Preview: The Imperial March - March 17, 2018

Calendars and school and life can delay our precious Duels, but it can never stop us!  It's been six long weeks since we've last convened our panel of death and destruction.  But alas, it's time to dust off the board and shake off the rust.  It is March, and that means it's time for the IMPERIAL MARCH.  And wouldn't you know it, it just so happens to fall on ST. PATRICK'S DAY!  Vader go bragh!  The Duelers can use all the luck they can get...

HISTORY:

2017 - Dalton wins with Obi-Wan Kenobi
2016 - Alex wins with Anakin Skywalker
2015 - Grant wins with Han Solo

MEET THE DUELERS:

Andrew - he's playing his first Duel since his eighth place finish with Obi-Wan Kenobi at the Last Jedi Standing.  It's also his first Duel since reaching professional status.

Ben H. - 2018 has been very good to Ben.  He's scored back to back personal best finishes; a fourth place at A New Hope and third place at the Valentine's Duel.

Curtis - he's been all over the place in his last three Duels, from first place (Last Jedi Standing) to last (A New Hope) to seventh (Valentine's Duel).  Curtis is hoping for a good finish.

Daniel - well look at what the Bounty Hunter dragged in!  Daniel hasn't joined us since Ian's Birthday Surprise back in October.  In fact, he only played three times in 2017.  Let's see if he still remembers his way around the board.

Grant - if anyone could use a little luck of the Irish it's certainly Grant - he's been a Fett for five of his past six Duels!  Shooters are fun and all, but good governor, nobody deserves that kind of fate.

Ian - few people are on a stronger streak than Ian.  He's had five top five finishes over his last six games.  He nearly won it all at the Valentine's Duel, finishing second with the Emperor.

JD - green is lucky on St. Patrick's Day, but don't tell that to JD.  He's had the little green Yoda for the past two Duels and has done no better than tenth each time.  He's surely ready to test his fate with a new character.

Joel - after Joel's first place finish at Fight Night he's had three seventh place or worse finishes.  He's due for a good finish and maybe a third trophy at the end of the Imperial March rainbow.

Jonathan - he's had a great run as of late, three top four finishes in his last three Duels, but he's still missing that elusive first time victory.  Could it finally come at the Imperial March?

Kaleb - Grant isn't the only one stuck with Fetts as of late.  Kaleb has piloted Jango and his rocket pack for three of the last five Duels.  The former number one ranked Dueler is still within striking distance of reclaiming that top spot.

Kerri - she's playing her fourth career Duel on Saturday, and she's hoping to land Yoda again.  She's played with him twice and both times finished third.

Rob - he's been on a good streak with dark side characters.  He's played with them over the past five games and landed four top four finishes in the process.

PEZ VADER PREDICTS THE WINNER:

"Don't make me destroy you...with cavities..."

You'd think Darth Vader would pick himself on the Imperial March, but with the St. Patrick's Day overlap he clearly wants the color green on his side!

Pez Vader's Prediction Record - 2-7

There you have it, folks!  We're all set for our annual March Duel.  Feel free to come on out and watch the action this Saturday at 8PM.  And don't forget to wear green or you'll get pinched...with a thermal detonator...

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

Preview: Valentine's Duel - February 2, 2018

Last month's Duel was truly historic - it was the fiftieth in league history.  That still sounds crazy after the fact.

FIFTY.  DUELS.

But while that milestone is cool, there's only one way forward.  And that is MORE DUELS.

The February Duel is our fourth annual Valentine's Duel, where we all celebrate our true love...of backstabbing!  Yes, nothing says love like the sweet whispers of betrayal and deceit.  I'm getting all misty-eyed just thinking about it.

The other fun tradition for Valentine's is that all the Duelers bring a sweet treat to share.  That way, when you die unexpectedly, you can eat your feelings!

Another interesting twist this time around is that we're playing on a Friday night so as not to conflict with the basketball game.  Who knows what this change in game day will bring forth...

HISTORY:

2017 - Ian won with Darth Maul
2016 - Grant won with Han Solo
2015 - Rob won with Darth Vader

MEET THE DUELERS:

In honor of Valentines I asked each Dueler playing on Friday night to give us a sneak preview of the Valentines cards they're going to pass out to their fellow Duelers.  This is exciting!

