A New Hope - January 26, 2021

 

Arvala-7

It was a history-making night on many levels.  The first time in league history officially playing with the new characters, the first time a non-original character would win a Duel, and the longest...Duel...ever...

We picked Arvala-7 because it's nice and spread out and would give the new characters some options, but good gracious, what a disaster.  We've played Arvala-7 twice, the first time clocking in at 8 hours, and the second time...NINE HOURS!!!  Do we need to deep-six this board and never play it again?

The first to ever play with the new characters!

Enjoy the pic above because...Rob forgot to take pictures during the match!  This was just about it.  C'mon Rob, get it together next time.

There wasn't even a kill in the first two hours of the game, but that wasn't because nobody was doing anything.  It was quite the opposite in fact!  One of the most dramatic moments came when Ryan's Moff Gideon had a Dark Trooper Kidnap Grant's Rey and bring him/her back to a dark side kill box!  Grant has NEVER FINISHED IN LAST and it looked like his card was finally going to be pulled...except...Duncan/Mando broke the new cards with a daring move.  He wanted to use a combination of Rising Phoenix (fly around the board during your turn) and Grappling Line (bring somebody to a spot near you).  The wording on the cards were murky, and we even consulted outside sources, and the ruling was made that...it was a legal move!  Snatched from the jaws of death!!!  How does Grant do it???

During that same turn Duncan used Whistling Birds, which ended up killing one of Rylie's Knights of Ren, marking the first minor character death of the new decks.  With Rey disappearing from their grasp, the dark side started to infight, aided by Ben's Jar Jar throwing the Oopsa Bombad and injuring a bunch of them.  Rylie got especially twitchy, fearing they'd go after her Kylo first, so she made a play to take out Elliot's Krennic.  Ryan/Moff Gideon and Kaleb/Beckett joined in, but Elliot and Delaney/Snoke returned fire on Kylo, aided by Ian's rogue MagnaGuard.  In the end it was the MagnaGuard who would send Kylo out in last.  Brutal!

Underestimate at your own risk!

Despite Hannah's Jyn Erso siding with the dark side, Kaleb thought the best path forward was to eat their own, so he and Ryan continued by taking down Elliot's Krennic with Beckett's Trust No One.  The light side stayed strong together (with Ian's General Grievous, who followed Ben's Qui-Gon to that end of the board).  As the light side started to penetrate the dark, Delaney made a deal with Grievous to Force Lightning Moff Gideon to the light side of the board.  Despite Ryan really playing well with Gideon, he wasn't prepared for the true terror before him...WICKET THE EWOK!!!  David's Wicket had already thrown Whirling Rocks at Snoke for four points of damage before he sprung the furball on Gideon.  Ryan chose not to defend, but it was a Surprise Attack!  That resulted in eight points of damage and Gideon was dunzo!

The light side was torn a little bit on how to proceed, largely because Kaleb's Beckett was making some very compelling arguments.  Rob's Lando, though, feared Hannah's Jyn Erso staying on the board, especially after Cassian assassinated poor Jar Jar.  David's Princess Leia agreed, and he would get the final shot on Hannah, who in ninth place, finished outside of the top six for the first time in her career.

Ian's Grievous had been eyeing Leia for the whole game, though, and it was a Make Them Suffer that dumped her hand and led to David dying in eighth.  He played a heck of a game from the back line, though, everyone was impressed.

You would not believe the day she had...

That left seven to go!  Kaleb tried to swing a four-person alliance with him, Delaney/Snoke, Ian/Grievous, and Duncan/Mandalorian.  However, Rob/Lando and Grant/Rey talked Duncan and Ian into staying loyal with them and Ben/Qui-Gon.  Beckett was still in scramble mode, so he offed Snoke in seventh to try and buy himself some more time.  Despite his best efforts, he couldn't turn the tide and it was Grievous who finally bounced him out of the game in sixth.  Delaney played great with Snoke, and watching Kaleb in last-stand mode is always a delight.  He's very convincing!

