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Author Topic: USE the CLUES to CRACK the CODE  (Read 3770 times)

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dghunter79

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USE the CLUES to CRACK the CODE
« on: December 23, 2011, 10:27:38 pm »
+3


The following is from a game log from a game that was actually played between two basically okay players.  Three of the cards have been encoded.  It's your job to figure out what those three cards were.  Cards that went unpurchased have been hidden.


There may be more than one possible solution, but there's only one BEST answer, and that's the set of three cards that is most likely to produce the game log below, if two basically okay players are playing to win.
_____________________

Manheim wins!
All Provinces are gone.

cards in supply: Fortune Teller, Harem,  :-*;D , Mandarin, Nomad Camp,  8) , Secret Chamber, Village, and Wishing Well
Default card selection was used.  The point tracker will be available.
----------------------

#1 Manheim: 48 points (4 Provinces, 4 Duchies, 4 Harems, 5 Estates, and a Curse); 26 turns
            opening: Nomad Camp /  :-*
            [44 cards] 4 Harems, 2  :-* s, 2 Villages, 13 Coppers, 5 Silvers, 4 Golds, 5 Estates, 4 Duchies, 4 Provinces, 1 Curse

#2 Black: 39 points (4 Provinces, 3 Duchies, 4 Harems, 5 Estates, and 7 Curses); 27 turns
         opening:  ;D  / Silver
         [40 cards] 4 Harems, 4  :-* s, 3 Villages, 1  ;D , 1  8) , 2 Coppers, 2 Silvers, 4 Golds, 5 Estates, 3 Duchies, 4 Provinces, 7 Curses

----------------------

trash: 5 Coppers, a  ;D , a Silver, and a Nomad Camp

DrHades

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Re: USE the CLUES to CRACK the CODE
« Reply #1 on: December 23, 2011, 11:24:22 pm »
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THIS IS AWESOME!!!

Okay, just to be sure: Are the numbers really correct? Coppers 13-2, Curses 1-7? Because I am going to spend some serious time thinking about this  ;D
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DrHades

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Re: USE the CLUES to CRACK the CODE
« Reply #2 on: December 23, 2011, 11:42:51 pm »
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Ok, I was thinking what 2 attack could make Coppers and Curses so split and then it hit me - it was just 1 attack!  :-* = Jester

Black was trashing his Coppers out, but not Curses.  ;D = Spice Merchant/Moneylender, I think Spice Merchant.

Nomad Camp has been trashed, but Manheim don't have any trashing card. Also, he has no card with cost $4 in his deck, so it couldn't be Swindler.  8) = Saboteur

So...am I correct?
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Tejayes

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Re: USE the CLUES to CRACK the CODE
« Reply #3 on: December 23, 2011, 11:58:38 pm »
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Ok, I was thinking what 2 attack could make Coppers and Curses so split and then it hit me - it was just 1 attack!  :-* = Jester

Black was trashing his Coppers out, but not Curses.  ;D = Spice Merchant/Moneylender, I think Spice Merchant.

Nomad Camp has been trashed, but Manheim don't have any trashing card. Also, he has no card with cost $4 in his deck, so it couldn't be Swindler.  8) = Saboteur

So...am I correct?

You nearly beat me to it, DrHades, but I'm afraid you forgot one small detail:

Alphabetical order. All of the Kingdom cards in the supply are listed as such. If ;D really was Spice Merchant, it would not come directly after Jester, which is your guess at :-*. Rather, it would at least follow 8).

I agree with you, though, that :-* must be Jester. It is the only Curse-giver so close after Harem alphabetically that would give a large number of Coppers, not to mention be bought so quickly thanks to Nomad Camp. Following this logic, I looked at trashers following Jester alphabetically that would not be able to target Estates or Curses. After noticing that a Silver and ;D itself were in the trash, it dawned on me that ;D had to be...

Loan! Black either bought a second at some time, or Manheim gave him another through Jester. Either way, the second Loan got trashed at some point. That might also explain the trashed Silver, or it could have been hit by the Saboteur. Heck, maybe Manheim bought a Loan at one point, but it got Sab'd before he could use it.

As for Saboteur, I agree that that would be the only trasher between Nomad Camp and Village that could target Nomad Camp, but not Estate, Copper, or Curse. Otherwise, why would there not be more... rather, any Estates, Coppers, and Curses in the trash?

So, just to be complete, my answer is that :-* is Jester, ;D is Loan, and 8) is Saboteur.
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Titandrake

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Re: USE the CLUES to CRACK the CODE
« Reply #4 on: December 24, 2011, 12:05:55 am »
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We know that 1: there are cards that can give curses.
2: There are cards that can trash
3: There are no cards that give VP
4: There is a card that hands out Coppers. I think it's unlikely someone would buy so many Coppers otherwise.

Furthermore, Villages would probably not be bought if :-* was non-terminal, as it's the only action left (unless Swindler did something)

Opening Nomad Camp implies there's a $5 you particularly want. In line with #4 above, my guess is that this $5 is Jester. It would also explain why you have so much Copper: 4 Jesters bombarding you has to do something. Additionally, Jestering a Harem will hand out Curses, which could explain the weird Curse split.

