Dominion Strategy Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Pages: [1]

Author Topic: What do you keep track of while playing?  (Read 4886 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Jive Junkie

  • Spy
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 80
  • Respect: +58
    • View Profile
What do you keep track of while playing?
« on: September 13, 2012, 07:08:53 pm »
+1

I often feel while playing that I'm a bit too surprised by things that I should already know. This sometimes causes me to lose games, or at least makes me feel sheepish when I win. Some things that can be advantageous to keep track of, for both yours and your opponent's deck:

Victory Points: I feel that most people try to keep track of this to some degree. I usually do just fine with this, except when alt VPs are on the board. I'll still try to maintain a differential in my head, but when variable cards like Gardens come into play, fuggedaboutit. Even though Isotropic makes it easy, I will also often lose track when VP chips enter the mix.

Terminal Actions: In games with no Villages, I am keenly aware of how many terminals I have. However, when there are Villages, I often lose track of my Village / Terminal ratio, relying on "feel" to get the balance right. I'm sure I get that balance wrong, and I bet if I did keep better track, I'd be able to home in on a proper ratio for different types of games.

Key Cards Balance (opponent vs. you): I'll always keep track of the Minion balance, as well as cursers, Fool's Gold, Governor (how much danger am I in for a Remodeling megaturn?), Platinum (will I win a straight-up Colony buying race?) and a few other cards I deem important.

Total Money In Deck: All right, I'm drawing my whole deck every turn now, but wait... I only have $15 total in it? I guess it only matters in heavy engine games, but I never remember to keep track until I do actually draw my whole deck and am pleasantly surprised or a bit disappointed.

Junk Cards Left In Deck: This applies to games with trashers, and at some point you're able to trash the trasher(s). OK, I guess I'll Bishop the Chapel now - and then my next hand shows me the remaining trash: an Estate and 3 Coppers. I reckon this is not a big deal, since when you're considering trashing a trasher, it's probably done most of the relevant work anyway. But I wonder how many of y'all do keep track.

Cards Played This Shuffle: I'm thinking this can be important with respect to playing Chancellor, buying Inn, etc. Also for Governor/Council Room, if you're deep into your deck and haven't seen your one Militia yet, you could be more likely to play it for +3/4 cards thinking you have a better chance of negating the benefit you give to your opponent. But I rarely have any sense of cards played post-shuffle, but I bet some of you do!

Total Buys/Gains (opponent & you): edited in, courtesy of Rabid. A good thing to keep track of to see if a 3-pile ending is possible, or maybe gauge the likelihood of piledriving something like Silk Road. Also may be useful to estimate what your (or their) Gardens will be worth by the end of the game. I tend to keep track of my own +Buys, but rarely my opponent's...

Overall Deck Composition: I think we all have a rough gauge of this, especially when it comes to key actions, but I'm pretty terrible at keeping track of treasure and specific action counts. This makes it so I never know how big my deck is for Gardens, or how many actions I have for Vineyard. And when making decisions as to buying/playing something like Scrying Pool, having a good approximation of deck composition is probably key.


As you can see, I'm pretty haphazard when it comes to mental bookkeeping. I'm curious to see what y'all keep track of - I also wonder how much it correlates with greater success in the game (as for me, I'm currently level 25 on Iso).
« Last Edit: September 13, 2012, 07:39:20 pm by Jive Junkie »
Logged

Rabid

  • Jester
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 840
  • Shuffle iT Username: Rabid
  • Respect: +643
    • View Profile
Re: What do you keep track of while playing?
« Reply #1 on: September 13, 2012, 07:15:29 pm »
+1

Nice list.
The main thing I would add, is all of the same points but for your opponents deck.
Also total + buys / gains in each deck if 3 pile ending is possible.
Logged
Twitch
1 Day Cup #1:Ednever

Jive Junkie

  • Spy
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 80
  • Respect: +58
    • View Profile
Re: What do you keep track of while playing?
« Reply #2 on: September 13, 2012, 07:37:31 pm »
0

Nice list.
The main thing I would add, is all of the same points but for your opponents deck.
Also total + buys / gains in each deck if 3 pile ending is possible.

Thanks Rabid, edited in!
Logged

dondon151

  • 2012 US Champion
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2522
  • Respect: +1856
    • View Profile
Re: What do you keep track of while playing?
« Reply #3 on: September 13, 2012, 09:28:41 pm »
+1

Number of total cards in deck helps with certain cards, like the obvious Gardens and PStone, and sometimes Ambassador and double Tactician.

With certain cards you have to keep really good track of your deck composition and cards remaining in your deck. Golem in particular comes to mind.

