Print

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

[Elestan]

This tournament is sanctioned by Rio Grande, and will be a qualifier for the World Masters, if there is one in 2014.

This event will feature custom-designed kingdoms drawn from all of the Dominion sets and expansions, and will emphasize strategy and high-level play.

Details and a registration link are here.

Convention preregistration closes soon!  If you would like to reserve a place after registration has closed, email dominion2013@ucon-gaming.org.

Registration has now closed, but there are still some tickets available for purchase at the con.  I hope to see you there!

[zporiri]

I live in Rhode Island, and got excited when I saw it was at U-con. Unfortunately, that's different from UCONN the school

[shark_bait]

Hmmmm, haven't been playing too much lately, but 15 minutes away might be too good to pass up on.  Any other F.DS people thinking of going?

[Robz888]

Oh, woah. Well, I'm back in Michigan, so sign me up!

[shark_bait]

Oh, woah. Well, I'm back in Michigan, so sign me up!

Welcome back!

[Kirian]

Alas, I am unlikely to be at U-Con this year, as you already know from my email.

Robz, shark_bait, you should come to ConFusion in January too!  Much gaming fun as well as non-gaming fun!

[AdamH]

Oh man, this isn't an unreasonable drive for me, and I don't have solid plans for that weekend, but I'm sure the g/f might not appreciate me eating up an entire Saturday to do this instead of seeing her... Someone needs to talk me out of this or else I just might show up...

[jsh357]

Oh man, this isn't an unreasonable drive for me, and I don't have solid plans for that weekend, but I'm sure the g/f might not appreciate me eating up an entire Saturday to do this instead of seeing her... Someone needs to talk me out of this or else I just might show up...

You only get one chance to go to U-Con.  You'll have plenty of chances to see your g/f. 

... That's how g/f logic works, right?

[Polk5440]

Oh man, this isn't an unreasonable drive for me, and I don't have solid plans for that weekend, but I'm sure the g/f might not appreciate me eating up an entire Saturday to do this instead of seeing her... Someone needs to talk me out of this or else I just might show up...

Don't do it! You need to start defrosting a turkey or something for that amazing Thanksgiving meal that will take all week to prepare.

Did I talk you out of it?

[AdamH]

I mean, I'm seeing her the weekend before, and we're trying to make Thanksgiving plans work... oh man there's not an obvious reason to not do this... I could be losing so many boy points because of this...

[Kirian]

I mean, I'm seeing her the weekend before, and we're trying to make Thanksgiving plans work... oh man there's not an obvious reason to not do this... I could be losing so many boy points because of this...

Simple solution:  Bring her to U-Con.  Problem solved!

[Elestan]

I could be losing so many boy points because of this...

Bring her along!  There are plenty of games at the con for hardcore and casual gamers both!

[Polk5440]

I could be losing so many boy points because of this...

Bring her along!  There are plenty of games at the con for hardcore and casual gamers both!

That's a good idea. You'd have your own cheerleader. Or better yet, she could enter the tournament, too. You do play Dominion together, right?

By the way, what are "boy points"? Are they like Victory Points and you are worried about being cursed? Or are they like coin tokens? In which case, they need to be spent at some point....

You could always just ask her opinion.

[Polk5440]

I am going to have to pass on it this year. 

[AdamH]

Unfortunately she's not into Dominion -- she dislikes games with lots of interesting and difficult decisions, which is exactly what I like about games, including Dominion. Also, she's pretty introverted so a convention where there are a lot of people is something I'm pretty sure she'd hate.

And boy points, well boy points are just a discrete way of measuring the g/f's happiness with me. I've never met a girl that will confirm the existence of these boy points but I'm sure that after some abstraction they are there. The more boy points I have, the happier she is, which DIRECTLY translates to how happy I am. If I go below a certain number of boy points then I become single.

...oh yeah and I posted about this on my IRL group's page just to see who else would be interested in going and a couple of them said they would do it. That was clearly a mistake. Now it's just the g/f's veto power I have to get past, I'm going to mention it tonight...

[Ozle]

Is she Pretty?

If so I will look after her for you while you're away

[AdamH]

Is she Pretty?

Yes, very.

...but we're long distance, which is why I stand to lose boy points by going instead of seeing her.

[Ozle]

Is she Pretty?

Yes, very.

...but we're long distance, which is why I stand to lose boy points by going instead of seeing her.

You're 28! They should be MAN points now!

[liopoil]

Thanks for posting this, I wouldn't have found out about this otherwise. I'll probably be going

[Voltaire]

Same day as the Doctor Who 50th? Man...otherwise I would make an unreasonable train journey for this.

[Kirian]

Thanks for posting this, I wouldn't have found out about this otherwise. I'll probably be going

Whoa, whoa, liopoil is semi-local too?

[AdamH]

Soo... after looking around on the website, it looks like pre-registration ends tomorrow night. That E-mail address in the OP, though, can I use that to get into the tournament after tomorrow night? Is that guaranteed? I probably won't want to go to any other parts of the convention.

Is there an extra fee to get into the convention or is it just $10 to play in the tournament? I may bring some IRL friends who play...

[Robz888]

It looks like you have to pay $10 to get into the convention and $10 to play Dominion. But you can pay the convention fee at the door.

Please come! Would be fun to meet more Forumers in person.

[Elestan]

Unfortunately she's not into Dominion -- she dislikes games with lots of interesting and difficult decisions, which is exactly what I like about games, including Dominion. Also, she's pretty introverted so a convention where there are a lot of people is something I'm pretty sure she'd hate.

Most of the people at this convention are introverts, so that's one thing she'd have in common to start with.  If she's never been to a convention before, I'd highly encourage trying it at least once, even if she just does some of the lighter open gaming. There are also roleplaying games, if she's so inclined...and it's at a hotel, so she can always go back up to the room to recharge her social batteries.  Con attendees get hotel rooms for nearly half price.

