Here is the commentary on the draw between Jdaki and myself.
Game 1:
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130825/log.50d1a9b7e4b00e9b1242089f.1377461478129.txt Jdaki 38 No Pawns 32
This game was a tricky Swindler game. Feodum was in the kingdom, so was Pirate Ship, but Tournament was key. We both open Swindler/Tournament. Jdaki gets more Gold than I do in the midgame, and kinda maintains a tenuous lead throughout the game. Interesting strategic note: I forgot that point tracker was on (and that we had agreed to have it on) until about 2/3 through the game when Jdaki gets the Trusty Steed and starts milking it for Silver. There was an interesting "trash a Feodum" give him something else tension in the midgame. At the end, I got a small lead on the turn before Jdaki closed it out. This one was just too messy for me to really know what was optimal. I think Jdaki's early game Golds ended up being key.
Game 2:
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130825/log.50d1a9b7e4b00e9b1242089f.1377462230173.txt Jdaki 15 No Pawns 44
This was a Governor game. I hadn't played Governor since isotropic went down, but I was happy to see it. Grand Market was on the board, but I think it was a little bit of a trap -- too slow to build up to multiple province turns with Govna'. Anyway, I supplemented my Governor with some Death Carts that landed me some super early Provinces. With Jdaki pumping me full of Silver, me gaining Gold, and getting labbed by Jdaki's governor-for-the-draw, the game ended quickly. I also liked that Jdaki bought Masq for me to give him some of the ruins I ended up not trashing because of my Death Cart.
Game 3:
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130825/log.50d1a9b7e4b00e9b1242089f.1377462858608.txt Jdaki 39 No Pawns 33
This one was interesting. I open Chapel/Silver with the intention to go into a Journeyman draw bonanza. Jdaki opens Silver-Silver for a BM-Ghost Ship thing. My Journeyman was sort of an interesting soft counter to Ghost Ship, but his strategy ends up pulling through in the end. He had to buy the last two Provinces, and he did. I think the difference was likely the fact that I bought Rogue midgame instead of another Gold. That was probably a bad decision. Maybe the Caches were a bad idea. I'm not sure, but I sure stalled in the last couple of turns.
Game 4:
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130825/log.50d1a9b7e4b00e9b1242089f.1377463473151.txt Jdaki 30 No Pawns 40
This one felt Kludgy. I opened Monument/Silver with the intent to pile up some VP chips while slowing down his Smugglers/Tournament open with Witch later on. But, I ended up having massive Monument/Witch collision. Favoring Witch over Monument when they collided was a good idea and I feel like it really slowed him down. He piled up 7 Tournaments, Scavenger had some utility for me, but in the end, this one came down to Witching well. Maybe it was luck too. I'm not sure.
Game 5:
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130825/log.50d1a9b7e4b00e9b1242089f.1377464196533.txt Jdaki 35 No Pawns 32
I was really disappointed in this one, mostly because of the path dependence of the game. Sea Hag, Upgrade, Ghost Ship, and both Fishing and Farming Villages were key. Also, Moat was on the board. My goal at the outset was to get Sea Hag, get some Upgrades to clean out the inevitable Curses, maybe a Moat or two, and use the Farming Village to skip past the Curses I didn't manage to trash. What was disappointing was that the first two plays of Jdaki's Hag flipped my Upgrade. Such is life. I adapted by getting money and more money, and trying to get points while I could. Nevertheless, I knew that some Villagey Ghost Ship thing was headed my way, and the fact that I was two cards thicker than I should have been was going to mean that his deck was going to be way faster to that than mine. Thus, I decided to plan on Ghost Ship mitigation rather than full-on trying to do what he was going to do. And, it almost worked. By the time he was Ghost Shipping me every turn, I had a significant Province lead, and some key cards like Moat and several Farming Villages to help with the mitigation. It wasn't enough, but it was the best effort I felt I could put forth given the path that I ended up following. Despite not buying a single GS, I only lose by 3.
Game 6:
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130825/log.50d1a9b7e4b00e9b1242089f.1377464881596.txt Jdaki 37 No Pawns 42
This game was interesting, and then frustrating, and then interesting again. Noble Brigand was on the board, and I decided from the beginning that it would be key. As such, I invested heavily in Cache, and made sure I had the NB upper hand. Plus, you could probably say that my NBs hit pretty well. I stake a lead that I see Jdaki trying to eat away by getting Duchies. So, I get some Duchies too. We run out Duchies and both start really, really, really choking on Green. So, we buy more Estates. At some point in the midgame, I picked up an Herbalist, which helped me keep playing good money. Once Estates ran out, I had a 7 point lead with one Province remaining... 5 or 6 NBs remaining and Vineyard is on the board. Jdaki's only path to victory is to buy potion and get some Vineyards. I know this, and hope that I can hit $4 5 to 6 more times. Herbalist feels like it is key in this task, and I successfully close out before Jdaki can climb up the Vine wall to nab a Province.
All in all, these games were definitely thinkers, and there was lots of variety. Thanks to Jdaki for the interesting set of games.