Alex C. is playing in his first match since finishing second at Ian's birthday Duel.  His card:

Ben H. will go professional at the Valentine's Duel!  His card:

Curtis got smoked like a hog at the New Hope Duel, he's ready to move on.  His card:

Ethan notched his first career victory at last month's New Hope Duel!  His card:

Grant is the number four ranked Dueler and making his first appearance in 2018.  His card:

Ian is defending his Valentine's Duel trophy he valiantly won last year.  His card:

JD was riding high at the New Year's Duel...until he wasn't.  His card:

Joel has two trophies on his shelf and would love a third!  His card:

Kaleb's eighth place finish at New Year's sent his average tumbling, but he's still #1.  His card:

Nathan has laid low the past couple of Duels but is ready to reemerge victorious.  His card:

Rob got within .07 of the top Dueler ranking last month but still sits in second.  His card:

Ryan created a stunning 3D Kamino Platform and is working on a followup.  His card:

PEZ VADER PREDICTS THE WINNER:

"Be careful not to choke on your
Valentine's treats, Duelers."

Interesting!  Vader thinks Count Dooku is the pony to back for the Valentine's Duel.  We'll see how that turns out...

Pez Vader prediction record:  2-6

Well...that's it.  One of the 12 above will add their name to the record books...and the other eleven will gorge on candy.  That's kind of a win-win.  All are welcome to come watch this Friday at 8PM!

A New Hope - January 13, 2018

Kamino Platform

The first two victims of A New Hope - the 50th Duel in league history! - were eliminated before the game was even played!  Ryan, who worked so hard to create the 3D board we played on, had to make an unexpected trip to the hospital for his daughter (no worries, they're fine).  And poor Toby had that nasty flu bug going around.  Did you know Waco, TX, is one of the worst flu sites in the country right now?  What's that, you're reaching for your hand sanitizer as you read this?  Fortunately, Kaleb and Ethan could jump in for the first Duel of 2018...a decision that would prove to be fateful for one of them!  #foreshadowing

Kaleb drew the number one chair and, wouldn't you know it, he got to roll first too.  On the opposite end of that lucky break was Curtis.  He got chair #12 and would be last to have a turn.  And did I mention he got stuck with Han Solo on Kamino?  Possibly the worst starting position of any board and character in the game?  It's not the way you want to ring in the new Dueling year...

Curtis chose to flip the first chance he got, and it looked like the dark side was in great position to route the light side.  But JD/Yoda and Ian/Mace rallied the troops and convinced them to stick together and move forward.  Furthermore, they talked Kat's Count Dooku into flipping on the dark side!  It was an unexpected turn of events that immediately balanced the odds.  But the bad turn of events for the dark side continued when Ben H.'s Obi-Wan Kenobi drew an early Force Control to move everyone around on the board!  They put Han in a kill box and Luke R.'s Princess Leia (yes, Luke picked Luke - this will stay confusing for the rest of the recap...) used Latent Force Abilities to eliminate Curtis in 12th.  The Golden Jar Jar went home with the Last Jedi Standing winner, so I guess Curtis has a trophy streak?

Dueling by Committee

With Dooku aligned with the light side, Yoda got a free pass to move behind Slave 1 and Force Push Jacob's Darth Vader to the light side of the board.  Jacob grovelled but Ian/Mace wasn't having any of it.  He dropped a 9-point Battlemind on him and Jacob was gone just like that in 11th.  It was a rough followup after his career best 6th place at Last Jedi Standing.

The dark side was down to a 4 on 6 disadvantage, and that was enough for Jonathan to peace out with his Boba Fett.  He turned on Kaleb's Jango (Fett on Fett crime!) and Rocket Retreated to the other end of the board.  That left Kaleb/Jango, Maul/Stephen, and Rob/Emperor as the odd Duelers out on the board.  Those aren't good odds.  All three began to ask the superior alliance who they would go after first once the three of them were gone.  The light side either didn't know or wouldn't answer, and it was clear to Kaleb, Stephen and Rob that all hope was lost.  Or was it...?!

Kudos to Ryan for his superior board making abilities!

The remaining dark side Duelers had the advantage of hiding behind Slave 1 and forcing the light side alliance to come to them.  With no clear pathways that alliance took a loooooooong time deciding how to advance.  It was painful for the dark side not only for it's obnoxious consumption of the clock but it's inevitable outcome. 

