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51
Help! / Stupid stalemate, how to play this?
« on: January 29, 2014, 12:48:26 pm »
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20140129/log.50745d1a0cf28ed55d9d6498.1391017467117.txt



Code: [Select]
Chapel, Scrying Pool, Fishing Village, Island, Pirate Ship, Embassy, Ghost Ship, Margrave, Rebuild, Upgrade
We both trash down with Chapel and then there's a stalemate because of Pirate Ship. I don't care and buy treasure. This costs me the game. Any advice on how to play this? And please don't say this is a Rebuild game...  :P

52
Video includes a summary of this series.



The Best Prizes
#5 Diadem Weighted Average: 12.1% / Median: 0% / Standard Deviation: 17.6%
Highest Value(s): #3 (6x) / Lowest Value(s): #5 (32x)

Diadem is the worst price to get. It was voted 32 times on the last place and only 6 times ranked on a mediocre rank #3.

While Diadem rarely hurts as it's still often like a free Gold, it's rarely amazing as you try to build a deck that has exactly enough Actions and not some leftover. Unless you're playing a City stack Diadem is just a nice reward, but never really a reason to go for Tournament in the first place.
#4 Bag of Gold Weighted Average: 19.1% / Median: 25.0% / Standard Deviation: 19.4%
Highest Value(s): #2 (2x) / Lowest Value(s): #5 (17x)

A little bit better than Diadem is Bag of Gold. It was voted twice second and "only" 17 times on the last rank. It has the highest deviation of all the prizes.

While Diadem is often just a Gold, Bag of Gold can net you multiple Golds. The Gold itself though is often delayed until the next turn, but if you play Bag of Gold twice, it was maybe a better pick than Diadem. Another disadvantage is that you can need to spend an Action to play it. While it gives you the Action back, it still often can be drawn dead.
#3 Princess Weighted Average: 48.3% / Median: 50.0% / Standard Deviation: 17.8%
Highest Value(s): #1 (2x) / Lowest Value(s): #4 (11x), #5 (1x)

Princess is much higher ranked. It was voted first two times and last one time.

Princess is a nice prize to get in a strong engine. Being able to reduce the cost of all cards by two can be really strong, especially if there is otherwise no +Buy available and your aiming for the +Buy from Princess. This makes Princess often the first pick if you need this payload for your engine.
#2 Trusty Steed Weighted Average: 73.3% / Median: 75.0% / Standard Deviation: 12.1%
Highest Value(s): #1 (3x) / Lowest Value(s): #3 (5x), #4 (1x)

Trusty Steed has a clearly better rating than Princess. It was only voted once as fourth and five times as third. It has the lowest deviation in this list.

Trusty Steed is the allrounder pick as it rarely hurts and mostly gives you a good option to choose. +2 Actions and +2 Cards gets often picked and is basically an activated City, but unless you really need the Actions +2 Cards and +2 Coins is probably often the best choice. The 4 Silvers get chosen rarely, but if you don't have a thinned down engine, the money can help a lot to continue get to $8, especially if Followers did already get gained.
#1 Followers Weighted Average: 97.1% / Median: 100% / Standard Deviation: 15.3%
Highest Value(s): #1 (46x) / Lowest Value(s): #2 (4x), #5 (1x)

Followers is without doubt the best prize. It was almost exclusively voted first, only 5 didn't, one of them being a weird outlier.

Followers can decide games, especially if there aren't any other attack cards on the board. It might be ignorable in games where there is another curser on the board, but even the discard attack might be good enough to be worth it getting. Getting an Estate makes it a little more balanced, but often it even helps you as each Followers play nets you basically 2 points.



53
Sorry for the long delay. Still trying to get healthy. I just finish this, but 2014 Edition starts soon.



The Best Potion Cost Cards
#10 Transmute (Alchemy) Weighted Average: 1.7% ▲0.5pp / Median: 0% =0pp / Standard Deviation: 7.4% ▼4.0pp
Highest Value(s): 44.4% (1x), 22.2% (1x), 11.1% (6x) / Lowest Value(s): 0% (46x)

Transmute is still clearly the worst Potion cost card in this list with 46 votes on the last place, but it's a little bit higher placed and the disagreement is way higher with one vote on #6 and one vote on #8. But the deviation is still the lowest in this list, so no doubt about its placement.

Why is that card so bad? You need trashers early in the game. For Transmute you need to open Potion. Then you buy a Transmute in turn 3/4 at best and have your Transmute somewhere between turn 5 and 8! That is really slow. And what's the benefit? You can trash Estates to get Gold, ok that's really nice, but only for the 3 starting Estates and you have to draw them together. If you trash Copper you get another Transmute! Why does anyone want that unless you go for Vineyards? And trash actions to get Duchies could only be nice in the end game, but are rarely a big difference. You can also trash a Curse, but you won't get anything for that. For a pure trasher it's too slow, for a trash-for-benefit card it's too weak. When do you really want to buy one? Yes, it's better with dual-type cards like Great Hall (for Duchy and Gold) and you can heavily trash for Gold->Transmute->Duchy and try to three-pile, but I think that's just too slow in the most cases. I think the only reason when you want to buy it, if you want that Potion anyway and you desperately need a trasher anyway like on Familiar boards.
#9 Philosopher's Stone (Alchemy) Weighted Average: 14.4% ▼1.6pp / Median: 11.1% =0pp / Standard Deviation: 10.4% ▲6.3pp
Highest Value(s): 44.4% (2x), 33.3% (5x) / Lowest Value(s): 0% (6x)

6 of the remaining 8 last places got Philosopher's Stone. It's where it was and its agreement is much higher as it's the card with the second lowest deviation in this list because it got no vote in the upper half.

With Philosopher's Stone on the board and it is the only Potion cost card, it's often ignorable. And it anti-synergizes with all other Potion cards except for Familiar (with University you get a lot of cards, but mostly to build an engine). With a relative cost of ~5.5$ it's in direct comparism to Gold. This means you need 20 cards and no drawing power. With no +Buy you need 10 turns to achieve this. This is often way too late. This card gets better and better the longer the game lasts. But you want high value treasures early in the game. The only reason going for it, may be in Curse-heavy games where it's obvious you get big decks. Also it has this nice synergy with Herbalist and also Storeroom.
#8 Possession (Alchemy) Weighted Average: 32.2% ▼4.8pp / Median: 22.2% ▼11.1pp / Standard Deviation: 18.4% ▲5.1pp
Highest Value(s): 100% (1x), 88.9% (1x), 55.6% (6x) / Lowest Value(s): 11.1% (8x)

Possession stays also where it was and although it has still a really high deviation because of two big outliers on the first and second rank, its deviation is much lower than the last time. Also it lost a bit of points.

Possession seems so powerful, but in reality it isn't. It's just frustating. There's much to say about Possession, but I keep it short. First you have to realize, that it's really the most expensive kingdom card in the game as it costs ~8.5$. So, if you want it and it is the only Potion cost card on the board, don't open Potion. And the cost also means it's in direct competition with Province. When you've bought a Possession you mostly could have bought a Province instead. Its high cost makes it stronger in Colony games. When does it shine? Especially in 2-player games when your opponent opens with strong cards like Ambassador or Masquerade, you may look after an opportunity to send good cards (of course especially Provinces and Colonies) to you. With King's Court Possession is just madness. With Council Room or especially Governor you can boost the turn you get from your opponent and may even boost your own turn afterwards if he has them too. When your opponent has strong trash-for-benefit cards like Apprentice, you can even trash Provinces or Colonies to get the benefit. And if he has cards with choices like Envoy you either get stronger benefit or can mess his deck up. And if he has duration cards you can also profit from them. It may seem now that there are many situations where Possession is good. That's true, but still often ignorable because of its slowness, because at the time you play your first Possession your opponent may already have a couple of Provinces.
#7 University (Alchemy) Weighted Average: 46.6% ▲1.5pp / Median: 44.4% =0pp / Standard Deviation: 16.9% ▼2.6pp
Highest Value(s): 77.8% (5x) / Lowest Value(s): 22.2% (7x)

Again it was close between ranks #6 and #7. This time University lost this fight and did fall one rank although its average is slightly better. It has no votes on last or second last but still a lot of bad votes to make it a below average card.

The effect of University is by far not bad. Unlike Workshop you don't need to spend an action to gain a card and you don't get weak $4 cards, you get strong $5 ones. And you are able to play all of them because of the +2 Actions. But, it has the same problem as all Potion cards have. It's very slow. If you go for University and open Potion/X you lose at least one reshuffle to get the critical $5 cards (and you need to get a Potion only to get strong non-Potion cards, what?). You have to be sure to have enough time to catch up and this really depends if the cards on the board are really so strong that you want as many as you can get. So, it's very board dependant and is really nice with Watchtower/Library, Wharf, City, Torturer, Knights and any money producing cantrip and is especially good in Colony games where you often have enough time to catch up. It has only few combination potential with other Potion cards. University/Scrying Pool looks nice but is even slower. Only University/Vineyard is really strong. Beware of 3-piling with University.
#6 Alchemist (Alchemy) Weighted Average: 48.2% ▲4.1pp / Median: 55.6% ▲11.1pp / Standard Deviation: 19.8% ▲0.5pp
Highest Value(s): 100% (1x), 88.9% (3x) / Lowest Value(s): 22.2% (6x), 0% (1x)

After losing 4 ranks last time it's one rank higher this time. It was voted first and last once.

Alchemist is strictly superior to Laboratory and if you have a lot of Alchemists to draw most of your deck, you're almost unstoppable. But how do you get there? First you have to buy Potion and then you have to spend the next turns to buy Alchemists. That's really slow and with no source of +Buy, you aren't able to build up your economy at the same time. Alchemists are therefore more powerful in Colony games, but often weak in Province games unless you have any supporting card. That's the reason Herbalist was added in Alchemy. With Herbalist you're able to put your Potion back and get the needed +Buy. Cards that profit from big hand sizes like Bank (if you have the +Buys) are great. Outpost also synergizes perfectly. So, it's often a big question if the unstoppable Alchmist stack can be setup fast enough to be worth it going for it. Also: Beware of opponents playing with Minions or Masquerade.
#5 Golem (Alchemy) Weighted Average: 51.5% ▼0.1pp / Median: 55.6% =0pp / Standard Deviation: 20.6% ▼0.3pp
Highest Value(s): 100% (1x), 88.9% (3x) / Lowest Value(s): 22.2% (4x), 11.1% (1x)

Golem was voted also first once but has no last rank. Its rating nearly didn't change since the last time and it's also on the same rank as before. But in the unweighted ranking it would be one rank higher. It has the second highest deviation.

