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[Kirian]

Somehow my vacations always seem to cross in the midst of the tournament!  I won't be completely out of touch but won't be on the forums nearly as much as normal, so I thought I'd post this results thread a bit early.

Round 4 pairings are now posted.  This round's results are due on Monday, 23 July.  Bracket B only may get an extra day or two, but don't count on it as a certainty.

[Young Nick]

Somehow my vacations always seem to cross in the midst of the tournament!  I won't be completely out of touch but won't be on the forums nearly as much as normal, so I thought I'd post this results thread a bit early.  Hopefully round 2 results will be in and complete very soon, though I know we already have a couple of possibly no-shows.

Bolding mine. Do you mean round 3?

[Kirian]

Lol, yes, that's what I meant.

[andwilk]

Just a head's up to whomever my 4th round opponent will be, I am leaving for vacation this Thursday, July 12th so my availability for this week is shorter than usual.  The best for me would be to play Monday or Wednesday evening after 5pm EDT but I will try to accommodate an alternate time if that does not work.  Sorry for the inconvenience.

[Qvist]

The match-ups aren't announced, but as bazyn and I were the only ones who won all games so far, it's obvious we have to play against each other. And I'm not at home from Thursday to Sunday, so we played today.

As so many are recording their games now and this was an important one, I tried it out too.
I hope my bad English isn't that bad and my video is watchable. Please give feedback.


bazyn 46 - 55 Qvist
This was really interesting. In this Colony game I could not decide if I go for Young Witch (with Native Village as Bane) or Envoy. We both had 3/4 and as he bought Envoy I decided to buy Young Witch. No good choice at all because he buys a Haggler later and gets Native Villages for free. I struggle long to get even $6 once and can only deal out 4 curses. He gets Hoards and with his Hagglers a lot of free cards. He can even trash his curses with Farmland to get a Gold with Hoard in play and get a Native Village. But in the end I got really lucky that my late Forge gave me a Colony and a Province and he couldn't buy the last Province before I was in the lead. His Envoy drew also a lot of terminals dead. I think the best would be Native Village+Envoy+Hoard for quick and heavy greening.

bazyn 28 - 40 Qvist
With Mint, Nomad Camp, Talisman and Fool's Gold on the board, FG was the key. We didn't get 5/2 and bazyn went for FG+Talisman, but I went for FG+Nomad Camp. I think that is the better choice because I don't want any other terminal and +buy is better later in the game. IMO bazyn made a big mistake and bought a Mint with only 2 FGs left and trashing one of his FGs. So I had a 6/3 FG split. With only 1 Stables and 1 Warehouse to get my FGs together it was very easy, but I was also very lucky to get always exactly $8. BTW if anybody is watching the video: What is the plural of Fool's Gold? Is it really Fool's Golds? That sounds awkward...

bazyn 38 - 49 Qvist
A great engine board, but the +Buy was missing. He went for a crazy Golem+Tunnel engine, but even with 11 Golds in the end it was way too slow, especially without +Buy.
I simply go for Fishing Village+Smithy+Monument for an easy win, but still I was very lucky again hitting $8 every time.

Thx bazyn for the games, sorry for my luck, feel free to propose games when you see me in the lobby.
Comments to the games?

[Kirian]

OK, actual pairings are now posted.  My apologies for all of the confusion.

[HiveMindEmulator]

When is the deadline? 7/23?

[Kirian]

When is the deadline? 7/23?

Correct.  Because Andwilk had sent me a PM about his missing time well before the confusion started, bracket B only may see a couple days of delay.  I'll edit the OP as well.

[michaeljb]

Eevee defeats michaeljb 3-2

MrEevee 53-48 michaeljb
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/11/game-20120711-230828-2f4af621.html

michaeljb 33-26 MrEevee
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/11/game-20120711-231400-33edb9a6.html

michaeljb 18-14 MrEevee
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/11/game-20120711-232418-1f754221.html

MrEevee 40-17 michaeljb
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/11/game-20120711-233544-b5cde7d8.html

MrEevee 49-34 michaeljb
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/11/game-20120711-234526-bfaf51f3.html

[Insomniac]

Insomniac-X 2-3 jmeiden

Game 1 -- Young Witch, Lab, Nobles, Loan (bane)
Insomniac-X:23   jmieden:16
Log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/13/game-20120713-131637-c4ccaf74.html

Game 2 -- Crossroads Haggler, Lab, Money
Insomniac-X:21   jmieden:33
Log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/13/game-20120713-132045-fba68a92.html

