351
Dominion General Discussion / Is beating a dead horse considered rude?
« on: March 19, 2012, 03:56:55 pm »
Sorry, couldn't resist. 
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352
Dominion General Discussion / Where is "THE Dominion Card List(s): Potion"?
« on: March 13, 2012, 11:14:13 am »
Qvist? Is this list going to come out? Thanks!
353
Dominion Articles / Combo: Remake + City
« on: March 11, 2012, 02:07:34 pm »
Ok, so I kind of stumbled upon this without realizing it. One problem with City is that if you buy nothing buy Cities, until they power up, you have spent 10 $5 buys on expensive Villages that do nothing at all for your deck. Then they get powered up, right about the time that your opponent buys his 5th or 6th Province.
Remake gets piles emptied really quick. The basic idea is this: Always open Remake/Silver. Then Remake Estates into Silvers, Silvers into Remakes, and Remakes into Cities. Buy City or Remake or Silver. Doing this, you can empty Remake, or City, or both, pretty quickly.
As with probably any City combo, this is going to depend a lot on what your opponent does. If he buys a couple Cities or Remakes, great! All the faster. Another great thing with this is the ability to power up your Cities mid-turn. Nothing more annoying than buying the last City, just to give your opponent first turn with any powered-up Cities he may have. But with this, you can play a City, then Remake something to empty a pile (or 2!) and then play more Cities all at once.
I'm uncertain about several aspects of specific technique. I think early on, you should prefer a Remake to a City with $5. Emptying the City pile isn't all that important, and it will take longer than emptying the Remake pile. But if you have 6-7 Cities, and you get the Remakes emptied, you will have the rest of the cities super-quick, quite possibly on one turn! I don't think you want to trash 2 Coppers for nothing any time you can. Trash a few, but not all of them. You need money, and your Silvers are turning into Remakes. Level 2 Cities suck when there's no money in your deck. As soon as you hit level 2, though, you will be drawing your entire deck each turn, and you should be at most 1-2 turns away from level 3. Also, if your opponent isn't also buying Cities, you will have more than enough, so you can Remake a couple into Gold (or into Border Village, gaining Remake or City).
Finally, ending the game. Once you have level 3 Cities, the game probably won't last very long. From here, it all depends on what your opponent has been doing. If he hasn't begun greening yet, or just recently started, you should be able to buy a Province (or Colony) or 2, and then empty a third pile super-quick, for a small victory. If he has a few Provinces already, watch out for a third pile that's low! Don't buy anything from it. Just get those green cards. Any VP's will be good; you don't need to worry too much about clogging. You should be able to overcome a 5/3 Province split even.
Sample games: Like I said, I stumbled on this by accident. After winning with City/Remake, I searched my logs, and found that I've played 6 games where both were available... and won 5 of them. These 3 are probably the best examples because they all involve the Remake pile being emptied:
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120309-173444-840987c3.html
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120309-215451-45ccc251.html
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120225-215453-2df0d459.html
Works with:
Colony games - longer games means more time to use those level 3 Cities.
Opponent's buying of Remake or City.
$2 cost Kingdom Cards - on a turn you play Remake, you might not have $3 to spend. Buying a $2 is a great way to have more fuel to get more Silvers into your deck.
Cursing attacks - Remakes can handle the Curses ok, and anything that slows your opponent is great for this.
Monument/Bishop/Goons - Once those Cities are powered up, even to level 2, a few of any of those cards in your deck will be huge.
Doesn't work with:
Super-fast boards - This combo isn't going to compete with Quarry-Chapel-Grand Market, or anything where your opponent can get more than half of the points super-quick.
I'm sure there's more I haven't thought of...
Remake gets piles emptied really quick. The basic idea is this: Always open Remake/Silver. Then Remake Estates into Silvers, Silvers into Remakes, and Remakes into Cities. Buy City or Remake or Silver. Doing this, you can empty Remake, or City, or both, pretty quickly.
As with probably any City combo, this is going to depend a lot on what your opponent does. If he buys a couple Cities or Remakes, great! All the faster. Another great thing with this is the ability to power up your Cities mid-turn. Nothing more annoying than buying the last City, just to give your opponent first turn with any powered-up Cities he may have. But with this, you can play a City, then Remake something to empty a pile (or 2!) and then play more Cities all at once.
I'm uncertain about several aspects of specific technique. I think early on, you should prefer a Remake to a City with $5. Emptying the City pile isn't all that important, and it will take longer than emptying the Remake pile. But if you have 6-7 Cities, and you get the Remakes emptied, you will have the rest of the cities super-quick, quite possibly on one turn! I don't think you want to trash 2 Coppers for nothing any time you can. Trash a few, but not all of them. You need money, and your Silvers are turning into Remakes. Level 2 Cities suck when there's no money in your deck. As soon as you hit level 2, though, you will be drawing your entire deck each turn, and you should be at most 1-2 turns away from level 3. Also, if your opponent isn't also buying Cities, you will have more than enough, so you can Remake a couple into Gold (or into Border Village, gaining Remake or City).