Like Throne Room, Golem's strength heavily depends from the action cards on the board, what makes it hard to rate. But it hasn't the drawback of Throne Room or King's Court to have at least one action card in hand. You can use Golem either in action-heavy decks and may be able to play more of them in your turns even with Curses or Victory cards in your deck. It acts also as a pseudo-village. Just beware of Golem+Trasher because you have to play the drawn action card and you don't want to risk trashing a Province. Or you use it to play your only 1-2 action cards in your deck everytime you play Golem. Counting House+X Golems guarantees to draw all Coppers in hand. Golem+Scheme+strong attack is also very nice because you can play your attack every turn.  Even with those cards on board Golem is very expensive with a cost of ~6.5$. So don't open Potion with Golem being the only Potion card on the board. With Looters from Dark Ages Golem it's much weaker as you will draw Ruins into your hand with your Golem, so keep that in mind.
#4 Apothecary (Alchemy) Weighted Average: 56.0% ▼1.1pp / Median: 55.6% =0pp / Standard Deviation: 23.8% ▼0.5pp
Highest Value(s): 88.9% (5x) / Lowest Value(s): 11.1% (6x)

Apothecary has the highest deviation in this list with 5 votes on second and 6 votes on second last. It would be below Golem in the unweighted ranking.

Apothecary seems very weak at first glance because of its profit of Copper. But unlike many other Potion cards it's very strong at the start at getting very strong cards very early in the game. Buy a early Forge and with your next big hand you can get rid of all your Coppers; or get an early King's Court or Goons. Later in the game it's almost never a bad card, because it's at least a cantrip and even if it draws no cards you can set the order of your next cards (basically a Cartographer without the ability to discard) and comboes nice with Wishing Well or Mystic for example. It's also strong if you build your strategy around Copper. Apothecary/Coppersmith can easily net you Provinces. The problem still is, it leaves the junk on top of the deck. With Native Village you can use this as an advantage. With 8 Coppers, a few Apothecaries and at least one Native Village you are able to buy a Province each turn. With no strong $6+ card or no synergizing card on the board, Apothecary often is not worth a Potion.
#3 Vineyard (Alchemy) Weighted Average: 69.6% ▲2.4pp / Median: 77.8% ▲11.1pp / Standard Deviation: 17.0% ▲1.4pp
Highest Value(s): 100% (2x), 88.9% (3x) / Lowest Value(s): 33.3% (4x), 22.2% (1x)

We're making a big jump of over 13pp and there's Vineyard. It has only 7 votes below average and 2 first ranks.

Vineyard is another card that heavily depends from the action cards on the board. You definitely want +Buy or at least gainers to get enough action cards to make it worthwhile. +Buy is also better in getting Vineyards, because you don't waant to "waste" $6P for a Vineyard. Beside +Buy and gainers, you definitely need Villages or many catrips to be able to play all of your actions, cheap cantrips like Hamlet or Pawn are very good. Like all alternative VP strategies, you can totally ignore Provinces what gives you more time getting more action cards. Unlike all other Potion cards you can delay buying the Potion until mid-game when you already have a good running engine and even buy more Potions to buy Vineyards. It has nearly no practical limit in the max VP you can get from one Vineyard what can make it really strong and often a clearly superior strategy over Provinces. Also if your opponent goes for Cultist or Marauder they only make your Vineyards worth 3VP more and you can also use Death Cart to get a lot of Action cards at once or Rats to get even more Actions cards really fast.
#2 Scrying Pool (Alchemy) Weighted Average: 86.8% ▲2.9pp / Median: 88.9% =0pp / Standard Deviation: 12.1% ▲4.0pp
Highest Value(s): 100% (9x) / Lowest Value(s): 66.6% (5x), 44.4% (2x)

And now an even bigger jump of over 17pp. Scrying Pool stays on the second rank with a higher rating and much higher consensus. It was voted first 9 times and has only 2 votes below average.

Attacks that mess up the top of your deck are often weak. Scrying Pool is different because of its drawing power. It may draw your whole deck. But you mustn't have a lot of treasure cards in your deck. Its power is therefore dependant of trashers on the board and action cards that net you money. Secret Chamber/Vault is especially nice, just discard all action cards and keep one Scrying Pool in hand to get a lot of money and draw them again with your Scrying Pool. Attacks that tend to be swingy because of the top card of your opponent, like Jester or Swindler, are gaining value with Scrying Pools, because you can choose which card to keep on top. If those cards are not in the supply, Scrying Pool is just a Spy (which draws sometimes an additional card) and not worth the Potion. Scrying Pool really doesn't mind Ruins that much and can use Rats to convert non-Action cards into Action cards really fast.
#1 Familiar (Alchemy) Weighted Average: 92.9% ▼4.0pp / Median: 100% =0pp / Standard Deviation: 17.8% ▼9.0pp
Highest Value(s): 100% (40x) / Lowest Value(s): 33.3% (1x), 0% (1x)

Familar is still on the first rank where 40 votes ranked it. It has two votes below average - one of them a really big outlier on the last rank, not quite understandable, so that the deviation is much higher this time and the rating also quite worse.

Cursing attacks are the strongest cards in the game. A cantrip curser is just ridiculous strong. If you haven't a plan for defense to get no curses at all or easily deal with them (which is very rare), you can't skip over Familiar. What makes Familiar one of the most hated cards is its cost. If one player doesn't get $3P while the other hits it in turn 3/4, the player who hasn't gained the Familiar is in a clear disadvantage.

54
Non-Mafia Game Threads / Tash-Kalar I
« on: December 04, 2013, 01:30:49 am »
Tash-Kalar game between Watno and yed Current Tasks: Red Conquest, Central Dominance, Line Dominance
Next task: Rainbow Dominance

For cards in your hand check private message from poster of this topic

Watno's Highland deck
1 - Clan Healer___
2 - Wolf Rider____
3 - Werewolf______
4 - Ritual Master_
5 - Wild Eagle____
6 - Hill Giant____
7 - Blood Shaman__
8 - Clan Guardian_
9 - Mountain Troll
10 - War Drummer___
11 - Legend Slayer_
12 - Ritual Keeper_
13 - Clan Axeman___
14 - Hungry Bear___
15 - Eagle Lord____

yed's Sylvan deck
1 - Dryad______________
2 - Forest Wardens_____
3 - Charging Buck______
4 - Forest Mystic______
5 - Naiad______________
6 - Woodland Druid_____
7 - Kiskin Farseeders__
8 - Forest Ancient_____
9 - Kiskin Boughrunner_
10 - Tree Shepherd______
11 - Sylvan Princess____
12 - Sapling____________
13 - Centaur Chieftain__
14 - Kiskin Leafsplitter
15 - Centaur Spearman___

Legends deck
1 - Time Elemental___
2 - Hell Bull________
3 - The Eldest Tree__
4 - Fire Dragon______
5 - Two-Headed Dragon
6 - Earth Elemental__
7 - Titan____________
8 - Leviathan________

Flares legend
25a = 2 upgr: You may do 1 standard leap with one of your common pieces. 5: Gain an action.
34a = 3 upgr: Place 1 common piece of your color on an empty square. 4: You may do 1 combat move or 2 standard moves, using your non-legendary pieces.
36a = 3 upgr: Place 1 common piece of your color on any empty square. 6: Place 1 common piece of your color on any empty square.
44a = 4 upgr: Place 1 common piece of yor color on any empty square. 4: Place 1 common piece of your color on any empty square.
44b = 4 upgr: Place 1 common piece of your color on any empty square, or upgrade 1 of your common pieces. 4: You may do 1 combat leap with one of your common pieces.
45a = 4 upgr: Place 1 common piece of yor color on any empty square. 5: Place 1 common piece of your color on any empty
45b = 4 upgr: Gain an action. 5: Place 1 common piece of your color on any empty square.
46a = 4 upgr: Place 1 common piece of your color on any empty square. 6: Upgrade 1 of your common pieces. Gain an action.
square, or convert 1 common enemy piece to your color.
54a = 5 upgr: Place 1 heroic piece of your color on any empty square. 4: You may do 1 standard move and 1 combat move (in either order), using your common pieces.
Flares deck
1 - 25a
2 - 45b
3 - 45a
4 - 46a
5 - 54a
6 - 44a
7 - 36a

Tasks deck
1 - Envelopment________
2 - Corner Chain_______
3 - Green Conquest_____
4 - Red Summoning______
5 - Imprisonment_______
6 - Destruction________
7 - Green Legends______
8 - Side Chain_________
9 - End of Legends_____
10 - Center Cross_______
11 - Colored Conquest___
12 - Green Summoning____
13 - Heroic Devastation_
14 - Red Legends________
15 - Diagonals__________
16 - Heroic Destruction_
17 - Legendary Summoning
18  - Colored Summoning__

55
Semi-finals

2nd - 8th December
United States B - Germany 1 : 3
Jaff-attack - RTT 1:5
2.71828..... - Qvist 3:3
zporiri - terminalCopper 2:4
Adam Horton - Psyduck 3:3

2nd - 8th December
Netherlands - Japan B 2.5 : 1.5
Stef - dawn_harbor 5:1
SheCantSayNo - Java Sparrow 5:1
florrat - IRIHO 1:5
Victor Savenije - manzi 3:3


Finals

9th - 15th December
Germany - Netherlands 1.5 : 2.5
RTT - Stef 3:3
Qvist - SheCantSayNo 1:5
terminalCopper - florrat 3:3
Psyduck - Victor Savenije 3:3


Congratulations, the winner of the Dominion Team World Cup 2013 is

Team Netherlands

 Stef
 SheCantSayNo
 florrat
 Victor Savenije
 Indur

56
Group A
Japan [1]

A: yudai214 [4]
B: hiroki [6]
C: Rene Kuroi [8]
D: retlet
Subs: nnn [24], moharimo, yzx
United States B [8]

A: Warrior [26]
B: 2.71828..... [31]
C: zporiri [32]
D: Adam Horton [36]
Subs: Jaff-atack, michaeljb, Hunting Party of One,
Drew Spencer, bama, UnmuddiedLake, ldog1976,
Dingan, MJD, Mr Pants
Australia [11]

A: Kevin O'Brien [35]
B: awildnoobappeared [41]
C: Eggplantation [45]
D: Jimmmmm [46]
Subs: ashersky
Group B
Netherlands [4]

A: Stef [1]
B: SheCantSayNo [3]
C: florrat [23]
D: Victor Savenije [33]
Subs: Indur
Finland [6]

A: awaclus [12]
B: Eevee [19]
C: Jean-Michel [44]
D: Julle
Subs: Troninho [25]
Belgium/France [9]

A: Geronimoo [18]
B: gamesou [30]
C: Emeric [34]
D: TheMirrorMan [42]
Subs: Teproc
Group C
United States [3]

A: jog [2]
B: Andrew Iannaccone [5]
C: A Drowned Kernel [21]
D: Perry Green [22]
Subs: Jaff-atack, michaeljb, Hunting Party of One,
Drew Spencer, bama, UnmuddiedLake, ldog1976,
Dingan, MJD, Mr Pants
Japan B [5]

A: dawn_harbor [13]
B: Java Sparrow [15]
C: IRIHO [16]
D: manzi [17]
Subs: nnn [24], moharimo, yzx
Canada [12]

A: markusin [29]
B: Breezy [43]
C: TKKT [47]
D: Richard Morin [48]
Subs: Anomander
Group D
Germany [2]

A: RTT [9]
B: Qvist [10]
C: terminalCopper [14]
D: Psyduck [20]
Subs: GwinnR, Mr Anderson
United Kingdom [7]

A: Rabid [7]
B: Jdaki [27]
C: qmech [28]
D: RobertJ [40]
Subs: Tables, DG, Harley_Beckett
Sweden [10]

