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[Qvist]

Here you can discuss game reports, guess who will win, etc.
Basically everything else what doesn't belong in the Results thread.

[TheMirrorMan]

Belgium/France - Finland, board 4 : TheMirrorMan - Julle

Well, here's the first game ended and posted of the team competition. Thanks Julle for the games !

Game 1 : http://dominionlogs.goko.com//20131112/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1384288699595.txt
Vineyard, Fishing Village, Masterpiece, Catacombs, Council Room, Laboratory, Mandarin, Soothsayer, Stash, Wharf (Province game)

There's a clear engine on the board with FV/Whard and Soothsayer to support it. It could become a Vineyard game at any time, yet Soothsayer makes the board race quite quickly.

We both go for the engine + a soothsayer, yet I pick up a few FV extra, which I think makes the difference. That and a mandarin at a lucky point in order to put 7 back on my deck. With Wharves this is searing, although I do think I was a bit lucky here - could have gone either way.

Game 2 : http://dominionlogs.goko.com//20131112/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1384285813687.txt

Transmute, Great Hall, Oasis, Oracle, Urchin, Alchemist, Feast, Explorer, Highway, Journeyman (Province game)

Two ways to go here : Oracle/Urchin or Alchemist ... and second problem is where to get money from. Mercenary is obvious, but also dangerous given the lack of +buy. Was thinking of getting an Explorer for that, but that would only collide with the Oracle/Mercenary terminal.

Julle takes the first route, I take the second. Only later in the game he picks up a potion to get his deck racing, I get my Urchin in between. My drawing power gets the upper hand and the constant bashing of the mercenary is enough to score the game.

Game 3 : http://dominionlogs.goko.com//20131112/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1384286711067.txt

Herbalist, Fishing Village, Trade Route, Bishop, Horse Traders, Moneylender, Mint, Soothsayer, Harem, Expand (Colony game)

Bit of a weird game. Was hoping for Soothsayer and then Mint (since lack of engine) but it never comes to that. My 2/5 split of course is heaven, potentially topdecking some Golds (which also doesn't happen much).
In order to keep the money going I start stacking up on FV/Soothsayer, but much to my surprise, he gets quite quickly to Platinums while I am stuck with Golds.

As an emergency resolution, I switch to Trade route + Bishop with the FV and this seems to pay off for quite some time.

In the long run, my deck seems to get going better than his, but he kicks back with a few colonies and makes it a draw.

Game 4 : http://dominionlogs.goko.com//20131112/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1384287624833.txt

Chancellor, Storeroom, Watchtower, Bishop, Feast, Feodum, Golem, Cultist, Graverobber, Merchant Guild (Shelters + Province game)

I'm a big fan of Watchtower in Shelter games (and as a counter to cultist). However, doesn't run that smoothly as he is quick with the cultists (three ruins already at T8, yuck). I see something else shining on this board which I love too : Watchtower - Feodum - Graverobber. Julle leads the way by taking a graverobber himself, trying to trash the cultists for provinces, but never gets the hand he wants. The "buy feodum, trash feodum with WT, topdeck 3 silvers and then pick up feodum with Graverobber" strategy pays out nicely and I can build a very nice deck, feodums gaining strength with each WT passing by.

Game 5 : http://dominionlogs.goko.com//20131112/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1384288250044.txt
Vineyard, Urchin, Mining Village, Salvager, Spice Merchant, Count, Hunting Party, Laboratory, Royal Seal, Stables (Province game)

It's a bit back and forth here. He picks up a Count T1 (very strong) and I'm struggling a bit with what to do with Salvager. In the end I trash it with a count picked up and go for sort of a golden deck with Count - Hunting party - 2 Golds - Urchin, which severely pays off. Julle can't get his deck really organized, while I'm gaining a province almost every turn.

Game 6 : http://dominionlogs.goko.com//20131112/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1384288699595.txt

Lighthouse, Native Village, Tunnel, Moneylender, Pirate Ship, Baker, Butcher, Junk Dealer, Fairgrounds, Nobles (Shelters + Province game)

Butcher seems to shine here with the Shelters, although care is needed with Pirate ship on the board. Strangely enough, the game goes so quick, neither of us feels like picking one up. I stock two golds quite quickly, but then make the mistake of ignoring his coins. He makes a nice bakers/butcher combo, stocking up every turn on coins, while I concentrate on Nobles.

The last turn I am too optimistic - thinking he can never buy 2 provinces, right. Wrong! Suddenly 2 provinces and bam, game over.

Julle, thanks for the games. Really interesting (mostly non-engine) stuff.

[Rabid]

Sweden A vs UK A

Game 1
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131113/log.512ba416e4b022198f05f8e2.1384368252366.txt
Cutpurse, Feast, JackOfAllTrades, Tournament, Band of Misfits, Explorer, Margrave, Rabble, Wharf, Grand Market
Lekkit plays this one much better than I do.
With Jack + wharf + Plat + Colony
I attempt to get the prizes but buy my province much to late, was a bad plan anyway.

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131113/log.512ba416e4b022198f05f8e2.1384369248881.txt
Cellar, Embargo, Haven, Great Hall, Cutpurse, Quarry, Explorer, Rogue, Upgrade, Fairgrounds,
My upgrade fairgrounds against cutpurse + Provinces.
Both turns 3 and 4 I get $5, and dodge the cutpurse as well so I should be way ahead.
I think I took to many upgrades so I never seem to get to $6 for Gold.
Again my strategy was weak, with lack of + buy making it hard to get to 15 cards for Fairgrounds.

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131113/log.512ba416e4b022198f05f8e2.1384370139723.txt
University, Develop, Watchtower, Farming Village, Moneylender, Smithy, Taxman, Festival, Journeyman, Stables
Mirror match, Watchtower, Uni, festival engine is very powerful.
Start player and good draws for me leaves Lekkit with little chance.

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131113/log.512ba416e4b022198f05f8e2.1384370864394.txt
Forager, Shanty Town, Ironmonger, JackOfAllTrades, Remake, Bazaar, Haggler, Hunting Party, Margrave, Harem
A board with all the parts for a strong engine.
Trying to steal the win as P2 I green a lot too early.
Lekkit plays it better and builds up to $16 turns and the win.

3-1 down and it isn't looking good for team UK.

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131113/log.512ba416e4b022198f05f8e2.1384371975085.txt
Masterpiece, Steward, Woodcutter, Baron, Feast, Procession, Worker's Village, Contraband, Minion, Nobles
This was a very tricky board.
I only get 4 of the minions, but make up for it with more trashing.
Some cool tricks with Procession and a good bit on luck lining up Baron with Estates let me break serve.

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131113/log.512ba416e4b022198f05f8e2.1384372920940.txt
Poor House, Develop, Oracle, Horse Traders, Silk Road, Council Room, Embassy, Upgrade, Farmland, Goons
On turn 5 I thought I was way ahead on the plan to trash down with upgrade and play lots of Goons.
T4 Lekkit buys Silver for $5 which I assumed was a mistake.
Then after Turn 7 with decks of:
Lekkit
1   Embassy
1   Horse Traders
7   Copper
4   Silver
3   Estate
16   cards in deck
3   victory points
Rabid
1   Horse Traders
1   Poor House
5   Upgrade
6   Copper
3   Silver
2   Estate
18   cards in deck
2   victory points

I finally realise that Poor House is going to stop my trashing copper with upgrade!
So its time for plan B. (Upgrade Upgrades into Goons and rush Silk Roads)
Very close at the end but my luck holds out and a get my 6 SR up to 5 points each, to win the game and draw the match.

Lekkit 3  vs Rabid 3
Many thanks to Lekkit for hosting such a fun match.

[Lekkit]

Game 1
I thought Wharf + BM with a Jack of All Trades start would be pretty good. I get a pretty early Platinum which helps out a lot. I wasn't too sure about the Tournament here. Generally Tournament races in Colony games are not that good. The two first Colony buys helped me out a lot too.

Game 2
The real problem for Fairgrounds here, in my opinion is the lack of buys coupled with three of the kingdom cards being $2, so they are not possible to Upgrade to. I'm not sure Quarry is the way to go as an opener here. Getting to $5 for Upgrade seems possible with Cutpuse as well.

Game 3
As I looked at the board I thought, "well, this is a board that I'll lose on to a better engine player". Going second didn't really help that out. A well executed game by Rabid.

Game 4
Getting 5/2 here really helps. Also, Ironmonger is a pretty good card. Not sure about my Shanty Town, but I get it to work a couple of times. As Rabid said, he tried to green too early, and I could just keep on going with the Hagglers.

Game 5
With my 5/2 start, I wa hoping to get a lot of Minions. I buy a Silver without thinking that should've been a Steward. Rabid does some cute stuff with Procession, that I never seem to get the hang of, and plays multiple Barons with only one Estate.

Game 6
I got so many $5 the first couple of turns. I didn't want Upgrades, since Poor House wouldn't be any good here. By the time I was about to buy a second Goons, Rabid had four of them. I probably should've tried to get more of the Silk Roads. I feel like I had some bad draws this game, but I haven't looked into it too much. A fun game either way.

Thanks a lot for a really exciting series!

[Jdaki]

A few thoughts and opinions on the games I had with luliin- very interesting on the whole.
I think overall a draw was probably just about right, but I am a bit annoyed I couldn't pull off the win after getting to the 3-1 lead with little enough chance in the last two as it turned out.

Game 1: 26-22
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131114/log.507df00551c30da02a09d459.1384460396858.txt

Rebuild standard mirror but luliin buys a few estates and then hits them when duchys are gone.

Game 2: 42:52
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131114/log.507df00551c30da02a09d459.1384461101063.txt
No obvious power engine here, but for whatever reason I decide to go for apothecary + coppersmith. My opponent doesn't diverge past a fairly standard play throughout in response. I get a couple of early 8's but think that I needed a few more +buys for copper perhaps. Near end game as we green heavily, I take too many harems instead of duchys when I'm behind and then I can't catch up despite the better money.

Game 3: 43:30
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131114/log.507df00551c30da02a09d459.1384461517959.txt
This one has a lot going on. Cultist and notably Feodum and Masterpiece. We both go for the same strategy- dish out the ruins first and then go for silvers and feodums. I think my luck is pretty good here, with a couple of big hands which turn into silvers. With only two cultists vs my opponent's four we split the ruins 5:5 and there's no real trouble through the last turns despite a random apprentice buy by me that I don't think I ever see :S

Game 4: 60-43
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131114/log.507df00551c30da02a09d459.1384462463124.txt
Another interesting set of power cards. Sea hag, soothsayer, grand market. I decide to open smithy to sea hag figuring the soothsayer terminal will be better. I pick up a lot of action cards and go for alchemists. Some lucky throne room collisions lets me dish out more curses and I continue to pick up engine pieces whilst my opponent goes for platinums. I'd have loved to grab a Bank at some point too, but it doesn't really come about and the extra power of grand markets lets me control the end game without worrying about any super double colony from luliin.

Game 5: 12-36
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131114/log.507df00551c30da02a09d459.1384463228020.txt
Amazingly, feodum and masterpiece again, but with Wharfs as well. Luliin gets a 5-2 split which is pretty advantageous, but on looking over the game, my early counterfeit should have been another wharf- without it I lose the wharf split and with plaza as the village I'm pretty sunk by the very early end game.

Game 6: 3-56
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131114/log.507df00551c30da02a09d459.1384463867564.txt
This is a phenomenal log to read. We have the same overall strategy- upgrade-fortress- duchy/duke. But a combination of better forethought and amazing draws for luliin give her/him a turn eight clear win and the big score and game end by turn 11. I guess I figured workshop into fortresses would be good, without really thinking about how to get to 5. As it turns out my chapel colliding (twice?) and well, almost perfect draw for the other side- well it's great to see it happening, and if luliin was always aiming for the single turn effective piledrive- which I definitely did not see- then mega kudos.

Once again thank you for the set of games, and I do think I won in terms of games restarted because of wrong first player!

[RobertJ]

Comments on Sweden v. UK Match 4

Game 1
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131114/log.517d03b5e4b0b903ada05b62.1384460940452.txt
Vineyard, Herbalist, Steward, Alchemist, Island, Plaza, Smithy, Thief, Margrave, Witch

This one was really close. I though my early Witch while he struggled to get to $5 gave me the edge. Then it looked as if his two double Vineyard buys to win the split had got it. By then we were both gumming up and I managed a couple of Duchies to get close. On the last turn I didn't know whether or not the last Herbalist would take me over a Vineyard threshold for the win. It didn't.

Game 2
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131114/log.517d03b5e4b0b903ada05b62.1384461614503.txt
Candlestick Maker, Pawn, Ambassador, Doctor, Market Square, Coppersmith, JackOfAllTrades, Mining Village, Smithy, City

I had hoped that Market Square and Doctor would give a thin deck full of Gold. In reality they took forever to collide by which time his Jack of All Trades, Candlestick Maker, Money deck had too big a lead. I tried to empty the Candlestick Makers to do something with Cities but by then it was far too late. I feel I was a bit unlucky with the draws here although I'm pretty sure his approach is better.

Game 3
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131114/log.517d03b5e4b0b903ada05b62.1384462533828.txt
Moat, Native Village, Pearl Diver, Menagerie, Warehouse, Scavenger, Smithy, Talisman, Tournament, Young Witch, Altar

Not really sure what happened here. We start similarly but I take Gold on $6 while he goes for Altar. Without good $5 cards and needing an early Province for Tournaments Gold looked a better bet. However, he got Province at the same time as me, connected it with Tournament and with a thinner deck was on top from then on.

Game 4
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131114/log.517d03b5e4b0b903ada05b62.1384463094002.txt
Secret Chamber, Forager, Village, Gardens, Nomad Camp, Rats, Treasure Map, Stables, Tribute, Expand

Fairly simple money Stables board. He gets an extra Nomad Camp, I get more Stables. He makes a late detour into Gardens but my Expand (which I'd hesitated about picking up over Gold at turn 10) helps to finish things off before the his Gardens get too strong.

Game 5
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131114/log.517d03b5e4b0b903ada05b62.1384464003422.txt
Duchess, Masterpiece, Smugglers, Cutpurse, Ironmonger, Worker's Village, Young Witch, Band of Misfits, Bazaar, Haggler, Horn of Plenty

Interesting board. A variety of useful cards suggesting that Horn of Plenty may be good but not enough draw to make it reliable. We both go for some kind of mixed deck looking for good Horn of Plenty plays. His extra Ironmongers probably win it for him. I like my Smugglers here but the second was probably a mistake. It's close for a while but his deck is always looking better.

Game 6
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131114/log.517d03b5e4b0b903ada05b62.1384464813456.txt
Moat, Smugglers, Remodel, Talisman, Tournament, Worker's Village, Catacombs, Haggler, Saboteur, Upgrade

Another Tournament game. We each get a Province at about the same time but he has more Tournaments and snaffles 3 prizes quickly. I grab a desperate Saboteur but it doesn't hit anything of note and he wins comfortably.

------------
Thanks HampusEriksson for an interesting set of games and for hosting (I can't bear to give money to Goko so I'm living as a parasite off those who have cards). You definitely deserved the win although I think a couple of the games could easily have gone either way.

This was my first experience of tournament Dominion and I have to say I found it far more tense and nerve-racking than I expected! Looking forward to the Germany match the week after next.

[2.71828.....]

