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[ddubois]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this.  I want to posts games not for brags or LOLs, but to analyze the decisions made.  I'll probably post one a day or thereabouts.

So.... What do you guys think of my line?

http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201107/08/game-20110708-095011-768e29ea.html

I feel like I'm all over the place here. At first I was just trying to defend myself from getting monte'd out, but then sort of switched into a duke strategy, which I basically never do and thus have no experience with. I'm told Horse Traders is by far the best card to go Duke with though.

Him activating Trade Routes really hard forced me to react and load up on terminals way more than I would have liked.

Still, despite winning, I feel like there's some subset of what I did that I actually should have done.

Thoughts?

[tko]

Hoard makes Duke/Dutchy viable, though you might not have your sights on Duke/Dutchy early in the game, when I see Hoard and Duke, I think about aiming towards a Hoard.

On this board I would try to also get a Mountebank (one way to counter a Mountebank is get your own), though clashing terminals is an issue you raise and this might be bad advice by me.

Your opponent getting 5/2 to open Mountebank/Pawn is rough - you countering with Watchtower which shows up big for you on Turn 5 probably swung this game in your favor.  Apothecary is a reasonable reaction to that attack.

You can't build a straight-Minion deck when Mountebank is attacking you, so maybe turns 7 or 10 you could have bought a Hoard?

I dug through my CouncilRoom logs for similar games and found these:

Hoard,Duke,Witch (and the opponent gets a 5/2 with Witch/Haven)
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20110301-093749-40b03f67.html

Hoard,Duke,Minion
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20110630-035931-a6d73dfe.html

[DG]

It's not a straightforward set. You probably want a Mountebank as it can just inflict so much damage, especially to a minion engine. Even so you probably don't want to let your opponent get all the minions since they'll just cycle the deck, give you 4 card hands, and play a mountebank or trade route most turns. It's difficult to guess just how valuable the minions are on any particular buy until you get into a game. The apothecary and trade route look really useful in dealing with the mountebank damage but they both add an overhead to the deck. Horse traders look good defence in an attack heavy deck that could fill with green and purple cards. The hoard looks fantastic for a duchy rush but that tactic isn't going to enhance your minions.

The pawn looks weak here and I suspect it's as good to pass as to buy one. One watchtower at the start seems ok, but it's value quickly deteriorates as better action cards enter your deck. The stash has some pluses but more minuses and there are better alternatives to buy.

The pace and balance of the set - well it's quite difficult to judge without playing. Perhaps if you get a couple of quick hoards you could just go headlong for duchy/duke through with mountebanks, hoards, and trade routes. On the other hand, if minions become competitive then the dynamics change, the horse traders come strongly into play, and three piles could run out quickly after curses and minions. Is it possible to just play with horse traders and duchy/duke, soaking up the attacks? I wouldn't like to say. The value of the terminal actions, trade route, horse traders, and mountebank, will vary based on your opponent's play and it's not easy to say in advance which would be best, or whether it's worth taking an apothecary if you get bogged down in a low spending deck with coppers.