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26

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Alchemy 2nd Edition

« on: October 05, 2016, 04:22:05 pm »

The problem I have with Pstone is that if I'm sloggin' away, then I won't see the Potion before a longish while (and the Stone after a longer while), and when I'll see it there will be a very real possibility that I won't hit 3p and then I'll just feel sad.
Maybe if it cost 2p or less I'd feel more comfortable going for it.

Plan ahead.

In a Mountebank slog I once invested in my Potion on Turn 3/4. knowing that I absolutely needed the PS for any chance of getting Province.  As the game slogged on victory was assured as each PS became a guaranteed Province.

PS is certainly a niche card but it enables strategies and counters that are otherwise unattainable.  In my opinion, that gives it an extremely good reason to stay.  There are certainly buffs that could be had like $2P for easier accessibility and perhaps a +Buy to make it easier to use excess cash.  But suffice to say, it fills a role in dominion that currently no other card does making it a well designed card.

I agree, I love the card (despite potentially slow resolve times irl), but does P. Stone really benefit from having a potion cost, though? I feel it would be a niche card with or without the potion cost, so gating it off hurts it a lot more than other potion cards. I wonder how much better a P. Stone that only costs coins would be.

One thing this would do is that PS'd help you pick up more of itself - which, interestingly, would go with Alchemy's self-synergy theme. It'd have to cost $5, maybe even $6, but considering the self-synergy, i'm not even convinced this would be too much. It already costs "more" than $5, after all.

The problem is that it would really have to cost more than $6.  Perhaps the best comparison is Bank at $7 which is a Kingdom Treasure without an upper bound and is really the opposite of PS.  Bank is best is where you are drawing your entire deck thus maximizing Banks value.  Because it can be both better or worse than Gold depending on how it is played its at $7.  I don't think there are any complaints about Banks cost. 

The difference with PS is that it shines in decks where you don't/can't draw your deck.  In those situations your PS's gradually gain power as the game progresses.  The challenge is that for some of those games, the $7 price range is unattainable.  With $3P, you limit the access to PS but at the same time increase its accesability in sloggy games as $3P (equivalent of $5) is much much easier to attain than just a straight $7.  If it were a straight $5, it would be too overpowered/accessible in its current state. 

27

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Alchemy 2nd Edition

« on: October 05, 2016, 10:07:12 am »

The problem I have with Pstone is that if I'm sloggin' away, then I won't see the Potion before a longish while (and the Stone after a longer while), and when I'll see it there will be a very real possibility that I won't hit 3p and then I'll just feel sad.
Maybe if it cost 2p or less I'd feel more comfortable going for it.

Plan ahead.

In a Mountebank slog I once invested in my Potion on Turn 3/4. knowing that I absolutely needed the PS for any chance of getting Province.  As the game slogged on victory was assured as each PS became a guaranteed Province.

PS is certainly a niche card but it enables strategies and counters that are otherwise unattainable.  In my opinion, that gives it an extremely good reason to stay.  There are certainly buffs that could be had like $2P for easier accessibility and perhaps a +Buy to make it easier to use excess cash.  But suffice to say, it fills a role in dominion that currently no other card does making it a well designed card.

28

Dominion World Masters / Re: Official Dominion Tournament at U-Con, Nov. 12 2016, Ypsilanti, MI, 1pm - 11pm

« on: October 03, 2016, 02:11:15 pm »

Ahhh, the good yearly tradition comes with a story about last year.

Last year it conveniently worked out that my wife was gone for a conference in North Carolina the exact weekend of U-con.  That meant all day for Dominion without missing any time otherwise spent together. 

Well last year we had a weather anomaly with a massive snow storm in early November.  For me, this was no big deal as I've been a Michigander my whole life.  The thing is, the tournament went so late into the night leaving my cell phone more and more battery depleted.  My wife didn't know that.  She is trying to get up with me around midnight and I am not responding because 1.) I'm having a great time at the tournament (even though I didn't make the finals) and 2.) My phone is dead.

As a result, my wife thought that I might be in an overturned car on the highway between Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor.  :/

So this year I have one rule for attending U-con...... I'm bringing a phone charger.

29

Let's Discuss ... / Re: Let's Discuss Landmarks: Defiled Shrine

« on: September 29, 2016, 12:21:32 pm »

Just played my first game IRL with this Landmark.  LOVE IT!  Seriously one of the most innovative additions to the Landmark family.