Game 1: 6-0 e
Interesting board.  There are a lot of ways to go after it
key cards: chapel, fishing village, wharf, market square.  There was also cultist, but with those other cards cultist is forgettable.  Now, do you go chapel/market square right away? you need actions so maybe FV/chapel?  I really don't know.  I decided trashing was not critical for t3/t4, so I went FV/FV hoping to go wharf/chapel t3/t4.  That didn't quite work out that way, and I doubt I played the optimal opening, but in the end I was able to get a sneaky 3-pile win

Game 2: 53-36 e
I almost want to post this in "my dear opponent I am so sorry"  Awildnoobappeared simply had abysmal luck this game.  I open with a sub-optimal 5-2, elect to go militia-nothing hoping that militia will turn up at least t3/t4.  Well, it turns up t3, I make my opponent discard so that he no longer has 6, and then proceed to prevent him from getting 6 until T11.  My terminals don't collide until T23, and I basically always had the one up.  1st turn advantage+some luck=easy win.

Game 3: 39-27 e
I open 5-2 on a ghost ship/council room board that has farming village and ironmonger for support.  I know I want to do the classic council room then ghost ship my opponent back down to 3, but do I start ghost ship or council room?  I elect for ghost ship, which is not as effective early due to ironmonger and farming village.  However, It puts me ahead enough that I am able to get the combo rolling and get the win. 

Game 4: 53-28 e
shelters, stables, count, ghost ship, mystic, and......tunnel.  I love the count-tunnel interaction, but am scared that ghost ship will ruin early trashing.  So I open island (trashing hovel)/silver.  I get lucky t3/t4 to island away OE and buy a ghost ship.  From there it is 3 stables before I go count.  I trash everything but one Count, Ghost Ship, Stables, Vagrant, Copper, Silver, and Necropolis.  buy a tunnel.  go crazy gaining golds.

Game 5: 33-26 awildnoobappeared
Rebuild mirror with Dukes.  Awildnoobappeared gets 5 more frequently early, gets more rebuilds, and wins comfortably.

Game 6: 42-12 e
I felt really bad here.  ambassador, KC, bazaar, lighthouse, and quarry.  I go amb/quarry then am able to get amb/bazaar t3/t4.  I made the mistake of not getting two lighthouses, which i thought was going to hurt me, until terrible mistake where ambassador gets caught on a throne room....with only a province in hand.  Really unfortunate for him, but it leads to my win.

[Awaclus]

You can find my commentaries for the games I played against Geronimoo on my brand new YouTube channel here.

[SCSN]

Winning a game awards 1 game point; drawing a game awards 0.5 game points to both players. A player wins the match if after 3 or 4 games, s/he has 3 game points; or after 5 or 6 games s/he has 3.5 game points. A 3-3 tie on game points is a tie for the match.

I'm really not a fan of this rule. If after 3 games it's 3-0 or after 4 games 3-1, it's still possible to become a tie, so I would like the match to continue until a tie is completely ruled out.

SheCantSayNo - gamesou:

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131118/log.505d732a51c359e6597efeb8.1384810392369.txt (1 - 0)
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131118/log.505d732a51c359e6597efeb8.1384811391404.txt (2 - 0)
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131118/log.505d732a51c359e6597efeb8.1384812223920.txt (3 - 0)
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131118/log.505d732a51c359e6597efeb8.1384812983212.txt (3 - 1)
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131118/log.505d732a51c359e6597efeb8.1384814086052.txt (3 - 2)
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131118/log.505d732a51c359e6597efeb8.1384815482141.txt (3 - 3)

No comments

[TheMirrorMan]

Well those Dutchies ! They certainly know how to play Dominion. Here's my match against Victor Savenije (Zappie on here) for the tournament.

Game 1 : http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131120/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1384977016294.txt

Code: [Select]

Hermit, Tunnel, Fortress, Marauder, Remake, Throne Room, Golem, Counterfeit, Highway, Mint
(No shelters, province game)

Well how about that. What do we want to do here ? It all revolves around fortress of course (Hermit and remake) and in second instance highway + counterfeit. You want to stock up on those buys and cost reductions. But how to get there is another question.
Maybe Golem - Tunnel ... Naaah.

I go Hermit/Remake, Victor opens Silver/Remake. I wanted really to get the deck as smooth as possible. It went a bit too smooth unfortunately, I'm fiddling around after 7 turns with only six cards - I overtrashed ?!

Let's throw in a practical joke (in the style of how many ... does it take to change a lightbulb ?) : how many fortresses do you need for remake ? Well, 1! Since it goes back in your hand after the first trashing - quite counterintuitive.

Anyways, I try to get my deck together and it seems to work. Althought I thought I the highways were split, it seems it was 6-4 in my favour. However, Victor is very quick in picking up the counterfeits through the remake and makes a megaturn. After which I get professionally three-piled.

Any comments/ideas on this board really welcome.

Game 2 : http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131120/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1384978152370.txt

Code: [Select]

Pawn, Apothecary, Black Market, Develop, Woodcutter, Militia, Moneylender, Knights, Laboratory, Expand
(No shelters, province game)

Well a weird one again - Lab is key of course and is a soft counter to militia but other than that ... what ?

We both get 5/2 but Victor shows his cards with choosing Sir Bailey (+1 card, +1 action) as a first one. Of course I have to watch out for this and choose Dame Sylvia (+ 2 money). Only to see both cards trashed turn 4 :-)

I try to get some rubbish out of the deck via Develop/Moneylender (maybe again too much trashing ?), Victor goes for Militia + Lab. A bit too fast to my liking, since after turn 12 it is 5 labs for him, one for me. I scramble back but then make a weird mistake : I get a Lab when having 10 money in my hand (Instead of Gold ... Expand ...)

Ok, time for plan two, although there are not much actions, I will try to destroy the Lab deck. So Knights galore!

I succeed in trashing almost all labs (7 in the trashpile !) but he has 2 Provinces already. And then the crucial mistake : Labs are gone and I decide to buy the last knight. Gutted, since it leaves three pile with estates wide open for him. Win for Victor.

BTW : the victory point graph looks horrible, but with all the knights in my hand, its not that important if he can't reach 8 ...

Game 3 : http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131120/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1384978152370.txt

Code: [Select]

Herbalist, Pearl Diver, Great Hall, Masterpiece, Shanty Town, Armory, Gardens, Wandering Minstrel, Pillage, Forge
(No shelters, province game)

Well this is one of those what I would call "technical games". The key cards are obvious : Gardens and Armory. So it will be fast and furious.

But what do you get for your armory ? And how many armories do you get ? Wandering minstrel can help, but where do you get economy from for the rest ? Is Masterpiece viable for the gardens ?

Victor and I go for the same basic idea : Armories and Wandering Minstrel. Yet the crucial difference : I spend my $3 on silver, he goes for the great hall. Then a nice sneaky trick of his : he leaves one armory and one Wandering Minstrel on the deck - so sign for me to start greening ? Well, there comes the problem : he's up those extra Great Halls. This shows the skills of a better player. Well played!

Game 4 : http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131120/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1384980891478.txt

Code: [Select]

Transmute, Urchin, Ironmonger, Talisman, Golem, Contraband, Count, Inn, Mystic, Rebuild
(Shelters, province game)

This one feels like walking a thin thread. Key cards : Rebuild, Count, Ironmonger (probably ?) and (to my surprise) : Transmute.

Because while I go for Talisman (for Ironmongers)/ Silver, Victor goes for Potion/Silver and then Urchin. It leaves me puzzled. Is he going for Golem with Rebuilds ? What is the Urchin for ?

Well during the game we start talking a bit and he himself is puzzled on his strategy (which was : Transmute > Duchy and then Rebuilds on those) but I myself am struggling too. I need the Count for Duchies, but I need a Rebuild too, so can't trash too quickly either.

I will leave it to you guys to have a look at the log yourself on what happens next. A Duchy race and then some really bad luck on his side, where he draws the Rebuilds with his remaining Duchies in his hand. I win in the end, but don't ask me (neither Victor I think) how.

Game 5 : http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131120/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1384981691365.txt

Code: [Select]

Oasis, Trade Route, Plaza, Spice Merchant, Spy, Hunting Party, Jester, Mountebank, Fairgrounds, Forge
Stupid game, especially bad luck from his side. Key cards : Mountebank, Hunting party, Plaza, Forge, maybe trade route, maybe Jester.

I gain mountebank on turn 3, he does on turn 6 (too many 4s ...). And from then on, it's only catching up for him - flooded with curses and no trashing except Forge ... I get my forge earlier too so I'm quickly getting a nice thin deck full of Platinums. He resigns.

Game 6 : http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131120/log.50785f090cf28ed55d9d72bf.1384982556632.txt

Code: [Select]

Vineyard, Fortune Teller, Sage, Watchtower, Bureaucrat, Procession, Taxman, Ghost Ship, Mine, Minion
Well there I get bad luck : I lose the minion split 6 - 4 and turn into panic mode, especially when I buy an extra ghost ship instead of (maybe ?) a Mine. Of course I know that the Ghost Ship is cancelled out by Minion, but like I said, I didn't see much other options. And buying a potion on this board doesn't help much either. Clear win for Victor.

Congrats, team Holland and thank you Victor for the games and sportivity, hope my teammates can turn the tables a bit ...

PS : Goko let us restart a numerous amount of times
PPS : Andrew, can you please do sth about the flooding of messages during the games ? We're getting about 20 messages each of #vpon ;-)

[yed]

You can find my commentaries for the games I played against Geronimoo on my brand new YouTube channel here.

Thanks for the videos. Do you really think that commentary during playing is bad for your play? As SCSN and flies said, making a video with commentary makes you focus more.

We should have tried to form Czech team... I want to play too!

[Qvist]

Commentary:

Code: [Select]

Fool's Gold, Stonemason, Alchemist, Cutpurse, Death Cart, JackOfAllTrades, Library, Mandarin, Vault, Witch
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131120/log.507df00551c30da02a09d459.1384978290956.txt

Game 1: Not a too interesting game. Basically Jack/Vault BM. Not sure what I could have done better. On one turn I should have probably played Jack instead of Vault on a collision, but I got some $7 hands and lost 44-33.

Qvist - luliin 0-1

Code: [Select]

Forager, Loan, Lookout, Shanty Town, Village, Coppersmith, Feodum, Mining Village, Wandering Minstrel, Nobles
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131120/log.507df00551c30da02a09d459.1384978954293.txt

Game 2: Here I got an horrible 5/2 on a board with no $5s and $2s. And on turn 4 I got $2 again. That was so unlucky I could never catch up. luliin went for the obvious Wandering Minstrel + Nobles engine with Forager for trashing. I tried to catch up by giving me some more money by trashing some Feoda, but it was already too late. Losing the Nobles split 7/1 is game over for me and I lose 43 - 29.

Qvist - luliin 0-2

Code: [Select]

Apothecary, Fortune Teller, Storeroom, Bishop, Fortress, Salvager, Worker's Village, Bazaar, Jester, Altar
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131120/log.507df00551c30da02a09d459.1384980273745.txt

Game 3: While an engine Worker's Village, Apothecary, Storeroom seems tempting, this is clearly the Bishop/Fortress combo. luliin seemed to not see it at first, but then adapted fast to it. As there is no draw I tried to trash down to the golden deck with 4 Bishops and at least 4 Fortresses as fast as possible to get guaranteed 12VPs each turn. She went more for a bigger deck and got some extra Duchies from trashing Fortresses from the Altar. It came really close to a 3-pile ending on Bishops, Fortresses and Duchies, but as expected she then stalled. I got nervous though at one turn and picked up a Salvager for a possible Province, but that was a bad idea. She couldn't pile out the Duchies what was the win for me. All I had to do was to pile out Worker's Villages, but that took quite a while. The end score of 168 - 98 does not reflect how close the game was.

Qvist - luliin 1-2

Code: [Select]

Beggar, University, Fishing Village, Masterpiece, Steward, Plaza, Bandit Camp, Cartographer, Junk Dealer, Pillage
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131120/log.507df00551c30da02a09d459.1384982159391.txt

Game 4: This was an interesting engine board. A lot of interesting cantrips made University the clear choice here with Steward for trashing. I aimed to trash down to gain a Pillage each turn and play it, but the Spoils (while still being useful) from the Bandit Camp and the Pillage prevented that. I could trash down way faster than she and got to the key components faster. But the big difference in my opinion were the Stewards I had for more draw as there is no other draw than Steward. With a lot of Cartographers later I could get a reliable engine that could get a few Province and then 3-pile while leading 28-13.

Qvist - luliin 2-2

Code: [Select]

Cellar, Woodcutter, Feodum, Militia, Throne Room, Catacombs, Journeyman, Minion, Royal Seal, King's Court
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131120/log.507df00551c30da02a09d459.1384983052218.txt

Game 5: Well, this is an obvious engine with Throne Room, King's Court, Minion and Woodcutter for the +Buy. This was really a weird and tense game. luliin got unlucky and had to get 2 Silvers on turn 4 and 5 while I could already get some more Minions, so I had an early lead. But she caught up pretty fast and I made the mistake to get too many King's Court instead of denying the Minions from my opponent and have actual targets for my King's Court. I had terrible, terrible shuffle luck with Throne Room and King's Court and no targets (you have to see the video for this). Well, I rewatched it and realised that I made some unfortunate shuffle triggers that lead to that, but still I got pretty unlucky. Another key question here is when to get the Woodcutters you want to get the needed buys. Well, while I got $15 to get a Province and KC in turn 14, luliin got to $16 and double Province in turn 15. In turn 16 I had to get the last 2 Minions which she should have denied me. Or should she? She got again $16 and double Province in her next turn. I thought I lost. In turn 17 I had another KC with no target and only $4 for a TR. She picked up a Duchy with $6. Then came the great 4 KC hand of mine. But she also got a dud hand. Then I got $12 and decided to not buy a Province to open the door for another double Province turn and picked up 2 Duchies and a Cellar. We duchy-danced for a while as we both got unlucky hands. On turn 21 I got a great KC-KC-KC-Minion, but misplayed it terribly and was again only able to pick up a Duchy. Then we couldn't even get to Duchies anymore. On turn 23 I was then lucky to get multiple KCs with Minions in hand and cycled until I found my two Woodcutters. And I had a perfect $24 while being 17 VPs behind. I won luckily 39-38.

Qvist - luliin 3-2

Code: [Select]

Menagerie, Woodcutter, Familiar, Baron, Ironworks, Smithy, Talisman, Wandering Minstrel, Jester, Tribute

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131120/log.507df00551c30da02a09d459.1384983887635.txt

Game 6: This seems like a great engine board, but there is Familiar. I opened Woodcutter/Potion while she opened Silver/Potion because I figured that I want that +Buy sooner or later anyway. We both got the Familiar on the next shuffle and an Ironworks. Totally a mirror so far. We both got a few Wandering Minstrels to cycle to our Familiars faster and picked up a Jester. We ended up splitting the curses 5-5. On one turn Where I had an Ironworks and $2 I should have gotten 2 Silvers probably because then I soon realised that I tried to build my engine far to much while she picked up some money. I thought the draw that I got from Smithy would be good enough, but of course with all the junk in my deck that was a big mistake. I figured that I have to do something and with piles running I wanted to pile Duchies, but at that exact same turn, she did the same, so I had no chance from there. At one turn my engine with some additions of Menageries and Smithies finally came together, but I was already too far behind as she got a Province by herself way earlier. By splitting the Duchies 5-3 in her favor I lost deserved 16-22 and we tied the series.