[Elestan]

Soo... after looking around on the website, it looks like pre-registration ends tomorrow night. That E-mail address in the OP, though, can I use that to get into the tournament after tomorrow night? Is that guaranteed? I probably won't want to go to any other parts of the convention.

Is there an extra fee to get into the convention or is it just $10 to play in the tournament? I may bring some IRL friends who play...

Convention pre-registration membership is $20 for Fri-Sat-Sun or $15 for just Saturday; these go up by $5 at the door.  Note that this is way less than you'd pay for the big cons like Origins or GenCon.  The Dominion tournament ticket is $10 additional.

Online pre-registration might not get closed for another day or two after the posted date; they sometimes allow a grace period (but best not to rely on it).

If you don't get your ticket before pre-registration closes, you can email me at dominion2013@ucon-gaming.org, and I'll hold a ticket for you.  Latecomers have to pay the at-the-door price for convention membership, though, and I'll ask them to show up early on Saturday to pick up their tickets.  Unclaimed tickets will be released for sale if the event sells out.

[Elestan]

Convention pre-registration membership is $20 for Fri-Sat-Sun or $15 for just Saturday; these go up by $5 at the door.  Note that this is way less than you'd pay for the big cons like Origins or GenCon.

I'll add that if these fees are a hardship, you can also pay in time by volunteering.  Four hours of time helping with the convention gets your weekend badge price refunded.  See https://www.ucon-gaming.org/participation/volunteers for details.

[shark_bait]

Signed up!  See ya guys there! 

[Elestan]

Good news!  Preregistration has been extended until Friday ( Nov 8 ).  So if you haven't signed up yet, there's still time!

[Robz888]

So I'm definitely /in!

What time does the tournament actually start?

[Robz888]

Nevermind, I found it. 1:00 to 8:00 Pm, it says.

[A Drowned Kernel]

God dammit, how did I miss this? I live in Chicago and could have totally gone...

[Kirian]

God dammit, how did I miss this? I live in Chicago and could have totally gone...

Still another week to get in!

[AdamH]

Just to verify, there's a good chance I'll actually be able to go to this thing (and maybe bring an IRL friend along). The OP was edited today and there's a link to registration. Is it still possible to go and participate in the tournament?

[AdamH]

Plans have changed and I'm actually able to make it for the tournament this weekend! I mean, I don't want to drive 4+ hours to find  out it's already full, is there any way I can reserve a spot (for me and one other) still, or is that impossible to do?

[Kirian]

I can't speak for Elestan, but unless something has changed there will almost certainly be signups available same day.

That said, send an email to the address he had in the first message, and he'll be able to reserve a seat.

[AdamH]

Done, thank you.

[liopoil]

I'm going for sure now too!

Thanks for posting this, I wouldn't have found out about this otherwise. I'll probably be going

Whoa, whoa, liopoil is semi-local too?

yep!

[Robz888]

Yay!!!!

[Kirian]

I really wish I were able to go, just to meet all of you!  Instead, I shall attempt to rope you into going to ConFusion in January if you're local.

Get a group picture!

[AdamH]

I really wish I were able to go, just to meet all of you!  Instead, I shall attempt to rope you into going to ConFusion in January if you're local.

Get a group picture!

I'll be bringing my camera

[Robz888]

Yay

[Ozle]

I really wish I were able to go, just to meet all of you!  Instead, I shall attempt to rope you into going to ConFusion in January if you're local.

Get a group picture!

I'll be bringing my camera

I am expecting some sort of various Dominion card poses....

[Qvist]

I really wish I were able to go, just to meet all of you!  Instead, I shall attempt to rope you into going to ConFusion in January if you're local.

Get a group picture!

I'll be bringing my camera

I am expecting some sort of various Dominion card poses....

Great idea. Make an Advisor imitation photo!

[SCSN]

I really wish I were able to go, just to meet all of you!  Instead, I shall attempt to rope you into going to ConFusion in January if you're local.

Get a group picture!

I'll be bringing my camera

I am expecting some sort of various Dominion card poses....

Great idea. Make an Advisor imitation photo!

And I expect a Scout imitation from Robz!

[Robz888]

I really wish I were able to go, just to meet all of you!  Instead, I shall attempt to rope you into going to ConFusion in January if you're local.

Get a group picture!

I'll be bringing my camera

I am expecting some sort of various Dominion card poses....

Great idea. Make an Advisor imitation photo!

I am not embarrassed to say that I have actually been practicing my pose for this.

[WalrusMcFishSr]

Shave your head!

[shark_bait]

Rules have just been released.  Overall, it looks pretty good as far as a tournament goes.

Qualifiers consist of 4 games scored either 6-4-2-0 or 5-3-1 (4/3 player game).  Top 8 advance to semis.  Prior champion has a bye to semis (not to keen about this one).

Semis are 3 games scores in the 5-3-1 style with top 3 advancing to the final.

Final is a single game.  (not too happy about this either)

Other rules notes regard qualfiers having a 40 minute time limit and semis having an hour time limit.  Games not finished will give all players equal turns and then be scored.  I've a bit nervous about this one as slow-play could be abused against a player going for a megaturn.  There are rules regarding slow play,

While thoughtful play is encouraged, players should not unnecessarily delay the game, and should plan their next turn while their opponents are playing. If a player takes more than a minute between card plays, another player may request that (s)he play a card or pass that phase of their turn. Further delays should be referred to the Judge. Players who appear to be deliberately delaying the game to take advantage of the time limit may be penalized at the Judge's discretion

It looks like an okay ruling, it's just very subjective.  I would like to see a clause that allows games to be finished to completion if it appears obvious that a player is slow-playing to game the system.

