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[liopoil]

Challenge: Empty the supply in three turns, in a two-player game. You may assume that both you and your opponent may order your cards however you want when you shuffle them. You control both players. You pick the kingdom, and the order/what is included in the Black Market deck, Ruins, bane card, and Knights, if applicable. Possession and Outpost turns both count towards the turn limit. At the end of the second player's third turn the supply must be empty.

Hard Modes:

1) Include Colony and Platinum in the Kingdom.
2) No masquerade or ambassador Edit: I don't think it's even possible with masquerade or ambassador
3) Get over 200 points
4) Overpay for one of herald, doctor, stonemason, or masterpiece by 100 coins
5) Do all of the above

My solution is a work in progress, but I am at the point that I am sure that is possible to do, with at least one of the hard modes. I'll post my solution within 2 weeks, or sooner if people would prefer. No spoiler tags are necessary, I see these sort of puzzles generally as a group effort sort of thing.

EDIT: Finished my solution, which achieves all Hard modes comfortably. My solution does a lot of weird things in it that are suboptimal, but at the time I thought might be necessary (e.g., going out of my way to make sure I have enough money when in reality I have plenty). I have it all written up, but should probably edit it and check for errors. It's over 1000 words long. Well, I finished my project for today...

EDIT2: Solution Posted, and improved a lot from the above, but may still have errors. 967 VP.

[Burning Skull]

Well, if it is allowed to have Scout in Black Market deck, everybody can do that...

[SirPeebles]

liopoil, did you forget to switch accounts?

[Burning Skull]

Hmm

Let me guess,

1. It involves baker opening!
2. One of the players opens Noble Brigand
3. Contraband, Envoy, Spy variants and Advisor are better then usual here

[Awaclus]

3. Contraband, Envoy, Spy variants and Advisor are better then usual here

I don't think you have time for any of them.

[Burning Skull]

I don't think you have time for any of them.

Agreed.

[liopoil]

Okay, so I promised to post the solution in two weeks, but I'm not going to be able to do that. I am still editing the latter half of the solution and am going V/LA. I'll give the first two and a half turns: (only information shown so far is given)

Kingdom: Black Market (Bm), Noble Brigand(Nb), Procession(Pr), Fortress(Ft), Watchtower(Wt) (bane), Stonemason(St), Cultist(Cu), ??
Black Market Deck: Baker, ??
There is the starting coin token from baker.
Copper is abbreviated C.
Numbers refer the number (out of 10) in the supply they are.
There are shelters: Hovel(H), Necropolis(N), Overgrown Estate (OE)
P1 starting hand: 4C, H
P2 starting hand: 5C
Player 1 T1: Play 4C, buy Nb1. P2 discards N, H, gains C. Draw 3C, N, OE
P2 T1: play 5C + coin token, buy St1, overpay by 4, gain Pr1 and Ft1. Draw OE, 2C, (shuffle) Pr, Ft. Deck is, from top to bottom (H, C, St, C, C, C, N, C, C)
P1 T2: play 3C + coin token, buy Nb2, P2 discards H, C. Draw (shuffle) Nb1, Nb2, N, 2C
P2 T2: Pr1-->Ft1, draw St1, C, trash Ft1, get Ft1 back, gain Cu1. Play Ft1, draw C. St1--> OE, trash OE, draw C, gain 2C. Play 5C, buy St2, overpay by 3, gain Wt1, Bm1. Draw N, 2C (shuffle) Pr1, Ft1. Deck is, from top to bottom, (H, 5C, Wt1, St1, Cu1, Bm1, St2, 3C)
P1 T3: play N, play Nb1, P2 discards H, C. play Nb2, P2 discards C, C. Play 2C, buy Nb3, P2 discards C, C. Draw 5C.
P2 T3: State:
1 action, 1 buy, 0 coins
Hand: N, 2C, Pr1, Ft1.
Deck: Wt1, St1, Cu1, Bm1, St2, 3C
Discard: H, 5C

[SirPeebles]

Cu isn't Copper? 

