Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[yed]

Please post your results here, and add your commentary and/or discuss other players' matches!

[nopawnsintended]

Not much to see here, but I'll try to make my commentary somewhat entertaining.

Fabian sweeps No Pawns 3-0.

Game 1: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130903/log.51265786e4b0920d7cbf7d58.1378227186029.txt Fabian 36, No Pawns 28

One-handed Sword Fight.  A Familiar mirror where I get 2P on my first opportunity to use Potion to buy Familiar.  That turn sorta felt like I got my left arm lopped off early in the sword fight.  I grab a Tactician, which consistently allows me to pool two bad hands into a mediocre hand ($6 or so), but the whole thing feels off balance.  If I swing really hard, I can get up to $8, but I'm buried in Curses (7, I think) with no way to get rid of them.   I'm happy that the game was as "close" as it was.  Tactician helped stem the tide for me, but it didn't prevent defeat.  This game was all too Familiar for my taste.

Game 2: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130903/log.51265786e4b0920d7cbf7d58.1378227593557.txt Fabian 33, No Pawns 28

Walking the Plank Now, I realize that this isn't thematic.  Pirate ship and Salvager weren't on the board, but after losing the one-handed sword fight in the first game, this game felt like I was being nudged down a plank with no where to go.  In retrospect, it was an obvious Horse Traders into Duke-Duchy game.  I have a 5-2 opening and chapel is on the board.  I half heartedly open Chapel/Trading Post, thinking that maybe I can build some economy and get some Provinces in the mix with Duke-Duchy, but I realize quickly that is too slow (HT, after all, just needs one copper in hand to get two Estates per turn once Dukes and Duchies are out).  Seeing my impending peril, I abandon my original plan, and just go into Horse Traders like Fabian.  He had a 4-3 opening, which for the HT-Duchy-Duke strategy is much better.  He edges a small lead, and late game, I'm hoping to luckily pop a Province.  I take one more step on the plank, and now I'm swimming with the sharks.

Game 3: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130903/log.51265786e4b0920d7cbf7d58.1378227943934.txt Fabian 26, No Pawns 22

Try to Rebuild A Raft, but I am Feasted Upon.  I get a 5-2 opening with Rebuild on the board.  Fabulous Fabian has 4-3 for an opener.  I'm thinking that this is my shot to win on openers, but 4-3 has Feast going for it.  I get so excited with my 5-2 that I open Rebuild-Estate (With an extra reshuffle, how could I not Rebuild all of my Estates?), but if I realized Feast's ravaging effects in advance, I would have opened Rebuild-nothing, I think.  I'm still not sure of that choice.  Maybe this is a board where 4-3 is a better opening than 5-2.  There isn't anything good at 2 to help the Rebuild with economy to get up to 5 (Duchess anyone?), and Feast isn't so bad here to get Rebuilds and close out the Duchies.  Anyway, after the opening, we eventually split the Duchies evenly and he's ahead of me because he's able to get more Rebuilds with his Feasting method while I struggle to get up to $4 in the early and mid game.  Now, I am no longer swimming with the sharks.  I'm their Feast.  And, Fabian's Feast seals the deal.

As they say, luck is where preparation meets opportunity.  In this match, I didn't feel like I had many opportunities to do much interesting, but kudos to Fabian for taking full advantage of the opportunities that came his way.  Before sitting down with the kingdoms, I knew I'd need some good luck and favorable boards to come out on top because I knew Fabian was good.  That didn't happen, and Fabian crushed me.

[HiveMindEmulator]

HiveMindEmulator 3:1 dudeabides

D http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130904/log.506b5cfc0cf21d2313f966fe.1378329236636.txt
H http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130904/log.506b5cfc0cf21d2313f966fe.1378330352399.txt
H http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130904/log.506b5cfc0cf21d2313f966fe.1378332577371.txt
H http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130904/log.506b5cfc0cf21d2313f966fe.1378333555874.txt

Game 1 I went for Swindler and Golds, thinking the game would be short, and with the good trashing of Steward, I'd be hitting his good cards, turning Courtyards into Estates and Fishing Villages into terminals. Neither of these ever happened, and he played a very clean Steward/Fishing Village/Courtyard engine, adding Young Witches at the end, and won fairly handily, though I had a slight chance at the end if I had gotten a lucky Swindle.

Game 2 we both went for Apothecary-based drawing decks, with him opening Courtyard to cycle the Potion faster and me opening Hermit to start trashing/gaining sooner. I drew about as well as I could have hoped, getting a Gold gain off Market square on turn 6. He's forced to take a second Courtyard turn 6 and then opts for Vault over Farming Village, hoping to generate money that way. But I'm able to hit the Provinces first and hold on from there.