It appears that Black trashed some of his/her Copper, which may have opened up the chance for Jester to discard a Victory card. My guess would be Moneylender. It's a card that you want to trash Copper with, but can't trash any of those Curses with.

Finally, it is clear from the final spread that you had a decent lead. For some reason, you lose your Nomad Camp. Doesn't seem likely you'll pass it, and you only have the 2 Jesters in your deck. So the final action is likely Saboteur, in a last ditch attempt to hit a Province or Duchy and pull ahead.

 :-* = Jester,  ;D = Moneylender,  8) = Saboteur



Alright, just read Tejayes' post. I didn't want to read anybody's post until I tried solving it myself...Moneylender can't be in it because it comes before Mandarin. I have to agree that Loan is the only good candidate. I don't think there's any other Copper-trasher from Jester to Mandarin.
« Last Edit: December 24, 2011, 12:10:33 am by Titandrake »
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Tejayes

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Re: USE the CLUES to CRACK the CODE
« Reply #5 on: December 24, 2011, 12:19:40 am »
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It appears that Black trashed some of his/her Copper, which may have opened up the chance for Jester to discard a Victory card. My guess would be Moneylender. It's a card that you want to trash Copper with, but can't trash any of those Curses with.

Alright, just read Tejayes' post. I didn't want to read anybody's post until I tried solving it myself...Moneylender can't be in it because it comes before Mandarin. I have to agree that Loan is the only good candidate. I don't think there's any other Copper-trasher from Jester to Mandarin.


To be honest, I kept myself from looking at the blacked-out cards that weren't purchased. Thus, I had considered Moneylender as an option for a little while, as it was within the viability range between Jester and Nomad Camp.

However, assuming that 8) was indeed Saboteur, how would Black's Moneylender be trashed? After all, a ;D was in the bin. For that to happen, Manheim needed to have bought a Saboteur as well, but he didn't have one, nor was there a Sab in the trash. Therefore, Loan stuck out as the better option.
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dghunter79

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Re: USE the CLUES to CRACK the CODE
« Reply #6 on: December 24, 2011, 12:57:10 am »
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Tejayes got all three.  It was kind of a weird board, and it snowballed into such an unusual outcome -- I wanted to turn it into something.  Sincere thanks for playing!

Titandrake

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Re: USE the CLUES to CRACK the CODE
« Reply #7 on: December 24, 2011, 02:44:08 am »
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(STUFF)


To be honest, I kept myself from looking at the blacked-out cards that weren't purchased. Thus, I had considered Moneylender as an option for a little while, as it was within the viability range between Jester and Nomad Camp.

However, assuming that 8) was indeed Saboteur, how would Black's Moneylender be trashed? After all, a ;D was in the bin. For that to happen, Manheim needed to have bought a Saboteur as well, but he didn't have one, nor was there a Sab in the trash. Therefore, Loan stuck out as the better option.



Black still has a ;D in the deck. My assumption was that Manheim bought a Moneylender as well, but it was Saboteured before it could be played. Maybe it was a late buy because of all the Copper coming in.
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DrHades

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Re: USE the CLUES to CRACK the CODE
« Reply #8 on: December 24, 2011, 07:19:22 am »
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You nearly beat me to it, DrHades, but I'm afraid you forgot one small detail:

Alphabetical order. All of the Kingdom cards in the supply are listed as such. If ;D really was Spice Merchant, it would not come directly after Jester, which is your guess at :-*. Rather, it would at least follow 8).

Ha! Forget about that! :) On the other hand - it seems to me that it a little bit destroys the puzzle so when I will make mine like this a will definitely not give this information out :)

Tejayes got all three.  It was kind of a weird board, and it snowballed into such an unusual outcome -- I wanted to turn it into something.  Sincere thanks for playing!

Very good idea, thanks for nice puzzle  ;)
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dghunter79

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Re: USE the CLUES to CRACK the CODE
« Reply #9 on: December 24, 2011, 03:55:37 pm »
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To be honest, I kept myself from looking at the blacked-out cards that weren't purchased. Thus, I had considered Moneylender as an option for a little while, as it was within the viability range between Jester and Nomad Camp.

However, assuming that 8) was indeed Saboteur, how would Black's Moneylender be trashed? After all, a ;D was in the bin. For that to happen, Manheim needed to have bought a Saboteur as well, but he didn't have one, nor was there a Sab in the trash. Therefore, Loan stuck out as the better option.

[/quote]


Black still has a ;D in the deck. My assumption was that Manheim bought a Moneylender as well, but it was Saboteured before it could be played. Maybe it was a late buy because of all the Copper coming in.

[/quote]

Yeah, I didn't want it to be too easy, but I shouldn't have blacked out Mandarin or the other cards, since that eliminates any distinction between Loan and Moneylender.  It's a delicate art form.
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