+Buy cards become almost a must get in the opening turns as that additional buy can turn into a fair number of VP chips for only a curse in deck.  Without a +Buy readily accessible relative opportunity costs are essential.  At what price point and for how many chips are you will to not get a card that you want and instead buy a curse?  That question is so hard to answer and really adds to the dynamics of the early game.

30

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Seaside 2nd generation

« on: September 28, 2016, 01:29:22 pm »

Pearl Diver and Navigator.

PD just isn't compelling in what it adds to a given kingdom.  Buff it by allowing the revealed card to either go on top of the deck or the discard pile.  Then you actually get to dive for a different pearl each play rather than revealing Estate on your first play and then getting no benefit from your next 3 played that hand.

Navigator is simply outclassed as a $4-cost card. especially with Scavenger giving more options for what goes on top and better cycling power.  Make it $3 or give it a little buff and it stays imo.

31

General Discussion / Re: Fun Recipes

« on: September 28, 2016, 09:19:42 am »

Incidentally, I recently discovered pomegranate molasses. It's not horrible or terribly sweet like I feared it would be, and it's not got alcohol in it, so I guess it's maybe a suitable wine replacement in the recipes above, given that the original recipe remit specified no alcohol.

Of course, it might not be available in "most grocery stores", so maybe my attempt fails on that count, but it's available in the "cooks' ingredients" section of the up-market supermarket near my house :-)

Pomegranate molasses makes a great add in to salad dressings or in conjunction with a vinegar when sautéing fresh vegetables or greens!

My favorite chef, Yotam Ottalengi, uses this a ton in his recipes. His cookbooks are fantastic. The dishes are all Mediterranean and delicious. On paper they seem a bit complex by when you actually get cooking they are very accessible.

32

Dominion General Discussion / Re: RIP Adventurer

« on: September 27, 2016, 09:34:34 am »

He was already dead through Prosperity when Venture came out.....  :/

33

General Discussion / Re: Fun Recipes

« on: September 27, 2016, 09:12:33 am »

(no cup measurements here, sorry; it's the German way)

The more fresh ingredients, the better of course.

If all cooking was in metric volume / mass the world would be a better place. 

Can't say enough about fresh ingredients.  My wife and I pick up most all of our produce on a biweekly basis from a local farm.  Everything is by far more flavorful and rich than anything in the supermarket.

34

General Discussion / Re: Fun Recipes

« on: September 26, 2016, 05:25:00 pm »

Risotto of any kind is going to be good - it does involve cooking wine, but all the alcohol cooks out: http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013639-fresh-fava-bean-and-shrimp-risotto

Risotto can be bought at any store, it will be with the rice. It is a little bit extra, but not that much more expensive. Fava beans can be hard to come by, but you can sub in any green veggie like asparagus, just probably cook for a little bit longer.

With fall coming, my go to risotto is a Butternut Squash Risotto.

Dice onions and cook over medium heat with a few tablespoons olive oil in a large dutch oven.  Get a quart of veggie stock warming in a separate pan.  In the same pan as onions, add Arborio rice and cook until grains are starting to get translucent (just a minute or two).  Deglaze your pan with some white wine (fancy way of saying, pour some wine into the pot and stir everything off the bottom.  Cook the wine off and then start ladling your warm stock into the pot.  Ladle your stock into the pot in 1 cup increments until the rice is cooked.  General procedure is add stock, let it absorb, add more stock, etc....  Season your Risotto with some salt, pepper and sage.

As you start your Risotto rice prep, you will want to be prepping the butternut squash.  Cut in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds, turn upside down and roast in the oven at 400F until flesh and tender and easily pierced with a fork or knife.  Scoop out flesh and puree in blender or food processor with a small amount of butter, heavy cream or milk to help it mix. 

When your risotto rice is cooked, stir in your butternut squash and around a cup of Parmigiano cheese.  When serving, drizzle with a maple-balsamic glaze which is made by putting maple syrup and balsamic vinegar in a pan and heating until volume is reduced by about 1/2.  Try to make the glaze a bit early in the cooking process as the extra cooling gives it the proper viscosity.

