On and off, I've been playing JKII multiplayer like a madman. I've had numerous experiences with all the game types - yes, this includes that Yasalamiri dealie - and I've given as much as I've taken when it comes to playing.

There's always this objective schism when it comes to multiplayer gamers. There's the casual gamer who comes home from work at the paper mill to get a nice game of FFA in before he has to see the wife; a quick twenty kill game to sober him up. There's the guy who uses the Kyle Katarn model and the blue saber because he prefers a "consolidated gaming experience". Finally, there are the guys who max out Force Heal because it's vital that they don't take damage. The common online element, really.

Then there's a second group: the hardcore JKII'ers. The dastardly soul who sneaks a copy of JKII onto his job's LAN and uses the purple saber with the Jan Ors model. A typical name of one such person would be "Sexy_Momma" using macros like "I KILLED YUO LAYING DOWN!12" after gripping you and then later Force Pushing your helpless, floating body off a cliff. At this moment, he's programming whole new motion data into the double-bladed saber to make it look more accurate, and is crafting a Darth Maul (or a Chronic skin, at the very least) so he can take us down WITH GUSTO. 50 kill duels on the hour, maxed out Dark Rage, prefers the repeater alt-fire and wishes there were a pelvic thrust animation like there was in Quake 2... THIS is the gamer that I will focus on.

These souls lurk on servers well into the night, honing their craft and insuring that their broadband connection is well justified. They go insane with their Force-laden battles, use the console as their own personal in-game IRC, and spoil Duels with pithy pieces of wisdom like "LOOK OUT RANDALL_K00L! DARTH_BALLS IS NEAR THE CLIFF! FLEE, FATASS!"

... I can't think of a witty segue to get to the topic of Duels, so I'm just going to skip ahead a smooch.

On these late-night servers, I've seen some rather bizarre and intriguing practices that the casual Duels would not dare use. Mostly inspired by other video games or just plain boredom, these are Dueling styles that aren't general knowledge due to sensibility and good taste.

... Until now.

ON WITH THE THING!

• The "Super Mario" - Two Jedi stand with their sabers ignited. One Jedi - the "Jumper" - Force Jumps right on the other Jedi - the "Cushion". This may not sound amusing, but one of three things will happen:
  
  - the Jumper lands on the Cushion, knocking the Cushion off his feet and giving him some damage.
  
  - the Jumper lands on the Cushion's saber, giving the Jumper some damage.
  
  - the Jumper lands on the Cushion AND his saber, giving both of them damage.
  
  This illicit procedure goes on until someone dies. The upside is that the whole thing is wildly unpredictable. Who will win? I don't know! To be honest though, I don't care. The downside is that if the Cushion gets impatient, he might try to take a rather proactive approach by using Force Heal. On that, I suppose I should add a little addendum to the practice: If Heal is allowed, so is Saber Toss.



• The "Ninja Gaiden" - This is an exciting one. Two Jedi (in Red saber stance) soup themselves up with Force Speed, then run at each other at breakneck pace. At the last moment, they Force Jump as high as possible and as they meet each other, take the truest swing they can muster.
  
  One hit at Red is plenty to ice someone, and if the jump is high enough, the Jedi that was hit will sustain damage from impact and get a negative kill. The "Ninja Gaiden" is a master's practice since one must take into account the speed of the swing as well as the height where a swing will be the most effective.
  
  The good thing about the "Ninja Gaiden" is that it's quite exciting to watch (try humming the Ninja Gaiden music as you spectate.) The downside? Uh... if you don't jump? You run into the other guy, and you both die… I think. *shrug*



• The "Semi-Annual Queensland Boomer Contest" - This one is simple enough: Two Jedi go at each other using only saber toss. This one can be a hoot since if the duelers throw at the same time, it becomes a test of dexterity as a Jedi has to both direct their saber at their opponent AND dodge the whirling dervish o' doom that's aimed for their gob! This mayhem only lasts as long as your Force Bar: so it takes a bit of determination to get a kill in such a manner. But still..."Aussies do it better."



• The "INSAEN RAPPID MONKEY!2" - Now, this is an interesting practice. This is mainly for FFA newbies, but I've seen some Duelers do it; the reasons of which are inexplicable. This is mainly comprised of two Jedi (in blue saber stance) spinning around like morons and randomly using Force Powers.


Now, this may be a practice of fault and not of any special technique, but it's something to see regardless.


• The "Moshpit" - I'm sure Duelers can do this, but this is a practice reserved more for group games such as FFA. It consists of multiple players congregating in a large space - somewhere like the courtyard in Bespin or the Star Destroyer bridge - and just...jumping into each other. It works better when you have Pantera or some super-fast thrash metal playing.


...It's pretty fun, honest! We used to do it all the time on dm5 back in da day. The only downside is that a guy with his saber ignited will get scores of kills. But you gotta pay the price to have the freedom to rock.