Finally, ending the game. Once you have level 3 Cities, the game probably won't last very long. From here, it all depends on what your opponent has been doing. If he hasn't begun greening yet, or just recently started, you should be able to buy a Province (or Colony) or 2, and then empty a third pile super-quick, for a small victory. If he has a few Provinces already, watch out for a third pile that's low! Don't buy anything from it. Just get those green cards. Any VP's will be good; you don't need to worry too much about clogging. You should be able to overcome a 5/3 Province split even.
Sample games: Like I said, I stumbled on this by accident. After winning with City/Remake, I searched my logs, and found that I've played 6 games where both were available... and won 5 of them. These 3 are probably the best examples because they all involve the Remake pile being emptied:
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120309-173444-840987c3.html
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120309-215451-45ccc251.html
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120225-215453-2df0d459.html
Works with:
Colony games - longer games means more time to use those level 3 Cities.
Opponent's buying of Remake or City.
$2 cost Kingdom Cards - on a turn you play Remake, you might not have $3 to spend. Buying a $2 is a great way to have more fuel to get more Silvers into your deck.
Cursing attacks - Remakes can handle the Curses ok, and anything that slows your opponent is great for this.
Monument/Bishop/Goons - Once those Cities are powered up, even to level 2, a few of any of those cards in your deck will be huge.
Doesn't work with:
Super-fast boards - This combo isn't going to compete with Quarry-Chapel-Grand Market, or anything where your opponent can get more than half of the points super-quick.
I'm sure there's more I haven't thought of...
354
Dominion General Discussion / The Bureaucrat pin
« on: March 08, 2012, 05:30:36 pm »
Ok, so this is probably not feasible to pull of in any realistic game, but could be an interesting though experiment. Could you design a deck that uses Bureaucrat to guarantee that your opponent has a 0-card hand each turn?
So you need there to be no action/victory cards in the Kingdom, and you probably need something to trash your Coppers. And I think you need Watchtower as well. You use Scrying Pool to draw your entire deck, and play KC -> KC -> Bureaucrat, Bureaucrat, Scheme (revealing Watchtower to trash each Silver that comes in). The Scheme ensures that you'll have Scrying Pool every turn.
Your opponent needs to have at least 5 victory cards in his deck, perhaps you can help him get there with Ambassador. Also, your opponent needs to have ignored Scrying Pool as well as any other card-drawer. But once you get it set up, you should increase the number of green cards on top of his deck every turn, until he has 5 on top. Once he does, then every turn he has to put all 5 of those cards back on top of his deck. Throwing in a few Rabbles will also be a big help as well.
So you need there to be no action/victory cards in the Kingdom, and you probably need something to trash your Coppers. And I think you need Watchtower as well. You use Scrying Pool to draw your entire deck, and play KC -> KC -> Bureaucrat, Bureaucrat, Scheme (revealing Watchtower to trash each Silver that comes in). The Scheme ensures that you'll have Scrying Pool every turn.
Your opponent needs to have at least 5 victory cards in his deck, perhaps you can help him get there with Ambassador. Also, your opponent needs to have ignored Scrying Pool as well as any other card-drawer. But once you get it set up, you should increase the number of green cards on top of his deck every turn, until he has 5 on top. Once he does, then every turn he has to put all 5 of those cards back on top of his deck. Throwing in a few Rabbles will also be a big help as well.
355
Dominion General Discussion / 4/4 opening
« on: March 08, 2012, 04:53:33 pm »
It's been said that there's very little difference between $3 and $4 in terms of cost. The biggest difference is that you can open with 2 copies of a $3, but not with 2 copies of a $4 (Not counting Nomad camp or your opponent's Noble Brigand buys).
So, which 4s would be way overpowered at $3, specifically because opening 2 of them would be too good?
Top of the list, Sea Hag, probably.
Treasure Map would certainly be better, but would still need support.
Remake/Remake would probably be pretty great.
Things I'm not so sure about:
Quarry/Quarry on a Grand Market board?
Militia/Militia instead of Militia/Silver?
Same with Monument
Would Double-Jack be significantly better?
What other cards would be broken at $3?
I suppose another consideration would be not just opening 2 copies of a given card, but being able to open 2 different cards that cost $4 as well. Any combos of two $4s that would be great to open with if you could?
So, which 4s would be way overpowered at $3, specifically because opening 2 of them would be too good?