Qvist - luliin 3-3

Thanks luliin for the fun series.

[Awaclus]

You can find my commentaries for the games I played against Geronimoo on my brand new YouTube channel here.

Thanks for the videos. Do you really think that commentary during playing is bad for your play? As SCSN and flies said, making a video with commentary makes you focus more.

We should have tried to form Czech team... I want to play too!

I don't know, but I'm not going to take the risk during this tournament.

[terminalCopper]

Game 1 (1-0):
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131120/log.513a625fe4b0da6e3de03887.1384953980684.txt

We both opened remake/squire and gained a soothsayer by remaking a squire; we also both got more squires as they were the only villages and a bane for young witch (which wasn't bought at all). My opponent got potion/golems and more golds, while I went for a second remake and 3 expands. I finished with 6 provinces after 19 turns.

Game 2 (2-0):
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131120/log.513a625fe4b0da6e3de03887.1384954512819.txt

A pretty symmetric game with curses given out by IGGs and swindlers. I got lucky hitting 8$ twice.

Game 3 (3-0):
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131120/log.513a625fe4b0da6e3de03887.1384954994050.txt

I played straight BM, opening smithy and gaining two wharfs afterwards. My opponent got two action cards in the whole game: opening remodel and a wharf later. I got prov 3 in move 12, and we started duchy dancing featuring harems. Finally, I was a little ahead.



Game 4 (4-0):
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131120/log.513a625fe4b0da6e3de03887.1384955801340.txt

I think, this was the most interesting kingdom of the match - a colony game with
bandit camp; knights; hoard; nobles; bank
vineyard; sage; tournament; taxman; apprentice

There are many ways to go, but somehow we both bought tons of tournaments and nobles. I was luckier getting provs, therefore I renounced to gain prizes and went for duchies, forcing an end either with provs or three piles (the latter happened: duchies, tournaments, nobles).
Nevertheless, I feel like we have both missed a better strategy at some point ... any suggestions?


Game 5: (4-1)
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131120/log.513a625fe4b0da6e3de03887.1384957291097.txt

The match was decided, and imho, concentration decreased. Fairgrounds were probably the reason why we both started to build some chaotic decks. I got the lead, and I tried to finish on 3 piles. In the final move, I was 2 points down, remodeling a mystics into a duchy and emptying the third pile - I was very happy to win the fith game by one point ...
unfortunately, mystics were my 15th card for fairgrounds. Ouch. Please, don't look at the victory points chart, it makes me feel so silly
Reviewing the board, I think that an engine built on hamlets/catacombs with saboteurs as payload would have been the best strategy. What do you think?


http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131120/log.513a625fe4b0da6e3de03887.1384957836180.txt

Game 6: (5-1)
The final board offered everything an engine needs: Lookout, Scheme, Conspirator, Native Village,  Council Room. My opponent resigned in move 12: at that point, I was able to draw my deck, while he only had one Council Room and no villages yet.

[AdamH]

USA Team B AdamH 5, Australia Jimmmmm 1

Video playlist link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWfIvSNTxhw&list=PLHV1uVDYN5Y8OPFJIdgdstPtroPVTq4Bo&index=1

Game 1: AdamH 15, Jimmmmm resigned



Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131117/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1384728224463.txt

Kingdom: Transmute, Embargo, Hamlet, Pawn, Secret Chamber, Stonemason, Masquerade, Philosopher's Stone, Scout, Minion

I see Minion with several enablers, including Embargo. Jimm opts for a variant on BM+Masquerade, but after getting all ten Minions it's clear I'm in a dominant position and he concedes.


Game 2: Jimmmmm 51, AdamH -9



Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131117/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1384729784901.txt

Kingdom: Beggar, Candlestick Maker, Fortune Teller, Lookout, Conspirator, Remodel, Knights, Outpost, Torturer, King's Court

First to King's Court a Torturer wins, right? I thought Remodel would be better than Lookout for trashing but Remodel doesn't reduce deck size which is what you really want here. I get thoroughly crushed.


Game 3: Jimmmmm 52, AdamH 58



Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131117/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1384732666952.txt

Kingdom: Duchess, Scrying Pool, Gardens, Plaza, Apprentice, Butcher, Ghost Ship, Outpost, Tactician, Nobles

This was probably the most interesting game we played, but it took 46 minutes! It was completely unbearable because Goko was being so slow. I was extremely frustrated just playing this game and made several misplays because of it. This video is extremely difficult to watch, but my g/f makes a cameo appearance in it

I see tons of enablers for a double Tactician deck here so that's what I go for. It looks like Jimm is going for a single Tactician deck and gets off to a pretty good lead, so I go for Gardens. The endgame is extremely tense but I'm able to end it with my seven Gardens passing a threshold on that turn which makes the difference.


Game 4: AdamH 36, Jimmmmm 15



Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131120/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1384987740064.txt

Kingdom: Scrying Pool, Oracle, Sage, Feodum, Moneylender, Spice Merchant, Bandit Camp, Cartographer, City, Wharf, with Shelters

A village/Wharf engine is present here, and Bandit Camp really shines. He opts for Spice Merchant while I choose Moneylender early -- it's a close call, I think. Later, though, he buys Gold over Wharf which I think is the main mistake. I end up with six Wharves quickly and with my economy coming largely from Bandit Camp, building just goes so quickly. I think I got good draws and I played well, and six Provinces in 13 turns is tough to compete with.


Game 5: AdamH 42, Jimmmmm 23



Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131120/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1384989672108.txt

Kingdom: Lighthouse, Steward, Armory, Baron, Bureaucrat, Fortress, Militia, Band of Misfits, Graverobber, Bank

This is the other really interesting game, it's one of those Graverobber games that makes your brain hurt. Steward is the only draw and Fortress the only village, and I think Jimm makes the mistake of thinking BoMs will be OK for Fortresses, but once the pile is gone he only has three real Fortresses and that's a big deal since Steward is the only draw. After that it's Graverobber shenanigans for big turns.

There was one turn near the endgame where I saw all of my Fortresses at the top of my shuffle and none of my terminals, resulting in two completely dead turns right after. I had enough of a lead that I didn't lose because of it but I've had this problem before and I'd really like to know if there's something wrong with the way I build my deck that causes stuff like this...


Game 6: Jimmmmm 10, AdamH 27



Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131120/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1384990313844.txt

Kingdom: Market Square, Sage, Wishing Well, Bridge, Envoy, Gardens, Ironworks, Moneylender, Baker, Outpost

Jimm misses Ironworks/Gardens until turn 2, which is too late, especially on a Baker board when you can open double Ironworks.


I'm glad we got to play this match, I just wish Goko wouldn't be so slow. Thanks for the games, Jimm!

[DStu]

@qvist game 5: This 3xKC+Cellar+Copper hand. Why not KC-KC-Cellar(KC-Copper) gives you up to 6 cards draw and you can KC whatever you find.  Instead, you Cellar 3 cards, and have to live with whatever you find.

[RTT]

And there are the videos in a Playlist

Because i play for team germany i decided to comment in German.

[yed]

Because i play for team germany i decided to comment in German.

[Qvist]

@qvist game 5: This 3xKC+Cellar+Copper hand. Why not KC-KC-Cellar(KC-Copper) gives you up to 6 cards draw and you can KC whatever you find.  Instead, you Cellar 3 cards, and have to live with whatever you find.

I thought about KC-Cellar, but Cellar didn't appeal me as great KC target, but now that I think about KC-KC-Cellar it makes much more sense. I haven't even thought about it. Thanks for the hint.

[Awaclus]

And there are the videos in a Playlist

Because i play for team germany i decided to comment in German.

I tried watching this with the automatic English subtitles. Well, it obviously didn't work like I wanted it to work (automatic translation, no matter how bad), but it was entertaining enough. 

[Lekkit]

You shold never ever trust sections and professionals. It's one of the things that I've picked up over the years and It has definately improved my play.

[Geronimoo]

Stef beats Geronimoo 4-2

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131124/log.50b20dc3e4b0c9ce0cf27eb3.1385286292526.txt
I open Urchin/Urchin to his Junk Dealer/Courtyard. I get some more Urchins because they fail to connect while Stef builds a decent deck with Bakers and Golds. When I finally get my Mercenary I'm already way behind in the Province race. Not much else to say here.

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131124/log.50b20dc3e4b0c9ce0cf27eb3.1385287325798.txt
Pretty interesting board with Mining Village, Smithy, Graverobber, Junk Dealer, Merchant Guild, King's Court. The engine looks very clunky to me and I'm sure Stef will play it better so I go for simple Smithy Big Money. I get a 4 Province lead, but then Stef gets his mega turn KCing Graverobbers for Provinces and buying a few Duchies.

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131124/log.50b20dc3e4b0c9ce0cf27eb3.1385288687878.txt
Watchtower, Alchemist, Mining Village, Noble Brigand, Smithy, Mine, Outpost, Gardens
Another interesting board. Were it not for the Noble Brigand then Smithy BM was probably the optimal play, but the presence of the Brigand makes us go for Alchemist. We both get 1P hands early and both buy a Mine and an Outpost. I probably make the mistake of buying too many Silvers over Mining Village because Stef gets a Noble Brigand and starts stealing my money. I make a pretty big mistake late game when I played 5 Alchemist and Mine a Silver into a Gold instead of a Potion to put back all those Alchemists. This probably cost me the game.

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131124/log.50b20dc3e4b0c9ce0cf27eb3.1385289330686.txt
Apothecary, Oracle, Cutpurse, Wandering Minstrel, Bazaar, Cultist, Jester, Rabble, Treasury,Fairgrounds
A Cultist board with a twist in the form of Fairgrounds. I open Cultist to his Cutpurse/Silver. I get most of the Ruins and Stef manages to build his engine further. It looks like he's way ahead so I just concede.

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131124/log.50b20dc3e4b0c9ce0cf27eb3.1385290319944.txt
Poor House, Develop, Fishing Village, Storeroom, Salvager, Scout, Silk Road, Hunting Party, Inn, Bank
I keep it simple with HP/Salvager, while Stef goes for the more flashy HP/Poor House moneyless engine. It seems to be working out for him, but then he misclicks or something and he ends the game on a win for me.

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131124/log.50b20dc3e4b0c9ce0cf27eb3.1385291327535.txt
Crossroads, Forager, Oasis, Remodel, Taxman, Treasure Map, Festival, Library, Tribute, Altar
A Festival/Library game. I open Taxman/Forager to his double Forager. I like my open a little better as it gets me faster to the $5 range where all the important cards are. I'm always slightly ahead. I probably misplay the end game as I count on him not being able to double Province.

[-Stef-]

I just finished my match against Geronimoo. Quite some nice games, and off course some mistakes

Courtyard, Loan, Smugglers, Steward, Urchin, Baker, Journeyman, Junk Dealer, Torturer, Bank
The least interesting one without any villages. I keep it simpler with only one Junk Dealer for trashing, while he goes for urchins. He's very unlucky connecting and loses by a mile.

Haven, Chancellor, Coppersmith, Island, Mining Village, Smithy, Graverobber, Junk Dealer, Merchant Guild, King's Court
This is a very strong engine and he gets out of the opening rounds on top. To my surprise he starts greening, and at that point I think I'm going to win easily. However, he just keeps going (junk dealer makes his deck quite good, island helps out) and my engine doesnt start up at all. I still can't really see why, I thought I had enough 'cool card density' but it doesnt work for a long time. Perhaps I misplayed the counselor.
Then just in time I get KC-Junk Dealer which does miracles for my deck, and I the next turn the real fun starts. At that point KC graverobber is almost as strong as KC develop.

Loan, Watchtower, Alchemist, Gardens, Mining Village, Noble Brigand, Smithy, Library, Mine, Outpost
Alchemist-Outpost or BM-Smithy? Because of the Noble Brigand the second one is unplayable. We both go for the first and both have a lot of bad luck getting to $3P. Some interesting choices to make with Mine though, and he starts buying money a bit sooner then I do, while I try to steal his.

Apothecary, Oracle, Cutpurse, Wandering Minstrel, Bazaar, Cultist, Jester, Rabble, Treasury, Fairgrounds
He gets the 5-2 opening, but I get $5 on turns 3 & 4, so we're about equal there. Then I add villages while he tries to play straight Cultist-BM. He has some further bad luck with all his cultists missing shuffles, and then he just resigns.

Poor House, Develop, Fishing Village, Storeroom, Salvager, Scout, Silk Road, Hunting Party, Inn, Bank
HP stack is obvious but do you keep it simple or add all the fancy cards? He keeps it simple, I don't. This is a very doubtful move on my side already, and then I totally misplay the endgame. I fear his salvage-province to double-province move, try to tripple province myself but fail, and the next turn I end it on a loss for me. Quite an accomplishment with the point counter on.
Don't look too closely at this one

Crossroads, Forager, Oasis, Remodel, Taxman, Treasure Map, Festival, Library, Tribute, Altar
Another very strong engine with some neat tricks in Altar, Remodel and treasure map. Unfortunately it never came to that. I opened forager/forager, adding a 3rd soon after, but in hindsight I don't like it. I need $5 here a lot and badly, so probably silver/forager is better. I also have some bad luck connecting the library to a village, and he just wins easily. If I found a way to cash in the Treasure Maps on my next-to-last turn without leaving 3 gold on top then maybe it would have still worked, but I didnt see it.


Thanks for the games, Geronimoo.

[qmech]

I tried watching this with the automatic English subtitles. Well, it obviously didn't work like I wanted it to work (automatic translation, no matter how bad), but it was entertaining enough. 

Edited highlight below.  Is the translation as bad as it looks, or are the non-German speakers just missing out on RTT's fascinating commentary?

fish be investments shopped adults not much left bundy shop

million-plus in a judgment of touch the clinton

CSS puking should be in disputing

something song company dirty

change my slutty and big money and

classics a sec shemale

Patricia Trish Porter the stick attendance two outs

cock economy

alleged that context scandals song

[Tables]

I tried watching this with the automatic English subtitles. Well, it obviously didn't work like I wanted it to work (automatic translation, no matter how bad), but it was entertaining enough. 

Edited highlight below.  Is the translation as bad as it looks, or are the non-German speakers just missing out on RTT's fascinating commentary?

fish be investments shopped adults not much left bundy shop

million-plus in a judgment of touch the clinton

CSS puking should be in disputing

something song company dirty

change my slutty and big money and

classics a sec shemale

Patricia Trish Porter the stick attendance two outs

cock economy

alleged that context scandals song

That's not automatic translation. That's google trying to tell you exactly what it hears. Go on and have another listen and you'll realise - RTT isn't actually speaking German, he's just saying gibberish and Google knows it.

[qmech]

That's not automatic translation. That's google trying to tell you exactly what it hears.

That makes an awful lot of sense!

[RTT]

I tried watching this with the automatic English subtitles. Well, it obviously didn't work like I wanted it to work (automatic translation, no matter how bad), but it was entertaining enough. 

Edited highlight below.  Is the translation as bad as it looks, or are the non-German speakers just missing out on RTT's fascinating commentary?

fish be investments shopped adults not much left bundy shop

million-plus in a judgment of touch the clinton

CSS puking should be in disputing

something song company dirty

change my slutty and big money and

classics a sec shemale

Patricia Trish Porter the stick attendance two outs

cock economy

alleged that context scandals song

That's not automatic translation. That's google trying to tell you exactly what it hears. Go on and have another listen and you'll realise - RTT isn't actually speaking German, he's just saying gibberish and Google knows it.

