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[ignorentmen]

First off I want to say what a great set up this is. I am new to isotropic and this forum.  I have read somewhat from the blog that ?theory? writes. Amazing stuff especially since it is all fan based and volunteer. Just wow!

My thoughts on the games, Coheed was a great player and introduced me to some newer terms and lingo that I hadn't fully heard of before, such as the term engine--I understood the practice but never heard of it it described as such.

Anyway, onto the games!

1. Ever since I bought Intrigue I have liked playing with Dukes. Alternate green cards are some of my favorites. I think I might have been helped more by one more HT or Margrave instead of just one each. My hope was to get one more HT in the midst of my Duchy/Duke rush the first time I got 4$ but that never came up. I only hit $3 and $5. By the time I did hit some $4 we were garden rushing.  Interesting note that I could have won and ended the game my second to last turn buying the last garden, 52 to 51 instead I opted to buy a province letting Coheed have the last garden. That was nearly fatal.

2. Pretty basic game. I started 5/2 and herbalist helped me out a couple times putting golds back on top. But Coheed battled well with a remodel/lab strat. I felt I had no choice but to tie it by remodeling the last province and buying an estate. I was pretty sure I would be able to win this one, but Coheed played well.

3. We flew through a garden rush. I think the key here was on turn 4 I bought a garden while Coheed bought another workshop. From there I was at least +1 gardens the rest of the way. Not the funnest game but at least it was fast. 11 turns each.

4. This was a good, interesting set...I opted to ignore Chapel and Familiar--things I almost never do--for Masquerade/Apprentice. I was able to get a small lead and once trashed a province to keep things rolling. I felt good about my strategy throughout despite a second market pickup that I really didn't want...

5. I love cursing games and this was no exception. I was very lucky getting $5s for witch and IGG on turn 3 & 4. My militia buy was mostly to prevent him from getting an early witch, which didn't work too great as he bought his on turn 5 a turn where I had played my militia. But it ended up helping me have some extra cash when I needed it. The end game got pretty ugly with estates and duchy buying furthering the clutter caused by curses, IGG and coppers.

6 & 7. I mentioned to Coheed that the only set I don't own is Seaside. This was evidenced by my poor play with Tactician. Coheed introduced me to the idea of a double-tactician engine, which he said didn't work perfectly in these games--but still wow! I was blown away. Game 6 was a blowout, but I felt I was a little more competitive in game 7.  Whomever gets to play against me during the Seaside round should be in for a treat. I am not too great with those cards....

Thanks for the games and I look forward to the rest.

[BJ Penn]

NinjaBus wins 5-2 against me. (10-4 in points)

I just typed up a long review of each game, but I wasn't logged in and I lost it all  .

I'll put the game logs up tomorrow.

[A_S00]

A_S00 5 (10 points) - CarpeDeezNuts 2 (4 points)

Thoughts:

Game 1: A_S00 (34) < CarpeDeezNuts (36) - I greened too early, and it didn't occur to me until too late that with Moneylender as a big part of my income and no +Buy, I was going to run out of Copper.  Consequently, I stalled.

Game 2: A_S00 (10) < CarpeDeezNuts (52) - I tried to get fancy with Scheme/TR/Thief, thinking I could keep my opponent from hitting the critical mass of non-Copper money it would take to get to Grand Markets (the only +$ on the board).  Turns out I couldn't.

Game 3: A_S00 (31) > CarpeDeezNuts (27) - Despite some terminal collisions after a Chapel buy of questionable wisdom, turns out a 5/2 split with Council Room in play is just too strong on a money board.

Game 4: CarpeDeezNuts (65) < A_S00 (68) - A real nail-biter.  We both went Lab+money, and I picked up a Remodel to go with it, while he grabbed a Conspirator.  I think Conspirator was probably the better choice, as he was ahead for most of the game.  I was in desperate green-rush mode at the end of the game, and I was honestly pretty surprised when I pulled it out.  I think slightly earlier greening by my opponent would have sealed the deal.

Game 5: CarpeDeezNuts (37) < A_S00 (44) - A Familiar board with a couple twists.  I credit my Bishop with the win.