I know this sounds like a lot, but proper multi-tasking and organization make things flow pretty seamlessly.  I

35

General Discussion / Re: Fun Recipes

« on: September 26, 2016, 12:23:24 pm »

My wife and I are hard-core foodies so this thread is right up my alley.  My first suggestion is Mac & Cheese. You will never want to buy the box again.

1.)  Get water boiling for your noodles.  Shells, macaroni, penne, whatever floats your boat.

2.)  Dice 1 Medium onion and saute with 3 tablespoons in a large cast iron (preferable) or dutch oven over medium/high heat until fully translucent. 
      (a)  <OPTIONAL>  When onions are cooked and starting to get translucent add 2-3 hot chili peppers (diced).  Cook for another couple of minutes.

3.)  Add another 3 tablespoons of butter to the pan and melt.  Then add roughly 1/4 cup all purpose flour and stir in until smooth.  Add 1 1/2 cup heavy cream or whole milk depending on how sinful you desire your final product to be.  I prefer the heavy cream.  Stir in heavy cream and cook until you get a slight simmer (should be just about a minute).  At this point add in salt and pepper to taste (about a teaspoon each).  I also like to add about a teaspoon or two of ground mustard.

4.)  Add 1-2 cups of grated cheese.  Your cheese matters.  Yes you could used pre-grated Kraft or Sargentos but it won't be as good.  This past week my wife and I used a combination of smoked Gouda and goat cheese.  As a ROT, your mac and cheese will only ever be as good as the cheese you put in it.  Spend the couple of extra dollars here.  Even with a nicer cheese this recipe will not break the bank.  A good cheddar would also be a great choice.  Stir in you cheese until melted.

5.)  Drain your cooked pasta and add to your cheesy sauce.  You can mix everything together in your cast iron skillet or dutch oven.

6.)  Top with bread crumbs or crushed cracker.

7.)  Put in oven for 10 minutes in order to slightly brown.

This whole process from start to finish should take 30-45 minutes.  You can do all sorts of great things to modify this and create different flavor profiles depending on what add ins and cheese types you use.  My suggestion if you are voracious bacon lovers, then cube some bacon and start by first cooking it in your skillet before the other steps.  Seriously some good eats right there.  All of the juicy bacon fat mixed in with butter and cheese is a delicacy for the angels.

36

Dominion Online at Shuffle iT / Re: Creating Dominion

« on: September 02, 2016, 10:28:26 am »

I definitely should have gone into industry rather than (ancillary) academia; all of these salaries except Donald's are higher than any salary I've ever had.

But you can't put a price tag on enriching the minds of others and yourself through the pursuit and transfer of knowledge. 

37

Help! / Re: Seprix's Game Report Centre

« on: August 26, 2016, 12:53:58 pm »

On your Turn 3 you could have Summon'd another Remake.  This would increase your trashing tempo and get you do the draw you deck stage faster.  You can always Remake one of them into a $5 if they collide.

Engine games like this can be won in the early/mid game by one person getting just a turn or two ahead in tempo.  By the end of the game that extra early tempo often turns into control of a potential 3-pile.

38

Dominion World Masters / Re: Gencon Tournament 2016

« on: August 04, 2016, 11:25:39 am »

If I were going I would be sure to scout you out. 

39

Game Reports / Re: Opponent saved by an outpost turn

« on: August 01, 2016, 10:42:05 am »

But that's the thing: A second Moneylender is pretty awful. That's two useless terminal cards once you clear out the coppers.

It's not AS bad in a Governor game since you can Remodel it on an opponent's turn into a Governor or Duchy or something. But it's much less defendable than, say, two Spice Merchant in a Governor game, which is actually a good idea.

Let's not be talking a bunch of edgecases. Second Moneylender here is bad, period. Mining Village is much better of a buy, both for surprise Remodels and burning on the last turn.

Duchy and Governor are always options on a Governor board, these aren't extreme edge cases.  I like Hamlet as a Village on this board as it is also a +Buy option.  Moneylender is not just about clearing Copper here, it's also for hitting $5 which it does quite well at.  If you open Hamlet/Moneylender on this board you can support a 2nd Moneylender without the extra Silver.

40

Game Reports / Re: Opponent saved by an outpost turn

« on: August 01, 2016, 10:15:34 am »

$4-cost cards can become either Governor or Duchy on an opponent trash.  Either option can be a nuisance and can help with the Governor split or be unexpected VP.  In Governor mirrors you rarely get a mega turn gaining all the Provinces.  Finding ways to get a few extra Duchies can help in endgame control.

