As Robz888 said, Volkmar beats him 4-3. Here are the games with my commentary (be prepared to laugh at me if you go through the logs, I played horribly
).
Game 1,
Volkmar 35 - 28 Robz888
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120131-190942-62be629c.htmlCaravan, Embargo, Familiar, Hamlet, Merchant Ship, Moneylender, Potion, Steward, Torturer, University, and WatchtowerI didn't really look at the board before the game. Somehow I just didn't see Watchtower, it's not a card I buy a lot, so the possibility just went past me. When he bought his first one I didn't want to go with Familiar, so I tried to trash down quickly and build a small Hamlet/Torturer engine with enough gold, using the Torturer mostly for the draw, the attack was just a bonus and helped me run out the curses. In the end my tight deck helped me get rid of curses, but I'm still not really sure how I won this.
Game 2,
Volkmar 42 - 30 Robz888
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120131-191936-925a832e.htmlAmbassador, Cache, Farmland, Inn, King's Court, Quarry, Royal Seal, Salvager, Tunnel, and Worker's VillageWe both opened Ambassador, but even with King's Court there wasn't a lot of engine potential. Instead I figured there'd be a flood of Copper anyway, so I went with Cache. I made a few mistakes, but I think my extra 'golds' won me this pretty straightforward BM game.
Game 3, Volkmar 28 -
33 Robz888http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120131-192445-0d3de260.htmlCaravan, Fairgrounds, Fortune Teller, Harvest, Island, Mining Village, Native Village, Philosopher's Stone, Potion, Smithy, and StablesAnother pretty simple game. I got very lucky with a turn 3 gold and a turn 5 province. In retrospect I'm not sure if I should've gone for another gold, because now I sort of panicked and crashed.
Game 4, Volkmar 36 -
48 Robz888http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120131-194429-3ccc1f3b.htmlAmbassador, Bishop, Fool's Gold, Minion, Native Village, Remake, Saboteur, Scout, Tournament, and VentureI did not like this board, as it has a few of my most hated cards. I tried to get a quick Minion deck going, to get a Province and use NV to get the prizes. That worked, though it all took forever while Robz was greening and eventually got a Bishop .
Game 5, Volkmar 21 -
38 Robz888http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120131-195325-d70e780f.htmlApothecary, Apprentice, Cartographer, Expand, Explorer, Fishing Village, Inn, Potion, Salvager, Spice Merchant, and UpgradeApprentice game where I tried to be cute and Expand my $5's into provinces. That of course got stomped by Apprentice/money with a single Expand to keep momentum by Robz.
Game 6,
Volkmar 51 - 46 Robz888
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120131-200723-1db0eeed.htmlDuke, Expand, Fortune Teller, Ironworks, Monument, Nobles, Oasis, Saboteur, Steward, and TorturerWe both built a Torturer/Nobles engine, but I think my early trashing with Steward and taking fewer curses won me the game. Buying a curse for the 3pile was fun too.
Game 7, Volkmar 36 - 36 Robz888
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120131-201616-3dbd2c15.htmlAlchemist, Develop, Great Hall, Haven, Library, Potion, Secret Chamber, Smithy, Village, Vineyard, and Worker's VillageA draw in the last game, it just can't get any closer. I still feel like I should've lost this one. I went Alchemist/BM. I saw the Alchemist/Worker's Village/Smithy/Vineyard thing, but when I got the chance to take an early gold I decided to try and outrace that. In the end I was just able to take the draw, but if the game went on any longer I would've been toast.
Game 8,
Volkmar 40 - 29 Robz888
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120131-203643-0ad1a2e7.htmlAdventurer, Feast, Fool's Gold, Ghost Ship, Masquerade, Outpost, Potion, Scrying Pool, Trade Route, University, and WorkshopI wasn't playing great, probably because we started at 4 AM my time, and maybe I was a little nervous, but this game was just horrible, one of my worst ever. I opened Potion/Masq, going for a University/Scrying Pool deck with Ghost Ship. Of course there weren't any +actions besides University, and no cantrips besides the Pools. He kinda did the same thing so after 12 turns we both have decks that look like the ones you build in your very first game of Dominion. I then decided to dive into Fool's Gold, and he pretty much had to follow. I tried using Trade Route to get rid of a few terminals, and even got an Adventurer to go with the FG, but in the end it was just a mess where I somehow ended up coming out first. If I'd get to play this again I'd just go Masq/FG or Trade Route/FG.
Thanks to Robz for being a great guy to play against, some of the most fun and tense games of Dominion I've ever played.