Game 3 was about Menagerie/Inn/Goons. Dudeabides decided to open Monument into Stables presumably to get the first Goons, while I went with Spice Merchant, thinking the Menageries were more important. Ironically, I got a very lucky first Spice Merchant turn and bought the first Goons anyway. From there the game just dragged on as Goons games are wont to do, but there wasn't much he could do.

Game 4 was a Univerity/Apprentice game. Dudeabides made the mistake of hanging on to his Estates hoping to trash them with Apprentice, but this just slowed him down. I opt to hang on to the first Copper passed to buy an early Gold, which gives me an edge on the $5-card-gaining, and on turn 12 (as first player), I'm able to use Universities, Smugglers, and Band of Misfits (as Smugglers) to gain 6 Band of Misfits to end the game with a 12-7 win.

Thanks to dudeabides for the games (and for putting up with the torturous Menagerie/Inn turns game 3)!

[WanderingWinder]

HME/DA, why not Hermit/Madman/MarketSquare game 2? I mean, it would not surprise me to hear 'oh it just isn't good here', but I would like to know the reason WHY not, since it seems really good in general.

[Robz888]

HME/DA, why not Hermit/Madman/MarketSquare game 2? I mean, it would not surprise me to hear 'oh it just isn't good here', but I would like to know the reason WHY not, since it seems really good in general.

Yeah, it looks pretty strong to me, there. There's nothing to get in the way of it, and nothing like lightning fast to beat it.

[Kirian]

HME/DA, why not Hermit/Madman/MarketSquare game 2? I mean, it would not surprise me to hear 'oh it just isn't good here', but I would like to know the reason WHY not, since it seems really good in general.

Yeah, it looks pretty strong to me, there. There's nothing to get in the way of it, and nothing like lightning fast to beat it.

Maybe it's just me, but isn't Hermit/MS just not very strong in a mirror?  Getting 5 of each just isn't going to cut it for a single mega-turn, and if one person goes after it (and both know the combo), then the other person has to try to counter it.

I mean, HME has 5 Provinces on T12 here, which is pretty darn fast.  There's a reasonable chance Hermit/MS won't be able to go off before T12.

[Robz888]

HME/DA, why not Hermit/Madman/MarketSquare game 2? I mean, it would not surprise me to hear 'oh it just isn't good here', but I would like to know the reason WHY not, since it seems really good in general.

Yeah, it looks pretty strong to me, there. There's nothing to get in the way of it, and nothing like lightning fast to beat it.

Maybe it's just me, but isn't Hermit/MS just not very strong in a mirror?  Getting 5 of each just isn't going to cut it for a single mega-turn, and if one person goes after it (and both know the combo), then the other person has to try to counter it.

I mean, HME has 5 Provinces on T12 here, which is pretty darn fast.  There's a reasonable chance Hermit/MS won't be able to go off before T12.

It's not that strong in a mirror. But you should mirror it anyway, because if you don't your opponent just wins by doing it.

[Robz888]

And while that is extremely fast, Hermit/Market Square should at least match it, I think, barring bad luck.

[A Drowned Kernel]

Game One
Hermit/Market Square, as played by two people who have never done it before. Militia is there and that seems like it should stop it but I feel like you maybe need to a way to play it every turn to be sure, and I'm scared not to contest it. We split both the hermits and the squares 5/5, but he forgets to keep something around to trash on his megaturn and I get mine first. I'm one buy short of emptying the estates so I buy some provinces and then empty the estates the old fashioned way with my deck full of gold and market squares.

This is such a weird combo.

Game Two
Ill-gotten gains dominates the day, my navigator helps me miss some bad draws and an expand grabs me a province. I think that I have it but he pulls ahead with 4-point fairgrounds (i realized too late that I was just at the threshold too, i either had ten cards or was one short, i forget).

Game Three
We play very similar conspirator/great hall/crossroads engines, enabled by loan and my bishop. He picks up engine parts with smugglers but an unlucky draw on his part and my extra points from bishop secure the victory for me.

Game Four
Upgrade, stables and highway make an engine seem very appealing but there's no parts for less than five, no attacks besides rogue, and Embassy-BM is too dang fast. It sucks winning by playing boring but sometimes that's what you have to do. I'm sure Stef could find some preposterous engine on this board.

Thanks for the match Zporiri.

[WanderingWinder]

HME/DA, why not Hermit/Madman/MarketSquare game 2? I mean, it would not surprise me to hear 'oh it just isn't good here', but I would like to know the reason WHY not, since it seems really good in general.

