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Messages - TheMirrorMan

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1
Hearthstone / Re: List of Hearthstone IDs
« on: April 24, 2015, 01:48:34 pm »
TheMirrorMan #2442 EU server

2
Dominion League / Re: Standings & Results
« on: July 15, 2014, 05:04:15 pm »
D4, TheMirrorMan - HarryPeteur : 3 - 3

3
Dominion League / Re: Standings & Results thread
« on: June 15, 2014, 01:15:31 pm »
D8-4 TheMirrorMan - D8-3 Maos : 5 - 1 TheMirrorMan wins

4
Dominion League / Re: League evaluation
« on: June 15, 2014, 09:02:18 am »
For starters, I think it's going really well. I see a lot of people playing a lot of matches and enjoying it. I especially liked the little sub-communities that arose in some of the groups.
In most groups it's also really close who is going to win.

I agree, and I'm having lots of fun. It's a nailbiting competition at the moment in D8. :)

Quote
Next season, I'll introduce some rules on playing matches. They will probably be
* after week 2, you need to have finished 1 match
* after week 3, you need to have finished 2 matches
* after week 4, you need to have finished 3 matches
If at any point you cannot comply to these rules, send a message to the organisation and explain why. If you don't, you'll be removed from your group.

You're going to receive a lot of messages this season, since it's mid-summer. Would you be up for extending the summer season a few weeks ?

Quote
Also, I intend to get together an 'organizing committee' and assign a member to every group.

That would mean 15 people - I think that's a bit much. I would propose putting together a "referee" committee (It's what happens in chess) containing :
1 from A, B, C and D + Stef himself. You could make this a rotating system of all "more active" players. They make decisions when there is a problem. The one per division makes sure that if there are conflicts, you have at least 3 people deciding independantly.

For the individual groups, I would just take the most active player and give him the leading role on keeping an eye on the matches. In D8 this was never a problem.

Quote
In the meanwhile, have fun with your remaining matches. After you finished your last match, please post a message in your own groups scheduling thread stating your intentions for next season (I'll be back / I'm quitting).

Stef : could you post this in the Season 2 thread too ?

5
Dominion League / Re: Game reports & discussion: D
« on: June 09, 2014, 07:08:47 pm »
Quote
We both saw no point in building an actual engine here and went for money based strategies. I just wanted to go straight Library Big Money and thought Warehouse should be really good with it so I opened Warehouse/Silver while he went for Chapel/Silver.

I really don't know how to evaluate this game. I've once learned that if your plan is not to go for an engine and it's a big moneyish game, you don't want Chapel. So, was the Chapel good here for some reasons (maybe the Warehouse?) or did I become unlucky?
Nothing is set in stone.
Your only real draw option is Library. So what does Library draw ... Non-action cards. Including the greens ... So in this case, chapel is just necessary.
If you were to have Embassy is on the board, then I would reconsider because of the discard. But even then I think I would grab a chapel to begin with.

I actually believe that a BM game benefits from Chapel! You're so quick in getting your money over and over again because your deck is so thin - In the end, you don't even need draw anymore.

6
Game Reports / Re: An interesting game
« on: June 04, 2014, 09:12:27 am »
Well to me it's not that simple a combo to see on this board.

Also, you can't just "skip" urchin/mercenary. Engine with only heralds and no trashing is too slow here I believe (and foragers probably do not go well with Heralds).

7
Game Reports / An interesting game
« on: June 03, 2014, 10:20:17 pm »
A nice game I played against Polk5440 ...

http://gokologs.drunkensailor.org/static/logprettifier.html?20140603/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1401847679577.txt



Code: [Select]
Forager, Tunnel, Urchin, Bridge, Coppersmith, Envoy, Herald, Rats, Apprentice, Farmland
Regardless the outcome, there's very interesting stuff going on here.

A quick look at the board :
+ buy in bridge, which is strong.
You can build an engine with Herald/Envoy
Rats + apprentice/mercenary seems like a nice combo too. But then you're going to have to rule out Herald.
This board is just begging for a megaturn and then I spot ... Tunnel/Apprentice. If you go for Urchins quickly (which seems to be the plan here), the discards will be flying around quickly and that gold is perfect food for the apprentice. Then trashing gold means ... Suddenly forager becomes + $2/$3 (since the coppers will get trashed and there will be gold in the trash).

Wonder what you guys see in this board.



8
Game Reports / Re: I guess I don't understand Dominion anymore.
« on: May 31, 2014, 09:21:09 pm »
Quote
Curses are bad cards. Don't buy them.

You remind me of Mr. Mackey from South Park :) ... "Curses are bad, 'mkay" - and put a smile on my face.

Thanks for the feedback SCSN.

9
Game Reports / I guess I don't understand Dominion anymore.
« on: May 31, 2014, 08:53:05 pm »
Yeah I've gone down a whole lot but what I saw now just leaves me whimpering ... I don't get what I do wrong in these games. Am I just that bad ?

So the last two games I played were the following :

http://gokologs.drunkensailor.org/static/logprettifier.html?20140531/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1401580760150.txt



Code: [Select]
University, Swindler, Bureaucrat, Navigator, Spy, Catacombs, Ghost Ship, Mine, Adventurer, Peddler
So looking at this board, I see University + catacombs and swindler. I prefer catacombs over ghost ship here for two reasons :

1) It's highly likely that I'm going to swindle the cards after the ghost ship so my opponent just puts back the bad cards or the greens.
2) Catacombs helps me take something else but the junk I put back.

