chose one ahead of time to give Ryan a chance to build it.  AND HE DID AN AWESOME JOB.

There are a lot of little details Ryan accounted for in both the characters and the board itself.  My favorite part of the Throne Room were the steps leading to an actual throne!  At the start of the game the Emperor is actually sitting in it.  Ryan used a dry erase marker to recreate the squares necessary for movement, lines of attack, etc.  The characters had cool distinctions too, like Clone Troopers with different cape types to distinguish if they were a main character's first or second minor character.  Ryan even added some non-Duels characters as spectators on the sidelines!  At one point he even considered raising the board a couple of inches and cutting out the sections that represented the open chasm the bridges cross.  Maybe next time...?

Still smiling, but getting more tired...

With the second game of the Doubleheader starting at close to 10PM, folks weren't in the mood for messing around.  Nathan took it upon himself to get the party started.  Having the misfortune of drawing Boba Fett twice in the same night, he finally got to play a Thermal Detonator, chucking it towards Vader/Stevie and the Emperor/Grant and then Rocket Retreating behind Mace Windu/Donald on the other end of the board.  This made the dark side angry, which is a scary thing to do. Stevie Threw Debris and Wrathed Boba, Stephen/Jango Fired Up The Jet Pack, used his flamethrower on Boba, and then pulled off his own retreat back to the Dark Side.  Soon after Grant used Force Lightning to fry Nathan in last place.  It was a tough night for Nathan, who finished tenth and last, both with the worst ranked character in the game, but it still wasn't worse than poor Ian.  Still stinging from last place in the first game of the night, Ian valiantly tried to hold the light side together after Ryan/Luke and Obi/Joel defected for the dark side.  Joel twice used his Obi-Wan attack that moved everyone around the board up to three spaces and Ian's Anakin got surrounded.  Grant played his "You Will Die" card on Anakin too, just for good measure, and Zam put him out of his misery.  Not a good night for Ian, but he'll bounce back the next time - you can't keep a good Dueler down!

Legos who die in Duels have to sit in timeout.

Heidi was creating some havoc for the light side.  She marched her Chewbacca all the way down to a corner on the dark side and Bowcasted the Emperor, putting eight points of damage on Grant.  Chewie got trapped there, though, and could no longer defend Han, who got caught in the crossfire and ceased to exist after Jango shot him, earning 10th place for the night.

Grant, still bleeding out with two points of health left, couldn't find his healing Meditation card.  It cost him his life, because the dark side decided they didn't want the Emperor to proceed in the game.  Rob/Dooku Force Pushed Curtis/Maul to the back row to kill Grant.  Grant finished ninth, but still had a victory to bask in from game #1.

With four dead relatively quickly, the game came to a screeching halt.  The alliance of six were firmly against Yoda/Dalton and Mace/Donald, but it took a loooooooong time to whittle them down.  Ryan's Leia finally put a blaster shot on Yoda good for 8th, and Jango collected yet another trophy by ousting Mace in seventh.  Dalton has improved in all three of his Duels, and Donald had a respectable night with 5th and 7th place showings.

With that bit of business finally done there were six to go, and five of them agreed that Stevie's Darth Vader was in much too good of shape to stick around any longer.  A coordinated attack ended Stevie's night, with the finally volley of death delivered by a "Does Not Count As An Action" barrage from Curtis/Maul.  Stevie finished in the top half of both Duels - not too shabby!

Your final two.

The final five, seeing Curtis was low-carded, knew it was time for his exit.  As the attacks came Curtis was having NONE of it.  He staged one of the most passionate filibusters in league history, but in the end, couldn't talk his way out of fifth place.  It was a nice recovery for Curtis after his game one showing.

With four to go Rob/Dooku suggested going after Jango/Stephen, pointing out how dangerous it is to let Jango survive this late in a game, especially on a board he can run around out of reach.  Joel/Obi was too scared by Dooku, though, and went in on Rob.  Rob quickly changed his tune and he, along with Ryan/Luke and Stephen/Jango, coordinated their cards against Obi-Wan.  Joel came to rest in fourth place, another awesome finish on the night for the Dueling rookie!

Rob liked his chances against Jango more than Luke, so the original three person alliance eroded as Dooku tried to get the jump on young Skywalker.  But Dooku was too damaged and ran out of defense cards as Luke dropped a five-point attack to eliminate Rob in third.  At that point it was Luke and Leia vs. Nathan, who incredibly was in his second "final two" of the night!  With Leia still alive Ryan couldn't heal Luke or use his "Justice" cards.  Jango inched him closer to death but a late run of Leia attack cards started to even up the damage.  Just as he was getting within range of finishing second for the second time that night, he finally shot Luke and claimed his first ever victory!  It was an awesome feeling for Stephen, who had been kicking himself for letting the first game of the night get away from him.  A tip of the hat goes to Ryan too!  The primary Lego architect played a great game with Luke.  Luke has finished second in three of the last four Duels!

"Jango Fett vs. Obi-Wan Kenobi:
The Epic Duels box cover reinterpreted"
by Riley Engblom, age 8

The final order of finish:

12.  Boba/Nathan
11.  Anakin/Ian
10.  Han/Heidi
9.  Emperor/Grant
8.  Yoda/Dalton
7.  Mace/Donald
6.  Vader/Stevie
5.  Maul/Curtis
4.  Obi-Wan/Joel
3.  Dooku/Rob
2.  Luke/Ryan
1.  Jango/Stephen

Jango now has four career victories, and is just one behind Darth Vader for the lead.  The next Duel is the "Fall Brawl," we're looking at mid-September for that one.  Stay tuned and thanks to everyone who played and/or reads the blog!!!