Yeah, it looks pretty strong to me, there. There's nothing to get in the way of it, and nothing like lightning fast to beat it.

Maybe it's just me, but isn't Hermit/MS just not very strong in a mirror?  Getting 5 of each just isn't going to cut it for a single mega-turn, and if one person goes after it (and both know the combo), then the other person has to try to counter it.

I mean, HME has 5 Provinces on T12 here, which is pretty darn fast.  There's a reasonable chance Hermit/MS won't be able to go off before T12.

I feel like there's a meme in here - nothing can be bad because it's weak in a mirror, right...?
Your other points are good though.

[DG]

I feel like there's a meme in here - nothing can be bad because it's weak in a mirror, right...?

Until you move into multiplayer games.

[andwilk]

andwilk 3 - 3 Rabid

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130903/log.50d27829e4b00e9b124212b1.1378243632771.txt
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130903/log.50d27829e4b00e9b124212b1.1378244501391.txt
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130903/log.50d27829e4b00e9b124212b1.1378245573944.txt
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130903/log.50d27829e4b00e9b124212b1.1378246842040.txt
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130904/log.50d27829e4b00e9b124212b1.1378329286571.txt
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130904/log.50d27829e4b00e9b124212b1.1378330635649.txt

Some very interesting sets here... lots of thinking and decision making to be had.  I'll probably get around to commenting tomorrow and am interested to see what Rabid has to say on these games as well.  Interesting to  note that 2nd player won the first 4 games.

Game 1: Rabid 26 - 41 andwilk
Definately a draw-engine board with BV/Catacombs and Butcher available.  I start with a 5/2 split and decide that Vault is the best opener here over Catacombs and Butcher solely for the fact that I can hit the magical $6 mark anytime I draw Vault.  It allows me to springboard to several early BV/$5-card buys.  I pick up Butcher on turn 5 and use it to turn Estates into Villages and in the late game for turning superfluous BVs into Provinces.

Game 2: andwilk 26 - 38 Rabid
We both open Masquerade/Silver here but that is where the similarities end.  Thinning through Masquerade I go for more of a money deck and pick up a couple Treasure Maps on turns 7 and 8 and am able to pop them on turn 10.  His Mining Village/Bridge deck turns out to be more reliable and resiliant in the end and he is able to win this one handily.

Game 3: andwilk 35 - 36 Rabid
I was a little disappointed that this deck didn't work out better.  It's a Young Witch game with Chancellor as the Bane so both of us decide to just eat the Curses.  Seeing as this will probably be a slower game with lower buying power, I feel the best route to Province here is to thin with Count-en-masse and then use Graverobber to turn Counts into Provinces using FV for additional actions.  Drawing both of my Graverobbers together on turns 18 and 20 probably didn't help my cause.  We split the Duchies and Provinces but I make the error of buying the last Province and still ending behind because I had miscounted the Curses, Estates, and Great Halls.

Game 4: Rabid 6 - 24 andwilk
It's a dream board for a Merchant Guild megaturn with strong trashing (Remake), Worker's Village, Quarry, and Talisman as support cards.  Only thing missing is a lack of draw which could only really be found through Haven and Shanty Town.  On my penultimate turn, I load up the coin tokens to a total of 35 (gaining 27 on this turn) hoping I will be able to use them on my next turn.  Rabid ends up one buy short of a series victory here as if he had 6 buys instead of 5, he would have been able to empty 3 piles and buy a Victory card of his choosing for the win.  Instead, on my final turn I am able to buy 4 Provinces and empty 3 piles for the win.

Game 5: Rabid 21-18 andwilk
Rebuild mirror here with Militias and Warehouses.  Mountebank and Sea Hag get ingored here until the very end when I pick up one Mountebank (probably should have been another Rebuild?).  I win the Duchy split 4-3 by Rebuilding a Duchy into the last Duchy.  I feel it is more important to deny him the final Duchy especially when it left him with a straggling Estate.  I feel like I am in good shape but on turns 12-17 I am only able to Rebuild 2 Duchies into Provinces which leaves me wondering what went wrong.  My turn 16 draw of Duchy/Duchy/Rebuild/Rebuild/Copper didn't help either.  In the meantime, Rabid was picking up Estates and turning Provinces into Provinces.