Ah you got me... i´m actully have been talking nonesense about shemales and cock economy

[qmech]

From my most recent match against terminalCopper.

Black Market, Armory, Farming Village, Quarry, Sea Hag, Cache, Hunting Party, Inn, Farmland, Possession (Shelters)

A bit of a slog.  terminalCopper takes Cache on 5/2, which means I get to play Sea Hag more often, but terminalCopper gets 7 Hunting parties (and 5 Provinces).  We end the game with wildly different selections of Victory cards, and I win on turns.

Ambassador, Feodum, Ironworks, Monument, Nomad Camp, Tournament, Band of Misfits, Horn of Plenty, Minion, Rogue

This is the most use I've ever made of Band of Misfits. I grab one on 5/2 and completely ignore Ambassador (which I'm not at all sure about now).  terminalCopper gets down to almost nothing but Tournaments.  I get the first prize and take the Steed to prevent any fancy engine business.  My deck is huge, but terminalCopper is likely to choke, so I grab Feoda and Steed Silver and aim for the long game.

Lighthouse, Urchin, Remake, Silk Road, Catacombs, City, Count, Library, Hoard, Forge

Is it just me who never spots Colonies until halfway through now that they're so rare?  I wouldn't have gone so heavily into Lighthouses (with an eye on Libraries) if I'd seen it straight away.  (The early Hoard would have been a Gold too.)  I get a lot of 4's, and end up with tons of Remakes.  This never works.

University, Menagerie, Shanty Town, Wishing Well, JackOfAllTrades, Salvager, Scavenger, Thief, Outpost, Tribute

Double Jack, and I have two Gold by the end of turn 5.

Poor House, Market Square, Horse Traders, Ironmonger, Ironworks, Remodel, Taxman, Witch, Adventurer, King's Court

terminalCopper puts together a lovely engine that I hadn't really considered.  I flounder.

Beggar, Fishing Village, Warehouse, Ironmonger, Noble Brigand, Remake, Spice Merchant, Tournament, Counting House, Journeyman

This was fun for me at least.  I use Fishing Village and Journeyman to draw my deck.  With such good trashing and draw, two Warehouse slow terminalCopper down.  The late game features a fun Princess/Remake interaction.

[terminalCopper]

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131126/log.506872f90cf2795d403d3f0a.1385500176244.txt

The match started with an interesting decision: what do i do with 5-2 on a board with shelters dominated by sea hag and hunting parties? Instead of getting the first HP, getting cache seemed logic to me, as it synergizes with a HP-rush, and coppers aren't that bad here.
I lost the curse split 6-4, but with 7 HP's, i felt well. My opponent started to green earlier than I expected, I managed to get 5 provs - but I miscounted smth,  the score was 30-30: and being first player, I lost.

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131126/log.506872f90cf2795d403d3f0a.1385501617068.txt

In this game I really liked my plan: shorten it with double amb, play tons of tournaments and 4 bands of misfits simulating tournaments as well. Unfortunately, there was a horrible detail I missed: my band of misfits could no longer be played as a tourn once the pile was depleted.
Now, my deck contained a bunch of colliding terminals, and my ambassadors did never see the curse I explicitely gained to give it to my opponent.
He made the best choice gaining Trusty Steed and went for silvers/feodum. But maybe there were many gameplans he could have chosen to beat my misconcepted deck.

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131126/log.506872f90cf2795d403d3f0a.1385502417784.txt

Once again, I got 5-2, but this time, it was enjoyable: my count trashed my deck asap, and it was difficult for my opponent to catch up.


http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131126/log.506872f90cf2795d403d3f0a.1385502738299.txt

A pretty boring double jack-BM board. At least, this is what we both played; but maybe,  Stef would have beaten both of us without even thinking about the BM option.

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131126/log.506872f90cf2795d403d3f0a.1385503544627.txt

My favourite one Witch is on board, and my opponent opened horse traders to make sure he gets one in the next shuffle. I prefer to start with ironworks for multiple ironmongers. Instead of getting a second witch, I added Kings Courts and got lucky to hit my only witch for the 3 last curses.

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131126/log.506872f90cf2795d403d3f0a.1385504206040.txt

In the final game, we both opened remake; he added a fishing village, I went for warehouse. This seemed reasonable to me, because Remake could turn estates into fishing villages, and I wanted to play it as often as I can.
It was probably a mistake to get a second warehouse, and my opponent built his engine with impressing speed. Congratulations, qmech!

[2.71828.....]

Game 1: e 4-3 hiroki

Code: [Select]

Candlestick Maker, Steward, Bureaucrat, Death Cart, Feodum, Talisman, Wandering Minstrel, Count, Harvest, WitchI open 5-2 and go count/CM, while Hiroki goes steward/WM.  We end up with basically the same decks and 1st player advantage helps me some to end the game on a nice little 3 pile of curses, ruins, and WMs.

Game 2: hiroki 28-33 e

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Duchess, Great Hall, Masquerade, Nomad Camp, Talisman, City, Cultist, Inn, Mountebank, ExpandHiroki opens with a 5, buys mountebank.  I open 4, buy nomad camp and get lucky to end up with 5 for a mountebank.  The biggest thing here though, is my decision to go 3 masquerades against his 2.  There are plenty of actions (Inn, cities) so I thought the extra trashing would be really nice.  It was.  Hiroki has a couple unfortunate turns he has to waste without buying anything, and I am able to get way up on cities, which quickly get to level 2.  He has an expand somewhere in his deck so I delay buying the penultimate province and eventually end up 3 piling cities, duchies, and curses. 

Game 3: hiroki 24-33 e

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Market Square, Sage, Village, Advisor, Bishop, Marauder, Young Witch, Knights, Pillage, Hoard, Hunting GroundsI open 5 with Sir Discard on top.  I get Sir Discard, and win the slog 3 piling on duchies, estates, and ruins

Game 4: e 71-54 hiroki

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Poor House, Apothecary, Sage, Storeroom, Watchtower, Death Cart, Militia, Trader, Counting House, Horn of PlentyNote: shelters.  We both go potion/storeroom.  I end up winning the apothecary split 6-4.  Not much else special

Game 5: e resigns (KC-Margrave-Masquerade trap)

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Hermit, Masquerade, Trader, Margrave, Mint, Mountebank, Harem, Expand, King's Court, PeddlerI get to KC first, but hiroki connects KC with an action first and ends up trapping me.  I resign.  I did not want to suffer.  I do not actually know if he would have gone completely all out on the trap, so maybe I should have played it out and hope that he wouldn't (and I would have), but I didn't want to end up there.  With peddler, you can get your deck down to a KC-KC-Margrave-X peddlers-KC-masquerade.  Which means you are able to get your opponent to 0 cards.  Then start buying provinces right away without having to rebuild your economy.  That would have been excruciating though so I resigned before 1) He could do it to me (more likely) or 2) I could work up to doing it to him (less likely).

Game 6: hiroki 34-25 e

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Courtyard, Pawn, Philosopher's Stone, Coppersmith, Death Cart, JackOfAllTrades, Plaza, Scout, Festival, SoothsayerFun game.  1st player advantage maybe plays a little into this.  In the end hiroki makes a smart decision to break PPR (I would have tied, not won) even though I would have been perfectly fine with a tie to end the match 4.5-1.5.  I can't buy the province and lose.

In all, good matches.  We did lose one game in the middle where goko quit working.  It was a pretty interesting game. 

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Squire, Sage, Scheme, Urchin, Wishing Well, Moneylender, Pirate Ship, Spy, Throne Room, AdventurerNot much to do except Big Money, but then pirate ship was in play which made that strategy not really workable.  I think I had a decent advantage since I got my mercenary well before him, and since goko froze on his turn I will put as a win for me. 

[Qvist]

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Lighthouse, Chancellor, Fortune Teller, Masquerade, Bridge, Coppersmith, Feodum, Plaza, Journeyman, Merchant Ship
Game 1: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131127/log.50d1a9b7e4b00e9b1242089f.1385586512285.txt

Jdaki and me both go for a big Bridge turn. He has an unfortunate 5/2 opening what puts him quite behind. I can trash more heavily with my 2 Masquerades and am able to win the important Plaza split 6/4. I get 2 Provinces in one turn and he can equalize. In the next turn I can double Province and Duchy. Now both our decks clog up pretty fast and it's only a matter of time until the game ends on a 3-pile and a 40-18 win for me.

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Beggar, Moat, Great Hall, Menagerie, Woodcutter, Cutpurse, Treasure Map, Baker, Festival, Forge
Game 2: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131127/log.50d1a9b7e4b00e9b1242089f.1385587056761.txt

Jdaki goes for a double Treasure Map opening on a weak Baker board what I totally missed. My plan is to get to Forge fast and build a Menagerie engine. I get a pretty good deck, but while he couldn't connect his Treasure Maps early and buys 2 more, he was later able to connect twice. With so many Golds he could outrace me and win 39-29.

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Duchess, Great Hall, Village, Cutpurse, Monument, Tournament, Trader, Worker's Village, Stables, Bank
Game 3: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131127/log.50d1a9b7e4b00e9b1242089f.1385587644851.txt

Again, Jdaki has 5/2 on this Tournament game. He goes for Stables/Duchess while I open Cutpurse/Silver. My intention for Cutpurse was to prevent him getting Gold and Province, but what I didn't took into account was that it's great against Stables. I managed to let him discard his only Copper with a Stables in hand twice. I want to get Stables too, but got $7 twice and took Banks (not the greatest decision as I couldn't get as many Stables as I wanted. Still I manage to get to Provinces in turn 7 and in turn 9. And when I was able to connect one of my 2 Tournaments with one of my 2 Provinces in turn 12 it's basically game over. I get Followers and my third Province. I tried to maintain the lead by getting Duchies what a wise decision as he could get a Princess in turn 16 for a big Province/Duchy turn. But I continue getting Duchies and rushed the game to end by 3-piling Duchies, Estates and Great Halls for a 50-36 win.

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Fool's Gold, Vagrant, Doctor, Market Square, Storeroom, Swindler, Watchtower, Salvager, Taxman, Horn of Plenty
Game 4: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131127/log.50d1a9b7e4b00e9b1242089f.1385589871964.txt

This game leaves me puzzled. I see so many Fool's Gold enablers with Storeroom, Taxman and trashing in Doctor. I fear the Swindler, but go for it anyway and open Taxman/FG. He goes for Market Square/Swindler. I got quite unlucky with my Taxman as he missed the second reshuffle and later only collided with FGs. I have 7 FGs by turn 7. In the next turn he trashes one of my FGs. On my next turn I buy a big Doctor and trash 4 cards. But somehow my deck is still weak. I got 2 Curses from his Swindler, but later I got pretty lucky with his Swindler. He went for Doctor/Market Square which seems to be a thing, but I've never played before. So, he floods his deck with real Golds and gets a much better deck and with his Salvager he could outrace me for a 40-27 win. Feedback on this kingdom is quite welcome.

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Transmute, Forager, Loan, Scheme, Coppersmith, Worker's Village, Library, Margrave, Adventurer, Grand Market
Game 5: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131127/log.50d1a9b7e4b00e9b1242089f.1385590859597.txt

This Colony game was quite frustrating. We both open Forager/Silver. We both went for the engine with Worker's Villages, one Margrave, Forager for trashing and Grand Markets (and a Library as defense) He managed to get a Margrave on his next reshuffle while I didn't. This gave him an earlier Gold and he was just far ahead. I couldn't trash well anymore as he could play his Margrave more often on me as he had time to pick up some Schemes while I had a hard time contesting the Grand Markets. I couldn't catch up from this bad luck and all snowballed to a destroying 86-25 win.

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Courtyard, Smugglers, Familiar, Farming Village, Thief, Tournament, Bandit Camp, Graverobber, Highway, Mine
Game 6: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131127/log.50d1a9b7e4b00e9b1242089f.1385591707725.txt

Familiar board with Tournament. We both open Courtyard/Potion. He gets his Familiar turn 3 while I got mine turn 4 what means it missed the shuffle. In the next shuffle it was again the bottom card in my deck. I fear that I'm far behind. I pick up Bandit Camp on $5s while he got a Highway which I didn't understand (to combo with his Smugglers?). The Spoils helped me to get a Province in turn 10. And with 4 Tournaments in my deck I am able to connect in turn 14. I got Trusty Steed and used it to get the Silvers twice. Not sure how that happend, but we split the Curses 5/5 in the end (maybe his Familiar missed some shuffles too?). But with my second Province in turn 15 (Spoils ftw) I was already far ahead. In turn 18 we both got another Province and turn 21 where I got the Princess for a Province/Duchy turn basically sealed the game. I end up with 6 Provinces and can win 37-13.


Thanks Jdaki for the great series.

[Jdaki]

Just a few thoughts having watched the games (mostly) from Qvists side (very interesting exercise!) and had a quick perusal of the logs.
Game 1:
5-2 really stunk here for sure. Having had a look over the logs perhaps there was a chance for big money Journeyman and maybe one masquerade to get near half vp before the bridge mega turn, but then, not convinced. I took a bridge over a plaza at some early point, guessing that I would want the +buy if I could get it with money-that didn't happen and for sure being 6-4 down on plazas I pretty much gave up. However I did manage to get both necropolises at somepoint, but gave an additional masquerade to Qvist- I'm always wary of the passing in the end game but looks like Qvist had the optimal number of coppers to always have something rubbish to trade.

Game 2:
Yeah there's really nothing going on here- I'm super impressed by the semi engine that Qvist built, but I was always going to play money and behind a game and in 2nd player went for Treasure maps. I get lucky to collide both sets and am amazed really at how close behind Qvist manages to stay for much of the game- but the forge is always going to run out of fuel without any good gainers.

Game 3:
Man why couldn't it have been witch chapel or something for another 5-2. Stables duchess isn't terrible, but yeah the cutpurse hitting the single-copper-stables hand is mega painful. The only reason I'm vaguely in the game is the monument points, but the early tournament collision by qvist is basically game over (and they seem frankly magnetic to me, but who knows what the odds are)

Game 4:
This is definitely a very (the most?) interesting board with lots of stuff going on which counter each other pretty well. Double swindler will probably beat FG, but get hurt by a few Market-squares. FG has support (which I don't really think about) but there isn't draw- which imo is really important for FG cos otherwise you need to get 3 out of a 5 card hand for a province really. Anyhow I see the market square support as better- aiming to activate it by buying doctor as opposed to play- this is a nice play which I saw a friend in rl play very nicely- you just need the market square in hand with 4 or more coins.
Anyway I pinch a few fools golds as denial and get some nice hands really (I do match the three FG at one point) and activate the market squares a few times. The swindler gets three good hits followed by 2 direct duds on curses that annoys me, but I grab a salvager in the mid game and can happily trash golds and stuff to finish it off after leading throughout. (Qvist grabs an early duchy but just before the reshuffle, that might have been a gold far more usefully, but I don't think it makes much difference in the end)

Game 5:
Clearly a big engine board and yes the early five which is not matched before I get margrave into play gives me a strong lead. My early scheme is definitely super useful throughout the game (doubling up on margrave plays and getting great play from the singular forager) more so than the second forager qvist gets. Also forager doesn't hit copper till kind of late which also hurts qvist I notice from the video. Anyhow despite briefly getting to grand market, my two golds are clearly hugely better than three silvers and double colony turns beckon.

