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51

Game Reports / Re: Monument vs Provinces

« on: June 23, 2016, 01:43:32 pm »

I'd Open Masquerade/Ferry (on Bazaar).  Then next shuffle Ball into double Bazaar and a 2nd Masquerade or just straight Bazaar/Masquerade.  Win the Bazaar split.  As the only Village it is the only way to get as many Monument plays as possible.  When you've won the Bazaar split, Ball as many Monuments as you can expect to reasonably play in a turn.  Throw in a Storyteller for getting more consistent draw.  Draw out the game as long as necessary to win.

52

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Greatest Moments uhh... I mean Misclicks of Dominion 2013

« on: June 23, 2016, 12:23:20 pm »

We could get shark_bait to change the thread title.

But then the nostalgia is gone.

it is possible that I could be bribed....

53

Game Reports / Re: Frustration.

« on: June 22, 2016, 05:21:57 pm »

This reminds me of the time where my opponent replaced my Chapel with Estate via Swindler 4 times in the same game.  Obviously I had to keep re-buying it and it kept getting replaced.

54

Dominion: Empires Previews / Re: Empires Bonus Preview #1: Villa

« on: May 10, 2016, 10:32:03 am »

Play 4 Bridges and empty the pile!

You only need 3, it gives you +$1. 

55

Dominion: Empires Previews / Re: Empires Previews #1: Debt

« on: May 09, 2016, 01:08:49 pm »

Buying debt cards while possessing someoen sounds pretty good.

Oh right. I forgot to mention it, but Possession is getting errata. No joke, errata. It will now cause the possessing player to also get all tokens the other player would have gotten. This means they will also get VP tokens, which wasn't the point, but was the simplest way to make debt + Possession not suck.

Possessor getting the VP or Possessee getting the debt?

I'd go for the latter.  At least in that case it encourages both players to build their decks.  And the Possessor would be forced to pay off debt if possessing multiple turns in a row.  VP tokens going to the Possessor takes away from one very appealing counter to Possession.

EDIT:  Dear goodness.... 30 replies while writing this post.  Haven't read them yet, brute forcing myself in.

56

Other Games / Re: Pandemic Legacy

« on: May 05, 2016, 04:03:38 pm »

6/6 through June.  End of June was a doozy.  Could have eradicated Hell's Blood (red disease) but decided to take care of San Francisco which was sitting at 3 cubes of Brackish Plague (blue) with a very high probability of being drawn.  Instead, we drew the epidemic card right at the start of a new stack.  My wife was sitting on Ho Chi Min city with 2 Cubes.  Bottom card was Hong Kong (adjacent to Ho Chi Min).  Okay, NBD.  Nope.  First card drawn..... Hong Kong.  I swear this is the most infuriating thing.  The only outbreaks we've had this entire series have been caused in this manner.  Now Ho Chi Min city (where my wife is currently residing) has 3 cubes.  Next card...... yup, Ho Chi Min city.

July tonight hopefully.  This game keeps getting better every month. 

@Kirian.... we are going to achieve 12 plays.  My wife is an epidemiologist.  She was born to win this game.

57

Help! / Re: Goons, Drunk, on Horseback

« on: May 05, 2016, 08:41:37 am »

This deck can soak up extra coppers well with the Stables/Apothecary action.

58

Game Reports / Re: Cultist Fail

« on: April 28, 2016, 02:34:49 pm »

The Forager/Marauder open will hit Marauder once on T3/4 again on T5/6 and then a 3rd time between Turns 7-9.   Assuming reasonable draws you get 3 Cultists in your deck by the end of Turn 6.  At this point you've played 1 or 2 Cultists ($5/$5 on T3/T4).  Turns 7 and 8 should cycle through your 3 Cultists.  Then 9 and 10 should do the same.  My rough guess is that you will get around 8 Cultist plays by turn 10.  In that time your opponent will have been able to hit you 2 or 3 times with Marauder.

Even if you got your Cultists off at the beginning, you really are playing Cultist/BM in the initial part of the game.  The challenge of transitioning from this strategy to engine lies in the lack of a village.  To trash down you must have your thinner in hand before playing any Cultist.  Yes, you can buy Golem, but unless it hits a Forager your turn is over.  As I see it, a Silver/Silver opening into Cultist pigeon holes you into playing Cultist/BM due to lack of viable transitions.  Even going for Golem is tricky as you first need Potion and then get to Golem.

