Today I was able to take part in my first IRL tournament.
We were 15 players, so that 3 preliminary rounds with 3 players on 5 tables each were scheduled. But a 16th player came a little bit later so that we had 4 tables with 4 players each. Meh, we had to expect more luck-based games. The preliminary rounds were only with Base, Intrigue and Seaside. Every game was centered on one of those sets, that means 5 cards from that set were fix, the other 5 cards randomly from all the 3 expansions.
Game 1 (Base): Fishing Village, Village, Bureaucrat, Gardens, Salvager, Swindler, Thief, Market, Mine and another card
Goal: It was a 4-player game, so Thief-Gardens was clearly the way to go. I feared Swindler a little bit though.
How it went: I was surprised to see everyone play a different strategy. One player went for a treasure-less deck with Markets, 2 Villages and one Swindler and Salvager as terminal actions. That meant that I only got 1-2 treasure cards per Thief play. Also, 2 of my Gardens were hit early by Swindler plays and were swindled into Bureaucrats. Those weren't bad in my deck, but I liked my Gardens more. So, it got pretty close. The Markets were emptied pretty fast and the Swindler helped emptying the other piles. So, the other players panicked a little bit and helped me emptying the Gardens pile which was the second pile which was emptied. So, I only got 6 Gardens. In the end I came perfectly to exact 40 cards in my deck, so that I had 6x4 + 3 Estates - 5 Curses = 22 points. The player with the treasure-less deck knew he wood win and trashed a Province with his Salvager to empty the last pile and buy a Duchy. Unfortunately he had only 3x6 points + a Duchy = 21 points. If he didn't trash the Province and just empty the last pile, he would have won. Phew. Luck was on my side.
Game 2 (Intrigue): Shanty Town, Bridge, Ironworks, Navigator, Scout, Spy, Duke, Torturer, Trading Post and another card
Goal: Torturer engine with Shanty Town and Tradingpost as trasher
How it went: I feared being player 3 in this Torturer game. But luckily, player 1 didn't go for him and player 2 only sporadic. But, still, I got hit twice in one round by Torturers, so that I had to take Curses two times. But, I got the engine working und could catch up. No-one did hit $8 until my enginge kicked in, so that I could win easily with 8 Provinces and 2 Duchies.
Until now there were 3 players who won both games and one player has won one game and tied on first the other game. The 4 finalists were pretty much cut in stone. One of the players sat with me on the same table in game 3.
Game 3 (Seaside): Cellar, Lighthouse, Pearl Diver, Ambassador, Warehouse, Pirate Ship, Throne Room, Outpost, Tactician, Treasury
Goal: a difficult set, but I tried to go for Double Tactician with Lighthouse and Treasury as my virtual coin and Outpost for 8 card hands. I feared Pirate Ship though.
How it went: The other strong player and I opened Lighthouse/Ambassador. He hit an early $5 while I didn't for a very looong time. The other two players went expectedly for Pirate Ships and they had them at 4-5 coins were easily very fast. My deck came together, but very late because I didn't get to $5 for Tactician and Outpost. When my deck was ready, there were only 3 Provinces left. I bought a Curse and tried to slow them down, but it came turns to late. In the end I only had 2 Provinces and came in last place, the other strong player in second last, the Pirate Ship players beat us.
So, I was fourth, just enough for the finals. In the final set we took one card with coin tokens from Guilds, one card with trash effect from Dark Ages, one treasure card from Prosperity and one card with on-gain effect from Hinterlands. The rest was randomly from Base, Intrigue and Seaside. And it was a Colony/Platinum game.
Game 4 (Finale) Candlestick Maker, Secret Chamber, Workshop, Fortress, Mining Village, Nomad Camp, Royal Seal, Upgrade, Witch and another card
Goal. Upgrade+Fortress is super strong and
I could win one game with it recently. So, I try, especially because of Witch, to trash heavily and then empty out the Duchies. But I was worried that it was a Colony game.
How it went: The first two players could start with $5/$2 what is super strong her and opened Upgrade/Candlestick Maker. Player 3 had $4/$3 and tried to get to $5 with Nomad Camp, but didn't suceed. I had $3/$4 and opened double Silver and try to hit $5 often soon. But unfortunately all players went heavily on Upgrades, so that they were gone really fast. I think I had 3 of them. Then they went for Witches and Fortresses, expectedly. Curses were then the second pile which was going to get emptied soon. While the first two players already bought Platinum, I still tried to keep my deck thin and trash heavily, but I was miles behind. One Duchy I could get of the combo when player 2 already hit Colony. In that turn were I wanted to start with my deck - I had a hand with 2 Upgrades, one Fortress, a Gold and an Estate and could with 3 coin tokens probably 2 Duchies and a Province - player 2 decided to take the secure second place and empty out the Fortress and end the game on piles. I had only 2 points and came in third by one point.
It was a fun tournament, I hope to visit other tournaments soon. Feedback on the sets are welcome.