A: Lekkit [11]
B: luliin [37]
C: Mikael Bergström [38]
D: HampusEriksson [39]
Subs: Ingo all sets, pst



Group A

11th - 17th November
United States B - Australia 4 : 0
Warrior - Kevin O'Brien 4:2
2.71828..... - awildnoobappeared 5:1
zporiri - Eggplantation 5:1
Adam Horton - Jimmmmm 5:1

18th - 24th November
Japan - Australia 3.5 : 0.5
yudai214 - Kevin O'Brien 4.5 : 1.5
hiroki - awildnoobappeared 6:0
Rene Kuroi - Eggplantation 3:3
retlet - Jimmmmm 4:2

25th November - 1st December
Japan - United States B 1 : 2
yudai214 - Warrior  -:-
hiroki - 2.71828..... 2:4
Rene Kuroi - zporiri 3.5 : 2.5
retlet - Adam Horton 2:4
TeamTPMPGP
1. United States B24:019:5
2. Japan23.5:0.517.5:6.5
3. Australia00:45:19



Group B

11th - 17th November
Finland - Belgium/France 3 : 1
awaclus - Geronimoo 4:2
Eevee - gamesou 4:2
Jean-Michel - Emeric 4:2
Julle - TheMirrorMan 1.5 : 4.5

18th - 24th November
Netherlands - Belgium/France 3 : 1
Stef - Geronimoo 4:2
SheCantSayNo - gamesou 3:3
florrat - Emeric 3:3
Victor Savenije - TheMirrorMan 4:2

25th November - 1st December
Netherlands - Finland 3 : 1
Stef - awaclus 4:2
SheCantSayNo - Eevee 3:3
florrat - Jean-Michel 3:3
Victor Savenije - Julle 5:1

TeamTPMPGP
1. Netherlands46:229:19
2. Finland24:422.5:25.5
3. Belgium/France02:620.5:27.5



Group C

11th - 17th November
Japan B - Canada 3.5 : 0.5
dawn_harbor - markusin 3:3
Java Sparrow - Breezy 5:1
IRIHO - TKKT 5:1
manzi - Richard Morin 6:0

18th - 24th November
United States - Canada 3.5 : 0.5
jog - markusin 4:2
Andrew Iannaccone - Breezy 6:0
A Drowned Kernel - TKKT 3:3
Perry Green - Anomander 6:0

25th November - 1st December
United States - Japan B 1.5 : 2.5
jog - dawn_harbor 3:3
Andrew Iannaccone - Java Sparrow 4:2
A Drowned Kernel - IRIHO 2:4
Perry Green - manzi 1:5

TeamTPMPGP
1. Japan B46:233:15
2. United States25:329:19
3. Canada01:710:38



Group D

11th - 17th November
United Kingdom - Sweden 1 : 3
Rabid - Lekkit 3:3
Jdaki - luliin 3:3
qmech - Mikael Bergström 2:4
RobertJ - HampusEriksson 1:5

18th - 24th November
Germany - Sweden 2.5 : 1.5
RTT - Lekkit 2:4
Qvist - luliin 3:3
terminalCopper - Mikael Bergström 5:1
Psyduck - HampusEriksson 4:2

25th November - 1st December
Germany - United Kingdom 2 : 2
RTT - Rabid 3:3
Qvist - Jdaki 3:3
terminalCopper - qmech 2:4
Psyduck - RobertJ 4:2

TeamTPMPGP
1. Germany34.5:3.526:22
2. Sweden24.5:3.525:23
3. United Kingdom13:521:27

57
Tournaments and Events / Dominion Team World Cup Discussion Thread
« on: November 10, 2013, 07:00:43 pm »
Here you can discuss game reports, guess who will win, etc.
Basically everything else what doesn't belong in the Results thread.

58
Tournaments and Events / Dominion Team World Cup Signup (closed)
« on: November 03, 2013, 02:08:17 pm »
Signup:

Everyone can signup. Please name your Goko username, your nationality and if you own the sets on Goko (all/some/none).
(Your nationality should be your native country, not the country you live in)
Signups will close Sunday 10th November at midnight (UTC +0).

For Tournament Rules see this thread.

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Signups closed

See spreadsheet for more details: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjovnuYeeSkidEt5NkNvTFdla291U0tjdW5QMHhOaHc&usp=sharing

59
Tournaments and Events / Dominion Team World Cup Rules
« on: November 03, 2013, 02:07:57 pm »
Teams:

1.) When signups are closed, every player gets seeded based on the Full Isotropish Leaderboard.
2.) The best seeded player of a country will be the team leader and has to form his team of 4 players in total. Players with no games on Goko won't be seeded (aren't eligible as team leaders), but are still eligible as team members.
3.) Players who aren't part of the main team are substitutes if anyone cannot play in a week for some reason.
4.) Countries with less then 4 players aren't eligible.
5.) If the team is formed every player in the team gets also a seed within the team, also based on the Isotropish Leaderboard, so the strongest player will be Player 1 and so on.

Tournament Structure:

Seeding the group
1.) The goal is to reach 16 countries which will get seeded in 4 groups à 4 teams.
2.) The average player rating on the Isotropish Leaderboard will determine the seeds of each group.
3.) If we only get 13-15 teams, countries are allowed to send in a secondary team. This will be also determined by average player ratings of the players who aren't already in a team yet.
4.) If we reach 12 teams, we'll get 4 groups à 3 teams. For 9-11 teams secondary teams can also be formed to fill the gap.

Group phase
1.) In each group every team play against every other team.
2.) Each round lasts one week.
3.) In a match every player plays a game against the player of the opposing country with the same seed, so player 1 of team A against player 1 of team B, and so on.

Match structure and points
1.) Each match will involve exactly 6 games.
2.) Every player has to get first seat in exactly 3 games.
3.) Because Goko randomly assigns starting players, you may be required to reset games to get the correct start order. It is recommended that you play unrated games after one player went first 3 times for this reason.
4.) The player who owns more cards has to host the games.
5.) Winning a game awards 1 game point; drawing a game awards 0.5 game points to both players. A player wins if he has more points after 6 matches than his opponent. If both players have the same amount of points, it's a tie.
6.) A win counts 1 match point for the team and a draw counts as 0.5 match point for each team. The sum of all 4 matches will determine the winner.

Playoffs
1.) After each team has played against each other team from the same group, the round phase is over.
2.) The team with the most match points advances to the playoffs.
3.) In case of a tie, the difference between the sum of all game points and the sum of all opposing teams' game points count as tiebreaker.
4.) If there's still a tie (hopefully not), there will be a coin flip.
5.) The winner of group A will play against the winner of group D, and the winner of group B will play against the winner of group C.
6.) The playoffs have the same rules except there are no ties.
7.) In case of a tie, the team with more game points advances.
8.) Is this still a tie, the team leaders have to play another match to determine the winner. The match follows the starting player pattern A-B-B-A-A, but there's no 6th game possible, it's a best of 5 match.
9.) Both winning countries advance to the finals which has the same rules as the semi-finals.

Organizing Matches
1.) Each match last one week, from Monday to Sunday.
2.) Paired opponents have to schedule their match in this time frame. If a player has no time to play in this week, he must inform the team leader and me via PM in advance. The team leader has to to determine a replacement and inform me about it. If a team can't find a replacement it counts as loss for this team. If both players have time, but still can't find a schedule to play it counts as a 0-0 draw.
3.) Point Counter should be enabled by default, but can be turned off by mutual consent.

Schedule (planned)
Group Phase Match 1: 11th - 17th November
Group Phase Match 2: 18th - 24th November
Group Phase Match 3: 25th - 1st December
Semi-Finals: 2nd - 8th December
Finals: 9th - 15th December


Feel free to ask questions. (If some feedback makes it appropriate, the rules could be adjusted)

60
Introductions / Sorry for my absence (again)
« on: October 10, 2013, 08:54:15 pm »
Hey, AdamHorton contacted me and I'm glad he did.

I just wanted to pop in and say I'm not dead yet.
I'm really sorry that I left without any notice, but I just want to explain shortly why.
Well, I got really ill recently and so I had to shift priorities. Dominion is really an addiction for me and there's no "a little bit Dominion".
It's either all or nothing. So, I decided to quit, well I not really decided it, but it happened like that.
But I still miss Dominion and this community a lot. There was no long time where I didn't think about making a return or at least pop in to explain everything, but I just never got around to do that. I miss playing Dominion, miss making videos, miss talking with all of you guys, and miss making the lists, so on so forth.
I'm not really recovered yet, but I have now hopes to get well soon. This was last week. Since then I planned to come back even more and now Adam contacted me. I don't know when I will be fully back, but I try to at least continue the lists.

I hope you didn't miss me so much and accept my apologies. I hope to be back soon.

61
Video link:

#16 Adventurer (Base) Weighted Average: 2.0% ▲0.9pp / Median: 0% =0pp / Standard Deviation: 5.7% ▲2.4pp
Highest Value(s): 26.7% (1x), 20.0% (1x), 15.4% (1x) / Lowest Value(s): 0% (44x)

Again it was pretty clear, Adventurer is still the worst card in this list. It was voted last 44 times, that's 80% of all votes. It has also the second lowest deviation in this list.

By all means Adventurer is no bad card. But all $6+ cards have the problem competing with Gold. And Adventurer is only superior to Gold in decks without Copper and even $5 cards like Harvest or Merchant Ship (can) give you $4 easily. The filter effect is nice and finds still 2 treasure cards if you are already heavily greening what is especially good with Platinum. But the same does Venture (you see the name sililarity?) without spending an action and for one coin less. So, most of the time, Adventurer is just overpriced, but can be nice in a chapelled deck with no better alternatives.
#15 Farmland (Hinterlands) Weighted Average: 14.4% ▼4.2pp / Median: 7.7% ▼7.7pp / Standard Deviation: 15.1% ▼0.5pp
Highest Value(s): 86.7% (1x), 53.3% (1x), 40.0% (4x) / Lowest Value(s): 0% (4x)

Farmland is still second last. It was voted last 4 times and has only 2 votes above average. It lost quite a bit in points this time.

Farmland is definitely no power card, but still should be considered as a good buy in a handful of situations. At first it seems weak as it is more expensive and gives less VP than a Duchy. But the on-buy remodel effect can be very handy. You really have to calculate the benefits. If you have $7, you can remodel a Copper into an Estate, but then it would be better to buy a Duchy for the same VP. For $8 you could buy a Province directly, but if you're behind and there are only few Provinces left, just remodel a Silver into a Duchy for 5VP. For $9 Farmland is like an extra buy, if you remodel a Gold into a Province for 8VP total. In the middle game you even may prefer Farmland over Duchy, because with a Farmland in hand you only need $6 and a Farmland in hand to get a Province. Then Farmland is like a pseudo Harem as the remodel effect is like the +2$ Harem gives you. Especially nice is Farmland in cursing games. For $6 and a Curse in hand, Farmland is worth 4VP. There are even more nice situations like getting 2 victory cards in Silk Road games or trashing a Potion to get a Gold.
#14 Harem (Intrigue) Weighted Average: 28.9% ▼2.5pp / Median: 26.7% ▼4.1pp / Standard Deviation: 18.3% ▲1.0pp
Highest Value(s): 73.3% (1x), 66.7% (2x) / Lowest Value(s): 6.7% (6x)

Ignoring the new Dark Ages cards, Harem is also on the same rank as before. It has no last rank, but 6 second last ranks. It was voted 9 times above average.