There is also no extra material like dice or notepads allowed, this is a good rule to have imo.

The starting deck may also be stacked to the players preference with the exception of 5/2 or 2/5 being forbidden in some cases.

All kingdoms are premade and not available to be seen until the start off the game.

Overall, I'd say that it looks like a pretty good set-up.  My few qualms are minor with the exception of the final being a single game.

Should be a fun afternoon regardless though 

[Ozle]

Prior champion has a bye to the Semi's?!
Friend of the Organiser?

[Polk5440]

So, I am not going, but I would be willing to play a few 3-4 player practice games on Goko (with no point counter) this evening or tomorrow evening, if anyone is interested.

[Elestan]

I would like to see a clause that allows games to be finished to completion if it appears obvious that a player is slow-playing to game the system.

In a perfect world we wouldn't have time limits, but in a convention setting time is a limited resource, because another event could be booked in that space right after the tournament is scheduled to end.  Also, allowing one game to run long would keep all of the other players waiting idle, which is not fun for them.

There will be advance warning as the time limit approaches, but players should also factor the time limit into their strategy decisions; choosing a very long game strategy will carry some additional risk in this format, especially in the qualifier rounds.

if I decide someone's taking advantage, I'll deal with it, but it is my hope that all of the players will show good sportsmanship and not give me cause to intervene.   Come.  Play.  Have fun!

[Kirian]

I would like to see a clause that allows games to be finished to completion if it appears obvious that a player is slow-playing to game the system.

In a perfect world we wouldn't have time limits, but in a convention setting time is a limited resource, because another event could be booked in that space right after the tournament is scheduled to end.  Also, allowing one game to run long would keep all of the other players waiting idle, which is not fun for them.

There will be advance warning as the time limit approaches, but players should also factor the time limit into their strategy decisions; choosing a very long game strategy will carry some additional risk in this format, especially in the qualifier rounds.

if I decide someone's taking advantage, I'll deal with it, but it is my hope that all of the players will show good sportsmanship and not give me cause to intervene.   Come.  Play.  Have fun!

Since Elestan isn't a regular here, and I am, I want to note for anyone worrying about these sorts of judgment calls that he is quite level-headed.  You needn't worry about randomly bad decisions.

(He and I were both in the finals of last year's tournament.  We both lost terribly to Familiars.)

[shark_bait]

(He and I were both in the finals of last year's tournament.  We both lost terribly to Familiars.)

Familiar... Final... ughhh, that sounds like a terrible chance for luck of the draw to decide the best of 1 game.

[Kirian]

(He and I were both in the finals of last year's tournament.  We both lost terribly to Familiars.)

Familiar... Final... ughhh, that sounds like a terrible chance for luck of the draw to decide the best of 1 game.

Even worse, it was Familiar with Moat!  And yes... I drew 2P on the first shuffle.

[AdamH]

In a 3+ player game with Familiar and Moat, you'll have to do some convincing to get me to not open double Moat. Maybe Moat/Silver and pick up a second (and third and fourth) Moat on the reshuffle?

[Robz888]

In a 3+ player game with Familiar and Moat, you'll have to do some convincing to get me to not open double Moat. Maybe Moat/Silver and pick up a second (and third and fourth) Moat on the reshuffle?

Oh, should you open Potion, though? You need your own Familiar, that's more important. Potion/Moat opening is possible, though.

[AdamH]

Not me. I'd rather turtle.

[shark_bait]

To the simulators!  Moat and Familiar 4-player dominion.

[shark_bait]

So we've got 4 of us F.DSers going then?  Let's bring home the bacon boys!

[Kirian]

So?  What's the word?  Who won?!

[shark_bait]

I don't have time to do a full right up at the moment, I also can't remember all the sets.  I *should* have won.  After getting 3 1st's and a 2nd in the qualifiers followed by 3 wins in the semi's I made it to the finals.

During the final game my chances for victory are looking fantastic as I have a potent Goons/Governor engine kicking.  And then I proceed to throw the match.  I ended the game of 3 piles forgetting that Governor trash for benefit is *exactly*.  I needed to pile out $3 cards and I only had 1 of my shelters in hand.  Additionally, I forgot that one of my opponents had purchased a significant (2 Provinces) worth of green.  I piled out the game regardless of the VP hit on my mistake and ended up tied on points but losing on turns. 

On the bright side, I had a great time at a very well run event and got a free $35 game for 2nd place.  And now, I don't feel obligated to go to the national tournament because I probably shouldn't go anyways as I need to prepare for my candidacy exam during the summer.

Hopefully the tournament organizer will post the Kingdom here.  They were all hand-selected and all (with the exception of the IGG one) extremely well made.  They made for very interesting games that took a lot of skill.  They were also very good for 3-player games.  The dynamics of 2 players taking 1 strategy vs another player doing a different one were present and in most games 3-pile/VP management was an important consideration.

[Elestan]

I'd like to thank everyone who showed up and played; the presence of the DS.com folks definitely upped the game, and made it a lot more exciting for the good players, and more educational for the less experienced ones.

From the organizer's chair, I can offer this pieces of advice to anyone else considering running a similar tournament:  Make shuffle charts in advance for every possible number of players.  Shuffle charts are the tables used to seat players in the Kingdoms each round, so that one can optimally satisfy the following (In priority order):

• No 2-player games allowed.
• No player plays the same Kingdom twice.
• As few 4-player games as possible.
• All players play the same number of 4-player games, to the extent possible.
• Each player plays each other player as few times as possible.

I had 21 players reserve tickets, and had charts pre-prepared for 21-27 players.  The charts are fairly easy for multiples of three, but they can take quite a while to work out when the 4-player rules come into play.

