Duel of the Fates - April 6, 2018

The Emperor's Throne Room
(Mustafar)

As if the tension and stress of a 12-Way Duel isn't high enough, we've found a new way to torture our participants.

Play the song "Duel of the Fates," from Episode One, on repeat for four straight hours while the Duelers play the Duel of the Fates match.  It's hilarious!  Some folks can ignore it while others just pretend to ignore it.  The weak lose their composure and demand it be turned down, or worse yet, attempt to turn it down themselves.

But there's no escaping it!  The music plays until the Duel is over, bwahahaha!  BWAHAHA!!!

Anyway, thanks to JD for introducing that new mental warfare tactic.  We can't wait to do that again next year...

The most anticipated moment for Duel of the Fates was the board selection.  Ryan worked overtime over the last week to ensure we would have three 3D playing boards to pick from for the Duel.  We already used his Kamino Platform for the New Hope battle in January, but since then, he's made two new boards for Geonosis and the Emperor's Throne Room.  Except...he made them look like the ice planet Hoth and Vader's dreaded backyard, Mustafar, instead!  They're absolutely fantastic.  We'll hold off on showing Hoth for now, but take a look at Mustafar.  Be careful where you place the figurines, because I swear that's real lava!  If you look very closely you'll find an Episode Three-era Anakin Skywalker on the board.  The "extra crispy" version.  With every board Ryan has created eligible to be selected for Duel of the Fates, it was only fitting that Ryan selected the number one chair.  So Mustafar (The Emperor's Throne Room) is what he picked.  He also did everyone the favor of picking his all-time favorite character, Luke Skywalker.  He must have a magnet in his hand that calls out to young Skywalker.  Ben also picked his personal favorite character, Han Solo.  You could see the heartburn kick in as soon as he opened the envelope.

They're all smiling because the guy taking the picture would be
the first one dead in about 15 minutes...

The board and characters were selected so the cards were shuffled and the game began.  Ian's Super Battle Droid immediately dropped a five point kill on Rob/Obi's Clone Trooper.  That piqued the interest of Curtis' Vader and Daniel's Emperor Palpatine.  They immediately began raining down Force Lightning, Debris, Wraths, and even a Force Drain from Ian's Count Dooku.  It was a total beat-down and Rob was gone in last place, winning the Golden Jar Jar.  That's not what he had in mind for his fourth trophy.

The coordinated attacks from the dark side spooked Ryan's Luke Skywalker, so he took the position as first flipper of the game.  That really put the remaining light side in a tough spot.  Joel/Yoda, JD/Mace, and Toby/Anakin were stuck in the back row.  Ben decided Han and Chewey would look good coddling the Sith and skipped out of town.

Kerri knows they're out to get her!

Nobody realized it at the time, but Toby (replacing an injured Grant in the Dueling lineup) was playing his sixth Duel, making him our newest professional!  Congrats Toby!  Unfortunately for him, the dark side wasn't in a mood to celebrate it.  To his credit he went out guns and light sabers blazing.  He pulled off a stupendous double Wrath, killing Greedo and maiming Ethan's Zam.  Then he dropped an Anger/Calm combo.  That was enough to scare the dark side into killing him next.  Kaleb's Darth Maul dropped the final shot, killing him in eleventh.  But Toby is now a professional, bringing the current total of pros to nineteen!!!

Though it looked like JD/Mace or Joel/Yoda would be the next logical choice, that's not what happened.  Ian was feeling nervous about the mix of remaining players in his alliance and wanted to thin the herd.  In a shocking move he swooped in against Kerr's Boba Fett.  In an even more shocking move, JD moved into the heart of that alliance to make new friends with Chewey and attack Kerri too.  Boba managed to drop a Deadly Aim and Rocket Retreat on Ian before peacing-out to the opposite end of the lava pit.  Unfortunately for her, she was still within shooting range of Ryan's Leia, and Kerri was out in tenth.  She's one Duel away from going pro too!

We see you JD!

