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Messages - ednever

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626
GokoDom / Re: Kirian's Bracket, Week 3 -- Vacation Edition
« on: April 10, 2012, 11:40:11 pm »
Ednever wins 5 (10 points) and Insomniac-X wins 2 (4 points).

1: ednever: 41 - Insomniac-X: 37
2: Insomniac-X: 62 - ednever: 28
3: ednever: 61 - Insomniac-X: 37
4: Insomniac-X: 44 - ednever: 17
5: ednever: 23 - Insomniac-X: 8
6: Insomniac-X: 29 - ednever: 37
7: Insomniac-X: 22 - ednever: 34

Game 1:
Key Cards: Ambassador, Shanty Town, Ghost Ship
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201204/10/game-20120410-182021-65198262.html
A slow Ambassador/Ghost Ship game that dragged on for 40 turns. Between Moneylender and a double Ambassador to get my deck down to 6 cards and started loading up golds. Then a picked up a few provinces. Then Insomniac started hitting me consistently with his Ghost Ship (no extra actions, but very small decks). Eventually it dragged into Shanty Towns and Alchemists to get extra cards. It ends very close on piles - all the Estates, Duchies and Shanty Towns are gone - and there is only one province left that neither of us seemed to be able to reach with our messy green decks.


Game 2:
Key Cards: Pirate Ship / Wharf /Gardens
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201204/10/game-20120410-182857-3ae55025.html
Insomniac played this perfectly. Opening Silver/Silver and diving into Big Money supported by Wharfs. I thought the lack of actions would let a Pirate Ship / Ambassador play work. I was wrong. While I was able to kill a bunch of I's money, it wasn't nearly enough. By the time my PS's were strong enough to pick up provinces there weren't enough left. I was left buying Gardens in a desperate attempt to catch up. To no avail.


Game 3:
Key Cards: King Court, Wharf, Conspirator, Loan, Merchant Ship, Embargo, Bazaar
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201204/10/game-20120410-184501-c1a5dc91.html
What a game! All 10 KC's in play for some crazy mega-turns. I think my picking up Loan on the opening is what gave me this game. By the end my only money was a loan and 2 copper, but when you KC-KC-KC-KC-Wharf-Conspirator-Conspirator-Merchant Ship-Merchant ship-Merchant Ship-Bazaar-... you can produce some serious coin... My second favorite game of the series.


Game 4:
Key Cards: Fool's Gold, Nomad Camp, Tactician
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201204/10/game-20120410-185150-11f2ab80.html
Insomniac totally outplayed me here again (44-17!). I thought I could use Nomad Camp to pick up a ton of Fool's Gold and then use Tactician to pull off a mega turn (Nomad Camp-Nomad Camp-FGx6 = $25 and 4 buys), but his Big Money+Tactictian was just too fast again. I was left scrambling to use Bishop or Island or something to come back. Again, to no avail.


Game 5:
Key Cards: Fishing Village, Wharf, Sea Hag, Upgrade
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201204/10/game-20120410-190431-529b8a54.html
We both open FV-Hag. Insomniac supplements with a Steward to clean out the curses. I decide to double down on Sea Hag thinking I can Upgrade her when she's finished being useful. A good thing I did as that barely saves me from being on the wrong side of the curses which we split 5-5. I get lucky and pick up a couple of early gold, which when combines with Wharf-Fishing Village lets me pull into the lead 2-1 provinces. I load up on some duchies and then end the game on piles by picking up the last 4 Pearl Divers in my last two turns.


Game 6:
Key Cards: Horn of Plenty, Native Village, Tactician, Young Witch (Cellar Bane), Warehouse, Black Market (+Tournament)
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201204/10/game-20120410-194205-5c5b069d.html
My favorite game by far. The turns took forever. The score jumped back and forth. So many great combos here. Insomniac opened YW-BM. My initial play was to Pick up a bunch of Horns and Native Villages and then unload them all at once using Tactician for an enabler for a mega turn of Provinces and trashed Horns. I opened Tactician-Cellar (to product from the YW) then started building. It wasn't until a third of the way into the game that I realized the right play was Double Tactician-Black Market. I tried to shift in that direction, slowly building up my Horns and NVs, but I slipped up not once, but twice and played too many actions to play both BM and T (once Discarding everything, once mis-clicking and not playing the T at all). The game came down to the wire when, down by 13 I came off a Tactician, emptied my Native Villages, Ironworked a Estate, Horned two Provinces and bought a couple of Duchies. I think it took me 8 minutes to play the turn correctly. Thanks Insomniac for your patience! I was sweating.


