Games The NEW (12th) Jedi Draft!!- Return Of The Revenge Of The Draft (now in progress!)

Well, at least I didn't lose horribly like the last time I went against TLI


Though I doubt I'll win unless KK/Inty are feeling nice to Hoth.

 

Oh.

My.

God.

 

Still debating two of these.

Maybe tonight

 

Oh boy, now Ken has to vote for either Obi-Wan or Caedus.


This could be interesting

 

Looks like I'm having another team battle

 

I've either lost or won this one, depending on Ken.

 

I'm sorry, but I lost all respect for Caedus when Luke pinned him to his chair with little effort. And the whole "Jaina has to kill him because Luke would go dark" was a cop out because Luke would have wiped the floor with him. As it is, Jaina didn't need any special Mando training either. She just needed to be ready to kill. But then again, I loathed that series so I'll admit plenty of bias against Jacen because of that.

Obi-Wan has fought sith, dark jedi and friends. He 'killed' Maul, defeated Ventress a few times, Survived Dooku, took out A'Sharad Hett and of course Anakin. He then managed to train Luke in the ways of the force in a short ride to Alderaan before having Yoda finish the job. So while Yoda finished the training, Obi-Wan was still Luke's instructor. By Contrast, Caedus had Vergere and Lumiya. I don't exactly hold them to the same yard stick as Yoda and Obi-Wan.

Caedus has a few tricks sure. That said, some of his best require prep. But many of the opponents Obi-Wan faced had their own tricks and he overcame those as well. Duelist wise? He faced Maul, Dooku, Ventress, Grievous and I'm missing others. He's certainly a skilled duelist. He's a brilliant tactician and fast on his feet. And that is what will give him the advantage over Jacen. Jacen was frequently overconfident and frankly crazy at the height of his time as Caedus--Just like Anakin was at the height of his power on Mustafar. And as I mentioned before, Jacen's big kill in the series came about through trickery and luck. The way it is written, if Mara had a few more seconds, she would have killed him. It's written as a no holds brawl and Mara busts through his defenses. Yes he's injured, but for all the mastery he has at the time, he can't stop her.

Now granted, the series was horribly written and Caedus' power fluctuated. But basically, both Master Skywalkers had him beat. He beat Mara through trickery and luck of the dart. Without that, as written, he would have lost. In another location with Mara lacking prep time and with a more consistent characterization, he'd likely have won. Here Obi-Wan is fighting a sith lord. Sure, he doesn't know Caedus. But he knows sith. Afterall, "Sith Lords are our specialty." Aside from Luke, not many have dealt with as many sith and dark jedi as Obi-Wan did. And these were opponents that in some ways were definitely on Caedus' level. And it was incredibly rare for Obi-Wan to be able to prep for these duels. Maul certainly wasn't prep. You might say Anakin was, but really that was just him preparing to kill Anakin if talking failed. There's no scenario where Obi-Wan does the same for Caedus. He's a sith and he knows to kill sith.

 

Tough one there, I would go with Kenobi and Lsu/Xaj.

Speaking of Kenobi, has anyone read the book yet? I was considering buying it.

 

Definitely recommend the book. There's a thread hiding in Lit and the reviews were mostly pretty good.

 

Odds are I would buy it even if it wasn't good, I would have a hard time passing up on a Kenobi novel.

 

Well, it's been out awhile. At this point you might want to check Amazon to see when the paperback comes out instead of getting the hardcover.

 

Good call, the savings will enable me to buy more books!

EDIT: July 2014?! Not going to wait for that.

 

I'm here I'm here! Sorry for the holidelay, I'll try to get up a judgment soon.

Assuming I'm even able to pick between Kenobi/Jacen...

 

He votes Kenobi-Caedus ends in an epic draw, like a late 80's Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat time limit draw

 

Yes, that seems highly appropriate.

 

Good by me

 

i'm fine with that

 

Hoth won?

...wait a second...shouldn't that be 5-4-1 in my favor, not teams?

1. Kol/Wolf
2. Ganner
3. Dooku
4. Hoth
5. Ulic

TLI had:

1. Kota
2. Revan
3. Exile
4. Zallow.

Then there was the draw. That's correct right?

 

AWWWW MAN I'm sorry guys. Here's this.

First, I'm going Raskta/Xaj (how do you even pronounce that?) against Hoth. Hoth flashed some gamebreaking ability on that Path of the Destruction battlefield, and finally gets a great in-depth analysis in the new Essential Guide to Warfare. But the descriptions of Raskta/Xaj's blade skills and teamwork are even more extensive in their Bane duel, and I think that'll come through enough to overcome a war-experienced Hoth.

Second, Vergere just won a match without me voting. This is somehow not even the highlight of the round for me.

Because duhhhhh...


Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Jacen Solo

I turned this over forever. Does "Darth Caedus" imply Jacen's mental health here is exclusively post-NJO? Can Kenobi handle an opponent on par with Anakin's power, but without the familiarity of his Padawan/brother? Is this battle decided by their knowledge of the Force, or their skills with a lightsaber? Does the Utapau landing platform give anyone an edge? Is Jacen allowed to use amphistaffs? Is Obi-Wan allowed to get drunk? Am I overthinking this? Why are you still reading?

Instead I just ripped off Inty...


This is how it feels to be Obi-Wan Kenobi in this match:

Wind whips at your face, knocking the hood off your head and onto your shoulders. The gale is powerful-- you have to use the Force to brace yourself against it, locking your feet to the ground to keep from being blown off the deck.