Top of the list, Sea Hag, probably.
Treasure Map would certainly be better, but would still need support.
Remake/Remake would probably be pretty great.
Things I'm not so sure about:
Quarry/Quarry on a Grand Market board?
Militia/Militia instead of Militia/Silver?
Same with Monument
Would Double-Jack be significantly better?
What other cards would be broken at $3?
I suppose another consideration would be not just opening 2 copies of a given card, but being able to open 2 different cards that cost $4 as well. Any combos of two $4s that would be great to open with if you could?
356
Puzzles and Challenges / The BMU kingdom
« on: March 04, 2012, 03:00:43 pm »
So this was discussed a while ago, but I think I've found a Kingdom where straight BMU is the optimal strategy.
King's Court
Throne Room
Village
Walled Village
Chapel
University
Transmute
Fairgrounds
Vineyard
Peddler
So, the challenge is: Come up with a winning strategy to beat a nothing-but-BMU bot. I think City could also be in my Kingdom.
King's Court
Throne Room
Village
Walled Village
Chapel
University
Transmute
Fairgrounds
Vineyard
Peddler
So, the challenge is: Come up with a winning strategy to beat a nothing-but-BMU bot. I think City could also be in my Kingdom.
357
Game Reports / Counting House: Super powerful card!
« on: March 03, 2012, 02:58:30 am »
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/02/game-20120302-235427-8f0b2806.html
My opponent got a 5/2 start with Mountebank/Courtyard. He gets 2 Mountebanks before I hit $5. gg, right? Nope! I start buying Caches and Counting Houses; evening declining to reveal Curses (after they have run out) to gain an extra Copper. And it totally works!
My opponent got a 5/2 start with Mountebank/Courtyard. He gets 2 Mountebanks before I hit $5. gg, right? Nope! I start buying Caches and Counting Houses; evening declining to reveal Curses (after they have run out) to gain an extra Copper. And it totally works!
358
Game Reports / Most interesting game I've had in a long time
« on: February 20, 2012, 06:09:00 pm »
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201202/20/game-20120220-150041-a0fca864.html
Just finished this... a Goons / Torturer / Tactician thing with Crossroads (and Tactician) the only source of +action. He and I both went for the same strategy, though I opened Tactician to help get Goons asap, while he opened Torturer. I made a big mistake in my first mega-turn, playing Torturer before Goons instead of after, and he had a big mistake once by not leaving a card for Tactician to discard.
By the end, our decks had over 50 cards and we were both struggling to do anything. He ended up accidentally giving me the game by playing a Goons on his last turn. This let me reveal Horse Traders, which drew me a desperately-needed Crossroads to end the game; right before he would have had another Tactician turn that had a good chance at winning.
What made it so great was the tough tactics involved, even through the strategy was clear. When to play Torturer vs Goons, when to buy extra cards with Goons, when to play Tactician (I think I did every time except for one).
Just finished this... a Goons / Torturer / Tactician thing with Crossroads (and Tactician) the only source of +action. He and I both went for the same strategy, though I opened Tactician to help get Goons asap, while he opened Torturer. I made a big mistake in my first mega-turn, playing Torturer before Goons instead of after, and he had a big mistake once by not leaving a card for Tactician to discard.
By the end, our decks had over 50 cards and we were both struggling to do anything. He ended up accidentally giving me the game by playing a Goons on his last turn. This let me reveal Horse Traders, which drew me a desperately-needed Crossroads to end the game; right before he would have had another Tactician turn that had a good chance at winning.
What made it so great was the tough tactics involved, even through the strategy was clear. When to play Torturer vs Goons, when to buy extra cards with Goons, when to play Tactician (I think I did every time except for one).
359
Game Reports / Turn 6 Duchy for a mega-win
« on: February 20, 2012, 03:18:52 pm »
No, not a Duke board. So when do you buy a Duchy that early?
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120218-231128-72ff883c.html
When it's is the only cost $5 card on a Remake / Grand Market / KC board.
Because of this, I was able to get a Grand Market much earlier than my opponent; who was going Tunnel / Warehouse.
Oh, and we were both going Ambassador. But turn 17/18 is where the logs get fun to read. So I was generating like 32 money and several buys, but I didn't want to grab 4 Provinces, because there were 2 Embargo tokens on them. So what do I do? I Embargo Grant Market and then buy one, to give myself a curse. On the next turn, I use KC / Grand Market / Ambassador to donate 6 Curses to my opponent. Now there's only 1 Curse left in the pile, so I happily start buying up the Provinces. On the last turn, I give him my last 2 Curses so he ends with all 10.
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120218-231128-72ff883c.html
When it's is the only cost $5 card on a Remake / Grand Market / KC board.