That left nine Duelers on the board (can we even still call it a board when it's three-dimensional?).  Again, the obvious choice looked like Joel/Yoda or JD/Mace, but Kaleb had other plans.  He thought Ryan's Luke Skywalker was playing weakly, and he's Darth Maul, so those "I Will Not Fight Yous" were a big concern.  That was enough for him to drop the hammer and target Ryan.  He did the heavy lifting while Ian dropped a Taunt to kill him in ninth.  That low finish actually resulted in Ryan sliding from second place to fourth in the Dueler rankings.

At that point JD was still deep in the original dark side territory, pretending to be friends with everyone and willing to attack anyone, especially Daniel's Emperor.  The general confusion of who was exactly on each other's side continued, but when the dust settled, JD became the target.  He couldn't believe it, or at least that's how he pretended to feel.  He begged and pleaded but Ben's Chewbacca, who moments before was holding Mace's hand, delivered a five point attack.  The remaining Duelers hoped JD would leave and take his Duel of the Fates playlist with him.  He was happy to disappoint them!

From there the rest of the Duelers finally turned their attention to Joel's Yoda.  He had a couple of skirmishes with Ethan's Jango and Zam, but for the most part, had evaded the majority alliance's detection.  With so many of their minor character shooters still in play, they began to pepper the diminutive Jedi with laser blasts.  He held out for as long as he could but Yoda finally crashed in seventh.  It wasn't a bad finish considering how his allies fared.

That left six Duelers, and the paranoia was ratcheted as tightly as the string section of the Duel of the Fates orchestral accompaniment.  Rather than strategic, logical conversations with each other, the remaining combatants looked wildly for a sense of cohesion and acceptance.  The group finally stumbled forward by turning on Daniel's Emperor Palpatine.  He was geographically isolated on the board, so it took the remaining Duelers a minute to close in on him.  Meanwhile, a secondary murmur about Jango's continued existence began to form.  Curtis' Darth Vader finally got the drop on Daniel, who had to bow out in sixth.  That left five Duelers:  Curtis/Vader, Ian/Dooku, Ethan/Jango, Kaleb/Maul, and Ben/Han.

A pensive Ethan

There was yet another prolonged pause in the action as the remaining Duelers tried to figure out what the heck they were doing.  Ethan's Jango took an initial hit but Rocket Retreated over to his good, trustworthy, would-never-turn-on-him friend Ben. 

You already know how this goes...

Ben's Han hung his head in shame as he laid down an attack card.  It was a controversial strategy given the proven methodology of shooters working together late in a game.  Ethan was stunned, and then dead, when Han delivered the final kill shot.

From there the remaining Duelers were consumed by the uncertainty of how things would roll out from there.  At one point it looked like three of them would all turn on Curtis' Vader, but Curtis successfully argued for the combined effort it would take to eliminate Kaleb's Darth Maul, who was still quite healthy and loaded with cards.  Kaleb was trying to defend and repeat as champion of the last Duel of the Fates, and was blessed to have Darth Maul to win back his Darth Maul trophy.  But alas, the remaining alliance turned on him and he ran out of gas in fourth.  Still, that strong performance has shot Kaleb back up in the rankings, as he's now up to second.

Ben's face says it all...

And then there were three.  Ben was in great shape, as Han was nearly full health and so was Chewbacca.  Curtis' Vader was chewed up after his tussle with Darth Maul, and Ian's Count Dooku was beginning to show signs of weakness.  That's when Ben used Wookie Instincts to pull the Bowcaster.  But, in a controversial move, he didn't use it right away!  Ben was hoping Curtis would join him in an attack on Ian's Count Dooku.  Instead, Ian and Curtis aligned to kill the Wookie before his 11 point card could be played.  In a really slick move, Ian used Give Orders and Force Push to trap Chewbacca behind his last remaining Super Battle Droid.  That trapped Chewey who was subsequently Choked and Wrathed without playing the Bowcaster.  It was a devastating turn of events for Ben.

With Han now exposed and unprotected by his walking carpet, Ian no longer saw the need to keep Curtis around.  Instead of advancing on Ben's Han Solo he moved Dooku in on Vader.  Ian dropped an attack to end Curtis' night in third place.  It was a good scramble finish for Curtis, who at multiple times during the night looked like he was sure to die next.

That left two - Count Dooku and Han Solo.