Game 3 -- Tournament + Opponents Bishop
Insomniac-X:56   jmieden:38
Log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/13/game-20120713-132906-e54ab351.html

Game 4 -- Govenor is quicker than wharf+Inn
Insomniac-X:19   jmieden:34
Log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/13/game-20120713-133306-c8a874f5.html

Game 5 -- Vault BM vs City/Bridge mega turn
Insomniac-X:33   jmieden:36
Log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/13/game-20120713-134318-8e353749.html




Game 5 is an example of why you should take just a bit longer to do your math before ending the game in a loss off of your megaturn. And I highly recommend giving it a browse if you pick any of them. Good games all in all though.

[jmieden]

Insomniac-X 1-1 jmeiden

Game 1 -- Young Witch, Lab, Nobles, Loan (bane)
Insomniac-X:23   jmieden:16
Log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/13/game-20120713-131637-c4ccaf74.html

Game 2 -- Crossroads Haggler, Lab, Money
Insomniac-X:21   jmieden:33
Log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/13/game-20120713-132045-fba68a92.html

Game 3 -- Tournament + Opponents Bishop
Insomniac-X:56   jmieden:38
Log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/13/game-20120713-132906-e54ab351.html

Game 4 -- Govenor is quicker than wharf+Inn
Insomniac-X:19   jmieden:34
Log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/13/game-20120713-133306-c8a874f5.html

Game 5 -- Vault BM vs City/Bridge mega turn
Insomniac-X:33   jmieden:36
Log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/13/game-20120713-134318-8e353749.html




Game 5 is an example of why you should take just a bit longer to do your math before ending the game in a loss off of your megaturn. And I highly recommend giving it a browse if you pick any of them. Good games all in all though.

Great match against Insomniac. Here's my comments on the match:

Game 1: Insomniac-X 23, jmieden 16. Good game, weird set; I didn't really know how to approach it. I was hoping to get a bunch of actions and go crazy with Vineyards (at the end of the game, I ended up with 2 @ 4pts a piece). Game ended up being quicker than I wanted. Insomniac knew what he was doing and closed out well.

Game 2: jmieden 33, Insomniac-X 21. Good, short game. Mirror match with 5/2 starts of Crossroads Haggler. Lab, smithy and lots of money. I think my first turn advantage here won the game for me, as I was able to get out ahead first.

Game 3: Insomniac-X 56, jmieden 38. Insomniac crushed me here. I went Bishop, hoping to golden deck, he went tournament. I hadn't played with both those cards in the same set yet and was soundly defeated, as I didn't realize I was enabling him to thin his deck off my Bishops.

Game 4: jmieden 34, Insomniac-X 19. I went governor/remodel, he put together an inn/wharf engine. Mine was faster.

Game 5: jmieden 36, Insomniac-X 33. As Insomniac said, this was a cool game of Vault BM vs. City/Bridge megaturn deck. I was hoping Vault BM would be a touch faster to secure enough points to win and was right only because Insomniac didn't count up his points before buying on his megaturn. Good game; I think he had a better deck and would have won had the game continued. Exciting finish though.

overall jmieden 3, Insomniac-X 2. What a great match; there were two games that were decisively won by very different strategies (each of us won one of these), and the other three were very close. Thanks Inosmniac for some great games!

[blueblimp]

blueblimp 3-2 glengarry

Game 1: blueblimp 30 - glengarry 31
Game 2: blueblimp 63 - glengarry 77
Game 3: blueblimp 80 - glengarry 52
Game 4: glengarry 23 - blueblimp 47
Game 5: glengarry 22 - blueblimp 25

Game 1: Grand Market, Wharf, Masquerade, Pawn, Jester, Island, Vineyard. If there were a village here, it would be an amazing Vineyard kingdom. As it is, I just get 1 Masquerade and 1 Wharf, otherwise money and VP. Glengarry gets a little fancier (Islands & Pawns) but not by much, and ends up winning by a point.

Game 2: With Fairgrounds, Hoard, Silk Road, and Great Hall all here, it looks nice for Silk Road, but there isn't an obvious way to rush them. (Besides, I am bad with Silk Road.) Tournament is here with 3 types of village, but there's no draw and no trashing, so an engine does not seem likely. Glengarry goes a little more heavily into Tournaments and Provinces than I do, while I focus on a Hoard-fueled Silk Road approach. He wins, although his Followers does not seem to be that significant in the game, so really I still don't understand this kingdom.