Game 6: andwilk 42 - 25 Rabid
Merchant Guild here again with a potential for a NV/Merchant Guild megaturn I suppose but feel it will be too slow.  I go for straight trashing with Junk Dealer into money then Grand Markets.  I am able to trash down faster with 3 JDs and win the GM split 6-4.  Two consecutive 3-Province turns on turn 15 and 16 allow me to get the win.  This is one of a small handful of games involving coin tokens (Merchant Guild & Candlestick Maker here) where I feel they are more of a distraction than helpful.

Thanks for the games Rabid!  It was a very entertaining match to play.

[zporiri]

Game One
Hermit/Market Square, as played by two people who have never done it before. Militia is there and that seems like it should stop it but I feel like you maybe need to a way to play it every turn to be sure, and I'm scared not to contest it. We split both the hermits and the squares 5/5, but he forgets to keep something around to trash on his megaturn and I get mine first. I'm one buy short of emptying the estates so I buy some provinces and then empty the estates the old fashioned way with my deck full of gold and market squares.

This is such a weird combo.

Game Two
Ill-gotten gains dominates the day, my navigator helps me miss some bad draws and an expand grabs me a province. I think that I have it but he pulls ahead with 4-point fairgrounds (i realized too late that I was just at the threshold too, i either had ten cards or was one short, i forget).

Game Three
We play very similar conspirator/great hall/crossroads engines, enabled by loan and my bishop. He picks up engine parts with smugglers but an unlucky draw on his part and my extra points from bishop secure the victory for me.

Game Four
Upgrade, stables and highway make an engine seem very appealing but there's no parts for less than five, no attacks besides rogue, and Embassy-BM is too dang fast. It sucks winning by playing boring but sometimes that's what you have to do. I'm sure Stef could find some preposterous engine on this board.

Thanks for the match Zporiri.

There were many things I wish I could take back in the hermit/ms game. As drowned kernel said, it was both of our first experiences with that combo, and we both definitely could've played it better. I forgot to keep my estates around for trashing on my mega turn, and a couple times i bought something (sage or silver) when i shouldve bought nothing to gain madmen.

i fee like my opening buy of baron to get a $6 or $7 (i got lucky and got $7) to buy a masterpiece and gain 4 silvers was the difference in game 2. i quickly fell behind on curses 0-3 but ended up only losing split 4-6. the extra silvers helped me to hit fairgrounds pretty consistently.

game 3 i opted for smugglers/loan to DK's bishop/loan, hoping that ignoring bishop would help me get my engine going faster. my opponent went heavy for great halls for conspirator help and to fuel his crossroads. i tried to contest him for great halls, but in hindsight i shouldve let him have them and focused on conspirator/hamlet. this game was tied just about the whole way, but i got a really unlucky draw when i only had 2 provinces in my deck, and i was never able to make it up and my opponent's engines never had a bad draw (but to his credit, his deck was built to draw his entire deck more consistently).

game 4 i played poorly. i was going to slim down with upgrades into a highway megaturn with the plus buy from woodcutter, but then i realized there was no plus actions (oops) and highways arent really worth it when you only get 2 buys. my opponent (correctly) plays embassy+BM and wins handily.

this series was annoying to lose, as i went from 1 point out of first place to now 3 oh well haha

thanks for the games drowned kernel!

[HiveMindEmulator]

HME/DA, why not Hermit/Madman/MarketSquare game 2? I mean, it would not surprise me to hear 'oh it just isn't good here', but I would like to know the reason WHY not, since it seems really good in general.

Yeah, it looks pretty strong to me, there. There's nothing to get in the way of it, and nothing like lightning fast to beat it.

Maybe it's just me, but isn't Hermit/MS just not very strong in a mirror?  Getting 5 of each just isn't going to cut it for a single mega-turn, and if one person goes after it (and both know the combo), then the other person has to try to counter it.

I mean, HME has 5 Provinces on T12 here, which is pretty darn fast.  There's a reasonable chance Hermit/MS won't be able to go off before T12.

Actually I don't know good benchmarks for how fast Hermit/MS combo is. I've only tried it twice and lost both times. I'm not sure if getting an Apothecary along with it is better or worse than Hermit/Hermit opening or what. I figured I can draw my whole deck with Apothecary anyway, so is Madman really worth the trouble? I guess it probably is if you can get tons of Gold, but I don't know that I'd personally have done better going for it. It's probably one of those things that I should go solo a bunch to get a better feel for it.