Like all cards in this list, Harem is by far no bad card, but it's another card that's not really game dominating. Especially in Big Money games where you rarely need more than 1-2 Golds you can pick easily pick up Harems in the mid-game if you still fall short for Provinces. This gives you -1VP in comparism to Duchies, but you will see this Harem still 2-3 times to make it worth a buy and give you enough money to win the Provinces split or make the 2VP difference to win this game. Harem is also good in Silk Road games and in combination with Hoard (don't buy Gold, just buy a Hoard and Harems), Mine (mine early Silvers into Harems) and Mints (extra money and VP is nice). In Colony games, Harem is really ignorable because neither Silver nor 2VP are worth a buy.
#13 Expand (Prosperity) Weighted Average: 34.2% ▲1.8pp / Median: 26.7% ▼11.8pp / Standard Deviation: 17.8% ▲1.1pp
Highest Value(s): 80.0% (2x), 61.5% (1x) / Lowest Value(s): 6.7% (3x)

Expand is on the same rank as last time too. It has 3 votes on second last and 13 votes above average. Although the rating went up, the Median is much worse than last time.

Expand is a mix between Remodel and Mine, but is another card that has the drawback of being expensive. So if you want to trash treasure cards in the late game for victory cards, Remodel manages that too for $3 less. If you want trash treasure cards for better treasure cards, Mine does it even better for $2 less. Its best use is to trash victory cards for better ones or $5 cost actions to victory cards in the end game. This is especially nice in Colony games. With 2 Expands you can start greening earlier and even buy Provinces to expand them later into Colonies for a benefit of 4VP. And if you have a good drawing engine this works even better. You only need one copy to expand a card into a (better) victory card each turn. And expanding Peddlers into Colonies may be its strongest combo.
#12 Forge (Prosperity) Weighted Average: 34.3% ▲1.1pp / Median: 26.7% ▼4.1pp / Standard Deviation: 24.5% ▼1.8pp
Highest Value(s): 93.3% (2x), 80.0% (2x) / Lowest Value(s): 6.7% (4x), 0% (2x)

Forge was better than Expand by only 0.1pp this time. It is the card with the highest deviation in this list again. On one side it has two last ranks, but on the other it was voted second twice. It has 14 above average votes.

Forge is really hard to evaluate because it heavily depends from the cards on the board. Forge is like a much better Chapel because you can quickly trash many cards out of your deck and get an additional benefit, but has 3 big drawbacks. 1.) It's too expensive. If you get to $7 you mostly can't heavily trash anymore because you have too many cards in hand you want to keep. But with cards on the board that can give you $7 early like Baron, Apothecary or Tactician, Forge is really strong. 2.) Forge needs big hand sizes to be really worth it (comparing to other trash-for-benefit cards). Cards like Apothecary or Tactician accomplish this too, but if you have good draw engines, a Forge may also worth a buy to trash a few cards for a late Province. But with discarding attacks Forge is weak. 3.) The term "exactly" and the obligatory gain makes Forge swingy. With a Forge in hand heavy calculating goes on. If you just want to get rid of cards like Coppers or Estates you often have to gain at least a Copper or an Estate or another card you basically don't want. Only if you manage to reach $10 where no card exists you get rid of those. And if you want to forge a Province you often draw the wrong cards (e.g. only treasure cards). Summary: You have to really consider if Forge is a trap or worth a buy, like in Torturer engines where you can simply take all Curses in hand to forge them right away.
#11 Fairgrounds (Cornucopia) Weighted Average: 37.7% ▲0.8pp / Median: 33.3% ▲2.5pp / Standard Deviation: 23.2% ▼3.2pp
Highest Value(s): 86.7% (1x), 80.0% (2x) / Lowest Value(s): 6.7% (4x), 0% (2x)

Fairgrounds is the next card which stays where it was. It has the second highest deviation in this list. It was voted 15 times above average, but still 2 times last.

Copper, Silver, Gold, Estate, Duchy, Province and Fairgrounds and you have already 7 different cards. With 3 more cards, every Fairgrounds is already worth more than a Duchy. Especially in cursing and Potion games, this is easy to accomplish. This is still making it a mediocre card. But in games where you have many cantrips and a good source of buy, Fairgrounds can be really strong. Just buy 15 of the 19 different cards and every Fairgrounds is worth 6VP like a Province and this for $2 less. And with Black Market on the board it is even easier to get 15 or even 20 different cards and may be the board determining combo. With Dark Ages Fairgrounds got a huge boost. With Shelters you need 2 unique cards less and in games with Looters you might have to ignore them because the Ruins might only pump your opponents' Fairgrounds. Also, Knights offer a lot of uniques and Spoils or Mercenary from extra piles are also extra uniques you might want.
#10 Bank (Prosperity) Weighted Average: 44.3% ▲1.1pp / Median: 46.7% ▲8.2pp / Standard Deviation: 18.2% ▲0.6pp
Highest Value(s): 84.6% (1x), 73.3% (2x) / Lowest Value(s): 13.3% (4x), 0% (1x)

And Bank also stays where it was. Its median is much higher this time. It has one last rank and one high outlier.

Bank's value really depends from the board. Bank is dependant from big hand sizes and +Buy. On an average board, especially Big Money games, Bank is mostly worse than Gold. While 3 Golds allow you to buy a Province, 3 Banks don't. So it can really be a trap card. But with a drawer it can be also better than Gold (e.g. 4 Copper + Bank instead of 4 Copper + Gold). And with the addition of +Buy it can get incredibly powerful. Margrave/Wharf Big Money with Bank is great. And in combination with Tactician or Apothecary+Herbalist(or another +Buy) Bank is really powerful. In Colony games Platinum is still stronger in almost every situation, but still Bank is no bad card in Colony games and just depends of above mentioned scenarios.
#9 Hoard (Prosperity) Weighted Average: 48.5% ▼7.3pp / Median: 53.3% ▼0.5pp / Standard Deviation: 20.8% ▼3.5pp
Highest Value(s): 100% (1x), 80.0% (2x) / Lowest Value(s): 13.3% (2x), 6.7% (1x)

And here is the first change. Hoard is the biggest loser in this list. Over 7pp worse and one rank worse than last time. It also lost a lot of agreement. It was even voted first once, but also second last once. In the unweighted ranking it would be one rank higher.

Hoard is really good if you play it right. If you use it to buy a Victory card every time you have it in hand, just to get a Gold, this is maybe not the right play because then your money average approximates to ~1.5$ what isn't enough for a Province and is even worse in Colony games. But you want to green eventually, right? Then adding Golds while greening is really good. Your deck doesn't clog up too much and you may keep buying Provinces or at least Duchies until the end of the game. So if you pick up a Hoard after your first Gold in Big Money games you can go green pretty early. Hoard is also good if you use the free Gold for trash-for-benefit cards, especially Apprentice. Just trash a Gold with Apprentice, buy a Province with a Hoard in hand to get another Gold and do the same in the next turns over and over. Hoard works also nice with dual-type victory cards especially Harem.
#8 Hunting Grounds (Dark Ages) Weighted Average: 49.4% / Median: 46.7% /  Standard Deviation: 19.5%
Highest Value(s): 86.7% (1x), 80.0% (4x) / Lowest Value(s): 20.0% (2x), 6.7% (1x)

Ranked right in the middle is the first of two new Dark Ages cards. It's also not only ranked in the middle, it has also a nearly exact 50% rating. It would be one rank higher in the unweighted ranking.

Hunting Grounds is the best drawer without any disadvantage or condition of the game. It's simple, but does well what it should do, drawing a lot of cards. It's solid in Big Money but for $6 it competes directly with Gold and mostly you draw way more than you need for a Province and as you only have one buy, I rather have Wharf for Big Money strategies. But in engines, drawing 4 cards is great and even with weak trashing you can build a pretty decent engine with it. And with good trashing this is even better as you will easily draw your whole deck with it. The on-trash ability is also neat. I think I've never took 3 Estates over a Duchy because in those cases where it would matter (like Gardens or Silk Road) $6 is often way too expensive. But getting a late extra Duchy when you try to catch up with your mega engine is pretty cool. Tricks like buying a Farmland to trash a Hunting Grounds for a Province and a Duchy for 11VP total or just use any trash-for-benefit card on it is a great extra.
#7 Nobles (Intrigue) Weighted Average: 50.2% ▲1.2pp / Median: 46.7% ▼7.1pp / Standard Deviation: 18.6% ▲2.4pp
Highest Value(s): 86.7% (2x), 80.0% (1x) / Lowest Value(s): 20.0% (3x), 6.7% (1x)

Nobles is one rank better and has more agreement this time. It would be two ranks lower in the unweighted list.

Nobles is often a trap card. Yes, Nobles is a self working combo when you use it for +2 Actions and +3 Cards alternating. But 2 Nobles still give you only a +1 Card Bonus what one Laboratory gives you too. So a Big Money player is going to outrace a "Nobles-Engine" player, it's just to slow. But still there are many occassions where Nobles are nice. As long as you don't use Nobles as your main village an engine player can incorporate Nobles as a good drawer while picking up some points and not fall so far behind to a Big Money Player. Yeah, getting points while still building your engine can be huge for an engine player as he may need 1-2 Provinces less to catch up in the end. And if there are other cards that let you get Nobles faster, like Quarry it makes them even stronger. However, in Colony games the 2VP from Nobles are often ignorable or at least less important.
#6 Altar (Dark Ages) Weighted Average: 54.5% / Median: 60.0% /  Standard Deviation: 23.0%
Highest Value(s): 86.7% (2x), 80.0% (5x) / Lowest Value(s): 13.3% (1x), 0% (2x)

Altar is the better ranked Dark Ages card. But it has a pretty high deviation with two votes on the last rank.

$5 cards are key cards in Dominion. And the ability to trash cards independant from cost and turn them into key $5 cards is really big, especially for any sort of engine. An early $6 on an engine board with Altar is really strong. Also, you have the ability to use it later in the game to gain Duchies, something you shouldn't underestimate. It also comboes well with cost reduction like Highway (which you can get from Altar) to even gain Provinces with it. Of course it highly depends on the board. If there are no good expensive cards to get in masses, then Altar isn't that interesting, but you might get one only for the Duchy gain ability which is also less useful in Colony games of course.
#5 Peddler (Prosperity) Weighted Average: 58.7% ▼1.2pp / Median: 60.0% ▼1.5pp / Standard Deviation: 16.1% ▲2.9pp
Highest Value(s): 84.6% (2x), 80.0% (2x) / Lowest Value(s): 26.7% (1x), 23.1% (1x), 20.0% (2x)

Peddler is on the same rank as before with much more agreement and a slighly worse ranking.