Game 3: A Colony game that has everything needed for an amazing engine except draw (multiple villages, bank, bridge, trashing). Instead, I just open Spice Merchant into Trading Post, then go money the rest of the way, eventually trashing my Spice Merchant. I misclick on turn 22 to avoid winning at that point, but it doesn't matter.

Game 4: Dream Minion kingdom, but Governor is also present. I am terrible with Governor, so I try to just go Minion and ignore Governor. I think that vs a strong Governor player, this would fail, but anyway it works here. (This game is notable for featuring a turn where glengarry plays a Quarry with Black Market, then later remodels with Governor, allowing me to convert an Estate into a Minion. First time I've seen this.)

Game 5: A Colony game: with Border Village, Laboratory, and Masquerade present without any +buy, it's clear that Jester will be key. I think he gets the better Jester hits early on, getting a bunch of Masquerades which slim his deck much faster than mine. But later on I just barely squeak it out. (Afterwards we discussed and apparently he made a misplay late to not get a Colony he could have, so my victory here was more divine intervention than skill.)

[yudantaiteki]

chriskern 3-0 bedlam

We seemed to generally go for the same strategies in all the games.

Game 1: chriskern 31 - bedlam 25
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/15/game-20120715-180704-7052a769.html

I decided to go mostly for Alchemists, with one Baron for early support (which I later trashed) and some later trade routes to get rid of coppers in the endgame and add money once some VP cards were gone.

Game 2: chriskern 78 - bedlam 54
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/15/game-20120715-181745-ba59b902.html

I decided on mostly pure money here, with lots of Ventures as support and Cartographer to filter.  I don't remember why I decided the Farming Villages were good purchases...maybe they weren't.  I was also conflicted over Baron/Loan vs. Baron/Silver as an opening.

Game 3: chriskern 63 - bedlam 51
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/15/game-20120715-183800-c75121ce.html

This was a crazy game, with King's Court, City, Goons, Monument, Watchtower, and Courtyard.  I had a megaturn on turn 22 where I scored 22 points.  After that turn I realized I had made a mistake in buying the last Caravan because it let bedlam have the powered up cities.  He said he miscounted and thought he could buy both of the remaining Provinces on his turn, so I squeaked out the victory.

[bedlam]

chriskern 3-0 bedlam

We seemed to generally go for the same strategies in all the games.

As still a newish player, I'm glad to see that I have the right ideas as far as developing engines. I just now need to learn how to make them more efficient. Either that or get better drawing luck. (and work on my cash math skills)

[jsh357]

yuma vs jsh357 went yuma 3 - jsh 1

I was pretty distracted during these games but I still played poorly. (I don't think I had much shot of making the top 8 anyway)  Don't have logs, but yuma should have them shortly.

[yuma]

yuma 47 - jsh357 24 Goons game
jsh357 39 - yuma 29 IGG with Trader
yuma 87 - jsh357 60 Masquerade/Wharf Big Money with Silk Roads and Colonies
yuma 42 - jsh357 resigned Trader/Cache combo is fun

[shark_bait]

@Kirian, I just noticed that I have no opponent for round 4.  Is this because of the combination of me being statistically eliminated as well having an odd number left?

[qmech]

qmech 3 - HiveMindEmulator 1

qmech 44 - HiveMindEmulator 32

cards in supply: Bazaar, Cartographer, Embargo, Governor, Ill-Gotten Gains, Mine, Smithy, Watchtower, Witch, and Worker's Village

#1 qmech: 44 points (5 Provinces, 3 Duchies, 7 Estates, and 2 Curses); 30 turns
       opening: Silver / Watchtower
       [47 cards] 3 Ill-Gotten Gains, 3 Watchtowers, 1 Witch, 13 Coppers, 6 Silvers, 4 Golds, 7 Estates, 3 Duchies, 5 Provinces, 2 Curses

#2 HiveMindEmulator: 32 points (3 Provinces, 5 Duchies, 5 Estates, and 6 Curses); 29 turns
                  opening: Silver / Watchtower
                  [41 cards] 3 Cartographers, 1 Watchtower, 1 Witch, 7 Coppers, 7 Silvers, 3 Golds, 5 Estates, 5 Duchies, 3 Provinces, 6 Curses

Watchtowers are the star, defending against the 3 sources of Curses and pushing Golds onto the deck later in the game.  I take advantage of HME's gappier defence to get a very favourable Curse split.