41

Dominion Articles / Re: Delve: A Brief Overview

« on: July 22, 2016, 04:28:41 pm »

Although, this only considers money density. I wonder if gold is still better to get spikier turns?

Yes. A common problem with masterpiece is that you hit 7 income hands frequently.

If you have the option to buy 2 silvers this is equivalent in 'money density' to buying 1 copper and 1 gold. Buying just 1 gold is generally superior.

$7 is not as bad in a Masterpiece game as it is other BM style games.  In the building stage where you are overpaying, $7 nets you 4 Silver and 1 Masterpiece.  This is much better than Gold.  Once you reach the greening stage your deck will typically have an average density of around $1.5/card.  That is practically a Province every other turn.  And with a deck that takes 6-7 hands before reshuffling, that's 3-4 Provinces with 3-4 Duchies before you start with a more diluted deck.  Even if you have to settle for more Duchies because of unfortunate $7's you at least have a deck that is more capable of spiking future Province buys.

I know people don't like BM strategies and I agree.  It's just my opinion that Masterpiece/BM really is the core BM strategy much more so than Smithy/BM.  People don't give enough credit for how Masterpiece fundamentally makes the best possible BM strategy. 

I haven't done the sims to back this up, but I would wager that given optimal strategies, BM/Masterpiece/X will beat BM/X for any kingdom card X.

42

Game Reports / Re: Spy vs. Apothecary

« on: July 20, 2016, 04:01:29 pm »

Who needs Spy? Spy sucks. Maybe get Spy if you have $4 with Haggler. Complete waste of time. Open Potion/Silver, get a Horse Traders and a Haggler at some point. Apothecary is the game plan here.

Apothecary chokes hard on green.  With Spy, you should be able to reliably discard a VP card.  Obviously you won't need the entire pile, but given an Apothecary mirror, the player with Spy will win more often than that without.

43

General Discussion / Re: Brag Board

« on: July 18, 2016, 10:11:36 am »

Exciting weekend news for me.  My wife and I can now be considered proud parents!

We brought home our little Napoleon last friday and have had a wonderful first weekend together. 

There's just something endearing about seeing a cute little 7 week old Vizsla puppy rolling around in the grass looking up at you with a playful expression. 

44

Game Reports / Re: How would you play this?

« on: July 14, 2016, 09:02:00 am »

On your thoughts -

1.)  Border Villages will be empty by the time Duplicate could have a chance of emptying the pile in a megaturn.  You could potentially get 1 or 2 extra BV from Duplicate though, just not the bulk of the pile.
2.)  Developing a BV puts a KC/Wharf on top of you deck.  This is a strong play
3.)  Ultimately, yes, you want to be making KC trees with your draw and other trash for benefit cards.  Develop is especially notable here as it gains 2 cards for the price of one.  A well played turn will use cards gained on a given turn to gain more cards that turn thus emptying the supply and winning the game extremely abruptly.
4.)  Develop/Silver is my opening of choice.  You need the Silver to bootstrap you up to $6.  You also need the Develop for trashing higher value cards later.  Early it can be used to get rid of Estates.  I don't like Menagerie as an opening as it won't draw 3 cards and towards the end game you are likely going to have enough draw without it.  I would however, Develop my Estates into Menagerie as a 2nd Silver is not needed.
5.)  Peasant line contains Disciple.  Teacher seems unnecessary as all the proper engine components are present.  Disciple however aids in controlling the 3-pile end game condition.
6.)  You are right, KC/Wharf is much better.  A ranger or two would be good as it can be good to have extra draw cards available to play.  It does compete with Duplicate at $4.  Duplicate can be used to gain extra Border Villages in the building phase and then work towards 3-pile control at the end. 

This is a very reactive game.  How each 5 card starting hand presents itself will have vast implications on how fast you build.  This game will be won by who first gets to the point where no hand is a dud hand.  Trashing helps prevent these duds.  I would get Upgrade with my first $5 or $6 (from BV) and then prioritize Wharf.  The little bit of initial trashing will get you to where you need to be.  Combined with the Develop opening, reliability should come as soon as you start getting your first Wharves in play.  From there it is an exponential rise to the win.