Game 6: CarpeDeezNuts (24) < A_S00 (39) - This just in:  Jack is pretty good.  Also, turns out to synergize decently with the Remodel and Gain functions of Governor.

Game 7: CarpeDeezNuts (17) < A_S00 (40) - With a Sea Hag and a Witch early against an opponent who only picked up a Sea Hag on turn 3, I won the Curse war 7-3, then sailed through the rest of the game fairly comfortably.  I really think my opponent should have picked up Witch instead of Governor with his 5/2 split.

-----

Fun games overall, if mostly fairly straightforward (base set and all).  Thanks to CarpeDeezNuts for playing!

[RisingJaguar]

RisingJaguar 10pts - greatexpectations 4pts

Base influenced sets aren't the most exciting to an engine player, but we had some really great games.

Game 1: GE 27 - RJ 30 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/25/game-20120325-175716-d5ce670d.html
By far the most interesting game, so I saw some sort of engine-y thing with Inn and card drawers, BM-Envoy, BM-Margrave.  I settled on Margrave because I actually considered transitioning into engine if my early draws led me that way.  Then I saw him buy a bridge, then start to buy silver/moat, extra coppers and I knew it was gardens.  I then have to slightly adjust my game to get gardens.  I barely get enough to be able to finish the game off on 3-piles.  I think he uses Inn very well in this game.

Game 2: GE 28 - RJ 36 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/25/game-20120325-180507-ebad62c7.html
It's odd because I miss my $5 on T3/T4 yet I win the curse battle, not sure what just happened.  Libraries essentially carries me all the way to victory.   I really wanted to buy the last city to get level 3 cities.  But as i was behind, he could've bought out the last 3 FV and I would've lost. 

Game 3: GE 10 - RJ 48 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/25/game-20120325-181343-c5a56a62.html
Tournament match with a chapel.  I get the early tournament and stops his strategy VERY quickly to a blowout.  It's not as bad as it seems but I will say that tournament games need to get to province quickly.  GE spent too much time getting to a small deck.  Although if his was fast enough, he would've had an interesting throne room/bridge set up. 

Game 4: GE 48 - RJ 38 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/25/game-20120325-182507-22ad5aad.html
GE goes for an envoy-BM set up, and I should've too but I try to get fancy with an engine.  It really struggles here but I think I play the end game near optimally.  With 2 provinces left, I clear out all other VP cards to ensure I win with the last two provinces (as opposed to just tying).  I manage to do that and get province #7 but not the last one. 

Game 5: RJ 44 - GE 35 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/25/game-20120325-183856-74466cd2.html
A lot of usable cards that are just good.  So engines are kinda build here.  Greatexpectation starts greenly really early, using remodel to trash pretty fast.  I get really bad draws in T10-T13.  He gets one on his last turn. 

Game 6-7 are dominated by witch... you can look yourself.

http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/25/game-20120325-184934-7f5e26ed.html
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/25/game-20120325-185859-35584a29.html

Overall a very fun set, for the first few games.  Thing I learned, witch changes games...

[Mean Mr Mustard]

Mustard defeats ^_^_^_^ 6-1 (12-2)

Game 1 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/25/game-20120325-190742-eb460ded.html

In the first game I opened 5/2 and had some choices.  I decided to grab a Upgrade first, since it is one of the best openers.  There was an option to go BM-Wharf, which my opponent chose to try, but I felt that I could end the game faster with some Labs and some treasure.  I picked up Chancellor rather early, which surprised my opponent.  I like this card in games with non-terminal draw!  It helps in a situation like this because it gets those Labs into play faster and helps accelerate the Upgrade (if you use Chancellor properly, anyway).  At any rate, it worked.  Mustard 42-32.

Game 2 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/25/game-20120325-191505-eb8b6f8b.html

The general rule (mine, anyway) is open Chapel or not at all.  I broke that rule.  Instead, I opened Smithy/Silver with the hopes of having a good Mint buy, and it worked.  I was able to Mint away 6 Coppers very early, chapel the Estates and add lots and lots of Golds.  We danced around the Gardens and Duchies in the end, but I was staying >6 up and was never in danger.  Mustard 51-40.