Game 6:
Basically two major bad play from me and a fairly balanced game is lost. The highway is clearly stupid in retrospect (even in the game I regret it) and I smuggle another smugglers for no reason at all. Trusty steed is great in the blocked up decks we have, and Qvist takes it to a draw.

A very good set of games, though a few felt annoyingly decided by early luck (in my favour and in Qvists favour too), but of course it does require continued strong play to build on advantages and we both did that. I'm happy with the draws against top opposition in the tournament. Thanks again to Qvist for the match and the organising.

[RobertJ]

Comments on Germany v. UK Match 4

Psyduck and I played on Tuesday and I wrote most of this up then. Since then I've had a busy week and have only just got round to finishing it off and posting. Any comments welcome.

Game 1
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131126/log.505f5ec4a2e6714a97eee844.1385497786579.txt

A Vineyard board although it could do with a more accessible +Buy. I start on the Vineyards early
and eventually win the split 5-3. He gets a couple of Provinces but my 6 point Vineyards are just enough.
Psyduck: 28, RobertJ: 31

Game 2
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131126/log.505f5ec4a2e6714a97eee844.1385498926186.txt
Vagrant, Woodcutter, Nomad Camp, Band of Misfits, Duke, Ghost Ship, Harvest, Rabble, Treasury, Forge, Colony

We both go for predominantly Ghost Ship and Money. I also pick up a Harvest as a counter of sorts to Ghost Ship. The key question seems to be when and how to green. I dive into the Duchies having lost hope of reliably getting to $11 while he builds up his economy for longer. Eventually the Duchies are evenly split and he has a few Colonies for an comfortable win.
Psyduck: 83, RobertJ: 62

Game 3
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131126/log.505f5ec4a2e6714a97eee844.1385500245919.txt
Develop, Militia, Noble Brigand, Sea Hag, Wandering Minstrel, Golem, Hunting Party, Mint, Rogue, Hunting Grounds

We both get a 2-5 opening. He goes for Hunting Party while I get Sea Hag. He manages to control the Curses with Develop, wins the Hunting Party split 6-4, and picks up his own Sea Hag later. In Turn 14 I have some kind of brain explosion. I feel as if I need to do something risky as I'm way beheind, and choose to Develop a Hunting Party into a Wandering Minstrel+Hunting Grounds. This is partly to set up a good next turn and partly in the hope of developing the Hunting Grounds into 2 Duchies later. In retrospect I really needed to keep that Hunting Party and everything falls apart from here.
Psyduck: 36, RobertJ: 17

Game 4
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131126/log.505f5ec4a2e6714a97eee844.1385501216441.txt
Great Hall, Tunnel, Bureaucrat, Nomad Camp, Sea Hag, Silk Road, Taxman, Minion, Grand Market, Peddler

Silk Roads with Great Hall and Tunnel for support. He opens Nomad Camp while I go for Sea Hag. I use my Great Halls to pick up a few cheap Peddlers and build a bit more while he goes hard for Silk Roads. I manage to get a couple of Provinces but it's not quite enough.
Psyduck: 36, RobertJ: 35

Game 5
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131126/log.505f5ec4a2e6714a97eee844.1385502511114.txt
Lookout, Plaza, Procession, Butcher, Haggler, Knights, Tactician, Tribute, Border Village, Expand, Shelters

This is a crazy board! I can never reisist double Tactician and here I think there is pretty good support for it
with coin tokens and Haggler/Border Village to pick up Butcher fodder. He gets just a single Tactician, more money, and Dame Anna. I probably should have got Processions earlier (among other nice moves, Processioning Butcher and then getting it back with a Border Village thrown in is a neat trick). Other than that I'm pretty happy with how I play this one. There's a moment of concern when he gets a 14 point lead with 2 Provinces left but I've got a big turn coming in which I Expand and Butcher my way to the win.
Psyduck: 26, RobertJ: 33

So we reach the last game with him leading 3-2 and I need a win to get anything out of this match.

Game 6
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131126/log.505f5ec4a2e6714a97eee844.1385504119675.txt
Cellar, Oasis, Oracle, Swindler, Conspirator, Cartographer, Embassy, Merchant Guild, Rabble, Nobles, Colony

I aim for Conspirator with Oasis, Cellar and Cartographer to help it out. We both get an early Swindler and this stops either of our decks coming together. Swindling also depletes piles and after a while we're both scrambling for points with rather clunky decks. I feel good about my chances right to the end but somehow when it finishes I'm 2 points behind. Grrrr.
Psyduck: 40, RobertJ: 38

Overall a nice match with some interesting boards and several close games. In particular, I reckon Games 1,4 and 6 could easily have gone either way so I'm a bit disappointed not to come away with a draw. However he certainly out-played me in Games 2 and 3 and played well throughout so it's definitely a fair result. Losing in agonising fashion to Germany in other World Cups is practically our national tradition so maybe it's no surprise to see Dominion going the same way!

Thanks Psyduck for a fun set of games and for hosting. Amazingly Goko also behaved itself apart from a few login in problems and minor lagging in one game.

[RTT]

3 Videos from the Match vs. Rabid are allready uploaded

this is the first game from the playlist


the others are following soon

[AdamH]

AdamH defeats retlet 4-2

Video playlist link


Game 1: AdamH 41, retlet 24



Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131201/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1385910700016.txt

Kingdom: Apothecary, Forager, Death Cart, Gardens, Moneylender, Monument, Pirate Ship, Trader, Count, Haggler

Well it's money here, isn't it? We both open Count/nothing on 5/2. He focuses on heavier trashing going into a Death Cart and I focus on playing Monuments. I have a great position throughout and win.


Game 2: retlet 28, AdamH 30



Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131201/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1385912523234.txt

Kingdom: Apothecary, Fishing Village, Oasis, Storeroom, Mining Village, Taxman, Embassy, Inn, Mint, Tactician, with Shelters

This is by far the most interesting kingdom we played: viable options here include BM+Embassy with no Alt-VP or attacks around, Double Tactician/Storeroom with support, or an Apothecary/Storeroom-based draw engine. Well of course neither of us is playing Big Money

I go for Tactician/Storeroom and he goes for the Apothecary engine. Starting on Turn 10 I'm getting a Province every turn with nearly 100% certainty and I get the initiative on greening. I think I have the game in the bag but he starts with Double Province turns and shows no real signs of slowing down. I get in some deep doodoo in the endgame and my only hope is that he stalls twice in a row, essentially, but that's what happens and I squeak out a win.

This game was so fast, both strategies were done very well here with lots of interaction.


Game 3: retlet 30, AdamH 27



Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131201/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1385913469684.txt

Kingdom: Embargo, Ironmonger, Ironworks, Cartographer, Highway, Hunting Party, Stash, Tribute, Bank, King's Court

With no +Buy and no trashing I decide to play Big Money with basically no support like a doof while he Embargoes all of the money stuff and builds this amazing deck that ends in a KC+Ironworks megaturn with Highway enabling him to Ironworks ALL the Provinces. Well played by him here.


Game 4: AdamH 49, retlet 28



Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131201/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1385914719430.txt

Kingdom: Fishing Village, Philosopher's Stone, Bureaucrat, Mining Village, Sea Hag, Cartographer, Ill-Gotten Gains, Witch, Nobles, Possession

Lots of ways to curse your opponent here and no trashing, but a draw engine is still viable with Fishing Village, Nobles, and Witch and Cartographer to support, so that's what I go for. He goes for a more sloggish deck with IGGs and appears to be trying to get Phil Stones, but only ends up with one of them. With that being his only chance to get Provinces and my deck being more reliable, I pick up the win here.


Game 5: AdamH 33, retlet 32



Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131201/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1385916245107.txt

Kingdom: Herbalist, Squire, Doctor, Tunnel, Nomad Camp, Contraband, Explorer, Laboratory, Mine, Hunting Grounds

Well this is the big one. There's a lot of draw here and Squire is the only village. The main difference in the way we build it is that I get a million billion Silvers, which hampers my Doctor trashing a bit. We're going back and forth into the endgame and it gets to where I play poorly (counting?) and allow him to win if he buys the last Duchy and a Tunnel. On his last turn he has the ability to do that but he forgets to play his treasures and ends the game buying only a Duchy.

I feel terrible about the way this ended up, I probably didn't deserve to win it, but misclicks happen and what I sort of wanted to do about it (offer a rematch for this game) isn't feasible for several reasons.


Game 6: retlet 42, AdamH 33



Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131201/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1385918705881.txt

Kingdom: Courtyard, Doctor, Lookout, Market Square, Urchin, Wandering Minstrel, Band of Misfits, Bandit Camp, Witch, Fairgrounds

All the components are here for a big engine with Fairgrounds around. Six-point Fairgrounds are the thing here. We both collide our Urchins soon, but his is before his shuffle and mine is on Turn 5 so I'm behind here to start off. I gain some ground coming out of it, though, into what I believe is a close endgame. However, I think his Fairgrounds are only worth 4VP each and they're in fact worth 6, so I make an endgame play that was in error and I pay the price for it.


Fun match with some interesting boards, and I'm glad to make the semi-finals. Thanks for the games, retlet!

[Qvist]

Qvist - e

Video:
(Caution: A lot of frustration ahead)

Code: [Select]

Candlestick Maker, University, Smugglers, Alchemist, Moneylender, Nomad Camp, Smithy, Mine, Saboteur, Tribute
Game 1: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131203/log.515f2508e4b09ee2d2aa5c19.1386072814380.txt

One option is to go for Smithy-Big Money. But I feared that an engine that gets Candlestick Makers and amasses Saboteurs with University would outrace BM in the long run. So I went for Alchemists with the option in getting maybe one University. We both opened Potion/CM and e bought University while I could get 2 early Alchemists in turn 4 and 5. In turn 7 e gained a Tribute from his University which I really didn't like. I thought that it might be wise to rush CMs as they would give me longevity and would weaken his Tributes. In turn 13 I was already 2 Provinces ahead and I was felt pretty confident, especially as his turn 14 was terrible when he drew 3 Actions dead with his Smithy. But then he could buy 2 Provinces in 2 turns and I started stalling. Especially, my CMs prevented that Alchemist collided with Potion, although I think it was still unlucky. Instead I amass coin tokens. In turn 17 I buy the 3 Province, but he can Province+Duchy. I'm surprised how well his engine works. With only 2 Provinces left, I only buy a Duchy and keep my tokens. But then he can smuggle my Duchy and buy another one and I stall more and more. In the end my tokens didn't save me and I lose 48-35.

Code: [Select]

Hamlet, Native Village, Oracle, Tunnel, Armory, Feodum, Trader, Cartographer, Highway, Trading Post
Game 2: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131203/log.515f2508e4b09ee2d2aa5c19.1386073375457.txt

Don't look so closely here. I totally miss Trader/Feodum here, not sure how or why. In handsight I even missed Cartographer/Tunnel and opened Oracle/Silver to play pure BM. After I realised it in arouns turn 4, I thought about my options. A mirror isn't really possible anymore. So I tried to run out the Feoda to hopefully win the Feoda split. I got two terrible hands then with $9 in one hand and $2 in the next one. I bought a Feodum with $9 and I think this was right. Anyway he could hit $4 in his 4 consecutive turns, so we split them 4/4. Then I was basically toast. I get one trader to get at least some points out of my Feoda and tried to rush Provinces. I got one $7 hand and at the time I could get to $8 he was able to get to Province too. I lose 50-60 with his Feoda being worth 9VP.

Code: [Select]

Pawn, Squire, Black Market, Oasis, Shanty Town, Watchtower, JackOfAllTrades, Monument, Harvest, Torturer
Game 3: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131203/log.515f2508e4b09ee2d2aa5c19.1386074559629.txt

Now, I have to play better. Well, here is Torturer, but with Jack and Watchtower and good Jack-support in Oasis and Squire I can't see Torturer working. The question is to either go for a Silver-flood Jack strategy or a more enginey approach by adding Shanty Towns, amassing Squires and adding Watchtower. After I see him opening Black Market, I go for the faster Silver flood, by only getting few Squires and Oases and 2 Jacks and playing pretty straight forward double Jack. e builds an engine and later adds Torturer to it. But he couldn't get enough of them to really make me hurt. He probably should have added more Monuments to make the engine being more worthwhile, but in the end Double Jack was just too fast and I win easily 58-26.

Code: [Select]

Hermit, Gardens, Mining Village, Rats, Spice Merchant, Worker's Village, Ill-Gotten Gains, Minion, Trading Post, Goons
Game 4: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131203/log.515f2508e4b09ee2d2aa5c19.1386076077237.txt

Really interesting board here. There is IGG/Gardens, but with Hermit and Trading Post there are good trashers and in Minion and Goons strong attacks. e opens surpringsly to me Rats/Hermit. I mean with Rats Hermit basically can trash Coppers (which are then Rats) out of the discard pile and draw a card, but I really don't want to amass Silvers on this board. I think he tries to get a Goons megaturn with Madman, running out the piles with a lot of buys. And there was the danger. He got 3 Goons and got a lot of Worker's Villages for the buys needed. I went for a Goons megaturn with Minion as pseudo-draw. And I didn't need Rats as there was also Spice Merchant for Copper trashing. My constant discard attacks did hurt his Madman quite a lot and when he let his Madman going crazy, he only had $8 which was not enough to run out Curses, Worker's Villages and Hermits. He did this probably a bit too early. After it didn't work out, the game was basically over as he had no buying power anymore. He tried to hurt me now with IGG, but my deck was stable enough and it was too late anyway. In turn 20 I got 5 Goons in play and with 8 buys I could het 40VP tokens for a 65-19 win.

Code: [Select]

Courtyard, Great Hall, Oasis, Village, Wishing Well, Island, Worker's Village, Young Witch, Cultist, Pillage, Border Village
Game 5: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131203/log.515f2508e4b09ee2d2aa5c19.1386076602035.txt

He has a 5/2 opening on this Cultist board with no trashing which was pretty unfortunate for me. I opened YW/Silver and then contested Cultists. I lose the Ruins split 3/7. I then tried to get back with getting Golds and being able to get to Province, but I kept getting $5 over and over again. e had basically no money in his deck and rushed Islands. What I didn't see to that point is that 3-piling is in danger with Ruins and Islands running out and only 2 Cultists left. D'oh, how could I miss that. Well, I noticed it waaay to late and lost stupidly 11-15. Again, a stupid oversight costs me a game.

Code: [Select]

Storeroom, Monument, Salvager, Taxman, Wandering Minstrel, Royal Seal, Trading Post, Treasury, Venture, King's Court
Game 6: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131203/log.515f2508e4b09ee2d2aa5c19.1386077230126.txt

Well, this is clearly King's Court+Monument. We both open Salvager/Silver, but I went for Treasury with $5 or $6 while e got a Trading Post. e was getting really unlucky not hitting $5 in the following turns while I kept getting Treasuries. I got to KCs in turn 7 and turn 8 already and I was far ahead. He had a thinner deck, but I could then KC+Salvager and amassing Monuments. After the turn he could KC+Monument the first time, I ended the game already by piling out Treasuries and Monuments for a solid 45-3 win.