[florrat]

Nice! That's a pretty tight start of turn 3. I also thought about how to pull this off, and I think my solution has the advantage over yours that I need two less kingdom cards to start. My solution doesn't need Cultist or Fortress in the kingdom, which means that you can then put cards like Goons and Merchant Guild in the kingdom such that you can also end your turn with ~1000 VP chips and ~1000 coin tokens.

Kingdom: Stonemason (Sm), Black Market (Bm), Watchtower (Wt), Noble Brigand (Nb), Procession (Pr), Catacombs, Haggler, King's Court, 3 more (for example Goons, Merchant Guild and Squire)
Ruins deck: 10 Ruined Market (Rm)
Other Cards: Copper (C), Hovel (H), Necropolis (N), Overgrown Estate (O)
Black Market Deck: Fortress (F), Young Witch, Baker

P1 draws CCCCN
P2 draws CCCCC

Turn 1
------
Player 1:
play 4C,
Buy Nb1, P2 reveals HO, gains C
Clean-up: draw CCCOH

Player 2:
Play 5C
Buy Sm1, overpay 3, gain Wt1,Bm1
Clean-up: draw CCN,(reshuffle),Wt1,Bm1

Turn 2
------
Player 1:
play 3C, spend baker coin
Buy Nb2, P2 reveals HO, gains C
Clean-up: draw anything

Player 2:
Play N
Play Bm1, CC, buy F(ortress)
Play Wt1, draw 6C
Play 6C
Buy Sm2, overpay 4, gain Pr1, Pr2
Clean-up: draw Sm1, (reshuffle), Pr1, Pr2, F, Wt

Turn 3
------
Player 1:
do nothing

Player 2:
Play Pr1-Pr2-F-F and explode
(I'm not going to write this up; basically do what CC does here starting from "Play Pr3-Pr4:")

[liopoil]

My solution does fit goons and KC into the kingdom.

[liopoil]

What's the point of merchant guild and squire? more coins and buys? you don't need more coins and buys. also, not sure your solution works. how do you continue the procession chain? CC uses a peddler, IIRC. I never considered only overpaying by 3 on turn 1 though, that's neat.

[liopoil]

I see now that you can just procession fortress to draw the two topdecked processions and topdeck another procession, and go from there. I see that's what CC did - peddler was to draw the first two processions in the first place. so yeah, that solution works better, though it is slower to play all the hagglers (well, sort of)

[florrat]

What's the point of merchant guild and squire?

What's the point of Goons? If your only goal is to empty the supply, it's pretty useless. If you also want to complete other objectives - like gaining a lot of VP then Goons is useful. If you want to also end with ~1000 coin tokens just because it can, then Merchant Guild is useful.

though it is slower to play all the hagglers (well, sort of)

My solution would gain Hagglers faster than CC's solution (CC's chain of Processions Pr6-Pr10 is longer for me, since I have 2 more Processions in the supply at that point), because I can turn more Processions/Fortresses into Hagglers. I don't know about your solution, so I cannot compare those, but I'm not sure how you're going to get Hagglers faster.

[JacquesTheBard]

I've been looking forward to something like this ever since Stonemason was introduced. 

I had a few comments on the solution florrat proposed, but right before posting them, I double-checked his writeup and found no commentary is needed. Because we do not need to use Nomad Camp to gain Fortress, the Hamlet and Peddler on top of the deck aren't needed (although any attempts to gain similar cards may be easily accomplished by Processioning Stonemason and Stonemasoning Fortress). The Noble Brigand's gift of an extra copper also contributes by letting the Watchtower achieve more draw. This solution is extremely promising, and I suspect that further optimization will crack the game wide open.

No Nomad Camp and no Peddler requirements, as well as Fortress in the Black Market, free up enough cards that, putting Baker in the Black Market deck, we actually gain an extra slot to take advantage of. I propose that the ultimate point potential of this board exceeds that of CC's solution, although doubtlessly we would not have found this without his groundbreaking work.

Moral of the story: Never open Noble Brigand as P1.

[liopoil]

What's the point of merchant guild and squire?

What's the point of Goons? If your only goal is to empty the supply, it's pretty useless. If you also want to complete other objectives - like gaining a lot of VP then Goons is useful. If you want to also end with ~1000 coin tokens just because it can, then Merchant Guild is useful.

well this all stemmed from "Most VP in __ turns", and getting VP is the goal of Dominion, so I think Goons is more rationalized.