That made it five to go, and though Grant had lost his nerve and attacked Rob's Lando once earlier in the game, the attention on who to attack fell on one of either Grant/Rey and Duncan/Mando, or Ian's Grievous.  You couldn't blame Grant for sticking with the Mandalorian - he saved his hide from last!  But when he and Duncan agreed to go after Grievous, Duncan didn't fully commit and that caused concern from Grant, which Rob gladly highlighted!  Grant decided to partner with the other three to take down Duncan, who was offed by Rey's The Last Jedi.  But this was Duncan's sixth game, meaning he's turned professional!  And with yet another fantastic finish, he debuts as the top ranked Dueler with a SICK 4.00 average and 33% win percentage!  That is mind-blowing, well done Duncan!

From there Rob's Lando waited to see what Ian/Grievous and Ben/Qui-Gon wanted to do.  They decided Rey was the scariest character left, much to Grant's annoyance after going against his former alliance partner.  It was even worse for him after Lando played Hello What Have We Here to discard Rey's Rise of Skywalker for the second time of the game!!!  Lobot landed the last blow with a four point Activation shot.

Final Two

With three left, Ben/Qui-Gon tried to get Ian to join him against Rob's Lando, but Rob said he was all in on attacking the last Jedi left in the game.  Ian saw Rob prove it with a couple of attacks and they joined together to take down Liam Neeson.  But Ben went into BEAST mode, continually using Jedi Meditation, Chance Cube, and There's Always A Bigger Fish to out-card Lando and Grievous.  It took no less than TWO HOURS for Rob and Ian to finally whittle him down, with Lando's Altered the Deal landing the kill shot.  The 2020 Champion almost pulled off a victory, with his real life minor character in his arms at the end.

And then there were two!  Ian and Rob had both exhausted their hands battling Qui-Gon, so their cat and mouse game began as they traversed Arvala-7.  Twice Rob put big hits on Ian, only to see Spare Parts played and the damage erased.  After almost an hour, Rob caught Ian with low defense and comboed a Battle of Tanaab and Altered Deal to win the game by one attack point!  Ian played outstanding, but inexplicably, he has now finished in second place in the last FOUR GAMES!!!  That's amazing.  And for Rob, he gets to win the first game with the new characters, making Lando the top ranked character in the league.  You know it baby!!!

Your first two-time A New Hope winner!

So...after nine hours...(NINE HOURS!!!)...Ian and Rob were finally able to go to bed.  What a crazy night.

Here's the final order of finish again:

12.  Rylie/Kylo Ren

11.  Elliot/Orson Krennic

10.  Ryan/Moff Gideon

9.  Hannah/Jyn Erso

8.  David T./Princess Leia

7.  Delaney/Supreme Leader Snok

6.  Kaleb/Tobias Beckett

5.  Duncan/The Mandalorian

4.  Grant/Rey

3.  Ben H./Qui-Gon Jinn

2.  Ian/General Grievous

1.  Rob/Lando Calrissian

The Dueler and Character rankings have been updated, and they both look a lot different!

For the Dueler rankings, the handicap points (points that favor you if you play with a bottom-ranked character) have drastically changed since new characters occupy five of the bottom six characters.  You'll notice just about everyone's average took a hit as a result.  Once the new characters have played a few more games we'll see that balance out.

On the Character ranking side, we've now got all 24 listed.  Starting next month, we'll randomly choose six light and six dark from the pool of 24 - any combo of new and old!  

And speaking of next month...it's February, and so that means the VALENTINE'S DUEL!!!  We'll have a date for that soon, stay tuned.  And we'll be debuting yet ANOTHER new board!  This one is the most chaotic yet...the Eravana Cargo Hold from The Force Awakens.  You do NOT want to miss this one...

Until next time...as Lando might say, stay beautiful!

Preview: A New Hope - January 16, 2021

 

Here we are, a brand new year!  And for the first *official* time in league history...we're playing with new characters!  After testing the new characters last month and getting feedback from the Jedi Council and others, we've settled on an additional dozen figures from Star Wars lore.  We're making history!

