Doubleheader #2 - August 26, 2023

 

Conveyex Train

There was absolutely no break between the first and second games since it was already 10PM.  Fortunately Curtis and Grant whipped up a second batch of Padawans in a Blanket to fuel us with the snacks we'd need to carry into the night.  That, and the case of Dr. Pepper in the fridge, got our brains re-stimulated...

Loco on the space locomotive...

This game started hilariously when Ian/Captain Phasma New Recruited one of Atticus' Knights of Ren, meaning the minor now belonged to Phasma and not Kylo.  From there alliances began to form with a split roughly between the middle of the train.  Grant D. tried to go big with a Bowcaster right out of the gate too, but Rob's Yoda had a 15 defense card ready for it and yes, you read that right.  Grant got Han again!!!  So funny for 11 of us, so frustrating for Grant...

Bekah's Emperor and Atticus' Kylo, with their exposed spots on the train, were getting banged up early.  Rob had made overtures to Riley B.'s Luke Skywalker to flip earlier in the match, but when Riley tried to kill one of Yoda's Clones to make a path for a Children of the Force escape, Rob got cranky.  He comboed a Force Lift & Push to send Luke to the far end of the board into a kill box.  Elliot/Jyn, Jackson/Mace, Curtis/Snoke, and Riley E./Boba were all willing to take shots and Riley B. got stuck with the Jar Jar after almost winning the Jango in Game 1 of the evening.

Parker's Rey was eager to help save his declining alliance and Backflipped to attack Riley E's Boba after she was blackmailing him with a Thermal if Parker didn't finish off Bekah's Emperor.  (Can I just take a pause real quick and have a dad moment - I'm so proud of my daughter that I got to type that sentence lol...)  Parker ended up overextending himself, however, as he got too deep into the alliance and had little cover from the combined attacks.  Ian used On My Command to park Parker in eleventh.

New strategy: align with the person who drove you.

Bekah was still near death but had fallen back far enough the enemy alliance couldn't reach her.  Fearful she'd start pulling Force Lightning, Meditation, or even You Will Die, Curtis' Snoke eliminated the risk by using Tied to a String.  That was enough to end Bekah's night in tenth.  What a crazy first two games of Bekah's Dueling career - let's hope she comes back out again soon!

Atticus was still pretty fired up with Ian's Phasma kidnapping his minor, and landed hits on her.  He also used a Force Freeze on a Greedo attack that killed one of Rob's Clone Troopers when Kylo moved out of the way!  But Atticus couldn't anticipate his alliance partner Evan/Reva - The Third Sister (making her Duel debut!) flipping on him!  Reeva dropped a five point attack and poor Atticus was done in ninth for the second time that night.

Updated Conveyex board courtesy of our friends on Discord!

Ian's Phasma had retreated deep in his alliance after getting roughed up by Kylo.  That's when Curtis/Snoke realized Ian only had two cards in his hand.  That was easy pickings for Snoke - Phasma was gone in eighth before the rest of the alliance could even help!

Elliot/Jyn, Riley E/Boba, and Rob/Yoda started moving in on Jackson's Mace.  Even though they had all been working together, Jackson was fully carded and that made Mace particularly dangerous.  Curtis wasn't excited by that, though, and went after Riley's Boba instead.  She had hoped nobody would notice how low carded she was, but nobody asks for card counts as frequently as Curtis does.  Riley was thrown into the sarlaac in seventh.

Jackson sizing up his options.

Jackson's Mace looked like he might have been able to avoid being next, but Evan's Reva, fresh off flipping from the enemy alliance, swooped in with multiple attacks, including Grand Ambition, and Jackson was out in the top six, also for the second time that night.  #symmetry  

This game was moving a bit faster than the first, but we were well past midnight.  Somehow Grant's Han was still on the board.  Rob's Yoda made the safe play and started attacking him.  The greatest Dueler/Character combo in league history glided into fifth place.  Well done as always, Grant!

The Cassian tug of war.

There were only four Duelers left, and Rob/Yoda became the consensus target for the other three.  However, Rob pointed out to Curtis his Snoke would almost assuredly be the next target after that.  They eventually decided to partner together to take down Evan/Reva and Elliot/Jyn.  It's not every day you see a 2 v 2 in the final four!  Rob was a bit low carded, and Curtis was initially stuck with a hand full of defense.  Still, they managed to force Elliot to switch his main character status to Cassian and kill Jyn.

Though Rob had promised final two with Curtis, he was down to six cards and four of those were Clone Troopers.  He had one Clone left, barely, as it was down to its last health point.  In a Hail Mary play, he started shooting Curtis' Snoke, much to Curtis' chagrin.  Elliot and Evan welcomed it, but Curtis Force Lightninged Evan in fourth...which was HIS second fourth of the night!

I'll spare you all the details, but Curtis and Rob lobbied AT LENGTH with Elliot to side with one of them against the other.  Those sides changed a couple of times, but eventually Elliot and Rob partnered to take down Snoke after Cassian played Looks Like a Killer.  Elliot had a nearly impossible task of winning with his normally designated minor character.  He played his heart out but Rob's Yoda was able to attack Cassian into the fatal damage range of a Force Push.  Elliot got second place and Rob, for the first time in league history, finally won with Yoda!  He's now won with 11 of the 12 original characters in the game.  The win also makes Yoda the sixth character with double digit wins.

Yoda Soda for the Yoda victor!

The final order of finish:

12.  Riley B./Luke Skywalker

11.  Parker/Rey

10.  Bekah/Emperor Palpatine

9.  Atticus/Kylo Ren

8.  Ian/Captain Phasma

7.  Riley E./Boba Fett

6.  Jackson/Mace Windu

5.  Grant D./Han Solo (!!!!!!!)

4.  Evan/Reva - The Third Sister

3.  Curtis/Supreme Leader Snoke

2.  Elliot/Jyn Cassian

1.  Rob/Yoda

Well...by 2AM...we were all done!  Thanks to everyone who played!  Our September Duel, The Fall Brawl, will take place later September.  More details coming soon on that one.

Good night!!!

CL Training Duel - August 9, 2021

 

Carbon Freezing Chamber via Degobah

Ladies, gentlemen, Wookies...we're back!!!  That's right, last night was the official kickoff for our EIGHTH season of 12-Way Duels!!!  It was also just our second live, face-to-face Duel, since coming out of the COVID restrictions.  Look at these excitable faces:

Loki Rob spent most of the day hyping up the new CL&L staff about the game, and by the time he made it to the snack room at camp, there was a line of newbies forming around the building.  In fact, we set up a side table with the North Village game to accommodate the interest!  Welcome to all of the new Duelers!

