Division C1: AdamH 3.5 games, michaeljb 2.5 gamesLink to entire stream on Twitch (part 1)Link to entire stream on Twitch (part 2)Link to YouTube playlistGame 1: AdamH 30, michaeljb 27
Game log Twitch highlight YouTube videoKingdom Cards: Fool's Gold, Forager, Scout, Throne Room, Bazaar, Count, Journeyman, Outpost, Soothsayer, Bank, with Shelters
Well all the components are here for an engine. With the strong trashing in Forager I didn't think it would come down so much to lucky draws, but it certainly did. michaeljb goes heavily for Fool's Golds early on and I aim to start drawing lots of cards. I have a big lead on pace until I have a bad shuffle, I try to play around it poorly, and it sets me back like 3 turns. He gets the jump on greening and has a lead, but with my extra turn as first player I see a way to use my Outpost turn to catch up if I manage to not stall, and that's exactly what happens, so I win by a Duchy.
Here's a gem from the chat. I have no idea if this is intentional or not.
<liopoil> Yeah hitting 5 is important. I like getting a scout
<liopoil> count*
And an IRL friend brings back this blast from the past, which I believe is discussed at length throughout further games. I can't wait to read it!
<megan_omcf> oh right, we need to make the Adam drinking game
Game 2: michaeljb 29,
AdamH 31Game log Twitch highlight YouTube videoKingdom Cards: Loan, Masquerade, Horse Traders, Rats, Taxman, Bazaar, Catacombs, Mountebank, Saboteur, Grand Market
He opens 5/2 on a Mountebank board, which doesn't look good for me (though the chat speculates that 3/4 is actually better on this board. I don't think I agree but I think it's close) and follows it up with lots of $5 hands while I struggle in the beginning. However, I invest in two early Loans which do great work for me and he doesn't pick up a Loan until T12 (which I believe is game-deciding). Loan cleans up after Mountebank non-terminally and really helps get Grand Markets (which he never found the time to pick up).
He wins the Bazaar split 6/4, but with 5 Grand Markets I'm able to force him to go for full green before getting any GMs. He gets off to a sizeable lead but in the end I'm able to have a couple of big turns at the right time to mount a huge comeback. Tense endgame decisions as well, this game was pretty fun to play.
Liopoil was pretty adamant in the chat that I should get Rats. I can't tell if he was kidding.
Game 3: michaeljb 6, AdamH 6Game log Twitch highlight YouTube videoKingdom Cards: Poor House, Pawn, Scrying Pool, Develop, Menagerie, Marauder, Wandering Minstrel, Jester, Laboratory, Royal Seal, with Shelters
So Scrying Pool is important here and you can't thin with Develop, there's a lot of interaction here that surrounds Ruins and it's tough for me to tell if/when I should be going for Develop. I decide not to open with it and don't pick it up until it's arguably too late -- I should have opened with it.
So he ends up getting more Pawns than me, which gives him pile control. With a 6-6 tie on points and me going second, he leaves the piles in a state where he thinks I can't empty them and take a tie, but he forgets that I got a second Develop at this point and I decide to take the tie.
I looked for a while to see if I could win the game on my last turn but I'm pretty sure it wasn't possible.
<mic_qsenoch> i hope he stops saying wandering winder
<jsh357> he won't
<mic_qsenoch> i know
<jsh357> and now it's part of the drinking game
<3 MQ <3
Game 4: michaeljb 44, AdamH 10
Game log Twitch highlight YouTube videoKingdom Cards: Hamlet, Apothecary, Black Market, Fishing Village, Forager, Menagerie, Bureaucrat, Bandit Camp, Count, Stables
Black Market Deck: Loan, Thief, Jester, Prince, Venture, Village, Cellar, Feast, Festival, Laboratory, Moneylender, Philosopher's Stone, Contraband, Doctor, Develop, Tournament, Horn of Plenty, Shanty Town, Rats, Noble Brigand, Merchant Guild, Minion, Caravan, Altar, Candlestick Maker
Black Market and Tournament in the Black Market. I hate everything about this game. We both could have played better but I feel like I lost because he pulled Tournament from the BM deck. I'd like to say more but I'll just say that Black Market is a stupid card and I hate it, and that's putting it lightly.
We played the rest of this match in a different session...
Game 5: AdamH 43, michaeljb 32
Game log Twitch highlight YouTube videoKingdom Cards: Herbalist, Oracle, Philosopher's Stone, Marauder, Silk Road, Harvest, Jester, Minion, Farmland, Goons
Lots of attacks here, but Minion is the only non-terminal and no trashing, so no real engine possibilities. Herbalist/Phil Stone holds up very nicely in the face of all of the attacks present so we both go for it.
He draws very well and gets Phil Stone on both turn 3 and turn 4, but I'm able to win the Herbalist split and even up the Phil Stones at 4 apiece. I pick up a Goons and a Gold, building a little bit more (imagine that) while he goes hard for green, getting Farmlands and Estates in preparation for Silk Roads.
I'm able to get relatively consistent Provinces -- it turns out my $6 buys were pretty inconsequential because they both ended up being Farmland food before I ever played either of them. The game ends on piles as I empty the last two simultaneously with Farmland.
<jsh357> even i can hear the crickets fro south carolina
<megan_omcf> it's like he has them trained to chirp while he is thinking
The weather has recently been such that it's really nice to have my windows open at night, so you can hear the crickets that live in my yard pretty well on the stream. It's pretty amusing, I think (and somewhat soothing, I guess). The microphone on my headset is good at picking them up, especially when I'm not talking.
Game 6: AdamH 34,
michaeljb 37Game log Twitch highlight YouTube videoKingdom Cards: Crossroads, Doctor, Masquerade, Coppersmith, Procession, Remake, Graverobber, Market, Wharf, Possession
Such a difficult game to play. I'd save it for the Champion match but this one just has to be really swingy so I don't think I will. Lots of really bizarre interactions here, and there's almost certainly a Rock/Paper/Scissors interaction between several of the strategies. I'm never sure of what I'm doing here and I lose the game -- though I don't know if anyone can ever be sure of what they're doing on this board.
We both end up with decks with Crossroads, Wharves, some Markets, and Possessions. From there we just go for full green and he comes out ahead. You'll notice my commentary on this board is lacking -- that's because I've thought about this game for like a day and I still have no idea what happened, nor how one should play it, other than very tactically and with good draws. What are good draws? Well I don't freakin' know...
<mic_qsenoch> this is a really hard board to play well i think
Good, at least someone good agrees with me.
<wanderingwinder> ...
<megan_omcf> hi stephanie!
Oh boy, the things that the chat comes up with sometimes... You guys... Can I even explain this? Probably not, since it doesn't really make sense. Then why am I quoting it?