Game 3 http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120325-192349-232804e2.html

My opponent opts out of Witches.  Mustard 46 - -100.

Game 4 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/25/game-20120325-193909-3939faa4.html

This was a complete mess.  Looking at all the attacks I overbuy Moat (isn't buying one Moat overbuying?  How about four or five?)  I get lucky and duck quite a few KC'd Swindlers.  At one point in the mid-game I was tempted to resign.  Somehow I get very lucky and win.  Mustard 31-28.

Game 5 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/25/game-20120325-194741-6ea2a5a1.html

My opponent opens Witch, I get mine later but it misses the reshuffle.  Game over.  ^_^_^_^ 33 -21

Game 6-7 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/25/game-20120325-195448-e0d0a2d9.html

http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/25/game-20120325-200226-749aae76.html

My opponent tilts and resigns both games prematurely.  He had a chance in both games.  I hope he doesn't lose heart and drop from the tourney.

[greatexpectations]

a few quick comments on my set with RisingJaguar...

as he pointed out in his comments, base doesn't really encourage engine building. i thought that gave me some good odds, as RJ struck me as an engine player whereas i typically lean towards BM. in the end though, you just can't make mistakes against a top 10 player.

game 1 -  easily the most interesting set of the series.  i go gardens from the start, and he wises up to it and adjusts beautifully. i should have grabbed a second margrave or an envoy earlier, but i didn't want to lose the garden split.

game 3 - i'm reminded of the anchorman scene - "boy that escalated quickly". i decide to thin instead of buying gold turn 7. it sets me back a turn and that was gg.  he gets steed and followers turn 9 and my tournaments are all blocked from turn 9 on.

game 5 - a noob's dream board - 4 different villages, throne room, and smithy. i greened earlier and twice considered remodeling my own provinces.  on second view it might have been worth it to take the game to RJ a bit.

games 6/7 - as RJ said, kind of boring.  both boards were 5/2 with witches and the winner of the curse split (1p) coasted.

[Jorbles]

Is it cool to get in touch with our next round opponent and work out a time to play after the 29th?

[Kirian]

Is it cool to get in touch with our next round opponent and work out a time to play after the 29th?

Oh, most certainly!

[CarpeDeezNuts]

A_S00 5 (10 points) - CarpeDeezNuts 2 (4 points)

Thoughts:

Game 1: A_S00 (34) < CarpeDeezNuts (36) - I greened too early, and it didn't occur to me until too late that with Moneylender as a big part of my income and no +Buy, I was going to run out of Copper.  Consequently, I stalled.

Game 2: A_S00 (10) < CarpeDeezNuts (52) - I tried to get fancy with Scheme/TR/Thief, thinking I could keep my opponent from hitting the critical mass of non-Copper money it would take to get to Grand Markets (the only +$ on the board).  Turns out I couldn't.

Game 3: A_S00 (31) > CarpeDeezNuts (27) - Despite some terminal collisions after a Chapel buy of questionable wisdom, turns out a 5/2 split with Council Room in play is just too strong on a money board.

Game 4: CarpeDeezNuts (65) < A_S00 (68) - A real nail-biter.  We both went Lab+money, and I picked up a Remodel to go with it, while he grabbed a Conspirator.  I think Conspirator was probably the better choice, as he was ahead for most of the game.  I was in desperate green-rush mode at the end of the game, and I was honestly pretty surprised when I pulled it out.  I think slightly earlier greening by my opponent would have sealed the deal.

Game 5: CarpeDeezNuts (37) < A_S00 (44) - A Familiar board with a couple twists.  I credit my Bishop with the win.

Game 6: CarpeDeezNuts (24) < A_S00 (39) - This just in:  Jack is pretty good.  Also, turns out to synergize decently with the Remodel and Gain functions of Governor.

Game 7: CarpeDeezNuts (17) < A_S00 (40) - With a Sea Hag and a Witch early against an opponent who only picked up a Sea Hag on turn 3, I won the Curse war 7-3, then sailed through the rest of the game fairly comfortably.  I really think my opponent should have picked up Witch instead of Governor with his 5/2 split.