I don't like how many Silvers your opponent got.  With as many as they did they seriously risked getting bogged down in Cultist Curses.  The Spoils from Marauder allow for skipping Silver entirely here.  Getting 3 Foragers (thanks JW) is the magic number to trash down quickly enough and stay slim in the face of Cultist.  You can also spike a $5 from Marauder.

The way I see it is first survive the Ruin onslaught with Forager.  This also protects against YW Cursing.  Then transition into Haggler/BM to gain Gold from Province buys.  Finish the game by Remodeling Gold/Province into Province.

59

Other Games / Re: Pandemic Legacy

« on: April 28, 2016, 10:43:58 am »

This game is incredible!  My wife and I are 3 for 3 through March.  We've clean swept the board every game so far with the only outbreaks coming from having the bottom card of an outbreak being drawn immediately during the infection phase.

The unknown is just so tantalizing.  The way you have to adapt to each new game is awesome!

60

General Discussion / Re: Electric Cars

« on: April 28, 2016, 08:36:22 am »

This is pretty meaningful coming from you. Aren't batteries kinda your "thing"?

They sure are!  I probably wouldn't have gotten this car if I hadn't known as much about batteries as I do.

61

General Discussion / Re: Electric Cars

« on: April 27, 2016, 04:43:09 pm »

I just got a 2013 Chevy Volt and it is amazing.  I get about 35-40 miles of pure electric range before a gasoline engine kicks in to recharge the battery while driving adding another 200+miles of driving.  Functionally, I drive it like an EV with my 30ish mile commute but it has the gas engine to enable longer road trips = no range anxiety.  This really is the perfect car while the infrastructure for pure EVs is still evolving. 

Volts are also super cheap right now too making them perfect to buy.  My Volt which would have been 40k 3 years ago as a new car was just under 14k.  Customers are still weary regarding EV reliability and are not informed about what makes the Volt such a good car.  Within the next 5 years EVs will not depreciate as much as they do now.  There is no gas engine car that I could have gotten for the value of my Volt.

62

Game Reports / Re: Hunting Party or 5/2?

« on: April 25, 2016, 11:11:49 am »

This is not a game to skip Noble Brigand.  IMO on a $3/$4 opening I'd take Noble Brigand, especially after getting to see your opponent get $5 for TP on turn 1.  You have a 33% chance of Brigand skipping TP the first time.  The ability to steal Silver/Gold is a good way to tip average money density towards your favor.

As others have said, MS was too early.  All the cards you want are at $5.  Opening MS severely lowers your chances of getting $5 early.

63

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Best Dominion moments 2016

« on: April 22, 2016, 10:49:27 am »

ced - plays 7 Copper, 1 Silver
ced - plays Spoils
ced - plays Spoils
ced - plays Spoils
ced - plays Spoils
ced - plays Spoils

Am I the only one that thinks that a deck drawing 7 Copper, 1 Silver, and 5 Spoils can do better than 1 Province for 4 consecutive turns? 

You'd think so normally, but the draw was Madman and the only +buy was Ruined Market.

Edit: Kingdom and Log

64

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Best Dominion moments 2016

« on: April 22, 2016, 10:24:43 am »

ced - plays 7 Copper, 1 Silver
ced - plays Spoils
ced - plays Spoils
ced - plays Spoils
ced - plays Spoils
ced - plays Spoils

Am I the only one that thinks that a deck drawing 7 Copper, 1 Silver, and 5 Spoils can do better than 1 Province for 4 consecutive turns? 

65

Game Reports / Re: Young Witch, Gear, Peasant, Oh My!

« on: April 21, 2016, 09:44:27 am »

I'd open Fool's Gold / Gear, then just alternate Fool's Golds and Gear until I have 4-5 FG and 3 Gear. Game is over before Young Witch gives me even 4 Curses, or before Teacher puts a single token on a pile. You barely have time to pick up Counterfeit, if that.

