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Author Topic: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results  (Read 61376 times)

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PitzerMike

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Re: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results
« Reply #125 on: January 02, 2013, 01:43:42 pm »
+1

Congratulations to MrEevee. You played really well.
I also think I didn't have my best day because I made some really embarrassing decisions like ignoring the engine in game 4 - ufff. :'(
Hopefully we can play again soon, I liked that we played one more just for fun.
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soulnet

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Re: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results
« Reply #126 on: January 02, 2013, 05:26:58 pm »
+1

[EDIT: I added the CouncilRoom log and score/supply details for Game 2]

Round 3 result: soulnet beats popsofctown (pops) 4-0.

The overall score definitely does not reflect the skill difference among us, we really are about the same skill level (which is reflected in the leaderboard, both at seeding time and now). This were all close matches and each could have gone either way. I think it was mostly luck what decided most games. For sure it was on games 2 and 3.

We played purely random sets, identical starting hands and with PCE.

Game 1: soulnet 64 - pops 48 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/02/game-20130102-113233-a5816219.html

cards in supply: Adventurer, Colony, Courtyard, Fishing Village, Forge, Haven, Mandarin, Navigator, Platinum, Spy, Throne Room, and Vault

This is the only game in which I feel I made the better decision. We both open with CY/Silver, but I then go into a straightforward CY+BM while he tries to transition intro an engine throwing FV and TR. He does get to play two CYs and TR Mandarin a couple of turns, but I think the BM approach was faster all along. After all the net 2 cards from CY and the -1 Card from Mandarin are a huge downside for an engine, but are actually an asset for a BM player, especially in a Colony board were is all about managing your Plats. I think after we both got to Gold from a single Silver, the BM+CY strategy got even more powered, because Gold+CY means more Golds and Plats in no time, and then, with the good deck management from CY plus the support of Mandarin to put back lonely Plats and get a little more buying power while greening, the BM player (a.k.a me) smoothly goes into victory. It is my feel that the engine here would take too much time to setup, because of the lack of good draw to Forge things faster. I think with some simple good draw like Smithy the engine would have been feasible, getting to use Forge better. But still, without +Buy, it would have been close. We both got Forge (he much earlier than me, to get some trashing and smooth out his engine) and got pretty good use of it, but as he got to get rid of some Estates and Coppers while getting his cheap engine pieces, I got a great Forging of Province+Silver for probably the deciding Colony

Game 2: soulnet 40 - pops 30: http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20130102-115738-e139f898.html
cards in supply: Bridge, Conspirator, Farmland, Ghost Ship, Horse Traders, Minion, Monument, Oracle, Stables, and Trader

This was the only authentic non-mirror, with me going hard on Minion plus some Conspirators against Stables+Horse Traders+Conspirators. At the beginning I thought I had it lost, as he was getting good play on the 3rd reshuffle thanks to me feeding his HT. I almost changed strategy by getting a Stables and trying to mirror him, but I quickly got back on track. After all, with Minions I may have a shot when I take off, mirroring him was a sure defeat, giving the huge loss on tempo I had. I ended up coming from behind and going into a head to head finish, as my uncontested race for Minions helped me get 8 which quickly give me Province and Province+Duchy turns with the +Buy from a single HT I got myself to defend from opposing Minions that never came. In the end I was way luckier getting several Minions close to the top of the deck on the final reshuffle while he got pretty bad hands (or so it seemed). I still think the Minion strategy, if applied properly, should have an advantage here because you don't need to balance getting money and engine components separately, although maybe some mixup would be superior to both.

Game 3: soulnet 60 - pops 56 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/02/game-20130102-121001-d4dd3c9b.html 
cards in supply: Ambassador, Feast, Gardens, Hoard, Mining Village, Oracle, Spy, Treasury, Tunnel, and Warehouse

How often do you pass on Ambassador on 2p? Even without other power attacks and no defense? Even on 3/4 opening?
How often do you empty the Gardens and *then* go on to almost empty Provinces?
How often do you get to grow Gardens on Gold instead of +Buy Coppers or Silver gained from JoaT, Explorer, Bureaucrat, and such?

This was the Mirror Green Fest, and every greening-early-friend was invited. Warehouse+Tunnel to open, Hoard to follow and fill your deck with Gold and Gardens to make each Gold even get you points.

There was no strange trick here, he was way luckier at the beginning, while I had a terrible time making my Warehouses collide with my Tunnels. However, I was luckier afterwards, particularly in the last couple of turns, because I could catch up on Gardens and Provinces and get a lead, managing to be tied on points when he already passed the 40 card barrier and I did not. A hoarded Duchy let me get to exactly 40 for a +7 VP bust in my total and the win. I think I may have been a little more cautious with deck sizes, end game conditions and other tactical tweaks, but I cannot tell from the log. Even though the play is unimpressive in terms of strategy, it was funny to play the most golden+green deck ever. Also, my last turn was one of the greatest finishes I remember. I'll write it down for Dominion: The Movie.

Game 4: soulnet 45 - pops 15 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/02/game-20130102-123150-57192a8f.html
cards in supply: Haggler, Harvest, King's Court, Margrave, Mine, Nomad Camp, Oracle, Outpost, Peddler, and Rabble

As usual, even on kind of ugly boards with no village and no trashing, KC makes an engine the only option. Actually Margrave and Peddlers with spare buys seem good if you get to play KC'ed Margraves fast, which was my plan from the beginning. We both open Silver/Oracle to get to 5 and try to deny the other. I surprisingly get 6 and choose to start with Gold and get to Margrave later to help me get KC faster. I do get to KC first, but he gets some Peddlers first, so I start having dead KCs on hand for a while and get a second Oracle and a second Margrave. While I stock on Peddlers he gets going and gets 6 KCs to my 4, but I got them and played them sooner and I thinkn that made some difference. In the end, we both have ver swingy hands getting a mega-turn with entire deck drawing from starting KC+KC+drawer, followed by a buy-nothing turn from our decks with too many treasure and green to run a reliable engine. I got two mega-turn hands sooner and that got me the win.

I think we both play badly -or at least, sloppily- on this one, not having really good control over the decks we were making. My second Margrave should have been a Rabble to help him less when KCing it (+3 Buys is plenty anyway) and he got a not too useful Outpost (getting KC+KC+Action or KC+Peddler on a 3 card hand is a Gamble with really bad odds). I was also careless with the ending condition, leaving only two provinces without a significant lead. Probably the partial 3-0 made us both loose focus.