-----

Fun games overall, if mostly fairly straightforward (base set and all).  Thanks to CarpeDeezNuts for playing!

My brief thoughts about the match.

Game 1 - He ran out of copper to crush. I win.

Game 2 - I was able to buy all the Grand Markets. I win.

Game 3 - And this is where my incompetence in dominion begins to show. I go double Bureaucrat (one of my favorite cards, I do realize it is awful) on a money board with Council Room. I lose.

Game 4 - I should have bought provinces on hands that i pissed away on labs. I lose.

Game 5 - I neglect Bishop like a scrub. I lose.

Game 6 - The idea here was for me to get a good amount of governors, and be able to draw my deck well enough to be able to hit the militia and negate the council room drawing effect for the opponent. I also made a couple misplays somewhere near the end with the governor trashing effect that would have made the final result closer. Simple put, I cant figure governor out. I feel as though it is a very difficult card to play correctly. And jack is good. I lose.

Game 7 - I neglect witch like a scrub. I lose.

[ednever]

Tmoiy and I just finished our first round (Special thanks to Tmoiy for stepping in when my original competitor dropped out earlier this week).
Final results: Tmoiy 2 wins, 1 tie (5 points). ednever 4 wins, 1 tie (9 points)

Here are the games (with commentary):

Game One: T 28 - E 44
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/26/game-20120326-201819-f632effa.html

We both opened Horse Traders / Silver. I picked up a lucky gold, then we both moved into double witches. That gold plus some lucky landings of the witch (I win the curses 6-4) makes all the difference. I use my time to pick up a bunch of Nobles which puts me far enough ahead that T couldn't catch up. Just bad luck for T with both of us playing the same strategy.


Game 2: T 26 - E 44
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/26/game-20120326-202617-b2e0b8d2.html

Our first Chapel game – mixed with a little Horde. Tmoiy got unlucky again. My chapel hit with 1 copper, 3 estates. I picked up a couple of early hordes and pretty soon I was had a half dozen gold in small deck. I picked up one market for the extra buy, but never used it. Meanwhile Tmoiy picked up the chapel on hand 5 with both silvers and could only kill two copper. Hard to come back from that.


Game 3: T 23 - E 14
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/26/game-20120326-203817-f9351ec9.html

Classic Gardens/Ironworks. We split the gardens and the ironworks, but T's first player and a little luck put him well over the top


Game 4: T 22 - E 19
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/26/game-20120326-205013-31d01e05.html

We were both swearing a little at this game - Gardens again, this time with Workshop. I think T said something like "Gotta love the basic set" after seeing these two games in a row. But if game 3 was luck, this time T outplayed me. I had first player advantage, we split the gardens. I had slightly more cards that T did, but he picked up a dutchy. I was almost able to end it before he hit 30 cards, but when I didn't it was just gg.


Game 5: T 42 - E 66
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/26/game-20120326-210213-37c87c19.html

More gardens, but this time no facilitator. Also Duke - so a fair amount of alternative VP. I pick up Feast/Silver for lack of a better option. T breaks with tradition of us opening identical and goes Smithy/Silver. My first thought is he's going big money, but instead he picks up an apprentice, another smithy and some labs (and gold). By turn 12 he has two provinces and I draw "7". I realize his engine is going faster than mine, so I make a quick decision to leave him all of the provinces - I am going to start a duchy rush on turn 12 and pick up my first one (good this, he picks up his third province immediately after that). T uses his Apprentice to kill a province and pick up another one. Only four left now. I'm glad I made my call. I pick up a few more duchies before T figures out what I'm doing. We split the duchies 5/3 thanks to my council room +1 buy. From there we run down the Dukes and the Gardens. The point counter helps a ton for figuring out where I stood, and as soon as I got ahead I dipped back into the provinces. This was a fun game.