Kat came out of retirement this year and got things started by scoring the #1 chair at the table.  The gaggle of newbies and veterans sat down behind her and we were off and running.  

Now that we have eleven different playing boards, Rob has already randomly selected them for each of the Duels this season.  What better way to kick off the new Dueling year than with the ultimate killing room...the Carbon Freezing Chamber!  And though Ryan has left Waco, he bequeathed the league his boards, so we got to play on the Dagobah version to boot.  

Miguel officially started the mayhem when his Jango Fett attacked Duncan's Kylo Ren and then flipped to the back line of the light side of the board.  Duncan was horrified as others followed suit, including JD M.'s Count Dooku and Elliot's Orson Krennic.  Elliot was particularly ruthless as he lobbed a Grenade into the Knights of Ren.

Duncan/Kylo, Evan/Vader, and Katie/Maul were in a real pickle, but they kept their wits about them and staved off the lopsided odds.  That was due in large part to Katie, who quickly amassed ten cards and dared anyone to step towards her Darth Maul.  The tension finally broke when fully carded Rob/Mace and Kat/Luke let loose on poor Miguel's Jango Fett.  Miguel escaped with just a couple of health points to spare, but ultimately bit the dust when JD M.'s Super Battle Droid popped him with a 5 point attack.  Miguel has played Jango twice and finished last with him both times.  Ouch!!!  Fortunately he was carrying around Old Bay to season his tears.

Duncan wondering what he did to deserve this...

Duncan had to be surprised he didn't finish last, but the thought was fleeting because Elliot lobbed yet ANOTHER Grenade into him and Kylo was smoked out in eleventh.  The sequel anti-hero has yet to finish above tenth place in league play.

It was assumed the light side alliance would finish off Evan/Vader and Katie/Maul next, but infighting broke out once again.  This time it would be poor Kat on the wrong end of it.  John M.'s Anakin Wrathed little Leia to death, and not long after, JD/Dooku, Ian/Yoda, and John/Anakin agreed to take her down.  Hot shot rookie Grant H. used his Lando for the kill shot.

With nine to go the attention was once again focused on the dark side of the board.  That was disappointing news for Evan, who for never having played before, was navigating Darth Vader quite well despite the odds.  The constant peppering of shots from light side minor characters, along with Grant/Lando and Drue/big Leia, was too much.  JD's Super Battle Droid once again collected the trophy.

Rookies trying not to make eye contact with Darth Maul

We should take a moment now to appreciate the incredible combination of Dueler Katie and her character Darth Maul.  What a match made in heaven!  She was fully loaded and ready to destroy, but she patiently hung back and slowly sewed doubt into the light side alliance, drawing special attention to Ian/Yoda and Rob/Mace.  The mental warfare worked, when all of a sudden Drue/Leia and Grant/Lando weren't willing to shoot Maul.  Furthermore, Katie reached a tenuous truce with Elliot's Krennic.  She was hell-bent on digging out of her hole and it worked!

Ian's Yoda wasn't having it, though.  He targeted Grant's Lando and he pushed him into a kill box where he, JD/Dooku, Rob/Mace, and John/Anakin soon dispatched the Cloud City scoundrel in eighth place.  This ticked off Drue's Leia, who formally joined sides with Krennic and Maul.  That in turn galvanized the remaining four, which was a good thing because John's Anakin/Padme combo were chomping on the bit to attack any number of them.  Rob started doing an attack/Wisdom combo to lower Krennic's health points, and Elliot eventually succumbed to his wounds when JD's Dooku bounced him with a Taunt for seventh place

Darth Maul vs. The World

With six Duelers left, Katie's Darth Maul finally started creeping forward, protected by Drue's Princess Leia.  She continued to explore cracks in the alliance, and that's when Rob reached a verbal agreement, fearing Maul would come for him first.  He agreed to go after Ian's Yoda too if Maul unloaded on him.  What happened next was...beautiful.  Darth Maul unloading Sith Speed after Sith Speed while Yoda deflected with just the occasional point of damage or two.  PURE OFFENSE VS DEFENSE!  Miraculously, Yoda survived without using either of his 15-point defenses or the Force Rebound.  Rob was clearly trying to play both sides in the Maul/Yoda showdown, but he knew he was doing zero damage to Yoda with all of the big defense in play.  Instead...he attacked John M.'s Anakin!  It was a bit risky because Anakin still hadn't used his second Counterattack, but it turned out it was still buried in the draw pile.  John, in his rookie game, finished a more than respectable sixth place!

The exact point in time the Duelers realized they would be 
useless at tomorrow's training...

With five left, JD/Dooku, Ian/Yoda, and Rob/Mace were trying to figure out how to finish off Katie's Maul, who had retreated back to her original end of the board.  Rob, however, vocalized how concerned he was that Drue's Leia had yet to use either "...I Know" defense cards or her auto-damage Covert Mission Specials.  That's when Ian hatched a combo Dooku-Force Drain and Yoda Force Lift.  Rob's Mace came in and finished off Drue.  But Holy Hannah, what a debut for Drue!!!  That was only Leia's second game in the League too, she's a force to be reckoned with.

JD had made it no secret he wanted to go to the final two with Ian's Yoda, so Rob knew he needed to partner with Katie's Maul.  They were once again in a loose alliance, but despite Maul jacking up Dooku, JD went for it and withstood a Blinding Surge to Force Push Katie to her fourth place finish.  What a night for Katie!!!

With three to go Rob begged JD to reconsider his partnership with Ian, knowing it was doomed.  JD wanted to honor his verbal decrees (while also sensing he had an honest shot at Yoda in the final two), so he declined.  This forced Rob to eliminate Dooku instead of saving his cards for Yoda.  JD M. finished in third place in his FIRST Duel...are you kidding me?!?  These rookie Duelers all look promising!

Rob's Mace was damaged from his two-front defense, and Ian's Yoda was back to full health and STILL hadn't played any of the big defense cards yet.  Rob used about 342 Wisdom cards to runaway, but the scary reality of the Carbon Freezing Chamber is that you can't run for long.  Yoda eventually Force Pushed Mace for the win!  Congrats Ian!!!!  He won the YODA trophy, with YODA, on the DAGOBAH board.  That's what you call synergy people!!!  That's also Ian's ninth career win, moving him into a tie for second place all-time.

Let's take a look at that final order of finish once again...