This Duel will be all of the new characters, and then starting next month, we'll randomly draw six light side and six dark side from the total pool of 24 characters.  Who knows how that will change things, but it sure will be fun finding out.

We're also playing on one of the newer boards, Arvala-7.  It's nice and spread out, so it should give the Duelers a chance to see what these new characters are made of.  

A NEW HOPE HISTORY:

2020 - Curtis won with Darth Maul in the Emperor's Throne Room

2019 - Joel won with Darth Maul in the Geonosis Arena
2018 - Ethan won with Anakin Skywalker on the Kamino Platform
2017 - Nathan won with Mace Windu in the Carbon Freezing Chamber
2016 - JD won with Anakin Skywalker in the Geonosis Arena
2015 - Rob won with Mace Windu in the Emperor's Throne Room

MEET THE DUELERS:

Since we're still stuck playing online due to COVID, we've already drawn for character and chair assignments.  Here are the folks who will go down in the record books as the first person to play with the new character!

Chair #1 - Grant w/ Rey.  Grant, one of our veteran superstars, is coming off a bummer finish at the 2020 Championship.  Perhaps Rey will deliver him a win for the first time since the 2018 Twin Sun Slam?

Chair #2 - Delaney w/ Supreme Leader Snoke.  She debuted in eighth place in the professional rankings after the 2020 Championship with a nifty 5.33 average finish.

Chair #3 - Duncan w/ The Mandalorian.  Professional Dueler alert!!!  Our hot shot rookie Duncan goes pro at A New Hope.  He would love to add an unprecedented third trophy to his mantle at the same time.  THIS IS THE WAY.

Chair #4 - Ben H. w/ Qui-Gon Jinn.  Nobody had a better December than Ben!  He won the 2020 Championship (the first person to ever repeat as a Championship winner) and then welcomed his son into the world!  No word on the padawan's m-count yet...

Chair #5 - David T. w/ Princess Leia.  After helping us with the test Duel, we've lured David back into action with his second official Duel, and he's piloting the character who won the test to boot.

Chair #6 - Ian w/ General Grievous.  My goodness, is there a better character/Dueler combo from the new batch than this?  Ian is riding three consecutive second place finishes, which is awesome and maddening at the same time.

Chair #7 - Elliot w/ Orson Krennic.  It's great to have Elliot back in the fold as we haven't seen him since his rough ouster in game two of the Doubleheader.  He's got a pesky character who he hopes will help him rebound.

Chair #8 - Rylie w/ Kylo Ren.  Nobody had as much fun flexing a new character at the test Duel than Rylie, and she's been rewarded with the same character!  Kylo has a powerful deck, perhaps he'll be the first new character winner?

Chair #9 - Hannah w/ Jyn Erso.  The Brooks Mafia is all over the A New Hope Duel, which includes Hannah.  This is her fourth career Duel, and she's yet to finish below sixth place!

Chair #10 - Ryan w/ Moff Gideon.  I have a feeling Ryan is going to enjoy causing havoc with Mando's chief nemesis!  After his 5th place finish at the 2020 Championship, he snuck back into the top ranking among all professional Duelers.

Chair #11 - Rob w/ Lando Calrissian.  The less said about Rob's last place finish at the Championship, the better!  He's excited to finally play with one of his new creations, as he merely observed during the test Duel in December.

Chair #12 - Kaleb w/ Tobias Beckett.  Just like Rylie, Kaleb gets to repeat his test Duel character, the pseudo-villain/mentor from Solo: A Star Wars Story.  He was bummed to not get to play Val's self-destruct card, perhaps he'll get the chance this time?

STAR WARS POSTER BOOK PREDICTS THE WINNER:

Ah geez - the poster book was printed before half the new characters ever appeared on screen!  Let's see if it can make the call...

 Ok...!  The book says Qui-Gon, but the title of that poster is a bit ominous too.  Who the heck knows?  The book is 3-3 on the season...