This series was totally two-sided. I was so unconcentrated and did play worse since a while, but still I'm thankful to get at least a tie. Thanks e for the games.

[yed]

Code: [Select]

Candlestick Maker, University, Smugglers, Alchemist, Moneylender, Nomad Camp, Smithy, Mine, Saboteur, Tribute
Game 1: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131203/log.515f2508e4b09ee2d2aa5c19.1386072814380.txt

One option is to go for Smithy-Big Money. But I feared that an engine that gets Candlestick Makers and amasses Saboteurs with University would outrace BM in the long run. So I went for Alchemists with the option in getting maybe one University. We both opened Potion/CM and e bought University while I could get 2 early Alchemists in turn 4 and 5. In turn 7 e gained a Tribute from his University which I really didn't like. I thought that it might be wise to rush CMs as they would give me longevity and would weaken his Tributes. In turn 13 I was already 2 Provinces ahead and I was felt pretty confident, especially as his turn 14 was terrible when he drew 3 Actions dead with his Smithy. But then he could buy 2 Provinces in 2 turns and I started stalling. Especially, my CMs prevented that Alchemist collided with Potion, although I think it was still unlucky. Instead I amass coin tokens. In turn 17 I buy the 3 Province, but he can Province+Duchy. I'm surprised how well his engine works. With only 2 Provinces left, I only buy a Duchy and keep my tokens. But then he can smuggle my Duchy and buy another one and I stall more and more. In the end my tokens didn't save me and I lose 48-35.

I think you should have bought second Potion instead of that many CMs.

[2.71828.....]

Qvist - e

Code: [Select]

Candlestick Maker, University, Smugglers, Alchemist, Moneylender, Nomad Camp, Smithy, Mine, Saboteur, Tribute
Game 1: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131203/log.515f2508e4b09ee2d2aa5c19.1386072814380.txt

One option is to go for Smithy-Big Money. But I feared that an engine that gets Candlestick Makers and amasses Saboteurs with University would outrace BM in the long run. So I went for Alchemists with the option in getting maybe one University. We both opened Potion/CM and e bought University while I could get 2 early Alchemists in turn 4 and 5. In turn 7 e gained a Tribute from his University which I really didn't like. I thought that it might be wise to rush CMs as they would give me longevity and would weaken his Tributes. In turn 13 I was already 2 Provinces ahead and I was felt pretty confident, especially as his turn 14 was terrible when he drew 3 Actions dead with his Smithy. But then he could buy 2 Provinces in 2 turns and I started stalling. Especially, my CMs prevented that Alchemist collided with Potion, although I think it was still unlucky. Instead I amass coin tokens. In turn 17 I buy the 3 Province, but he can Province+Duchy. I'm surprised how well his engine works. With only 2 Provinces left, I only buy a Duchy and keep my tokens. But then he can smuggle my Duchy and buy another one and I stall more and more. In the end my tokens didn't save me and I lose 48-35.

I also wanted to go alchemists, but was forced to get university on T3 when I drew ccepCM.  My decision to gain tribute was based on the fact that I knew he would have an action heavy deck because of the copper trashing from moneylender.  I was most interested in the +2 actions that I could get because I knew that I would need Smithy to help with my draw.  I pick up the early smuggler thinking that he will get a university and I might be able to smuggle something.  It was basically a dead card in my hand until late, when I am able to smuggle a duchy (the only thing I smuggle all game).  I was also pleasantly surprised at how well my engine worked, and I was able to catch up much faster than I anticipated and pull out the win.

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Hamlet, Native Village, Oracle, Tunnel, Armory, Feodum, Trader, Cartographer, Highway, Trading Post
Game 2: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131203/log.515f2508e4b09ee2d2aa5c19.1386073375457.txt

Don't look so closely here. I totally miss Trader/Feodum here, not sure how or why. In handsight I even missed Cartographer/Tunnel and opened Oracle/Silver to play pure BM. After I realised it in arouns turn 4, I thought about my options. A mirror isn't really possible anymore. So I tried to run out the Feoda to hopefully win the Feoda split. I got two terrible hands then with $9 in one hand and $2 in the next one. I bought a Feodum with $9 and I think this was right. Anyway he could hit $4 in his 4 consecutive turns, so we split them 4/4. Then I was basically toast. I get one trader to get at least some points out of my Feoda and tried to rush Provinces. I got one $7 hand and at the time I could get to $8 he was able to get to Province too. I lose 50-60 with his Feoda being worth 9VP.

I saw trader/feodum and immediately thought I would lose since I was 2nd player.  He misses it, and I win.  I did get perfect draws for the combo as well, with my traders never colliding (until after the silvers were almost gone when I could trash a trader for 4 silvers) and being able to buy feuda every turn when Qvist started to try to run that pile out on me.

Code: [Select]

Pawn, Squire, Black Market, Oasis, Shanty Town, Watchtower, JackOfAllTrades, Monument, Harvest, Torturer
Game 3: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131203/log.515f2508e4b09ee2d2aa5c19.1386074559629.txt

Now, I have to play better. Well, here is Torturer, but with Jack and Watchtower and good Jack-support in Oasis and Squire I can't see Torturer working. The question is to either go for a Silver-flood Jack strategy or a more enginey approach by adding Shanty Towns, amassing Squires and adding Watchtower. After I see him opening Black Market, I go for the faster Silver flood, by only getting few Squires and Oases and 2 Jacks and playing pretty straight forward double Jack. e builds an engine and later adds Torturer to it. But he couldn't get enough of them to really make me hurt. He probably should have added more Monuments to make the engine being more worthwhile, but in the end Double Jack was just too fast and I win easily 58-26.

I see some good stuff in the black market, and forget how fast double-jack is.  Black market strategies tend to be better for longer games, and double-jack was just too fast.  I start trying to do a little something with monument and torturer, but it never really works and I can't catch up.

[/center]

Code: [Select]

Hermit, Gardens, Mining Village, Rats, Spice Merchant, Worker's Village, Ill-Gotten Gains, Minion, Trading Post, Goons
Game 4: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131203/log.515f2508e4b09ee2d2aa5c19.1386076077237.txt

Really interesting board here. There is IGG/Gardens, but with Hermit and Trading Post there are good trashers and in Minion and Goons strong attacks. e opens surpringsly to me Rats/Hermit. I mean with Rats Hermit basically can trash Coppers (which are then Rats) out of the discard pile and draw a card, but I really don't want to amass Silvers on this board. I think he tries to get a Goons megaturn with Madman, running out the piles with a lot of buys. And there was the danger. He got 3 Goons and got a lot of Worker's Villages for the buys needed. I went for a Goons megaturn with Minion as pseudo-draw. And I didn't need Rats as there was also Spice Merchant for Copper trashing. My constant discard attacks did hurt his Madman quite a lot and when he let his Madman going crazy, he only had $8 which was not enough to run out Curses, Worker's Villages and Hermits. He did this probably a bit too early. After it didn't work out, the game was basically over as he had no buying power anymore. He tried to hurt me now with IGG, but my deck was stable enough and it was too late anyway. In turn 20 I got 5 Goons in play and with 8 buys I could het 40VP tokens for a 65-19 win.

Surprising is being too kind for how I opened this board.  More like "e was really dumb when he opened rats/hermit."  I was thinking rats is fun, hermit can trash my rats, blah, blah, blah.  It didn't work.  Well, it worked for a little while as I was building, but then I started having small hands.  Qvist does a great job with minion/goons/village (workers or mining) and easily wins.

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Courtyard, Great Hall, Oasis, Village, Wishing Well, Island, Worker's Village, Young Witch, Cultist, Pillage, Border Village
Game 5: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131203/log.515f2508e4b09ee2d2aa5c19.1386076602035.txt

He has a 5/2 opening on this Cultist board with no trashing which was pretty unfortunate for me. I opened YW/Silver and then contested Cultists. I lose the Ruins split 3/7. I then tried to get back with getting Golds and being able to get to Province, but I kept getting $5 over and over again. e had basically no money in his deck and rushed Islands. What I didn't see to that point is that 3-piling is in danger with Ruins and Islands running out and only 2 Cultists left. D'oh, how could I miss that. Well, I noticed it waaay to late and lost stupidly 11-15. Again, a stupid oversight costs me a game.

Not only was it 5/2 vs 4/3 on the cultist board, but I was first player as well.  There is absolutely no trashing this game, so I decide that my "trashing" will be islands.  And since the only real +cards are cultist and courtyard, Qvist has almost no choice but to follow me in getting cultists leaving that pile pretty empty.  I disagree with the fact that the oversight of the 3-pile cost Qvist the game.  Had he ignored cultists to avoid getting that pile low, he would not have had the draw necessary with all the junk that he had.  Had he ignored islands and begun to just buy money his deck would have been too clogged to get anywhere fast.  I had fewer junk cards in my deck and I would have easily been able to deviate from my 3 pile plan to buy some money and get provinces.  I won because of the lucky 5-2 with first player advantage.

Code: [Select]

Storeroom, Monument, Salvager, Taxman, Wandering Minstrel, Royal Seal, Trading Post, Treasury, Venture, King's Court
Game 6: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131203/log.515f2508e4b09ee2d2aa5c19.1386077230126.txt

Well, this is clearly King's Court+Monument. We both open Salvager/Silver, but I went for Treasury with $5 or $6 while e got a Trading Post. e was getting really unlucky not hitting $5 in the following turns while I kept getting Treasuries. I got to KCs in turn 7 and turn 8 already and I was far ahead. He had a thinner deck, but I could then KC+Salvager and amassing Monuments. After the turn he could KC+Monument the first time, I ended the game already by piling out Treasuries and Monuments for a solid 45-3 win.

Yeah.  KC-monument.  The trading post was the mistake that cost me the game.  Just a really bad mistake.  Treasury is clearly better.  I also make a mistake picking up storeroom when I do.  And as with any KC game, once Qvist got the advantage it was over in a landslide.

This series was totally two-sided. I was so unconcentrated and did play worse since a while, but still I'm thankful to get at least a tie. Thanks e for the games.

In all, I really enjoyed playing even though neither of us played that great of a match.  I got luckier over the course of the match and made more small tactical errors, while Qvist made one big tactical error and but played a little better over the course of the games.  As always, thanks for the games

[Qvist]

Code: [Select]

Candlestick Maker, University, Smugglers, Alchemist, Moneylender, Nomad Camp, Smithy, Mine, Saboteur, Tribute
Game 1: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131203/log.515f2508e4b09ee2d2aa5c19.1386072814380.txt

One option is to go for Smithy-Big Money. But I feared that an engine that gets Candlestick Makers and amasses Saboteurs with University would outrace BM in the long run. So I went for Alchemists with the option in getting maybe one University. We both opened Potion/CM and e bought University while I could get 2 early Alchemists in turn 4 and 5. In turn 7 e gained a Tribute from his University which I really didn't like. I thought that it might be wise to rush CMs as they would give me longevity and would weaken his Tributes. In turn 13 I was already 2 Provinces ahead and I was felt pretty confident, especially as his turn 14 was terrible when he drew 3 Actions dead with his Smithy. But then he could buy 2 Provinces in 2 turns and I started stalling. Especially, my CMs prevented that Alchemist collided with Potion, although I think it was still unlucky. Instead I amass coin tokens. In turn 17 I buy the 3 Province, but he can Province+Duchy. I'm surprised how well his engine works. With only 2 Provinces left, I only buy a Duchy and keep my tokens. But then he can smuggle my Duchy and buy another one and I stall more and more. In the end my tokens didn't save me and I lose 48-35.

I think you should have bought second Potion instead of that many CMs.

Yeah, that's what I thought in the rewatch too.

In all, I really enjoyed playing even though neither of us played that great of a match.  I got luckier over the course of the match and made more small tactical errors, while Qvist made one big tactical error and but played a little better over the course of the games.  As always, thanks for the games

Nice summary. 

[zporiri]

TerminalCopper (Germany) defeats zporiri (USA B) 4-2

Code: [Select]

Fishing Village, Forager, Philosopher's Stone, Ironmonger, Scout, Counterfeit, Ghost Ship, Mine, Adventurer, Grand Market
zporiri 43 - terminal copper 21
I thought about going mine into GM's, but figured counterfit does it much better since it provides you $3 instead of $2 when trashing coppers. I really don't want many fishing villages here with the only draw being ghost ship (only being +2). i pick up iron mongers for the actions, knowing my deck will be eventually all actions and i want the cantrip draw (so basically, in this game i think vanilla village is better than fishing village-not many times you can say that lol. anyone agree/disagree?). he gets up and going faster than me and gets out to a 3-1 GM lead, but once my deck gets going it is unhurt by ghost ships and i win the GM split 6-4 and eventually the game.

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Duchess, Tunnel, Nomad Camp, Plaza, Salvager, Young Witch, Cartographer, Merchant Ship, Rebuild, Stables, Vault

terminalcopper 24 - zporiri 23
I really feel like I deserve to win this one. I do get the 5/2 split and open rebuild/duchess. i figure duchess will help economy which can struggle to get to $5 in rebuild games. i ignore tunnels at first; winning the duchy split is far more important. i end up winning the duchy split 6-2. i am in control, but lose on a 3 pile to do all the duchesses i was taking. i was aware it could be a problem, but i lost really unuckily. on his second to last turn he is able to rebuild duchy into province, and then salvage a rebuild and buy a province, turning his 8 point deficit into a 1 point lead. i buy an estate to tie, and there is one duchess and two piles gone. on his next turn, he has no cash but gets his other salvager and trashes a young witch and buys an estate to win buy one. it was annoying cuz there were some turns i didnt take a duchess, but if i had i couldve 3 piled sooner. also annoying because the only way he wins is if he picks up his salvager on each of hist last two turns. but i guess you make your own shuffle luck lol.

Code: [Select]

Herbalist, JackOfAllTrades, Wandering Minstrel, Cultist, Horn of Plenty, Mystic, Pillage, Torturer, Vault, Bank
terminal copper 43 - zporiri 36
I thought about a tortuerer chain, but with cutlist on the board and the only trashing being JOAT which simultaneously gives you silvers which doesnt help in engines and can't trash coppers, i decided to go more or less cultist BM, as does my opponent. he gets $5 more often in the beginning, and that's all she wrote.

Code: [Select]

Warehouse, Bureaucrat, JackOfAllTrades, Militia, Mining Village, Thief, Worker's Village, Saboteur, Trading Post, Vault
terminal copper 48 - zporiri 30
A BM game with a decent amount of options. I choose to go trading post over JOAT, hoping to rid my deck of coppers and flood with silvers but it doesnt work as well as id hope. JOAT was definitely better here, which my opponent did. i greened sooner than i wanted to, but i needed to keep up with my opponent. i was outplayed here.

Code: [Select]

Chapel, Moat, Apothecary, Tunnel, Noble Brigand, Plaza, Quarry, Silk Road, Worker's Village, Fairgrounds
zporiri 63 - terminal copper 56
I love me some alternate victory. I almost always go alternate victory (and as a result I can adjust my clocks extremely well), and this board was begging for it. Extremely weak board (only 5+ is fairgrounds) and a cheap kingdom victory card (tunnel) to go with silk roads. i was extremely surprised to see my opponent do something else (apothecary engine), since i dont think there is anyway it can run out all the provinces on its own. very early on i pick up SR with $4, and silver or copper with $3 or less. NB doesnt help too much since my opponent bought more coppers than silver or gold. i thought i was going to get 6 SRs, but my opponent gets $8 and 2 buys to get the last two. 5-3 turned out to be enough, but it made me nervous not getting 6 of them. after SR are gone, i buy tunnels and estates for the 3 pile.