Game 6: T - 19 - E -19
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/26/game-20120326-211707-02b29820.html

Another chapel game. We make identical openings (Bureaucrat/Chapel). I think we both thought we could reduce the effectiveness of the other's chapel by making the estates go away (and picking up silvers as we killed our coppers). T's works better off the start forcing me to keep estates while he transitions into Witch/Scheme and then Venture (which is great when you only have silver and gold in your deck). I don't draw the money to follow him. I do Witch/Scheme and supplement with villages to better utilize the witch drawing power. Then we both pick up forges. I'm a little ahead as we trade provinces (T sneaks in a Duchy). Then T breaks the PPR to get 1 point ahead. Unfortunately I can't buy a province, so I forge a province into a province to kill the last one and pick up an estate for the tie. The best game we have so far, and totally appropriate for us to tie.


Game 7: T 27 - E 34
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/26/game-20120326-212502-4cc7d225.html

Weird set of cards. No extra actions and the only attacks Ghist Ship and Thief. GH doesn't work very well if you can't play it every turn, so my best idea was to pick up a double moneylender to kill my coppers, then pick up a Vault. I figured a few golds and silvers with Vault and I would be cruising - and with Vault I could always discard the Moneylenders  if I drew them together. I couldn't figure out T's strategy at the time but when he explained afterwards it made a lot of sense. We was picking up oasis with the plan to combine with the library. Unfortunately he got caught up in a gold rush when he kept drawing 6's and only ever found time to get a single library and 2 oasis (but 4 gold). My vault plan better than I hoped and I had five provinces by turn 14. Game and Match.


I'm really liking the tournament and T was a great competitor. I don't think I've ever concentrated this hard on playing before.

Looking forward to next week,

ednever

[Tmoiy]

I'll make a few comments on each game as well.

Game One: T 28 - E 44
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120326-201819-f632effa.html

Key cards: Witch, Nobles
I somehow manage not to pass out a curse until turn 10. Ednever opts for a turn 3 gold over witch; his early economy combined with winning the curse war wraps up a conclusive win for him.

Game 2: T 26 - E 44
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120326-202617-b2e0b8d2.html

Key cards: Chapel, Hoard
Another terrible start, and it's really hard to catch up against a chapel/hoard deck once it's set up.

Game 3: T 23 - E 14
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120326-203817-f9351ec9.html

Key cards: Gardens, Ironworks
My luck turns around a bit here: I manage to take a duchy as well as win the estate split, before piling out the ironworks.

Game 4: T 22 - E 19
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120326-205013-31d01e05.html

Key cards: Gardens, Workshop, Talisman
This time we split both the gardens and the estates evenly, but again I have one duchy. Ednever grabs a couple talismans after splitting the gardens, which gives him a small but significant deck size advantage. I then commit a serious error in running the workshop pile too low - this gives him a really good chance to sneak in a win on turn 13, while he's past the 30-card mark and I am not. Fortunately for me he's unable to buy the last two workshops in time, and I barely pull out with a second win.

Game 5: T 42 - E 66
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120326-210213-37c87c19.html

Key cards: Duke, Apprentice
I was totally outplayed this game. The support for the kingdom victory cards seemed fairly marginal here, so I decided to try money and Smithy with some acceleration from Apprentice. This worked quite well until ednever dives into the duchies with incredible speed, including a brutal double-duchy buy on turn 15. I end up losing the duchy split 2/6, and trying to follow him into dukes for denial doesn't help. A very deserved win for my opponent.

Game 6: T - 19 - E -19
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120326-211707-02b29820.html

Key cards: Chapel, Witch, Forge, Venture
A chapel/witch game. I have better luck in the early game, which I probably squander with some questionable buys. Ednever sets up a tighter deck while I'm buying better treasure, and in the end we tie.

Game 7: T 27 - E 34
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120326-212502-4cc7d225.html

Key cards: Vault, Library, Moneylender
An interesting set of $5 actions on this board. My plan was to use Library; it's a hard counter to Ghost Ship and a soft counter to Vault, and there was some support in Oasis and Cellar. In retrospect, however, I think that the Moneylender/Vault strategy is just much stronger and more consistent. In any case I don't even execute my plan very well, and the Vault wins the day.