Well that looks like Potion + Swindler to me.

I swindle his potion into a bureaucrat and a gold into an adventurer. It just doesn't prove enough. I can't seem to find any province to swindle into a peddler and my spies only hit silvers and curses ...

But the game that frustrated me the most was the following :

http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140531/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1401582665611.txt



Code: [Select]
Masterpiece, Armory, Death Cart, Farming Village, Ironworks, Navigator, Thief, Council Room, Highway, Torturer
Agreed, you don't have double buy. But this has all sorts of interesting stuff, notably Farming village/Torturer looks an enduring combo here.

Now my opening is a mistake, I should get IW/silver instead of FV/silver (I think ?), but what follows is ... awful.

Also Highway/Armory and or IW looks so interesting on this board, even without double buy, 4 highways and you can pick up a province with the IW. So this should work together with the engine ... I think ?

I get a lucky torturer T3, my opponent has $6 at T4 and takes ... a gold ?!

He gets a torturer at T6 and then only buys one FV, one highway and nothing else but money.

I'm desperately cycling my deck over and over again but can't get ANY good combo out of it. He takes a few curses, but constantly hits eight and in the end just takes some duchies to get over 42 (he has 2 curses).

I don't get it. Am I overdoing my engines here ?

10
Dominion League / Re: Game reports & discussion: D
« on: May 30, 2014, 08:06:51 pm »
D8, QwertZuiop vs. assemble_me, the "German duel"

Game 6



Code: [Select]
Vineyard, Haven, Native Village, Stonemason, Fortune Teller, Familiar, Remake, Contraband, Venture, ForgeColonies, Estates

assemble_me starts, QwertZuiop wins

So here it is again, Game 6 and a Colony board where Venture can shine. I'm making a big mistake and miss the Remake, so I open Fortune Teller/Silver to his Remake/Silver. He also picks up a stonemason and gets to Platinum faster. We both get a buch of Ventures. It seems I'm out of luck and I've got no real chance to make up for his early Platina.

I'm just wondering why no one went Potion/Fortuneteller ? Okay, I can understand with the ventures, but you can pick some up yourself if necessary.

11
Dominion League / Re: Game reports & discussion: D
« on: May 30, 2014, 11:51:17 am »
"Russian roulette" - TheMirrorMan - EgorK : 4 - 2

Next match : up against EgorK (EK). A very nice Russian guy that amazed in the GokoDom match. So I knew I had to watch out. And boy did I feel it.



Game 1 : "Black market rules" - EK begins, EK wins.

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140530/log.505d7a160cf2ef979299a48e.1401457375684.txt



Code: [Select]
Black Market, Great Hall, Bishop, Caravan, Cutpurse, Plaza, Walled Village, Embassy, Outpost, Witch
No shelters, provinces.

Ah here we go again. The black market. This time, a lack of trashing and +buy. Egor owns the very special Walled Village card which to me is ... often utter useless. Witch is there for junking.

So what to open here ? Plaza is probably a bit too early here, so I go Caravan/BM, while Egor takes BM/cutpurse. Bit surprise, but hey, there's enough villages on the board to play them.

The cutpurse ends up working nicely, since he 2x hits my hand getting it to $2. But the worst thing of all ...

T6 he picks up Ambassador (oh dear, I am in deep trouble), I pick up a Horse traders.

T9 he picks up ... chapel. Yeah, and then I get serious snowballing. I need to pick up witch to do something but all the curses just get thrown back to me and I still can't get any trasher out of the deck.

Even when he buys golds and I shove back silvers in with Embassy ... His deck is just too clean.

Conclusion : just got screwed by the Black Market. Not much more to say.



Game 2 : "Here comes the mirror man" - MM begins, MM wins.

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140530/log.505d7a160cf2ef979299a48e.1401458421973.txt



Code: [Select]
Doctor, Fortune Teller, Masquerade, Plaza, Quarry, Remake, Young Witch, Butcher, Inn, Library, Wharf
No shelters, provinces.
Bane : Fortune teller.

I start in game 2 and on this board I am really happy with first player advantage. We both have 3/4. YW is out of the question with such an engine going on and Masq on the board. 3 is Masq, what is 4 ? We both opt for Quarry, given Inn/Plaza/Wharf/...

It's a back and forth but as starting player I always have that starting edge. For the endgame, I pick up a quick Butcher. The moment the greens are almost over, he stocks up on coins but he needs about $20 to get anywhere. He tries to, but just too little.

Not much more to say, stupid mirror.



Game 3 : "Is rebuild really that good ?" - MM begins, MM wins.

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140530/log.505d7a160cf2ef979299a48e.1401459047190.txt



Code: [Select]
Beggar, Stonemason, Armory, Bureaucrat, Gardens, Island, Remodel, Rebuild, Tribute, Wharf
Shelters, provinces.

Yeay, no estates Goko ?! And you reward us with ... Rebuild.

Now, there's a lot of stuff on the board. To me this seems to be centered around Gardens somewhat, with beggar, bureaucrat, armory ... But maybe Wharf ? Rebuild (with shelters, I dunno) ?

It's a bit of a think. I've got 4/3 and at one point I even consider doing SM for 2 beggars ... Then think ... that's going to be REALLY slow. So I decide on bureaucrat/beggar.

In hindsight, this could be an error - if he picks up a beggar here, he gets 2 silvers which of course get his gardens count up too.