HiveMindEmulator 21 - qmech 38

cards in supply: Apprentice, Develop, Embassy, Great Hall, Jack of All Trades, Masquerade, Minion, Steward, Village, and Worker's Village

#1 qmech: 38 points (6 Provinces, an Estate, and a Great Hall); 16 turns
       opening: Masquerade / Silver
       [29 cards] 5 Minions, 1 Apprentice, 1 Great Hall, 1 Jack of All Trades, 6 Coppers, 8 Silvers, 1 Estate, 6 Provinces

#2 HiveMindEmulator: 21 points (2 Provinces and 3 Duchies); 16 turns
                  opening: Apprentice / nothing
                  [23 cards] 1 Apprentice, 1 Embassy, 8 Coppers, 5 Silvers, 3 Golds, 3 Duchies, 2 Provinces

I open Masquerade for the fast start, but soon trash it as it begins to get in the way.  I pick up 5 Minions by turn 8, then 5 consecutive Provinces.  Minion/Jack is very strong as the Jack draws heavily with the reduced size Minion hands.

HiveMindEmulator 68 - qmech 38

cards in supply: Cache, Chapel, Embassy, Festival, Fortune Teller, Harem, Haven, Mint, Nobles, Potion, and Vineyard

#1 HiveMindEmulator: 68 points (5 Vineyards [18 action cards], 4 Provinces, and 7 Nobles); 19 turns
                  opening: Silver / Chapel
                  [34 cards] 7 Nobles, 5 Havens, 5 Vineyards, 4 Festivals, 1 Chapel, 1 Fortune Teller, 1 Copper, 4 Silvers, 2 Potions, 4 Provinces

#2 qmech: 38 points (4 Provinces, 3 Harems, a Duchy, 3 Estates, and a Nobles); 18 turns
       opening: Silver / Silver
       [28 cards] 3 Harems, 2 Embassies, 1 Nobles, 7 Coppers, 5 Silvers, 2 Golds, 3 Estates, 1 Duchy, 4 Provinces

HME plays a beautiful Vineyards game against my pedestrian BM.  I rule out Vineyards on the grounds that there aren't lots of cheap Actions, and Festival is the only source of Buy.  I realise too late how key Nobles are to the strategy and am amazed at HME's buying power (helped more than a little by my Embassy Silver).  Double Province with Vineyards!

qmech 41 - HiveMindEmulator 34

cards in supply: Coppersmith, Courtyard, Harvest, Herbalist, Ironworks, Mint, Mountebank, Spy, Swindler, and Tunnel

#1 qmech: 41 points (4 Provinces, 4 Duchies, 5 Estates, a Tunnel, and 2 Curses); 28 turns
       opening: Swindler / Swindler
       [44 cards] 3 Mints, 2 Swindlers, 1 Courtyard, 1 Harvest, 1 Mountebank, 1 Spy, 1 Tunnel, 7 Coppers, 5 Silvers, 7 Golds, 5 Estates, 4 Duchies, 4 Provinces, 2 Curses

#2 HiveMindEmulator: 34 points (2 Provinces, 6 Tunnels, 3 Duchies, 7 Estates, and 6 Curses); 27 turns
                  opening: Swindler / Ironworks
                  [48 cards] 6 Tunnels, 5 Spies, 2 Swindlers, 1 Coppersmith, 1 Ironworks, 1 Mountebank, 6 Coppers, 2 Silvers, 6 Golds, 7 Estates, 3 Duchies, 2 Provinces, 6 Curses

trash: 2 Mountebanks, a Mint, 2 Estates, 2 Curses, a Gold, a Spy, 11 Coppers, a Duchy, 2 Swindlers, and a Harvest

Swindle-fest, where I hit HME's Swindler Turn 3.  I hesitate over the Turn 4 Mint, but it was the right call.  It stops my Coppers from being Swindled to Curses, and means I see my Swinders more often.  There's an interesting moment at Turn 25 when I have to skip a Tunnel buy for an Estate to prevent HME from piling out with a win.  I need to get a Province on the next turn: fortunately, Harvest delivers.

Four fascinating games.  Thanks HME!

[Kirian]

@Kirian, I just noticed that I have no opponent for round 4.  Is this because of the combination of me being statistically eliminated as well having an odd number left?

That would appear to be the case; generally the lowest-ranked player who hasn't had a bye will get the bye in a Swiss tournament.  In this case, the calculator had two choices (you and Eevee) and chose whoever was originally at the "bottom" of the (randomized) seeding.