12.  Miguel/Jango Fett

11.  Duncan/Kylo Ren

10.  Kat/Luke Skywalker

9.  Evan/Darth Vader

8.  Grant H./Lando Calrissian

7.  Elliot/Orson Krennic

6.  John M./Anakin Skywalker

5.  Drue/Princess Leia

4.  Katie/Darth Maul

3.  JD M./Count Dooku

2.  Rob/Mace Windu

1.  Ian/Yoda

For all of our new Dueling friends...welcome to the league!  Make sure you let Rob know if you want to be put on the mailing list for future Duels!  Speaking of which...on Saturday, August 28th, we'll be playing our 8th Annual Doubleheader!  That's right, two Duels on the same day!  And don't worry, the first game is being played in the TRASH COMPACTOR, so we know that one will be short!  Rob will send more information and invites out for that after move-in.

That's all for now - congrats again to Ian!

The Imperial March - March 6, 2021

 

Conveyex Train

Whereas most of the Duels this season consisted of a dozen grizzled veterans, already keen on the tendencies of their peers, the 2021 Imperial March saw FIVE first time Duelers enter the fray!  This week conflicted with a lot of the professional players, leaving the door wide open for a host of rookies!

The other big story of note was the use of our new board - the Conveyex Train!  The train car covers the center of the board as its pursued by three Enfys Nest speeders and an Imperial cargo ship, just like the Han Solo movie!  Each Dueler was provided one tow cable, which allowed characters to move from one vehicle to the next once played.  This is the first board in Duels history that is edited by the players during the game.

There's a clue in this picture of who ends up winning...

Everyone took Rob's pregame advice and carded up over the first two rounds of the game, but when rookie Fiona, playing with Rey and Finn, took a potshot at one of Delaney/Snoke's guards, all hell broke loose.  Two alliances formed, split roughly diagonally across the board.  While Fiona tried to escape to the other end of the train, Miguel's Anakin started up and attacked John B.'s Kylo Ren.  It got sassy real quick!

Stephanie's Grievous started moving towards the back of the train to allow Kylo and Rey a place to escape.  Meanwhile, Duncan/Obi-Wan and Delaney/Snoke tried to orchestrate a counterstrike with Jessica/Emperor and Rob/Luke basically joining in by default.  Ian/Yoda sat stoically on his speeder, Riley's Lando kept her head down in the corner of the cargo ship, and Jon W.'s Darth Maul loomed menacingly in the background. 

All-aboard the PAIN TRAIN!!!

Miguel/Anakin and Fiona/Rey took the brunt of most of the attacks, and Stephanie's Grievous attempted to board the train to add her support.  But Delaney's Snoke played Tied to a String and suddenly the General was in a kill box!  And wouldn't you know it, Jon W.'s Maul was fully carded and chomping at the bit.  This was Stephanie's first game and she didn't do anything wrong, but sometimes them's-the-breaks in Epic Duels.  She became the first victim of the evening.

It looked like the alliance being led by Duncan's Obi-Wan were going to run over their opponents, but Elliot's Val had other ideas.  For the first time in league history, we finally saw It's Been A Ride, Babe played!  That's a five point self-destruct card that killed both of Jessica's royal guards and jacked up Anakin, Leia, and Yoda to boot.  And Val didn't even die!  With the alliance still on tilt, Jon W'.s Maul was still at the back of the train and fully loaded again, so he shocked Delaney's Snoke by launching a Sith-Speeded assault!  Delaney couldn't hang and she was gone in a shocking 11th place.

The majority alliance regrouped and kept pinging Kylo Ren.  Duncan was finally able to get a couple of decent rolls and and landed damage too.  It was Riley's Lobot, though, hanging in the corner, who betrayed her tentative alliance with an Activation kill shot!  John W. finished 10th with Kylo, but if there's a silver lining, that's Kylo's best finish in three games.  Folks are clearly scared of the sequel villain.

Keep feeding Maul!

Darth Maul was still at the rear of the train, making Jessica/Emperor, Miguel/Anakin, and Rob/Luke pretty nervous after the Snoke takedown.  But after Elliot's Beckett cracked folks with his Double Blasters, he got stuck a little too far forward.  That's when Ian's Yoda moved in for the second time with a Force Push and sent Elliot right into the hungry arms of Jon W.'s Maul.  He was excited to add his third major character kill of the night and Elliot was hobbled in 9th.

Poor Fiona, her Rey was chased throughout the game and now she was absent any partners.  Despite pulling of a clutch Rise of Skywalker heal, and receiving Kylo's Redemption heal points, her damage indicator card was nearing the red dot.  She tried once again to get Riley's Lando to join her, but Riley coldly shot that down.  Fiona learned the hard way why they call Riley the tiny titan of terror.  She landed hits on a cardless Rey, but it would be Fiona's own CL, Jessica, that put the final hit to send her home in 8th!  Fiona has a meeting set for Monday morning to discuss the situation with their hall director.

And then there were seven!

Miguel's Anakin was down to a couple of points of health, and it was Rob/Luke's turn.  He knew good and well Duncan's Obi-Wan was loaded with cards and ready to win the game.  That's when he rallied the remaining characters to focus their fire on Duncan!  Obi was chagrinned but understood, but also wasn't done fighting.  Leia landed a full 7 points of damage with her Latent Force Abilities, and that's when Miguel made a desperate plea to help secure him a sixth place finish, his highest ever, by Wrathing in and attacking Obi.  However, he landed on the tow cable that was the only entry point to go after Obi, so Duncan dispatched Anakin in seventh.  You fought valiantly, Miguel!  A top six finish is on the horizon some day...

Duncan had one more trick up his sleeve.  He used a Force Control attack to trap Rob's Luke Skywalker in a kill box!  Duncan argued he was injured and less threatening than Luke at that point.  Rob promised he was still going after Obi.  But Jessica's Emperor moved to let Luke out, and nobody attacked.  Instead, there was a different shocking conflict...out of nowhere, Jon W.'s Maul went after the Emperor!  Poor Jessica didn't see it coming.  Maul knocked her down to her last final points before death.  It was Obi's turn next, and he had the choice to get a last hit on Rob, or to play for ranking and finish off the Emperor.  He chose the stats and Jessica, in her first Duel, finished a more than respectable 6th place.  Good job Jessica!  Riley's Lobot got his second kill of the night by finishing Duncan in 5th.

Father and daughter divided!

With four to go, it was Ian/Yoda's turn.  Rob told him he would follow his lead.  Riley piped in she would too.  Maul just sneered menacingly.  Ian made the call...on Riley's Lando!  It killed Rob to go against his own daughter, but he wanted to win and knew how hard Lando is take down after winning with him in January.  Maul retreated to the far end of the board and Rob and Ian started chasing Riley.  

They landed a few hits without much success when, ominously,  Jon W.'s Maul started creeping forward.  It was Rob's turn next, and he suddenly worried about their survival against the horned Sith.  Ian and Rob made the call to hit Maul instead, and Riley agreed to help.  Maul made a semi-offer to work with Lando, but Riley was terrified of him by that point in the game.  