They began to dance around the Mustafar lava pools and Ben got the early jump by dropping some shots and running away.  But Ian had stored up a Give Orders or two, and used one to move into attack position to drop a Taunt.  Surprisingly, Ben didn't have any defense left as he was stuck with mostly useless Wookie cards.  It was a heartbreaking end for Ben, who nearly secured his first ever victory.  But it was also a masterful performance by Ian, who navigated his favorite character through a lot of chaos to bring home the bacon.  Congrats to both!  This marked Ian's fifth win, which brings him into a tie for second place on the all-time list.  Here is the final order of finish:

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

This means there's only ONE Duel left on the season - May the 4th Be With You!  That will take place on...you guessed it, May 4th!  That will probably be a matinee game, more details to come.  Also, for those of you still around Waco later in May, we'll do a Duel on the evening of the Han Solo movie premiere. 

Thanks to everyone who continues to keep this league fun and vicious. 

Preview: Duel of the Fates - April 6, 2018

The sun is starting to set on our 2017-18 Dueling season, but there's still some unfinished business to attend to.  That includes our April Duel - the DUEL OF THE FATES!  Named after the epic battle between Darth Maul and Qui-Gon and Obi, it's a fitting parallel to a climactic moment late in the game.

There are two "big" things happening at the April Duel this year.  First, and most exciting, is that we'll be playing on one of Ryan's THREE custom boards.  That's right, he's made three now and we're guaranteed to play on one of them since we were on Carbon last month.  Second, we're using the new custom dice Rob ordered online.  The dice is so big you can see the numbers from space.

Let's take a look at our past Duel of the Fates battles...

HISTORY:

2017 - Kaleb wins with Darth Vader
2016 - Alex wins with Count Dooku
2015 - Curtis wins with Obi-Wan Kenobi

MEET THE DUELERS:

Ben H. - While he didn't quite have the final finish he wanted at the Imperial March, Ben has now logged three straight top five finishes in the league and recently purchased his own copy of the game.  Safe to say, he's got that Dueling fever.

Curtis - He's finished in the middle of the pack (5th, 6th, and 7th) in five of his last eight Duels.  Whenever he gets cranky about it he just looks at his trophy from December's Last Jedi Standing Duel.

Daniel - A lot of things are going Daniel's way these days.  He had a great third place finish at the Imperial March after a long break from the game, and just recently got engaged.  Perhaps a first career victory is on the horizon?

Ethan - He's already faced both extremes in 2018, winning the New Hope Duel in January and finishing in last at the Valentine's Duel.  After taking March off he's hoping for more of that January mojo.

Grant - It's hard to believe, but the league has gone 25 straight games since Grant won his fifth career Duel.  Not that you can tell by looking at the standings; his blistering average finish is still in the top three of the Dueler rankings.

Ian - He piloted Emperor Palpatine in the last two Duels, finishing second in February and eleventh in March.  He's probably hoping for a different character at this point.

JD - Poor JD has finished eighth or worst in four of his last five Duels.  The uncharacteristic unlucky streak might not end at this Duel.  He's finished 8th and 12th at his last two Duel of the Fates.  Or maybe this blurb is just a blatant attempt at reversing the curse.

Joel - After winning Fight Night in October Joel hasn't peaked above seventh place in four games.  He's hoping to turn around his results in 2018.  He's still one of the only Duelers right now holding two trophies.

Kaleb - The good news for Kaleb at the Imperial March match was he didn't get a Fett.  In fact, he landed crowd favorite Obi-Wan Kenobi.  But his alliance turned on him half way through the game and thus he's still on the hunt for victory #3.

Kerri - She's Yoda's favorite human avatar!  Kerri, who hates playing defensive characters like Yoda, has been stuck with him in three of her four career Duels.  She, like Daniel, also just got engaged and would like to celebrate her last amateur Duel with a win.

Rob - Everything went Rob's way at the Imperial March, as his Luke Skywalker dropped three "I Will Not Fight You's" on his way to career victory #11.  He has the distinction of having half (one of two) the victories with the two characters who have the fewest career wins (Luke and Emperor Palpatine).

Ryan - Folks are going to be excited to see the two new boards Ryan has created for the game.  The Kamino Platform was a big hit a couple of months ago, but his versions of Geonosis and the Emperor's Throne Room are even crazier.  He's using the spacing of the original boards but chose an entirely different locale for each that are iconic in the Star Wars universe.