Because of this, I was able to get a Grand Market much earlier than my opponent; who was going Tunnel / Warehouse.
Oh, and we were both going Ambassador. But turn 17/18 is where the logs get fun to read. So I was generating like 32 money and several buys, but I didn't want to grab 4 Provinces, because there were 2 Embargo tokens on them. So what do I do? I Embargo Grant Market and then buy one, to give myself a curse. On the next turn, I use KC / Grand Market / Ambassador to donate 6 Curses to my opponent. Now there's only 1 Curse left in the pile, so I happily start buying up the Provinces. On the last turn, I give him my last 2 Curses so he ends with all 10.
360
Variants and Fan Cards / Spending money
« on: February 16, 2012, 10:47:42 am »
An odd thing in Dominion is that you don't actually spend your treasure when you use it... you just discard it, and it's still in your deck. So, what if this weren't the case? What if when you wanted to buy a Province, you had to actually return $8 to the supply?
So the first question would have to be, can you get change? I would say yes; you can get change in any denominations you wish. So, if you return 3 Gold to the supply, you can buy a Province and take a Copper. Or you can buy a Bank and take a Silver back. This is odd, because normally a Bank and a Silver would cost you $10, and you would need 2 buys. But I think it makes sense here.
So how are things different? Well, coin-generating actions just because insanely better, because it's money you can spend without losing it from your deck. Big Money just became pretty horrible. Games become way longer. The whole game becomes pretty crappy, actually, unless the board supports a non-treasure engine.
But strategy would be interesting. You have to buy way more money before you start greening. Copper becomes a good buy pretty much any chance you get. Silver and Gold generating actions become way better. Coppersmith probably becomes better, because you can spend it as Silver, but gain it as Copper. In fact, you could technically go HUGE on Gardens or other Copper strategies with Coppersmith... Play Coppersmith, return 4 Copper to the supply, buy a Copper, get 8 Copper as change! Net +5 Copper.
So the first question would have to be, can you get change? I would say yes; you can get change in any denominations you wish. So, if you return 3 Gold to the supply, you can buy a Province and take a Copper. Or you can buy a Bank and take a Silver back. This is odd, because normally a Bank and a Silver would cost you $10, and you would need 2 buys. But I think it makes sense here.
So how are things different? Well, coin-generating actions just because insanely better, because it's money you can spend without losing it from your deck. Big Money just became pretty horrible. Games become way longer. The whole game becomes pretty crappy, actually, unless the board supports a non-treasure engine.
But strategy would be interesting. You have to buy way more money before you start greening. Copper becomes a good buy pretty much any chance you get. Silver and Gold generating actions become way better. Coppersmith probably becomes better, because you can spend it as Silver, but gain it as Copper. In fact, you could technically go HUGE on Gardens or other Copper strategies with Coppersmith... Play Coppersmith, return 4 Copper to the supply, buy a Copper, get 8 Copper as change! Net +5 Copper.
361
Dominion General Discussion / Bully award
« on: February 15, 2012, 09:24:24 am »
So on Isotropic, you get the "Bully" award if you play an attack every single turn after turn 4. I noticed I had 3 of these; and figured they would likely be all Minions. Two fo them were, but I also managed to do it with Rabble!
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120125-180319-87369d6c.html
So I'm curious, what other attacks have people managed to play every single turn after turn 4?
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120125-180319-87369d6c.html
So I'm curious, what other attacks have people managed to play every single turn after turn 4?
362
Puzzles and Challenges / Exception to the rule puzzle
« on: February 14, 2012, 05:22:01 pm »
So here's the situation: Due to something being played (maybe by you, maybe by your opponent), you need to discard at least 1 card. You have a Tunnel in hand. You choose to not discard it; and to discard something else instead. Why would you do that? And, to change it slightly, what if you DO discard the Tunnel, but then choose to not reveal it and gain the Gold. Why would you do that?
So there should be several answers to this, but the more contrived the better! I'm going to throw out the most obvious/boring one (though not the one I thought of first). There is only 1 Gold left; draining the pile would end the game; you are behind.
So there should be several answers to this, but the more contrived the better! I'm going to throw out the most obvious/boring one (though not the one I thought of first). There is only 1 Gold left; draining the pile would end the game; you are behind.
363
Dominion General Discussion / How do you play double-Jack?
« on: February 14, 2012, 03:12:59 pm »
So what is the correct play rules for the double-Jack strategy that is so strong against other BM strategies? Here's what I assume:
Open Jack/Silver.
Buy second Jack as soon as your hit 4.
Always trash an Estate with Jack when you can.
Regular BMU rules beyond that.
So the questions are...
When (if ever) should you trash one Jack with the other?