Luke and Lando were landing hits, but at one point Ian called out Riley for not doing more.  He had Insighted her earlier and knew how powerful her hand was, but she was just taking pot shots.  Rob was shocked as he had no clue his daughter was stockpiling and was instantly proud yet terrified of her.  During the battle with Maul Ian landed a Force Rebound on an Athletic Surge, which was a back-breaker.  It would be Rob's Luke who finally knocked out Jon's Maul.  Jon is OLD SCHOOL with Duels - he bought the game when it was first released and loved his first 12-way Duel!  We'll hit you up again in the future, Jon!

Always the bride's maid...finally the bride!

Maul was dead and now Luke and Yoda went after Lando again.  Both tried to hold back some good cards for the end game.  Rob was crestfallen when Riley killed Yoda's last pesky Clone Trooper.  He knew that was very bad for his end game, but Lando was too strong to take on by himself so he stuck with Ian.  After a LONG chase, Riley finally bowed out when her own father used Justice.  It's such a brutal game!!!  But Riley had a heck of a night and played Lando and the board perfectly.

That left two, and Rob knew Ian still hadn't played his redrawn Force Rebound, which was problematic.  He actually tricked Yoda into using it with just a 2-point attack, but he was quickly overwhelmed.  At one point Luke played an I Will Not Fight You, but Ian's Yoda got to keep all nine cards in his hand.  OUCH!  I'll save you the gritty details, but Luke ran all over the train multiple times before finally getting put down with a 4-point attack from Ian.  Congrats Ian!!!  Ian finished in second place in his last FOUR Duels, which is both an awesome and horrific record to have.  But you know what they say, fifth time's the charm!  Wait, what...?  Ian is also now tied for second in league history with 8 wins.  That also makes it 8 career victories for Yoda.  

The final order of finish:

12.  Stephanie/Grievous

11.  Delaney/Snoke

10.  John B./Kylo

9.  Elliot/Beckett

8.  Fiona/Rey

7.  Miguel/Anakin

6.  Jessica/Emperor

5.  Duncan/Obi-Wan

4.  Jon W./Maul

3.  Riley/Lando

2.  Rob/Luke

1.  Ian/Yoda

Believe it or not, this Duel was the 99th game in league history.  Our April Duel, Duel of the Fates, will be in April like normal.  But in honor of our 100th game, we are inviting back 12 of the most decorated Duelers in league history for a match we're calling...The Centurion!  If you stacked a Duel with the 12 best to every play...these would likely be your picks!  They span all seven years of the league's history, and some have never sat across from each other at the table.  It will be EPIC!!!  That match goes down on March 27th.  

Thanks to all our new folks for playing tonight - rookie Duelers become professional Duelers,  you're the lifeblood of the league!  Until next time...may the Force be with you.

Birthday Duel - May 5, 2020

Carbon Freezing Chamber

Happy birthday...to you!

Happy birthday...to you!

Happy birthday...dear Riley,

Happy birthday...to-wait, what?  You want to attack your dad who organized this whole Duel for you on your birthday?

Before we're done singing?

Before you blow out the candle?  Oh you want to use a Bowcaster to blow it out all over his face?

Welp, that's pretty much how things started!

This special edition Duel was in honor of Riley, who wanted to play a 12-way for her twelfth birthday.  We were more than happy to oblige!  And she thanked her dad by immediately lobbying to kill his Emperor first.  I raised her well...TOO well!

Birthday Party

The fireworks started in the first round of the game.  Christopher's Boba Fett, with his first four cards, threw a Thermal Detonator into the dark side and Rocket Retreated to the light!  It was a shocking and disruptive start to the game.  Diego's Obi-Wan followed up with a double Force Control, jacking up the positioning of the remaining light side.  Throw in a Curtis/Darth Vader flip to the light side too, and the remaining Sith and bounty hunters were hopeless.

It would be Rob's Emperor Palpatine who fell first.  He broke his own record for most last place finishes in league history.  That's kind of a badge of honor and respect, but mostly a badge of enormous disappointment.  It was Diego's second Force Control that did the trick.  Lucas' Count Dooku wasn't far behind after the birthday girl swung her Wookie into attack position to finish him off in eleventh.

Those baby-blues looking for her next victim.

Troy's Jango Fett and Kaleb's Darth Maul tried to scramble and make something happen, but they mostly came up empty.  Alex's Padme was popping shots all over the board and caught the senior Fett with a Shot on the Run to end Troy's night in tenth.  He should have gone to bed but instead he stayed up and watched the rest of the shenanigans.

Everyone assumed Kaleb's Darth Maul would be the next target (and I really wish you could see the Survivor-themed text exchange he and Rob were having), but Elliot, seemingly out of nowhere (but also lightly inspired by Kaleb's gift for dying gab), made a stand and called for the stronger Jedi on the light side to take down the experienced Duelers in the league.  His first target?  Alex's Anakin!  The top Dueler in the game!  THE NOOBIES HAVE TAKEN OVER!  THEY'RE THE CAPTAIN NOW!  Alex's jaw dropped as Christopher's Boba ended his night early in ninth.  It was a stunning turn of events.

The herd is thinning...

Kaleb kept running his mouth but the Rylie/Riley twins of Yoda and Han weren't having it anymore and they targeted Maul.  I'm pretty sure this was the first time a Survivor buff was worn to a Duel.  I hope it's not the last.  But Kaleb bowed out in eighth regardless.

That left seven Duelers, all members of the post-flip alliance.  The gang of Rylie/Yoda, Diego/Obi, and Elliot/Mace struck again, making Christopher's Boba the odd shooter out.  Grant's Luke, who somehow survived starting in the middle of the board and going 11th out of twelve Duelers at the beginning, laid down the final hit.  Nobody knew it, but sadly, this was Christopher's last Duel with us!  I'm really sorry we didn't get to announce it, he made a lasting impression in his lone season of Dueling with us.  We salute you, Christopher!

Not looking good for Curtis' Vader.

Though Grant was a loyal soldier to the light side, he had that same stink of experienced Dueler all over him that got the others in trouble.  Curtis started noting how powerful Diego's Obi and Rylie's Yoda looked in the moment, but the others weren't having it.  They converged on him and it would be Elliot's Mace that did the deed.  That was a sixth place finish, which if you had told Grant at the start of the game that's how things would end, he'd probably have taken it!

And then there were five!  Riley, newly blessed with twelve years of life experience, made it known she thought they should go after Curtis' Vader.  Curtis tried to make his case that the remaining Duelers would need his help to take down one of the remaining Jedi.  Again, the newer Duelers declined the overtures and it was a gruesome Wookie Toss from Riley that ended Curtis' night.