PEZ VADER PREDICTS THE WINNER:

"There's a substantial reward for the one who
finds the candy.  You are free to use any methods
necessary, but I want them uneaten. 
No digestions."

Even though this is Darth Maul's home court Duel, Pez Vader is feeling bounty hunter Jango Fett as the most likely winner.  Who knows how this will turn out...

Pez Vader's Prediction Record:  2-8

Well folks, it's all over but the shouting.  Come on out this Friday to see the mayhem yourself if you please.  It'll be worth the price of admission...and not just because admission is free...

The Imperial March - March 17, 2018

Carbon Freezing Chamber

Just before the Duelers gathered for the fourth annual Imperial March, a monsoon descended on the Baylor campus.  It was an ominous start to the evening ahead.  It also guaranteed JD would have really wet feet, because he wore sandals to show off his Star Wars socks.

Curtis drew the #1 chair and promptly picked the Carbon Freezing Chamber.  Everyone's blood turned cold, and not just because they were soaked from the walk over.  Very few prefer the "intimacy" provided by the closed quarters of the Carbon board.  Ian ended up grabbing the Emperor for the second game in a row, while Kerri improbably got Yoda for her third straight time playing.  Rob has played in all 52 Duels and only picked Yoda once, yet Kerri has had him three of her four Duels!  Rob got stuck with Luke, which nobody wants on Carbon due to his starting point on the literal hole you fall down to be transformed into carbonite.  JD, likewise, got stuck with Vader right in the middle of the board.

"Smile if you're excited for a 4 1/2 hour game!!!"

Kaleb won the dice roll to go first and we were off.  Jonathan had Count Dooku and immediately used Gain Power to load up on cards faster than the rest of his table mates.  But when the turn landed on Rob, he turned down the dark side overtures and moved his Luke deep into the light side alliance.  But he also fired of Leia's Latent Force Abilities card at Ben's Boba Fett instead of JD's Darth Vader, hoping his dad would flip to their side.  For his second turn, Rob dropped an I Will Not Fight You on Dooku to devastating effect.  Jonathan dumped most of his cards, including two Tauntings.

Ian's long arm of death and destruction

Despite that setback the dark side still had an opening established for Darth Vader to slide back for better protection from the light side shooters.  JD had a weak dice roll, nearly guaranteeing his allegiance...but he moved to the light side anyway!  The first defection was in the books but the dark side did not take to that kindly.  They immediately rained down shots and distance attacks on Vader and JD was soon on the second to last row of his damage indicator card.  He begged Kerri's Yoda to allow him to use a Dark Side Drain on one of her clone troopers to help him heal up.  She reluctantly agreed.  It's hard to say no to somebody playing in wet socks.

This next stretch of the game was looooooong.  Too long really.  Andrew's Jango and Ben's Boba were retreating for cover instead of dropping shots on the light side shooters.  Joel's Darth Maul was stuck on the back row and having a hard time advancing due to the congestion.  Jonathan's Dooku was trying to card back up and Ian's Emperor was trying to hold his alliance together.  It wasn't going well.

All that glitters ain't always gold...

Ben could see the writing on the Carbon Freezing Chamber's walls and, just as Daniel's Padme was about to shoot Boba, he announced his intention to flip.  He dropped a Thermal Detonator on Jango, Maul, and Emperor and flew to his new light side alliance.

You could practically see the smoke billowing out of Ian's ears as his side of the board crumbled.  Instead of advancing to attack with eight cards, Joel's Darth Maul decided to take one more round to card up.  Rob's Luke figured that was the perfect time to drop his second I Will Not Fight You on the horned Sith, and Maul lost just about everything, including two Athletic Surges.

At the same time Dooku was withering away and Jonathan got stuck with the Golden Jar Jar when Greedo used the Desperate Shot.  It was a disappointing finish for Jonathan.  After that Kaleb's Obi-Wan Kenobi used a Force Control to create a kill box for Ian's Emperor and Joel's Darth Maul.  Neither would go down without a fight.  Ian played You Will Die on Curtis' Mace Windu and got some Force Lightning in on JD's Vader, but Leia's second Latent Force Abilities attack killed Ian for eleventh place.