My original solution used highway instead of goons (why??), and so now I'm rewriting the whole second half of the solution to optimize for points. I've been pretty lazy about that. Florrat's solution would give more points for sure though.

[liopoil]

Kingdom: Stonemason(St), Black Market (Bm), Watchtower(Wt) (bane), Noble Brigand(Nb), Procession(Pr), Fortress(Ft), Catacombs(Ca), Cultist(Cu), Haggler(Hg), Goons(Gn), King’s Court(Kc).

Black Market Deck: Young Witch, Baker, Ironworks, Bank, Peddler, Quarry, Hunting Grounds, Fairgrounds, Counterfeit, Nobles, Gardens, Feodum, Duke, Silk Road, Vineyard, Scout, Crossroads, Cellar, Squire, Herbalist, Pawn, Candlestick Maker, Hamlet, Coppersmith, Counting House, Scyring Pool. (26 cards here is okay, right?)

• Shelters are used: Necropolis(N), Overgrown Estate (OE), Hovel(H)
• Colonies and Platina are used.
• There are ruins from Cultist. All are Ruined Market(Rm).
• There is the starting coin token from baker.
• There are potions from Scrying Pool and Vineyard.
• Copper is abbreviated C.
• Numbers refer the number (out of 10) in the supply they are.
• When I trash and topdeck stuff, it’s with Watchtower.

Player 1 starting hand: 4C, H
Player 2 starting hand: 5C

Player 1 Turn 1: Play 4C, buy Nb1. P2 discards N, H, gains C. Draw 3C, N, OE

Player 2 Turn 1: play 5C + coin token, buy St1, overpay by 4, gain Pr1 and Ft1. Draw OE, 2C, (shuffle) Pr1, Ft1. Deck is, from top to bottom (H, C, St1, C, C, C, N, C, C)

Player 1 Turn 2: play 3C + coin token, buy Nb2, P2 discards H, C. Draw (shuffle) Nb1, Nb2, N, 2C

Player 2 Turn 2: Pr1-->Ft1, draw St1, C, trash Ft1, get Ft1 back, gain Cu1. Play Ft1, draw C. St1--> OE, trash OE, draw C, gain 2C. Play 5C, buy St2, overpay by 3, gain Wt1, Bm1. Draw N, 2C (shuffle) Pr1, Ft1. Deck is, from top to bottom, (H, 5C, Wt1, St1, Cu1, Bm1, St2, 3C)

Player 1 Turn 3: play N, play Nb1, P2 discards H, C. play Nb2, P2 discards C, C. Play 2C, buy Nb3, P2 discards C, C. Draw 5C.

Player 2 Turn 3: This is the big turn. I’ll give gamestates periodically. State:
1 action, 1 buy, 0 coins
Hand: N, 2C, Pr1, Ft1.
Deck: Wt1, St1, Cu1, Bm1, St2, 3C
Discard: H, 5C

Pr1->Ft1, draw Wt1, St1, trash Ft1, return Ft1 to hand, gain Cu2, trash Cu2, draw Cu1, Bm1, St2.
St1->Ft1, trash Ft1, return Ft1 to hand, gain Wt2, gain Bm2.
St2->Cu1, draw 3C, gain Pr2, Pr3, topdeck both.
Play N
Play Bm1, play 5 coppers, buy ironworks, topdecking it.
Play Wt1, draw Ironworks, Pr2, Pr3, (shuffle), W2, Bm2. State:
1 action, 1 buy, 3 coins
Hand: Ft1, Pr2, Pr3, Wt2, Bm2, Ironworks
Deck: 5C, H
Discard: nothing

