As suspected, the map is mirrored vertically … this is even better than I thought since there are possible attack paths from both sides … so it’s not just a slog-fest in the middle.
P.S. Thanks Dysp for post your excellent Stats/Map links.
And as I said in the game, good luck … but not too much! 
I have seen HULKs playbook up close and personal, but have only observed Dysp from afar. From what I’ve seen, this match should be one for the ages! Definitely too close to call! Good luck to you both!
It quite a battle … and interestingly enough, two different approaches taken from the start. I went a bit heavy on Industry while @Dysp went big on Science - Dr. Bruce Banner did not approve of my lack of investment in Science … 
After the 1st cycle, I made an aggressive move to grab a Dysp border star … and succeeded. About a Cycle or so later, Dysp made an great play to regrab it … and only a fleet of 8 ships arriving just in time saved me barely. I just made a play to advance the front lines, but he timed an arriving fleet to chop my attack in half and then wiped it out before I could get a Scan behind his lines - Damn Dysp!!!
I’ll add that his investment in Science has paid off … he started with 3 Science and did Banking … and got a Banking hit on the 1st cycle finishing that. He then switched to Terra … and got a Terra hit on 2nd cycle … finishing that. Fortunately, whatever he is working on for the 3rd cycle he did NOT finish with an “E” hit … otherwise, I’d start to think he paid off @JayKyburz to bias the dice gods in his favor!
I’m worried he is doing Weapons since I won’t be able to catch him in tech.
We are currently at Tick #78 and it’s very balanced … but in different ways - see Dysp’s excellent Stat tracking for info. In a nutshell, I have a few more ships than him (and edge in position) but he has more Science and Industry. My lead in Econ is balanced by him having B2 versus my B1.
Place your bets on who will win … right now, I’d say it’s dead-even.
Feel free to add/correct anything I said @Dysp.
P.S. This has been an extremely enjoyable game - Dysp is a top-notch foe (and classy player) … and I know that if I make one mistake, he’ll pounce.
Good luck Hulk and Dysp! I’ve enjoyed my games with you both…and I want in on the next duel tourney
@Valhallan : glad to have you (or anyone else) be part of the next tournament … @JayKyburz has to setup the mirrored games and @LDG did a great job coordinating this tournament, so maybe that dynamic duo can start the next one while @Dysp and I try to SMASH each other.
We’ve played 6 days game-time in about 36 hours real-time … it’s a pitched/even battle - check out nifty Dysp’s tools or the screenshot below.
Similar to the @Dysp versus @Golden_Ace epic semi-final battle, the middle star (see arrow) is strongly contested and has swapped hands a couple of times. I failed several times to expand on the sides - my guess is we might see more of that from both players (plus perhaps attacks to other stars in the middle) - it’s a super map for a duel-off.
I just finally caught up with Dysp in tech … but he’s got a head start on (presumably) weapons although now I’ve got two more Science … plus more Econ. But he has more the lead in Industry and (unfortunately for me) more ships.
Dysp got perfect “E” hits the first two cycles - I’m hoping his scientists are not doing as well because mine certainly aren’t - the HULK is smashing their test tubes in rage!
Nobody has made any big mistakes (except my failed side attacks plus I squandered an expansion North - darn!) and it’s just a great game.
I really enjoy these smaller games. This tournament has reminded me how exciting they can be. I have been playing a lot of 64 players games because the diplomacy is more interesting. I’m feeling like the future of the game is in the smaller games. 8-16 players where every star and carrier matter.
Well darn, I was doing quite well but accidentally hit the QUIT button … so it’s a TIE!
For the humor-impaired, that was a joke …
Dysp got the upper hand and I offered to concede to wrap it up … and now the game is apparently “stuck” (there’s some quotes for 'ya @LDG !) as Dysp says he can’t claim the victory, but I can no longer submit or concede again. So if @JayKyburz can use his super-powers to award the victoryu to Dysp, it’s well deserved.
I’ll do a game wrap-up with some ideas for the next dueling tournament in a bit.
How come he can’t claim victory? Is there a bug?