When should you keep the top card of your deck? Should you keep it if it is an Estate, and you don't have another Estate to trash, so that you can trash it? Should you keep it if it's a copper and it will bring you to exactly $6 or $8?
Are there any other play rules or considerations I didn't mention?
Open Jack/Silver.
Buy second Jack as soon as your hit 4.
Always trash an Estate with Jack when you can.
Regular BMU rules beyond that.
So the questions are...
When (if ever) should you trash one Jack with the other?
When should you keep the top card of your deck? Should you keep it if it is an Estate, and you don't have another Estate to trash, so that you can trash it? Should you keep it if it's a copper and it will bring you to exactly $6 or $8?
Are there any other play rules or considerations I didn't mention?
364
Help! / Fools Gold - my bane
« on: February 11, 2012, 10:09:43 am »
Con someone explain what happened here??
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120210-205100-d9ecc9a5.html
My main question is, was Fool's Gold a fool's strategy on this board? Ignore all the crazy stuff I did in the second half; I had already lost by any conventional methods and was just trying any old thing to delay the game and hope for some sort of miracle... I normally wouldn't be trying a Native Village + Steward for +2 cards combo!!
So I win the Fool's Gold split, 6/4, then plan to use Stewards to trash out my Coppers and Estates. Sounds good to me. Was this a strategic error, or a tactical one? Or was it just crazy luck for my opponent? He bought a Colony on turns 10, 12, 14, and 16, while I was struggling to get to $11.
If the game had been close, I wouldn't even be wondering, but I got destroyed.
Anyway, I would love to see an article on Fool's Gold (I don't think there's been one). I can never figure out when to go for it. My experience has basically been, if I go for it, it's a trap and I get killed. If my opponent goes for it, it was a great play and I get destroyed.
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120210-205100-d9ecc9a5.html
My main question is, was Fool's Gold a fool's strategy on this board? Ignore all the crazy stuff I did in the second half; I had already lost by any conventional methods and was just trying any old thing to delay the game and hope for some sort of miracle... I normally wouldn't be trying a Native Village + Steward for +2 cards combo!!
So I win the Fool's Gold split, 6/4, then plan to use Stewards to trash out my Coppers and Estates. Sounds good to me. Was this a strategic error, or a tactical one? Or was it just crazy luck for my opponent? He bought a Colony on turns 10, 12, 14, and 16, while I was struggling to get to $11.
If the game had been close, I wouldn't even be wondering, but I got destroyed.
Anyway, I would love to see an article on Fool's Gold (I don't think there's been one). I can never figure out when to go for it. My experience has basically been, if I go for it, it's a trap and I get killed. If my opponent goes for it, it was a great play and I get destroyed.
365
Variants and Fan Cards / Idea for half a card
« on: February 10, 2012, 04:37:34 pm »
So I think there could be any number of terminal actions that work like this:
"Choose one: [Whatever the card actually does]; or +1 Card +1 Action"
Basically, this would allow for a card such as Counting House to just replace itself if you draw it at the start of a shuffle.
Obviously this would make any terminal much more powerful, as you don't have to worry as much about terminal collision (terminal collision would still stuck a little, because you then spent whatever it costs on absolutely nothing for the shuffle where you got 2 in one hand).
Current cards where sometimes you wish this existed on:
Sea Hag - not that it needs any more power! But it would be nice if it didn't become basically a dead card after Curses were gone.
Moneylender
Coppersmith
Counting House
Stables
Spice Merchant
Tactician
Of course, I realize that Pawn basically already does this. Hamlet too, to some extent.
So, what is this ability worth? Would it turn Counting House from a weak $5 into a strong $5? Or would it actually raise the cost? Does it make Stables $6, since that's already a strong $5? What other types of card text does this work well on? (Anything where sometimes using the main ability is worthless depending on the rest of the hand).
"Choose one: [Whatever the card actually does]; or +1 Card +1 Action"
Basically, this would allow for a card such as Counting House to just replace itself if you draw it at the start of a shuffle.
Obviously this would make any terminal much more powerful, as you don't have to worry as much about terminal collision (terminal collision would still stuck a little, because you then spent whatever it costs on absolutely nothing for the shuffle where you got 2 in one hand).
Current cards where sometimes you wish this existed on:
Sea Hag - not that it needs any more power! But it would be nice if it didn't become basically a dead card after Curses were gone.
Moneylender
Coppersmith
Counting House
Stables
Spice Merchant
Tactician
Of course, I realize that Pawn basically already does this. Hamlet too, to some extent.
So, what is this ability worth? Would it turn Counting House from a weak $5 into a strong $5? Or would it actually raise the cost? Does it make Stables $6, since that's already a strong $5? What other types of card text does this work well on? (Anything where sometimes using the main ability is worthless depending on the rest of the hand).