Looking back at these logs, I'm constantly finding yet more mistakes that I didn't catch during play. It's pretty embarrassing to have all of them out there for everyone to see...

All in all a very instructive match; ednever was definitely a top-notch opponent. I only hope that I can step up my own game in future rounds!

[ednever]

Kirian:
Do we know which sets we will be playing each week? (i.e., the order)

[Kirian]

I believe Mustard intends to play sets in release order, i.e. week two will be Intrigue.

[rspeer]

Played my match against AHoppy. rspeer 6, AHoppy 1.

When there are so many games going on, I like the six-word-summary style, so here goes:

rspeer 42 - AHoppy 32: Horse Traders can't stop the Witch
AHoppy 35 - rspeer 48: Cutpurse leads to Margraves and Banks
AHoppy 87 - rspeer 57: turns out Library's better than Expand
rspeer 30 - AHoppy 15: Chapel, Witch, and Hunting Party: unstoppable
AHoppy 29 - rspeer 37: treasure map fail turns out okay*
AHoppy 31 - rspeer 34: lame jack fight
AHoppy 26 - rspeer 44: lame lucky sea hag

* This one deserves more commentary. I had three Treasure Maps and a Chapel. They kept showing up one per hand, or being drawn dead. Finally on turn 12 I decide to refrain from playing my Witch, so as to mathematically guarantee that they hit in the next hand, getting my extremely belated first province on turn 14. But I came back from that remarkably quickly, because at least I had given him 5 curses to my 1 in that time.

[Axxle]

Played my match against AHoppy. rspeer 6, AHoppy 1.

When there are so many games going on, I like the six-word-summary style, so here goes:

rspeer 42 - AHoppy 32: Horse Traders can't stop the Witch
AHoppy 35 - rspeer 48: Cutpurse leads to Margraves and Banks
AHoppy 87 - rspeer 57: turns out Library's better than Expand
rspeer 30 - AHoppy 15: Chapel, Witch, and Hunting Party: unstoppable
AHoppy 29 - rspeer 37: treasure map fail turns out okay*
AHoppy 31 - rspeer 34: lame jack fight
AHoppy 26 - rspeer 44: lame lucky sea hag

* This one deserves more commentary. I had three Treasure Maps and a Chapel. They kept showing up one per hand, or being drawn dead. Finally on turn 12 I decide to refrain from playing my Witch, so as to mathematically guarantee that they hit in the next hand, getting my extremely belated first province on turn 14. But I came back from that remarkably quickly, because at least I had given him 5 curses to my 1 in that time.

But you were able to play the Witch practically every turn in the meantime, doesn't sound so bad.

[O]

Edit: Failed at copy-pasting the URLs, hopefully fixed.

O defeats Titandrake 6-1 (12pts - 2pts)


Game 1: O - 30, Titandrake -25
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/28/game-20120328-193614-19ef4ce4.html

Titandrake mistakenly buys hamlet in the opening, thinking CR would be more prevalent. It isn't, and I win the curse split and then the game with a large coin superiority.

Game 2: Titandrake-11, O-36
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/28/game-20120328-194930-59ef2bb5.html

Silver-Militia beats silver-courtyard to a torturer engine, leaving Titandrake no real chance of recovery.

Game 3: Titandrake-30, O-43

http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/28/game-20120328-195932-d97aeb55.html


I roll to victory on a 5-2 Council Room opening. Titandrake made the slight mistake of trying to transition from a Bishop opening into a CR/BM game.

Game 4: Titandrake-27, O-33

http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/28/game-20120328-201321-f36d7473.html

A close game. I open Militia/Silver, he opens silver/silver, not sure which is better. I somehow magically win a 6-4 curse split that I shouldn't have and pull out a win. Titandrake played perfectly except for the possibly errant purchase of a smithy.

Game 5: Titandrake-37, O-24

http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/28/game-20120328-202513-468157c3.html

Titan opens 5-2 with HP/Chapel/Goons and no +actions on the board. While he buys a lab for his first buy, he then correctly transitions into a HP-Goons engine and thwamps my HP-Militia with accurate play.