But the three amigos had one last trick to play!  With Rob's Imperial Guard displaying a Spartan-esque ability to prevent Yoda or Dooku from penetrating one side of the ship, the Emperor finally drew his You Will Die card.  JD's Yoda had just wandered around the other side of Slave 1 and suddenly had to dump all of his cards!  The dark side tried to convince JD's allies to finish him while they had the chance, but they refused.  Stephen's Maul was down to two points of health so he made the sacrificial decision to roll forward and drop nine points of attack on the cardless Yoda.  A shooting lane was left open for Kaleb's Jango to fire two shots and kill JD in 10th.  JD went from visions of a final four to the grim specter of death.  It was a moral victory for Stephen, Kaleb, and Rob...who were the next three to die.  D'oh!

The actual final four...JD not included.

That left a final six of Jonatha/Boba, Luke/Luke, Ian/Mace, Kat/Dooku, Ethan/Anakin, and Ben/Obi.  I'm not really sure how to describe what happened next...but here we go.  Imagine you're at a middle school dance.  And all the boys and girls are standing around the perimeter of the decorated gym, awkwardly looking at each other, wondering who is going to make the first move.  AND THEN NOBODY MAKES THE FIRST MOVE FOR OVER 40 MINUTES. 

That's pretty much what happened.

I've never seen anything like it.  Usually there's a smaller alliance within the larger alliance...or a strategy of who should die next.  It's like a bad Jeff Foxworthy joke - "If you're in the majority alliance and you don't know who will die first, you might be a redneck you're going to die first."  Except...nada.  Outside of a strong partnership between Anakin and Obi-Wan, everybody was open to killing anybody - but a consensus couldn't be reached.

The infighting eventually commenced.  A major player in the various squabbles was Luke's Luke.  He constantly changed his mind and was eager to hear the serenades of others.  It wasn't a bad strategy given Skywalker's relative weakness compared to the remaining characters.  It looked like four of them were going to move against Obi/Ben and Anakin/Ethan, but then Kat's Dooku attacked Ian's Mace!  Ian was stunned, believing Kat was loyal to his side.  This produced a multitude of skirmishes across the board and none of the remaining six were immune to the resulting damage on their health points.  And Ben dropped a Force Balance at one point too.  But after over THREE HOURS OF DUELING, we finally had a sixth place finish...Kat's Count Dooku.  Kat wins the award for longest amount of time playing a game and only getting 6th place.  Sadly, nobody wants that award. 

Love Wins

Ian was mortally wounded at that point too.  Ben's Obi-Wan rolled in to finish him off, but he misplayed his Force Quickness and drew a card before moving, meaning he used up two actions.  That allowed Mace to get some shots in, as well as Boba from long distance, but Ben Kenobi (how did that not hit me until just now???) took down Ian in 5th. 

Obi-Wan was by himself on the light side of the board and Jonathan's Boba Fett was black and blue, just a couple of points from expiring himself.  But he went for the hail mary and dropped his Kyber Dart on Ben...who couldn't defend!  At one point it looked like Ben was in the driver's seat for a win, but he'll take the career best finish in fourth.  He's also just one game short of professional status, just like Kat too.

With three to go it looked like the Lukes would partner with Jonathan's Boba to go after Ethan's Anakin, who still had Padme on the board but had lost a third of his health.  Luke got concerned, though, when Jonathan healed a point instead of drawing a second card.  That was enough of a crack for Ethan to talk Luke into attacking Jonathan.  Jonathan was furious as Luke threw him into the proverbial Sarlacc pit for third place.

To the victor goes the Pez.

With two to go Ethan and Luke agreed on a bathroom break.  That made sense since we were past the four hour mark at that point.  After their bladders were empty the fight was on.  Ethan finally killed Leia, but Luke had just flipped a Justice off the draw pile and immediately advanced on Anakin.  Ethan was holding two Counterattacks but made the unusual choice of playing a separate defense card instead.  It was a costly choice because he was getting dangerously close to being eliminated.  After that Luke played an I Will Not Fight You, figuring it wouldn't hurt since he was low carded anyway.  But Ethan didn't have to drop anything!  He only had specials and defense cards!

Ethan rallied when he got an Anger card.  He immediately paired it with his Calm.  Again, it was another risk since he had to dump both Counterattacks.  Fortune favored the bold, though, because with five new cards in his hands it only took a couple of more attacks for the league to crown a first time champion!  A huge congrats to Ethan, who won his first Duel at a match he wasn't even supposed to be playing!  Furthermore, this marked his sixth Duel, meaning he's now in the professional ranks!  What a way to make that debut!  And let's not overlook Luke!  He took his namesake character and finished second in only his second career Duel.  Bravo!

