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[swedenman]

Code: [Select]

Beggar, Develop, Fishing Village, Lookout, Oasis, Philosopher's Stone, Spice Merchant, Highway, Merchant Guild, Farmland
http://gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?20150310/log.54afc4aee4b084914294ba05.1426053443089.txt

I'd never seen Highway+Merchant Guild before, but I noticed its megaturn potential immediately, and with Lookout and Spice Merchant for trashing and Fishing Village for actions it seemed like a no-brainer. I probably played it pretty sub-optimally (I ended the game with 28 coin tokens), but it was a lot of fun to play and I won by a handsome margin.

I'm curious, though, is there really anything I could have done about the ridiculous number of coin tokens I was generating? The 3 Merchant Guilds were all pretty necessary for the +Buy and it doesn't seem like there was anything else to be spending them on, but it just doesn't seem optimal to end with 28 coin tokens. Not that optimal play matters a whole lot when you have that much of a lead, but I still prefer to play as efficiently as possible. Thoughts?

[SCSN]

You played it really well, including (not) playing Lookout and Spice Merchant for coins at the right moments. The only thing I'd have done differently is to get a Highway before your first Merchant Guild because it cycles a bit more and is slightly more likely to get you to 5 the turn you play it, but that's a really minor thing.

There isn't necessarily anything wrong with finishing with so many tokens left. Buys were always going to be the limiting factor here. In a solitaire game you could choose to not get all the Highways, but in a 2p game you want them for denial: your T11 made it completely impossible for your opponent to ever win the game.

Remember that optimal play means maximizing your win chances, not winning as quickly or efficiently as possible. If on T9 you can choose between play A which gives you 99% chance of winning on T10, and play B which gives you 100% chance of winning somewhere before T20, B is the optimal choice. And if the percentages were equal, both would be optimal, at least according to primitive game theory that doesn't account for Goko's instability and its penchant for inducing misclicks

[faust]

When I see a board like this, I always want to make Spice Merchant/Beggar work as my source of draw. Might actually be doable here.

[Burning Skull]

When I see a board like this, I always want to make Philosopher's Stone/Beggar work. Absolutely not doable here.

[pacovf]

When I see a board like this, I always want to make Spice Merchant/Beggar work as my source of draw. Might actually be doable here.

Eeeeeeeh? Spice Merchant doesn't increase your handsize.

[Mic Qsenoch]

When I see a board like this, I always want to make Spice Merchant/Beggar work as my source of draw. Might actually be doable here.

Eeeeeeeh? Spice Merchant doesn't increase your handsize.

Beggar + 3X Spice Merchant gives you two more cards in hand than you had before. It's silly, but it does increase your hand size. Needs a village too.

[pacovf]

When I see a board like this, I always want to make Spice Merchant/Beggar work as my source of draw. Might actually be doable here.

Eeeeeeeh? Spice Merchant doesn't increase your handsize.

Beggar + 3X Spice Merchant gives you two more cards in hand than you had before. It's silly, but it does increase your hand size. Needs a village too.

Ooph, 5 cards to achieve the equivalent of 2 labs...

[WanderingWinder]

When I see a board like this, I always want to make Spice Merchant/Beggar work as my source of draw. Might actually be doable here.

Eeeeeeeh? Spice Merchant doesn't increase your handsize.

Beggar + 3X Spice Merchant gives you two more cards in hand than you had before. It's silly, but it does increase your hand size. Needs a village too.

Yes, but Spice Merchant doesn't increase your hand size. Beggar does.

[markusin]

Well played! Barring Beggar + Spice Merchant, there is no way to increase your handsize. With this in mind, even Oasis and Fishing Village are toxic in excess, but you were mindful of this. And of course, with slick limited-handsize Highway decks it's mega-turn or nothing. The best thing you can do is buy a load of Highways on the coin token explosion turn because Highway is the only non-conditional cantrip on the board, and you do exactly that on Turn 11.

[TheOthin]

When I see a board like this, I always want to make Spice Merchant/Beggar work as my source of draw. Might actually be doable here.

Eeeeeeeh? Spice Merchant doesn't increase your handsize.

Beggar + 3X Spice Merchant gives you two more cards in hand than you had before. It's silly, but it does increase your hand size. Needs a village too.

Yes, but Spice Merchant doesn't increase your hand size. Beggar does.

Begger increases your hand size, Spice Merchant converts that hand size increase to things that aren't Copper.

[SCSN]

Yes, but those cards you'd have drawn anyway had you not had the Spice Merchant and Beggar in hand, and now you're junking yourself with 2 additional Coppers.

Spice Merchant - Beggar shouldn't ever enter anyone's mind except as an awful joke.

[Awaclus]

Yes, but those cards you'd have drawn anyway had you not had the Spice Merchant and Beggar in hand, and now you're junking yourself with 2 additional Coppers.

You're supposed to have 3 Spice Merchants for every Beggar, obviously.

[SCSN]

Yes, but those cards you'd have drawn anyway had you not had the Spice Merchant and Beggar in hand, and now you're junking yourself with 2 additional Coppers.

You're supposed to have 3 Spice Merchants for every Beggar, obviously.

You should consider a career in sales, as I feel this sudden urge to win the Spice Merchant split!

[Awaclus]

Yes, but those cards you'd have drawn anyway had you not had the Spice Merchant and Beggar in hand, and now you're junking yourself with 2 additional Coppers.

You're supposed to have 3 Spice Merchants for every Beggar, obviously.

You should consider a career in sales, as I feel this sudden urge to win the Spice Merchant split!

I mean, of course it's going to suck in, like, every situation ever. But it does do what it's supposed to do, and it might not be impossible to design a kingdom where it's actually a good idea.

[WanderingWinder]

Yes, but those cards you'd have drawn anyway had you not had the Spice Merchant and Beggar in hand, and now you're junking yourself with 2 additional Coppers.

You're supposed to have 3 Spice Merchants for every Beggar, obviously.

You should consider a career in sales, as I feel this sudden urge to win the Spice Merchant split!

I mean, of course it's going to suck in, like, every situation ever. But it does do what it's supposed to do, and it might not be impossible to design a kingdom where it's actually a good idea.

Only if it's the only source of +buy. Probably with King's Court and a strong engine. I could see it then - thin down, then get a beggar so you can get enough buys every turn. I have a hard time thinking it's the thing to do if you are using it for draw though.

[Jack Rudd]

Yes, but those cards you'd have drawn anyway had you not had the Spice Merchant and Beggar in hand, and now you're junking yourself with 2 additional Coppers.

You're supposed to have 3 Spice Merchants for every Beggar, obviously.

You should consider a career in sales, as I feel this sudden urge to win the Spice Merchant split!

I mean, of course it's going to suck in, like, every situation ever. But it does do what it's supposed to do, and it might not be impossible to design a kingdom where it's actually a good idea.

Prince of Beggars! Prince of Spice Merchants! Gain and trash ALL the Copper.