However, Egor doesn't pick up any of them and just goes for plain Silver/Silver. I'm surprised, this means he's NOT going for gardens.

No, he goes straight for rebuild. So I follow suit. Now of course, this requires some precaution : you don't want to trash your gardens, so you need to buy an extra green inbetween.

He is quick in getting the duchies - which signals me not to pick up estates but beggars at $2. He does get to the five duchies (rebuilding some islands, I think he should have taken the gardens instead), but I've already remodeled 2 into provinces and am getting my gardens in. Since the duchies are gone, he needs to contest the gardens now but his deck is just too small to get any points out of it and he can't rebuild them anymore into decent stuff.

In the end, I have him cornered - he can't get a province anymore (1 left), the islands have one left too, so his rebuilds become useless. I don't really get much extra money, but now I can piledrive estates. I win.



Game 4 : "In Russia, Gold fools YOU!" - MM begins, MM wins

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140530/log.505d7a160cf2ef979299a48e.1401459639403.txt



Code: [Select]
Fool's Gold, Forager, Village, Bishop, Gardens, Mining Village, Spice Merchant, Golem, Merchant Guild, Upgrade
No shelters, provinces.

Well I don't know what Egor was thinking here but this looks like a FG board to me. He apparently had Villages/MG/Gardens in mind, but that seems so awfully slow.

He opens nothing (?) first turn - that means he doesn't want FG - and then Upgrade.

It gets ugly prettly fast with Spice merchant/forager. I'm already at 7 FGs and 1 province on turn 8. He decides to go for the Gardens as an outer, but it's just not that good, since he needs to trash some stuff again with forager ... I just pick some gardens up myself and he's left without any decent way to end the game.



Game 5 : "In Belgium ... Gold fools ME!" - EK begins, EK wins.

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140530/log.505d7a160cf2ef979299a48e.1401460123126.txt



Code: [Select]
Crossroads, Fool's Gold, Alchemist, Caravan, Coppersmith, Rats, Cultist, Market, Saboteur, Torturer
No shelters, provinces.

Cultist is central on this board and with CR being the only village ... It's going to be Cultist Big Money.

So I think, "hey, let's be smart - take Fool's Golds!" - even though there is no +buy you will get them in your hand with your cultists.

Well, no. especially since Silver/Silver for EK gives him a quick cultist ... or 5. I've got 8 ruins in my deck. and I'm down by two provinces ... I take in some extra FG (hey, stick with the plan!) but Egor empties the cultists with 2 provinces up and then just takes the remaining FGs. No question here : outplayed. Well done Egor.



Game 6 : "Shot by the greens" - EK begins, MM wins.

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140530/log.505d7a160cf2ef979299a48e.1401460505582.txt



Code: [Select]
Steward, Swindler, Bridge, Silk Road, Cultist, Journeyman, Margrave, Merchant Ship, Witch, Forge
No shelters, provinces.

Safe to say - this is SURELY a cultist board.

And I'm of course delighted with my 5/2 here against his 3/4. My cultist appears t3 but I then have some trouble finding them in my deck.

We split cultists 4/4 but I hit Egor with the ruins harder : 6 for him, 4 for me. We build up the money Now I see an ending appearing of course : out of cultists and you're already two piles down. So at $5, I decide to buy an intermediary duchy. Egor does not follow and continues buying money. Consequently I just pick up more cultists. I've got more draw, he's got an extra gold.

It turns out this just worked a little bit better. Duchies suddenly get low and with stuff like a silk road at a cheap $4 ... I take the last win.



Thanks for the games EgorK! Nice to have played with the Walled village (even though we didn't buy it).

Four down, two to go ...

12
Dominion League / Re: Standings & Results thread
« on: May 30, 2014, 10:39:00 am »
D8-4 (TheMirrorMan) - D8-7 (EgorK) : 4 - 2

13
Dominion League / Re: Game reports & discussion: D
« on: May 30, 2014, 09:21:23 am »
My match against QwertZuiop ...

Now I see some of you guys thinking ... What ? Qwert... Z ? Well, that's the German keyboard layout for you.

Did you know ... That the Qwerty/Azerty/Qwertz keyboards were actually constructed for people to type slower ? In the time when there were typewriters, the inventors wanted to avoid the ink hammers clashing. That's why they invented this weird layout.

On to the games? Yes. They were nerve wrecking.



Game 1 : "Nobles isn't THAT good ?" - TheMirrorMan (MM) begins, Qwertzuiop (QW) wins.

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140530/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1401442009575.txt



Code: [Select]
Courtyard, Lookout, Monument, Butcher, Mine, Stables, Adventurer, Fairgrounds, Nobles, Forge
No shelters, provinces.

Soooo ... A lot of stuff plays a role here. First off, no +buy but Butcher can help with that. Engine in Nobles/Courtyard or the easier Stables. Trashing with lookout/butcher/forge. Also, look out (!) for Fairgrounds - you will need to diversify the deck a bit.

We both have 3/4 and diverge : I take Silver/Monument, QW takes Lookout/Monument. My plan was to go for Nobles asap and I didn't want to trash coppers since the stables need them (but later I mistakenly forget this).

Well my plan works, I'm at 4 Nobles when QW is at one, but of course, I have my estates still in my deck. At $3 I prefer CY over silver, hoping to hit a gold soon ?

