Dominion Strategy Forum
Dominion => Game Reports => Help! => Topic started by: Athem on December 27, 2011, 12:59:01 am
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Hello all, here is probably the weirdest game I've played in a long time:
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201112/26/game-20111226-214405-ca182d8c.html
I am looking for actual opinions on whether or not my victory was luck based. My opponent early on got a well-oiled engine running while I was still scrambling. I ended up winning by possessing his deck and eventually getting three colonies out of it. Here are the main things that we did differently, as far as I can tell:
Early on I went for great halls instead of silvers. Probably a mistake, but my reasoning was: they'll work well with scrying pools, and in a possession game, I tend to go for VPs ASAP.
He went for silvers, and it seemed to pay off, since he claimed almost all of the alchemists.
I bought a Jack of all Trades early on to filter out the curses. I think this helped.
Also, I went for a monument, again, because of possession. This turned out to make little or no difference though.
I believe my opponent erred when he went for a province instead of a possession in turn 15, but I would welcome any thoughts on that.
Also, my opponent only went for one possession, and I took four.
The second half of the game consisted of us trading possessed turns. I basically bought all the junk I could at all times, and discarded his alchemist chains whenever I could.
It was messy...and really hard to keep track of when mixing in the outpost and possessions.
Anyway, I would welcome any thoughts on whether my victory was luck based, or if I made good decisions.
Cheers.
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Double Jack beats Familiars. You could probably win by rushing Provinces while your opponent slows down for Potion costing cards, especially in the absence of +Buy. I recently played this (http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20111224-005756-b78cd0f7.html) game, where the Double Jack player beat the Familiar player, even though he took 9 Curses by turn 12.
If your opponent is cursing you, Possession will probably be weak if you're both greening and getting cursed. Especially since two piles are likely to be out, (Great Halls and Curses), filling your deck with Silver and buying lots of green (Great Halls/Duchies, maybe a Province if possible) will probably end the game before the opponent can do anything interesting.
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You and your opponent did different things better and there was some luck on your side. Alchemists and outposts vs possession tend to be unlucky though.
Taking the great hall for 1vp on turn 2 was a big risk and could have lost you a lot of tempo. It's sometimes hard to build up spending when you're using potion turns to buy alchemy cards so you were lucky to escape a big hole. The game could have been over by turn 8 but the jack probably gave you just enough spending. Your opponent had better development but he made his deck too strong in the wrong ways. A monument might have gathered decisive vp for him.
From mid game a three pile ending must have been looming on alchemists, curses, and great halls. Getting an early lead and running out those piles seems like the way to close the game out. This may be where your opponent's province turn came in although he didn't follow it through. You got two colonies from his best two turns soon after and closed off that option.
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I don't like DoubleJack, so I honestly don't care if it is superior here.
Your opponent build a very good deck that is standing on the combo Alchemist/Outpost. I think he bought the Outpost waaaay too early and didn't bought second when it was probably good idea, but that isn't what the game was about. The game was about one big problem - Possession. You have many Alchemists? Well thanks...but I won't put them on the top. You have an Outpost? Enjoy your next turn with 3 cards in hand...so this Alchemist/Outpost deck was very bad choice...
I don't agree with going on Great Hall from the very beginning, but with Scrying Pool and JoaT it might be better then Silver...