[cayvie]

help im a bug def. Rabid 3-1-1

Game 1: Rabid 28, hiab 46 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/16/game-20120716-143617-15f7b99b.html
We both go big money/Baron. He draws his Baron without an Estate early.

Game 2: Rabid 17, hiab 39 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/16/game-20120716-144328-b88b8cc4.html
He gets 5/2 on a Familiar board and then draws his Potion with 2 coppers.

Now the interesting games start, I'm happy to have a 2-0 luck advantage.

Game 3: Rabid 71, hiab 71 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/16/game-20120716-145350-caa5c7f3.html
We both go Herbalist/Philosopher's Stone. There's a turn at the end where he debates buying the 2nd to last Estate. He ends up doing so and it lets me tie, where he would have won otherwise. No way to know I wasn't holding an Herbalist to steal the win, though.

Game 4: Rabid 24, hiab 15 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/16/game-20120716-151152-db7b8d0e.html
After early cursing, we both go for some sort of Scheme/Apprentice/Border Village/Salvager type engine. His is better. Possibly because of Trading Post.

Game 5: hiab 34, Rabid 29 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/16/game-20120716-151712-ad172a63.html
I buy Black Market, hoping to grab some Villages out of it. He opens with Embassy, and suddenly we're off to the races in Big Money. I'm able to snag a Gold with a Noble Brigand out of the Black Market, and I think that turns the tide. Also, it was nice to finally go first

Good match! Thanks for working around my ridiculous schedule.

[Rabid]

Thanks for the match.

Game 1: Rabid 28, hiab 46 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/16/game-20120716-143617-15f7b99b.html
We both go big money/Baron. He draws his Baron without an Estate early.

My baron missed estates every time I drew it until turn 15 of the 17 turn game. Never going to win this one.

Game 2: Rabid 17, hiab 39 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/16/game-20120716-144328-b88b8cc4.html
He gets 5/2 on a Familiar board and then draws his Potion with 2 coppers.

Anyone see any options for me here?
Is potion copper better than potion / nothing?
Salvager?

Now the interesting games start, I'm happy to have a 2-0 luck advantage.

Game 3: Rabid 71, hiab 71 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/16/game-20120716-145350-caa5c7f3.html
We both go Herbalist/Philosopher's Stone. There's a turn at the end where he debates buying the 2nd to last Estate. He ends up doing so and it lets me tie, where he would have won otherwise. No way to know I wasn't holding an Herbalist to steal the win, though.

Excellent game here, I'm never quite sure when to take the draw or gamble on the win / lose.
I thought I was correct as you had not played a herbalist yet this shuffle.
But in hind sight you have played 2 out of 4 P stones, so even if you get + buy you might not get $4.

Game 4: Rabid 24, hiab 15 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/16/game-20120716-151152-db7b8d0e.html
After early cursing, we both go for some sort of Scheme/Apprentice/Border Village/Salvager type engine. His is better. Possibly because of Trading Post.

Yes I think trading post was key here, your 5 copper 3 silver against my 1 copper 5 silver, makes you more likely to stall out as we green I think.

Game 5: hiab 34, Rabid 29 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/16/game-20120716-151712-ad172a63.html
I buy Black Market, hoping to grab some Villages out of it. He opens with Embassy, and suddenly we're off to the races in Big Money. I'm able to snag a Gold with a Noble Brigand out of the Black Market, and I think that turns the tide. Also, it was nice to finally go first

I still have not idea how this game went so wrong.
I guess I should have started on duchy's earlier?

Good match! Thanks for working around my ridiculous schedule.

Thanks for the match was fun. Good luck next round.

[HiveMindEmulator]

Game 5: hiab 34, Rabid 29 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/16/game-20120716-151712-ad172a63.html
I buy Black Market, hoping to grab some Villages out of it. He opens with Embassy, and suddenly we're off to the races in Big Money. I'm able to snag a Gold with a Noble Brigand out of the Black Market, and I think that turns the tide. Also, it was nice to finally go first

I still have not idea how this game went so wrong.
I guess I should have started on duchy's earlier?

Well, you were unlucky, but one could also say you went wrong at turn 1 when you decided to go Embassy instead of Vault. Vault BM is better than Embassy BM, particularly on a 5/2. Giving the free Silver before the first shuffle is a pretty big deal.