But then I forget everything I planned. T13 I take a province already (way too early), then a forge and in a dud hand of 3 coppers, Province, Forge, I decide to trash the coppers too ... Leaving me with no fuel for the stables. QW keeps on building up on Fairgrounds/Provinces and because I have too little money to keep the engine going with the stables. Two crucial errors and it hurts. QW picks up 6 FGs, each worth at least four and I can't even get a decent province. So yeah, I threw myself in the deep water. QW played it well, although I'm still doubting on the lookout opening. Comments welcome.



Game 2 : "The one where ambassador ... just is not that good" - QW begins, MM wins.

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140530/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1401443193312.txt



Code: [Select]
Vineyard, Apothecary, Ambassador, Storeroom, Contraband, Ill-Gotten Gains, Mine, Mystic, Vault, Grand Market
Now this board is already a nerve wrecker. There's ambassador, but we both decide to skip it because of the Apothecary/Storeroom/Grand Market/Mystic(/Vault maybe) engine here. 4/3 is Potion/Storeroom for both.

Now there are some crucial questions here in building this :

1) Do you take more coppers ?
2) Do you take all the apothecaries first or take a grand market when you can ?

Answers to 1 :
QW takes extra coppers, MM says ... when I can already draw my deck.

Answers to 2 :
QW takes apothecaries first (but also because he couldn't get to GM quickly enough), I take Grand markets first.

For the endgame, the potion is equally as important for vineyards.

Then QW gets a horrible T10. He draws his whole deck (it' 4 apos against 2 apos and two GMs) except for ... the storeroom. So he has Potion + 10 ... And buys an apothecary. I can really understand that this is frustrating.

In the end I'm getting scared because he has 7 apos against my 3 but I've stocked up seriously with GMs (6 vs. 1) and this is just begging for a megaturn. With the GMs in, I can start buying extra action cards for the vineyards. I'm down 2 provinces, but my vineyards start gaining points. In the end he buys the last province ... Only to be confronted with me having the explosive Apo/GM/Mystic/storeroom combo.

Very close. Again, would like to know how you guys would have played it.



Game 3 : Start of the black market shenanigans - MM begins, MM wins.

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140530/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1401444531671.txt



Code: [Select]
Vagrant, Black Market, Urchin, Bridge, JackOfAllTrades, Wandering Minstrel, Explorer, Ghost Ship, Journeyman, Mandarin
No shelters, provinces

I think this one is a win mostly due to luck, but let's analyze the board here, because there's a LOT going on.

BM has some interesting cards (mainly the +$2 is to get GS asap), but a lot of engine pieces are already on the board.
Now with GS on the board and Urchin, this looks like a trashing game, although ... Where do you get extra cards from to trash ? So you need +buy from Bridge or BM, but then you're not drawing enough ...
Also, Journeyman counter the GS attack, JoaT can counter both GS and Mercenary, but do you really want silvers here ... Well maybe, for the mercenaries to trash ...
You need to prioritize here. QW's 2/5 becomes Vagrant/GS, my 3/4 becomes BM/WM, picking up a GS on T3.

QW can't get the Mercenary quick enough (I got a lucky Urchin GS combo on T6) and that probably decides it. That and the awesome stuff I draw out of the BM deck (HoP, Herald, CM, Fairgrounds!!!). I get a WM/Bridge deck going and that starts doing the trick. I take a few provinces and three pile with Vagrants.

Unlucky for QW - I admit.



Game 4 : "I wanna do everything!" - MM begins, QW wins.

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140530/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1401445764921.txt



Code: [Select]
Vineyard, Crossroads, Ambassador, Black Market, Doctor, Workshop, Militia, Mine, Rabble, Peddler
No shelters, provinces.

Wow. What a nice board. Biggest problem : no villages, no + buy (except BM). BM will help with this of course. But there's Ambassador, Doctor ?, Militia, Rabble ... So confusing.

I decide I need at least 2 villages here in the form of CR and skip the BM for now. I want to counter Amb with Militia, so I open CR/Militia. Mweh, I'll pick up an Amb and/or BM later. He'll probably be throwing over estates in any case.

My plan is just way too slow and it shows. And I think I missed the key ingredient : BM gives actions, actions give peddlers ...

QW opens Amb/BM. And the BM ... is giving him all he needs. Tactician, Merchant Guild, Ironmonger, Scheme, Salvager ... They all work so incredible with the peddlers on the board. I can't even get a decent had together and with the MG/Tactician, he gets coins a plenty and Peddlers a plenty. Two megaturns (T16 + T18) seal the trick. The 44-13 shows that I got a severe beating here. Overrun by QW, nicely played.



Game 5 : "BM again, confusing ... again" - QW begins, MM wins.



Code: [Select]
Crossroads, Pearl Diver, Secret Chamber, Black Market, Alchemist, Cutpurse, Young Witch, Bazaar, Count, Harvest, Mystic
No shelters, provinces.

Meh, it's 2 - 2 and he can start two times now. Not a happy bunny.

A few things to consider here : BM is the bane and we have an extra coin token because baker is in the BM deck.

Nerve wrecking again. Now count/BM looks so interesting, but there's a lack of draw. There's a few interesting cards (Witch, Oracle, HP ...) in the deck, but ... yeah ... What do you do ?

Count/BM is QW's opening, I decide to take it somewhere else with Potion/YW (although I seriously considered the same opening). I'm hoping YW will also help me get the potion soon.

The power of young witch should be less of course, since with count, he will probably put BM back on top and trash the rest. Unfortunately for him, I get the YW in the hand where he DOESN'T get the BM in. I build up alchemists soon, he gets some nice witch/oracle, but can't really get the hands he wants. He has a thin deck, but the total draw just is missing. And with count (later on) I can get +$3, put something back, while I still have enough in hand (I don't care about trashing the curses anymore, also because I want to keep the potion in hand).