[AdamH]

AdamH and Revered Peasant tie 3-3

Video Playlist Link:

Game 1: RP 45, AH 29

Kingdom: Candlestick Maker, Tunnel, Nomad Camp, Plaza, Spy, Talisman, Apprentice, Counting House, Margrave, Nobles

Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130904/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1378349646939.txt
Video:

There's an engine present here, but BM+Margrave is strong, and the best source of draw (and the main attack) for the engine, which is Margrave, is countered by Tunnel. With weak trashing I think this might be a main problem for the engine player, so I decide to keep my options open as long as I can. When it comes time to commit I overestimate Tunnel's ability (Imagine that, me with a bad feel for Tunnel!) to counter and decide to go with more money. The engine comes through for him and he gets a clean victory.

In 17 turns I honestly expected BM+Margrave to perform better than 3 Provinces, but I don't understand what I did incorrectly for my money strategy to perform so poorly.


Game 2: AH 26, RP 18

Kingdom: Vineyard, Embargo, Fortune Teller, Bridge, Bureaucrat, Quarry, Worker's Village, Bazaar, Rebuild, Goons

Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130904/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1378350737935.txt
Video:

I opened 5/2 on a Rebuild/Embargo board. I have nothing else to say about this game.


Game 3: AH 46, RP 30

Kingdom: Hamlet, Swindler, JackOfAllTrades, Cache, Council Room, Cultist, Pillage, Trading Post, Hunting Grounds, Possession

Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130904/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1378351525952.txt
Video:

Jack/Hamlet for both of us. My first player plus not-terrible luck with Hamlets puts me in a great spot, and it only helped when he had an unfortunate misclick that resulted in him discarding a Jack for a buy when he wanted to play it. Thanks, Goko. You're the bestest!


Game 4: RP 30, AH 6

Kingdom: Apothecary, Swindler, Urchin, Wishing Well, Familiar, Pirate Ship, Taxman, Bazaar, City, Possession, with Shelters

Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130904/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1378352528533.txt
Video:

So we both do the same thing here: go for Familiars along with Urchin/Mercenary, then aim for Cities. We both hit $3P on the first shuffle (despite his 5/2 opening), but my Swindler hits his and skips it while mine misses the next shuffle. It seems pretty even, but for whatever reason he's able to get Cities and I'm only able to get more Silvers. The game turns into a blowout from there.

I have no idea what I did wrong here. There's only one small mistake I could find on the video and it shouldn't have had as big of an effect as it did.


Game 5: RP 23, AH 38

Kingdom: Market Square, Oasis, Scout, Wandering Minstrel, Cartographer, Merchant Guild, Soothsayer, Stables, Stash, Grand Market

Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130904/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1378353380818.txt
Video:

Soothsayer is the main force on this board, and the name of the game is to play it as often as you can; since there is no trashing, so filtering and cycling are key. It appears to be another mirror match until he chooses Wandering Winders and Stables while I choose Oases and more Stables, which appears to be the difference.


Game 6: AH 33, RP 52

Kingdom: Oracle, Scheme, Shanty Town, Storeroom, Familiar, Procession, Silk Road, Contraband, Market, Saboteur, with Shelters

Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130904/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1378354446503.txt
Video:

Another 5/2 opening on a Familiar board for my opponent, but he takes this opportunity to build a Silk Road slog deck based around Contraband. I quickly empty the Curse pile into his deck, but it performs well enough to still function decently. I, on the other hand, can't manage to put together a deck that does anything more than buy its fourth Province on Turn 25, even with zero curses in my deck. He takes away a commanding Purple Pile Driver victory (achievement unlocked!) to tie the match.

How my deck failed so fantastically is completely beyond me. 25 turns to 4 Provinces without being attacked at all? The only mistake I can think of was playing a Scheme to trigger a reshuffle at one point in the game, but that shouldn't make me perform eight whole turns worse than BM+Nothing.

You're going to tell me I should have proscribed different cards early (not Potion, but Silk Road or something). I think I made the right move (prove me wrong?). You're going to tell me I should have contested the Silk Roads, but I think Provinces were better here, and by the time I could have contested Silk Roads, piles were so low and I was so far behind that wasn't an option.

There has to be a reason I can't even make a Big Money deck this match that performs even close to what it should. Sometimes I lose focus trying to optimize it and bite myself, and I don't think I did that in this match, but I still did awful! Two games I lost because of this, and I thought I was focused. I thought I had this part of my game ironed out and taken care of. What's going on here?

-------------------------------

Anyways, RP played great, didn't leave much room at all for me to mess up, and this was a good match that I'm glad I got to play. Thanks for the games, Revered Peasant!

[ftl]

Well, you were slower than BM because of the following five buys that BM+Nothing wouldn't have had:
Potion
Familiar
Familiar
Familiar
Scheme

So that's already five turns slower than BM+Nothing for getting to BM benchmarks. Plus the fact that the potion is *worse* than buying nothing for the speed of your own deck would cost you an extra turn or two besides that.