Addendum to cards played this shuffle: cards your opponent has played this shuffle. Important if you're in a tight endgame spot and you need to evaluate the risk of breaking PPR or something similar.
« Last Edit: September 13, 2012, 09:31:20 pm by dondon151 »
Logged

Beyond Awesome

  • Global Moderator
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2941
  • Shuffle iT Username: Beyond Awesome
  • Respect: +2466
    • View Profile
Re: What do you keep track of while playing?
« Reply #4 on: September 13, 2012, 11:09:38 pm »
0

I want to get to the point where I can remember all this stuff, but for now, it is a bit overwhelming. Although, playing on Goko has helped me get better at thsi stuff. It would be nice if I could remember all those things. It is something I need to work on.
Logged

FireChipmunks

  • Swindler
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 15
  • Respect: +16
    • View Profile
Re: What do you keep track of while playing?
« Reply #5 on: September 13, 2012, 11:25:10 pm »
+3

The only thing I keep track of is how much fun I'm having!  8)
Logged

ftl

  • Mountebank
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2056
  • Shuffle iT Username: ftl
  • Respect: +1345
    • View Profile
Re: What do you keep track of while playing?
« Reply #6 on: September 13, 2012, 11:33:49 pm »
0

I typically can keep track of VP counts pretty well now, when it's just the basic VP. I can usually also keep track of the splits of 1 or 2 other cards (a simple alt-vp like nobles, or a key card like peddler, or something.) I'm usually pretty good with counting terminals, too. But buys/gains and total money I can't remember quite yet.
Logged

Jive Junkie

  • Spy
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 80
  • Respect: +58
    • View Profile
Re: What do you keep track of while playing?
« Reply #7 on: September 14, 2012, 01:36:38 am »
0

I want to get to the point where I can remember all this stuff, but for now, it is a bit overwhelming. Although, playing on Goko has helped me get better at thsi stuff. It would be nice if I could remember all those things. It is something I need to work on.

Yeah, I don't make a concerted effort to remember too much stuff because I think it makes the game a little less fun. But I'm curious if the higher-level players keep track of a lot of stuff, and how necessary it is to get to the next level.
Logged

dondon151

  • 2012 US Champion
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2522
  • Respect: +1856
    • View Profile
Re: What do you keep track of while playing?
« Reply #8 on: September 14, 2012, 02:53:14 am »
0

Yeah, I don't make a concerted effort to remember too much stuff because I think it makes the game a little less fun. But I'm curious if the higher-level players keep track of a lot of stuff, and how necessary it is to get to the next level.

I think it's very important. Keeping track of Victory card splits, total buys/gains, and cards played in a shuffle are essential for those times where you're not sure to break PPR or end the game while you're behind. Keeping track of the number of terminals, junk cards, and the amount of money in deck streamlines engine-building, where every turn matters. The split of the key cards i don't keep track as much, because usually if I find myself on the losing end of an important split, then I resign myself to making a futile attempt at a comeback that usually doesn't work.
Logged

Davio

  • 2012 Dutch Champion
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4787
  • Respect: +3412
    • View Profile
Re: What do you keep track of while playing?
« Reply #9 on: September 14, 2012, 03:13:56 am »
0

Everything the Point Counter Extension tracks.....
* Davio ducks *.... :P :-[

If an opponent disables it, I just do it in my head and the extensiveness of tracking depends on the game. If it's a close one where I need to worry about the PPR, I track my opponent's key economy cards and shuffles. If he's already played all of them and there are a couple more in my own deck, I'm more likely to buy the PPR.

If I'm going for the Golden deck, I just need a Silver and two Golds (Copper works, but it means you have to trash the next to last Province to buy the last one). When I'm playing an HP deck, I don't want a lot of copies of a single card.

In a BMU deck, when I've gained like 3, 4 or even 5 Golds, there's really no point in getting extra Golds and I start focusing on Duchies. I mean, you're going to get turns with 3 Golds and turns with no Golds anyway, the luck factor creates these kinds of clusters.

In a Bridge megaturn mirror, keeping track of buys and gains is mucho importanto. Being the one who can control to end better is huge. On the other hand, sometimes I set the piles up for an easy win if next turn I just get 1 or 2 cards together and I draw horribly and lose. That happens too.

So, in conclusion, it depends on the game. I don't track gains in a single buy BMU game.
Logged

BSG: Cagprezimal Adama
Mage Knight: Arythea

eHalcyon

  • Adventurer
  • ******
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 8689
  • Respect: +9187
    • View Profile
Re: What do you keep track of while playing?
« Reply #10 on: September 14, 2012, 03:36:22 am »
0

When I'm playing an HP deck, I don't want a lot of copies of a single card.

When I'm playing an HP deck, I usually want a lot of copies of Hunting Party.

 :D
Logged

DG

  • Governor
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4074
  • Respect: +2624
    • View Profile
Re: What do you keep track of while playing?
« Reply #11 on: September 14, 2012, 08:17:04 am »
0

Sometimes you need to keep track of copper and other treasures in your deck, especially if you have an option to trash a loan or moneylender, or buy a venture or adventurer.
Logged

Davio

  • 2012 Dutch Champion
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4787
  • Respect: +3412
    • View Profile
Re: What do you keep track of while playing?
« Reply #12 on: September 14, 2012, 08:41:00 am »
0

Sometimes you need to keep track of copper and other treasures in your deck, especially if you have an option to trash a loan or moneylender, or buy a venture or adventurer.
Oh yeah, there have been times when I overtrashed and couldn't buy a Gold after drawing my deck.
Logged

BSG: Cagprezimal Adama
Mage Knight: Arythea
Pages: [1]
 

Page created in 0.045 seconds with 20 queries.