Saving FG with Gear doesn't work to block YW though.  You don't get the Gear cards until the start of your turn.  I think you'd still get hit pretty heavy with Curses, more so if you functionally have less FG in deck due to constantly saving them with Gear.

If all players go for FG over engine and 2 of them decide to go YW aggresive, they will drown the non-YW player.  You can't block all the Curses with only 3-4 FG max with 2 players doing the cursing.  I think you are correct for a 2-player game that Gear/FG reigns supreme, but 3-player dynamics are different and matter immensely here.

66

Game Reports / Re: For Newer Players

« on: April 19, 2016, 02:49:48 pm »

I'd go Moneylender/Silver into Upgrade/Rats.  Assume that you only desire to Trash your starting Coppers and Estates you've got 10 fodder cards for Rats.  Probably down to 7 with Moneylender trashing.  Those 7 Rats can then become a combination of Baker/Upgrade/Duchy.  I think this type of strategy could hold its own against a more traditional Moneylender into Baker BM game.

Definitely skip the Potion here though.  That is a no brainer.

67

Feedback / Re: Am i the only one getting aggressive PMs?

« on: April 16, 2016, 03:36:38 pm »

Guys, guys, we've done this before.

http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=2944.msg50692#msg50692 (and the rest of the thread)

Yo Momma so fat she can't fit in a single thread.

Oh, well done.

Man, there really are a fair number of Gold Mints buried in these forums.  Sigh.... gotta love F.DS nostalgia.

68

Dominion General Discussion / Re: What does everyone think is the best village 2.0

« on: April 06, 2016, 10:35:33 am »

1 King's Court
2 Walled Village

3 Crossroads
4 Mining Village

5 Herald
6 Farming Village

7 Hamlet
8 Plaza

9 Royal Carriage
10 Village

11 Throne Room
12 Squire

13 Fortress
14 Festival

15 Fishing Village
16 Port

17 Procession
18 Shanty Town

19 Ironmonger
20 University

21 Wandering Minstrel
22 Bandit Camp

23 Inn
24 Lost City

25 Border Village
26 Bazaar

27 Golem
28 Nobles

29 City
30 Worker's Village

31 Native Village
32 Coin of the Realm

69

Game Reports / Re: A surprising comeback

« on: March 25, 2016, 01:14:50 pm »

I'm not actually surprised to you see win.  Your opponents deck lacked cohesion.  Lots of different actions, not a lot of draw and lack of trashing.  Your focus on winning the HP split puts you in a big advantage.  Losing the prizes is not as big deal of a deal, especially with Colonies.

70

Dominion Articles / Re: Wandering Winder's new Swindler article

« on: March 24, 2016, 03:56:26 pm »

You can't talk about Swindler without mentioning variance.  The 9.87% (rough guess) opportunity of turning your opponents first key $5 cost card into a Duchy can often be game changing and even game winning depending on the board.  Being able to change the likely outcome (given equal skill) from 50 - 50 to over 80-90 in your favor is huge. 

This is argument for going double Swindler.  You give yourself an extra swing of the bat to get that home run.  For that reason alone I think just considering single Swindler vs. double Swinlder needs to consider more than just probability to hit $5 twice or $6 once.  If you go double Swindler and don't get $5 twice or don't get a Gold, and instead get a $3 or $4 cost card are your chances of winning worse given that you have more opportunities to remove key cards early?

71

Let's Discuss ... / Re: Let's Discuss Adventures Events: Trade

« on: March 23, 2016, 11:39:26 am »

As LFN said it benefits from increased hand sizes.  IMO that is so important that I will say it again.  Trade is best when you have a larger hand size.

The obvious comparison is with Trading Post which costs $5 for an action card that does a similar thing.  The difference with Trade is that you need to obtain $5 on the turn which you have desirable goods to trade in for Silver.

This card isn't going to help your engine reliability at all hence some of the un-love for it.  However it will help your general buying power immensely.  Sloggy games without heavy trashing will allow Trade to thrive.  IMO you can usually hit $5 reliably even in heavy Curse/Ruin games if you just keep getting an influx of Silver/other $4 actions in pace with junk.  This can make for fantastic mid game buys.