I counter significantly by getting Golem, GS and lighthouse out of the BM deck. LH protects me from the oracle discards and the curses and with so many actions ... But I have no +buy!!! Then BM rewards me with a Trade route, which becomes strong, since the duchies are being dealt with the count. I win.



Game 6 : "About prizes, cartographers and mountebanks"

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140530/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1401449309786.txt



Code: [Select]
Herbalist, Fishing Village, Menagerie, Advisor, Ironworks, Tournament, Baker, Cartographer, Mountebank, Royal Seal
No shelters, provinces. Jeez, Goko, again ... Can I get a non-standard game please ?

QW to start, Baker on the board ... Well yeah, we don't have to think twice. No trashing means ... Mountebank.

What else plays a role here ? IW/Advisor : not a good idea here. Cartographer to skip the junk AND also interesting to connect Tournament/Province, Menagerie/FV maybe ? - you need to watch out for the discard attack of the followers.

Another important point : no +buy. If we contest prizes, it's going to be Princess first probably.

It's 2 vs. 2 on mountebanks (I need to mirror him). To my surprise however, he gets a herbalist in. I don't like that choice here - Too much junk already in the deck. I understand you like +buy but I think Big Money is going to overrun you.

$6 is mostly spent on cartographers until all the curses are dealt out. I'm first to get the province, but he connects his to the tournament earlier and ... no surprise - he gets the princess. Damn.

But he has no menageries so my next prize will be ... Followers, even though there are no curses left. I hurt his hand 2 times in a row and I start building up seriously on Provinces. It still remains very close, we go for duchies next with the provinces and that means ... 2 piles already done. Okay, he now has the + buy but the followers keep on hurting and I'm up 8 points. With only 6 estates left, he will need to get a double estates and a province ... It proves impossible.



Very nerve wrecking, yet very interesting games. I'm glad I showed more decent strategy this time. Thanks for the games Qwertzuiop.

Note : he needed to play assemble_meme 1/2 hour later, I'm playing EgorK this afternoon ... I think we both will be very nervous :)

14
Dominion League / Re: Standings & Results thread
« on: May 30, 2014, 07:34:06 am »
D8-4 TheMirrorMan vs. D8-6 QwertZuiop : 4 - 2

15
Dominion League / Re: Game reports & discussion: D
« on: May 29, 2014, 05:32:44 pm »
I consider EgorK to be one of the top half players of my division and think he's the favorite in this game, but it's only 10 Iso levels this time and after the game against TheMirrorMan I don't fear anyone any more ;).

Good to know I keep on motivating you :) Wish I could motivate myself now ...

16
Dominion League / Re: Game reports & discussion
« on: May 25, 2014, 05:51:24 pm »
D8 : TheMirrorMan vs. hugovj : 4,5 - 1,5.

"Pass the dutchie on the left hand side"

Well it's good to know that there are still Dutch players that are not god-like Dominion machines :) Thanks hugovj for the games.

We talked a bit after the match and he seems to have gone up and down the last few weeks, just like me. You know, one of those weeks where you just can't get the strategy together. Fortunately in the games, I think my experience gave me the upper hand.



Game 1 : "The prize is ... right ?" - Win

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140525/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1401043163562.txt



Code: [Select]
Feast, Island, Rats, Scout, Taxman, Tournament, Count, Harvest, Minion, Witch
No shelters, provinces.

Well, you could do all sorts of interesting stuff here except ... there's Tournament on the board. Getting to $8 will be quite important. Other than that, Count, Witch and Minion play a role.

We differ quite quickly : I open Silver/Tournament, he opens Silver/Silver. I like mine better here because I already have Count in mind. If you have a dud hand, put the Tournament on top and trash. Got a silver or gold ? Topdeck that and trash the rest. And the +3 can come in handy for the province.

However, he has something else in mind - he goes witch, I go Count. I don't mind those curses (he picks up count later).

I get an early province but can't connect to the tournament - he picks up the first prize and I can't contest it.

Unfortunately, he makes bad choices here : Followers and bag of gold instead of Trusty steed or Princess (so he has 2 junkers now). I take those two which do wonders with Minions.

I also learnt (shame on me for not realizing this either) that a tournament does not necessarily HAVE to pick up something.

I win the minion split 6/4 and that seals the deal (picking up a witch later on).



Game 2 : "I hate rebuild" (quote Hugovj) - Win

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140525/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1401044052875.txt



Code: [Select]
Courtyard, Native Village, Scrying Pool, Black Market, Farming Village, Golem, Haggler, Merchant Guild, Rabble, Rebuild
No shelters, provinces.

There's baker in the black market so we both start with an extra coin. Rebuild and scrying pool seem important here, but with rebuild, you just don't have time for the latter.

Much to my surprise he opens Black market/Haggler, while I do Black market/Rebuild. Not that there's "real" interesting stuff in there, I just want the +$2.

T3 I get $5 and rebuild no. 2 is born. He tries to follow but when his deck gets together, I've already taken/rebuilt the Duchies. He's stuck with Provinces/Estates. Not much to say.



Game 3 : "Wish you well" - Win

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140525/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1401045190494.txt



Code: [Select]
Wishing Well, Philosopher's Stone, Cutpurse, Feodum, Worker's Village, City, Counting House, Market, Minion, Stash
No shelters, provinces.