Thanks popsofctown for the games!
« Last Edit: January 03, 2013, 10:36:50 am by soulnet »
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popsofctown

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Re: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results
« Reply #127 on: January 02, 2013, 07:26:27 pm »
+1

Round 3 result: soulnet beats popsofctown (pops) 4-0.

The overall score definitely does not reflect the skill difference among us, we really are about the same skill level (which is reflected in the leaderboard, both at seeding time and now). This were all close matches and each could have gone either way. I think it was mostly luck what decided most games. For sure it was on games 2 and 3.

We played purely random sets, identical starting hands and with PCE.

Game 1: soulnet 64 - pops 48 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/02/game-20130102-113233-a5816219.html

cards in supply: Adventurer, Colony, Courtyard, Fishing Village, Forge, Haven, Mandarin, Navigator, Platinum, Spy, Throne Room, and Vault

This is the only game in which I feel I made the better decision. We both open with CY/Silver, but I then go into a straightforward CY+BM while he tries to transition intro an engine throwing FV and TR. He does get to play two CYs and TR Mandarin a couple of turns, but I think the BM approach was faster all along. After all the net 2 cards from CY and the -1 Card from Mandarin are a huge downside for an engine, but are actually an asset for a BM player, especially in a Colony board were is all about managing your Plats. I think after we both got to Gold from a single Silver, the BM+CY strategy got even more powered, because Gold+CY means more Golds and Plats in no time, and then, with the good deck management from CY plus the support of Mandarin to put back lonely Plats and get a little more buying power while greening, the BM player (a.k.a me) smoothly goes into victory. It is my feel that the engine here would take too much time to setup, because of the lack of good draw to Forge things faster. I think with some simple good draw like Smithy the engine would have been feasible, getting to use Forge better. But still, without +Buy, it would have been close. We both got Forge (he much earlier than me, to get some trashing and smooth out his engine) and got pretty good use of it, but as he got to get rid of some Estates and Coppers while getting his cheap engine pieces, I got a great Forging of Province+Silver for probably the deciding Colony

Game 2: soulnet ?? - pops ??: we lost the log, I'll get it and edit the post after CouncilRoom has it.
cards in supply: I only remember Minion, Horse Traders, Stables, Conspirator, Bridge, Farmland

This was the only authentic non-mirror, with me going hard on Minion plus some Conspirators against Stables+Horse Traders+Conspirators. At the beginning I thought I had it lost, as he was getting good play on the 3rd reshuffle thanks to me feeding his HT. I almost changed strategy by getting a Stables and trying to mirror him, but I quickly got back on track. After all, with Minions I may have a shot when I take off, mirroring him was a sure defeat, giving the huge loss on tempo I had. I ended up coming from behind and going into a head to head finish, as my uncontested race for Minions helped me get 8 which quickly give me Province and Province+Duchy turns with the +Buy from a single HT I got myself to defend from opposing Minions that never came. In the end I was way luckier getting several Minions close to the top of the deck on the final reshuffle while he got pretty bad hands (or so it seemed). I still think the Minion strategy, if applied properly, should have an advantage here because you don't need to balance getting money and engine components separately, although maybe some mixup would be superior to both.

Game 3: soulnet 60 - pops 56 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/02/game-20130102-121001-d4dd3c9b.html 
cards in supply: Ambassador, Feast, Gardens, Hoard, Mining Village, Oracle, Spy, Treasury, Tunnel, and Warehouse

How often do you pass on Ambassador on 2p? Even without other power attacks and no defense? Even on 3/4 opening?
How often do you empty the Gardens and *then* go on to almost empty Provinces?
How often do you get to grow Gardens on Gold instead of +Buy Coppers or Silver gained from JoaT, Explorer, Bureaucrat, and such?

This was the Mirror Green Fest, and every greening-early-friend was invited. Warehouse+Tunnel to open, Hoard to follow and fill your deck with Gold and Gardens to make each Gold even get you points.

There was no strange trick here, he was way luckier at the beginning, while I had a terrible time making my Warehouses collide with my Tunnels. However, I was luckier afterwards, particularly in the last couple of turns, because I could catch up on Gardens and Provinces and get a lead, managing to be tied on points when he already passed the 40 card barrier and I did not. A hoarded Duchy let me get to exactly 40 for a +7 VP bust in my total and the win. I think I may have been a little more cautious with deck sizes, end game conditions and other tactical tweaks, but I cannot tell from the log. Even though the play is unimpressive in terms of strategy, it was funny to play the most golden+green deck ever. Also, my last turn was one of the greatest finishes I remember. I'll write it down for Dominion: The Movie.

Game 4: soulnet 45 - pops 15 http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/02/game-20130102-123150-57192a8f.html
cards in supply: Haggler, Harvest, King's Court, Margrave, Mine, Nomad Camp, Oracle, Outpost, Peddler, and Rabble

As usual, even on kind of ugly boards with no village and no trashing, KC makes an engine the only option. Actually Margrave and Peddlers with spare buys seem good if you get to play KC'ed Margraves fast, which was my plan from the beginning. We both open Silver/Oracle to get to 5 and try to deny the other. I surprisingly get 6 and choose to start with Gold and get to Margrave later to help me get KC faster. I do get to KC first, but he gets some Peddlers first, so I start having dead KCs on hand for a while and get a second Oracle and a second Margrave. While I stock on Peddlers he gets going and gets 6 KCs to my 4, but I got them and played them sooner and I thinkn that made some difference. In the end, we both have ver swingy hands getting a mega-turn with entire deck drawing from starting KC+KC+drawer, followed by a buy-nothing turn from our decks with too many treasure and green to run a reliable engine. I got two mega-turn hands sooner and that got me the win.

I think we both play badly -or at least, sloppily- on this one, not having really good control over the decks we were making. My second Margrave should have been a Rabble to help him less when KCing it (+3 Buys is plenty anyway) and he got a not too useful Outpost (getting KC+KC+Action or KC+Peddler on a 3 card hand is a Gamble with really bad odds). I was also careless with the ending condition, leaving only two provinces without a significant lead. Probably the partial 3-0 made us both loose focus.