Play Ironworks, gain Pr4, topdeck Pr4.
Pr2 --> Pr3:
           --> Ft1, draw Pr4, C, trash Ft1, return Ft1 to hand, gain Ca1, trash Ca1, gain Pr5, topdeck Pr5.
           --> Pr4
                 --> Ft1 draw Pr5, C, trash Ft1, return Ft1 to hand, gain Ca2, trash Ca2, gain Pr6, topdeck Pr6.
                 -->Pr5
                      --> Ft1, draw Pr6, C, trash Ft1, return Ft1 to hand, gain Ca3, trash Ca3, gain Pr7, topdeck Pr7.
                      -->Pr6
                          -->Ft1, draw Pr7, C, trash Ft1, return Ft1 to hand, gain Ca4, trash Ca4, gain Pr8, topdeck Pr8.
                          -->Pr7
                               -->Ft1, draw Pr8, C, trash Ft1, return Ft1 to hand, gain Ca5, trash Ca5, gain Pr9, topdeck Pr9.
                               -->Pr8
                                    -->Ft1, draw Pr9, H, trash Ft1, return Ft1 to hand, gain Ca6, trash Ca6, gain Pr10, topdeck Pr10.
                                    -->Pr9
                                         -->Ft1, draw Pr10, trash Ft1, return Ft1 to hand, gain Hg1, topdeck Hg1.
                                              -->Pr10
                                                  -->Ft1, draw Hg1, trash Ft1, gain Hg2, topdeck Hg2.
                                                      -->Ft1, draw Hg2, trash Ft1, gain Hg3, topdeck Hg3.
                    Trash Pr5-10 for Hg4-9 on the deck.
       Trash Pr3-4 for Cu3-4, trashing them to draw Hg4-9.
Play Ft1, draw Hg3. State:
37 actions, 1 buy, 3 coins
Hand: Wt2, Hg1-9, Bm2, 5C, H
Deck+Discard: Nothing

Play Hg1-9
Play Bm2 and 5C. Have 27 coins, 9 hagglers in play, 1 buy, and 27 actions. Buy a Bank, gaining Wt3, Hg10, Bm3-4, Ca7, St3, Gn1-2(topdecking Hg10, St3, and Bm3), and Cu5, trashing Cu5 to draw Hg10, Bm3, and St3.
Play St3 on H, trash H, gain Rm1-2
Play Hg10.
Play Bm3. Have 25 coins, 10 hagglers in play, 1 buy, and 24 actions. Buy a Peddler, gaining Kc1-6 and Gn3-6. State:
24 actions, 1 buy, 17 coins.
Hand: Wt2
Deck: Nothing
Discard: Kc1-6, Gn1-6, Bm4, Ca7, Rm1-2, Wt3, Bank, Peddler
Play Wt2, drawing (shuffle), Kc1-5, Ca7
Kc1-->Kc2
   -->Ca7, drawing Wt3, Bm4, Kc6, and Gn1-6
   -->Gn1
   -->Kc3
      -->Gn2-3, Kc4 --> Gn4-5, Kc5 --> Gn6
        -->Bm4. Buy Quarry, gaining Bm5-10 and Rm3-6, topdeck Bm5-10 and Quarry. Buy Hunting Grounds, gain Ca8-10, Ft2-6 (trashing Ft2-6 into hand and topdecking Hunting Grounds), and Cu6-7, trashing Cu6-7 to draw Quarry, Hunting Grounds, and Bm5-8. Play Quarry. Buy Fairgrounds, gaining Kc7-10, Gn7-10 (topdecking them), and Cu8-9, trashing Cu8-9 to draw Kc7-8 and Gn7-10. State:
22 actions, 19 buys, 43 coins, 12 VP chips, 6 Goons, 10 hagglers, and a Quarry in play.
Hand: Hunting Grounds, Bm5-8, Wt3, Kc7-10, Gn7-8, Ft2-6.
Deck: Kc9-10, Bm9-10, Bank, Rm1-2, Peddler.
Discard: Fairgrounds, Rm3-6, Ca8-10