Clean mirror here with Wishing well/Worker's vilage/Cutpurse/Minion/Cities.

When Minions start getting low, I go for cities to get the extra draw in. I take a province, then switch to cities whenever he's still trailing.

He buys up the Wishing wells, making my cities even stronger. But it doesn't work out in the end - he hits quite a few good hands with minions and my wishes seem to always miss their target. The moment I am well ahead (Minions and wishing wells gone), I get an awful discard by his minions. I've got 3 greens and one copper and even that one disappears after his cutpurse. So I'm nailbiting because I can't buy anything and he can potentially get back. But then ... Awful : he buys the last 2 cities, 3-piling himself. Sorry hugovj, that could have been a win.



Game 4 : "If it just weren't for those meddling gardens" - Loss

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140525/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1401045735804.txt



Code: [Select]
Shanty Town, Familiar, Gardens, Remodel, Bandit Camp, Catacombs, Counting House, Cultist, Saboteur, Tactician
No shelters, provinces.

Of course I see it! Of course I do! Familiar, cultist, such a nice junking board ... But then there's gardens. When to pick them ?

I open ST/Potion vs. Silver/Potion. Still like it more here, especially with cultist.

I miss one familiar with $2+P while he gets three. We both split a lot of the stuff though.

But then, at the crucial moment when piles are getting low, Hugo picks up the first garden while I have $1.

After that it's a real snowball. I try to contest gardens but I think I should have gotten a tactician a lot sooner. I keep on junking him, hoping to stop, trying to buy estates (wrong too, I should have kept on building economy). I can't keep up. Clean win for Hugo.



Game 5 : "Going to the chapel..." - Tie.

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140525/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1401046518285.txt



Code: [Select]
Chapel, Crossroads, Oracle, Woodcutter, Coppersmith, Taxman, Golem, Inn, Tactician, Farmland
No shelters, provinces.

Not the board I like to see when I desperately need a win. And I've got 2/5.

So question to the audience : Chapel + tactician or Chapel + Taxman here ? I wasn't sure at all. Probably Taxman is still better ?

I take Chapel + tactician thinking I can trash the whole lot very soon. Hugo takes Silver/chapel.

I'm okay, because I tactician on t3 and can trash all the estates and get a gold. But then what ? We continue with a gold and I keep a Copper with something in mind.

Okay, I've got 2 golds + 1 coppers in hand with a very thin deck. My plan : trash copper with farmland for crossroads. (Idea is to constantly have crossroads, trash farmland into province, restart). But I forget to keep the copper in hand, you know ... "Play treasures" without undo ... Not good.

I'm trailing because I cannot get enough money together for buying enough. In the end, I need to decide whether I take the tie or take another risky duchy while piles are low. I took the safe option.

Would like comments on the opening ...



Game 6 : "You need the economy" - Win

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140525/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1401047645294.txt



Code: [Select]
Crossroads, Fool's Gold, Secret Chamber, Chancellor, Marauder, Wandering Minstrel, Young Witch, Festival, Library, Treasury, Witch
No shelters, provinces - yes, boring, standard, I know. Chancellor is the bane.

Let's do it the other way around here. What don't you need ?

Crossroads : gonna be way too slow with the curses.
Fool's gold : I looked at library/festival, but again, with curses ?! No thank you. Way too slow.
Secret chamber : who buys this against junkers ?
Library : way too slow again with the curses.
Festival : ditto.
Chancellor : well this could be a maybe, but do you really want Chancellor/YW as opening ?
So it's : Young witch, Witch, treasury, Wandering Minstrel, Marauder.

We both open Silver/YW, but then transition into different strategies : Hugo goes for a second witch, I go for treasuries with Wandering minstrel.

I lose the split in curses 6/4 but ... the wandering minstrels skip these nicely. I build up in treasuries and economy for a long time until Hugo decides to go for province. At which point I just start greening heavily with all the golds I've picked up. His deck with only one gold just isn't good enough anymore, especially not when I switch to marauders to junk his deck again and get economy back.

Note : after the game I looked at the fact that a marauder actually would block a good Wandering minstrel strategy. But then you would love the curse split. So I think I made the right decision here.



End of the line : 4,5 - 1,5. It's not easy being "top seed" (although my ranking has dropped significantly). Thanks for the games Hugovj. Yet I will need to step up ...

17
Dominion League / Re: Results thread
« on: May 25, 2014, 04:08:05 pm »
D8-4 TheMirrorMan - D8-2 hugovj : 4,5 - 1,5 (TheMirrorMan wins)

18
Game Reports / Re: Sometimes Dominion can suck
« on: May 22, 2014, 01:28:42 pm »
Yes, now, don't overdo it either. Throw back whatever you have 2 from (2 estates > 2 coppers > 1 estate). Don't throw away all your economy though :)

19
Dominion League / Re: Game reports & discussion
« on: May 21, 2014, 07:52:49 pm »
Assemble ALL the stuff :). Nice game titles overall except Game 4 maybe ;)

It was a pun on the "Why not Zoidberg ?" meme :)

20
Dominion League / Re: Game reports & discussion
« on: May 21, 2014, 06:11:40 pm »
My 2 cents on the match :

My first match of any tournament didn't go without any trouble, but here is my look at it:

Game 1
Log: http://gokologs.drunkensailor.org/static/logprettifier.html?20140521/log.513880ece4b006f8dc8ce4c2.1400696508427.txt


Code: [Select]
Poor House, Crossroads, University, Trade Route, Bridge, JackOfAllTrades, Quarry, Venture, Goons, Expand


I'm wondering if Crossroads/Poor House isn't a thing here. Maybe open potion/TR, trash the coppers and use university for getting Bridges and as many CR/PH as you can ?