Joel was harder to eliminate.  He was low carded thanks to Rob's Luke but he also held Blinding Surge, which promised damage to whoever tried to finish him off.  Andrew's Jango was also still on the far end of the board, and he was landing blasts against JD's Vader.  Even though both were slowly dying, the light side alliance of eight would soon have to turn on one of their own.  Rob feared Kaleb's Obi-Wan was the strongest character, so he played his THIRD I Will Not Fight you of the night on Kaleb.  Kaleb was none too pleased and used another Force Control to help defend himself.

Grant's Chewbacca used Wookie Instincts to procure the Bowcaster and he immediately took aim at Joel, sending him to the rails for a tenth place finish.  That left Andrew's Jango and Kaleb's Obi as the active targets.  As half the alliance pursued Obi-Wan the other half stalked Jango.  Andrew offered many partnership opportunities but couldn't find any takers, so he bowed out in ninth after an attack from Ben's Boba Fett.  Vader was down to two points of health but Kaleb was dug in like a tic in one corner of the board, so Grant didn't waste the opportunity to tighten the belt of the alliance.  Chewey gave Vader a Wookie Toss and JD was free to change into dryer footwear.

Daniel's Anakin dropped the final hammer on Kaleb's Obi-Wan, and that left six Duelers on the board.  It was well past the three hour mark and Kerri was slowly going insane by the inaction, so she Force Lifted Curtis' Mace to begin the next round of carnage.  Nobody had any problem with that strategy and Curtis, playing Mace for the second game in a row, was dead in sixth place.  That left a final five of Rob/Luke, Kerri/Yoda, Ben/Boba, Grant/Han, and Daniel/Anakin.

Nobody was quite sure what to do next, as this core five had worked quite well together.  Yoda's name was floated as an idea and Kerri was resigned to her fate, though she didn't go down without a fight.  She Force Pushed Boba and Force Lifted Chewbacca while daring the rest of the characters on the board to finish the job.  As she slowly started to lose health points Rob saw an opportunity to start attacking Boba, who was now wounded.  Daniel saw the logic in that too and his Anakin finished off Boba for fourth.  That's quite a run for Boba, who has now movevd up another spot in the character rankings and another fine finish for the newly professional Ben.

With four to go Yoda only had two points of health left.  That happens to be the exact damage Never Tell Me The Odds delivers, and Han took advantage by finishing off Kerri.  That's her third top four finish with Yoda in her amateur career, which is outstanding.  She's just two Duels from turning pro and she'll debut near the top of the charts if she can maintain her current 4.75 average finish.

And then there were three.  Daniel thought he and Rob/Luke were in a tight final alliance but Rob had secretly pledged his ultimate loyalty to Grant's Han Solo.  All three Duelers still had their minor characters so it made for quite the dance on the Carbon Freezing floor.  Eventually, Anakin finished off Leia, freeing up Luke's Justice cards.  Grant had reshuffled and found his second Wookie Instincts.  He used it to grab the Bowcaster.  Many wondered if he would save it for his final showdown with Rob or to finish off Daniel.  He chose the latter.  It was a heck of a night for Daniel, though, who deftly navigated the board with Anakin and Padme.

That left Rob's Luke versus Han and Chewey.  Luke needed to close the distance and Grant took advantage by firing some shots off, one of which allowed him to reshuffle his deck, adding his discard pile back into play.  Surely he wouldn't get the Bowcaster again...right?  WRONG!  He got it again!!!  Rob had to absorb eight points of damage, but it wasn't enough to kill him.  He had kept his two Justice cards for this exact situation, and despite the new hole in his chest from the Bowcaster, he delivered 20 attack points on poor Han to win the game.  That marks Rob's 11th career victory and the second ever win for Luke after December's Last Jedi Standing.  Grant displayed again why nobody plays Han Solo better than he does - he is the ultimate smuggler.

The final order of finish:

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

Thanks to everyone who came out and played!  Next month's Duel is Duel of the Fates - stay tuned for details and dates on that.  We're nearing the end of the semester, which means we're nearing the end of our fourth Dueling season.  I can't even emotionally handle that right now...

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