Thanks popsofctown for the games!
I wasn't trying build an engine game 1, it was more like, hey, I'm going to buy a fishing Village, because buying Mandarin to topdeck a platinum has amped up my terminal density, and hey, when deck sizes are this large, Fishing Village rarely misses a reshuffle due to duration so it is much closer to silver. 

I felt outplayed in the Minion game and final game but the other two games I feel were very mirrorlicious and luckalicious.  This set, more than most I've played, makes me interested in what kind of tournament rules the community can develop.  Dominion is not a game suited for tournaments, it's close to being one, but it isn't exactly.  We already alter it with forced opening hands.  I think we can come up with some good ideas that bend the way the game works so that more games skill based.  That is not something where I'm saying I'm better than soulnet, my subjective assessment of our play is that he played better. 

As a player who loves big money, I hope someday we come up with cool variant tournament rules that don't disenfranchise Big Money.  Forced opening starting hands is a good start of one rule that decreases variance without skewing dominion in a bad way. 
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dudeabides

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Re: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results
« Reply #128 on: January 03, 2013, 02:34:25 pm »
+2

Results from round 3
dudeabides defeats tenuki 4-2-1

We played Veto mode, identical starting hands, no point tracker.  Game 1 resulted in a tie, with 4 Provinces each, and we forgot to grab the log.  It was a rather uninteresting Minion/Steward board, so not having the log is no huge loss for Dominion Strategy.

Game 2:  dudeabides 26 tenuki ?
Kingdom cards: Duchess, Golem, Goons, Highway, Market, Noble Brigand, Potion, Stash, Throne Room, Transmute, and Watchtower
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/03/game-20130103-081218-36845b12.html

Baron and Jester were vetoed.  This was a nice set of cards featuring some interesting card interactions.  However, it was mostly a mirror match, so it really came down to the luck of the draw.  We both go for the Throne Room/Golem/Goons/Watchtower strategy, with some Markets and Highways for extra actions.  I hit $6 first and grab a Goons, so I feel rather confident.  However, when I hit $3 and Potion, I figure I'm toast, but Tenuki falls short on Potion on his first hand with it, too.  I connect a Throne Room with a Golem first, and draw well.  I use Watchtower to top-deck a Throne Room and a Golem and trash some coppers.  Tenuki is never able to connect Goons with Watchtower, so he is unable to buy and trash Coppers (or Curses), while I manage to draw Watchtower consistently.  After a 12-VP token turn, Tenuki recognizes the game is mine and resigns.  This match is mostly decided by draw luck (as are most mirror matches featuring skilled opponents).


Game 3: tenuki 57 dudeabides 50
Kingdom cards: Conspirator, Contraband, Fairgrounds, Hoard, Masquerade, Mine, Minion, Moneylender, Village, and Witch
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/03/game-20130103-082252-f7b43717.html

We veto Chapel and Ill-Gotten Gains.  He opens Moneylender/Masquerade, while I open Masquerade/Silver.  He collides on turn 3, and I feel good about things.  With no +buys from action cards, numerous desirable action cards, and Fairgrounds on the board, I go Contraband, while he grabs a couple of Conspirators.  With a Hoard in hand, he grabs a couple early Provinces on turns 8 and 9, while I am still buying action cards.  He gets a rather large margin, and I slowly try to claw my way back (with Fairgrounds split 6/2 in my favor).  However, he is just too far ahead and is able to buy the last Province.  He played better than I in this game, although with a 7-point victory, his extra turn from first player advantage helped.

Game 4 dudeabides 55 tenuki 49
Kingdom cards: Apothecary, Coppersmith, Horse Traders, Laboratory, Masquerade, Potion, Silk Road, Tactician, Thief, Venture, and Woodcutter
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/03/game-20130103-083305-50349d88.html

As in Game 3, we veto Ill-Gotten Gains and Chapel.  With the previous games, there seemed to be a dominant strategy.  With this one, however, I wasn't quite sure what to make of the board.  As a result, it was one of our more exciting games.  We both open Potion/Masquerade.  From there, we pass and trash some Estates, buy Silvers and Apothecaries.  On turn 5, 6, and 7, I get 3 Labs, while he gets a Lab and 2 Provinces.  His early lead scares me a bit, and with Silk Roads on the board, I opt for a Duchy on turn 8.  Turns 9 and 10, I'm able to catch up by buying Provinces, while he gets a Lab and a Horse Traders.  By turn 12, I've resigned myself to go the Silk Roads road (bad pun, I know) and buy Duchies whenever I hit $5.  The only potentially bad decision on Tenuki's part is his turn 16 purchase of 2 Silk Roads when a Province could have been grabbed.  However, letting me get a bigger Silk Roads lead might have been worse.  My 5-3 Silk Roads advantage, additional buying power in a deck full of green (we had 8 Coppers each, while I had 4 Silvers to Tenuki's 0), and an extra turn help me win this 25-turn game by 6 points when I buy the last Duchy after Silk Roads and Estates have already been emptied.


Game 5 dudeabides 33 tenuki 31
Kingdom cards: Bridge, Embargo♦, Fortune Teller, Horse Traders, Militia, Oracle, Outpost, Rabble, Smugglers, Vault, and Young Witch
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/03/game-20130103-083823-a58f8078.html

After 3 consecutive Masquerade games (I'm not especially good with Masquerade, since I often veto it), I want a different type of game, so I veto Masquerade, while Tenuki vetoes Bureaucrat.  Young Witch is another card I often veto, but I wanted to potentially get a Village as a Bane card to facilitate a draw engine with Rabble. 

Anyways, he opens Militia/Embargo, while I open Young Witch/Silver.  On turn 3, Tenuki is able to Embargo Militia and buy a Rabble, while I buy another Silver.  After Tenuki's turn 4 Young Witch purchase, I buy an Embargo as a defense.  On turn 5, I get a second Young Witch, hoping to dish out enough curses to cripple Tenuki's deck.  Several very lucky Embargo draws prevent me from receiving curses on 2 turns, while a general lack of Young Witch collisions enables me to give out more curses.  Ultimately, Tenuki's early deck was better than mine, with much more buying power, but the 9-1 Curse split in my favor gave me a 2-point victory.  I attribute my victory to my decision to open Young Witch instead of Militia, my 2nd Young Witch purchase, and my 2 lucky Embargo (bane) draws.  Ceteris paribus, if those 2 Curses (where I revealed an Embargo) had come my way, and the split had been 7-3, Tenuki would have won by 2.  Ultimately, I do think my strategy was superior in this game. 