Edit : CR/JoaT looks nice, but often turns out anti-synergetic - you trash your fuel for the crossroads and get silvers in your deck which do not help the crossroads either.

Quote
Game 2
Log: http://gokologs.drunkensailor.org/static/logprettifier.html?20140521/log.513880ece4b006f8dc8ce4c2.1400697583845.txt


Code: [Select]
Stonemason, Doctor, Forager, Great Hall, Swindler, Bridge, Militia, Tournament, Trading Post, Witch

Tournament on the board always makes the strategy different. I'm wondering if you could open Tourn/Swindler or Tourn/Doctor and go directly for money ? Your deck becomes really thin, swindler won't be able to hit a lot and you're going to get Tourn/Province quite soon.

Quote
Game 3
Log: http://gokologs.drunkensailor.org/static/logprettifier.html?20140521/log.513880ece4b006f8dc8ce4c2.1400699835941.txt


Code: [Select]
Hermit, Loan, Ironworks, Island, Mining Village, Counterfeit, Embassy, Highway, Mine, Peddler

The Hermit is really important here. it enables quick trashing and cycling and with highways you can start picking up extra highways/counterfeits/peddlers after that.

Quote
Game 5
Log: http://gokologs.drunkensailor.org/static/logprettifier.html?20140521/log.513880ece4b006f8dc8ce4c2.1400702666523.txt


Code: [Select]
Hermit, Steward, Swindler, Envoy, Gardens, Taxman, Junk Dealer, Pillage, Torturer, NoblesI'm starting to worry and already see a 6-0 heading my way.. And then this board. Nobles is a big card here, trashing is everywhere. So you just want to buy a lot of Nobles and play some Torturers and trash down, right? Well, we both decide to do this, he has some luck and plays better than me. His Swindler hits me hard, while my is swindled away soon and I don't play my replacement often, I draw it dead a lot. He ends it with a surprisingly small margin.

I would consider hermit/swindler here. Your hermit is going to help against the cursing attack by the torturers. And you're going to get nobles much faster than your opponent

Quote
Game 6
Log: http://gokologs.drunkensailor.org/static/logprettifier.html?20140521/log.513880ece4b006f8dc8ce4c2.1400703611926.txt


Code: [Select]
Beggar, Candlestick Maker, Warehouse, Wishing Well, Advisor, Treasure Map, Jester, Mandarin, Hunting Grounds, Expand

I am sincerely still amazed about how long it takes to make WH/TM work. The HG was a really good call here!

21
Dominion League / Re: Game reports & discussion
« on: May 21, 2014, 04:32:58 pm »
Well here goes ... You're top seeded in the division and everybody wants to win against you now ... The burden :)



Game 1 : "Assemble the fool's gold!"

TheMirrorMan starts, TheMirrorMan wins

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140521/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1400695693160.txt



Code: [Select]
Courtyard, Fool's Gold, Navigator, Trader, Treasure Map, Catacombs, Junk Dealer, Pillage, Soothsayer, Witch
Shelters, provinces

We both get 3/4 split. Not sure what to open here. You want the witch and the junk dealer and maybe a trader ?

I open CY/Trader, AM opens CY/FG. Not sure if it is better. Positive side : you can build up economy. Negative : that pseudo copper at the moment is not going to get you quick to the Junk dealer/witch.

To be honest, my trader didn't do much against his witch, I never had it in hand when the witch was played. The FG strategy goes off in the beginning but my witch starts hurting him quite a few times. I think some extra junk dealers on AM's side might have done the trick (instead of more provinces).

His deck starts to stall in the end and I scarcely can end it.

Edit : I think Silver/Trader is better here. I don't want that CY since I'm going to have witch as a terminal in any case. I'm still not convinced about FG.



Game 2 : "Reassemble by swindling"

Assemble Meme starts, Assemble Meme wins

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140521/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1400696415138.txt



Code: [Select]
Swindler, Death Cart, Horse Traders, JackOfAllTrades, Silk Road, Smithy, City, Horn of Plenty, Library, Pillage
No shelters, provinces

We both have 3/4. Only trashing in JoaT. Swindler and cities look important enough. Swindler seems obvious to me, but AM doesn't take it and goes Silver/HT ? I just don't like this here, that Swindler is going to give you headaches and the more curses are gone, the better city becomes. you want HT at one point for the double buy of course, but that can happen later.

I get quite lucky, each time my Swindler hits his and I win the city split 7 to 2. My JoaT shoves too much silvers in the way however and I really can't get my deck together. The moment I get the upper hand he gets $8 and ... ends the game. Damn.

Edit : I think I should have stopped buying cities (when I'm ahead on them) and taking more Smithys. Serious mistake.



Game 3 : "In Russia, Swindler reassembles YOU!"

TheMirrorMan begins, TheMirrorMan wins

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140521/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1400697056958.txt



Code: [Select]
Poor House, Forager, Steward, Swindler, Nomad Camp, Pirate Ship, Treasure Map, Hunting Party, Goons, Forge
No shelters, provinces

3/4 again for both. Trashing in Steward (but it's a terminal ...) and forager. HP for drawing the deck.