Game 7:
Key Cards: Salvager, Ambassador, Island
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201204/10/game-20120410-195117-654d5bac.html
I love Salvager. I think it is one of the most underrated cards by top players.
This game was my turn to play big money. We both opened with Ambassador (I picked up two, but quickly killed one with my Salvager). Both my trashed Ambassador and a trashed Silver bought me a Golds. From there I picked up a Province and didn't hesitate to kill it to the Salvager. It was my turn to be ahead with barely enough points on the board for Insomniac to catch up (I also trashed a Duchy for another Duchy). I think Insomniac was going for a double-Tactician supported by Bazaars and Navigators, but he never had time to set it up.


A great set of games. Insomniac was fun to play with, and Seaside (and the way the cards landed) allowed for some really neat interactions. Tactician seemed to play the biggest role in the games, but Ambassador, Fishing Village and Wharf all played a part.

Looking forward to the next round.

Ed

627
Dominion Articles / Re: Combo: Apothecary, Wishing Well, Coppersmith
« on: April 09, 2012, 11:36:56 pm »
I was reading through old threads today and came across this.

Earlier this afternoon I played a game with the combo. I saw the apothecary/coppersmiths right away (my first time using cs), and picked up ww too. Didn't realize the potential until half way through the game.

Maybe someone will see it again in another 5 months?

Ed

628
Dominion Articles / Re: Hinterlands: Fool's Gold
« on: April 06, 2012, 11:54:24 am »
I think it's likely worth talking about how to counter a fg strategy.

The obvious answer is to load up you opponent with curses. Discard+masqurade was mentioned. A really fast engine also works (bridge+kc).

Are there other ways to disrupt it?

I've won a few games by ignoring fg and building an engine that has a few +buys. Then I pick up ~4 fgs just to deprive my opponent (I can usually get away with four because he thinks I'm not contesting and takes the time to pick up facilitators).

It could be I only win these games due to luck or just lower skill from my opponent in other areas and I would get killed by a better player.

Any thoughts on how to counter a fg rush if you would rather not participate for some reason?

Ed

629
Game Reports / 3 card combo: Tactician / Salvager / Peddler
« on: April 03, 2012, 08:38:08 pm »
Three-card combos are always a little niche - the odds of seeing three cards in combination is pretty low. Which makes reading about them a lot less interesting than powerful 2-card combos which you will often see again and again.

That said, I couldn't resist showing this one.

Salvager / Peddler is a well-known 2-card combo (I'm sure someone can figure out how to link to it below). I just played a game where it was facilitated massively by Tactician.

I got the combo going by turn 8. Then the double Tactician by turn 11.

Every turn would look like this:
Draw 5 cards (plus more due to Caravan thrown in)
Play Cantrips, holding a single Peddler back
Salvager Peddler
Play Tactician
Buy a Province and two Peddlers

Repeat.

On turn 15 I purchased my 7th province.

I'll bet if I saw the combo faster It would be able to pull off 8 provinces even faster.


Again, 3-card combos are not particularly interesting, but this one sure was fun!

Here's the log:
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201204/03/game-20120403-173028-ebd3643e.html


EDIT:
I just played a solitaire game to see how fast I could win it. I discovered it doesn't work without a good cantrip card (like Caravan). I think any cantrip would work, but I tried it with only Ironworks and Conspirator available and it failed pretty badly.

EDIT 2:
Just tried it with a village - and it works even better. The extra actions allow you to salvage more then one peddler a turn. Here's a solo game log:
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201204/03/game-20120403-174936-397711c0.html

630
Simulation / Re: Simulation Challenge: Make Scout useful
« on: March 30, 2012, 05:06:09 pm »
What about a tunnel-discard strategy? Using scouts to draw tunnels into the hand then discard with vault, yw, sc, etc.

Maybe not yw since it conflicts with price point.

631
GokoDom / Re: Kirian's Bracket, Week 2
« on: March 30, 2012, 03:56:56 pm »
Kirian-

For "playing forward" (Which I think will be very handy, given trying to coordinate schedules in a six-day period), can we assume the "theme" will be always 6 cards in the desired set? And the sets will move forward in chronological order from when they were released?