45

General Discussion / Re: Cars and Phones

« on: July 11, 2016, 02:56:09 pm »

Regarding the car, used Volts are a phenomenal deal right now.  My used 2013 Volt which came fully loaded (heated seats, leather, upgraded sound, navigation, e.g.) would have been a 40k car 3 years ago came in for me at just under 15k including taxes, registration, etc...

If you have a regular commute of 30-40 miles each day I would seriously look into one.  If you don't know how it works, your first 40ish miles (depends on weather and driving style) are pure electric miles.  Then you car essentially turns into a hybrid (like a Prius) and gets 40mpg.  The only times I ever use gas are when I'm doing an errand after work that requires an extensive amount of driving or when I'm going on a large road trip.  The gas tank allows for almost an extra 300 miles worth of driving so there is no danger of getting stuck.  If you never go beyond the 40 miles and recharge your car every night you will never use a drop of gasoline.

It's also insanely fun to drive.  Having an electric motor (no transmission shifting) makes it seem as if you are just gliding across the road.  Seriously one of the most smooth rides you will ever have.  As for acceleration, put the Volt into sport mode and you almost feel like you are in a rocket when you push the accelerator.

As for functionality, the hatchback trunk and foldable back seats make for a fair amount of cargo space if you are okay with only having 1 other passenger.  My wife and I fit both of our road bikes in ours this past weekend with room to spare since we have been too cheap to buy a rack.  The main cons which some people have (I haven't had a problem yet) is that the back seat only supports two people instead of a bench that could have 3.  Also, if you are trying to pack for a vacation with 4 people, the trunk would probably be a bit on the small side.  But the small trunk is completely remedied if you are willing to fold a seat or two down for extra storage.

Another great perk is that parking structures usually have dedicated EV charging at the front on the 1st story.  I've been sending pictures of my easy parking adventures during exceptionally busy events to my cousin who claimed I was only getting this car for the good parking spots.

One small con is that you do need to use premium gasoline, but if you maximize your use of electric driving this really doesn't matter too much as you aren't buying much gas anyways.

Also, I am not affiliated with GM in any way.  This is just that good of a car.

46

Game Reports / Re: Torturer or no?

« on: July 01, 2016, 11:41:57 am »

First off, nice work with the 3-player.

I would open Hermit/Masquerade here.  The thing about Torturer in this game, is that it is not worth it until you can reliably draw and play your entire deck each turn.  That requires extensive trashing with both Hermit/Masquerade followed by good Throne Room paired with other +action.  A random Torturer play here and there won't do much.  However a sustained 2-3 Torturers per turn after an initial build could be devastating.  You don't want to be in a stage where when you add your 2 Torturers and then you can no longer support the play of all your actions.  A Haggler would be helpful in this build phase as you can add a Throne Room in conjunction with your Torturer.  Oasis is a nice gain with Hermit as it provides lubrication to your deck for ensuring your Throne Rooms have an ideal target.

47

Game Reports / Re: Watch my opponent and I make so many mistakes...

« on: June 30, 2016, 03:10:14 pm »

Is it viable to go full duplicate/silver and then empty the duchy pile in a single buy and then do the same for duke?  If you overpay for duplicate on a $5 hand you need to use said duplicate twice for it to make up for itself. Once for duchies I guess and then again for duke.

48

Help! / Re: Seprix's Game Report Centre

« on: June 29, 2016, 08:36:11 am »

The worst case scenarios are pretty bad (stewards colliding, missing the shuffle, or both)

Plan/Steward is slightly better than the best case for Steward/Steward (since you get a clean shuffle)
In this case removing a card (plan) leads to getting thin faster than adding a card (steward)

Planning to avoid the worst case is phenomenal.  This advice is golden and clearly shows why one path is better than the other.

49

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Economy

« on: June 28, 2016, 04:00:27 pm »

In a broad sense, a BM economy is your a measure of your average $/hand and how said average responds to dilution by victory cards.

An engine economy is better represented by the maximum amount of $/gains you can expect to maintain and build to for each new hand.

50

Dominion General Discussion / Re: McGarnacle's Kingdom of the Week #1 Cities and Knights

« on: June 27, 2016, 03:46:41 pm »

I would keep it as is. The lack of both a formal trasher and +Buy make this an intriguing kingdom.

The three pile is so hard to predict, time and orchestrate that this in my opinion makes for a good kingdom as is.