Well, that's all for now.  By the end of the night on Saturday, for the first time in league history, we'll have a character win a Duel that didn't come in the original game box!  Who will it be?!?!?!

New Character Test - December 18, 2020

 

Carbon Freezing Chamber (not that it matters when it's just a test)

Ohhhhhh doctor!!!  For the first time in league history, we (unofficially) played with 12 brand new characters!!!  This new character test drive was intended to see if the new characters Rob created were league-worthy.  The goal is to play the A New Hope Duel in January with all the new characters, and then integrate them into all future Duels, randomly picking six light side and six dark side characters each month.  But first...we need to see how they do in action!

This will be a truncated recap, where I'll reveal who played, who they played with, how they died, and a cool card in the new character's deck.  Here we go...

12th Place - Duncan

Character - Supreme Leader Snoke

How He Died - Double Blasters from Krennic (Kaleb), which is a cool card, similar to Han's Never Tell Me the Odds, but it does three points of damage instead of two (because he's holding two guns!)  Duncan had a lot of fun early, playing some cool cards that scared the crap out of everyone, including...

Cool New Card - Tied To A String.  This one stirred some controversy as it enabled Snoke to bring any character on the board adjacent to him for two points of damage.  It pairs with Snoke's version of Force Lightning, which he does for three points of damage to an opponent adjacent to him.  After using it he can then move that character to any open space on the board!

11th Place - Miguel

Character - Rey

How He Died - Jyn Erso's I Rebel card, an eight point attack that does additional damage to surrounding characters.  Miguel had a volatile night as he locked horns with several characters, including Kylo.  He was the victim of Snoke's Tied To A String, but used his Backflip to move out of his kill box!  His light side allies eventually turned on him.

Cool New Card - The Rise of Skywalker.  This is a 12 point defense card that heals up to ten points of damage!

10th Place - David

Character - General Grievous

How He Died - Moff Gideon's Accute Pain, a six-point attack that, if it causes damage, makes the victim discard the next two cards in their draw pile.  David had one of the most jaw-dropping moments of the night when he played Reinforcements.  Both of his MagnaGuards were dead, but this card allowed both of them to reappear at full health!!!  It pairs with Spare Parts, a card that allows Grievous to heal at the expense of his minor character's health points.

Cool New Card - Trophy.  David used this 8 point attack but couldn't use the bonus, which allows you to pick up an attack card from your enemy and put it in your hand if you kill them!

9th Place - Rylie

Character - Kylo Ren

How She Died - Cara Dune's Heavy Weapon, a 5 point attack that doesn't count as an action if it does damage.  Rylie had a blast, shaking things up and flexing new cards all over the board, all in a desperate attempt to get to bed early for her holiday travel the next morning.  One eye-opening moment was when folks realized both Kylo and Rey have Force Dyad cards, that turn 5 attack/5 defense cards into 7's if Rey and Kylo stand next to each other!

Cool New Card - I Know What I Have To Do.  This is now the most powerful attack card in the game...12 points!!!

Crash Test Dummies

8th Place - Ryan

Character - Orson Krennic

How He Died - 3 point attack from Moff Gideon.  Krennic's troubles came when Wicket the Ewok used a Surprise Attack, which doubles the damage of the target.  The board turned on Ryan's Krennic and Elliot's Lando at the same time.  He also caused a collective groan when he played Peace and Security, a special that requires opponents (but not Krennic) to discard their hands and draw four new cards.

Cool New Card - Execution.  For the first time we saw unique attack cards for non-distinct minor characters.  This card is a 4 point attack, and allows the card to be used again by the other Death Trooper if he can attack the same opponent, and the second attack doesn't count as an action!

7th Place - Elliot

Character - Lando Calrissian

How He Died - Moff Gideon's Dark Saber, an 8 point attack and defend card!  Elliot was kind of running things on the down-low until Kaleb called him out.  One of the big impacts of the game was when he played Lobot's Disarmed, which forces any opponent Lobot can attack to discard two cards of their choosing.