Peddler basically doesn't belong in this list similarly to Duchess, because you almost never spend $8 for a Peddler as its effect is only worth ~$4. So if you spend $6 or $8 for a Peddler, this was mostly a waste. But in games with many +Buys like Grand Markets, Worker's Villages, Market Squares or Pawns and Hamlets, you can easily pick up Peddlers for $0 or $2. Getting many Peddlers in one turn can be a pretty big boost to your econony. Peddlers are also good in combination with duration cards as they count for price reduction in both turns. But it is in this list and it is so high in this list because it really shines in combination with trash-for-benefit cards and then its cost shows to advantage, e.g. - like above mentioned - expanding it into a Colony. As it is the only card for $8, its also worth mentioning how it works with Swindler. As long as there are still Peddlers left, there is the danger that it get swindled. But when the Peddlers are gone, you have a great defense against Swindler. Another quick note: Beware of three-piling in Peddler games with +Buy.
#4 Border Village (Hinterlands) Weighted Average: 67.9% ▲0.3pp / Median: 73.3% ▲4.1pp / Standard Deviation: 17.4% ▼0.4pp
Highest Value(s): 86.7% (3x) / Lowest Value(s): 26.7% (1x), 20.0% (1x), 7.7% (1x)

We're making a jump of over 9pp and Border Village is still on #4, but has a pretty low percentage value for a card ranked on #4 which shows the strength of the upcoming Top 3. It has still some pretty low votes, but 17 votes on 80% shows that there's no doubt about its high rank.

For every good engine Border Village is excellent. Especially if you have $6 and there are strong terminal $5 cards on the board and you want the $5 card anyway, you get a Village for free. Do this a few times and you basically are guaranteed to have a Village in each hand. The uses are similar to when you want many Fishing Villages. Border Village + Torturer is maybe of the strongest comboes. Still this is in strong competition with Gold. It's really a trap in cases where you want a money based strategy. Especially with the first $6 you often rather buy a Gold than a Border Village in most cases. Border Village is also very good on boards with trash-for-benefit cards because for every $6 you have you can buy a Border Village and the trash-for-benefit card. Later you can trash the Border Village for 4VP with Bishop, 6 cards with Apprentice, 6$ with Salvager or remodel it into a Province, etc. Border Village + Graverobber is also a great combo because you never run out of fodder for Graverobbers.
#3 Grand Market (Prosperity) Weighted Average: 84.7% ▲4.7pp / Median: 86.7% ▲2.1pp / Standard Deviation: 9.0% ▲4.2pp
Highest Value(s): 100% (3x) / Lowest Value(s): 60.0% (2x), 53.3% (1x)

Now is the big jump: Over 16pp better than Border Village is Grand Market. After the big drop last time, it gained back a little bit of points. It's nearly 5pp better with no votes in the lower half and three first ranks. But still the gap to the top two is really big.

Grand Market is basically a $8-$9 card and is the dominating card on many boards. Often it's basically a race to get the first Grand Market faster. And with the first Grand Market you can easily buy more of them. You achieve that at best with Vault or any other Source of virtual coins like Baron or Horse Traders and of course with Gold. Grand Markets are very powerful, but still there are situations where it's just too slow to pick them up because of its restriction and is really a trap card. Other strategies are just quicker. They are great in nearly all decks, but Grand Markets really shine in thin decks where you can chain them. Then they are even better than Platinum! The same applies in combination with King's Court. But in Colony games with heavy cursing or other thick decks, Platinum is still the stronger card.
#2 Goons (Prosperity) Weighted Average: 93.6% ▼1.0pp / Median: 93.3% ▲1.0pp / Standard Deviation: 5.8% ▲6.3pp
Highest Value(s): 100% (14x) / Lowest Value(s): 80.0% (3x), 76.9% (1x)

Another jump of nearly 9pp and we're now in the Top 2. Goons is second again and has won a lot of consensus with its really low deviation, but it's still only the third lowest in this list. It was voted 14 times first and all voted it in the top quarter of this list.

Goons is a strong and board dominating card nearly every time. Yes, it gets quadratically (n^2+n) better the more Goons you can play per turn, so it gets big profit from good drawing engines, but is still great if played alone because of the discarding attack. It's also the only attack card that is so strong that it needs to cost more than $5. So you have a Militia that nets you VP for cards you would have bought either way, great! In the later game you can pick additional VP for Coppers (and with a Watchtower in hand you can even immediately trash them). And if you have that needed actions and set up a really nice engine with Goons and manage to play 3 or more Goons per turn, it is so insane powerful: You can achieve easily 100 or more points. Also a Goons engine has more time for setup as you don't necessarily need to buy Provinces/Colonies. For clarification: King's Court + Goons doesn't triple the VP gaining effect, but you still get the extra money and buys you can use for more VP, so it isn't a so bad combo after all (especially if you have another King's Court and a Masquerade in hand ;) )
#1 King's Court (Prosperity) Weighted Average: 97.5% ▲1.2pp / Median: 100% =0pp / Standard Deviation: 4.5% ▲0.8pp
Highest Value(s): 100% (37x) / Lowest Value(s): 86.7% (1x), 84.6% (1x), 80.0% (1x)

Yeah, no doubt about it. King's Court is the best card in this list again. 37 voted it first and basically no really bad vote; so it has clearly the lowest deviation in this list.

Just like Goons and Grand Market, when King's Court is on the board, there's nearly every time a race who gets it first with cards like Tactician, Baron or Apothecary. Throne Room does nothing for itself and just doubles the action, but still is often skippable - tripling an action seems like no big difference, but it is a huge boost. If you triple a Curser the game is basically over; if you triple a card drawer like Wharf it's really crazy; and with Possession or Saboteur it could get really mad. With King's Court you also need no Village, just triple a Cantrip for a huge benefit, especially if it's Scheme. And with King's Courting a King's Court it gets even crazier... Maybe only on Province boards that are already very quick without King's Court or have only terminal non-curse-givers you may skip it. PS: For everyone who has the same problems as I, calculating the actions you may play three times: For every King's Court you play on a King's Court you can play 2 more actions three times - or if you prefer a formula: 2n-1

62
Dominion Articles / Merchant Guild
« on: June 29, 2013, 12:35:46 pm »
Alright, let's talk about Merchant Guild. Many commented that's it's a very weak card. I disagree. (This isn't a full article, just some comments)



Quote from: Donald X.
Merchant Guild: This started out thinking it could cost $4, like Bridge. As it turned out, it could not.

I can see why this is true. Coin Tokens are really powerful.
Merchant Guild feels like a duration card, all coin token cards in general do. But all other coin token generating cards let you spend the coin token right away. So, this is feels more like a Duration card as you get the good effect not before your next turn.

Let's compare it with a few cards.
Treasury and Merchant Guild have the same cost. Treasury gives you +1 Action +1 Card and +1 Coin this turn and a free coin the following turns as long as you don't buy a victory card.
Merchant Guild doesn't give you an Action and doesn't give you a card, instead only +1 Buy. This is really weak. But you get at least a Coin Token which you can spend on any following turn. So, this feels a little bit like an opposite Treasury. While Treasury is good early in the game in ramping up your economy, Merchant Guild is the opposite. It's getting better later in the game.

I've seen many players buying Coppers from it right of the bat. I feel this is a misplay, similar to why additional Coppers for Goons is a misplay because usually you want to play your good stuff more often early on and those Coppers prevent that. But in slogs this might be a good move as those Coin tokens will be super handy soon. But you can pick up those Coppers as soon as you green and then it's great.

Similar why you could combine both effects from Duration cards into one card to get a feel for its strength (So Caravan is like a Lab, especially if you play one each turn) we could do this here too. Merchant Guild is then a Woodcutter at worst, which is pretty weak, sure. But even if the coin token is delayed, I think a fictional card that says: "+1 Buy +1 Coin. Gain a Coin Token" would be a solid $4 cost card, just only because it's strictly better than Woodcutter, but also mostly better than Nomad Camp. But Merchant Guild is later in the game mostly like "+1 Coin. Gain 2 Coin Tokens. Gain a Copper" if you ignore the delayed effect. A terminal Gold for the cost of a Copper feels like a Mandarin or a Count, so is already a solid $5 cost card.

Interactions with other cards:
I've picked Merchant Guild up for the +Buy and the gaining of coin tokens only a lot of the times. But, so far we are totally ignoring the stacking effect where the true power is revealed. It shines more with other cards that give you coin tokens because you can save some coin tokens and then use the additional buy in not only buying a Copper, but two good cards. It's even better if your deck manages to give you additional buys. As you may have noticed, Candlestick Maker is a very powerful $2 cost card and gives you not only Coin Tokens but also giving you +Buys. A stack of CMs and some MGs is already a very solid deck. While you're using some buys to pick up CMs and get 2 Coin Tokens instead of the normal 1 Token you can start greening much earlier. Play 4 CMs and a Merchant Guild, buy what you want and 5 Coppers. You just gained 10 Coin Tokens! That should be enough for a couple of Provinces in the next couple of turns! (This is just an example, I'm not saying that you should do this)

Multiple Merchant Guilds
As you already can see Merchant Guild is great in setting up an engine with cheap engine pieces like Hamlets. You get a little bit loss of tempo, but you have a lot of endgame speed up and control (coin tokens give you in general a great endgame control). Now let's have a look at multiple Merchant Guilds. Here's where it's start getting crazy. If you have 2 Merchant Guilds in play, you usually should buy at least 2 cards and at that point you usually have some coin tokens, so you really should spend some, because you get them right back. If you buy 2 cards, you get 4 Coin Tokens (for $6 total), so you have a terminal Gold in Merchant Guild (as said before), but not for the cost of a Copper, usually you can buy useful stuff for that. But your goal if you want to setup a Merchant Guild mega turn engine is at least 3 Merchant Guilds in play. This is usually right when you want to starting greening so that you have 4 Buys which you should all spend for 12 Coin Tokens so that each Merchant Guild was like a terminal $5, but even better: In Coin Tokens.

Let's have a look at some examples:

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130627/log.50745d1a0cf28ed55d9d6498.1372373202581.txt

Here I've built a Hamlet/Library draw engine with Merchant Guild as my endgame mega turn plan. I loaded up on the Hamlet because they are really important for me as I will need all the +Buys for Merchant Guild. This was probably a mistake, an early Merchant Guild while picking up Hamlets would have been great. 5/2 would have been awesome here. I got my first Merchant Guild only in turn 8 as I picked up a Library earlier. My opponent already bought his first Province the turn before. Turn 10 was my first bigger turn where I bought my second Merchant Guild and an Ironmonger. My opponent then bought his second Province. I was getting worried because I need at least one more Merchant Guild and especially more Libraries. My opponent bought his third Province in turn 12 and I got really really unlucky with a hand of "Merchant Guild, Library, Copper, Estate, Library". The turn after I got unlucky again, but I knew I had to get coin tokens now, so bought 3 Coppers for 3 Coin Tokens only. 2 dud hands and I felt I already lost. Turn 14 for my opponent and his fourth Province while I had none. Then I had to start greening. In turn 15 I bought a Province with only one MG in play. I had to use 1 Coin Token, but got 3 back. Opponent buys Duchy then - still down 21 points. In turn 16 my engine finally starts kicking in. I get all my Merchant Guilds in play and can buy a Province and a Duchy and 4 Coppers for 18 Coin Tokens! My opponent buys another Duchy, I'm still down 15 points with only 2 Provinces left. But with so many coin tokens I'm not that worried anymore. I can buy 2 Provinces and 1 Duchy and 2 Estates for a 2 point win on the last turn. Man, this was great and shows in my opinion the strength of a Merchant Guild megaturn and how you can "equalizing" the loss of tempo you get from buying those at the beginning. What's even better in those games is that even if you aren't able to finish this turn you can delay the game in picking up Duchies while still getting Coin Tokens and try to finish the next turn. This end game control is great.

