You just had your hindquarters handed to you and you didn't even see it coming. How was your opponent able to so thoroughly outplay you? Was it luck or skill? Taking a few moments to analyze the game log is the best way to shed light on what happened, but sometimes the sheer amount of information presented there can be a bit overwhelming. With a little practice, though, you can be a pro at knowing how to extract the most information in the most efficient manner.
This guide is aimed at beginner and intermediate players, but there’s probably a little something here for everyone.
Analyze This
How you analyze a game can be quite varied, but it all really comes down to one thing – asking questions, and lots of them. And I guess trying to answer them, too.
The first question you need to ask yourself is if the board is worth analyzing at all. And if so, to what extent. This can range anywhere from just glancing at the log to posting the game to the forum for everyone to discuss. But why might you want to be selective in which games to think about? Well, we analyze games mostly to get better. And you will improve your game much more quickly by analyzing (and playing!) more games at a cursory level than spending a huge amount of time agonizing over each one. The reason is simple; one game of Dominion tells you much less than you might think. There is tremendous variation from game to game. And within each game is a large amount of luck.
Subjectively, you should analyze a board whenever you think the game is interesting. More concretely, you should consider analyzing the game any time you and your opponent play different strategies (particularly when you were surprised by your opponents strategy, or you know your opponent to be better), when the game is close and comes down to some tricky endgame manipulation, if you feel you could have won had you done something differently, etc. So just ask yourself some questions about the game, and use the log to try to find an answer. It’s that simple.
Luck Dragons
One thing that is obvious, but not always remembered, is that the better strategy does not always win. Simply put, analysis has to go beyond 'What did the winner do right and what did the loser do wrong.' Of course, the better strategy does have a tendency to win, but luck plays a huge role in Dominion. One of the hardest things to learn about the game is how to parse what can be attributed to luck and what can be attributed to skill. The better you get at playing, the better able you’ll be to figure out what comes down to luck or skill.
Reassess the Board
Hopefully, before you bought your first card, you took a moment to read the board. How did you do? Did you properly identify the stronger cards/combos? Did your opponent see something you didn't? Did you stick with your original game plan, or try to switch tactics mid-stream? Part of post-game analysis is to make you more adept at pre-game analysis. Re-evaluating the board will give you a better feel for future games.
C-C-C-C-Combo Breaker
Combos are the heart and soul of any engine, and many Big Money boards as well. Part of pre-game analysis involves figuring out what combo is dominant. But here’s the issue. There are a ton of cards in dominion. The more complex the combo, the less likely you are to ever see it again. Combo complexity is a function of the number and uniqueness of the cards involved. And for you real life players, whether or not the cards come from the same set. Highly complex combos often do not deserve the time it would take to analyze them. Though sometimes the really clever ones deserve a moment of silent awe.
Another important distinction to make is between the core combo cards and support cards. For example, a Torturer/Hamlet/Conspirator combo is actually probably a Torturer/Village-type card combo with Conspirator support and Hamlet fulfilling the Village role. When analyzing a game, it’s helpful to figure out which is which. Going forward, you can use the core combos you’ve seen before and then figure out which other kingdom cards offer good support.
Opening Arguments
The opening two buys are perhaps the most crucial buys of the game. The purpose of the opening is to set up the strategy you identified in your pre-game analysis. When evaluating the strength of an opening, ask yourself how effective it was at getting you from your starting deck to where you wanted to go. If you identified a better strategy after the fact, what opening would have been best for that? If you opened double silver and fail to draw 5 in turns 3 or 4, well that’s poor luck. If you open warehouse/lookout and fail to draw 5, well that’s expected. When there is a power $5 such as Witch in play, you typically want one soon. The opening is what gets you there.
The Next Few Turns
Many a game are won and lost before turn 6 or so (sometimes much sooner). As such, the roles of luck and skill can be greatly magnified, and it's important to pay special attention to this portion of the game. In this stage you are still ramping up to your target deck. How quickly you get there depends on luck and buy order. What cards did you buy and when? How about your opponent? Who went into the mid-game with the better deck?
Going Green
After a couple of reshuffles you find yourself in the mid-game. Your engine is coming together and then it smacks you in the face: $8, 2 buys. Do you get another Wharf/Village pair or do you break into the Province stack? The decision of when to start greening is perhaps one of the more advanced concepts in Dominion and the answer is highly board and opponent dependent. Sometimes, your opponent buys that first Province sooner than you’d think. Did you stick with you engine in hopes of catching up while he stalls? Did you get in on the Province action sooner than you’d like so as to not fall behind?
Here is my quick, usually but not always appropriate, heuristic for evaluating your decision to go green. If at the end of the game both you and your opponent are stalling too badly to deplete the Provinces, you greened too early. If you have no trouble buying Provinces late game but are in too much of a hole point-wise to catch up, you greened too late.
Wrapping Up
Usually, by the last few turns, the game is already decided. But when it’s not, strong endgame play is often the deciding factor. Managing piles, duchy dancing, following or breaking the penultimate province rule. A good grasp of the final turns of a game won't skyrocket you up the rankings, but it will let you steal a win every now and again. And that might be good for a few levels, at least.
It's Dangerous To Go Alone
One of the greatly underused and underappreciated things on isotropic is that little box at the bottom of the screen that lets you communicate instantly over great distances with your opponent (using what, I imagine, must be some manner of dark magic). Many players are happy to talk about the game. I know I love Dominion, and I love talking about Dominion, and it gets a little sad and touch crazy when my only audience is that handsome fellow in the mirror. One word of advice though, don't wait until after the game ends to start talking. Get the conversation going as the game winds down. That way the other guy won't bolt halfway through typing your well thought out question.
The Rest is up to you
This guide is by no means definitive. And everyone has their own quirks and shortcuts for analysis. Perhaps this guide will serve as a good springboard for thoughtful reflection, but in the end you need to make the post-game analysis your own.