          -->Kc6
             -->Gn7-8, Kc7-->Gn9-10, Kc8
                   -->Bm5, Buy Counterfeit, gain Cu10, trash Cu10 to draw Kc9-10, Bm9. Gain Ft7-10, Rm7-9, 2 Potion (trashing Ft7-10 into hand, topdecking 2 Potion, Counterfeit). Buy Nobles, trash Ft2, gain gold, return Ft2 to hand. Gain 10 silvers. Topdeck 7 silvers. Buy Gardens, gaining Rm10, Nb4-10, 2 silvers.
                   -->Hunting Grounds, draw 7 silvers, 2 potions, Bm10, Bank, Counterfeit.
                   -->Kc9 State:
22 actions, 31 buys, 53 coins, 48 VP chips, 10 goons, 10 hagglers, and a Quarry in play
Hand: Kc10, Ft2-10, Bm6-10, Wt3, Counterfeit, Bank, 2 Potions, 7 silver.
Deck: Rm1-2, Peddler
Discard: Rm3-10, Ca8-10, Nb4-10, 5 Silver, Nobles, Gardens, Duke, Fairgrounds

                        -->Bm6-7, Kc10, Bm8-10. Can buy 15 cards from the Black Market deck. Play 2 potions. Buy Feodum, Silk Road, Vineyard, Duke, Scout, Crossroads, Cellar, Squire, Herbalist, Pawn, Candlestick Maker, Hamlet, Coppersmith, Counting House, Scyring Pool. Gain 28 silvers, 43 coppers, 9 curses. Trash the curses, topdeck the Scyring Pool and Counting house. State:
22 actions, 31 buys, 66 coins, 198 VP chips, all that same stuff in play
Hand: Ft2-10, Wt3, Counterfeit, Bank, 7 silver.
Deck: Scrying Pool, Counting House, Rm1-2, Peddler
Discard: Rm3-10, Ca8-10, Nb4-10, Nobles, Scout, Crossroads, Cellar, Squire, Herbalist, Pawn, Candlestick Maker, Hamlet, Coppersmith, Duke, Fairgrounds, Gardens, Feodum, Silk Road, Vineyards, 33 Silver, 43 Copper. (Deck will be in this order when shuffled)

Play Ft2-3, draw Scrying Pool and Counting House. (24 actions)
Play Counting House, pick up 43 Copper.
Play Scrying Pool, draw ALL the actions!! (and Duke)
Play Ft4, draw Fairgrounds. (24 actions)
Play The Almighty Scout, draw Gardens, Feodum, Silk Road, and Vineyards.
Play Crossroads, reveal 7 victory cards, draw 7 Silver.
Play Ca8-10, draw 9 Silver
Play Ft5-10, draw 5 Silver (30 actions)
Play Nobles for cards and Peddler, draw 4 silver
Play Rm1-10, Nb4-10, Coppersmith. State:
11 actions, 41 buys, 74 coins, 198 VP chips, all that stuff in play + Coppersmith
Hand: Wt3, Cellar, Squire, Herbalist, Pawn, Candlestick Maker, Hamlet, Farmland, Duke, Fairgrounds, Gardens, Feodum, Silk Road, Vineyards, Counterfeit, Bank, 32 Silver, 43 Copper.
Deck: 8 silver
Discard: Nothing

Play Cellar, discard Duke, Fairgrounds, Gardens, Feodum, Silk Road, Vineyards, Wt3, draw 7 Silver.
Play Candlestick Maker, Herbalist, and Squire for buys.
Play Pawn for card and buy, drawing 1 silver.
Play Hamlet, (shuffle) draw Duke, discard Duke for a buy.

ENTER THE BUY PHASE!!

Use a coin token! State:
8 useless actions, 47 fabulous buys, 77 coins, 198 VP chips, 10 hagglers, 10 goons, Quarry, and Coppersmith in play. Hand: 40 silver, 43 copper, counterfeit, bank

Play the gold, silver, and copper for 169 more coins. (246 total).
Counterfeit-->Bank. Bank is worth 97: 40 silver + 2 potions + 1 bank + 1 counterfeit + 53 copper (the 43 just played, plus 10 from way back near the start of the turn.) 246 + 1 from counterfeit + 97 + 97 = 441 coins. Only 48 buys (+1 from counterfeit) though.

--Coppersmith was a waste, could have been Sir Martin. But I can’t just not get and play coppersmith with 53 coppers in hand!--

What remains in the supply are all the basic victory cards, 12 platina, 30 gold, 14 Potions, 8 stonemasons, 7 Watchtowers, and a curse. Buy the curse. Buy a stonemason, overpay by 196 coins to gain the pair of super-secret action cards costing 196 in the supply.