Cool New Card - Evacuation.  Lando has three of these 8 point defenses, that allows him to move all adjacent characters to him as well as himself.  Lando is the first defense-oriented shooter, and he proved really hard to take down!

Anybody know how to produce these 3-D?

6th Place - Chris K.

Character - Jyn Erso

How He Died - The Mandalorian's 6 point attack, called This Is The Way.  Chris had to fight and scrape his way through the game, especially after his minor, Cassian Andor, died early.  But Jyn had a few tricks up her sleeve, including Stardust, a defense card that allowed her to change the attack card used against her!

Cool New Card - Trust Goes Both Ways.  This special card provides another league-first: it allows Jyn and Cassian to switch who the main character is!  If Jyn is hurting but Cassian is healthy, they can flip!

5th Place - Grant

Character - The Mandalorian

How He Died - a 4 point attack from Moff Gideon.  Perhaps no other character had as an exciting array of unique cards than Grant, including his 10 point Disintegration (which you have to sacrifice your next three draw cards to play) and Rising Phoenix, a special that allows Mando to fly in the air for the duration of his turn.

Cool New Card - Whistling Birds.  Oh yes, the series-favorite weapon inflicts two points of damage on up to 12 different characters!  But, BUT, it can only be used ONCE per game, so choose wisely!

4th Place - Natalie

Character - Qui-Gon Jinn

How She Died - a 4 point attack from Leia.  Hand it to Natalie, neither of her characters were shooters and that's all she was surrounded by.  Her use of Jar Jar throughout the night was humorous but effective, especially when she played Humble Servant, a card that doesn't count as an action but allows for three actions on a turn!

Cool New Card - There's Always A Bigger Fish.  This special is pretty cool, and she used it brilliantly against Leia earlier in the game.  Qui-Gon picks an opponent with more cards in their hand, draws cards until they have the same amount, and then the opponent has to discard by choice the same number of cards in return!  Ouch!

3rd Place - Kaleb

Character - Tobias Beckett

How He Died - Leia's Camouflage attack, good for 6 points and the victim can't attack them back on their next turn.  Kaleb really channeled his inner-scoundrel and had a blast playing Beckett, especially his 6 point defense called One Step Ahead.  It allows Beckett to pull back the card and replace it with another defense card if he wants to adjust after seeing the attack card.  The final two Duelers found that VERY frustrating!

Cool New Card - Kaleb didn't get a chance to play many of Val's cards, and the one he had hoped for but couldn't is called It's Been A Ride, Babe!  This special card is a 5 point self-destruct, injuring Val and all characters adjacent to her!  BOOM!

Look at these new damage indicators!

2nd Place - Riley

Character - Moff Gideon

How She Died - Covert Operation, an auto-4 points of damage special from Leia.  Riley, or the "Tiny Titan of Terror" as Kaleb dubbed her, took a lot of hits early but partnered with Beckett to make an unexpected deep run, all the way to second place.  She got jacked up when Leia played her two best defense cards, I Know, which does no damage to Leia but 4 to the attacker!

Cool New Card - The Dark Troopers were dead before she could use it, but they have a new card called Kidnapped, which allows a Dark Trooper to move itself and a character adjacent to it to any two empty spaces on the board!

1st Place - Ethan

Character - Princess Leia

How He Won - Our old Dueling friend Ethan won by laying low, taking distance shots, and using Speeder Chase cards to move all over the board!  One of the chief complaints about the original 12 characters is that there were no female leads, and here in our first test with the new characters we see women heroes of the rebellion are just as capable as the fellas!  Ethan played great.

Cool New Card - Wicket died before he could use it, but Whirling Rocks allows 4 points of damage to any character if you roll the dice and DON'T get a 2-all, otherwise, that two points of damage to Wicket!