You don't know why there's wind at all. Or why you're standing in it. One minute you were drinking Jawa Juice at a low-rent Tatooine bar, then...black. What was in that drink? Was it really made of Jawas? Are you just now waking up from a wild night of death sticks and Twi'leks?

You begin looking around. Walls of molded sandstone. Wind turbines. The smell of humid, salty air. You've been here before.

A landing deck.

Utapau.

Your hand drifts to your lightsaber. You're relieved it's there, the cold metal giving you some semblance of control here. And sparing you the embarrassment of having lost your weapon after countless lectures to Anakin...

The thought of Anakin ties a knot in your stomach. But the feeling is more than that. Something's not right. You open yourself to the Force, allowing it to wash over you in Stoverian terms-- a waterfall, a sparkling stream, a shower with those Twi'leks...

You know who you are. You're Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Negotiator. Master. Councilor. General. Ben.

But with the Force you stretch beyond yourself, up the rising windswept rocks. You become the sinkhole around you-- sweeping into its tunnels, its ledges, the turbines attached to its side, the hyperwinds blowing like a hurricane at its surface.

And something else. A presence.

One you've not felt since...

...Luke?


This is how it feels to be Jacen Solo in this match:

You're not sure where you are. Or who you are for that matter. You've been staring at your reflection in a pool of water for what seems like an eternity-- the man staring back is much more confusing than the sudden change in your surroundings.

Besides, at least you weren't awakening to the Embrace of Pain. Like on Belkadan, after attempting to save the Yuuzhan Vong captives. Or on the seedship, after the mission to Myrkr. The one that cost Anakin his life...

The thought of Anakin ties a knot in your stomach. But it's more than that. A ping in the Force. Someone else is here.

You snap your head up from the man-- is it a man? A boy? A Jedi? A Sith?-- reflected in the pool. The tunnel you're in leads out toward a landing pad, where a single cloaked figure stands braced against a dramatic wind.

Adrenaline spikes through your system. The hilt of your lightsaber shoots into your palm. You reach out with the Force, probing...and immediately flick the activator on your saber, igniting the tunnel in an emerald glow. You can feel it in your bones. This is a place for endings.

You choose to fight. And you act.

But as you leave the pool behind, its uncertainty burns at your back, licks at your neck like the flames of an angry dragon. It is a pain unlike the kind you thrive on.


This is Obi-Wan Kenobi against Jacen Solo:

His blade flickers like the computer screen of a dude who's spent way too long writing this. Every slash, strike, movement of his opponent is parried, deflected, countered...all with minimal effort. He is a model of efficiency-- the model of efficiency. He's already outdueled General Grievous in this very location, overcoming 20 strikes a second as if he was drunkenly operating a snowmobile.

He is, plainly, the most experienced Jedi in the history of the galaxy next to Luke Skywalker. And it shows-- sensing an all-too-familiar Skywalker power, Kenobi keeps the focus on bladework, forcing his armored opponent to attack on those terms rather than in explosions of Force technique.

But for all Kenobi's maneuvering, for all his skill-- no matter how many times he counters an overhead slash with a high guard and swift strike to the chest, no matter how many times he watches as his blade connects and singes flesh-- the boy just...keeps...coming.

And that Force power comes too. Kenobi finds himself blasted against walls, smashed into skeletal ribcage above the platform, deflecting bursts of green (green?!) lightning. Jacen pulls off things even Kenobi has never seen before...things as a younger man he may not even thought possible.

Giving ground, though, is also Kenobi's way. Like against Grievous. Like against Dooku. Like against Vader-- against Anakin.

And so against the unorthodox moves and vicious displays of power, Kenobi lets Jacen to drive him back-- allowing him to refocus, defend, and let the Force guide him to war.


This is Jacen Solo against Obi-Wan Kenobi:

In the Nursery, he was an angel of destruction. Against Luke, he was beaten down like a Cleveland sports team.

He is neither of these things here, and yet he is both.

Like in the Nursery, his embrace of pain and ability to bring pure devastation makes him a wrecking ball that punishes even Kenobi's perfected guard.

Like against Luke, his arrogance in rushing to combat open him up to mistakes, the scorch marks along his sides and limbs serving as evidence.

He is the definition of an Unstoppable Force against Kenobi's Immovable-- or rather Unbreakable-- Object.


This is the end:

Kenobi hangs from the landing deck, his lightsaber clanking into the depths below.

The entire sinkhole rumbles with the power of Jacen Solo.

"It's over, Obi-Wan," Jacen says as he moves toward the legendary Jedi Master, his lightsaber humming. "I have the high ground."

"Just like Anakin," Kenobi sighs.

But Jacen doesn't hear Anakin Skywalker. He hears Anakin Solo. And the image of the man in the pool comes back to him, whispers in his ear. Who are you, Jacen Solo? WHAT are you, Jacen Solo?

The hesitation is all Kenobi needs. With just a flick of the Force, he sends a piece of the bony ribcage debris flying...and lets go of the landing deck, plummeting to where his lightsaber had fallen before.

Jacen watches, confused, as his opponent disappears beyond the platform's edge.

...and the ribcage debris connects with one of the massive wind turbines, detonating the entire platform in a cascade of fire and death.


And Kenobi probably lands on Boga or something, leaps off to the nearest cantina, watches some Sportscenter.


;tldr Jacen suffers from a lack of consistency in post-NJO works, which dilute his character and some of his unfathomable exploits-- whereas Obi-Wan is one of the most consistent characters ever, right up to the recent Kenobi novel. I see Kenobi out-wiling him here, in a match that definitely didn't require all this bantha **** to get there BUT HEY I ENJOYED IT ALRIGHT