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[joebronx]

Hi folks, I just registered. I haven't been playing Dominion all that long (since November), but I have played a lot of games (certainly too many) in the last couple months.

Anyway, I just played against a player who's rated much higher than I am, and an argument broke out concerning Rebuild. Sadly, I forgot to save the game report when he rage quit, but it really boils down to a simple question about Rebuild.

Early in the game, when he bought his third (of four) Rebuilds, I started buying duchies (I already had two rebuilds). My thinking is that if I have more duchies, it won't matter that he has more rebuilds. Because he won't have anything to convert his Estates to, rendering his extra Rebuilds worthless.

So, by the time we had burned through all the Duchies, I had a comfortable lead, and he started complaining how lucky I was. Then he called me stupid. So, I said, that because I bought more duchies, I had effectively eliminated luck. That this was not luck, but rather by design. He said that anyone who knows what they're talking about would tell me I need at least four Rebuilds. Then he called me stupid many times, refused to play any longer and eventually resigned.

So, am I in the wrong here? Does it make not make sense to load up on Duchies in favor Rebuilds? Or do you think I played it right? Thoughts much appreciated.

[JW]

Welcome to the boards! You played it correctly. In a mirror buying even a third Rebuild before the Duchies run out is usually incorrect.

See the Rebuild mirror article, for example, which has similar advice. http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/index.php/Rebuild#Mirror_Strategy_Article

[joebronx]

Thanks for the response. I didn't feel like the berating was necessary, but I figured it was worth looking into to make sure I wasn't the idiot he'd made me out to be.

[jsh357]

Is this the game?

http://gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?20150117/log.5136e2dee4b07cef820a1126.1421543667887.txt

Well, regardless, 4 Rebuilds is probably overkill.  You want 1-2 (maaaybe 3), then you want to win the Duchy split, then you might add Rebuilds to shorten the game afterward if it's appropriate.

[Awaclus]

Getting more than 2 Rebuilds is fine (usually correct I think) in a non-mirror, but when your opponent is also going for the Rebuild rush, then you don't want more than 2 Rebuilds until the Duchies have run out. It's possible that your opponent has experience from games where his opponent didn't go for Rebuild, and a lot of people seem to think that you play Rebuild mirrors the same way you play Rebuild against a non-Rebuild strategy.

[bardo]

Assuming that is the log, then I would add that he also made a mistake when he named province instead of duchy, leaving him with three estates and a province instead of two estates and two duchies. Others may disagree, but I usually prefer to get rid of all my estates before converting duchies to provinces. (You did the same thing, but your deck was in better shape, at least).

On a similar note, it's usually also a mistake to buy an estate (which he did) thinking you can turn it into another duchy before they run out. I've tried that way more often than I should have. I think it's worked out once.

So his "bad luck" was especially self-inflicted.

[Awaclus]

Others may disagree, but I usually prefer to get rid of all my estates before converting duchies to provinces.

I don't think others should disagree generally. Winning the Duchy split pretty much equals winning the game in a mirror match, so getting Duchies is more important than getting Provinces as long as there are any Duchies left, and that's why you should name Duchy in the early game (if you have an Estate in your draw pile or discard pile). But there are edge cases (Rogue, for example).

[noughtpointzero]

Also, obviously the guy is a jerk

[theblankman]

Well everyone else said what I would've regarding strategy. 

If you're new to the online game and the forums, you may not know about Salvager yet.  It's a browser extension that adds a bunch of nice features and UI improvements to the site, you can get it from here (hit the extension link at the upper right). 

I mention Salvager here because one of its features is a blacklist.  I've found the Dominion community to be super nice and polite overall, with a rare few who act like your opponent did.  So when someone insults me in a game, I can just block them, zero tolerance, and know that unlike some other online communities I've been part of, I can do that and still have no trouble at all finding people to play with.

[jaketheyak]

Oh, yes, I second that suggestion regarding blacklisting players.
Sore losers don't deserve your time and they don't deserve a second thought.

[joebronx]

Is this the game?

http://gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?20150117/log.5136e2dee4b07cef820a1126.1421543667887.txt

Well, regardless, 4 Rebuilds is probably overkill.  You want 1-2 (maaaybe 3), then you want to win the Duchy split, then you might add Rebuilds to shorten the game afterward if it's appropriate.

Yes, that's the game. Thanks for finding it!

[joebronx]

Assuming that is the log, then I would add that he also made a mistake when he named province instead of duchy, leaving him with three estates and a province instead of two estates and two duchies. Others may disagree, but I usually prefer to get rid of all my estates before converting duchies to provinces. (You did the same thing, but your deck was in better shape, at least).

On a similar note, it's usually also a mistake to buy an estate (which he did) thinking you can turn it into another duchy before they run out. I've tried that way more often than I should have. I think it's worked out once.

So his "bad luck" was especially self-inflicted.

In retrospect, I was thinking the same thing about naming Province when you have Duchies (and no Provinces) in hand. I made the same mistake in this game (it didn't hurt me), but I have since stopped naming Province as my standard play.

Thank you all for validating my impression that this guy was acting like a jerk. He was so adamant about his position that I had to investigate whether my defense of myself was in the wrong. I've played a lot of poker, and I know what it's like to get a bad beat and then have someone tell you it wasn't lucky (when it absolutely was). Also, he was particularly insistent that I go read the forums to find out how wrong I am. I hope he gets a chance to read this.

And thanks for the advice on Salvager. I don't think I would blacklist him, thought, as I would love a chance to direct him to this thread. Thanks!