philosophyguy defeats werothegreat 3-2:
Game 1: Cellar, Pearl Diver, Trade Route, Woodcutter (bane), Ironmonger, Young Witch, Haggler, Margrave, Merchant Ship, Rabble, Nobles
wero 1-0, 46-23
We both open Young Witch, then were makes the key move for Ironmongers. I try going more money, with Merchant Ships, but cannot get up to $6. wero soon amasses a huge Nobles advantage and I get steamrolled by his engine.
Game 2: Moat, Native Village, Fishing Village, Warehouse, Marauder, Militia, Procession, Scavenger, Smithy, Harvest
wero 2-0, 39-24
wero starts with Fishing Village/Militia. I try Silver/Militia, thinking that the Necropolis makes FV slightly less important compared to early buying power. He gets a +Buy off the Ruins and commences building quite a nice engine.
Game 3: Chapel, Coppersmith, Rats, Treasure Map, Council Room, Haggler, Margrave, Mine, Venture, Hunting Grounds
philosophyguy 1-2, 34-26
With my back against the wall, I get a 5/2 start. I go Venture/Chapel while wero goes Treasure Map/Chapel. I follow him with Treasure Maps and actually connect mine before he goes—and even before I get to play my Chapel! This win is all shuffle luck.
Game 4: Urchin, Feodum, Moneylender, Navigator, Rats, Golem, Horn of Plenty, Torturer, Treasury, Bank
philosophyguy 2-2, 30-27
By far the most interesting game of the match. wero opens Potion, which I think is a mistake, while I go Navigator. He gets a Golem right away (which is kind of lucky), but doesn't have any actions at first. I next go for a Treasury with my Torturer, while he gets a Moneylender (another probably suboptimal play—even the Urchin would be better).
He makes a really interesting choice to go for HoP and start building up Feodums and Silvers, and I thought I had lost the game at that point. I make a quick detour for a HoP of my own and manage to get a quick double Province turn, which was enough to pull out the win. I almost lost at the very end because I took two curses with a Mercenary in hand, but forgot that I don't get to trash them if wero ends the game. But, I think he miscounted his Silvers or something, because he buys the last Province for the loss.
Fun interaction of the set: Urchin/Torturer/Mercenary. Urchin makes Torturer's attack slightly more painful if you play it first, and it obviously combos with Torturer to turn into a Mercenary. But, Mercenary's trashing is also useful against Torturer's curse-in-hand option.
Game 5: Bureaucrat, Cutpurse, Salvager, Spy, Tournament, Ill-Gotten Gains, Library, Margrave, Altar, Bank
philosophyguy 3-2, 17-14
Since I'm second seat, I win the match if I win this one. It's an IGG match with a couple of fun enablers: Tournament, Cutpurse, Salvager, and Bureaucrat. wero goes Cutpurse, I gamble with Salvager. I don't think I played this optimally because I should have always been taking Coppers with my extra buys if I'm going to go that route. I lose the IGG split badly but start on Duchies earlier, and spike a Province for the win. I credit my loss of the split to wero's Tournament, which I thought about at the start of the game but for some reason didn't get after the opening.
These were some great games. I actually think wero outplayed me through the series and I got the win with some luck.