I'm not saying they're necessarily the wrong buys, but it's an explanation for why things went so slowly - all those buys don't contribute to the Silver->Gold->Province progression of BM.

[jsh357]

I think you also want some draw to make BM really work there.  Storeroom/Silk Road is really good in a game that drags out.

[Polk5440]

Game 6: AH 33, RP 52

Kingdom: Oracle, Scheme, Shanty Town, Storeroom, Familiar, Procession, Silk Road, Contraband, Market, Saboteur, with Shelters

Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130904/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1378354446503.txt
Video:

Another 5/2 opening on a Familiar board for my opponent, but he takes this opportunity to build a Silk Road slog deck based around Contraband. I quickly empty the Curse pile into his deck, but it performs well enough to still function decently. I, on the other hand, can't manage to put together a deck that does anything more than buy its fourth Province on Turn 25, even with zero curses in my deck. He takes away a commanding Purple Pile Driver victory (achievement unlocked!) to tie the match.

How my deck failed so fantastically is completely beyond me. 25 turns to 4 Provinces without being attacked at all? The only mistake I can think of was playing a Scheme to trigger a reshuffle at one point in the game, but that shouldn't make me perform eight whole turns worse than BM+Nothing.

You're going to tell me I should have proscribed different cards early (not Potion, but Silk Road or something). I think I made the right move (prove me wrong?). You're going to tell me I should have contested the Silk Roads, but I think Provinces were better here, and by the time I could have contested Silk Roads, piles were so low and I was so far behind that wasn't an option.

There has to be a reason I can't even make a Big Money deck this match that performs even close to what it should. Sometimes I lose focus trying to optimize it and bite myself, and I don't think I did that in this match, but I still did awful! Two games I lost because of this, and I thought I was focused. I thought I had this part of my game ironed out and taken care of. What's going on here?

You need some draw. You have 7 Coppers and a Potion. It's going to take a long time to get money density up where buying Provinces is feasible.

Given your deck at the end, one obvious improvement is to take a Shanty Town  over Silver mid game for sure, if not earlier -- one Shanty Town is always going to draw for you in the deck you built as long as you don't have that Storeroom in hand with it. This is definitely an improvement.

And given your strategy to go for Provinces after cursing him, I think you have to consider Oracle. It gives you some draw and the Spying ability helps you and slows him down some.

[AdamH]

So the consensus is that adding draw (Oracle) to this deck which has cantrips in it will make it better? This goes against my intuition but ok then...

[Polk5440]

So the consensus is that adding draw (Oracle) to this deck which has cantrips in it will make it better? This goes against my intuition but ok then...

Well, I'm not 100% sold. But my point is even if you don't take any Oracles you should have taken one Shanty Town.

I think if I had played it I would have taken a couple Oracles and maybe not the third Familiar after seeing the path he chose. Yes, you risk drawing Familiars dead, but you can spy first, and this gives you a little cycling, too. Not sure if that's actually better than just adding the Shanty Town, though.

[andwilk]

Game 5: RP 23, AH 38

Kingdom: Market Square, Oasis, Scout, Wandering Minstrel, Cartographer, Merchant Guild, Soothsayer, Stables, Stash, Grand Market

Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130904/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1378353380818.txt
Video:

Soothsayer is the main force on this board, and the name of the game is to play it as often as you can; since there is no trashing, so filtering and cycling are key. It appears to be another mirror match until he chooses Wandering Winders and Stables while I choose Oases and more Stables, which appears to be the difference.

And what does a Wandering Winder card do? 

[AdamH]

I've called Wandering "Minstrel" by that name ever since it came out because I'm a fanboy.

[Slyfox]

Slyfox and StrongRhino tie 3-3

#1: Slyfox 39 - StrongRhino 25
Key cards: Ghost Ship, Embassy, Fortress
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130905/log.512fe24ce4b08cb66ebe7d7f.1378392290783.txt

A 5/2 start allows me to buy Ghost Ship/Candlestick Maker.  I pick up two other Ghost Ships, trash down with Spice Merchant, and win the Province split 5/3.

---

#2: StrongRhino 36 - Slyfox 32
Key cards: Quarry, Stonemason, Caravan, Catacombs
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130905/log.512fe24ce4b08cb66ebe7d7f.1378392848690.txt

I try to be (too) clever with Quarry/Stonemason to pick up lots of actions on the cheap, but there isn't really an engine to be made, so I end up with six Caravans (as the cost of three Stonemasons in my deck), which doesn't really help me much.  My opponent plays double-Catacombs terminal draw, and I end up losing by 4 points. 