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130628/log.50745d1a0cf28ed55d9d6498.1372458377575.txt

Let's ignore the fact that I got 4/3 on a board with Familiar that basically was an auto-win here. I was just wanted to show you: Man, Scrying Pool+Village+Merchant Guild is amazing. Let's just look at the last turn where I got 5 Merchant Guilds in play to get 30 Coin Tokens. That's just crazy. One or two more turns and I could have piled out the Provinces.

Summary:
Merchant Guild is no top $5 card, but it's definitely way better than many on the forums commented. It has many uses (Slogs, other Coin Token cards, Engines with cheap components) and is not only useful in megaturn strategies, but there it can really really shine.

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Dominion Articles / Combo: Taxman + Ill-Gotten-Gains
« on: June 27, 2013, 07:19:55 pm »

Just had this in a game. Not really an article, just a short summary.

Taxman comboes really well with IGG. Open Taxman/Silver and get a second Taxman with your next $4.
Then you can trash Coppers from your hand and put silvers on top of your deck. Your opponent has to discard a Copper which makes it unlikely that he'll hit $5. After you have a few Silvers, you buy IGGs. Later you can trash IGGs (or Silvers) and convert them into another IGG. In the best case you can deal out 2 Curses in one turn in that way. When the IGGs are gone, trash them for Golds, so that you might even be able to get a Province in the next hand.

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Game Reports / The most complicated board ever...
« on: June 26, 2013, 03:57:15 pm »
... at least in my experience. I've played this game now twice against AdamH and both times I felt pretty lost. This is for me THE Guilds defining board as it has crazy overpaying with Stonemason and coin tokens in Baker and Butcher. You can see both games here and here. This is the kingdom (Shelters and no Colony):




I think the basic idea is pretty clear. You want to trash down to a pretty thin and action heavy deck as soon as possible. Overpay for Stonemason by $4 or mostly for $5 to get all those shiny action cards. Meanwhile you get Gold out of the trashing from Market Square. This leads to the sugar sweet Stonemason/Market Square Combo where you can trash Golds for 2 Actions cards costing $5 (or Duchies of course) while you easily replace the Gold with more Golds by revealing Market Square. So far, so good.

1.) How is the order of buys here? Especially the opening is puzzling me. Baker makes the opening more complicated. Do you want a Market Square right away to get your economy up while trashing to starting overpaying for Stonemason sooner? Do you want Steward, Butcher or even Salvager as trasher or a combination of those?

2.) In the second game you see a different approach on how we build the engine in the mid-game. My deck seems stronger, but somehow I fall behind pretty quickly. I don't buy any village and try to chain Heralds together to get draw and +Actions while Adam gets Bazars and Jouneymen for those purposes and adds some Heralds later. Do you want even Journeyman in this deck or is Herald and Steward (when the staring cards are trashed) enough of draw?

3.) The end game is really complicated. There are 2 different approaches. You may want to try to rush the Provinces faster than your opponent. This probably includes probably butchering (or maybe even salvaging) Golds into Provinces and use the +Buys from Market Square and coin tokens to buy them. I see a 4 Province turn pretty easily possible. On the other hand, the piles are running so fast. Stonemason buys gets you 3 cards, stonemason plays also gives you 2 cards, then you can butcher cards even to equal value and use the +Buys from Market Square and coin tokens from Baker and Butcher to buy out the piles. It should be pretty easy to get over 10 cards this way in one turn. This makes it also hard to calculate how many cards you should leave back on each pile to not peril a possible 3-pile ending. What should you aim for? Or more especifically: Build longer or green earlier?

I'm really looking forward to hear some thoughts.

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Video Link:

#10 Dame Natalie Weighted Average: 13.6% / Median: 11.1% / Standard Deviation: 19.3%
Highest Value(s): #3 (1x), #4 (1x), #6 (2x) / Lowest Value(s): #10 (16x)

Dame Natalie aka the Gainer Knight is the worst of the knights. She was voted last 16 out of 35 times and was voted in the Top 5 only 2 times. She has the second lowest deviation in this list.

If you go heavily for Knights you want to play them as often as you can. Dame Natalie gives you the ability to flood your deck with $3 cost cards, but on most boards this decreases the ability to play them often. Therefore that's a good Knight to pick up as a defense. Then you can flood your deck with Silver and you don't mind if she's getting trashed to a strong knight. With cheap engine components like Village, Hamlet or Fishing Village this can be a really good Knight to pick up in the early game though. You use this as a gainer and can slow your opponent. But of course this is very situational. What's not to underestimate is the possibility to gain Estates in the end game when the game is close to a tie.
#9 Sir Martin Weighted Average: 18.4% / Median: 11.1% / Standard Deviation: 18.4%
Highest Value(s): #4 (1x), #5 (2x) / Lowest Value(s): #10 (10x)

Sir Martin aka the +Buy Knight is slightly better than Dame Natalie. He has the lowest deviation in this list and the lowest highest rank on #4. But he has only 10 last ranks and 3 votes in the Top 5.

The +2 Buys is of course the weakest benefit of all knights. But Sir Martin costs only $4. As you know the difference between a $4 and $5 cost card is big and the attack effect for only $4 is not a bad deal. Also he's a cheap knight you can pick up only for defense purposes if your opponent goes heavily on Knights. Also if you're playing an alternative strategy like going for Gardens Sir Martin is a great Knight to get. If you heavily go for Knights, Sir Martin is probably the weakest you can get because if you go for an engine you most likely have another source of +Buy already and you really can't rely on getting him. What makes him good in an engine is that you can pick him easily up with a gainer like Ironworks, so he has a low opportunity cost.
#8 Sir Vander Weighted Average: 31.3% / Median: 22.2% / Standard Deviation: 25.0%
Highest Value(s): #2 (1x), #3 (3x) / Lowest Value(s): #10 (4x)

Sir Vander aka the On-Trash Gold-gain Knight has a much higher rating than the last two. He was voted 7 times in the Top 5. But still he was voted last 4 times.

Sir Vander has no special on-play ability what makes him look weak. But if you have only $5 and want a Gold instead this isn't a bad deal. You can use him to slow your opponent down a little bit and you really don't care if he gets trashed. You converted a $5 cost card into a $6 cost card. He's probably more useful as defense though. Your oppoent has to trash a probably better Knight and you get a Gold out of him, a very good deal for you. Also it's possible to use a trash-for-benefit card on him although I think I've not done it yet.
#7 Dame Josephine Weighted Average: 36.3% / Median: 33.3% / Standard Deviation: 31.0%
Highest Value(s): #1 (1x), #2 (4x) / Lowest Value(s): #10 (5x)

Dame Josephine aka the VP Knight has the highest deviation in this list. She was voted first once and 12 times in the Top 5 but still 5 times last on the other side.

Dame Josephine is one of the worst knights you can get if you go heavily on Knights especially if she is the Top Knight. She gives you no benefit all game and as she eventually gets trashed you lost the points. But later in the game she is in direct competition with Duchy. You get 1VP less and have the chance to play her and trash an opponents' Duchy what would her make worth 5VP. But on the other side you could get unlucky and hit an opponents' Knight so that you lost her and rather would have picked up a Duchy. So, picking her up is a bit of a gamble. You could decide not to play her in the end game, but then she should have been a Duchy. But if you play her, you have to hope for the best.
#6 Sir Destry Weighted Average: 54.2% / Median: 44.4% / Standard Deviation: 20.7%
Highest Value(s): #1 (1x), #2 (4x) / Lowest Value(s): #7 (9x), #8 (1x)

Sir Destry aka the Draw Knight has a much higher rating than all previous knights. His rating is even above average although his rank is not. He was voted first once and is the first knight with no last rank, no not even a second last rank.

Sir Destry is one of the best additions into an engine when you can easily pick up cheap villages. If you're going BM you could also easily pick him up to slow your opponent a little bit down or as a defense against Knights as it's useful for you, but you also don't mind if you have to sacrifice him for another Knight.
#5 Dame Anna Weighted Average: 58.5% / Median: 55.6% / Standard Deviation: 25.5%
Highest Value(s): #1 (2x), #2 (7x) / Lowest Value(s): #8 (3x), #9 (2x)

Dame Anna aka the Trasher Knight is slightly better than Sir Destry and has the second highest deviation of all Knights. She was voted first twice, but still has a lot of really low votes.

Dame Anna is one of the best Knights you can have as the Top Knight, especially if you're going for Knights. Thinning out the deck allows you to play your Knights very often which is great of course. She is no good Knight to pick up for defense as thinning out only allows your opponents' Knights to hit more often. But still, she is really situational. Also, if you get her in the mid-game the trashing is usually not that useful anymore.
#4 Dame Molly Weighted Average: 59.5% / Median: 66.7% / Standard Deviation: 20.2%
Highest Value(s): #1 (1x), #2 (4x) / Lowest Value(s): #7 (6x), #8 (1x)

It was close. Dame Molly aka the village Knight is only 1pp better than Dame Anna. She was voted first once and has very few low votes.

Dame Molly is a great addition to an engine. As you have other villages already (otherwise you shouldn't for the engine of course) +2 Actions doesn't seem like a huge benefit, basically only a Necropolis, non-terminal attacks are very powerful as you can play her guaranteed unless you draw her dead. Also if you go heavily for Knights, it's not rare that Knights collide. The ability to play 3 Knights out of a 3 card hand is huge and shouldn't be underestimated.
#3 Dame Sylvia Weighted Average: 61.8% / Median: 55.6% / Standard Deviation: 20.8%
Highest Value(s): #1 (1x), #2 (4x) / Lowest Value(s): #7 (3x), #8 (1x), #9 (1x)

Ranks #3 to #6 were really close, less than 10pp difference. Dame Sylvia aka the terminal Silver Knight won that battle, but it could easily different the next time. She was voted first only once, but was only voted 5 times in the bottom 3.

Dame Sylvia is also very powerful to get early as she is probably best in picking up other Knights as she boosts your economy the most early. Later in the game she is probably worse than Sir Destry who gives you +2 Cards instead.
#2 Sir Bailey Weighted Average: 77.8% / Median: 77.8% / Standard Deviation: 24.7%
Highest Value(s): #1 (9x) / Lowest Value(s): #7 (1x), #9 (2x)

Sir Bailey aka the Cantrip Knight was voted way higher than all previous ones. He got 9 first ranks, but has still 2 votes on second last. So he has the third highest deviation.

As said before, non-terminal attacks are very strong and him being a cantrip makes him worth to pick up on many occasions as he doesn't hurt unless you draw it dead. The possibility to play 2 strong attacks (either another Knight or another strong attack) without the need of a village can be huge.
#1 Sir Michael Weighted Average: 88.7% / Median: 100% / Standard Deviation: 21.2%
Highest Value(s): #1 (20x) / Lowest Value(s): #6 (2x), #9 (1x)

Sir Micheal aka the discarding Knight is clearly the best Knight. 20 out of 35 votes voted him first and he was voted only 3 times below average.

