SheCantSayNo - Stef: 3.5 - 1.5
Game 1 (0 - 1): Crossroads, Herbalist, Stonemason, Loan, Feast, Horse Traders, Wandering Minstrel, Hunting Party, Merchant Ship, Tribute, Colony
I win the Hunting Party split 6-4, but when I see that Stef keeps building I think that I have to end it fast, before he manages to get a few double-Colony turns. I start trashing Colonies into double Provinces with Stonemason, which was probably terrible. I stall and he manages to empty the Provinces with his Stonemasons for the win.
Game 2 (0.5 - 1.5): Shanty Town, Swindler, Urchin*, Village, Philosopher's Stone, Monument, Noble Brigand, Quarry, Spice Merchant, Young Witch, Border Village
I open double-Urchin against Stef's Urchin/Swindler. Not sure which I like better, but I wanted two Mercenaries and then a Village as soon as possible, and since all the cards I wanted were $3 or $6 (BV), I figured I didn't really need the economy early on. We both gain lots of BVs, Monuments, Villages and Shanty Towns. Piles are running low and instead of buying a Province, Stef opts to end it on a tie, which I think was the right call.
Game 3 (1.5 - 1.5): Hermit, Steward, Caravan, Remodel, Scout, Trader, Explorer, Mine, Trading Post, Peddler
We both open Steward/Caravan, planning to get Peddlers and Remodel them into Provinces. I trash only once with Steward before Remodelling it into a Caravan, but the alternative of trashing two Coppers and buying nothing seemed even worse. Stef trashes twice with Steward, giving him a lead in terms of deck quality. I have more luck connecting my Remodel with Peddlers though, which ultimately gives me the win. I do think we both could have used a 2nd Remodel instead of a 4th (for me) and 5th (for him) Caravan, as the Caravans really became more and more useless when we started greening, so a bit more reliability is nice.
Game 4 (2.5 - 1.5): Vagrant, Oracle, Armory, Farming Village, Quarry, Ghost Ship, Haggler, Junk Dealer, Mine, Minion
I open Oracle/Quarry against Stef's Oracle/Armory, gaining a Quarry with his first Armory play. In hindsight I like his open better because of the many $2-4 cards you'd like in your deck. We both grab two Junk Dealers, then I grab a Haggler before going for the Minions, while he goes for Minions straight away, getting the Haggler only later, which confused me a bit. I'm the first to hit $8 on T10 but I buy Minion-Farming Village without even considering Province-Minion, which I think would have been the better play given that there was no +buy. Stef does go for Province-Minion on his T11, and from that point onwards I have to mirror him each turn with a worse deck, which doesn't look good. I grab an Armory on T12 to be able to mirror the Estate gains that I expected to start soon (indeed, on his T13). Stef gets a second Armory, which I'm not too sure about. It increases both his win chances and the chance that he will stall, whereas not getting it almost certainly guarantees at least a tie. We both end up stalling a bit, and I get really lucky by being able to grab the last Province for a 1 point win.
Game 5 (3.5 - 1.5): Herbalist, Hermit, Smugglers, Bureaucrat, Ironmonger, Island, Remodel, Salvager, Margrave, Hoard, Shelters
Stef opens Smugglers/Island (trashing Hovel), I go for Hermit/Ironmonger, getting a Smugglers later. We both grab/smuggle Ironmongers, Margraves and two Hoards, but I have a Madman up my sleeves that I'm lucky enough to be able to play
after two Margraves, resulting in a double-Province + 1 Estate turn with two Hoards in play, thus getting 6 free Golds. From that point onward I have a slight lead that ultimately gives me the win.
Thanks for the games, they were all close and I definitely got luckier than you, though except for some really poor decisions in the first game, I also think I played pretty ok.