---

#3: StrongRhino 30 - Slyfox 21
Key cards: Young Witch (Loan as Bane), Cartographer, Menagerie, Scheme
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130905/log.512fe24ce4b08cb66ebe7d7f.1378393727493.txt

A Young Witch board with Loan as Bane.  I opt for Scheme+Young Witch, but his first-turn Loan buy blocks my Young Witch three times (while also trashing down his deck), so even though we both have just one Young Witch, I lose the curse split 7/3, resulting in a solid victory for StrongRhino.

---

#4: Slyfox 45 - StrongRhino 30
Key cards: Highway, Quarry, Squire, Worker's Village, Smugglers
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130905/log.512fe24ce4b08cb66ebe7d7f.1378394393390.txt

A Highway+Quarry board with lots of +buy but no trashing.  A 5/2 opening allows me to win the Highway split 7/3, but StrongRhino's buy of Merchant Guild on Turn 3 (instead of a Highway) contributed to that.  I exploit the Highway/Smuggler synergy to smuggle the final Province to end the game.

---

#5: Slyfox 39 - StrongRhino 28
Key cards: Wharf, Chapel, Fishing Village, Remodel
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130905/log.512fe24ce4b08cb66ebe7d7f.1378395507799.txt

A Wharf/Fishing Village game with Chapel, too.  After my opponent gets a 5/2 split to open Chapel/Wharf, I am not too optimistic.  My opponent chooses playing Wharf over Chapel when they collide on turn 4 so I'm able to thin down my deck faster.  We split Wharfs 5/5, but my 7 Fishing Villages provide more economy (one of which I later Remodel).  I get a lucky draw when I purchase a Remodel on Turn 9, and draw it immediately on the next turn with a Chapel, allowing me to remodel the now-not-needed Chapel into a FV.  StrongRhino buys two Provinces on turn 13 to take the lead.  I'm able to buy two Provinces in turn 14 and 15, plus remodel a FV->Duchy to take a 14 point lead with one Province left in the supply.  Although I still won in the end, I actually mis-played here, as I should have instead Remodeled a Province instead of the FV so I could Province->Province Remodel to end the game.

---

#6: StrongRhino 38 - Slyfox 25
Key cards: Bank, Catacombs, Embassy, Stables, Market
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130905/log.512fe24ce4b08cb66ebe7d7f.1378395917163.txt

With Bank and Stables on the board, I get too cute and try for some big draw to pump up Bank for some big turns.  I trash out my estates with Develop, purchase a Market for +buys, but my opponents's superior Embassy/Bank big money strategy leads to Province buys in turns 7, 9, and 12, and my opponent thus out races me for a solid victory.

End result: 3-3 Tie

Comments/suggestions welcome.

[Rabid]

andwilk 3 - 3 Rabid

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130903/log.50d27829e4b00e9b124212b1.1378243632771.txt
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130903/log.50d27829e4b00e9b124212b1.1378244501391.txt
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130903/log.50d27829e4b00e9b124212b1.1378245573944.txt
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130903/log.50d27829e4b00e9b124212b1.1378246842040.txt
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130904/log.50d27829e4b00e9b124212b1.1378329286571.txt
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130904/log.50d27829e4b00e9b124212b1.1378330635649.txt

Some very interesting sets here... lots of thinking and decision making to be had.  I'll probably get around to commenting tomorrow and am interested to see what Rabid has to say on these games as well.  Interesting to  note that 2nd player won the first 4 games.

Not often you see 4 2nd player wins, These were some tricky boards.
I was confused by several so welcome any feedback on my play.

Game 1: Rabid 26 - 41 andwilk
Definately a draw-engine board with BV/Catacombs and Butcher available.  I start with a 5/2 split and decide that Vault is the best opener here over Catacombs and Butcher solely for the fact that I can hit the magical $6 mark anytime I draw Vault.  It allows me to springboard to several early BV/$5-card buys.  I pick up Butcher on turn 5 and use it to turn Estates into Villages and in the late game for turning superfluous BVs into Provinces.

I'm not sure what went wrong for me here.
I guess I needed a second Butcher or more + card from Nobels?
Or maybe just luck to line up BV with butcher?

Game 2: andwilk 26 - 38 Rabid
We both open Masquerade/Silver here but that is where the similarities end.  Thinning through Masquerade I go for more of a money deck and pick up a couple Treasure Maps on turns 7 and 8 and am able to pop them on turn 10.  His Mining Village/Bridge deck turns out to be more reliable and resiliant in the end and he is able to win this one handily.

