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Author Topic: Witch vs. Masquerade  (Read 1387 times)

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aaron0013

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Witch vs. Masquerade
« on: September 21, 2012, 09:13:24 am »
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I was playing 2p irl last night, and the first cards I saw were Witch, Masquerade, Militia, Throne Room, Golem, Nobles, and Alchemist. I realized too late that there was a pin on the board, but there weren't any other trashers anyway.
I opened Witch/nothing, and I believe he opened Potion/Masq. The next reshuffle, I got my own Masq. and he started building an Alchemist/Golem/Throne Room engine. Since I started with Witch, I got one more, and started a Throne Room/Village/Nobles/Witch thing. Half-way through the game we started doing the Militia first, Masq. second combo which hurt us both a lot. He could only top-deck a couple Alchemists to keep them safe.
Then things took a strange turn. He got a huge chain going with Golem, Throne Rooms, and Alchemists, and gave me back or trashed all of his curses. By the end of the game, he beat me by 15 VP, and I had one curse.
I had never heard of Masq. beating Witch, but it was really good. Any thoughts out there?
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GendoIkari

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Re: Witch vs. Masquerade
« Reply #1 on: September 21, 2012, 09:15:10 am »
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Masq just about shuts down any Curse giver.... you generally need to avoid Curses givers if Masq is available (at least early on; you can pick some up later when the odds of him having Masq and the curse at the same time are less).
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jomini

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Re: Witch vs. Masquerade
« Reply #2 on: September 21, 2012, 09:42:40 am »
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His masq searches 6 cards to give you a curse or estate (early game, searching half your deck for one of 4 cards or so is pretty much a lock). You, in turn, search only 5 cards to give one back. His cursing (or estate) shows up in your hand in replacement for a card you'd otherwise have (not quite as bad as sea hag, but stronger than witch unless you have good trashing). Worse, you lose out on trashing - his deck gets smaller so he sees masq more often than you see witch.  Even if you are lucky, you will eventually have him dump two dead cards (one to you and one to the trash).

There are a couple of curse givers that can hold up to masq, particularly if you have other trashing on the board. Mountebank deals out two cards and he can barely hope to stay even. Further, as he gives away the curses, he becomes easier to hit. It still is awfully touchy, but mountebank can get ahead of masq on the right board. Torturer is another option, chaining torturers can let you deluge him with curses and give you a strong engine. You still need a stronger than average torturer board where you can deal with inbound curses (e.g. altar is good); playing masq yourself and transitioning to a torturer chain is an option as well.
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