366
Rules Questions / Trader and gaining multiple cards at once
« on: February 09, 2012, 03:11:11 pm »
So say there's 1 Curse left in the pile, and you buy an Estate, which has 2 Embargo tokens on it. You have Trader in hand. Can you gain 2 Silvers? I think the answer is no, but it seems easy enough to argue that you should be allowed to:
1. You are about to gain a Curse from Embargo token #1. You reveal Trader to get Silver instead.
2. There is still a Curse in the pile, so you are about to gain a Curse from Embargo token #2. You reveal Trader to get Silver instead.
On the other hand, you can look at it like this:
1. You are about to gain 2 Curses. Wait, no you aren't there's only 1 left, so you are about to gain 1 Curse. You reveal Trader to get Silver instead.
I don't think there's any other card out there that lets you simultaneously gain 2 cards... all you have is things that could trigger at the same time, each letting you gain a card. But in those cases, you choose which trigger to resolve first, and then I'm pretty sure you can choose to gain a Curse for each one, but reveal Trader and get Silver instead for each one.
1. You are about to gain a Curse from Embargo token #1. You reveal Trader to get Silver instead.
2. There is still a Curse in the pile, so you are about to gain a Curse from Embargo token #2. You reveal Trader to get Silver instead.
On the other hand, you can look at it like this:
1. You are about to gain 2 Curses. Wait, no you aren't there's only 1 left, so you are about to gain 1 Curse. You reveal Trader to get Silver instead.
I don't think there's any other card out there that lets you simultaneously gain 2 cards... all you have is things that could trigger at the same time, each letting you gain a card. But in those cases, you choose which trigger to resolve first, and then I'm pretty sure you can choose to gain a Curse for each one, but reveal Trader and get Silver instead for each one.
367
Game Reports / Amazing comeback
« on: February 07, 2012, 09:45:33 am »
So my opponent had some beautiful play here, to defeat me after I had him down 4 Provinces to none (with only 2 Provinces left in the supply!)
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120122-193134-2b58d3f9.html
I'm pretty sure I screwed up on turn 19, not buying a Province, but I was scared to add 3 new dead cards to my already stuck deck.
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120122-193134-2b58d3f9.html
I'm pretty sure I screwed up on turn 19, not buying a Province, but I was scared to add 3 new dead cards to my already stuck deck.
368
Dominion General Discussion / Power levels of sets; AKA Dominion: The CCG
« on: January 31, 2012, 05:18:47 pm »
So someone said in another thread that "4 Provinces in 14 turns isn't as fast as it once was." This got me thinking...
Games like Magic sometimes suffer from "power creep," where to keep new cards interesting, they have to make new cards more powerful (with obvious exceptions like Black Lotus). But whereas a 6/6 creature may have been once considered huge, today that might not be so impressive.
Anyway, Dominion balances things much better than that. No card is strictly better than any other card (not even Noble Brigand
). But, some cards are still considered more powerful than others. And along the same lines, I would guess that this means that some sets are more powerful than others. So, if Dominion were a CCG, where you had to buy your own sets with which to build your own decks, which sets would you get first because they have the more powerful cards?
Another way to phrase it; say you were playing something along the lines of each player has their own personal Kingdom they buy cards from; a Kingdom that's composed of 10 random cards from the set that they brought with them. Which set to you bring to the match?
My first instinct would be to say that Prosperity is the most powerful. Simply because it often gets much higher scores than the other sets; and much more money to spend per turn. But on the other hand, the base set has Chapel.
Games like Magic sometimes suffer from "power creep," where to keep new cards interesting, they have to make new cards more powerful (with obvious exceptions like Black Lotus). But whereas a 6/6 creature may have been once considered huge, today that might not be so impressive.
Anyway, Dominion balances things much better than that. No card is strictly better than any other card (not even Noble Brigand
). But, some cards are still considered more powerful than others. And along the same lines, I would guess that this means that some sets are more powerful than others. So, if Dominion were a CCG, where you had to buy your own sets with which to build your own decks, which sets would you get first because they have the more powerful cards?Another way to phrase it; say you were playing something along the lines of each player has their own personal Kingdom they buy cards from; a Kingdom that's composed of 10 random cards from the set that they brought with them. Which set to you bring to the match?
My first instinct would be to say that Prosperity is the most powerful. Simply because it often gets much higher scores than the other sets; and much more money to spend per turn. But on the other hand, the base set has Chapel.
369
General Discussion / Finally
« on: January 28, 2012, 10:54:46 pm »
So it's a month late, but I got Hinterlands as a late Christmas gift! Have them all now. 
370
Rules Questions / Duration cards rules
« on: January 27, 2012, 12:21:47 pm »
So a few questions here; dealing more with why things are how they are, rather than what the rules are.