Game 6 tenuki 56 dudeabides 49
Kingdom cards: Caravan, Colony, Coppersmith, Hunting Party, Loan, Mandarin, Market, Merchant Ship, Platinum, Royal Seal, Thief, and Throne Room
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/03/game-20130103-084913-5c650a4b.html

We veto Ironworks and Mountebank.  Before the match, Tenuki said, "We are 3-1.  If you win, you win the match."  These words felt ominous.  Our first true engine board is also our first (and only) Colony game of the match.  I am excited to finally see an engine board without Masquerade, Young Witch, or other cards I frequently veto.  We both open Caravan/Loan and the match is mostly a mirror match, as evident by our strikingly similar final decks.  I am ultimately hoping that we pace each other through the early game, and my additional buying power from my Platinum (to his Gold) and my 2 extra Throne Rooms will enable be able to buy 2 Colonies in one turn in the late game.  My hopes finally come true on Turn 16, when I am able to (wrongly) buy 2 Colonies.  Going into his turn 17, I am up by one Colony.  Tenuki draws $16 and buys two Provinces, when a Colony and Duchy would have ended the game with him up by 3 points.  This mistake gives me a chance to close out the series ahead, buy my draw is lackluster, and I am only able to buy a Province.  Tenuki ends the game on Turn 18 with a Colony and Estate purchase.

Game 7  dudeabides 12 tenuki 0
Kingdom Cards: Feast, Ghost Ship, Hunting Party, Laboratory, Mint, Salvager, Shanty Town, Throne Room, Venture, and Worker's Village
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/03/game-20130103-085912-e510d545.html

We veto Transmute and Gardens.  We both open 5/2.  I go first and buy a Lab, while Tenuki buys Ghost Ship.  His opening is probably superior, but I luckily draw 5 Coppers on turn 3, and Tenuki doesn't draw Ghost Ship, so I am able to buy a Ghost Ship.  On turn 4, I play Lab and (with only a 1 in 6 chance) draw my Ghost Ship.  I think that this early luck is instrumental in my pulling off a victory in this game, but I think that my long-run strategy is better.  On turn 8, Tenuki draws 5 Coppers and buys a Mint, when he has no Golds and only Silvers.  I wait until turn 13 to buy my Mint, when I am able to buy a Gold and a Mint, trashing 2 Silvers and 6 Coppers.  This leaves my deck sparse, while Tenuki still has Coppers and Silvers to deal with.  By the end of my turn 16, I have 5 Golds, 2 Provinces, and 4 Hunting Parties, while Tenuki has 4 Silvers, a Copper, 2 Hunting Parties, and no VP.  While I felt like I was getting beaten in the early game, I was confident that my plan to buy Gold and Mint in the same (later) turn was superior.  This is the first game where I feel that my strategy (and not my luck) truly dominated Tenuki's. 

All-in-all, this was a close match, with 1 tie and 4 games decided by points acquired within 1 turn of the end of the game.  When I initially saw that I was matched up against Tenuki, I was somewhat concerned, as I remembered having had trouble against him in general play on Isotropic (our prior record was 4-2-0 in my favor, though 2 of Tenuki's 4 losses were to forfeits).  Anyways, thanks to Tenuki for a fun series filled with Masquerades, Minions, and other cards with which I'm less familiar than I should be.  Good luck to me in the rest of the tournament  ;)
« Last Edit: January 03, 2013, 02:37:42 pm by dudeabides »
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gman314

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Re: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results
« Reply #129 on: January 03, 2013, 09:08:12 pm »
0

Master Shuffler 1 - 4 gman314
Game 1: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/03/game-20130103-172024-09c4c918.html gman314

Game 2: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/03/game-20130103-173103-65e91dfd.html gman314

Game 3: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/03/game-20130103-173710-74e38f38.html gman314

Game 4: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/03/game-20130103-174351-a2ef3b88.html Master Shuffler

Game 5: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/03/game-20130103-175246-af8d7471.html gman314

I just wrote some comments for each game, but when I posted them, the internet went funny and I lost them. I'm not posting them again, but I'll respond to what Master Shuffler says, if anything. These were some fun games, the kind I really like, with fairly straightforward engines which kind of become an engine-BM hybrid.

And, Master Shuffler was a fun opponent to play against.
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Master Shuffler

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Re: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results
« Reply #130 on: January 03, 2013, 09:09:38 pm »
0

=-sup-= vs gman314

We played with veto mode, same starting and the basic point counter. He knocked RisingJaguar out of the main tourney, so I know he is legit!

End result  sup 1 gman 4

Game 1 log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/03/game-20130103-172024-09c4c918.html

I thought I would have this because I had been practicing vinyards, but I guess I could have done it differently (last turn gaining a duchy would have helped me more).

Game 2 log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/03/game-20130103-173103-65e91dfd.html

He got a bit luckier with black market, but I should have opened either YW or Remodel instead of the oasis. His bishop from bm sealed his win.

Game 3 log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/03/game-20130103-173710-74e38f38.html

Lots of cursers – I have initiative again but we split the curses evenly. He is able to somehow match his bridge with his two cities lategame several times to pull ahead and end it on piles.

Game 4 log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/03/game-20130103-174351-a2ef3b88.html

My only win was “just barely” in a chapel/ TR/monument board.

Game 5 log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/03/game-20130103-175246-af8d7471.html

I started out okay with double swindlers, but it doesn't slow him down like I was expecting and he clinches it.


Man... I don't lose like this very often, but it is what it is. I am more of a multiplayer guy, but I have been practicing my 1v1 too (I had just beaten sharky before these games). I am not as confident playing from first position, so maybe that had something to do with it. I guess there is a reason he had beaten RisingJaguar in the tourney.
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gman314

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Re: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results
« Reply #131 on: January 03, 2013, 10:03:27 pm »
0

=-sup-= vs gman314

We played with veto mode, same starting and the basic point counter. He knocked RisingJaguar out of the main tourney, so I know he is legit!

End result  sup 1 gman 4

Game 1 log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/03/game-20130103-172024-09c4c918.html

I thought I would have this because I had been practicing vinyards, but I guess I could have done it differently (last turn gaining a duchy would have helped me more).