It was a lot of fun playing with the new characters!  I would like to do another test Duel on the afternoon of December 30th, 1PM.  Let Rob know if you can play in that one!  He's going to tweak the cards based on feedback and what we saw in this first test drive.  Speaking of...

...if you would like to see all the new character cards, let Rob know!  He'll forward you the PDFs.  He would love any feedback or suggestions you have before they go into permanent rotation!

These are exciting times!!!  Thanks for being part of the insanity!

2020 Championship - December 5, 2020

 

Naboo Reactor Pit

What a doozy, folks!  The action was fast and furious (at least until the final five) and at the end of the night we had our first ever two-time winner of a Championship!  In normal years we take a picture of each person as they die, holding the card that eliminated them, but stupid COVID has disrupted that a bit.  I'll sprinkle in a few pictures as we do our Championship breakdown!

The top 12 Duelers of 2020

12th Place - Rob

Character - Darth Maul

Card that killed him  - Precise Shot from Padme

Padme finished him off, but it was Boba Fett's shocking attack and Rocket Retreat that doomed Rob.

11th Place - Grant

Character - Obi-Wan Kenobi

Card that killed him - 4 point attack from Greedo

It was a rough night for Grant too.  He tried to get the board to go in on Count Dooku, but others rallied to his aid and Grant's alliance crumbled and betrayed him.

Ryan working on 3D boards...

10th Place - Rylie

Character - Luke Skywalker

Card that killed her - Han Solo's Heroic Retreat

Rylie tried to argue going after her was silly and short-sighted, but her own backline alliance member finished her off in tenth.

9th Place - Duncan

Character - Han Solo

Card that killed him - Throw Debris from Vader

Duncan legitimately drew mostly defense cards at the start of the game, precluding him from helping any alliance, but it left a sour taste in folks' mouths so they offed him early.

The "where are my defense cards???" look

8th Place - Alex C.

Character - Jango Fett

Card that killed him - 3 point attack from a Super Battle Droid

We've played Naboo twice.  Alex has been Jango both times.  Both times the doors never opened for him.  Then everyone killed him.  Twice.

7th Place - Delaney

Character - Darth Vader

Card that killed her - 5 point attack from Mace Windu

This should have been a joyous evening for Delaney, who was turning pro with a good character, good placement, and solid allies.  The only thing missing from her night?  Not a single defense card.  One of the worst luck decks we've seen in years.  Brutal.

Ryan makes a move.

6th Place - Nathan

Character - Count Dooku

Card that killed him - 3 point attack from an Imperial Guard

Nathan was the first person attacked in the game but he stuck with the corridor folks with his have-no-cares attitude and was cruising until he launched an attack against Yoda.  It didn't end well after that.

5th Place - Ryan

Character - Anakin Skywalker

Card that killed him - Force Push by Yoda

Nobody had more character kills on the night than Ryan, and towards the end he made a bold move by Wrathing to the Emperor to attempt a kill box, but nobody followed.  He weaseled his way out of it but finally bowed out in fifth.

4th Place - Curtis

Character - Mace Windu

Card that killed him - 4 point attack from the Emperor

Curtis kept his head down at the start of the game and moved around the board well.  He just ran up against a three-person alliance that wasn't interested in shaking things up.  It was a solid night for the former champ.

A super-tense final two.

3rd Place - Kaleb

Character - Yoda

Card that killed him - Force Lightning by the Emperor

At one point Yoda was the strongest character on the board, health-wise, and that scared the other two.  He hung around a long time messing with the final two, trying to find a crack, but they weren't willing to make a deal.  Kaleb played great!

2nd Place - Ian

Character - Emperor Palpatine

Card that killed him - Wrist Cable

From his very first turn on the night, Ian made it clear the road to victory ran through the Emperor as he took control and haunted Duelers beyond reach at the end of the hall.  He was the mafia don ordering many of the hits, he just ran out of cards at the end.  Three straight second place finishers, and he almost defended his Vader trophy.  Outstanding!!!

TWO championship titles???

1st Place - Ben H.

Character - Boba Fett

How he won the game - by being a mother fetting fett!!!