Thank you everyone cheering and following the match. And especially thank you Hulk for great commentary and truly a great game. Really enjoyed playing with you! You got a pretty good wrist lock going on me by some very crafty early aggressive moves. I was lucky to hang in there, hit some good exp hits and luckily my all-in move at the end worked. This could have very easily gone quite the other way. So thanks again, it was very nice playing with you!
@JayKyburz Yes, seems so. There is only Concede defeat button available even if I’m the only player left in the game.
Dysp: Hit that “button” for me will 'ya! 
So when I last wrote at Tick 144, I was actually feeling pretty good about the game even after Dysp got “perfect” Experimentation hits the first two cycles. I had a stronger position (lots of ships at the front line and ready to launch an assault on his core at Tick 174) plus two more Science since Tick 120 (6 vs 4) … increasing to four more Science at Tick 168 (11 vs 7) , so I was gaining fast and by my calculation (ignoring Experimentation), I should get W4 done about the same time he did … but I those damn scientists “contributed” to my demise!
At Tick 174, Dysp launched a devastating all-in attack …with W4 … CRRAAAPPPPP!
Just to be clear, this is not a “sour grapes” post - Sh*t happens. I got an upper hand early on, but Dysp defended well (even after saying he was “feeling pretty desperate”) so I couldn’t strike a fatal blow, and then he made a great offensive move when the opportunity presented itself.
He graciously shared his tech data afterwards:
HULK DYSP
Research order: S-M-T-B-S-W B-T-M-W-M
Exp hits: M-T-R-B-E-T-S-W B-T-E-S-S-M-W-W
Finished Tech: M-T-B-S-W B-T-M-S-W
At the end, I had 72 (unused) points (out of 288) in Exp, Range, Scan, and Terra
Dysp had 72 unused points in Exp and was finishing Manu.
I was actually ahead in Weapons due to the dice gods finally giving me Weapons at Tick 196 - game was well over by then! As you can imagine, Dr. Bruce Banner is in hiding as the HULK is on a rampage right now in the laboratory - broken glass test tubes everywhere!!!
While I’m a fan of the randomness that experimentation provides, I think it is too strong in this small of game. My thoughts are for future duels either disable it if a small galaxy (see my post here on how that can be easily done) … or if you start with a large galaxy and more money, the effect of experimentation is reduced.
I think a larger galaxy has some advantages in that it allows more nuanced play - once again, Warp Gates never came into play.
Otherwise, the parameters are great - look forward to the next tournament … and next time before I play Dysp, I’m getting some extra Gamma-Ray irradiation!
Great battle Dysp, great tourney LDG, and great game Jay!!!
you need to have more stars than HULK before it will be considered a victory. Grab a star and all should be good.
Aaaah, ok. Thank you, that fixed the situation! Thank you @JayKyburz and @LDG for setting this tournament up. Hopefully we will see more of these in the future!
Sometime during the week I will fix everybody up with tournament participate badges and a special badge for the winner!
YAY!!! Congratulations Dysp, that was a nail biter of a match for a final 
Thanks to everyone for playing It was a lot of fun and great to get such good participation from the community
congratulations to you both for getting to the final. Great job on the victory Dysp remind me not to go against you again. 
Thank you everyone! Was great playing with all of you and obviously a lot of luck was required to make it all the way.
Well done Dysp, I know from experience how tough an opponent HULK is so I’m pretty scared to come up against you in a game
Hard lines but well played HULK.
Just to clarify Dysp’s “lot of luck” comment from my point of view.
Sure, the dice gods were advantageous to him (sh*t happens)… but as said earlier, I got an upper hand early on, but he defended well (even after saying he was “feeling pretty desperate”) so I couldn’t strike a fatal blow, and then he made a great offensive move when the opportunity presented itself.
I.e. Hulk got SMASHED by a skillful player!
The dice gods helped me in earlier games … so that’s why I suggested for the next Duel Tourney some attempt be made to reduce their effects as they are a bit too strong in small games.
Dysp and I agreed that if I had gotten the Weapons hit instead of him, the outcome would be reversed - i.e. the game was that close.
hey, did we ever get these?