Thief Division, WanderingWinder defeated timchen (allfail), 4-3.
A very close series. I was waiting for WW to post his thoughts, but then it turned out I can't sleep well without getting the thoughts out from my mind. Well, here it is...
game1: WW 39-allfail 27
I started second, turned out to be an ominous start... Relevant cards are Fool's Gold, Remake, Horse Traders, Hagglers, and Bank. I saw WW opened remake with a $4. I am obsessed with Fool's Gold recently and instantly think Horse Trader+Fool's Gold is going to get me to victory. I opened Horse Trader+ Fool's Gold. Now WW got an embargo on turn 3. I thought oh-no. Forgot about that... but I could still get 4 FGs before his first embargo... and probably more via hagglers later. My dream was scattered when my HT refused to show up at turn 4, and his embargo showed up at his turn 5. I have basically no chance thereafter, as his turn 3 and 4 embargos drawn perfectly at his turn 5 and 6 to give him 2 golds, while locking me out. Still, it seems to me now that even if I do get the HT at turn 4 (and didn't make the error later try to get a remake), I am not going to win with the FG embargoed. Good job reading the board correctly here.
game2: allfail 40- WW 35
This one is interesting too. The important cards here are Chapel, expand, and Bureaucrat. I thought for a while and opened Bureaucrat+Silver, vs. his Bureaucrat+Chapel. I don't know, I figured this board is at best marginal for chapeling; I also feel bureaucrat conflicts somewhat with chapel as an opening, since the top deck silver is probably something I don't want with the chapel in my next hand. I also recalled an old article at BGG about how b-crat beats chapel. The game is very close, however, with him getting at the Provinces earlier than I did. My failed attempts at the Provinces (became expands) saved me in the end game though.
game3: WW 78- allfail 62
A very lackluster board with Platinums and Colonies... relevant cards are Fortune Teller, Shanty Town, Inn, Explorer, Bank, Expand. I still don't know how to play this board. I thought Silvers are bad, but this board it is hard to skip silvers. WW opened FT+silver. I thought FT was a bad idea since it cycles through my bad cards... how wrong I was. I opened shanty+silver, planned to use shanty as a semi-lab, trying to get to Golds faster without buying too many silver equivalents. The problem is, the FT hit me hard. With the guaranteed estate on top, a single +2 cards is not going to bring you to $6. He got an explorer, which I thought was also not so good, but my own strategy was even worse. Also, with Bank in play it is probably ok. I lost hard on this one.
game4: allfail 79- WW 52
Important cards: Fairgrounds, Tunnel, Cartographer, Masquerade. This board is FG-friendly, with lots of card one might integrate to a deck without sacrificing too much. We both opened Masq+silver. While WW's draw on the combo Cartographer+Tunnel wasn't so great, I feel getting the Tunnel early is actually a mistake. The chance of Cartographer finding the tunnel in the 4 cards is less than 1/3. Since gold can be reached with Masq quite easily, I feel getting a dead card early in exchange for the chance of extra golds isn't really worth it. I think WW also erred on getting his first Province early (maybe desperate on his draw?)
game5: WW 45- allfail 32
Important card: Witch
I don't know why I am always punished by trying to play a luck-dependent game. Last round when I didn't veto swindler I didn't draw my two swindlers in turn 3 and 4. In this game I didn't veto witch, and WW got an impeccable draw. While his draw probably halted a bit afterwards to let me split the curse 6-4; the golds he accumulated is more than enough for a lopsided game.
game6: allfail 86- WW 57
Important cards: Colony, Treasure Map, Warehouse
I felt pretty sorry about this game. WW should probably have won. Being mad at the witch in the last game, I vetoed her without second thought. I didn't notice the obvious TM+Warehouse combo and opened conspirator. (Thinking of something like warehouse-warehouse-conspirator...? quite far fetched) After I saw WW's opening, I thought I had already lost. Somehow it was still not too late to get TMs, and I even triggered mine earlier than his. A couple of good draws immediately after (3 plats in 3 consecutive turns, with my w-w-c combo actually worked!) pretty much sealed the game for me.
game7: WW 48- allfail 30
Important cards: Wharf, Pawn, Stables, Inn
We both opened Wharf+Pawn. I did second think about the Pawn, but it seems to me early blind draw +1 coin +1 card is probably not that bad. He got another wharf at turn 4, where I stuck at $4 for both my turns after the first shuffle, since I have drawn the pawn dead... I got more silvers so I switched to stables, hoping to align my draws more consistently. For this board I am not sure how to play a Wharf engine: the village is too expensive. WW was playing mostly Wharf+BM I think; nevertheless, he also seized a good chance at turn 6, not playing his Wharf, only to let his newly bought inn to be shuffled with the two wharves in the discard pile. With the nice draw from the two wharves, he got 3 golds. The game is pretty much over by then.
Overall this is a very close series, each of us had his own share of good/bad luck. I was outplayed without excuses in the first two games I lost though; WanderingWinder is the worthy winner. Wish you best of luck in your next round!
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Topic: Schedule and Results, Part II (Read 50834 times)