There are exactly enough coins and buys left over to buy the rest of the stonemasons, the rest of the watchtowers, all the colonies (gaining the rest of the plats and golds and potions), and all the provinces, duchies, and estates.

Enter cleanup phase, discard most of the supply, don’t use the herbalist effect, draw Feodum, Fairgrounds, Gardens, Silk Road, and Vineyards (yes, this was perfect shuffle luck). Next turn doesn’t look too good, (although you have a whole lot of points in hand), but luckily the game has ended on the 22-pile rule. Points:

VP Chips: 678
Supply Kingdom Victory cards: 80+48+24+8 =180
Nobles: 4
Feodum: 13
Duke: 8
Fairgrounds: 18 (45 uniques)
Gardens: 53 copper + 40 silver + 30 gold + 12 plat + 16 potion + 32 kingdom victory cards + 23 black market cards + 2 Pr + N + 10 Kc + 10 Hg + 10 Gn + 10 Wt + 10 St + 10 Ft + 4 Ca + 7 Nb + 10 Rm + 1 curse = 290 cards = 29 Points
Vineyards: 29 (89 actions)
Silk Road: 9
Curse: -1

678 + 180 + 4 + 13 + 8 + 18 + 29 + 29 + 9 – 1 = 967 VP

[liopoil]

This can surely be improved upon, getting over 1000 points (even without using Florrat's superior start), and I may figure out how to do that at some point. There also are likely mistakes from multiple edits of what I'm pulling from the black market deck. Feel free to point them out. I don't prioritize buys nearly as much as I should. Each buy is 10 points. Coppersmith should be Sir Martin, and Nobles, Duke, and Silk Road should be +buy cards as well. That alone brings the total to 996.

[sudgy]

First to upvote it!  Best part:

Play The Almighty Scout, draw Gardens, Feodum, Silk Road, and Vineyards.

[markusin]

So I finally got around to checking out this solution. To be honest, I didn't remember the solution was actually revealed. One part confuses me though. Why is Fortress trashed into a Gold when Nobles is bought?

-->Kc6
             -->Gn7-8, Kc7-->Gn9-10, Kc8
                   -->Bm5, Buy Counterfeit, gain Cu10, trash Cu10 to draw Kc9-10, Bm9. Gain Ft7-10, Rm7-9, 2 Potion (trashing Ft7-10 into hand, topdecking 2 Potion, Counterfeit). Buy Nobles, trash Ft2, gain gold, return Ft2 to hand. Gain 10 silvers. Topdeck 7 silvers. Buy Gardens, gaining Rm10, Nb4-10, 2 silvers.

It looks to me like you confused it with Farmland, but then here you play Nobles for cards:

Play Ft2-3, draw Scrying Pool and Counting House. (24 actions)
Play Counting House, pick up 43 Copper.
Play Scrying Pool, draw ALL the actions!! (and Duke)
Play Ft4, draw Fairgrounds. (24 actions)
Play The Almighty Scout, draw Gardens, Feodum, Silk Road, and Vineyards.
Play Crossroads, reveal 7 victory cards, draw 7 Silver.
Play Ca8-10, draw 9 Silver
Play Ft5-10, draw 5 Silver (30 actions)
Play Nobles for cards and Peddler, draw 4 silver
Play Rm1-10, Nb4-10, Coppersmith.

Am I missing something? I guess it's nitpicking, as you still empty the supply either way.

[liopoil]

hmm, that is weird, I can't figure out what I was doing either. Farmland isn't even in the BM deck, it shows up in my hand once, but I don't even count it when counting points, yet I give myself 4 points for the nobles... whoops. But yeah, nobles can be cut easily as I really don't need all that draw. I wanted to draw as many treasures as I could, but there really is no need for as many as I got as I have almost 200 excess coins anyway. If I want to break 1000 points I just need to throw some more buys in the BM deck and get those. There are probably other minor errors too, but I'm not going to try to find them all. I'll try to catch all the mistakes when it becomes possible to do it without opponent assistance.

I think the one that hasn't been posted is florrat's 2-turn emptying of the supply with 6 opponents, though I may be forgetting.