Unfortunately, I had four no-shows, and only two sign-ups, which left me with 19 players.  So while the games were running, I was hunched over my computer working out the shuffle permutations while my assistant supervised the games.  In the end, I came up with charts that met the critical rules, although they had some players playing each other more than I would have liked.  And then someone dropped out halfway through the prelims, so I had to redo them.

But, in the end, it seemed like the players had fun, and that's the important thing.

Thanks again to everyone who showed up, and maybe we'll try this again next year!

[Elestan]

I *should* have won.  After getting 3 1st's and a 2nd in the qualifiers followed by 3 wins in the semi's I made it to the finals.

shark_bait definitely had the consistently strongest play throughout the tournament.  Good job, mate!

Hopefully the tournament organizer will post the Kingdom here.

Your wish is my command.  My only request is that nobody (except me) enter these in the DS.com kingdom design contest.  Also, if anyone plays these sets online, please post a link to the log in this thread.

Preliminary Kingdoms:

• Shelters, Embargo, Chapel, Forager, Death Cart, Pirate Ship, Cultist, Junk Dealer, Torturer, Fairgrounds, Farmland
• Colony, Platinum, Potions, Courtyard, Develop, Menagerie, Warehouse, Fortress, Noble Brigand, Duke, Grand Market, Transmute, Apothecary
• Duchess, Tunnel, Baron, Bishop, Jack of All Trades, Silk Road, Scout, Walled Village, Hunting Grounds, Count
  (This was the only 4P Kingdom, until a player dropped out)
• Native Village, Secret Chamber, Vagrant, Lookout, Bridge, Sea Hag, Butcher, Ghost Ship, Tribute, Harvest
• Haven, Urchin, Cutpurse, Horse Traders, Spice Merchant, Trader, Cache, Counting House, King's Court, Forge
• Colony, Platinum, Herbalist, Masterpiece, Swindler, Farming Village, Remake, Witch, Hoard, Bank, Expand, Peddler

Semifinal Kingdoms:

• Potions, Crossroads, Fortune Teller, Hermit, Rats, Highway, Knights, Rebuild, Harem, Vineyard, Golem
• Fool's Gold, Squire, Doctor, Market Square(Bane), Menagerie, Shantytown, Watchtower, Young Witch, Merchant Guild, Pillage, Tactician
• Poorhouse, Coppersmith, Gardens, Moneylender, Noble Brigand, Bandit Camp, Counterfeit, Ill-Gotten-Gains, Rogue, Thief
  This was the only Kingdom I wasn't happy with, and looking back over my notes, I see why.  Kirian (who had kindly reviewed a few of these sets) had noted the likelihood of an IGG rush on this one, and I'd planned to adjust for it, but the change got lost in the shuffle, so to speak.  My bad, and kudos to Kirian for the correct call.

Speed Tiebreaker Kingdom:  Chapel, Market Square, Bridge, Gardens, Ironworks, Talisman, Council Room, Haggler, Jester, Border Village

That one had a 20 minute time limit, but finished in six, and I'll bet that it could be finished in less.

Final Kingdom:  Shelters, Potions, Platinum, Colony, Cellar, Scheme, Fishing Village, Baron, Marauder, Baker, Fairgrounds, Governor, Goons, Scrying Pool.

The design plan on this one was different:  Rather than tricky strategic interactions, I decided to make the final set a tour-de-force of all of the Dominion sets, to commemorate their completion.  So I had one card from each set (counting promos as a set), preferring cards that were in keeping with the set's theme.

...and that's all the sets that were played!  I'll save the ones I didn't end up using, for future fun.

[Elestan]

So?  What's the word?  Who won?!

The winner, btw, was Jordan M., who I believe you know from the Michigan convention scene.

[AdamH]

After the first rounds, going into the semifinals, I was the top seed and Nick (dethwing, my IRL friend) was number two with the same number of points. I hadn't played anyone in the first rounds that ended up making it to the end, though, so there's that. I had a blast playing with those people, they were for the most part super-nice.

In the semis I got last place in my first game which took me out of realistic contention for the finals. I played the IGG set and I didn't have any problems with it. I went for Thief/Gardens with Poor Houses and actually won the 3P game.

Some of these kingdoms were a lot of fun to play, particularly my game with Robz (and someone else) on the second semifinal kingdom, and also the Prelim kingdom number 2.

I may write more, and I have pictures that I may upload but I'm really tired right now. We got up early and drove 3.5 hours to get there on time and because of the snow it took until 1:30AM to get home, so I'm going to bed.

It was awesome to meet you guys, though: shark bait, robz, lio, EFHW, and other non-forumers that hung out with us and lots of other people there that were all awesome to talk to.

...and shark bait, you were the true champion in my heart. We'll just pretend you had bought a province that game and put it away before counting your VP total 

[AdamH]

Group photo: http://www.adamhorton.com/files/dom01.jpg
EDIT: From left to right in this photo are
AdamH, liopoil, EFHW, Robz, shark bait

Scout: http://www.adamhorton.com/files/dom02.jpg

Advisor: http://www.adamhorton.com/files/dom03.jpg

As I write this these are not cropped or anything, I may re-upload.

[dethwing]

I took last in the final, lost 23-23-17. We all oppened celler/goons [yay Baker....]. I think in retrospect, I'd have opened cellar/governor, and gone for goons later. My 3rd turn 5 copper hand was all set to grab an early governor when it got the smackdown from a goons. Ugh. I knew it was gonna be rough after that. I think I bought a 2nd goons over a 3rd [or maybe 4th] governor, which was probably a mistake. Should have prioritized getting the governors. I think, everyone watching the game thought that shark_bait had it locked up, and we were all stunned to find he lost on turns.

Overall, I had an absolute blast playing with you guys. Great tournament, great experience.

[dethwing]

Jordan's win was, by the way, the most unlikely result I've ever seen.