Game 2 log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/03/game-20130103-173103-65e91dfd.html

He got a bit luckier with black market, but I should have opened either YW or Remodel instead of the oasis. His bishop from bm sealed his win.

Game 3 log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/03/game-20130103-173710-74e38f38.html

Lots of cursers – I have initiative again but we split the curses evenly. He is able to somehow match his bridge with his two cities lategame several times to pull ahead and end it on piles.

Game 4 log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/03/game-20130103-174351-a2ef3b88.html

My only win was “just barely” in a chapel/ TR/monument board.

Game 5 log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/03/game-20130103-175246-af8d7471.html

I started out okay with double swindlers, but it doesn't slow him down like I was expecting and he clinches it.


Man... I don't lose like this very often, but it is what it is. I am more of a multiplayer guy, but I have been practicing my 1v1 too (I had just beaten sharky before these games). I am not as confident playing from first position, so maybe that had something to do with it. I guess there is a reason he had beaten RisingJaguar in the tourney.

Game 1: Agree with you there, the Duchy was the only difference.

Game 2: I also think the YW was a useful card for me. Also, the Bishop did seal the win, although I think that setting up more Smithies helped me too.

Game 3: Yeah, it came down to my matching cities up at the end to get Provinces.

Game 4: I definitely now think that TR/Monument is the way to go here. I tried a HP approach, but it was slightly too slow.

Game 5: Looking at the log, I see that my early Cutpurse play was very useful, but it died afterwards. I often find that Swindler doesn't slow anyone down as much as it would in my ideal planning. Although, two attacks was definitely a good idea for you on this board, as you were second player and things like that help to compensate. I think I would have done Cutpurse/Swindler though. Then you're attacking on two fronts from the start and while both attacks weaken with time, the extra $1 on Cutpurse helps a bit if you go for Apprentice.
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mith

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Re: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results
« Reply #132 on: January 04, 2013, 12:44:59 am »
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That does it for round 3... Waiting on some main tournament matches to be played to give everyone a chance to sign up, but as things stand we don't have any new signups for round 4.
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tenuki

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Re: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results
« Reply #133 on: January 04, 2013, 11:50:25 am »
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Thanks to dudeabides for a fun series! Good luck to him of course :)
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dudeabides

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Re: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results
« Reply #134 on: January 06, 2013, 01:09:53 pm »
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How come I'm put up against the highest seeded player in round 3 after beating the 2nd highest seeded player in round 2? That doesn't seem fair.
By beating Lekkit, I should have taken over his seed.

~shrug~ Just the way we decided to do things. I would look at it as more opportunity to play better players, since there's no prize for winning the thing.

(FWIW, it's going to hurt me too, whenever I drop into the losers bracket.)

Can we change this so that I don't have to play this Simon (DK) upset-master in the next round? ;)  Of course, this rests on the assumption that SphinX is the only Round 4 sign-up, and Eevee gets the bye.
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mith

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Re: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results
« Reply #135 on: January 06, 2013, 01:47:38 pm »
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ibavly will get the bye (highest seed who has been in the losers bracket the longest).
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Simon (DK)

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Re: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results
« Reply #136 on: January 06, 2013, 04:30:46 pm »
+1

How come I'm put up against the highest seeded player in round 3 after beating the 2nd highest seeded player in round 2? That doesn't seem fair.
By beating Lekkit, I should have taken over his seed.

~shrug~ Just the way we decided to do things. I would look at it as more opportunity to play better players, since there's no prize for winning the thing.

(FWIW, it's going to hurt me too, whenever I drop into the losers bracket.)

Can we change this so that I don't have to play this Simon (DK) upset-master in the next round? ;)  Of course, this rests on the assumption that SphinX is the only Round 4 sign-up, and Eevee gets the bye.

Are you afraid of me? :)
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dudeabides

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Re: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results
« Reply #137 on: January 07, 2013, 08:38:56 am »
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How come I'm put up against the highest seeded player in round 3 after beating the 2nd highest seeded player in round 2? That doesn't seem fair.
By beating Lekkit, I should have taken over his seed.

~shrug~ Just the way we decided to do things. I would look at it as more opportunity to play better players, since there's no prize for winning the thing.

(FWIW, it's going to hurt me too, whenever I drop into the losers bracket.)

Can we change this so that I don't have to play this Simon (DK) upset-master in the next round? ;)  Of course, this rests on the assumption that SphinX is the only Round 4 sign-up, and Eevee gets the bye.

Are you afraid of me? :)

After your victories over sitnaltax, Lekkit, and Playing bla bla bla...   I'm terrified.   :)
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Lekkit

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Re: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results
« Reply #138 on: January 07, 2013, 08:42:30 am »
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Anyone in their right mind would be.
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mith

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Re: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results
« Reply #139 on: January 07, 2013, 03:21:38 pm »
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Alright, round 4 matchups are set. Good luck everyone!
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ibavly

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Re: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results
« Reply #140 on: January 07, 2013, 04:07:09 pm »
+3

ibavly defeats BYE 0 - -1

didn't keep the logs but pretty badly played all around
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mith

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Re: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results
« Reply #141 on: January 07, 2013, 07:42:48 pm »
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Must've been, if your opponent was awarded a negative win...
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Qvist

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Re: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results
« Reply #142 on: January 08, 2013, 06:27:13 pm »
+1

So, I completed my match-up against soulnet in a very interesting series without a real boring BM board.
The first one I call "Misclick", the second one I call "Fear" and well the rest I won't spoil you. But there were really interesting games which generated some interesting discussion afterwards.
Like always, here's the video link: (I apologize for the crappy audio, I don't know what exactly happened).