That left four Duelers, with only one career victory (Riley!) between them.  The odds were strong for a new player to be crowned victor.  It was about this time Diego made his play for the end game.  He attacked Riley's Han, but Elliot/Mace and Rylie/Yoda were hesitant to follow suit.  Diego even took a Clone Trooper shot at Yoda, and that's when the other three decided his days of running the table were numbered.  Diego was extra crafty as he bounced around, but he eventually fell to the combined attack in fourth place.

The not-so-secret female alliance of Riley and Rylie turned their attention to Elliot's Mace Windu.  Riley was doing her part to whittle Mace down, but she got major damage from Obi prior.  With Chewbacca still on the board she couldn't heal, and Elliot ended up ending her birthday party with a Whirlwind.  Have no fear, she was quite pleased with her finish.

A winning smile

That left two Duelers, but the ending wasn't in doubt.  Elliot's Mace was banged up and Yoda only had a single point of damage plus a Clone Trooper who managed to still be on the board.  She toyed with Elliot for a couple of turns but finally sent him out in second with a glorious Force Strike.  Congrats to Rylie on her first ever victory!!!  She is the third female in league history to win, and the 21st Dueler to ever win a 12-way Duel.  Let's also recognize Elliot, who had a career-best finish.  Woot woot!

Your final order of finish:

12.  Rob/Emperor
11.  Lucas/Dooku
10.  Troy/Jango
9.  Alex/Anakin
8.  Kaleb/Maul
7.  Christopher/Boba
6.  Grant/Luke
5.  Curtis/Vader
4.  Diego/Obi
3.  Riley/Han
2.  Elliot/Mace
1.  Rylie/Yoda

Rylie's victory also propels her to second place in the rankings - whoa!

To everyone out there...thanks for a GREAT sixth season of Dueling.  We have 88 Duels under our league's belt and, God willing, more to come.  The last two summers we've played the Twin Sun Slam, a doubleheader that traditionally doubles as a cookout at Rob's house.  We probably can't do that due to Covid, but we'll try and squeeze those in online.  As for the single's tournament in July...that might be harder to do.  We can't go and have 32 Duelers in the same room under current conditions.  Who knows - we'll figure that out later.

For now, we're signing off.  The stats are updated.

May the Force Be with You.  Always.

Doubleheader #1 - August 30, 2019

Kamino Platform

We don't often play on Friday at 6PM, but when the college football season kicks off on Saturday night, you make adjustments!  And you also make adjustments when one of the Duelers is in the drive-thru at Dairy Queen because they thought the game started at 6:30!  *cough, Kaleb, cough*

No worries, it gave the rest of us time to stuff our faces with tie-fighter ties, kernel detonators, wookie cookies, and the nectar of the Dueling gods...YODA SODA!

JD is mad Kaleb didn't bring him a burger too.

As bad luck would have it, Kaleb also got the #1 chair while he was ordering french fries, so we allowed Noah to make the board pick (Kamino) and Kaleb's character, which turned out to be Mace.  I won't lie, there was discussion about swapping Windu out for a shooter.

We eventually had all 12 at the table and were ready to roll.  Fairly early in the match Lucas, playing his first ever Duel, took his Darth Maul and flipped to the light side of the board.  That was a tough blow for the remaining dark side, especially as the Jedi's agreed to make a full court press and invade bad guy territory.  Rob, playing with Boba, got the sense he would be the target so he made a desperation play by Rocket Retreating to the back row of the light side.  JD/Anakin and Noah/Luke did not hide the fact they weren't fully excited by it.  Rylie, subbing for Riley (confusing much?), also didn't take too kindly to another flip and unloaded two Force Lightnings on Boba.  Once Kaleb's Mace was fully loaded he killed Rob in last, who walked away from the table and drowned his sorrow in Yoda Soda.

The pressure mounts...

Despite being outnumbered, the dark side had the advantage of being protected by Jango's ship, and they decided to hang tough.  Both Chewbacca and Padme fell to their tactics, much to the chagrin of Ryan and JD.  But after a prolonged attack (we were over an hour into the game) Noah's Leia finally shot Christopher's Dooku into eleventh place.  Eleventh doesn't look good on paper but Christopher really hung tough in his sophomore debut.

With Dooku off the board the Jedi could poor into Grant/Vader and Rylie/Emperor's secret hideout.  JD was quite aggressive when he Wrathed in, and it resulted in some unanticipated damage on himself.  But it was an attack from Alex/Yoda's Clone Trooper which killed the Emperor in tenth.  It wasn't the night Rylie was hoping for, but things would look up for her when she got to take Grant's chair in the second Duel!  #foreshadowing

Alex maneuvered his Yoda to join JD, and used one of his big attacks to eliminate Grant's Vader.  Give Grant credit, he tried to split the majority alliance a number of times, but nobody took the bait this time around.  The rookie with all the funny quips, Sam/Jango, was the last person standing from the dark side.  He was out of options so Yoda took down Jango too.

Lucas might be new but he wasn't born yesterday.

This led to the biggest turning point in the game.  Kaleb/Mace suggested going after Ryan's Han, and Ryan threw out JD's name as an alternative.  That caused a lot of back and forth on what to do next.  Ultimately, it became clear Kaleb/Mace and Noah/Luke were going to stick together, while Ryan/Han and Curtis/Obi were tight, as was Lucas' Darth Maul to a lesser extent.  JD decided to hitch his wagon to Kaleb while Alex was more overtly neutral.  I don't remember all the details (I was spending half my time watching Solo in the Loser's Lounge) but I know Curtis used a Force Control and JD's Anakin was worse for the wear.  He made a mental blunder when, with no cards in his hand, he automatically drew two cards for his action but missed out on using Calm to retreat and get five more cards.  Ryan's Han, who was slowly healing after near death, shot him out in seventh.  Kaleb's Mace crashed out after that in sixth.

"How about we run around the ship and REALLY drag this out?"

That death caused the dam to break.  And thank God because we were well past our 9:30 start time for game two at that point!  Curtis had recently used a Force Balance while he stalked Kaleb around the board.  Unfortunately for him, he was unaware he left himself exposed for a Leia attack by Noah, and that left Obi in fifth place.

With four to go it looked like it was Han and Maul vs. Yoda and Luke.  Lucas knew he was near the end of his useful cards, so he did the brave thing and went in for a few attacks.  Alex's Yoda rewarded him with an attack, and Lucas used Blinding Surge to return some hit points while simultaneously dying.  That's a great finish in a rookie Duel!  Ryan used Gambler's Luck on Noah's Luke to send them into third.  How about Noah, though?  He's only played in two Duels and he's finished in third place BOTH times!