Ed

632
Puzzles and Challenges / Re: Fastest solitary game
« on: March 29, 2012, 06:50:50 pm »
I found one that works pretty consistently - and ends on piles not provinces. Pretty much 8 turns every time if you do it right (I think 7 is possible, but I haven't pulled it off). Here a game log:

http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/29/game-20120329-154311-5dec9922.html

Basic idea is:
Open Ironworks/Chapel

If you draw IW and C at the same time, use the IW for Great Halls to keep Chapel+4 cards. Chapel away the Coppers and Estates
Buy Ironworks on $4s if no chapel (otherwise Great Halls). IW more Ironworks in no Chapel

When deck is trashed, use IW for GH to have 1 or two in your hand, otherwise, get more IW. When out of GW, finish off the IW
Then IW the Islands (play the GH first to minimize the number of Islands that end up in your hand)

You still end up with 24 VPs.

I've also tried to end it on piles with 0 VP, but can't do it in less than ~10-12 turns.

ed

633
I've never understood why people turn down games based on card mix. I think a good part of the fun is seeing what you can make with any given set.

That said, after some thought, here's how I would play this one:

Open hag/chapel
Pick up a second hag, otherwise silvers on <5
on $5 pick up hunting party (skip tact - w go, gm and chapel we should be drawing the full deck soon)
Try to get to gm as fast as possible. Use farmlands to convert hags into gms as possible
get as many gm as you can. When deck is streamlined pick up two wharfs for terminal actions (need two for the duration effect)
Buy colonies only. Platinum otherwise. Obviously dip into provinces if you have to depending on where the score on piles are at.

Would be a fun game I think. I think you need the plats which makes double tact hard. But I could be wrong.

Ed

634
GokoDom / Re: Kirian's Bracket Week One
« on: March 27, 2012, 07:14:52 pm »
Kirian:
Do we know which sets we will be playing each week? (i.e., the order)

635
GokoDom / Re: Kirian's Bracket Week One
« on: March 27, 2012, 01:06:31 am »
Tmoiy and I just finished our first round (Special thanks to Tmoiy for stepping in when my original competitor dropped out earlier this week).
Final results: Tmoiy 2 wins, 1 tie (5 points). ednever 4 wins, 1 tie (9 points)

Here are the games (with commentary):

Game One: T 28 - E 44
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/26/game-20120326-201819-f632effa.html

We both opened Horse Traders / Silver. I picked up a lucky gold, then we both moved into double witches. That gold plus some lucky landings of the witch (I win the curses 6-4) makes all the difference. I use my time to pick up a bunch of Nobles which puts me far enough ahead that T couldn't catch up. Just bad luck for T with both of us playing the same strategy.


Game 2: T 26 - E 44
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/26/game-20120326-202617-b2e0b8d2.html

Our first Chapel game – mixed with a little Horde. Tmoiy got unlucky again. My chapel hit with 1 copper, 3 estates. I picked up a couple of early hordes and pretty soon I was had a half dozen gold in small deck. I picked up one market for the extra buy, but never used it. Meanwhile Tmoiy picked up the chapel on hand 5 with both silvers and could only kill two copper. Hard to come back from that.


Game 3: T 23 - E 14
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/26/game-20120326-203817-f9351ec9.html

Classic Gardens/Ironworks. We split the gardens and the ironworks, but T's first player and a little luck put him well over the top


Game 4: T 22 - E 19
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/26/game-20120326-205013-31d01e05.html

We were both swearing a little at this game - Gardens again, this time with Workshop. I think T said something like "Gotta love the basic set" after seeing these two games in a row. But if game 3 was luck, this time T outplayed me. I had first player advantage, we split the gardens. I had slightly more cards that T did, but he picked up a dutchy. I was almost able to end it before he hit 30 cards, but when I didn't it was just gg.


