For those of you who weren't there, my report.
Going in Stef needed just one and a fraction wins. SCSN and I talked about the sets the day beforehand, so we'd have some idea what we were looking at.
1. Fool's Gold, Vagrant, Lookout, Wandering Minstrel, Contraband, Count, Cultist, Governor, Laboratory, Hoard (schadd)
The initial question was how they would open; you can go Silver/Silver to increase your chance of getting Cultists turns 3-4, or Lookout/Lookout to go all-out for trashing, or you can split the difference, unwilling to give up on either Lookout or turn 3 Cultist. They got Silver/Silver vs. Lookout/Silver, but they both got Cultist turn 3. They played fast and there was stuff to figure out about doing the commentary, trying to see both games and the chat, and then suddenly Mic was conceding.
2:Vineyard, Crossroads, Vagrant, Scrying Pool, Warehouse, Mining Village, Scavenger, Contraband, Explorer, Hunting Party (xyz123)
We were pretty sure they would both go for Scrying Pool and they both did. Stef opened Potion/Vagrant with 5/2. The cards were a mad flurry on the screen, in part I guess due to the teamviewer software not keeping up, but then they got into playing Contraband and the screen would quiet down as someone puzzled over what to name. That gave me time to go through the cards and say things about them. Probably it was all stories everyone had already heard. After this I thought I would do it every time but I didn't, other stuff came up to talk about.
There were some surprising Contraband choices I think. Contraband was really the only interesting part, for me as a spectator. Otherwise, they had Scrying Pools and did that stuff. I think there was a turn where SCSN thought Stef should have played Warehouse before Crossroads. Mic won.
3: Courtyard, Native Village (Bane), Apothecary, Menagerie, Alchemist, Worker's Village, Young Witch, Embassy, HP, Mandarin, GM (Titandrake)
They both got Native Village to eat a few cards forever via Apothecary or Courtyard setting it up. And they got Young Witches and handed out all the Curses. I thought they wouldn't even touch Menagerie, normally a powerhouse, because there was so much card-drawing and they were going to have Coppers. But they both got it, so there. Testimony to the power of Menagerie. Stef went for Golds to buy Grand Market, but then Mic went for Province and Stef didn't get a 2nd Grand Market, there was no time. For that one turn in there I thought Stef's Grand Markets would win, that he would catch up, though I don't know if I would have spent the time going for them myself. But no. Mic won again, keeping things exciting.
4:Duchess, Fishing Village, Woodcutter, Conspirator, Silk Road, Spice Merchant, Trader, Cache, Ill-Gotten Gains, Jester (WW)
When SCSN and I talked about the sets beforehand, he felt he'd go for Conspirator, while I thought no, Conspirator was too hard to make work here, and it would just be, Trader an IGG for 5 Silvers. Neither of them got Conspirator so there. And at least a Jester and a Gold were Trader'd. They pulled off the buy Cache, reveal Trader at the correct two times combo. I forget most of the details but Mic won.
5: Storeroom, Watchtower, Wishing Well, Caravan, Gardens, Salvager, Wandering Minstrel, Haggler, Saboteur, Treasury (WW)
They both opened Salvager, then loaded up on Hagglers, emptying the Wandering Minstrels. There was the Wishing Well / Wandering Minstrel combo, I hadn't noticed that going in. Finally there was a turn where Mic could empty piles while getting ahead. This is another one where we talked about other stuff some, because, what was there to say.
6: Stonemason, Develop, Masterpiece, Bishop, Sea Hag, Ghost Ship, Mandarin, Mine, Rabble, King's Court (schadd)
So, it all came down to this. A crazy Develop game. After opening Develop / Sea Hag, Stef went for the Develop deck, but in a big twist Mic hit $7 and bought Masterpiece. He got more of them and started buying Provinces. Stef meanwhile was passing up Develop opportunities; he drew Develop / Ghost Ship and played Ghost Ship, then Develop / Rabble and played Develop on Estate. I felt like, isn't the plan to Develop Gold into KC / Rabble, don't you Develop those other cards to get there? He didn't though. Mic said afterwards he felt like he blew it by continuing to buy Provinces rather than emptying piles; Curse was of course empty, he emptied Silver, and Stonemason is good at emptying itself or something else. But he kept buying Provinces and Stef finally got his big turn, KC KC Ghost Ship followed by a million other things, culminating in emptying three piles while taking the lead.
Congrats Stef! And thanks, set-of-10 submitters. And people who organized this and SCSN.
Stef's computer did not crash, so we didn't need the extra sets, which were:
B1: Transmute, Moat, Pawn, Stonemason, Gardens, Monument, Remake, Duke, Haggler, Stash (WW)
B2. Embargo, Develop, Hermit, Village, Workshop, Fortress, Smithy, Spy, Baker, Graverobber (JW)
I was looking forward to that Develop / Fortress game. Well we did get a Develop game and it was the highlight too.
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Topic: S12 Champion Match: Saturday 13-2, 16:00 UTC, commented by Donald X. (Read 20041 times)