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Embargo, Lighthouse, Sage, Herald, Moneylender, Quarry, Spice Merchant, Treasure Map, Junk Dealer, Margrave

terminal copper 45 - zporiri 36
an extremely interesting end game, and if you only read one of these logs, make it this one. i thought about a herald type engine, but thought the necessary trashing would take to long. im afraid my opponent might go for this, so i open embargo and embaro herald (shouldve just been a silver in hindsight). i basically go margave BM, but he greens so fast that i dont get as many golds or margraves that i would like. he trashed more than me so i thought i was more equipped for a long haul, but his deck was better. anyways, there were some intresting buys at the end, i think my opponent shouldve bought an estate over a province at one point. anyways, i get a double buy and get the last two estates to go down by 5 with the only VP left on the board in the last province (duchies and estates are gone). my opponent brilliantly starts getting lots of embargoes, knowing if he can get 1 on province he will win (i went first).

good series, and thanks to terminal copper! really bummed i didnt get at least a tie here, that rebuild game will eat away at me for the rest of the day

here are the logs:
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131204/log.516d4ab2e4b082c74d7b8473.1386192004507.txt
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131204/log.516d4ab2e4b082c74d7b8473.1386192612292.txt
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131204/log.516d4ab2e4b082c74d7b8473.1386193188509.txt
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131204/log.516d4ab2e4b082c74d7b8473.1386193728967.txt
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131204/log.516d4ab2e4b082c74d7b8473.1386194770999.txt
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131204/log.516d4ab2e4b082c74d7b8473.1386195655866.txt

[terminalCopper]

I always find it very interesting to see my opponents views on our games! The comments I add here were written independently.

TerminalCopper (Germany) defeats zporiri (USA B) 4-2

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Fishing Village, Forager, Philosopher's Stone, Ironmonger, Scout, Counterfeit, Ghost Ship, Mine, Adventurer, Grand Market
zporiri 43 - terminal copper 21
I thought about going mine into GM's, but figured counterfit does it much better since it provides you $3 instead of $2 when trashing coppers. I really don't want many fishing villages here with the only draw being ghost ship (only being +2). i pick up iron mongers for the actions, knowing my deck will be eventually all actions and i want the cantrip draw (so basically, in this game i think vanilla village is better than fishing village-not many times you can say that lol. anyone agree/disagree?). he gets up and going faster than me and gets out to a 3-1 GM lead, but once my deck gets going it is unhurt by ghost ships and i win the GM split 6-4 and eventually the game.

We both ghost-shipped regularly, the second phase of the game was determined by the race for grand markets. I saw too late how crucial the number of stop cards is if you start with 3 cards every time. I should have trashed slightly harder, and should have bought ironmongers instead of fishing villages or gold ... Bad start.

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Duchess, Tunnel, Nomad Camp, Plaza, Salvager, Young Witch, Cartographer, Merchant Ship, Rebuild, Stables, Vault

terminalcopper 24 - zporiri 23
I really feel like I deserve to win this one. I do get the 5/2 split and open rebuild/duchess. i figure duchess will help economy which can struggle to get to $5 in rebuild games. i ignore tunnels at first; winning the duchy split is far more important. i end up winning the duchy split 6-2. i am in control, but lose on a 3 pile to do all the duchesses i was taking. i was aware it could be a problem, but i lost really unuckily. on his second to last turn he is able to rebuild duchy into province, and then salvage a rebuild and buy a province, turning his 8 point deficit into a 1 point lead. i buy an estate to tie, and there is one duchess and two piles gone. on his next turn, he has no cash but gets his other salvager and trashes a young witch and buys an estate to win buy one. it was annoying cuz there were some turns i didnt take a duchess, but if i had i couldve 3 piled sooner. also annoying because the only way he wins is if he picks up his salvager on each of hist last two turns. but i guess you make your own shuffle luck lol.

This was a WEIRD rebuild game!
Rebuilds naming tunnels are a well-known gold machine; throw in a salvager, and I think it becomes superior to the usual duchy racing, as you can directly buy multiple provinces with golds or salvaged golds.
Given this concrete plan I had in mind, I really don't know what made me open "YoungWitch-Tunnel". I better should have maximized the chance for rebuild on T3/T4; instead of this, I only got rebuild on T7. My opponent had 2 rebuilds and three duchies at that point (He kinda followed the classic duchy-race-plan).
Thus, my initial plan was terribly slowed down. Furthermore, my rebuild plays always hit another green card before discarding tunnels (I didn't get a single gold with my rebuild-tunnel-gold-machine in the whole game). Meaningwhile, my opponent had won the duchy split 6-2 ... shall I resign?

Then, a miracle happened. I got two lucky moves and finished one point ahead. We both couldn't believe it.

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Herbalist, JackOfAllTrades, Wandering Minstrel, Cultist, Horn of Plenty, Mystic, Pillage, Torturer, Vault, Bank
terminal copper 43 - zporiri 36
I thought about a tortuerer chain, but with cutlist on the board and the only trashing being JOAT which simultaneously gives you silvers which doesnt help in engines and can't trash coppers, i decided to go more or less cultist BM, as does my opponent. he gets $5 more often in the beginning, and that's all she wrote.

Look at this board. Mystics-Jack, anyone? We both didn't dare to do so in the presence of those mighty cultists and prefered a simple Cultist-BM-mirror. Guess I was simply luckier here.

Code: [Select]

Warehouse, Bureaucrat, JackOfAllTrades, Militia, Mining Village, Thief, Worker's Village, Saboteur, Trading Post, Vault
terminal copper 48 - zporiri 30
A BM game with a decent amount of options. I choose to go trading post over JOAT, hoping to rid my deck of coppers and flood with silvers but it doesnt work as well as id hope. JOAT was definitely better here, which my opponent did. i greened sooner than i wanted to, but i needed to keep up with my opponent. i was outplayed here.

Another money mirror. I think it should be double jack or jack/vault, but here's a funny anecdote: My opponent got militia in T2, and I thought to myself "Great, I'll get another Jack to counter Militia!" ... and clicked Militia. I should get more sleep...
Luckily, my opponent purchased two trading posts, and so, my accidental militia becomes a power card.

Code: [Select]

Chapel, Moat, Apothecary, Tunnel, Noble Brigand, Plaza, Quarry, Silk Road, Worker's Village, Fairgrounds
zporiri 63 - terminal copper 56
I love me some alternate victory. I almost always go alternate victory (and as a result I can adjust my clocks extremely well), and this board was begging for it. Extremely weak board (only 5+ is fairgrounds) and a cheap kingdom victory card (tunnel) to go with silk roads. i was extremely surprised to see my opponent do something else (apothecary engine), since i dont think there is anyway it can run out all the provinces on its own. very early on i pick up SR with $4, and silver or copper with $3 or less. NB doesnt help too much since my opponent bought more coppers than silver or gold. i thought i was going to get 6 SRs, but my opponent gets $8 and 2 buys to get the last two. 5-3 turned out to be enough, but it made me nervous not getting 6 of them. after SR are gone, i buy tunnels and estates for the 3 pile.

Interesting one, imho. chapel-BM is impossible because of Noble Brigand. Silk Road synergizes with tunnel - but is that enough  without any support? No tunnel discarder, no gainer, even no possibility to get two estates in one turn? My opponent went for SilkRoads-Tunnels-Estates anyway.
I prefered to chapel my estates and build an apothecary engine, with the lovely support of Workers Villages (I don't need +actions, but I need cantrips and +buy!).
Now, here's the problem: Apothecary is probably THE card in dominion I understand the least. Furthermore,  I haven't been forced to get 8 provinces with apothecary yet. I tried my very best, but my decisions were certainly suboptimal in many situations.

Code: [Select]

Embargo, Lighthouse, Sage, Herald, Moneylender, Quarry, Spice Merchant, Treasure Map, Junk Dealer, Margrave

terminal copper 45 - zporiri 36
an extremely interesting end game, and if you only read one of these logs, make it this one. i thought about a herald type engine, but thought the necessary trashing would take to long. im afraid my opponent might go for this, so i open embargo and embaro herald (shouldve just been a silver in hindsight). i basically go margave BM, but he greens so fast that i dont get as many golds or margraves that i would like. he trashed more than me so i thought i was more equipped for a long haul, but his deck was better. anyways, there were some intresting buys at the end, i think my opponent shouldve bought an estate over a province at one point. anyways, i get a double buy and get the last two estates to go down by 5 with the only VP left on the board in the last province (duchies and estates are gone). my opponent brilliantly starts getting lots of embargoes, knowing if he can get 1 on province he will win (i went first).

My opponent embargoed heralds asap, so the engine was no more possible. My first idea was "Ok, it will be margrave-BM, then". My secondary thought was "But wait, let me do some strong trashing first (moneylender, junk dealer)". But once my deck was thinned, I realized that I had like 25% action cards, and due to the risk of drawing them dead I preferred gold over margrave. Not really a fascinating masterplan, but I managed to get some provs quickly and won by a nose.

good series, and thanks to terminal copper! really bummed i didnt get at least a tie here, that rebuild game will eat away at me for the rest of the day

I will tell my grandchildren about it

[Zappie]

Semifinals, Netherlands - Japan
Victor Savenije  - Manzi
3-3

On beforehand I knew this match going to be (even more) diffult, as Manzi rating is quite a bit higher than mine, so I could say that i am proud to have tied this series up after a 3-1 deficit. But as always after a game of dominion, especially when featuring an uncommon board (which are actually pretty common) - I search for what could I have done better.

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131207/log.50d085aee4b0a0d319a7bfe3.1386429983061.txt
This started immidiatly with a very, very weird board, just look at that ugly looking VP graph. Good 5's like city and catacombs, but we both realised that buying them would be a mistake. With Farming village, warehouse and smugglers this board started out very weird. It was race to the card that can't be smuggled - Kings court.
In the end it looked like i was surely going to win. Without +buy on board I was very carefull, and did not gain from piles ready to be depleted so they can't be piledroven by KC smugglers. But then...
... He KC-smuggles the saboteurs, and plays his one city that now has +buy for the win.

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131207/log.50d085aee4b0a0d319a7bfe3.1386430955167.txt
whoever wins the post prizes wins right? I can happily say no altough this board does prove the golden rule:
whoever gets KC first, wins

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131207/log.50d085aee4b0a0d319a7bfe3.1386432448931.txt
I did make a few big mistakes here. T3 Chapel in hand with 3 coppers + other terminal... that's probably where you just have to trust your rationality instead of feelings and play that chapel.

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131207/log.50d085aee4b0a0d319a7bfe3.1386433243363.txt
BM'ish here. Trade route is bad then right? apparently not...
And another thing, how to counter such play? Buy less or more maruaders?  2 views: give junk that he is prepared for / junk him so hard that whatever thin deck he has planned doesn't work out.

http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131207/log.50d085aee4b0a0d319a7bfe3.1386435290809.txt
he skipped familiar for soothsayers - which provided a 8-2 split - possibly inrecoverable.
Again, mistakes... Forgot that you can overpay stonemason with 3P


http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131207/log.50d085aee4b0a0d319a7bfe3.1386436870993.txt
nice finisher for this series, and I cound't resist winning this game with exactly 1 point, 7-6

[-Stef-]

Japan - Netherlands
Dawn Harbor - Stef
1-5

Loan, Coppersmith, Rats, Remake, Remodel, Cartographer, Count, Mandarin, Witch, Farmland
The general idea here is straight forward: clean up with remake and/or loan, sift with cartographer and then just get green cards. But do you add Count, Remodel or Rats? And how do you tweak the numbers? Is a which worth the trouble, and if so: when do you get it?
We had an identical good start, opening remake/silver and then drawing remake with 2 estates and 2 coppers.
On turn 4 he spend $5 on a Count, which I had considered for a while on my turn 4. But I love fooling around for a bit, so I spend $6 on a Rat.
It's the kind of move that makes you look ridiculous if it fails, but hey, today it did work.
After that the game somewhat played itself. I think I got Witch at the right moment, and my draws were pretty solid I should say.
Then again, rats into cartographers tends to do that for you.

Lookout, Shanty Town, Fortress, Ironmonger, Hunting Party, Ill-Gotten Gains, Merchant Guild, Mystic, Tactician, Venture
An interesting engine where you clearly want to go double tact with some Merchant Guilds. But where do you start?
Do you want a quick tactician, or trash down first, or get the other cards first?
We had quite different plans here. I opened lookout/Ironmonger to his Shanty town/Ironmonger.
I didn't even consider that, maybe I should have, but I was in doubt between lookout and Silver.
Silver isn't that bad if you want to play single tact for a while before adding the second.
Anyway, he went for a quick tactician and I got some other stuff first. We arrived at double tact just about at the same moment, but I was slightly ahead and could take the game eventually.

Stonemason, Urchin, Philosopher's Stone, Bishop, Conspirator, Scavenger, Scout, Laboratory, Hoard, King's Court
This one I got outplayed. It's sort of the same theme - clear where you want to end up but how do you get there?
He opened Silver/Bishop to my Urchin/Scavenger. He got labs reliable and by the time I got the mercenary it didn't really hurt him anymore.

University, Smugglers, Alchemist, Conspirator, Herald, Worker's Village, Festival, Ghost Ship, Merchant Ship, Witch
This was the least interesting one. Sort of a slog and I won it because of luck in the opening. I open Smuggler/Potion, and he gets $2/$5 for a Witch. I smuggle that on turn 3, and then he draws his Witch on turn 4 (which is incredibly much worse then t3).

Fool's Gold, Herbalist, Vagrant, Doctor, Lookout, Shanty Town, Worker's Village, Contraband, Saboteur, Goons
This is a funny game. I want to play with fool's gold, but with goons around it's not going to be a traditional race. In fact, I don't want to green at all and I'm not that interested in winning any split. He opens $4/$3 for doctor/Fool's gold, which is what I wanted too. But with my $3/$4 I hoped to get a more opportune moment for the doctor and went Fools Gold/Workers Village. Turn 3 proved this wasn't going to work out, so I just got a doctor there for $4.
I thought I was losing badly for a long time, but then we get to turn 14. No cards left in my deck, I'm holding copper, estate, fool's gold, workers village and doctor. I get hit by the Goons and decide to discard my best cards (fool's gold and workers village). This way the doctor can trigger a reshuffle and hope for the best. The doctor himself turns into a miracle worker, finding all 3 remaining coppers in my deck. That sure was some fabulous luck at work. Now this shuffle is so nice that the turn after that I could get 3 goons in play with 8 buys.

Loan, Feodum, Ironworks, Militia, Plaza, Apprentice, Junk Dealer, Market, Mint, Torturer
Yet another game where you clearly want an engine but don't immediately see how to start it up. We start similar but I fall behind pretty badly.
On turn 12, he has $11 with 2 buys. If he goes Mint-Gold now I think the game is over, but he takes Gold-Market. Not bad either of course, but it leaves a bit more junk behind in his deck. He gets punished horribly by a series of bad draws right when the torturers are distributing curses and all of a sudden I'm miles ahead.

Thanks for the match Dawn Harbor, lots of good games.