[Kirian]

Kirian 3-2 Turkman

Kirian 3-6 Turkman  http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/16/game-20120716-181533-442050ac.html
Kirian 43-51 Turkman  http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/16/game-20120716-183705-61935877.html
Kirian 30-21 Turkman  http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/16/game-20120716-184238-db8bf7b4.html
Kirian 41-32 Turkman  http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/16/game-20120716-185121-8a23dfb7.html
Kirian 122-100 Turkman  http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/16/game-20120716-190638-7ffb7ba9.html

Game 1:  Universities make for a three-pile game with few points.  Turkman's extra Unis and Bazaars give him a big edge, as I get lots of dead draws.
Game 2:  A serious nail-biter.  Despite the power cards here, only one of us ever hits $8, and that wins the game for Turkman.  I get the chance to "tie" (and lose) as P1 not once but twice.
Game 3:  Typical Governor game; I grab an early Governor, and Turkman takes Gold over Governor on T5, which I think is a big mistake on top of the bad luck of not getting $5 until T5.
Game 4:  How do you get out from under a horrible loss at Ambassador tennis?  Try a strategy that's thickness-proof.  I've never pulled off Chancellor-Stash before, but it overcomes my horrid deck to win.

Game 5:  Man, it's hard not to enjoy a game where both players score over 100, and where one player gets Silk Roads up to 6 VP each and the other to 5.  My early Goons buy is key, as it enables something else I've never pulled off, buying 2 Alchemists in one turn.  That gets me a 7-3 Alchemist split--that's not an instant end to the game, certainly, as vs. Goons, Alchemist stacks aren't as unstoppable.  Nonetheless I grab an early two Colonies and Turkman never gets the chance to climb back.

[rspeer]

rspeer 3 - ednever 1. By the way, if you like good friendly post-game discussion, I highly recommend playing against ednever.

In our four-game series, I'd swear the Kingdoms were designed by someone who's sick of both engines and Big Money. There were basically none of the cards and combos you would think of as powerful, especially at the $5 level. The choices often came down to puttering along with BM plus a weak enabler, or doing something really risky.

1. rspeer 37 - ednever 32. I pretty much started out aiming for BM with Explorer, whereas Ed started out by getting a ton of Embargoes and Traders. He embargoed the heck out of Provinces (though Provinces could also be gained with Farmland). I assume his goal was to have a Trader in hand and buy a Province, getting 4 Silver with it instead of 4 Curses. I picked up some Traders to try to do the same. But having $8 and a Trader in hand is hard to do, and neither of us managed it before the game ended on three piles.

2. rspeer 28 - ednever 39. I gambled on Pirate Ship. My reasoning was that when the only real +coin card is Mountebank, there are going to be lots of treasures around to plunder, and it would also discourage him from buying Harems. But Ed used Laboratory and Spice Merchant to substitute drawing lots of cards for money density. My ships only got to $3, and he was in a great position with a huge stack of Labs.

3. rspeer 47 - ednever 21. No +actions. While I focused on Bishop, Ed was going for having a Bridge, a Rabble, lots of Golems, and money, which would give him lots of money and two buys every time a Golem came up without colliding. Which never happened in the course of the game.

4. rspeer 30 - ednever 21. With no $5s I wanted, I opened with two Ambassadors. Ed didn't get any. He hoped to just use the crap I sent over to fuel Spice Merchants, drawing huge hands he could Forge to get ahead while I was in the early-game Ambassador stall. But I didn't stall for long, and I stayed ahead to win the match.

[DG]

DG 3 : Obi Wan Bonogi 1

DG 41:XX Obi Wan http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/17/game-20120717-161147-b73acf75.html
DG 25:16 Obi Wan http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/17/game-20120717-163102-65e04a21.html
DG 37:30 Obi Wan http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/17/game-20120717-163711-10ea4201.html
DG 71:43 Obi Wan http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201207/17/game-20120717-164926-c6e459e4.html

Game 1: I was gifted a nice minion/embargo start against mediocre 4/3 options. There was a little bit of devilry hidden away in the kingdom but it was always going to be hard work for Obi.
Game 2: Obi used a better opening and set up a leaner deck for a deserved win, irrespective of draws and black market cards.
Game 3: I detoured from mountebank/masquerade for golems and they worked, even though they hid away at the end and left us to run out every vp card except the last province.
Game 4: For this one Obi went with double ambassadors and I went with one ambassador and a quick launch into goons with a quarry. I don't play goons this way very often but a 71 card deck with 9 goons, 31 copper, and 12 estates certainly fits a goons strategy.

I think these were good interesting games, at least to play, but all quite long. Dominion doesn't always give the quick finish you want.