Game 5: T 42 - E 66
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/26/game-20120326-210213-37c87c19.html

More gardens, but this time no facilitator. Also Duke - so a fair amount of alternative VP. I pick up Feast/Silver for lack of a better option. T breaks with tradition of us opening identical and goes Smithy/Silver. My first thought is he's going big money, but instead he picks up an apprentice, another smithy and some labs (and gold). By turn 12 he has two provinces and I draw "7". I realize his engine is going faster than mine, so I make a quick decision to leave him all of the provinces - I am going to start a duchy rush on turn 12 and pick up my first one (good this, he picks up his third province immediately after that). T uses his Apprentice to kill a province and pick up another one. Only four left now. I'm glad I made my call. I pick up a few more duchies before T figures out what I'm doing. We split the duchies 5/3 thanks to my council room +1 buy. From there we run down the Dukes and the Gardens. The point counter helps a ton for figuring out where I stood, and as soon as I got ahead I dipped back into the provinces. This was a fun game.


Game 6: T - 19 - E -19
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/26/game-20120326-211707-02b29820.html

Another chapel game. We make identical openings (Bureaucrat/Chapel). I think we both thought we could reduce the effectiveness of the other's chapel by making the estates go away (and picking up silvers as we killed our coppers). T's works better off the start forcing me to keep estates while he transitions into Witch/Scheme and then Venture (which is great when you only have silver and gold in your deck). I don't draw the money to follow him. I do Witch/Scheme and supplement with villages to better utilize the witch drawing power. Then we both pick up forges. I'm a little ahead as we trade provinces (T sneaks in a Duchy). Then T breaks the PPR to get 1 point ahead. Unfortunately I can't buy a province, so I forge a province into a province to kill the last one and pick up an estate for the tie. The best game we have so far, and totally appropriate for us to tie.


Game 7: T 27 - E 34
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/26/game-20120326-212502-4cc7d225.html

Weird set of cards. No extra actions and the only attacks Ghist Ship and Thief. GH doesn't work very well if you can't play it every turn, so my best idea was to pick up a double moneylender to kill my coppers, then pick up a Vault. I figured a few golds and silvers with Vault and I would be cruising - and with Vault I could always discard the Moneylenders  if I drew them together. I couldn't figure out T's strategy at the time but when he explained afterwards it made a lot of sense. We was picking up oasis with the plan to combine with the library. Unfortunately he got caught up in a gold rush when he kept drawing 6's and only ever found time to get a single library and 2 oasis (but 4 gold). My vault plan better than I hoped and I had five provinces by turn 14. Game and Match.


I'm really liking the tournament and T was a great competitor. I don't think I've ever concentrated this hard on playing before.

Looking forward to next week,

ednever

636
Dominion Articles / Re: Is develop REALLY that awful?
« on: March 23, 2012, 04:23:08 pm »
After reading this thread a while I finally played a game where I thought I could use develop: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/23/game-20120323-131517-57e6f2bf.html

Really fun. I used Spice Merchants (2) to kill all my coppers and Develops to turn Estates into Tournaments. When my opponent picked up a province (early - trying to match with his tournaments) I turned my tournaments and Spice Merchants into Fishing Villages (and some Develops) and Cities. I quickly emptied the FV pile (in my action phase) and had powered up Cities - and it was only a turn or two later I emptied the City pile (8 cities for me).

My opponent picked up a possession, but never got a chance to use it. I used Develops to turn my Courtyards into Develops to end the game on piles and then picked up a Colony to win 17-12.


It's really fun to find ways to win using generally under-powered cards. Thanks for all the comments on this thread,

Ed

637
GokoDom / Re: IsoDom Challenge Sign-up
« on: March 19, 2012, 09:14:48 pm »
I would love to play.

Just started playing Dominion in December, but slowly building my level (currently 23 - and last 3 day "average win points" is 1.29 vs. 1.11 lifetime).

Time zone: GMT-8 (Seattle - Pacific Time)
Country: USA (but from Canada)

Thanks for organizing,

ed

638
Dominion Articles / Re: Combo: Native Village & Bridge
« on: March 01, 2012, 10:54:15 am »
I know this is an old thread, but just wanted to share a Colony game I just played with the combo. It definitely worked: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/01/game-20120301-073854-ab84f436.html

Pretty sure I wouldn't of seen it if I hadn't read this thread recently.

(4 Colonies and 2 Nobles on the last turn finishing 4 piles - Bridges and NV being the other two)

My opponent had similar cards (4/4 B/NV vs. my 6/6), but did not play for the mega turn.

I realized a nice supplement to the strategy is any catnip card - after you do the big drop, you want to find a way to get the rest of your deck (i.e., all of your bridges) into your hand. Peddlers for example did that quite well.

Cheers,

ednever
 

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