The other note is that since this is on buy, you could get a very handy turn 3 or 4 buy given a good draw.  Getting a good turn 3 or 4 Trade is a great way to significantly increase your money density.  In the lucky scenario of opening Silver/"Silver equivalent action" and trashing 2 Estates on turn 3 or 4 you practically increase your money density to $1.3/card as opposed to approximately $1.1/card if you just bought 4 Silver/Silver equivalent.  This is a big early difference and early differences allow for easier snowballing into larger and larger mid/endgame advantages.

Now I know that BM is frowned upon but getting Silver isn't just for BM ***gasp***.  Even in an engine you want to generate more $$$/card.  Swapping out junk for Silver is great for engines especially when you can utilize it with +Buy.  Early game Estate swapping also makes it so much less likely to draw a dead hand of less than $5 which is usually a key engine price point.

72

Dominion General Discussion / Re: Best Dominion moments 2016

« on: March 03, 2016, 12:41:37 pm »

Maybe I overbought Rabble this game...

cja31415 - plays Rabble
wachsmuth - reveals Rabble, Rabble, Rabble
wachsmuth - discards: Rabble, Rabble, Rabble

Sung to the tune of David Bowie's Rebel Rebel. 

Rabble, Rabble, you've drawn your best
Rabble, Rabble, your hand is a mess
Rabble, Rabble, they didn't know
And now, the game is thrown

73

Let's Discuss ... / Re: Let's Discuss Adventures Cards: Messenger

« on: March 02, 2016, 09:21:54 am »

YOU GET A CURSE
AND YOU GET A CURSE
AND EVERY- wait, I get a Curse, too

This is for you liopoil.... but no Curse with a Watchtower in hand. 

74

Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Dominion: Seasons - the set the community has been waiting for!

« on: March 01, 2016, 03:26:28 pm »

Regarding Wayfair - I don't like the way that it penalizes the order of having a 4/3 start vs. a 3/4 start.  Maybe this is inconsequential... I don't know because I've never played with it.  But I would wager that a turn 1 Wayfair for Spring almost guarantees $5 or higher for turns 2-5.  That with the early game cycling boost is a huge advantage.  If you buy a turn 2 Warfair for Spring then you only get 3 turns out of it and have a $3 cost card and 3 $5+ cost cards.

The thing about this event is that it's kinda like coin tokens.  In most situations, the best coin token is a spent coin token.  Tokens sitting in your supply are one's that have not been used to improve your deck.  So if you wait until Summer or Fall, then you miss out on a great early opportunity to improve your deck early.  Just like in Colony game where your first Platinum snowballs you into more Platinum, a better early deck will snowball you to a better mid-game deck.

Consider this roller coaster analogy.  Two roller coasters side by side are racing to the bottom of the hill.  The first coaster has a steeper initial drop but levels out slightly at the bottom before the finish.  The second coaster has a more gradual initial slope but has a steep drop to the finish.  The first coaster will win the race because got up to speed faster than the second coaster.

One thought to change it is to make it cost $3.  That way both players can get it on a 3/4 or 4/3 split on turn 1.  But then it really becomes a must buy on turn 1 in almost all games and doesn't change the dynamics of play too much.

My idea is to change it as follows.  Give Wayfair a mat with tokens.  Once per game, when you buy this place 5 Way-tokens on your Way-mat.  Once, at the start of your turn, you may spend a token to receive....... Then make the bonuses scale with the season.  That forces a decision between smaller earlier gains compared to a more sizable end-game boost.  Spring can stay the same.  Summer could maybe get an extra Coin.  Fall gets maybe an extra card.  Then maybe give winter a +Buy.  With each season getting all of the bonuses of the previous season.  Now I don't know how easy it would be to get all of that text concisely written.  But I think it gets in the spirit of having the seasonal boost that Wayfair provides but also the strategic choice of a small early game boon vs. a large end-game payload.

75

Let's Discuss ... / Re: Let's Discuss Adventures Cards: Lost City

« on: February 29, 2016, 10:52:41 am »

-Would this have been balanced at without the penalty?

Maybe . . . but it would be less fun.

Once my wife Swindled my Duchy into a Lost City on the last turn of the game, giving her an extra card allowing her to get to more of her juicy actions/treasures in hand.  She still fell a bit short of stealing the win but oh man, I really thought that might have done it for her.