Trophy defended!

It was now past 10PM and it was quickly apparent Yoda and Han were going to play ring-around-the-rosey.  That's not a critique - it's what Ryan's Han had to do - but the rest of us wanted the darn thing to end so we could start the next Duel!  Ryan finally rolled a couple of small numbers and Alex rolled big to finally catch up to everyone's favorite smuggler.  He unloaded two 6-point attacks and eventually back to back Force Pushes to bring home the win!  This marked Alex's third victor, and the third time he's one the first game of a doubleheader night!  In fact, he successfully defended his Jango Fett trophy, only the second Dueler to ever do that!  And let's make sure Ryan gets some credit for being one point away from death, only to turn it around and heal all the way back to zero.  It was an amazing second place finish.

Final order of finish:

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

But this was only the FIRST game of the night...on to game TWO!!!

CL Training - August 8, 2017

Geonosis Arena

Oh doctor...here we are again!  The start of our FOURTH season of 12-Way Duels!!!  Can you believe it???  Over the first three years of Dueling we logged 40 Duels.  FORTY.  And that made this year's CL Training Duel our 41st.  Somewhere along the line this Dueling juggernaut became unstoppable, so thank you to ALL OF YOU who play the game, read the blog, and share an enthusiasm for all things epic.

Rob, hold your cards closer to the chest!

 This year's CL Training, our fifth Duel (we didn't count stats from the first year), featured three folks brand new to a 12-Way Duel!  Alex, Kayelee and Toby made their debuts, which was awesome, especially because they each had prior experience in playing the game.  And JD brought TWO trophies to the Duel!  One for the winner, and a Jar Jar trophy for the twelfth place finisher.  Even when you lose, you win!  Unless you hate being mocked with a Jar Jar trophy.  Then it's just like salt being rubbed into your open light saber wounds.

Jonathan drew chair number one and picked Geonosis Arena for the game board.  The characters were quickly selected and as a huge crowd gathered the game commenced!  As has been the tradition recently, it started as light side versus dark, with each side looking for the first defector.  Kayelee and Count Dooku, stuck with the tough starting position in the middle of the board, looked like she was changing first but Toby was the one who got the party officially started!  His Boba Fett chucked a Thermal Detonator into a gaggle of Sith and then Rocket Retreated behind the columns on the light side!

Toby - Inaugural Winner of the Golden Jar Jar

It was a bold move by Toby, and he was sure to win favor with his new alliance, right!?  WRONG!  In a shocking move Nathan/Anakin and Jonathan/Luke rewarded him with multiple attacks.  Stephen, playing as Vader on the opposite end of the board, but in the final shot as he Threw Debris in a final act of revenge, ending poor Toby's night in last place.  But Toby was really pumped to get the Jar Jar!

I'd like to say that the action only kept churning at that point, but I'm going to spoiler alert you and say it didn't.  In fact, this was the LONGEST Duel I think we've ever played.  Part of that grind was caused when Nathan/Anakin Wrathed to the dark side of the board while Jonathan/Luke Children of the Forced to the other end too!  All of a sudden it was six on five as Anakin, Luke, Emperor/Alex, Jango/Ian, Josh/Maul and Stephen/Vader looked like an unstoppable alliance.  The light side, which included JD/Mace, Rob/Obi, Joel/Yoda, Austin/Han, and welcomed defector Kayelee/Dooku dug their heals in for a long, protracted fight.

The light side group was dealt a serious blow when Anakin/Nathan successfully defended Chewie's Bowcaster.  Anakin later double-Wrathed the Wookie to kill him, making it a hard night for Han.  Before Chewbacca died, though, he did manage to Wookie Toss Padme to her death too.

So much evil plotting happening here...

Despite having the numbers advantage, the dark side wasn't being overly aggressive, giving the light side an opportunity to turn the tide.  That happened when Kayelee's Dooku moved into attack position against Alex's Emperor.  She Force Pushed him in a kill box consisting of Mace, Obi, and Yoda and then she Gave Orders to retreat back to the light side.  Joel/Yoda had recently Insighted the Emperor and knew his hands, so the light side gave him the opportunity to use some of his cards to attack his former alliance...or face certain death.  But Alex didn't realize his Let Go of Your Hatred cards counted, and so when he didn't play them the Jedi took him down in eleventh place.

Despite Kayelee's awesome move, the dark side retaliated by concentrating on her.  Josh, who has only played three Duels with all of them being at the CL retreat, moved his Darth Maul into position to attack.  Dooku survived the first onslaught but eventually fell in tenth place when Vader Wrathed her.

The light side reacted by creating another Jedi kill box.  This time Rob/Obi used his Jedi Control attack to suck in Nathan's Anakin.  Mace and Yoda delivered repeated blows, with Mace's Whirlwind putting the final nail in Nathan's coffin.  It was a shocking end for Nathan, whose defection had seemingly assured himself a top six finish.

ALL TOO EASY!!!

After the Force Control Josh's Maul was left in the open and exposed to long distance gun fire from Austin/Han's blaster.  After yet another Force Control that Rob/Obi played, Austin eliminated Maul in eighth with a Never Tell Me The Odds.

The dark side started to focus their attacks on Rob's Obi-Wan.  Obi was deflecting it pretty well but was getting desperately low carded.  Jonathan/Luke delivered a lot of it but Joel's Yoda took him out for a seventh place finish.  Rob didn't last much longer, despite avoiding certain death from two Darth Vader attacks, Ian's Zam Wessell punched his ticket from across the board.

That left a final five of Ian/Jango, Joel/Yoda, JD/Mace, Stephen/Vader, and Austin/Han.  Ian and Stephen were the last two from the dark side alliance, and they tried to tempt Austin to flip and join them against the two superior Jedis.   After a longgggggg deliberation Austin stuck to his alliance and they tried to eliminate Jango and Vader...but they weren't going down without a fight!  As Stephen began taking on excessive damage he was down to two health points and two cards.  He moved in against Han and attacked once.  Austin defended.  With his last card, he attacked again.  Han didn't defend this time.  The attack card?  ALL TOO EASY.  TWENTY POINTS OF DAMAGE!!!  Han/Austin were out in a shocking fifth place finish!!!

These two are going to need couple's counseling...

JD/Mace eliminated Stephen/Vader next, but Stephen was quite pleased with his fourth place finish.  As it turns out, he had been holding the All Too Easy in the first four cards of his hand!