So, according to the rule book, Duration cards stay out unti the last turn in which they do something. But, according to common usage, and the way many people mistakingly think of them, Duration cards stay out until the end of the turn after you played them.
So when there is a difference between the two:
I don't understand Outpost either. Outpost stays out the turn you play it, right? Why? It doesn't do anything the turn after you play it. It changes what you do for THIS turn's cleanup, but it doesn't do anything next turn.
Finally, and this one's maybe a question for Donald... is there a reason why the Duration cards stay out "until the last turn that they do something" instead of just "until the end of your next turn"? At first I thought that there might be some issue with having to remember "when did I play that card?" but that issue exists currently as well; you just have to note or move Duration cards that need to now be cleaned up. Since it's extremely rarely advantageous to play a Tactician with no other cards in hand, I doubt the rule was written that was just for that edge case. Were you originally planning on making Duration cards that did things for more than 2 turns?
So, according to the rule book, Duration cards stay out unti the last turn in which they do something. But, according to common usage, and the way many people mistakingly think of them, Duration cards stay out until the end of the turn after you played them.
So when there is a difference between the two:
- When you play Tactician as the last card in your hand... you discard no cards, so you don't do anything special next turn.
- When you play Haven as the last card in your hand, with no cards in your deck... Haven has no card to take into your hand next turn, so you don't keep it out. (I'm pretty sure about this... but can someone confirm?)
I don't understand Outpost either. Outpost stays out the turn you play it, right? Why? It doesn't do anything the turn after you play it. It changes what you do for THIS turn's cleanup, but it doesn't do anything next turn.
Finally, and this one's maybe a question for Donald... is there a reason why the Duration cards stay out "until the last turn that they do something" instead of just "until the end of your next turn"? At first I thought that there might be some issue with having to remember "when did I play that card?" but that issue exists currently as well; you just have to note or move Duration cards that need to now be cleaned up. Since it's extremely rarely advantageous to play a Tactician with no other cards in hand, I doubt the rule was written that was just for that edge case. Were you originally planning on making Duration cards that did things for more than 2 turns?
371
Dominion Isotropic / Attention-whoring thread.... I did it!!
« on: January 25, 2012, 09:02:20 am »
Finally, after 757 games, I'm a level 30!! 
Thank you all to people on the board who have taught me so much, as well as played hard-fought matches with me.
Thank you all to people on the board who have taught me so much, as well as played hard-fought matches with me.
372
Game Reports / What's the "treasure" people keep talking about?
« on: January 24, 2012, 06:10:01 pm »
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201201/24/game-20120124-150739-0420feb1.html
Just did this... never bought a single treasure card; quickly got rid of every Copper. I love Conspirator!
Just did this... never bought a single treasure card; quickly got rid of every Copper. I love Conspirator!
373
Puzzles and Challenges / SMALL money
« on: January 23, 2012, 02:04:30 pm »
Ok, so generate the absolute most possible amount of money in a single turn without having a single Treasure card in your deck. Solitaire game, it's the start of your turn and you have no Durations in play. Perfect Shuffle luck as well.
My first-thoughts solution:
Kingdom list: Grand Market, Conspirator, Bazaar, Goons, Scrying Pool, Festival, Vault, King's Court, Harvest, Mandarin.
You have 10 Scrying Pools and 10 King's Courts, 9 of every other Kingdom Card, and 1 Province, 1 Duchy, 1 Estate.
Start out with Scrying Pool in hand. Use it to draw everything except 2 Victory Cards... you now have 93 cards in hand. Play Vault, drawing the last 2 cards. Discard all but 1 Scrying Pool for $93. Repeat this process 8 more times... you now have $837.
Then play Scrying Pool (#10) to draw your entire deck again. Play KC -> KC - KC, etc (all 10 KC... you now have 19 actions you can triple-play). Triple-play 1 Mandarin, putting 3 differently-named cards on top. (On top of the 2 Victory cards that were left there). Then Triple-play 9 Harvest, then 8 Mandarin, then a Festival. This gives you... 27 Mandarin plays for 3 each, + 27 Harvest plays for 4 each, + 3 Festival plays for 2 each... = $195. So $1032 total.
You have 29 cards on your deck, and 6 actions available.
Then play every Grand Market and Conspirator. Draw 18 cards, get 36 money. Play every Festival... 16 more money, 8 more actions. Every Bazaar for 9 more actions, 9 more money, 9 more cards. $1084 money, 23 actions, 2 cards in deck, both victory.
Play every Goons for +18 money. $1102. Lots of buys.