And here's the shorter summary:


Qvist 42 - 50 soulnet Log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/08/game-20130108-070305-10e68027.html
Ok, here's Sea Hag, Swindler, Vault and Duke. I open Sea Hag/Swindler to his Sea Hag/Lighthouse. Wait, there's Lighthouse! This should have been a Double Lighthouse opening for me and then straight for Vault/Duke although Swindler can be devastating on Duke boards. Ok, well time to change plans. I buy some Lighthouses and Vaults and go and buy Duchies while he bought more Gold. Then I made that horrible misclick where I did not click correctly on the Vault discard that costed me the 5/3 Duchy split. I still managed to get 6 Dukes, but that doesn't matter when your opponent has a 4/0 Province split. Good start!
Qvist 56 - 43 soulnet Log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/08/game-20130108-073437-9e18ee47.html
Then there's this power board with Masquerade, Remake, Ambassador, Fishing Village, Caravan ... and Possession. I had fear to buy one of Ambassador or Masquerade because you could still trash down with Remake and get Possession(s). But there's also Sea Hag, so you kinda need one of them. There's also the option for Fairgrounds here what is good for a slower play with Possession. I opened Remake/Fishing Village and he Remake/Masquerade. I then felt confident to grab a Masquerade on my own and we both feared Possession and went for straight Provinces ... and stalled both badly. On turn 10 he gave me his only Masquerade back which I could have remade into a Potion. But I'm still not sure if I should have done this. Well, but in retrospect, maybe I should have remade it into a Sea Hag, now that he hasn't a defense anymore. Later in turn 16 I had a similar option, but I would have gotten to $6P anymore soon I think. This game was a slog now. 32 long turns! soulnet kind of underestimated the Fairgrounds here and as I managed to get them up to 6VP, this gave me the win. I think we both misplayed this. Please give feedback on this one.
soulnet 61 - 41 Qvist Log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/08/game-20130108-075237-517b870f.html
This game, I misplayed. It was a Colony game, again with Remake and Fishing Village and also Minion. I grabbed a JaoT, just to clear out a bit faster and draw a lot after playing my FVs. I later wanted to remake it into a Minion, but I never had the opportunity. I grabbed a quick 2 Colony lead, but could never buy anyone soon. His Council Room was a great choice which I considered, but wasn't ever able to pick up.
soulnet resigned Log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/08/game-20130108-080721-5ef8618c.html
Ok, I think I can make this short. There's Tournament and Goons in the Black Market. I played Black Market in turn 4 and got Tournament and played in turn 8 and got Goons. That's game over. Sorry for the unbelievable luck on my side.
soulnet 27 - 36 Qvist Log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/08/game-20130108-081646-7b551976.html
This was an interesting game. There was Highway, Ironworks, Island, Worker's Village and Upgrade. Highway and Ironworks are obviously key here, but we both played it differently. I picked up an Upgrade with my first $5+ because I wanted to connect my Highways and Ironworks. We both talked about that later and I'm not sure if this was the right decision. Also we both gained Islands with the Ironworks, but I only 2 to clear out the Estates while he got the other 6. Also I got Worker's Villages which allowed be to draw a card when I gain a Duchy from Ironworks and don't draw anything dead and can possibly use the +Buy in combination with the Highways. So he got an early lead of around 14 points and then he tried to 3-pile, but I was able to catch up and end the game on 3 piles by myself.
soulnet 32 - 37 Qvist Log: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/08/game-20130108-084245-b0b19e18.html
We both opened 2/5 open an IGG/Chapel board and opened both IGG and Chapel and grabbed a Watchtower on turn 3. Both our Chapels miss the reshuffle. Then it gets interesting. My Chapel always collides with my good stuff and he can keep on buying IGGs. I already thought about resigning, but tried to trash as heavily as I can with Chapel (and I bought a Loan) while he nearly trashed nothing and kept Cursing me. I got unlucky draws until the turn where I could trash 3 Curses and buy and trash another one. He then picked up an Envoy, but at that point I recovered and could buy Gold. I was then actually the first who could go for Provinces and could keep up with a lead until the end. I don't know what went wrong for him. In turn 5 where he drew his Chapel the first time he should have probably trashed his whole hand and in turn 18 I didn't understand the IGG buy (maybe trying to 3-pile?), but otherwise it seemed he did nothing wrong. Maybe he had one of his 3 Watchtowers was too much, I don't know.


Thanks for the fun series, soulnet. I hope we're able to play anytime soon again.

dudeabides

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Re: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results
« Reply #146 on: January 11, 2013, 03:51:24 pm »
+3

Round 4 Results:

dudeabides defeates gman314 4-3 

Sorry for the sheer length of this post.  I thought that these were interesting games, so I went a bit overboard on my discussion.

All-in-all, this was an exciting, well-played match featuring a diverse set of cards.  Making it more exciting was the fact that I won the first game, lost the next three, and won the last three.  After my frustrating 2nd round loss in the main tournament, I was talking to TheSadPanda about how I psychologically lost it when my back was on the ropes at 3-1.  He suggested taking a short break and grabbing a beer to calm the nerves.  I followed that advice this set, and it worked out.  Thanks, TheSadPanda!  For the commentary, I omit 314 from gman314's name to make it easier to read.  Also, I usually make a gender disclaimer, but the "man" in gman314's name suggests this is unnecessary.

Rules: Veto Mode, Identical Starting Hands, Point Tracker On.


Game 1: dudeabides 33 gman 24
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/10/game-20130110-131817-82b3a5b0.html
Kingdom:  Apprentice, Bazaar, Cartographer, City, Conspirator, Ghost Ship, Potion, Scrying Pool, Shanty Town, Smugglers, and Transmute
Vetoed: Tournament and Young Witch. 

This game demonstrates Transmute (yes, that card) at it's best.  With the actions on the board, Scrying Pool engine seems the way to go here.  I open Shanty/Potion (thinking Shanty will help enable the +1 card +1 action on the Conspirators I intend to get) while Gman opens Silver/Potion.  For a while, I think his opening is better, as he hits $5 on turns 7 and 8 (gaining Apprentice and Ghost Ship), while I don't hit $5 until turn 10 (buy Apprentice, likely unnecessary) and turn 13 (buy Ghost Ship, very necessary).  Gman buys a Province on each of turns 14, 15, and 16.  On turn 15, down by 9 points (2 Provinces to 3 Estates) with no +Buy available, I recognize I need to get creative, so I buy a Transmute, which is the third lowest card when ranked on "Win rate with", according to http://councilroom.com/popular_buys.  I get a second Transmute on turn 16 and buy a Province.  Gman stalls a bit on turns 17 and 18, getting a Scrying Pool and nothing.  Meanwhile, I get a 3rd and 4th Transmute on turn 17 and buy a Province.  Failing to recognize my Transmute strategy, gman trashes a Province on turn 18 in order to draw enough to get the penultimate Province.  On my turn 18, I am able to draw my deck with enough actions and Transmutes to get 3 Duchies from Transmutes and buy the last Province, ending the game up by 7 VP.  Sorry for the length of this commentary; I think it illustrates how useful a relatively unused card (Transmute) can be.  Even if gman hadn't had to trash the Province to draw, I still would have won by 3 Estates (which I probably shouldn't have had in my hand anyways).