It's a bit of a think for both of us. I decide to get Forager/Swindler, AM goes Silver/Swindler - hoping to get to the HP soon. Okay, but now I'm throwing a lot of curses in his deck and ... I've seen the interesting Forager/Goons.

We both go for HPs, he has some back luck with the swindling in the beginning but then starts hitting my HPs (3 times). So at one point I decide to shove a goons in, buy some coppers and trash them again. In the end, I buy a forge to go into the endgame, while I think he buys Duchies a bit too quickly instead of Goons and/or forager. The trash in his deck starts to hurt.



Game 4 : "Why not Saboteur?"

Assemble Meme begins, Assemble Meme wins

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140521/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1400698528032.txt



Code: [Select]
Candlestick Maker, Squire, Forager, Sage, Watchtower, Counting House, Explorer, Mandarin, Saboteur, Hunting Grounds
Shelters, provinces

The Squire/CM/Forager/WT engine seems clear and we both go for it (+ Hunting Grounds). I win Squire split 6/4 which I believe is that more important than getting the first WT in.

My T3 is a bit awkward with Forager/Necropolis/3 coppers. Do I trash a copper and give him +1 or trash the necropolis ? I decided the last.

Now I think I make a crucial mistake by getting the saboteur waaaaay too late (should have been one of the first turns). You REALLY want to trash those WTs ASAP. I am in the lead for quite some time, but in the end I just can't get my hands together as I want, even with 2 saboteurs against one. I trash some silvers, which of course you want here, because that will get your engine rolling more. I lose by AM doing a megaturn in the end. Damn. Frustrating.

His intermediate buy of a Mandarin here was a really good idea. And he was so nice not to take anything when I trashed his province with saboteur :)

Edit : the more I think about this board, the more I would open Forager x 2 and only then get into Squire/watchtower. It would enable the saboteurs and give me money.



Game 5 : "Do NOT assemble torturers here!"

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140521/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1400699199045.txt



Code: [Select]
Courtyard, Watchtower, Coppersmith, Marauder, Nomad Camp, Hunting Party, Torturer, Venture, Altar, Peddler
No shelters, provinces

Well, we both get 5/2, which is fair here. AM opens HP/-. I decide to open Torturer/CY, doubting seriously about the CY.

To quote AM : "Torturer doesn't do much here". If he only picked up one curse somewhere ... But he doesn't. Although we split HPs 5/5 ... he is quicker in the money and in the greens, using Peddlers via a Nomad camp. It doesn't help here that I get some really dud ($4) hands, but that is because I refused to build better economy. I got outplayed here.

Note : I've had a similar game against Stef where he also went HP above Torturer. I should learn more from my mistakes.

Edit : blegh, I still stay with the Torturer, but not with CY. That was a correct assessment of you, AM. The moment I hit $6 I should buy a gold.



Game 6 : "Assemble eachothers decks!"

Assemble Meme begins, TheMirrorMan wins

Log : http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140521/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1400700566732.txt



Code: [Select]
Transmute, Beggar, Haven, Bazaar, Count, Governor, Haggler, Outpost, Vault, Possession
No shelters, provinces

Goko decided to makes us restart 4 times. I just wanted me to begin!

I get 5/2, AM doesn't. Really unfair because count + Governor + Possession is going to be hell.

Getting my deck clean with count, then a Governor, remodel into potion, some golds and let the possessing begin.

Then at one point (while he has caught up with me), I suddenly see the danger. He possesses me in a hand with Golds and can remodel golds into provinces, with two purposes :

1) You're getting greens
2) You're hindering the possession of your opponent.

Unfortunately he doesn't play it ... the moment I get my turns, I am quick to remodel and turn the tables.

Note to all : you can't use the governor on the possession to get a province. Learnt that some time ago.



Well that makes it 3 - 3. Not a good start. Guess I'll have to make up for that in the next rounds eh ? ;)

22
Dominion League / Re: Results thread
« on: May 21, 2014, 03:31:59 pm »
D8-4 (TheMirrorMan) - D8-5 (Assemble Meme) : 3 - 3

23
Dominion General Discussion / Re: Is Possession an Attack?
« on: May 16, 2014, 01:47:39 pm »
Regardless whether we consider it an attack ... You can't turn it into an attack. Possession, squire and trashing on the board (preferably chapel) and I have 2 consecutive turns from turn 5 on. Of course my opponent probably will too. So we have a complete stalemate.

24
ArjanB : the idea would be to do the preliminaries online. Last year, the preliminaries were really poor (I heard some being cancelled in NL, in BE we had exactly ... one!) ... That's why I would prefer online, the finals should be live.

Dirkdebeule & Awaclus : I agree with Awaclus here. 3 player is nice, but the real strategy of a dominion player is more shown in heads up. To quote one of my friends : "witch on the board, no reaction, no gardens, I don't have 5/2, the other two do ... I'm screwed" - he got $4+ after 10 turns ...).

As for the number of sets needed, in BE we did a very simple rule, which can be easily extended. Take one box of each extension you have. Suppose we have 4, that gives us about 100 cards. Take 10 at random cards for each table (with young witch as an exception). You can set up 10 games this way.

25
Game Reports / Re: Robz vs Pirate Ship
« on: May 13, 2014, 02:02:40 pm »
The lack of +buy goes hand in hand with the lack of any alternative economy. There's no +coin in this deck except for mining village and this is only temporary, so is moneylender with the side effect that you're going to run out of copper soon.

I'm even doubting if you can "just" play potion here ...

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