He was in 9th place after the opening rounds, with the top 8 advancing [along with the previous year's champion]. But one of the top 8 had to drop out, so he snuck in as a replacement.

Then, going into the final match, he was on 6 point, with 3 others on 10. He need both to win AND have at least one of the other 10 point people come in 3rd just to force a tie. Which happened.
He then needed to win a tiebreaker to get into the finals. Which he did, finally winning from 3rd position in a goons game. Unbelievable.

[Elestan]

I played the IGG set and I didn't have any problems with it. I went for Thief/Gardens with Poor Houses and actually won the 3P game.

I think that sometimes 2-player duelist players forget how potent Thief is in a multiplayer Gardens game.  I saw a number of people disdaining it today, at least until someone else cursed them with their own purloined IGG.

[Elestan]

Then, going into the final match, [Jordan] was on 6 point, with 3 others on 10. He need both to win AND have at least one of the other 10 point people come in 3rd just to force a tie. Which happened.

He definitely earned that win on Semifinal set 1 though.  I think he was the only one who constructed the full Rebuild/Crossroads/Hermit engine.

[shark_bait]

Game 1:  Colony, Platinum, Potions, Courtyard, Develop, Menagerie, Warehouse, Fortress, Noble Brigand, Duke, Grand Market, Transmute, Apothecary

With a 40 minute time limit, this game was a bit nerve-wracking.  The engine to be build here consists of Apothecary/Menagerie/Warehouse/Fortress to Develop Fortresses into Duchy/Develop to get Grand Markets.  It was a beat to play needing to keep track actions, cards in the discard pile, reordering of the top of the deck and cards in the hand.....

AND IT WAS STILL FASTER THAN GOKO!  Couldn't resist that little jab 

Game 2:  Haven, Urchin, Cutpurse, Horse Traders, Spice Merchant, Trader, Cache, Counting House, King's Court, Forge

This was the least interesting of the semifinals.  There is not potential for an engine, even with KC.  As it is, I went for a Single Trader and a Single Spice Merchant.  I was able to Cache in on the golden $5 with Trader in hand a couple of times.  I ended up winning this one on turns after I got $7/$7/$4 in my last 3 hands of the game.

Game 3:  Colony, Platinum, Potions, Herbalist, Masterpiece, Swindler, Farming Village, Remake, Witch, Hoard, Bank, Expand, Peddle

This was an interesting board for a 2-player enthusiast.  I saw this and immediatly wanted to get Peddlers to 0, buy them and then trash them with Expand.  I was successful, butin the process of doing that Farming Villages were emptied and Curses were emptied and the Swindler attack made every Swindler and Silver a Masterpiece.  I managed to get 2 Peddler=>Colony before the 3-pile ensuring 2nd place.

Game 4:  Shelters, Embargo, Chapel, Forager, Death Cart, Pirate Ship, Cultist, Junk Dealer, Torturer, Fairgrounds, Farmland

This one one where I had my plan right from the get go.  I ignored all of the Junkers in this game and with our own opening split being our choice, went for Junk Dealer/Chapel.  I quickly trash down keeping my Necropolis.  It was then just a matter of picking up 2 Pirate Ships and playing each of them for the attack for about 5 turns in a row racking up $6 ships.  After that I got a Gold and went to the races.

Semi-final Game 1:  Poorhouse, Coppersmith, Gardens, Moneylender, Noble Brigand, Bandit Camp, Counterfeit, Ill-Gotten-Gains, Rogue, Thief

This was a standard IGG/Gardens rush.  I could see how Thief could maybe do a little bit of work if it steals a few IGG from the players, but apart from IGG, it's tough to make a call for any other strategy.  Good draws and FPA make this an easy win.

Semifinal Game 2:  Potions, Crossroads, Fortune Teller, Hermit, Rats, Highway, Knights, Rebuild, Harem, Vineyard, Golem

I open Highway/Crossroads only to have my Highway trashed by Sir Plus Buy right before my 4th turn.  It's a tumultuous game from then on.  My goal for the game was to not do Rebuild and to combat Knights using Rats.  Then go for a Megaturn with Hermits/Highways.  Things are going well and I have 5 Highways in deck and am primed to gain 4 Provinces until I get hit by Knights on my Highways.  In the end I manage to pick up enough VP before the 3-pile to take 1st.

Semifinal Game 3:  Fool's Gold, Squire, Doctor, Market Square(Bane), Menagerie, Shantytown, Watchtower, Young Witch, Merchant Guild, Pillage, Tactician

This was a great set.  It's one of those where every card in the set can be looked at as a candidate for inclusion in the deck.  With the ability to reorder your opening deck, Doctor became a must buy on Turn 1, (overpay $2 with the guarantee to trash 2 Estates).  After that I really did a lot with everything.  The main thing was trying for Squire into Watchtower for draw, throw in a couple of Merchant guilds for coin and a Tactician to help with large hands.  A log would be nice for this game as there really was so much that went on in it.  We ended up 3-piling Fool's Gold, Squire and Curses.  I ended up at 1st with a much more potent engine than my opponents.

Final:  You can read more about how to throw a game with 7 Governor and 2 Goons in my previous post.

[Elestan]

Thanks for the writeup shark_bait; after designing these sets, it's fun for me to see how they got played by the DS.com crowd.  Hopefully Robz888, AdamH, liopoil, EFHW, and dethwing will post similar reports.

[Kirian]

So?  What's the word?  Who won?!

The winner, btw, was Jordan M., who I believe you know from the Michigan convention scene.

Yes, of course I know Jordan   Cool!  He's definitely a great player, wasn't he in the finals with us last year too?  Say congrats to him for me if you see him around again today.

Also, my apologies (publicly) for not getting back to you on more of the sets.  These past few weeks have been just impossible, and the next few don't look better, part of why I wasn't able to make the convention.  It got lost in the flow of other things.