I know this isn't completely ideal. Obviously Black Market to replace Goons would just make it insane. I'd rather not think about it, lol. Also, it would be great if I could replace Bazaar with Woodcutter or another $2, but I just didn't have enough spare actions. And you could have more Victory Cards in the deck, to discard with Vault, but it makes drawing your whole deck a lot more complicated!
TL;DR solution:
$1102, using mostly Scrying Pool and Vault.
So my solution doesn't actually quite work, as has been pointed out. Needs a minor tweak to the play rules, and another tweak to the math.
My first-thoughts solution:
Kingdom list: Grand Market, Conspirator, Bazaar, Goons, Scrying Pool, Festival, Vault, King's Court, Harvest, Mandarin.
You have 10 Scrying Pools and 10 King's Courts, 9 of every other Kingdom Card, and 1 Province, 1 Duchy, 1 Estate.
Start out with Scrying Pool in hand. Use it to draw everything except 2 Victory Cards... you now have 93 cards in hand. Play Vault, drawing the last 2 cards. Discard all but 1 Scrying Pool for $93. Repeat this process 8 more times... you now have $837.
Then play Scrying Pool (#10) to draw your entire deck again. Play KC -> KC - KC, etc (all 10 KC... you now have 19 actions you can triple-play). Triple-play 1 Mandarin, putting 3 differently-named cards on top. (On top of the 2 Victory cards that were left there). Then Triple-play 9 Harvest, then 8 Mandarin, then a Festival. This gives you... 27 Mandarin plays for 3 each, + 27 Harvest plays for 4 each, + 3 Festival plays for 2 each... = $195. So $1032 total.
You have 29 cards on your deck, and 6 actions available.
Then play every Grand Market and Conspirator. Draw 18 cards, get 36 money. Play every Festival... 16 more money, 8 more actions. Every Bazaar for 9 more actions, 9 more money, 9 more cards. $1084 money, 23 actions, 2 cards in deck, both victory.
Play every Goons for +18 money. $1102. Lots of buys.
I know this isn't completely ideal. Obviously Black Market to replace Goons would just make it insane. I'd rather not think about it, lol. Also, it would be great if I could replace Bazaar with Woodcutter or another $2, but I just didn't have enough spare actions. And you could have more Victory Cards in the deck, to discard with Vault, but it makes drawing your whole deck a lot more complicated!
TL;DR solution:
$1102, using mostly Scrying Pool and Vault.
So my solution doesn't actually quite work, as has been pointed out. Needs a minor tweak to the play rules, and another tweak to the math.
374
Dominion Isotropic / People to NOT avoid on Isotropic!
« on: January 23, 2012, 10:19:14 am »
I just had to give a shout-out to Next time I'll win. While attempting to pass him a Copper for the Masquerade, I clicked a little too quickly and gave him a Colony. After I mentioned how it should have been a Copper, he offered to pass it back with the next Masquerade! I told him he didn't have to, but he did anyway. Great to see someone who is more interested in having fun and playing fair than just the final outcome. 
375
Game Reports / Fortune Teller of the Year
« on: January 22, 2012, 03:30:27 pm »
So I'm playing a Scrying Pool deck, and my opponent plays a Governor on his turn:
So my draw pile is almost empty, and I get an awesome idea...
Ha! The Scrying Pool in my hand will now draw every action in my deck for the greatest turn ever! But then...
Noooo!!!!!!! And they say Fortune Teller is weak!
So it ended up not mattering at all, as I still Scrying Pool'd my way to the last 2 Provinces on the next turn.
Code: [Select]
--- goshen's turn 16 ---
goshen plays a Governor.
... getting +1 action.
... drawing 3 cards.
... GendoIkari draws 1 card.
goshen plays a Governor.
... getting +1 action.
... goshen trashes a Gold.
... goshen gains a Province.So my draw pile is almost empty, and I get an awesome idea...
Code: [Select]
... GendoIkari trashes a Potion.
... GendoIkari gains an Inn.
... ... shuffling 13 cards into the draw pile.Ha! The Scrying Pool in my hand will now draw every action in my deck for the greatest turn ever! But then...
Code: [Select]
goshen plays a Fortune Teller.
... getting +$2.
... GendoIkari reveals a Festival, a Festival, a Festival, a Scrying Pool, a Festival, a Spice Merchant, a Fortune Teller, an Inn, a Scrying Pool, a Festival, a Festival, a Fortune Teller, a Scrying Pool, and a Province.
... GendoIkari puts the Province back onto the deck.
... GendoIkari discards 2 Fortune Tellers, 3 Scrying Pools, an Inn, a Spice Merchant, and 6 Festivals.
Noooo!!!!!!! And they say Fortune Teller is weak!
So it ended up not mattering at all, as I still Scrying Pool'd my way to the last 2 Provinces on the next turn.