The final order of finish:

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

I want to thank everyone for helping us reach fifty Duels.  In a million years I didn't think our little league would take off like this.  It's been an amazing three and a half years...here's to many more!

Do you have a favorite Duels memory from these past 50 battles?  Share it in our comments below! 

Preview: A New Hope - January 13, 2018

Well folks, our first Duel of 2018, "A New Hope," just so happens to also be the 50th Duel in league history.  Can you believe it?  F I F T Y   D U E L S !!!!  And we promised a big surprise for this milestone event.  I was going to try and keep it under wraps, but it's just too awesome not to share now. 

Take a look at this bad boy:

Our main man Ryan, the architect of our Lego version of the Emperor's Throne Room, has gone and done something CRAZY IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY.  He created a three-dimensional board of the Kamino Platform, including working landing nights.  Just when I think we've maxed out the dork factor of this league, WE KICK IT UP ANOTHER NOTCH!!!

We're playing on this board for the Duel, and we're all going to give Ryan a high-five for his awesome work.  I can't wait for you all to see it in person!  Now...on to the preview!

HISTORY:

2017 - Nathan won with Mace Windu

2016 - JD won with Anakin Skywalker

2015 - Rob won with Mace Windu

MEET THE DUELERS:

As is our tradition, the preview post for A New Hope always focuses on our Duelers new year's resolutions!  Here we go!

Ben H. - his resolution is...reach professional status!  A New Hope will be his fifth Duel, which means he only needs one more game to jump to the professional rankings.

Curtis - his resolution is...get a second trophy!  He hated giving up Darth Vader at the 2017 Championship but he was giddy as a school boy when he won Rey at the Last Jedi Standing.

Ian - his resolution is...plan on-call duty better!  Ian missed a lot of Duels in the fall because he was working to keep residents safe.  Or he has grown too scared to play.  Who can say which is true?

Jacob - his resolution is...to crack the top five!  After a last and eleventh place finish in his first two Duels, Jacob finished a career-best sixth place at the Last Jedi Standing.  Can he rise higher in 2018?

JD - his resolution is...get his GECK!  What's that?  You don't know what a GECK is?  That's when you can claim a victory on each board of the game - Geonosis, Emperor's Throne Room, Carbon Chamber, and Kamino.  He's one board short!

Jonathan - his resolution is...get his first win!  Jonathan did something in 2017 that might have been harder than winning a 12-Way Duel...he beat 31 other Duelers in the Singles Tourney!  But the graduating senior only has one semester left to get that elusive victory.

Kat - her resolution is...revenge!  The word on the street is she's still sore about the 2017 Championship.  Unfortunately for her, Austin won't be playing at A New Hope.  Will she take her fury out on someone else???

Luke R - his resolution is...anything but last!  Luke had the unfortunate distinction to be the first Dueler to ever finish last with Mace Windu in our league.  So he's looking for a rebound performance in 2018.

Rob - his resolution is...first place Dueler!  Ever since Kaleb debuted in the professional rankings Rob has been relegated to second place.  Can he overcome the strong lead Kaleb maintains?

Ryan - his resolution is...end the streak!  Despite being a top-three ranked Dueler, Ryan hasn't brought home a victory since the 2015 Doubleheader.  Hopefully his game board making skills will translate well on the field of battle.

Stephen - his resolution is...one more win!  When Stephen plays he tends to finish near the top or near the bottom, there are very few in-betweens.  He's desperate for one more victory before his undergraduate career comes to a close.

Toby - his resolution is...a top six finish!  Poor Toby - he's been cursed with bad luck alliance defections each time he's played.  He's certainly due for some better luck.  He'll spend 2018 trying to reverse his fortunes.

PEZ VADER PREDICTS THE WINNER:

"There will be a substantial reward for the one who wins A New Hope.
You are free to use any candy necessary, but I want them whole.
No disintegrating wrappers!"

Listen, Pez Vader predicted the right winner for the Last Jedi Standing, making it his second correct guess on the season.  I'm starting to think he knows what he's talking about!  He likes Yoda for this Duel, and he's giving away a Millenium Falcon full of his Pez buddies to whoever wins the first match of 2018!  Whoa!!!

Pez Vader's Prediction Record:  2-5

Friends, the evidence is quite clear.  The first match of 2018 - A NEW HOPE - is going to be EPIC!!!  Come on out to the North Village Community Center at 8PM on Saturday and see for yourself.  But you might have to squint, because we're going to dim the lights to make Kamino look that much cooler.  Pew pew!!!