Ben laid the first big attack on the night, and somehow survived a nightmare final three against Yoda and Emperor to become the first person to win the Championship twice in our league!  He consistently moved around the board and took the knee in bowing to Ian's Emperor.  He was down to his last two health points before Ian was drawing cold.  He survived multiple You Will Die's and landed an undefended Kyber Dart to put the Emperor in big time trouble.  The laser walls stayed open and he finally drew an auto-damage card - the Wrist Cable - to win the day!  This dude will now have two years of his life with the prized Darth Vader trophy in his possession.  Unreal!!!

FINAL ORDER OF FINISH:

12 - Rob/Darth Maul

11 - Grant/Obi-Wan Kenobi

10 - Rylie/Luke Skywalker

9 - Duncan/Han Solo

8 - Alex C./Jango Fett

7 - Delaney/Darth Vader

6 - Nathan/Count Dooku

5 - Ryan/Anakin Skywalker 

4 - Curtis/Mace Windu

3 - Kaleb/Yoda

2 - Ian/Emperor Palpatine

1 - Ben H./Boba Fett

Our next Duel isn't an official Duel, it's a "test" Duel for our 12 new characters!  We're playing on December 18, and Rob still has two spots open.  Let him know if you want to play!!!

We'll kick off 2021 with the A New Hope Duel...which will be the 12 new characters too!  After that, we'll mix all the characters for future Duels.  And...we have more new boards coming.  2021 is shaping up to be out biggest year yet!

Congrats to Ben H. again, and Merry Christmas everyone!  Christ the Savior is born!

Preview: The 2020 Championship - December 5, 2020 and...NEW CHARACTERS!

 

It's been a long, strange year, but the 2020 Championship is finally here!  This is usually the top 12 ranked Duelers in the league, but this year we added the tweak that a win during the year qualified you to play as well!  So in many ways, this is the best/toughest Championship ever played!

But we have other things afoot too!  After years of playing with the same 12 characters...we're expanding!  Later this month we're going to do a "test run" of the brand new characters.  If we like what we see...we'll start playing with them in 2021!  Before we get to that, though, let's take a look at the history of the Championship as well as the Duelers who are playing in the biggest game of the year!

CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY:

2019 - Ian won with Darth Maul in the Emperor's Throne Room

2018 - Ben H. won with Jango Fett on the Kamino Platform
2017 - Austin won with Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Carbon Freezing Chamber
2016 - Curtis won with Mace Windu on the Kamino Platform
2015 - Nathan won with Count Dooku in the Carbon Freezing Chamber
2014 - Ryan won with Boba Fett on the Kamino Platform

MEET THE CHAMPIONSHIP DUELERS:

Historically we use this section of the Championship preview to assign each Dueler's ideal character.  However, because we're playing online, the characters have already been assigned.  As such, we'll list a compatibility rating for the pick!

The Championship is also different in that the chair order goes from the top ranked Dueler to the 12th best playing.  That's the bonus for doing well in the rankings!  Also, we've already picked the board too.  We'll be back in the Naboo Reactor Pit, one of our new ones!

Chair #1 - Alex C. w/ Jango Fett

Dueler ranking:  #1 professional

Character compatibility: 71%

He's going to hate getting this character for the Championship, but Jango is the number one ranked character and Alex has a strong history with the senior Fett.

Chair #2 - Ryan w/ Anakin Skywalker

Dueler ranking:  #2 professional

Character compatibility:  43%

Ryan just missed the number chair for this Duel...ironically, because he finished poorly with Anakin at Thanksdueling!.  He does better with Emperor or shooters.

Chair #3 - Kaleb w/ Yoda

Dueler ranking:  #3 professional

Character compatibility: 68%

Kaleb does especially well with characters that can go deep into games, and Yoda definitely qualifies.  He'd rather have a character with better movement, though.