Game 2: gman 20 dudeabides 17
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/10/game-20130110-133128-073b93a0.html
Kingdom: Baron, City, Colony, Embassy, Feast, Festival, Ironworks, Merchant Ship, Platinum, Rabble, Warehouse, and Watchtower
Vetoed: Mountebank and Cutpurse

A fast, low-scoring, 14.5-turn Colony game.  I go Festival/Warehouse/Watchtower, while gman goes Festival/Rabble/Warehouse.  With identical Baron/Warehouse openings, I figure this will be a mirror match, but then gman goes Rabble, while I go Watchtower.  Also making this an interesting set is Ironworks and Feast, and both of us make use of Ironworks to get Feasts to trash for Cities, Rabbles, and Festivals.  His Rabbles slow me down enough that he is able to win this one.  Turn 12, I hit $14 and opt for 2 Cities and a Warehouse.  In hindsight, that should have been a Colony and a Warehouse.  On turn 14, gman buys the last City, making them worth +$1 and +1 Buy (which seemed risky to me), but he had just put 2 Greens on top of my deck.  With fully enabled Cities, I hope that I will get the draws I need to buy a Colony and 2 Feasts, but I don't get that lucky (there were slim odds, given that I know I'll draw 2 Greens).  On turn 15, gman gains an Estate with Ironworks (presumably for the +1 card), trashes 2 Feasts for Duchies, and is able to end the game on piles by buying the last 2 Feasts.  Well played game by gman here, confirming that Rabbles are better than Watchtowers when there is no danger of gaining cards you don't want.  In hindsight, I'm surprised that neither of us went Embassy for draws. 

Game 3: gman 55 dudeabides 46
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/10/game-20130110-134628-178c8c74.html
Kingdom: Baron, Bishop, Embargo♦, Fairgrounds, Loan, Market, Menagerie, Potion, Transmute, Tribute, Vault, and Young Witch
Vetoed: Fool's Gold and Outpost.

Identical Loan/Young Witch openings on a board with Menageries, but no true +Action cards and a mostly worthless Bane card (Embargo).  Gman hits Loan on turn 3, Young Witch on turn 4, and Loan again on turn 5, while I draw both of these on turn 5, missing the reshuffle.  Furthermore, gman has a bane in hand when I play my Young Witch on turn 5.  I get a curse on turns 4, 6, and 7.  I had hoped that his Bishop would enable me to trash my curses, but this rarely happened.  I struggle to come back, resorting to Fairgrounds and 15 unique cards on a board without +Actions.  I don't like to chalk losses up to bad luck, but in this case, early bad luck snowballs for me, while gman makes no mistakes.  He is able to finish me off in this one with no problems.

Game 4:  gman 30 dudeabides 29
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/10/game-20130110-135644-fffd3e6d.html
Kingdom: Bank, Develop, Fishing Village, Forge, Goons, Great Hall, Moneylender, Pearl Diver, Witch, and Woodcutter
Vetoed: Trade Route and Treasure Map

Again, identical openings.  On turn 3, I hit $6 and feel the need to spend all of it, going for a Goons, while gman hits $5 on turns 3 and 4, buying 2 Witches.  My turn 3 purchase probably should have been a Witch, especially since it was the only draw card on the board.  The game ends with me having 6 Curses to gman's 2, which is less than the 6 additional VP tokens I was able to get from Goons.  As evident by the decks at the end of this game, I am buying Coppers like crazy for VP (I have 9 to gman's 4), while gman has a Silver and 4 fewer Curses.  Well played by gman.  My worst draw of the series came in this game (even worse than the Young Witch/Loan turn 5 draw in Game 3) came at the end of turn 12.  With no Fishing Villages from my previous turn, I drew 2 Goons, a Witch, a Copper, and an Estate.  At that point, I felt like the Dominion gods were against me.  Anyways, his play was mostly flawless this game.  I got dominionated.

5 minute break: Let's all go to the lobby, let's all go to the lobby, let's all go to the lobby, and grab ourselves a beer!  My luck changes drastically.  Apparently the Dominion gods like me drinking beer.

Game 5: dudeabides 74 gman 71
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/10/game-20130110-141829-a13925d2.html
Kingdom: Bank, Colony, Counting House, Envoy, Hamlet, Loan, Margrave, Mining Village, Platinum, Potion, Trader, Tunnel, and Vineyard
Vetoed: The Ships (Ghost and Pirate)

Perhaps our most interesting board.  We both admit before the start of this one that we don't even know where to begin.  With Vineyard and Tunnel on the board, I figure that Hamlets are likely to be valuable.  So I open Envoy/Hamlet to gman's Loan/Tunnel.  This is our first truly divergent opening.  I figure I'm toast after his turn 3, where his Loan reveals a Tunnel and 2 Estates.   A very close game that I feared would end on piles before I had a chance to catch up, this game illustrates how effective Envoy can be and how a Hail Mary Potion purchase for a single 5-point Vineyard can pay off in the end.  In terms of treasure, at the end of the game, gman has 3 Banks, 4 Coppers, a Silver, and 10 Golds to my 1 Bank, 7 Coppers, and 12 Golds.  Ultimately, I think this game was decided by the fact that I could draw more of my cards (5 Envoys and 2 Margraves to his 2 Envoys) and the fact that I was mostly able to draw to my Hamlets/Mining Villages and Envoys/Margraves together, while this was a serious problem for him late game.  On my turn 18, I draw an Envoy with one of my 2 Hamlets, mean to discard an Estate, but discard the Envoy instead.  I feared this epic misclick might prove my undoing (especially after I see my next hand: 2 Envoys with no Hamlets/Mining Villages).  Out of frustration, I buy a Duchy on turn 18.  I win by 3 points.  Chalk this one up to dumb luck.  As I was still on the ropes this game, and gman could lose 1 more after this one, this was a very tense game for me.  In hindsight, I probably should have grabbed a Loan to thin some of the Coppers out of my deck, but gman's Loan luck was pretty poor (given the 4 Coppers in his deck at the end of the game).