Group photo: http://www.adamhorton.com/files/dom01.jpg

Names!  Well, I guess AdamH, RobZ and shark_bait are obvious.  Who are our other two forumites?

[Grujah]

Group photo: http://www.adamhorton.com/files/dom01.jpg

Who is who? I know which one is robzy, no idea about you, lip or sharky.

[Kirian]

Group photo: http://www.adamhorton.com/files/dom01.jpg

Who is who? I know which one is robzy, no idea about you, lip or sharky.

Given that the file is hosted at adamhorton.com, and he has the forum username AdamH, I'm guessing he's the one with the badge that says "Adam Horton."  Though they might have all swapped badges to make us wonder!

Shark_bait is Bruce.  See his sig, and also the movie Finding Nemo.

[Kirian]

Hah!  One of my best friends is in the background of the Advisor picture.

[Polk5440]

Game 2:  Haven, Urchin, Cutpurse, Horse Traders, Spice Merchant, Trader, Cache, Counting House, King's Court, Forge

This was the least interesting of the semifinals.  There is not potential for an engine, even with KC.  As it is, I went for a Single Trader and a Single Spice Merchant.  I was able to Cache in on the golden $5 with Trader in hand a couple of times.  I ended up winning this one on turns after I got $7/$7/$4 in my last 3 hands of the game.

Hmmm. I think I would have tried a single Cutpurse and a single Trader here. I would definitely pick up a Haven on $2, and might actually pick one up anyway -- a little smoothing could be good. Interesting that you went for Spice Merchant!

[Eevee]

Group photo: http://www.adamhorton.com/files/dom01.jpg

Scout: http://www.adamhorton.com/files/dom02.jpg

Advisor: http://www.adamhorton.com/files/dom03.jpg

As I write this these are not cropped or anything, I may re-upload.

This needs more love!

Looks like a blast, I wish events like this weren't so far away.

[AdamH]

Group photo: http://www.adamhorton.com/files/dom01.jpg

Who is who? I know which one is robzy, no idea about you, lip or sharky.

Post edited with names. Sleep is a wonderful thing.

[AdamH]

The pictures I linked to before have been cropped and re-uploaded. If you follow the logical progression you might find an outtake that I found particularly amusing 

Colony, Platinum, Potions, Herbalist, Masterpiece, Swindler, Farming Village, Remake, Witch, Hoard, Bank, Expand, Peddler

My first game. It seemed to go very differently than most others. I opened Remake/Silver to play defense while one of my opponents opened Witch. My Remake misses the shuffle so I quickly get a second and third Remake to play catch-up. Villages go down quickly because you need them (the only draw is Witch) and before I can blink two piles are empty and there are only four curses. left. I grab a Province and on my next turn only two curses remain and there's a Witch in my hand. After some counting I realize I have the win so I take it. I was the only one with a positive score.

Native Village, Secret Chamber, Vagrant, Lookout, Bridge, Sea Hag, Butcher, Ghost Ship, Tribute, Harvest

This board. Ugh. I decide to open 5/2 and get Butcher/Native Village. One of my opponents telegraphs heavy Ghost Ships and the other, I'm not sure, so I aim to go for NV/Bridge. After getting my first NV from an Estate with Butcher and a Bridge, the other opponent starts in on the Sea Hags and immediately my Butcher goes to my NV mat. Crap.

I decide to stay the course and go to NV/Bridge still. I manage to get 6 NVs but even with the top-deck control I'm unable to stop ALL my coppers from getting stuck on the NV mat. I have to buy two Silvers to keep my economy up and it takes FOREVER to get enough cards on my NV mat. Ghost Ship guy starts getting Provinces and I only have two Bridges so I can't trigger yet. Sea Hag guy makes a deck that can do nothing but play Sea Hags, though, so I contemplate triggering just enough to take second for a while. But piles are not low so I continue to build.

Once the curses stop pouring in I manage to pick up five Bridges and I hear the 5-minute warning on time. If time runs out we all get one more turn until everyone has had an equal number of turns, so once we get the 1-minute warning (or piles are in danger) I plan to go off because I can put together a decent turn. The 1-minute warning does not arrive and they tell me my next turn would be my last (I had top-decked a Native Village to a Ghost Ship play). Minor freakout, but I show Elestan my Native Village mat and explain and he lets us all have one more turn.

I get everything into play (5 Bridges) and I play my Butcher to trash a curse. I mis-count thinking I needed one of the coin tokens to get 6 Provinces so I take a copper. Turns out I didn't need them and could have gotten an Estate. I tied with Ghost Ship guy for first place. Counting FTW! 

Colony, Platinum, Potions, Courtyard, Develop, Menagerie, Warehouse, Fortress, Noble Brigand, Duke, Grand Market, Transmute, Apothecary

This board was so much fun to play. Most everybody else seemed to go Apothecary first, but I didn't want to do that. I figured it would be faster to try and thin with Develop, draw with Courtyard, and line up three Silver/Golds to get Grand Markets. I Develop 3-costs into Fortress/Courtyard on the deck and with some fortunate draws I get 7 Grand Markets. Very shortly I see a forced win on the 3-pile and take it. It seems a lot of people took a long time on this board but this game was very short for me. This probably had something to do with the fact that EFHW and I are both very fast players IRL, plus the 3-pile ending.

Duchess, Tunnel, Baron, Bishop, Jack of All Trades, Silk Road, Scout, Walled Village, Hunting Grounds, Count

Some played this board 4-player, but I played it 3-player. There's an engine to be built here, but in a 3P game I thought it might lose if the other two players both go for the slog, so I go for the slog with Count and Jack to support. I gain the living crap out of Duchies/Duchesses, but I only manage to trigger one Tunnel (that's me and Tunnel for you). I ended this game with like 76 points or something because I have seven 5-point Silk Roads, so I won this one as well.