Game 6: O-66, Titandrake- 41
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/28/game-20120328-204340-50ddd636.html


I win with a 5-2 opening and a lab split in my favor.

Game 7: Titandrake-30, O-36

http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/28/game-20120328-205915-12e21e06.html

I win the Familiar curse split 6-4 due to luck, he makes the mistake of buying council room while I mistakenly buy Remodel late. (buy it earlier or not at all) Turns out the curse split is too hard to overcome and I win a closely contested game.

Thanks to Titan for the matches. None of them seemed particularly base-dominant, and all but the torturer game (I won) and the HP-goons game (he won) were competitive. It was also fun to beat you since I remember you were so clearly better than me seven months ago. 

[antony]

antony: 5 wins; shark_bait: 2 wins
shark_bait 38 - antony 45
I go for a basic lab + BM, grabbing a HT on the way, shark_bait goes for the more sexy festival + watchtower, which was slower this time.
shark_bait 27 - antony 42
CR/Horn/HT/Mining Village/TR/Workshop/Woodcutter: I was thinking about going for a simple BM here when I see my opponent start with a workshop -- thus convincing me that there could be something fancy to do by workshopping TRs, mining villages and HTs.  We both go this route and shark_bait gets a horn on the way, but draw it dead a couple of times.  At the end we both run out of steam but I got two more provinces before three-piling.
shark_bait 16 (14 turns) - antony 16 (13 turns)
Vineyards, Hamlets, Remodels, (Witch)... RUN!
shark_bait 44 - antony 40
Witch/Margrave/Bureaucrat/Feast/Gardens: shark_bait opens bureaucrat (?) whereas I choose a feast; unfortunately my witch misses the reshuffle and I make a mistake when I take a second feast which draws dead with my witch a couple of times, I lose the curse split 6-4 and gardens aren't enough to recover.
antony 25 - shark_bait 15
Hum. A copycat of game 3.  Really.
shark_bait 24 - antony 25
Familiar/TR/Governor/Remodel.  shark_bait gets very unlucky here with familiar, allowing me to get some advance in cursing; then we switch into a classic governor game (gold->province, with some help by TRs and remodels).  The extra cursing ends up being what separates us.
shark_bait 49 - antony 46
Lab/Horn/Garden/Baron: I always have trouble with horn so I go the simple BM route, including a baron and two labs which quickly give me a 5-0 lead in provinces (incl. a couple of turns with exactly $8, I was feeling pretty lucky by then); while I run out of steam shark_bait impressively mounts a horn machine rattling away the horns and the labs; still I try to grab enough gardens to deprive him of these points (he is clearly going to be above 50 cards...) but he manages to reach exactly 60 cards on the last turn, thus winning by 3.  A very impressive win!

And it may also be worth noting that all games except the 1st one had Potion... do we get to play Base on the Alchemy round? 

[Titandrake]

O vs Titandrake
Results: O wins 6-1

Games + Commentary!

Game 1: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/28/game-20120328-193614-19ef4ce4.html
O: 30
Titandrake: 25

I decide that I would really like Hamlet for +Action this game because of all the awesome card draw (Council Room, Torturer, Witch), and it's the only +action card. So, I open Remake/Hamlet. This is a terrible mistake:  opening with no Silver makes my chances of picking up early Witch almost 0. And Witch makes my engine dreams a bit too tough to reach. So, I have these Hamlets sitting in my deck, instead of the pure money I needed in a Cursing game like this, and so I lose.

Game 2: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/28/game-20120328-194930-59ef2bb5.html
O: 36
Titandrake: 11

So. Totally base-centric right? Torturer engines and Menagerie, yeah right. I do Silver/Courtyard vs Silver/Militia, thinking that the extra card draw will help me dig for more torturers. At the end of the game, O told me that he opened Militia to disrupt my chances of getting $5. I still get $5 on turn 4, but I do have to play my Courtyard and reshuffle to get it, which could have played a part in my deck starting up slower. Looking back, I should have picked up more Menageries over Silvers later on because of how good they are against Torturer, but realistically it was over on turn 11 when I got double-Tortured the first time.