What happened next was long and quite nuanced, but I'm running out of energy to adequately describe it.  So let me sum it up.  Ian/Jango repeatedly aligned and then betrayed JD/Mace in their attempt to leverage their own best odds at defeating Joel/Yoda, who was full-bar health and had yet to use any of his big three defense cards.  It was hilarious, as Ian's cat and mouse game continued to fluster JD and produced many memorable reactions and counter arguments.

In the end, as Mace was nearly dead and Ian was about to, once again, join JD in a fight against Yoda, Ian became suddenly worried that, rather than play to win, JD might try to attack his Jango just to improve his final finish.  Ian then decided to just kill Mace, and poor JD was done in third place.  We're going to need to help these two process their emotions and how they feel about each other...

Joel's first win!

The final act was, once again, long, but the writing was on the wall.  A half-damaged Jango was going against a fully healthy Yoda.  Ian did his best to hit and run, Rocket Retreat, etc., but Joel's Yoda was just too strong.  He just had to stay healthy and patient, which he did.  Jango finally fell and Joel won!!!  That's Joel's first career victory, and the second win in a row for Yoda.  That places Yoda in second place for career victories with five.

The final order of finish:

12.  Toby/Boba
11.  Alex/Emperor
10.  Kayelee/Dooku
9.  Nathan/Anakin
8.  Josh/Maul
7.  Jonathan/Luke
6.  Rob/Obi-Wan
5.  Austin/Han
4.  Stephen/Vader
3.  JD/Mace
2.  Ian/Jango
1.  Joel/Yoda

Thanks to everyone who played and watched...at least initially.  We ended at 1:30AM for crying out loud!  The next Duel is a DOUBLEHEADER!  That's right - two games in one night!  That will be August 26, more details coming soon!

May the 4th Be With You - May 4th, 2017

Emperor's Throne Room

It's hard to believe, but our third season of 12-Way Epic Duels has come to a close.  And this match was a particularly cool milestone, as it marked the fortieth Duel in league history.

That's right.  We've played 40 games.

And we've had 63 unique individuals play at least one Duel in that span, with 22 of them reaching professional status.

Personally, I want to thank each and every one of you for the time, commitment, passion, and nerdiness you've contributed.  You can't play 12-Way Duels without a team of folks willing to go all-in on the goofiness...and for that, I thank you!

Shout-Outs to the maintenance crew peeping our Duel.

Rob inadvertently picked the number one chair, so he had Stevie in the #12 seat select the board and Rob's character.  Although we were back, once again, in the Emperor's Throne Room, Rob finally received a non-Emperor character for the first time in 4 Duels, landing...Han Solo.  Maybe the Emperor isn't so bad?  Dueling rookie Delacy got stuck with Boba Fett, a dangerous but vulnerable character and perhaps not the ideal pick for one's first Duel.

As with most of the past few Duels, things started pretty close to dark/light side lines.  But it was Stephen, subbing for Ian, who was the first to flip, Taunting Ethan's Darth Maul on his way to moving Dooku to the "good" side.  Curtis began using Luke's I Will Not Fight You's from the back row and all of a sudden the dark side was hurting.  Stevie, operating Darth Vader, sensed something was up with Ethan and feared he was about to back stab his own teammates to avoid a last place finish.  Stevie convinced Delacy to shoot Ethan into 12th place.  Though the board had a big reaction, it turns out Stevie's hunch was right.  Ethan had planned on flipping!

Sakina, using the Emperor, was flabbergasted Stevie would attack a fellow Sith, so she took break from raining down terror on Rob's Han Solo and took a shot at Vader.  Not long after Stephen's Super Battle Droid ended Stevie's night in 11th place.

Jonathan digs Force Control

The rest of the light side alliance began to converge on the rapidly shrinking dark side.  Nathan's Mace Windu put a finishing blow on Delacy's Boba Fett.  The light side had tried to get Delacy to flip earlier in the match, but she stuck to her original alliance, which is to be commended.  That left nine to go and poor Sakina with her back against the wall.  Kaleb Wrathed in with Anakin at that point and eliminated the Emperor in ninth place.

With eight to go and Kaleb/Anakin and Stephen/Dooku were stuck in front of the rest of the players remaining.  Daniel seized this opportunity to flip his Jango Fett next to his tablemate, JD/Yoda.  Jango got the final shot in on Stephen's Dooku, who was so pivotal to the light side at first but so easily disposable after the fact.  But Jango wasn't done!  Daniel kicked the next player off the board.  Kaleb tried to convince folks Anakin could be an asset but nobody else was having it.

After this the core alliance of six was at a crossroads.  Who was next to fall?  Jonathan was playing a solid game with a solid character, Obi-Wan Kenobi.  But that was a dangerous combination, so the internal splintering commenced.  Jonathan absorbed a flurry of attacks and eventually fell to the onslaught.  That left a final five of Rob/Han, Nathan/Mace, JD/Yoda, Curtis/Luke, and Daniel/Jango.

How tight is this table alliance of three?

Nathan decided to charge in on Curtis/Luke, who had played another I Will Not Fight You on Obi-Wan, but Curtis talked him out of it.  That was enough of a signal to Rob, though, to finally make a move in the game.  Thanks to Sakina's initial badgering in the the game, Rob was low-carded until late in the game.  Chewbacca dropped a Bowcaster and Nathan's Mace Windu came back around to delivering the final kill shot on Curtis.

That left four to go, and it looked like JD was comfortable working with Nathan to the end.  Rob tried to get Daniel to follow him and keep their shooter alliance strong, but Daniel missed the non-verbal signals and, before you know it, Mace Windu launched attacks against poor Jango/Daniel.  Daniel couldn't fend off Nathan and, just like Episode II, Mace killed Jango in a key moment of battle.

Around this same time Rob's Han Solo decided to live up to his reputation and "shoot first."  He began attacking both Yoda and Mace, flipping multiple times in a single turn around the board.  That strategy quickly turned into begging for whoever was nearest him on the board to not attack so he could continue shooting whichever one was furthest away.  The insanity paid off as JD took up one of the multiple offers and decided he liked Yoda's chances against everyone's favorite smuggler better than Master Windu's.  Rob stayed far enough away from Nathan before JD destroyed Mace to make it to the final two against Han Solo.

Despite playing his heart out, Rob's injured and brittle Han Solo was no match for JD's Yoda, especially as JD played so masterfully and strategically.  JD dropped a Forcelift on Chewbacca and began chasing Rob around the board.  He eventually caught up to him and scored on the win on a Force Push death against Han!  Congrats JD!  This is his first win since November when he also won with Yoda!  Your final finish...

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

Thanks again to everyone who played this year!  Later this summer we'll play the Single's Tournament so stay tuned for that.  Otherwise...we'll see you again in August at the CL Training Duel!