Potions, Crossroads, Fortune Teller, Hermit, Rats, Highway, Knights, Rebuild, Harem, Vineyard, Golem

This was by far my least favorite kingdom, as it exemplifies everything I hate about Knights. Dame Trasher was on top, and with my first-player that I earned from the prelims I should have just opened 5/2 and got her, but I was worried that she would run into another knight before she did me any good and then I've done nothing to help my deck, so I opt for a more conservative Silver/Silver opening. This proves to be a costly mistake as my silvers constantly get either hit by Knights or skipped by Fortune Teller attacks, so it's three shuffles in before I ever hit $5. You make your own shuffle luck.

Dame Trasher sticks around for long enough to do what she needs to do, and I get some Rats for defense. One of my opponents sees this and says, laughing, to someone watching the game "look, he doesn't know how bad Rats is!" I thought he was kidding, turns out he wasn't and proceeded to lay into me for five minutes after the game about it. What a swell guy.

But Dame Trasher guy manages to put together a deck with only Crossroads and Platinum left and completely owns us. I got last. I hate how certain cards can provide opportunities to only one player and this is a prime example of that; Dame Trasher is the reason I now do not use Knights anymore in my home games (Sir Buys and Ruined Market don't seem to matter enough). Granted in this match I should have taken it and I deserved to lose because of it, but screw Knights. My only decision at this point is if I hate them more or less than Tournament. Humbug.

Fool's Gold, Squire, Doctor, Market Square(Bane), Menagerie, Shantytown, Watchtower, Young Witch, Merchant Guild, Pillage, Tactician

The only game I played with Probzt (Robz) the whole time, and this one was probably my favorite kingdom out of all the ones I played. Probzt was making puns the whole time, I guess he knows the way straight to my heart, so I may have been a little distracted 

So the Doctor opening is something we all do. I follow up with a Watchtower so I can buy and trash Squires for Pillages to get early economy while trashing Coppers with Doctor. The third guy goes for Doctor and Young Witch into money (no Fool's Gold, though, which I found weird) and Probzt and I go for a Double-Tactician engine with Merchant Guilds.

I lose a turn of pace when I draw my entire deck except for one card which is of course my other Tactician, Probzt pulls the trigger early, ending the game on piles in last place and I take second.

Poorhouse, Coppersmith, Gardens, Moneylender, Noble Brigand, Bandit Camp, Counterfeit, Ill-Gotten-Gains, Rogue, Thief

Everyone has a problem with this kingdom. I don't. Granted, if the guy going for the straight-up IGG/Gardens rush had gotten a Coppersmith at some point he would have probably beat me, but Thief/Gardens with Poor House support has me winning this one on turns.

[Elestan]

The 1-minute warning does not arrive and they tell me my next turn would be my last (I had top-decked a Native Village to a Ghost Ship play). Minor freakout, but I show Elestan my Native Village mat and explain and he lets us all have one more turn.

While I'd love to say I was just a softie, if I had given the one minute warning on schedule, I would have felt obliged to end the game anyway, regardless of the mountain of cards on your NV mat.  But you had the right to rely on that warning, so letting the game go one more round was the most fair way to remedy its lack.

[dethwing]

Duchess, Tunnel, Baron, Bishop, Jack of All Trades, Silk Road, Scout, Walled Village, Hunting Grounds, Count

I opened Jack/Silver and planned to just play double jack from last position, and maybe pick up some silk roads later if the game went long enough. Turn 3 I hit 2 dollars and picked up a duchess. Should have just passed I think, ended up trashing her later.
One guy went bishop/walled village and this helped my deck a ton, as I could trash on his turn and re-draw on mine. I thought I was comfortably ahead, but the game ended early when he trashed his one hunting grounds and emptied the estates out of nowhere. I tied for 2nd at 55, winning on turns.

Colony, Platinum, Potions, Herbalist, Masterpiece, Swindler, Farming Village, Remake, Witch, Hoard, Bank, Expand, Peddler

I felt the remake was strong enough defense against witch/swindler that I could ignore them. I opened silver/remake, and got 3 or 4 remake. I was able to clean all the junk out of my deck by the end, and won by remaking a bank into a province and farming village to end on piles.

Native Village, Secret Chamber, Vagrant, Lookout, Bridge, Sea Hag, Butcher, Ghost Ship, Tribute, Harvest

My opponents ignored ghost ship, and I locked them the whole game. I went native/village bridge and aimed for a mega-turn, which is not one of my strong suits. I pulled the trigger way too early and only won by a single point.

Haven, Urchin, Cutpurse, Horse Traders, Spice Merchant, Trader, Cache, Counting House, King's Court, Forge

From 3rd position, cutpurse/urchin scared the crap out of me. I wanted to go trader, but I left myself an openning by putting my 4 dollar hand second. If anyone opened cutpurse I was going to get horse traders. Fortunately, no one did, and one urchin didn't scare me. I only got trader/cache one time, but it was enough.

Fool's Gold, Squire, Doctor, Market Square(Bane), Menagerie, Shantytown, Watchtower, Young Witch, Merchant Guild, Pillage, Tactician[

The doctor opening was pretty obvious, and I decided to go with market square / fools good. It was good as the bane, as buys to get lots of fools gold, and triggered gold's off of the good doctor. I think I had 8 fools gold and was getting double province turns rediculously fast. This game was over in minutes.

Poorhouse, Coppersmith, Gardens, Moneylender, Noble Brigand, Bandit Camp, Counterfeit, Ill-Gotten-Gains, Rogue, Thief

I missed the thief/IGG interaction, and wish I had bought thief instead of coppersmith. One province was enough to overcome my garden deficit though.