Game 3: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/28/game-20120328-195932-d97aeb55.html
O: 45
Titandrake: 30

A Council Room-BM board. I open 4/3, O opens 5/2. Fairly straightforward loss. In post-game discussion, we both decided that I shouldn't have opened Bishop and should have done Silver/Silver. Or, I shouldn't have bought Council Room #2. I might try simulating this, see what fares better. Council Room draws my Bishop dead for the entire game and I only get to play it once.

EDIT: After some quick simulations, here's the results. All I did was stick in an opening Bishop buy to the built in bots.

Bishop into optimized CR is 54-43 over optimized CR with 4/3 and 5/2 starts respectively.
Bishop into 1 CR is 55.4-41.6 over 1 CR, also with 4/3 and 5/2 splits.
Bishop into 1 CR is 54-42 over optimized CR, also with the given splits.

So I made the right move in picking up the Bishop, but it's not an overwhelming margin and I get caught in the ~40% range.

Game 4: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/28/game-20120328-201321-f36d7473.html
O: 33
Titandrake: 27

Oh man, this game. This game was hilarious. I spent the first 2-3 minutes agonizing over the opening. Witch is in the game, so you want to buy fewer other terminals. Chapel is in the game, and early trashing is hard to pass up. Militia is a nice disruptor, especially against Chapel. And the only +Action in the game is Bazaar, which you certainly have to buy after picking up a Witch.

After a lot of deliberation, I open Silver/Silver, O opens Militia/Silver. I still felt pretty burned about CR drawing Bishop dead all the time and really wanted to make sure that didn't happen. I should have bought Militia turn 1, but went for Silver instead. Oh well. Once I see O open Militia, I decide that I can't open Chapel at all. Without that second Silver, getting $5 on turn 3 or 4 would be far too difficult, especially with Militia in play. O decides that without me picking up Chapel, picking up a Chapel isn't worth it, as my money is going to get me a $5 with a decent likelihood and a Militia/Chapel isn't quite that consistent.

Still turn 2 of the analysis btw.

Then O gets his first Gold turn 6. I get mine turn 14. On no turn in between there does Militia knock a $6 hand down to something lower. My lack of a Militia means I don't disrupt at all, and I quickly lose. So much for all that opening drama.

Game 5: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/28/game-20120328-202513-468157c3.html
Titandrake: 37
O: 24

I open 5/2. Hunting Party and Chapel are on the board. I open Lab/Chapel, which we both agree later is an incredibly silly decision, and then transition into a Hunting Party/Goons Engine. O goes for a HP/Militia engine which doesn't quite cut it against my opening luck, and I steamroll through the Provinces.

Game 6: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/28/game-20120328-204340-50ddd636.html
O: 66
Titandrake: 41

And here's the payback. O opens 5/2 on a Lab-engine board. On turn 4, I buy a Gold which I feel should have been a Lab, and end up losing the Lab split 6-4. I try to pick up some Cities in hope of getting to run them out, and buy two Level2 Cities over a Platinum. O buys Colonies far too fast for that plan to work. In post-game, the conclusion is that I needed that Plat a lot more than I needed that card draw.

There was one turn where I could have trashed Gold for Plat (turn 9). Still not sure whether replacing Gold with Plat or getting Lab+Silver while trashing an Estate is better.

Game 7: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201203/28/game-20120328-205915-12e21e06.html
O: 36
Titandrake: 30

To end the somewhat non-Base centric games, we have a Familiar game. Curses get split 4-6, and I pick up a Remodel to turn Curses into Cellars, Familiars into Labs, and (if it ever happened) Potion into Gold. Then I pick up a Council Room partway through. Then Game 3 repeats all over again, and I keep drawing actions dead. I'm not sure if I could have won even if I hadn't gotten that Council Room, since I really needed more Gold that I just wasn't getting. Gold > Lab when cursers are around.

So, long story short, I make some small mistakes in every game, and those mistakes quickly snowball into large problems. But oh well, hopefully I do better next round.

And Council Room, I'm never buying you again  .

And also I type way too slow, so now I get to read your post . Thanks for playing, and good luck!