Thanksdueling! - November 12, 2016

Emperor's Throne Room

In the thirty-first match of our Epic Duels league  an appreciative dozen combatants gathered in North Village to feast on Thanksgiving snacks and eventually try to ruin each other's night as they clawed their way to victory.  But they ate snacks first!  It was quite a bounty.  Eggnog, BB-8 cake pops, ooey-gooey pumpkin spice treats, chips and salsa, and all kinds of candy.  If only the taste of defeat was half as good...

We drew for spots on the table and the newly engaged Stevie grabbed the number one chair!  From there he picked the Emperor's Throne Room as the scene of battle.  Our streak of non-Carbon Chamber matches continues!  And there were a lot of repeat draws of characters, too.  Rob got Jango for the second straight match and Grant made it two in a row with the Emperor.  But Nathan had what we all assumed was the worst draw of the night - Boba Fett!  That's right, after finishing 10th and 12th with the bounty hunter at the Doubleheader and taking the next two Duels off, poor Nathan was stuck with Boba again.  Perhaps his luck would change though...?  #foreshadowing

Chewbacca under attack!

At the start of the game it looked like Daniel, playing Luke and sitting next to Grant at the table, was trying to defect to the Dark Side.  But Brannon wasn't picking up on the signals and blocked off the path from the bridge as he moved his Super Battledroids up to defend his Count Dooku.  That forced the sides to stay even at six on six.

Dooku, stuck out front in the Dark Side alliance, began taking fire from Stephen's Han Solo and Chewy.  The damage started flying back and forth.  The Wookie landed his Bowcaster on Dooku but it was two Chokes from Liz's Darth Vader that set up the furball's death.  Not long after that, Nathan/Boba broke the "no shooter-on-shooter violence" code to kill poor Stephen in last place.  It's an all too common plight in our league - win one month, be first out the next.

"What the Fett!?!"

Despite some early skirmishes with Ducky's Obi-Wan, the younger Kenobi was the first to defect, joining the Dark Side.  The remaining Light Side held the line, though, and slowly started marching forward to engage the Sith head-on.  That's when Rob/Jango and Nathan/Boba hatched their long-brewing plan:  FETT DEFECT!  Jango started the party by firing at Stevie's Darth Maul and Rocket Retreating behind JD's Yoda.  Boba was next - he stepped out of a cluster of baddies, chucked a Thermal Detonator and jet packed out of there too!  That inspired the Jedi as Daniel's Princess Leia gunned down Brannon/Dooku in eleventh place.  Luke Skywalker also dropped an "I Will Not Fight You" on Stevie's Maul in order to soften him up for the invading Jedi.

But the Dark Side wasn't going down without a fight!  Just as Sakina's Mace Windu was going to unleash hell on the Sith, Grant's Emperor played "You Will Die!"  Sakina was STACKED with attack cards and had to dump them all!!!  Stevie struck her down in a shocking tenth place finish.  Poor Sakina...  Revenge was quick for the Light Side, though.  Maul was down to one point of health and was about to unload some attacks when Nathan's Boba Fett Wrist-Cabled him to death!  Liz's Vader was the next to depart, again thanks to a Boba Fett knockout!  Liz inflicted a lot of damage, though, Wrathing and Throwing Debris all over the board.

With seven Duelers left, Ducky made a desperate play.  He flipped the Obi-Wan card that forced everyone to dump their hands and draw three new cards!  The collective groan from the Light Side alliance was proof that it was a solid play.  Jonathan's Anakin, who was twitchy with his loyalty to the Jedi as his paranoia increased during the game, went all in and chased down Obi-Wan.  He landed some blows, but also caught a Thermal Detonator upside his head from Natha's Boba Fett, which also damaged Ducky who was out in seventh.  The weakened Jonathan was finished off by Daniel's Luke to end his night in sixth.  That was a career best finish for Jonathan, though!  His next Duel moves him to professional status as well.

Daniel and "The Decision"

The final five was Grant/Emperor, Nathan/Boba, Rob/Jango, JD/Yoda, and Daniel/Luke.  Grant tried desperately to advance his cause, creating distrust in the alliance of four, but they held strong and sent Grant home in a perfectly respectable fifth place.  With four to go Daniel declared open season on Rob's Jango!  Rob was stunned but weakened, and Daniel TWICE played an "I Will Not Fight You" on the Fett.  With Leia long dead, Daniel finally drew a Justice card (twice), and killed Rob in fourth place.

Just as it looked like Boba and Yoda would team up to kill a bleeding Luke, JD took a surprise turn by Force Lifting Nathan's Boba!  With Nathan's turn next, he then DEMANDED that Daniel discard three of his own cards to stand up Boba, otherwise, he promised to kill Luke!  It was a stunning threat and forced poor Daniel to squirm for a good ten minutes as JD and Nathan debated the pros and cons.  Daniel eventually decided to decline Nathan's request...resulting in a Kyber Dart to his face and a third place finish!  That was Nathan's FIFTH major character kill of the Duel!

Force Rebound is the BEST CARD
IN THE GAME!!!

That left a final two of Yoda and Boba Fett.  It was remarkable that JD's Yoda made it all the way to the end with relatively little damage or even nefarious attention from the other Duelers.  Boba, though, was short carded due to the Force Lifts and kept rolling low in his attempt to run away from the Jedi Master.  Yoda kept whittling him down, and the specter of death hung over Boba's head.  Yoda had all three of his best defense cards...including FORCE REBOUND!  Sure enough, with Nathan's Fett down to two health points he fired off a shot at JD.  JD took that shot, put it in a nice box, used expensive wrapping paper and a big pretty bow, and promptly sent it right back to him.  Boba Fett, having received the present, eagerly opened it only to find his four-point blaster shot SCREAMING RIGHT BACK AT HIS NOGGIN,  KNOCKING IT CLEAR OFF AND GIVING JD THE WIN!!!  It was such a poetic way to end the match.

Congrats to JD, who seemingly sneaked in from nowhere to pull off that victory.  And kudos to Nathan and Boba Fett, who were on a rampage the entire game!

JD's victory and Stephen's last place finish bumps JD back to fourth and Stephen down to sixth.  Han Solo also entered the bottom three ranked characters, causing a change in handicap points that helped Grant saw off a couple of tenths of a point off his average due to his numerous games with the space gambler.  There were other changes on the character list too.  Yoda is now up to second place and Luke climbed to fourth!

The final order of finish:

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

December is our annual CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH!  It's our Super Bowl and World Series, all wrapped into one exciting Duel where the top twelve ranked Duelers come together to try and win the toughest, most respected match of 2016.  They are never short of EPIC!  Stay tuned for invitations soon...