Potions, Crossroads, Fortune Teller, Hermit, Rats, Highway, Knights, Rebuild, Harem, Vineyard, Golem

My least favorite kingdom, and the one I played the worst. I went straight rebuild, which got the smackdown from the knights. Managed 2nd place on a few colonies I managed to sneak by the knights.

Shelters, Potions, Platinum, Colony, Cellar, Scheme, Fishing Village, Baron, Marauder, Baker, Fairgrounds, Governor, Goons, Scrying Pool.

I really wish baker hadn't been in this set. I mean, I didn't lose because of it. I lost because I misplayed and bought a 2nd goons when I should have been focusing on Governors. But being able to open Goons was just so good, and first player advantage was pretty strong. As I said before, my 5 copper hand turn 3 was decimated by his turn 3 goons, and I felt like I was 2 steps behind the rest of the game.
I think library could have replaced the useless Baron. It's good defense against discard attacks, and combos wonderfully with fishing village.

[AdamH]

I may be the only one, but I liked seeing Baron in the last set (with Shelters). It's a way of saying "if you want 8-point Fairgrounds you have to deal with MEEEE!!!!!" (well you don't HAVE to, but ya know...)

[Elestan]

Shelters, Potions, Platinum, Colony, Cellar, Scheme, Fishing Village, Baron, Marauder, Baker, Fairgrounds, Governor, Goons, Scrying Pool.

I think library could have replaced the useless Baron. It's good defense against discard attacks, and combos wonderfully with fishing village.

That would break the one-card-per-set design rule; I'd need to use a card from Intrigue.  How about Masquerade?   

More seriously, how about Minion?

[dethwing]

Wow, for some reason I thought Baron was from base set. Cellar was of course the base set card. Yeah, Minion would do the same job basically.

[Elestan]

Potions, Crossroads, Fortune Teller, Hermit, Rats, Highway, Knights, Rebuild, Harem, Vineyard, Golem

I get some Rats for defense. One of my opponents sees this and says, laughing, to someone watching the game "look, he doesn't know how bad Rats is!" I thought he was kidding, turns out he wasn't and proceeded to lay into me for five minutes after the game about it. What a swell guy.

If it makes you feel any better, you beat that guy's score solidly in both the prelims and semis.

I think that (as often happens with situational cards), many people first try to use Rats at the wrong time, or in the wrong way, and upon failing, defensively presume that it must be the card's fault, rather than questioning their use of it.  Rats isn't a deck-trimmer; it's a fast Remodel variant that turns a (presumably) useless card into a slightly less useless card.  Clearly, your opponent hadn't caught on to the defensive potential of Rats vs. Knights.

One of my design parameters for this Kingdom was to have deck thinning require the concerted use of two components (Rats to eat Copper, and either Hermit to convert Rats->Hermit->Madman, or an opponent's Knight to just slay the Rats outright).  But even though it's tricky to do, it's actually pretty fast, because Rats is a cantrip, Hermit can hit your discard pile (so you don't need to connect it with the Rats), and an opponent's Knight doesn't cost you an action and gives you the bonus card to boot.

Fickleness of the Knights aside, this is actually my favorite set of the tournament.  There are at least three very distinct strategies available, with a couple variants, and the right one to choose very much depends on what your opponents are doing.

[Elestan]

Dame Trasher guy manages to put together a deck with only Crossroads and Platinum left and completely owns us. I got last.

Incidentally, Colony&Platinum are not supposed to be in that Kingdom.  They were put in by accident, and by the time I noticed, play had already begun.

[Elestan]

The dates for the next convention have been announced, BTW:  November 14-16, 2014

I'm not promising to run another tournament right now, but if I do, that'll be the weekend.

[AdamH]

Incidentally, Colony&Platinum are not supposed to be in that Kingdom.  They were put in by accident, and by the time I noticed, play had already begun.

That really changes things. In the game I played with this set, once people got Platina they stopped caring about Knights. In a Province game this kind of thing can never happen... on the other hand, it strengthens Rebuild a touch.

[Elestan]

Incidentally, Colony&Platinum are not supposed to be in that Kingdom.  They were put in by accident, and by the time I noticed, play had already begun.

That really changes things. In the game I played with this set, once people got Platina they stopped caring about Knights. In a Province game this kind of thing can never happen... on the other hand, it strengthens Rebuild a touch.

Yeah, having the Plats in there probably made it easier for an early leader to lock in that lead.  My intent was to have the money strategies always be vulnerable to the Knights.

[AdamH]

Does anybody know of a similar tournament happening at U-Con this year? I'm beginning to get hyped at the possibility.

[Kirian]

Does anybody know of a similar tournament happening at U-Con this year? I'm beginning to get hyped at the possibility.

U-Con is the weekend of 15 November.  I am not entirely certain, but I believe Elestan said he would be running it again when I saw him at DetCon.

[Robz888]

Sweet. Going to have to brush up on my Dominion

[Elestan]

Does anybody know of a similar tournament happening at U-Con this year? I'm beginning to get hyped at the possibility.

Yes, I didn't go crazy enough last year, so I'm doing it again.  :-)

It will be on the weekend of Nov. 15, but they haven't confirmed my game slot yet; Saturday is most likely.  Once registration opens, I'll post an announcement here.

If you can swing it, I'd encourage out-of-town folks to get a room at the hotel; the con usually offers a discounted rate, and it's a lot more fun when you don't have to rush in and then rush home.  The con runs all day (and much of the night) Friday and Saturday, and Sunday through about 6pm.

Also, if anyone wants to get their con admission for free (well, a small, fully-refunded deposit), you can sign up now to be a Gamemaster at https://www.ucon-gaming.org/reg/gcs/gm/submit.php.  Just offer to run a few hours of games, and you get your badge deposit back when you're done.  I'd love to have some people run introductory and advanced Dominion tutorials prior to the tournament!