Sir Michael attacks twice which can really slow someone down. Trashing and discarding can set someone 2 turns back. If you manage to play only him each turn once, your opponent has really trouble. He alone may be the reason that your opponent picks up a Knight just to get rid of him.

66
Rules Questions / Wandering Minstrel's revealing
« on: June 14, 2013, 02:49:49 pm »
Probably too obvious for me to realize it.
After your revealed the action cards you drew from WM, do you have to put them on top of your deck one after the other or can you do this all at once?
Or to ask this differently: Are the cards you put on top of your deck still revealed while doing so?

This matters as your opponent knows the order of your cards. Let's say one of the revealed cards is a Horse Traders and you play one cantrip afterwards. Knowing if you have a Horse Traders in hand next turn is important.

67
Other Games / Spiel des Jahres
« on: June 07, 2013, 06:01:23 pm »
Hey, haven't seen any discussion yet. Maybe no-one cares. It doesn't affect my buys, but still like to follow the election, mainly just because I want that a good game wins so that more get into the hobby.

Nominees for Spiel des Jahres this year are:

Qwixx - Seems like a strange random choice to me. I don't know anything about this. Has anoyone played this?
Hanabi - A very good game, but I'm a little bit surprised about the nomination because it's really simple and also is cooperative.
Augustus - Solid simple bingo-like game, never played it, but seems fun to play with kids and/or wife.

Hanabi is for me the best game here, but I guess Augustus will win this.


Nominees for Kennerspiel des Jahres are:

Brügge - Haven't played it, but it seems like a very good Feld game that I look forward to play. A lot of tough choices to make.
Legenden von Andor - I like this game a lot, but I'm not sure if this fits to Kennerspiel as it's basically in between. Another cooperative game nominated.
Paläste von Carrara - I don't know anything about this game. Thoughts?

I have no idea which one will win, maybe Legenden von Andor because of its innovation!?


So, let's see which games are missing.
Terra Mystica and Tzolk'in got a recommendation and didn't make the cut probably because they're too heavy even for the Kennerspiel.


Other games that are missing and I could see in there (no matter which category, some might be not eligable because of the time range, I don't know) are Robinson Crusoe (probably didn't want to include another cooperative game), Seasons, Bora Bora, Keyflower, Ginkgopolis, Escape and Suburbia.

Which games are you missing?

68
Game Reports / Epic Feoda Combo
« on: May 02, 2013, 11:00:12 pm »
What's even better than Develop/Feodum is Develop/Feodum/Graverobber.
Developing Feoda gives you 3 Silvers and a Graverobber and Silver on top of the deck. You can then just graverob the Feodum back and have a high chance of buying another Feodum. Keep doing that every turn. In the end my Feoda were worth 8VP, even after an unlucky 5/2 start and not seeing this combo from turn 1 on. This is so much fun.

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130502/log.50745d1a0cf28ed55d9d6498.1367549478768.txt

A quick search brought up this post from TINAS:
Oh and Develop's not so bad afterall:

Develop Feodum into Silver/Graverobber on deck. Gain 3 Silvers.

Next turn graverob your Feodum back (if it's still there) and use your Silver + whatever else (probably more Silvers) to buy another Feodum/Silver.

Yeah, it's a three card combo but so what.

You're right, it's a 3-card combo, but it's really powerful.

I wish I had recorded this.

69
I guess you guys are interested in playing another one.

But before we do I'm interested with which constraints we're playing. So if you're interested please answer this. Look in the rulebook for more details.

Import Decisions:
Cooperative, Competitive or Team (2vs2) ?
Player vs. Player Combat. Yes/No?
A specific scenario which has some additional constraints or even a different scoring?
Include the expansion "Lost Legions". Yes/No?
(Note: It has an additional hero, some additional enemy tokens, Advanced Action cards, Map Tiles and also some additional rules as some enemies and tiles have new symbols. Also note: I haven't played with it either, so I'm not comfortable with those rules yet.)

Also, we could play with some variants which I suggest:
Auctioning the Heroes where you have to pay fame to get a certain hero. Yes/No ?
Random Tiles Orientation for more flexible maps. Yes/No?
Changing the difficulty level by change the level of the cities or Megapolis (multiple cities on one spot). Yes/No?
Friendly Mana: You're not allowed to take Gold Mana Dice if the specific color dice is available in the source. Yes/No?

Some other major changes which might be a bit too early:
Making it harder by starting at Night. Yes/No?
Start at Day but at the end of the Round, roll two mana dice. If any of them is black, night falls and it is Night until the end of the game. Yes/No?
"Rampage" variant for more rampaging enemies. Yes/No?
Interactive Combat where an opponent "controls" the attacked enemies. Yes/No?
"More Deckbuilding": Action Upgrades/Drafting/No ?

70
Goko Dominion Online / Attention-whoring thread.... I did it!!
« on: April 15, 2013, 12:14:53 pm »
I didn't find a Goko version of this, so I post it here.

It lasted for one game:


71
Here is the video link:


#61 Counting House (Prosperity) Weighted Average: 3.2% ▲0.2pp / Median: 1.7% ▲1.7pp / Standard Deviation: 6.1% ▼0.1pp
Highest Value(s): 30.5% (1x), 21.3% (1x), 16.7% (1x) / Lowest Value(s): 0% (23x)

Counting House is on the last rank again. It's the card with the third lowest deviation in this list and was voted last 23 times.

All $5s are really strong cards, but some shine more often than other ones. Counting House is one that shines very rarely. The best use may be countering Mountebank. With massive Copper in your deck, you have a high probability to get many Coppers in hand even if you're only half through the deck. Then you can easily buy a Province or a Colony with the use of this card only. It also has some really nice synergies with Coppersmith (make all Coppers worth a Silver) and Chancellor (discard all Coppers and put them in hand). But then you need a village to play Counting House and one of these cards in one turn and the probabilities to draw these 3 cards together are low in a deck full of Copper. The better alternative and only real combo is Golem. Buy many Golems and only one Counting House. The Golem will always find the Counting House and discard all other cards. With a Golem in hand, you are now guaranteed to get all Coppers. Instead you can buy many Warehouses, cycle through your deck discarding all cards right before the reshuffle and then play your Counting House. And now there's Beggar which makes it wasy to get a lot of Coppers, but I haven't tried this yet. It has some other nice synergies, but are very difficult to pull off. For a Bank you need additional buys to be worth it. With no real supporters, this card is mostly not worth the effort.
#60 Saboteur (Intrigue) Weighted Average: 6.8% ▼2.3pp / Median: 6.7% ▲0.3pp / Standard Deviation: 11.6% ▲4.3pp
Highest Value(s): 81.4% (1x), 21.3% (1x), 16.7% (1x) / Lowest Value(s): 0% (9x)

Saboteur lost clearly points, but is still on the same rank as last time, and now with a much higher consensus. With 9 last places it deserves this low rank even though there is one really big outlier.

Saboteur is the worst $5 attack. Why? There are similar reasons like why Thief is bad. It trashes cards from your opponents deck without immediate benefit to you, so it's only destructive. And if you aren't able to play Saboteur in each turn at least one time, your opponent can catch up easily when he just continues and ignores it or re-buys the trashed card if it was essential. Another downside is that the opponent can pick up replacement cards that sometimes aren't that worse or you might even give your opponent the opportunity to pick up Victory cards in the end game. But, on the other side, it can lead to big outbursts if you play 1-2 Saboteurs each turn or if you can even play King's Court with it. In games with no mats and chips you are then able to trash the whole deck and all points from your opponent and can easily finish and win. But these cases are so rare, Saboteur is still a bad card for itself.
#59 Stash (Promo) Weighted Average: 9.1% ▼0.9pp / Median: 6.5% ▼2.0pp / Standard Deviation: 12.4% ▼2.4pp
Highest Value(s): 81.7% (1x), 29.8% (1x), 25.5% (1x) / Lowest Value(s): 0% (6x)

Stash is clearly a bad card too with 6 votes on last place. It lost a bit in consensus, but some part comes apparently mainly from that big outlier above 80%.

You need 4 Stashes to get a Province after the reshuffle for sure and in Colony games it's almost useless. But a sure Province that you can get only after a reshuffle needs you to trigger the reshuffle as often as possible. This means you need supporter cards too. The most obvious ones are Golem (with max. one other action) or a few Chancellors. Now with Scavenger, there exists even a more powerful combo for a guaranteed Province each turn in a deck with 4 Stashes and 2 Scavengers. But still these are rare edge cases that makes Stash not worth $2 more than Silver. Especially at the crucial $5 price point you probably find stronger cards than Stash, although if you have $5 and want a Silver anyway, you can pick up a Stash unhesitatingly probably every time.
#58 Contraband (Prosperity) Weighted Average: 11.9% ▼0.1pp / Median: 8.3% ▼2.3pp / Standard Deviation: 17.1% ▼6.5pp
Highest Value(s): 93.2% (1x), 55.0% (1x), 53.2% (1x) / Lowest Value(s): 0% (4x)

Contraband has nearly the same amount of points, but dropped one rank. You might notice that really high deviation for a low ranked card which is to myself really not explainable. It has though one really high outlier above 90% and some votes around 50% which led to this deviation. Still it's a bad card which got 4 last ranks. In the unweighted ranking it would be still one rank higher on its old rank.

The second treasure card in a row in this list. Contraband can be very trappy. Buying it as an opener on 5/2 can be a nice early Gold and the +Buy is very important for finding a substitution for the prohibited card. If there are many good cheap engine pieces on the board and you want Gold and a card with +Buy anyway this can be very good. But most of the times you embargo yourself. And in the late game this is a dead card because everybody knows you want that Province. If you buy it, buy only one, because two or more can really shut you down. And beware of Venture + Contraband!
#57 Harvest (Cornucopia) Weighted Average: 12.4% ▼4.1pp / Median: 10.6% ▼6.4pp / Standard Deviation: 9.8% ▲2.8pp
Highest Value(s): 51.7% (1x), 45.0% (1x), 28.3% (1x) / Lowest Value(s): 0% (3x)

Now we come to bigger changes. Harvest lost 5 ranks and 4pp and got more agreement on the same time. It was voted 3 times last with only one rank close above 50%. It would be even one more rank lower in the unweighted list.

Harvest is very swingy. In games with very few different cards and a coherent strategy, this is mostly a Silver and rarely a Gold and really no good card. And it can discard all your good cards you wanted to play in the next turn and even trigger an unwanted reshuffle. In games with many attacks, especially Cursers, Harvest can really be a better card. You can then make your Curses to money without having them in hand and Harvest can easily be worth $4. In a thin deck with a lot of engine pieces where you don't care about actions Harvest can also be a nice source of virtual money. Harvest has also a nice synergy with Tunnel. But other than that you rarely want to spend $5 for Harvest.
#56 Cache (Hinterlands) Weighted Average: 13.8% ▼0.8pp / Median: 11.7% ▼1.1pp / Standard Deviation: 10.1% ▲0.6pp
Highest Value(s): 55.0% (1x), 40.0% (1x), 30.0% (2x) / Lowest Value(s): 3.3% (3x), 1.7% (2x)

Cache is on the same rank as last time and has only lost a little bit in points. It is the first card with no last rank, but still has 5 votes below 5% and only one vote close above 50%.

