Well, I just had my ass handed to me by Geronimoo. I kind of expected this, looking at his recent win rate, but I could have hoped to win at least once. One might have also expected that a match between two simulator programmers would involve a whole lot of rushing for victory cards.
Nope on both counts. Every game except the last was about engines, and Geronimoo won them 4-0.
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201111/05/game-20111105-093846-fd26f4ca.html - Clearly a high-randomness game. I decide there's no good combos on the board and open Silver / Black Market. Geronimoo does the same, but I think he came to a different conclusion about the combos.
The first thing I pull out of the black market is a Witch. Geronimoo says "gg I guess
". But he starts building up a Hamlet/Envoy engine, aided by Horn of Plenty, something that had seemed too fickle to me when I looked at it. A few turns later, Black Market karma gets equalized when he pulls out a Mountebank.
The attack cards seem kind of insignificant compared to what happens next. Geronimoo ramps up his engine really quickly, and he's drawing most of his deck every turn with hamlets and envoys. He also gets a King's Court out of the market to rub it in. The game ends with him playing 6 Horns of Plenty to get the remaining 6 provinces.
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201111/05/game-20111105-095844-fa701580.html - A really interesting board, with fishing villages, talismans, tunnels, and lots of ways to discard. We both open Talisman/Woodcutter, an opening I'm pretty sure I've never played or seen before.
The tunnels turn out to be relevant for the VP, not for the gold. Only one province is bought in the game, and that was by Geronimoo, who was discarding tunnels later than me.
I had a chance here if I had paid attention to the timing of the endgame. But I gave him the opportunity he needed to buy out a pile and beat me by 2 points.
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201111/05/game-20111105-101411-1af09876.html - My plan is to ramp up to Stables quickly, and then Worker's Village+Envoy could give me lots of fodder for Stables. With $4 to open, that means I open Envoy/Silver (definitely not opening with a village). Geronimoo surprises me by opening Swindler/Swindler.
There are tournaments and grand markets on the board, too. Geronimoo points out that Envoy sucks at getting grand markets, which is true, but I had planned to overcome that with sheer drawing power.
Indeed, he gets to Grand Markets first, and my Horse Traders do not discourage his relentless swindling (which turns my Stable fuel into curses). I get Provinces and Tournaments first but they never matter, as the game is over shortly afterward.
Finally:
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201111/05/game-20111105-103053-05febcbd.html. This game has Young Witch, Grand Market, and Possession in it. The bane is Develop.
I have a $5/$2 opening, and I decide I want a Wharf before a Young Witch. Perhaps from seeing a fallacious trend in complex decks winning the last three games, I have formulated this plan: I'll get the Wharf now and pick up a Young Witch next time through the deck, and a Develop when I can, because not only is that a Bane, it can actually serve its intended purpose -- if it shows up with my Wharf, it can stack a Grand Market and a Young Witch on the deck.
You'll notice that this plan involves getting three terminals at the start of the game. And two of them draw cards, and the other one is Develop. Yeah.
Geronimoo gets two YWs, gives me most of the curses, pulls off the Develop->Grand Market trick before I do, and quickly shuts me out on victory points.
Geronimoo played all these games pretty much perfectly, and I didn't. I'd be tempted to say he was
like a machine -- but machines don't come up with these kinds of engines... yet.