Game 6:  dudeabides 105 gman 50
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/10/game-20130110-143801-cbd476c1.html
Kingdom: Bishop, Bridge, Develop, Duke, Inn, Jack of All Trades, Silk Road, Tactician, Throne Room, and Workshop
Vetoed: Witch and Margrave

What a powerful board this was.  With Bridge and Throne Room, a double Tactician engine seems great, except there's no pure draw cards (Except for JOAT) thanks to our Witch and Margrave vetoes.  Inn also provides some interesting possibilities by enabling top-decking discarded actions upon its acquisition.  Gman opens Workshop, and I feared that he was going for a quick Silk Roads/Estates/Workshops game.  As second player, I am at a distinct disadvantage in such a scenario, so I decide not to follow suit and plan to go for a Bridge/Throne Room/Inn/JOAT/Tactician "strategy."  I open Silver/JOAT to his Workshop/Silver, planning to get a Bishop at some point to trash my Coppers and JOAT Silvers, but I never bothered.  It soon became apparent that he was not going the Silk Road route, and I felt better about things.  But when he got 3 Duchies on turn 9, I got a bit worried.  Nonetheless, I stay the course and am able to grab a Duchy and 5 Provinces on turn 13, a Province and 2 Estates on turn 14, and 2 Provinces and 5 Silk Roads on turn 17.  The several turns that I am able to use JOAT to draw 4 or 5 cards prove to be huge.  In hindsight, incorporating a Workshop into my strategy might have sped things up (free Throne Rooms, gain an Inn to orchestrate draws if a Bridge had been played, etc.), but things worked out regardless. 

Game 7: dudeabides 33 gman 22
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201301/10/game-20130110-145029-412fcfdd.html
Kingdom: Bazaar, Cache, City, Forge, Herbalist, Moneylender, Nomad Camp, Pearl Diver, Remake, and Smithy
Vetoed: Library and Venture

When I saw this board, I immediately recalled all of those games against Marin in which I felt so far ahead until the last turn or two.  This kingdom has everything you need: Remake and/or Moneylender to facilitate thinning and/or improving the deck, Bazaar/City for actionsand Smithy for the draw engine, and Nomad Camp for extra buys.  It's always nerve-racking to be behind by a couple of Provinces, as it is certainly possible (even with 7 Bazaars and 6 Cities) to draw 2 Smithies and 3 Golds when you need a 3 Province turn.  Throughout this game, I asked myself "What would Marin do?"  I basically followed the Marin prescription.  The end-of-game decks pretty much tell the story.  Down by 10 points at the beginning of my last turn, I draw exactly what I need to buy 3 Provinces and a Duchy to win by 11 points.  After a series of games that seemed to prematurely end on piles, it was tempting to break from the Marin strategy and buy VP to be ahead at the end of each turn.  However, I figured that gman had a maximum of 2 buys and 2 gains from Remake (which can't be used to get Pearl Divers without the $1 cards from Dark Ages or a cost reduction card), so the game ending on piles was never a real threat and it was safe to wait for mega-turn.

Thanks to gman314 for a good series of games!  After his knocking out RisingJaguar in round 2 of the main tournament and MasterShuffler (=sup=) in round 3 of the loser's bracket, I was worried that I might meet my end against him. Furthermore, I had never played him in general play on Isotropic, so I didn’t know what to expect.
« Last Edit: January 11, 2013, 08:00:49 pm by dudeabides »
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Qvist

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Re: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results
« Reply #147 on: January 11, 2013, 05:16:06 pm »
0

Thanks for the report dudeabides. I really liked it.

dudeabides

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Re: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results
« Reply #148 on: January 11, 2013, 08:26:17 pm »
+1

Hopefully we can play again soon, I liked that we played one more just for fun.

I played one more for fun against wesphys after he beat me in the second round of the main tourney.  It's a good reminder that Dominion is just a game, and games are supposed to be fun.   :)
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Antonidas

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Re: Rats! Division (Losers Bracket) - Bracket and Results
« Reply #149 on: January 12, 2013, 04:43:30 pm »
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Antonidas defeats luliin 4-1!

Game 1 (A 72 - L 54): Chapel and king's court featured prominently in this game, with a total lack of extra buys or gains somewhat complicating matters. luliin got some bad chapel and swindler luck in the beginning, but conversely I was just too slow in setting up. We ended up neck-and-neck, dancing around the last two provinces for what seemed like forever while trying to one-up each other with KC/monument. But my surviving swindler gave me a big advantage by turning her monuments and farming villages into thieves, and by trashing her victory cards at opportune times (I chose not to play it when swindling a province would make me lose the game). Eventually I was able to take a point lead and end the game.

Game 2 (A 37 - L 29): A big money game with few strong cards. luliin pursued a philosopher's stone strategy with governor and nomad camp as support cards, but I decided that was too slow for this board and played a more conventional money strategy using trader, venture, and nobles. I decided to break PPR on turn 13 because I felt that my deck was more consistent, and I didn't want to give luliin more time to power up her p-stones. It ended up working out for me.

Game 3 (A 71 - L 64): Big money with colonies. luliin played ghost ships and I played embassies; I really don't know which is stronger on a colony board. We both got lots of money before jumping into the green cards. This time I broke PCR because the provinces were also running low. luliin could only buy the penultimate province 2 turns later, and I was able to take a lucky win.

Game 4 (A 53 - L 70): A really slow colony game, thanks to sea hag and ghost ship. luliin opened ghost ship and I opened merchant ship. I got two early sea hags and eventually split the curses 2-8, at which point I thought the match was just about over. But luliin had correctly pivoted to duchy/duke while I was still trying to claw up to colonies. With the duchies and curses gone, a three-pile ending was inevitable. I was able to briefly take the lead before she could buy out the estates, but luliin's deck pulled together and bought the last 3 dukes for a solid win.

Game 5 (A 42 - L 24): There were three powerful attacks present in mountebank, ghost ship, and militia... along with jack of all trades and horse traders. I opened with jack and played jack-BM with one mountebank thrown in; luliin opened with horse traders and focused more on the mountebanks, ignoring jack. We buy tons of gold before greening; I was able to use my money advantage to green faster, and take the series with a solid win.

All-in-all a rather tame match, but every game featured divergent decisions from both players that still ended up being very close. I was certainly lucky to defeat a formidable opponent in only 5 games. Thanks for the match, luliin!
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