I much prefer the bridge to treasure maps here.
The + buy especially with mining village + 2 coins helps a lot in end game.

Game 3: andwilk 35 - 36 Rabid
I was a little disappointed that this deck didn't work out better.  It's a Young Witch game with Chancellor as the Bane so both of us decide to just eat the Curses.  Seeing as this will probably be a slower game with lower buying power, I feel the best route to Province here is to thin with Count-en-masse and then use Graverobber to turn Counts into Provinces using FV for additional actions.  Drawing both of my Graverobbers together on turns 18 and 20 probably didn't help my cause.  We split the Duchies and Provinces but I make the error of buying the last Province and still ending behind because I had miscounted the Curses, Estates, and Great Halls.

#vpON for the win!
I felt like I was winning these easily winning the curse split 7 - 3.
But grave robbing up to province turned out to be better than I thought, really close game at the end.

Game 4: Rabid 6 - 24 andwilk
It's a dream board for a Merchant Guild megaturn with strong trashing (Remake), Worker's Village, Quarry, and Talisman as support cards.  Only thing missing is a lack of draw which could only really be found through Haven and Shanty Town.  On my penultimate turn, I load up the coin tokens to a total of 35 (gaining 27 on this turn) hoping I will be able to use them on my next turn.  Rabid ends up one buy short of a series victory here as if he had 6 buys instead of 5, he would have been able to empty 3 piles and buy a Victory card of his choosing for the win.  Instead, on my final turn I am able to buy 4 Provinces and empty 3 piles for the win.

Really powerful board.
Your turn 3 scheme + remake was huge I think.
Also I overvalued early merchants guild.
You played this one much better than me.
Apart from leaving me the chance to win on 3 piles.
On turn 12 you should have taken at least 1 green card.

Game 5: Rabid 21-18 andwilk
Rebuild mirror here with Militias and Warehouses.  Mountebank and Sea Hag get ingored here until the very end when I pick up one Mountebank (probably should have been another Rebuild?).  I win the Duchy split 4-3 by Rebuilding a Duchy into the last Duchy.  I feel it is more important to deny him the final Duchy especially when it left him with a straggling Estate.  I feel like I am in good shape but on turns 12-17 I am only able to Rebuild 2 Duchies into Provinces which leaves me wondering what went wrong.  My turn 16 draw of Duchy/Duchy/Rebuild/Rebuild/Copper didn't help either.  In the meantime, Rabid was picking up Estates and turning Provinces into Provinces.

I don't really understand rebuild.
I guess this was first player + shuffle / militia luck??

Game 6: andwilk 42 - 25 Rabid
Merchant Guild here again with a potential for a NV/Merchant Guild megaturn I suppose but feel it will be too slow.  I go for straight trashing with Junk Dealer into money then Grand Markets.  I am able to trash down faster with 3 JDs and win the GM split 6-4.  Two consecutive 3-Province turns on turn 15 and 16 allow me to get the win.  This is one of a small handful of games involving coin tokens (Merchant Guild & Candlestick Maker here) where I feel they are more of a distraction than helpful.

Yep I got outplayed in this one.
My first $6 was junk dealer to your gold.
I never found time to add economy, and your end game adding remodel was very well timed.

Thanks for the games Rabid!  It was a very entertaining match to play.

Yep really fun games, many thanks for the match.

[jsh357]

Games against Eevee

Game 1
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130905/log.505c6645a2e6c78ad2ed5ad3.1378402534616.txt
First player 5/2 Cultist game.  Sorry, Eevee.
1-0

Game 2
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130905/log.505c6645a2e6c78ad2ed5ad3.1378403286530.txt
This game was pretty funny.  We gained 11 Platina.  I open Doctor on 5/2, then head for a Jester and Caravan stack.  In the end we split those even, but I get an early Mint that lets me draw my big money cards more easily and coast to a win.  Not too much else to say about it.  My Jester got some pretty good hits here.  I considered Fortune teller, but I didn't think the combo with Jester would be consistent enough.
2-0

Game 3
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130905/log.505c6645a2e6c78ad2ed5ad3.1378404193742.txt
A Rebuild game with Feodum and Knights.  That was enough to make me think twice about going pure Rebuild.  Eevee goes pure Rebuild, I go for Feoda and a Knight to try and trash some of his Duchies.  After getting setup cards, I start aiming at getting Duchies before he can.  Soon enough, Eevee doesn't have enough Duchies to Rebuild for the win and my Feoda are worth enough points to protect me in the event he spikes a Province.
3-0