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[majiponi]

Is "Masquerade/Stash" combo known or new?

Summary: In each turn, you play a Masquerade to draw 2 Stash.

[aku_chi]

I'm missing something.  Are you buying Provinces?  If so, how do you ensure that Masquerade starts in your hand each turn?

[DG]

Masquerade can be strong with a variety of kingdom treasures including hoard, masterpiece, and treasure trove. I don't think stash is any different.

[faust]

Masquerade can be strong with a variety of kingdom treasures including hoard, masterpiece, and treasure troveeverything. I don't think stash is any different.

FTFY

[werothegreat]

I think I just got dumber

[majiponi]

So, I think this combo is new.

Masquerade/Stash
It needs only 2 Masquerade and 2 Stash.
You can use in 4-player games.
Any interactive card (not only Attack) harms.

Setup:
buy 2 Masquerade and 2 Stash
trash 2 cards (more if you buy others)

Deck: (Empty)
Hand: MCCCE
Discard: MSSCCCE

play Masquerade
shuffle you deck, topdecking 2 Stash
pass Estate, receive a card to trash
buy Gold

Deck: (Empty)
Hand: MCCCE
Discard: MSSCCCG

play Masquerade
shuffle you deck, topdecking 2 Stash
pass Estate, receive a card to trash
buy Gold

Deck: (Empty)
Hand: MCCCG
Discard: MSSCCCG

play Masquerade
shuffle you deck, topdecking 2 Stash
pass Copper, receive a card to trash
buy Province

...

Now you know what I am doing.

With perfect shuffle luck, you can buy 4 Province only in 10 turns. On average, 12 turns.

[tailred]

Wow, that's really smart. Props!

[CG19]

Looks fun, but there are a couple problems with it.

1. You have to get pretty lucky to set up the perfect 5-card hand with exactly one Masquerade, no Stash's in hand, etc. all with having no cards in your deck.
2. When you buy Provinces, you won't be able to guarantee drawing a good hand anymore.
3. Other people buying Masquerade will be screwing with your deck all game, so it'll be difficult to get the exact deck you need.

Yes, with perfect shuffle luck this would work great. But I don't see it working well in practice. Do you have any example games of it working?

[aku_chi]

Looks fun, but there are a couple problems with it.

1. You have to get pretty lucky to set up the perfect 5-card hand with exactly one Masquerade, no Stash's in hand, etc. all with having no cards in your deck.
2. When you buy Provinces, you won't be able to guarantee drawing a good hand anymore.
3. Other people buying Masquerade will be screwing with your deck all game, so it'll be difficult to get the exact deck you need.

Yes, with perfect shuffle luck this would work great. But I don't see it working well in practice. Do you have any example games of it working?

I haven't played this yet, but I don't think it's as brittle as all that.
1. It's okay to have a Stash or two in your hand to start, I think.  The key is to (a) not draw your other Masquerade, (b) have 6+ coins for Gold, and (c) not draw your Gold before buying a second Gold.  After one shuffle, you should get into the reliable configuration majiponi outlines.
2. Buying four Provinces is reliable (a starting hand of MPCCG will always hit $8).  After that point, you'll need to receive a Copper from your opponent to buy Provinces 5&6.  If that doesn't pan out, you could buy Golds and just hope to reach $8 a couple more times with your Golds and Stashes.  If there isn't any Alt VP, a quick 4 Provinces with the ability to grab a couple more + Duchies should be just fine.  With Alt VP... not so much.
3. The midgame Masquerades tend to pass Coppers around, but I guess you could get in a bad spot if you're passed too many Estates and can't reciprocate.

Good find majiponi!

[singletee]

If your opponent is doing a slow strat and has few points, you can also just mill Provinces.

[aku_chi]

I did some combinatorics to see what the likelihood of the perfect draw is (guaranteed 4 Provinces in 10 turns).

If you open Masquerade x2, the perfect turn 3 draw is MCCCE, with CC as the next two cards.  With this draw, you can pass E to your opponents' Masquerades (if relevant), have $5 after trashing with your Masquerade, and start turn 4 with MCCEE.  This turn 4 hand cannot be made worse by opponents' Masquerades, you can topdeck Stash for your Masquerade draw, but must not draw your second Masquerade for the final card.

26.5% likelihood of drawing MCCCE turn 3
28.6% conditional likelihood of drawing CC with turn 3 Masquerade
83.3% conditional likelihood of drawing C on turn 4 Masquerade
6.3% combined likelihood

Not too likely.  However, it is still possible to live the dream with some other hands if your opponent(s) cooperate with Masquerade passes (willingly or not).  Here is the bare minimum essential draws to live the turn 10 dream:

53.0% likelihood of drawing exactly one Masquerade on turn 3
71.4% conditional likelihood of not drawing Masquerade with turn 3 Masquerade
83.3% conditional likelihood of drawing C on turn 4 Masquerade
31.6% combined likelihood

Not too shabby.  Sometimes those draws will result in a Stash on turns 3 and 4 (probably not MCEEE on turn 3).  But even if they don't, you'll have a good chance of keeping your Masquerades separated and starting your first Province buy on turn 8 or 9.

There isn't much that can beat 4 Provinces in 10 turns, so its probably worth opening double-Masquerade on a board with Stash for a chance to live the dream.  Depending on the kingdom and your turn 3, you can pursue or abort the Stash plan at your discretion.