http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20140211/log.514cd37de4b0fe3236619906.1392180479451.txt
(http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/d/dd/Royal_Seal.jpg) (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Royal Seal) (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/3/35/Stables.jpg) (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Stables) (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/7/7e/Fairgrounds.jpg) (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Fairgrounds) (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/8/8d/King's_Court.jpg) (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/King's Court) (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/6/6f/Peddler.jpg) (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Peddler)
(http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/2/22/Transmute.jpg) (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Transmute) (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/6/69/Apothecary.jpg) (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Apothecary) (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/f/f7/Develop.jpg) (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Develop) (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/8/8d/Sea_Hag.jpg) (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Sea Hag) (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/e/e0/Council_Room.jpg) (http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Council Room)
Transmute, Apothecary, Develop, Sea Hag, Council Room, Royal Seal, Stables, Fairgrounds, King's Court, Peddler
So, I say to myself, well, Develop isn't good enough trashing to overcome Sea Hag. So I open Sea Hag/Silver. It's possible to pair the Hag with Develop, I think, but... you know I do want to get to $5 for Stables, so I'll pick up Develop later. My opponent opens Develop/Potion. No Hag at all?! Well, then I don't need one. I'll just load up on Stables and Curse his Apothecary deck into oblivion.
Well, that's not what happens. I've only given him 2 Curses by Turn 8, and he's drawing enough of his deck to Develop them away with ease. I suspect this was just good luck on his part and dreadful luck on mine, but I would appreciate any thoughts on the matter.
Things quickly go from bad to worse. He is Kinging his Apothecaries and drawing his whole deck with ease. He can Province over and over again. Is this really happening? Is the engine killing the Hag, even without +buy? (Only extra buy is Council Room, which he never buys, although I think he could have considered it and really destroyed me. You have to King something for +actions, though).
My opponent scoops up 5 Provinces in 15 turns. He Develops a King into a Province and a Fairgrounds on Turn 16. The score is now 40-13 and there is 1 Province left.
My only hope is Fairgrounds... but it's such a distant hope. Lack of access to quality +buy limits me, as does the limited number of low cost cards to pick up. But I plug away at it, taking Fairgrounds on all my $6s, grabbing a Duchy on $5. My King continues to fail me... I could Develop it into the last province and a Fairgrounds, and still lose by 20 points, so I don't do that. Eventually I Develop a Silver into a Potion, put that on my deck, and buy an Apothecary next turn. On he next shuffle I can grab a Transmute for 15 uniques... and now, hey, I'm actually in this! I'm only down 5 points! Of course, he could have spoiled this by dipping for points instead, but he's doggedly insistent on building his deck back up for the last Province. Finally, I can Develop the Hag into a Silver and Stables on top of the deck, which gives me a shot. He for some reason doesn't buy a Duchy, keeping me within range. And then I happen to have a good hand and actually make the Province. What a win!
I got insanely lucky to pull it off, but he also closed out the game terribly. Thoughts on whether Hag should actually be skipped here?