Dun Möch
By Nick Prince

Before I explain Dun Möch, I figured I'd show you my sig on the IDC site right now:

If it wasn't obvious, I love Dun Möch. Dun Möch weakens your opponent spiritually, not physically. It's the anti-morale of sorts, destroying your opponent's will to fight until they surrender or join you. Its mockery and sarcasm mixed together, with just a pinch of cruel glee at breaking your opponent.

Very simply, Dun Möch is what the Sith are all about. And the Sith in me loves it.

What is Dun Möch more specifically though? Board Member Skywlkr asked me the same thing towards the beginning of Clone Wars: Republic at War's development, when the strange title appeared on a possible list of card names. I responded with this:

"Dun Möch was the technique (read "art") of not only beating an enemy physically, but also dominating their spirit completely through distraction and doubt." How is a matter of circumstance, and it's assumed that the Sith Lord is, just by being a Sith Lord, good enough to know how to use the technique on a given person. The technique had a "flaw" of sorts, that you could break it by giving in to your anger and doubt, and using it to fuel your passion... that lead to the Dark Side though. It could also be broken through extreme confidence or ultimate faith in the Force, or some other form of overwhelming optimism.

If we use my response as a base definition of Dun Möch, then it has three basic parts:

1. The ultimate goal is to break your opponent's spirit.
This sounds exactly like the Sith of the movie. Beating an opponent physically isn't always enough. The Sith know that rage, love, ambition, etc. are all powerful motivators that keep people fighting and scheming far after logic would have told them to stop. And when this motivation used right, it can turn a hopeless situation into an easy victory. Darth Vader clawed his way up from the edge of a lava river in Episode three, motivated by hatred for Obi-Wan, love for Padme, and blind ambition for power. And because of it, he lived. Had he given in to depression, he'd have died. He demonstrates that beating an opponent physically isn't always enough.

And that's when Dun Möch comes in. It plays on fears and doubts to break an opponent's will to fight and erode their confidence, so that they are no longer motivated to keep going. Eventually they will make a mistake, and then the Sith will strike with impunity, delivering a physical final blow.

2. How you break their spirit varies.
Dun Möch plays on fears and doubts, and no two opponents have the exact same doubts. Where Obi-Wan's biggest fear is failing as a teacher, especially after having failed with Vader, Luke's fear is protecting his sister from harm. Breaking someone's spirit means knowing what their spirit is like. Are they afraid of failure? Or maybe they're afraid of succeeding? Are they motivated by love or hatred? Will they be more effected by constant, small jabs, or one, large, emotional punch?

A thousand factors go into how to break an opponent with the art of Dun Möch. I refer to it as an art because, even though its hailed all over in Star Wars references as an ancient technique of the Sith, there has never, ever been a codified approach to it. Nor is there any specific pattern or approach to it. Calling Dun Möch a strategy is the equivalent of calling "winning" a strategy.

3. Dun Möch can be broken.
And, like all strategies and techniques, Dun Möch can be beaten. Beating Dun Möch is as simple as pulling out of the sour view of things that the Sith would have you believe is true, and realizing that things can and will be better, and that you can only do your best… or can only do some other sappy, un-Sith-like value.

However, on the other side of things, beating Dun Möch can mean giving in to fear and anger. Rather than focusing on failures, focus on strengths, and fuel those strengths with rage. And as the opponent folds beneath your tempered rage and power, Dun Möch no longer has any hold, because Dun Möch has been beaten at its own game, and now it is the Sith that is scared that, should they not control this new Dark Sider, that they will fail.

How we see this qualities in movies?
In Episode I, Darth Maul's approach to Dun Möch seems to be a passive, intimidating version. Rather than chastising Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, he takes out an impressive weapon that hasn't been seen since the time of Exar Kun. Instead of screaming Obi-Wan's fears into his ear, he lets Obi-Wan do that work for him as Maul kills Qui-Gon Jinn. Obi-Wan responds by giving in to the Dark Side, temporarily, and scoring a quick kill on Darth Maul.

In Episode II, Dooku mocks Anakin and Obi-Wan, goading and taunting them. Quickly Anakin is affected, and because of it Obi-Wan and Anakin's trademark unity is broken apart; instead of having to fight the duo together, Dooku fights them individually, and beats both easily.

In Episode III, Sidious uses it against Yoda, by showing that he has failed as Grand Master of the Jedi, that they're ruined, and that he failed to prevent the return of the Sith... first through his taunts, but mostly through superior Force power usage. While it won Sidious the battle, it, ironically, lost him the war, because it convinced Yoda to flee and train a new Jedi, rather than stay and risk what was left of the Order.

But the best examples of Dun Möch come from Episode VI, with the Emperor, Darth Vader, and Luke. The Emperor's Dun Möch, the confident statements, cruel predictions, and seeming infallibility, are present throughout all of his screen time in Return of the Jedi. Vader takes a more direct approach while Luke practices pacifism, encouraging him to give in, picking apart Luke's flaws and then, finally, determining the secret of Leia. Once that critical nerve of Luke's is touched, he gives in fully to anger (never really feeling the "detriments" of Dun Möch), and scores his victory against Vader. And as a final point, the Emperor knows that Dun Moch has failed. He tries one last attempt to turn Luke, and then gives up, in favor of a more sadistic version of solving the problem.

How Dun Möch, the card, shows these three qualities?
First, Dun Möch shows the jabbing and chastising that the Sith deals out as it drains Force away from your opponent based on how well the affected unit rolls. Individual bad rolls "hurt" their self-confidence. Eventually, one bad attack will send them into a whirlwind of doubt and despair, and they'll slip up, wasting their attack for the next turn. And once that happens, it's as much a liability to have the unit around as it is an advantage.

Second, Dun Möch can be used as long as any Sith Lord is around, and isn't tied down to any particular Sith Lord. Each Sith Lord has a unique style of Dun Möch that they develop and articulate on their own. Even though it was released as part of Clone Wars: Republic At War, it applies to all Sith that the Wizards and the IDC ever prints. From Maul's fighting prowess, to Dooku's elegant mocking, to Palpatine's varying scheming, power plays, farsight, and dark abilities, every Sith Lord has their own art form of Dun Möch.

And third, Dun Möch's effect is broken by one, overpowering blast of will, in the form of Force power. Whether that will is pure and faithful, or dark and full of fury, Dun Möch doesn't care, because it's now a useless strategy. And the Sith don't pursue useless, failed strategies.

Now, armed with this knowledge, go mock your opponent, drain their Force, tap down a character, and then kill your opponent. In the game of course, not for real. You'd go to prison for that.

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