Note: This was on Monday immediately after our match.
Fabian beats Lekkit 5-2, some pretty intense games and a very fun match overall.
Game 1 Fabian 37 - 43 LekkitPre-match, we discuss whether or not to use identical starting hands or not. I'm used to it in tournament matches, but we decide to not use it since we both really prefer random, with the added bonus that I can complain and whine when I get screwed by Mountebank. We start game 1, and Lekkit opens Mountebank/ while I open Horse Traders/Silver. FML. This whole game is actually hilarious, since I'm pretty sure both our draws are in the bottom 5-10 percentile in terms of "luck", or so it felt anyway. Lekkit does connect KC/Mountebank at a critical point in the midgame, and that probably is pretty decisive. In the end, I backdoor into a good amount of Duchies and Dukes, and when I get $10 and 2 buys I'm able to buy the two remaining Duchies and get a 3 point lead with only one Worker's Village left to end the game. I figure he's reasonably unlikely to get to $8 and Province on his next turn, and all I need is $4 on my next turn to win. As it turns out, he does get to $8, and I don't get to $4 anyway. Overall this game was kind of a mess for both us, but I guess that happens when you draw kinda terribly and Mountebank makes your decks even more terrible.
Game 2 Fabian 32 - 24 LekkitLekkit goes for straight BM (with Venture) on this pretty boring board, but I see some potential in a King's Court deck thanks to decent trashing (Loan and Trading Post) and Saboteur. I plan on buying Highways and King's Courts, eventually buying a Saboteur and have a deck which can consistently fire off KC's Saboteurs with active Highways (which will mean only the most expensive cards in Lekkit's deck will be eligible for trashing, ignoring Silver is sweet). This goes pretty much exactly according to plan, and I even get to finish by Trading Post a Colony and King's Court into a Silver to afford the last Province, for extra style points.
Game 3 Fabian 47 - 24 LekkitI would say this is the one game which was very one-sided, with Lekkit's strategy never really coming together. I get 2 Vaults, 2 Hoards and start gaining Golds, which turns out to be very good, especially so since I draw very well this game, and I buy my 7th Province on turn 17. Meanwhile, Lekkit's deck hasn't done much, it seemed he went for some City rush but realized it would be way too slow, the end result being three essentially wasted $5 buys and no economy to speak of. I do like his Contraband opening here though, since I can't block both Hoard and Gold, and in the end game he can discard Contraband for Vault for some marginal use, at least (this is assuming he goes for a Vault/BM type deck though, which he didn't).
Game 4 Fabian 25 - Lekkit 22Another pretty messy game where we open Quarry/Masquerade, looking to buy Border Villages/Mountebanks and, later on, Treasuries. I get 2 Masquerades which I think I like here, and eventually have a big enough lead (barely) where I feel comfortable Forging Copper into the last Curse, buy double Treasury and only needing $5 for the last Treasury (with three Treasuries on top) on my next turn to 3-pile. It turns out Lekkit can only afford Estate instead of Duchy on his turn, so I win by 3 points instead of 1.
Game 5 Fabian 66 - 69 LekkitLekkit opens Ghost Ship/nothing and goes BM with 2 Ghost Ship and 2 Royal Seal. I open Monument/Loan and buy lots of Ventures and regular money. I feel lost for most of the game, but it gets very close in the end, when my deck arguably is more consistent than his. I need both remaining Colonies to win, and when I buy the penultimate and he's unable to buy the last one to win, I see a glimmer of hope for a few turns, but the closest I get is $10 on my final turn.
Game 6 Fabian 52 - 33 LekkitI open Warehouse/Loan with the idea of getting more Warehouses and Tunnel(s), buying a Goons, and getting lots of Golds while greening early. 6 Provinces, 3 Tunnels, a Duchy in 15 turns, nice draws! Oh, and 4 bonus VP chips from Goons. Lekkit opens Silver/Warehouse and goes for a slower version of the deck featuring two Vault (helping my Tunnels further), and doesn't stand much chance against my quicker deck and great draws.
Game 7 Fabian 41 - 33 LekkitMasquerade/King's Court/Grand Market/etcetc game which gets really complicated. Both our decks are really good, but the usual megaturn mirror match end game considerations are in place, and knowing how to edge towards ending the game without giving the opponent a chance to win is easier said than done. Lekkit has an Expand (later 2) in his deck, which is also very scary, and expands into 2 Province and buys 4 Duchy on turn 15, starting the victory card buying. This perhaps gives his deck a few too many green cards though, as my KC'd Rabble keeps him from drawing anything too great on his next turn, and when I see he has Copper and Silver in hand from two Masquerades (and 2 Province on top), I feel comfortable setting up an easy win for my next turn, buying the remaining 2 Grand Markets and 2 Province. Two of his remaining three cards in hand are KC and Grand Market, but he's unable to draw into enough stuff to really get going, and I'm able to close it out on my next turn with lots of green cards.
As usual, brief summaries and game logs aren't enough to do cool games justice, and I felt like we had quite a few very cool games. Overall I was very happy with my play and felt like my strategies were mostly sound, and a few tactical decisions I made were really cool/critical too, I thought. Can't ask for more, great match Lekkit! Thanks and good luck in the final matches
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Topic: Mustard's Bracket, Week 5 (Read 16693 times)