The third treasure card so close together. Cache performs differently in different kind of decks. In engine decks with few money (Scrying Pool etc) it's just horrible. In Big Money decks, it's most of the time superior than just a Silver (but only a little bit, similarly to Stash). But it only shines in big decks (Gardens) with many green cards (Silk Road), simply said in decks where Copper isn't a so bad card after all. Also nice is Cache in combination with Trader for a Gold and 2 Silvers for only $5. And Cache is like Silver not very good in Colony games.
#55 Mine (Base) Weighted Average: 14.1% ▼1.5pp / Median: 13.3% ▼1.6pp / Standard Deviation: 8.1% ▲5.1pp
Highest Value(s): 44.1% (1x), 29.8% (1x), 27.7% (1x) / Lowest Value(s): 1.7% (2x), 0% (1x)

Mine is also on the same rank as before and has a pretty high consensus too, the fifth lowest deviation in this list. It has one last rank and no vote above 50% and only one vote above 40%. It would be one rank higher in the unweighted ranking.

Mine is one of the first trash-for-benefit card you probably got to know. It has the disadvantage of being limited to treasures, so you cannot trash them later into victory cards. But it has the advantage to get the new card immediately in hand. But Mine is still slow. A Moneylender doesn't get you a card, but is at least worth a Silver in the turn you played it, whereas Mine is only worth a Copper. But in the long term Mine can be better. The more often you play the new treasure card, the more Mine was profitable. So, if you want Mine, you want it early. It gets so much better in Colony games. First, Colony games last longer and you will probably see your treasure card more often and Mine is a Silver if you trash Gold for Platinum. For a 5/2 opening Mine/Fool's Gold is a pretty decent #108 ▲2 opening. PS: Don't confuse Mine with Mint.
#54 Outpost (Seaside) Weighted Average: 14.4% ▼2.1pp / Median: 13.3% ▼3.7pp / Standard Deviation: 9.9% ▲5.7pp
Highest Value(s): 45.8% (1x), 36.7% (1x), 36.2% (1x) / Lowest Value(s): 1.7% (1x), 0% (2x)

Outpost is one rank worse than last time with 2pp less than last time. It got a huge boost in consensus on the other side. It has even 2 last ranks. In the unweighted ranking it would be even one more rank worse.

Outpost seems so nice for getting extra turns. But you only get a 3-card hand. It's like you Militia'd yourself, even worse, you cannot choose the 3 cards you want to keep. If you really need a +Buy, Outpost can fulfill this need. But even in those cases it's not better than a Workshop. If you want to use it to attack multiple times per turn, it can work, but still it is another terminal in your deck that can collide. It really can shine, in cases when you can guarantee a good card in your next hand. Treasury, Alchemist and Scheme are probably the best combos. Another case where your 3-card hand isn't that bad, may be with Minion, but this isn't very reliable either, because one of your 3 cards has to be one of your Minions. Another combo is Double Tactician/Outpost where you can get 8 cards. Generally it's pretty good with Duration cards, especially Wharf, Caravan and Haven. You can also get Outpost if you have high action density, but in most other cases you better ignore Outpost.
#53 Explorer (Seaside) Weighted Average: 14.7% ▲3.1pp / Median: 12.8% ▲2.2pp / Standard Deviation: 12.4% ▼4.4pp
Highest Value(s): 61.7% (1x), 48.3% (1x), 46.7% (1x) / Lowest Value(s): 1.7% (1x), 0% (2x)

Explorer is 5 ranks higher than last time and 3pp better. But it has also a much higher deviation. It still has 2 last ranks on one side and 3 votes above 40% on the other.

The problem with Explorer is: When you already have 2-3 Provinces and you have $5, you want a Duchy most of the times. When you have one or none, it only nets you a Silver in hand most of the times and then there are still other cards that are better getting you Provinces than just a Silver-generating machine. If you compare it to Jack of All Trades, it's better in the Silver-getting, but just worse on all the other parts. So, it's pretty decent with alternate Victory cards, especially Duke, and you want it in thin decks where you can draw it with a Province with high probability. Explorer/Chapel is therefore a #68 ▲2 opening. And I forgot to mention, it's nearly useless in Colony games.
#52 Tribute (Intrigue) Weighted Average: 15.5% ▼6.2pp / Median: 16.7% ▼4.6pp / Standard Deviation: 11.0% ▲2.2pp
Highest Value(s): 59.3% (1x), 36.7% (2x) / Lowest Value(s): 0% (3x)

Tribute lost only one rank - but what's much worse - it lost over 6pp. This may come from the 3 last votes it got. It would be one rank higher in the unweighted ranking.

Tribute is another swingy card and even depends on the opponents' deck. You can really bad luck, revealing the same card. Then Tribute is really bad. In action-heavy decks you get +4 actions what you only want if there isn't another village around (but then you probably don't want many action cards). All other combinations can really be nice, e.g. in BM games, giving you $4 most of the times and later in the game +cards). It only really shines in games with dual-type cards. Hitting a Harem and a Nobles and getting +4 Cards, +2 Actions and $2 with only one card is excellent. But the unreliableness still is Tribute's biggest problem. Forming your strategy around it not only depends on you, your opponent has to cooperate.

72
Note: Mage Knight - The Board Game is no simple game. I will accept players which are new to the game. But please spend some time to read the rulebook(s).
Also, this game will probably last a while. So, I expect that you commit to the game and send in your move within 1-2 days.


Link to the introductionary Walkthrough (read this if you are learning the game)
Link to the rulebook (basically a full reference)

On BGG are some pretty good Referece sheets, e.g. this or this.

I want to do either the "Full Conquest" or the "Full Cooperation" scenario. Basically the standard game either in a competitive or a cooperative mode.
The "Full Conquest" will be without PvP attacks though because this would make it even harder for newer players.
This game will be without the newly released expansion, mainly because I don't know it yet.
So, if you signup, tell me which scenario you like to play.
If we get more than 4 players, I will make 2 games.

Forum rules:
You will receive cards via PM.
When you make a move please make it bold, so that I know that this is your final decision.
Mana dice rolls could be done now with the die here.
1 = Gold / 2 = White / 3 = Red / 4 = Green / 5 = Blue / 6 = Black

So far we have Galzria, Insomniac and Kuildeous. 1 more player is needed.

73
Game Reports / Crazy IRL game
« on: March 11, 2013, 07:26:09 am »
I played a game IRL at the weekend with the following kingdom:

Ambassador, Scheme, Death Cart, Procession, Salvager, Sea Hag, Band of Misfits, Tactician, Adventurer, King's Court

How would you play this?
At first it seemed pretty obvious what to do here and it basically is, but ...

there is a neat trick you can do which makes some cards that seems skippable at first really interesting. Do you know what I have in mind?

74
Non-Mafia Game Threads / Mage Knight I (Game over, theorel wins)
« on: March 09, 2013, 06:31:52 am »
Note: Mage Knight - The Board Game is no simple game. I will accept players which are new to the game. But please spend some time to read the rulebook(s).
Also, this game will probably last a while. So, I expect that you commit to the game and send in your move within 1-2 days.


Link to the introductionary Walkthrough (read this if you are learning the game)
Link to the rulebook (basically a full reference)

On BGG are some pretty good Referece sheets, e.g. this or this.

I want to do either the "Full Conquest" or the "Full Cooperation" scenario. Basically the standard game either in a competitive or a cooperative mode.
The "Full Conquest" will be without PvP attacks though because this would make it even harder for newer players.
This game will be without the newly released expansion, mainly because I don't know it yet.
So, if you signup, tell me which scenario you like to play.
If we get more than 4 players, I will make 2 games.

Forum rules:
You will receive cards via PM.
When you make a move please make it bold, so that I know that this is your final decision.
Mana dice rolls could be done now with the die here.
1 = Gold / 2 = White / 3 = Red / 4 = Green / 5 = Blue / 6 = Black

Signups (7/8)
Watno
popsofctown
Kuildeous
theorel
Galzria
Jorbles
Insomniac

75
Non-Mafia Game Threads / Qvist's Non-Mafia games
« on: February 14, 2013, 09:47:20 am »
I really like the new PBF section of Non-Mafia games. Of course I could play on BGG too, but I like to play with those I already know.
It's great trying out new games I otherwise never had the opportunity to play and I really want to thank all moderators for all the work.

I want to give all of you the same opportunity. Thus, I moderated since a while a few games on my own.
Currently there is a mini-game for Pandemic IV where the winner wins to choose a game I will moderate.
With Small World coming to the end soon, I like to start another game soon. Here you can vote for the current games in selection.
(I hope it's possible to reset the poll at anytime once a game is selected)

Some comments on the games:

Small World II: A light Risk variant game, just look into the game that's currently running. We could now play with Underground for example. I will mod this with VASSAL and post the image in the updates.

Ikusa Another great Risk variant which is great beside the fact that it takes too long in F2F what makes it great to play it here. I would moderate it in an spreadsheet. As there is rolling dice in the battles, this could be done with conditional orders for example.

Panic Station: A semi-cooperative game in a Sci-Fi setting with a change the side twist. You'll feel paranoia while playing it, at least in F2F. I like to try it out in PBF. It's relatively simple to learn and highly recommended for those who like Mafia/Resistence. I will either use a Spreadsheet or will post the game board in-thread.

Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game: This is a more complicated Civilization building game and comparable to Through the Ages in depth and complexity. Still beginners are welcome if you want to try it out. I already attended a game PFB game of it on BGG and it worked really well. It's really complex to mod, but I really like to do that.

Mage Knight Board Game: Another complex game, but I absolutely love it. Some Heroes go to an Adventure and try to achieve the task of the Scenario (often to beat the enemies located in some Cities). Deckbuilding simulates the leveling up of those heroes. It's really complex, but once you get into the rules it all makes sense very intuitively and thematicely. This can be played solo, cooperative, in teams (2v2) or PvP. For the first play-through the cooperative variant may be preferred. There exists a VASSAL module, but it only supports solo at the moment. But I could use the pictures for the map and stuff from VASSAL.

Long Shot: I like this a lot although it's not a great game per se. It's Horse Race Game where you can either buy horses or bet on horses while the race is going. Also you can play Event cards each turn. The one with the most money wins in the end. It's just fun and has a higher luck factor. So, it's more a tactical game. This has also the advantage that it could played without spreadsheer or any image, just text based and PMs.

Also, I'd like to play some more games online on board gaming websites like http://www.yucata.de or http://www.boardgamearena.com or http://www.boiteajeux.net
I really love Speicherstadt, Saint Petersburg and Kamisado on yucata.

I like to learn/play:
Castles of Burgundy, Trajan, Alhambra on boiteajeux
Race for the Galaxy, Seasons, Jaipur, Takenoko, Caylus, Troyes on BGA
El Grande, Antike Duellum, Luna, Thurn and Taxis and many more on yucata

Just propose a game to me if you like to play one of these.

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