Chair #4 - Rob w/ Darth Maul

Dueler ranking:  #4 professional

Character compatibility: 31%

Though Rob has won with Maul before, he's his least favorite character.  Rob would rather play with Machiavellian characters and not living weapons like Maul.

Chair #5 - Grant w/ Obi-Wan Kenobi

Dueler ranking:  #5 professional

Character compatibility: 81%

Few Duelers understand the multiple variables of a match like Grant, and Obi is prone to control those variables in ways other characters can't.  Good match!

Chair #6 - Ben H. w/ Boba Fett

Dueler ranking:  #6 professional

Character compatibility: 76%

Like Alex, Ben won't be overjoyed to play Boba, but he has a very solid track record with the character, even after multiple Bowcasters.  Pew pew!

Chair #7 - Ian w/ Emperor Palpatine

Dueler ranking:  #7 professional

Character compatibility: 91%

Ian found a new gear in 2020 in leading alliances, and who better to control the board with than the Emperor???  This is a match made in heaven.

Chair #8 - Curtis w/ Mace Windu

Dueler ranking:  #8 professional

Character compatibility: 89%

Everyone knows Curtis is a cautious and deliberate Dueler, and Mace is a great meat and potatoes character, strong in offense and defense.  Curtis will feel better with Mace.

Chair #9 - Nathan w/ Count Dooku

Dueler ranking: #9 professional

Character compatibility: 98%

Did you all know Nathan just got engaged!!?!?  Congrats Nathan!  The league's early wedding present to you is Count Dooku, a character you won twice with, including the '15 Championship!

Chair #10 - Rylie w/ Luke Skywalker

Dueler ranking: #10 professional

Character compatibility: 37%

Rylie's had a real up and down 2020, but we can't imagine she's overly excited to play with Luke.  At least it's not Boba again!

Chair #11 - Duncan w/ Han Solo

Dueler ranking: #1 amateur 

Character compatibility: 61%

Duncan's only played four times, but one of those times was with Han.  He doesn't mind taking a supporting role to go deep in a game, so Han ain't bad in that respect.

Chair #12 - Delaney w/ Darth Vader

Dueler ranking: #4 amateur

Character compatibility: 87%

Delaney turns professional at the Championship, how cool is that?  She also can be on the non-confrontational side, so using distance attacks from Vader could be a great fit for her.

One of these 12 Dueler/Character combos will walk away the Champion of 2020.  GET PUMPED!!!

STAR WARS POSTER BOOK PREDICTS THE WINNER:

Ok - the Poster Book had its first truly bad miss last month.  Let's see what the semi-all-knowing text picks this week:

The Poster Books is 3-2 on the year.

MEET AND PLAY WITH THE NEW CHARACTERS!!!

Here we go friends, we're ready to introduce the 12 new characters we plan to introduce to the league.  Rob created all of these for league use, but he wants to do a "test run" of the new dozen before making them league official.  That's where you come in!  If you could play online with us on Friday, December 18th, at 7PM...you'll be the first person to EVER (unofficially) play with a new character.  Imagine that!!!

Ok, let's meet the new character combos.  First, our six new light side characters in rough chronological order...

Qui-Gon Jinn and Jar Jar Binks

Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor

Lando Calrissian and Lobot

Princess Leia and Wicket

The Mandalorian and Cara Dune

Rey and Finn

Ok...those were the six new light side characters!  Fun, right???  Now, let's take a gander at the new dark side combatants...

General Grievous and 2 MagnaGuards

Tobias Beckett and Val

Orson Krennic and 2 Death Troopers

Moff Gideon and ??? (still working on this one - probably Dark Troopers)

Supreme Leader Snoke and 2 Elite Praetorian Guards

Kylo Ren and 2 Knights of Ren

How sweet are these???  We won't have Moff Gideon done until this season of The Mandalorian wraps up.  But!  The deck of 31 are finished for the other 11 characters already!  Do you want in?  Email Rob today if you can play on Friday, Dec 18th, at 7PM online!!!  

And for the 12 playing in the Championship this Saturday...May the Force Be with You.