[AdamH]

USA Team B vs. Germany, seat 4 match

AdamH 3, Psyduck 3

Video Playlist


Game 1: Psyduck 38, AdamH 45

Kingdom: Lighthouse, Shanty Town, Nomad Camp, Taxman, Contraband, Count, Counterfeit, Junk Dealer, Merchant Ship, Hoard

Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131207/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1386436948691.txt



Counterfeit/Hoard is a thing. It's not exactly trivial to play, though. I open with a Lighthouse for a little bit of protection aganst Taxman, and I add in a Nomad Camp to supplement. With another $2 turn I immediately regret the Lighthouse. Psyduck goes for strong trashing with Count, which I actually quite like here. I don't quite understand his early Shanty Town with this play, but I think the big thing here is when he misread the text on Hoard and Counterfeit-ed one. I end up with a good endgame position and I take down the win.


Game 2: AdamH 44, Psyduck 40

Kingdom: Tunnel, Urchin, Island, Mining Village, Rats, Scavenger, Minion, Pillage, Royal Seal, Tactician, with Shelters

Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131207/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1386438910556.txt



Oh no! A Tunnel board! Tunnel counters everything about the engine you want to build here, so I (my deck, really) decide(s) to go for it and contest the Minions. This game proves to be swingy as heck, but I end up winning. I got really emotional about this game and I tend to do that with Minion games. I should probably try to not do that.


Game 3: AdamH 55, Psyduck 25

Kingdom: Transmute, Apothecary, Masterpiece, Bridge, Ironmonger, Counterfeit, Cultist, Embassy, Saboteur, Stash

Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131207/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1386440224162.txt



We both open 5/2 on this board, and Cultist ruins the day of anyone trying to build the engine here (see what I did there?). So it seems that vanilla Cultist/Counterfeit with one or two big Masterpieces is the way to go. He opts for a couple of Transmutes (not Apothecaries if I remember our chat correctly) but they never collide with Ruins and I didn't think they were worth the time. I take a commanding lead due to my opponent's seemingly terrible draws and am able to three-pile before Saboteur can even think about making a comeback possible.


Game 4: Psyduck 66, AdamH 35

Kingdom: Courtyard, Crossroads, Develop, Procession, Silk Road, Throne Room, Walled Village, Cultist, Trading Post, Harem

Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131207/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1386442124740.txt



Some interesting weird things happen here. Procession and Throne Room are both present and play completely differently here, AND you need them both! Ruined Market and Walled Village both turn out to actually be useful. Procession and Walled Village is a COMBO! Well anyways I get behind early here and can't catch up. My opponent plays really well here, and the deck is very interesting even with Cultist to ruin your day. Unfortunately with Crossroads around he is able to pile Provinces too quickly for me to have time to catch up.


Game 5: Psyduck 45, AdamH 32

Kingdom: Pawn, Pearl Diver, Fortune Teller, Masterpiece, Baron, Feast, Count, Inn, Jester, Merchant Guild

Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131207/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1386443065117.txt



There's no draw on this board, which makes me very sad. I play Baron and Count with big money and this game cements my irrational hatred of Baron+BM along with Envoy+BM. People seem to think that these are good and I just hate them, they never work out for me. Anyways, Psyduck plays better than me and wins because you make your own shuffle luck, but he thins down with Count and uses Masterpiece to flood with Silver and pwns me.


Game 6: AdamH 29, Psyduck 31

Kingdom: Vagrant, Develop, Oasis, Swindler, Bureaucrat, Navigator, Market, Trading Post, Tribute, Peddler

Game log: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131207/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1386444313162.txt



Peddler counters Swindler here hardcore, so neither of us go for it with Oasis and Market as enablers. It seems I had a better deck in the end but I stalled harder. It must have been because of some unfortunate reshuffles I triggered or something, but I'm not sure what I should have done about it.


Overall I'm happy I got the play the match and I'm happy I did sort-of well. Psyduck was a very friendly opponent and I'm glad we got to chat for a bit after each game. My only regret is that I didn't get to build any big engines this match, but I'll be rooting for Germany in the finals! Good luck, guys!

[RTT]

Videos from my games with mehtods of rationality are uploaded.

At this point i want to say that i feel sorry to warrior that we were not able to play over the week. Without the time difference it wouldnt have been a big deal that warrior wasnt able to play befor 5pm but with me beeing 9 hrs ahead it was.

So I won the match vs. methods 5:1 (even starting with an embarrassing loss) but it didnt quite feel like a win.

Congrats for all of Team USA B for reaching the Semifinals at the first point and beeing a super nice opponent in this tournament.

See you next time in the finals

[Psyduck]

USA Team B vs. Germany, seat 4 match

Overall I'm happy I got the play the match and I'm happy I did sort-of well. Psyduck was a very friendly opponent and I'm glad we got to chat for a bit after each game. My only regret is that I didn't get to build any big engines this match, but I'll be rooting for Germany in the finals! Good luck, guys!

Adam,

thanks for the kind words. After having watched your videos I feel kind of ashamed we tied, I really do. You played a whole level better, and I'm really surprised I could squeeze out a tie. You had a good game plan all the time, while I just bought cards I liked at that point. Thx for recording and rooting for us. We need every support we can get.

[Psyduck]

Yeah, I know, two posts in a row..but they really don't belong together.


First result of the final match series:

Psyduck and Victor Savenije tie 3-3

Code: [Select]

Haven, Herbalist, Stonemason, Workshop, Baron, Trader, Treasure Map, Bazaar, Mystic, Rogue
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131213/log.50d085aee4b0a0d319a7bfe3.1386966216786.txt
I use Stonemason to get Treasure Maps and Havens to connect them, which works out pretty nice

Code: [Select]

Chapel, Doctor, Great Hall, Cutpurse, Ironmonger, Remodel, Wandering Minstrel, Bandit Camp, Horn of Plenty, Farmland
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131213/log.50d085aee4b0a0d319a7bfe3.1386968159905.txt
Chapel game with Ironmonger and Great Hall, also HoP. I try to build an engine around that, my opponent mainly focuses on Bandit Camps, which proves to be way faster.

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Masquerade, Oasis, Trade Route, Warehouse, Talisman, Bazaar, Catacombs, Junk Dealer, Mine, Altar
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131213/log.50d085aee4b0a0d319a7bfe3.1386969844166.txt
A nice engine board with Bazaar, Catacombs, Junk Dealer, Masquerade, Oasis and Warehouse. Zappie buys an Altar, which in my opinion makes the difference, as there is no real +Buy (just Trade Route)

Code: [Select]

Scrying Pool, Oasis, Alchemist, Familiar, Moneylender, Apprentice, Embassy, Laboratory, Library, Pillage
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131213/log.50d085aee4b0a0d319a7bfe3.1386971205415.txt
A strong potion board with Familiar, Alchemist and also Scrying Pool. I have 5/2, but can discard his first potion with my Pillage. Nevertheless, I lose the curse split 6-4. I manage to get rid of all the curses (Apprentice) but without +Buy just couldn't catch up.

Code: [Select]

Haven, Squire, Loan, Village, Watchtower, Mining Village, Salvager, Taxman, Bazaar, Duke
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131213/log.50d085aee4b0a0d319a7bfe3.1386972540309.txt
Tragic game. We both go for Squire and Watchtower with some Salvager support. I start going for Duchies (because of Dukes), he continues to build to double Province. I get 6 Duchies, but start to stall hard, as he ends the game on piles with a win for me due to miscounting.

Code: [Select]

Storeroom, Urchin, Village, Conspirator, Gardens, Tournament, Bazaar, Harvest, Fairgrounds, Goons
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131213/log.50d085aee4b0a0d319a7bfe3.1386973819349.txt
Tournament. He starts Bazar/-, while my Urchins collide on turn 4. I get the first Goons, the first Province, Followers and Trusty Steed, as he resigns.

Overall I'm quite happy with the draw, as he played a lot better, especially in Games 2, 3 and 5. He messed the first one a little bit up, while game 5 was a very early X-Mas gift for me. I really hope my team mates will now get enough points for us to take the title.

[Zappie]

My comments Added in Italics (Zappie)

Yeah, I know, two posts in a row..but they really don't belong together.


First result of the final match series:

Psyduck and Victor Savenije tie 3-3

Code: [Select]

Haven, Herbalist, Stonemason, Workshop, Baron, Trader, Treasure Map, Bazaar, Mystic, Rogue
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131213/log.50d085aee4b0a0d319a7bfe3.1386966216786.txt
I use Stonemason to get Treasure Maps and Havens to connect them, which works out pretty nice

I should have played a warming up game, as apparently wasn't completely awake. 2 combo's hero: haven - treasure map
and haven baron, I executed neither of them properly. I becomes really horrible when I am forced to pick up a treasure map from my rogue...

Code: [Select]

Chapel, Doctor, Great Hall, Cutpurse, Ironmonger, Remodel, Wandering Minstrel, Bandit Camp, Horn of Plenty, Farmland
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131213/log.50d085aee4b0a0d319a7bfe3.1386968159905.txt
Chapel game with Ironmonger and Great Hall, also HoP. I try to build an engine around that, my opponent mainly focuses on Bandit Camps, which proves to be way faster.

Chapel game here. luckily we both opened 4/3, as 5/2 with bandit camp would be much stronger. having a delayed gold fits just perfectly with chapel. I opt to open cutpurse instead of ironmonger, with worked out nicely to slow down opponents trashing. Then there is HoP, which i think doesn't work here, but it's very close. If you get it to province level with cantripish cards, you probably can only have 1, which is not good enough. The main problem with it is that you can't gain great halls (neccesary for draw) with HoP I think.

Code: [Select]

Masquerade, Oasis, Trade Route, Warehouse, Talisman, Bazaar, Catacombs, Junk Dealer, Mine, Altar
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131213/log.50d085aee4b0a0d319a7bfe3.1386969844166.txt
A nice engine board with Bazaar, Catacombs, Junk Dealer, Masquerade, Oasis and Warehouse. Zappie buys an Altar, which in my opinion makes the difference, as there is no real +Buy (just Trade Route)

Here I don't think you want to build up your engine to double province level, because you need to trash cards with trade route in your already very thin deck with masqurade, junk dealer and altar. Talisman is the only card that netts you virtual +buy but that requires quite a bit of work. The difference here is the altar (also usefull for duchies) and having 2 catacoms around, psyduck in the end really rellied on soluably warehouse.

Code: [Select]

Scrying Pool, Oasis, Alchemist, Familiar, Moneylender, Apprentice, Embassy, Laboratory, Library, Pillage
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131213/log.50d085aee4b0a0d319a7bfe3.1386971205415.txt
A strong potion board with Familiar, Alchemist and also Scrying Pool. I have 5/2, but can discard his first potion with my Pillage. Nevertheless, I lose the curse split 6-4. I manage to get rid of all the curses (Apprentice) but without +Buy just couldn't catch up.

Opponent was really focusing on clearing out his deck after my probably better 4/3 opening, like he was eventually going for scrying pool. But that doesn't work without + buy. At a certain pint his only money in his deck is moneylender and a copper. Meanwhile I was scrabled my earlier money together to build a vast lead.

Code: [Select]

Haven, Squire, Loan, Village, Watchtower, Mining Village, Salvager, Taxman, Bazaar, Duke
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131213/log.50d085aee4b0a0d319a7bfe3.1386972540309.txt
Tragic game. We both go for Squire and Watchtower with some Salvager support. I start going for Duchies (because of Dukes), he continues to build to double Province. I get 6 Duchies, but start to stall hard, as he ends the game on piles with a win for me due to miscounting.

So from the start we agreed to play without the point counter, which I will never do again in the future. I think dukes clog up this draw to x engine too much and should be ignored. I don't know what psyduck thought when he bought a taxman, which is almost as bad as a curse here. I thought i was ahead and ended the games on piles... But i was 2 points short... I do think I was in a better position.

Code: [Select]

Storeroom, Urchin, Village, Conspirator, Gardens, Tournament, Bazaar, Harvest, Fairgrounds, Goons
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131213/log.50d085aee4b0a0d319a7bfe3.1386973819349.txt
Tournament. He starts Bazar/-, while my Urchins collide on turn 4. I get the first Goons, the first Province, Followers and Trusty Steed, as he resigns.

mercenary, tournament and goons have one thing in common: first player to get and play them have a distict advantage. Everything went smooth here for psyduck, from opening draw till getting both followers and trusty steed.

Overall I'm quite happy with the draw, as he played a lot better, especially in Games 2, 3 and 5. He messed the first one a little bit up, while game 5 was a very early X-Mas gift for me. I really hope my team mates will now get enough points for us to take the title.

I am quite happy with my results in the tournament, I never lost a series. I really hope that stef, scsn, and florrat will win their series in this very football-like-rivalry between Holland-Germany

[RTT]

Heya the Videos from my Match with Stef are uploaded. This time i commented in English so it should be understandable for everyone.

[Qvist]

My commentary on the games against SCSN. Video:

Code: [Select]

Chapel, Pawn, University, Develop, Market Square, Wishing Well, Mining Village, Baker, Counting House, Margrave
Game 1: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131214/log.505d732a51c359e6597efeb8.1387053004575.txt

Interesting engine board with everything you need for it. We both saved the token. SCSN opens Chapel/Baker while I open Chapel/Potion. SCSN gets a Market Square then and aims to trash heavily while getting Gold and tokens. In turn 5 he gets unlucky though and drew the Chapel from his Market Square. I get very lucky though and already get the University in hand that I bought one turn earlier. I gained a Margrave as I figured that might hurt him trashing. But then in turn 7 SCSN gets now a Potion what I didn't quite understood. If he wants Universities why not from the start? In my turn 7 I was already up to 3 Universities and was able to activate a Market Square that I gained in the same turn. It really worked out for me. I then loaded up on Bakers as I figured they might be pretty important in the game. SCSN could catch up pretty fast though as I didn't have enough draw. But I took the initiative as my deck was still better and started greening. In turn 12 I was 2 Provinces ahead, then he got Province/Duchy. But then I had a pretty good turn and could pile out on Bakers, Mining Villages and Margraves with Universities and a Develop for a solid 28-9 win.

Code: [Select]

Forager, Menagerie, Philosopher's Stone, Militia, Quarry, Scavenger, Silk Road, Counterfeit, Ill-Gotten Gains, Forge
Game 2: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131214/log.505d732a51c359e6597efeb8.1387054169033.txt

This the most interesting board for me. There are a couple of possibilities and even within these possibilities a lot of variation and also a lot of interaction where you have to adopt.
I thought about IGG with PStone here, but felt not really comfortable with it. IGG/Silk Road rush is another possibily, but I thought an engine that could play Militia each turn might hurt too much for it. So I went for the Menagerie engine with trashing in Forager and Counterfeit. I figured that Forager was a key card here as there are a lot of treasure cards in the kingdom that would eventually land in the trash. So we both opened Forager/Militia and built the same kinda deck. We both then get a second Forager and he goes already for a Menagerie while I go for a Silver in turn 4. SCSN gets a lucky turn 5 to get a Counterfeit while I don't get there until turn 8. He bought even a second Counterfeit in turn 7. SCSN also picks up a Quarry that I didn't really understand at first, but he was probably aiming for a Forge as he bought it on turn 10 along with a Scavenger and a Menagerie. This means he has 3 terminals and with no village he's only able to play one of them. I wasn't really sure what he was trying to do, but I kept thinning and then buying Gold and Menagerie. He then forged his Militia into a Quarry (even more confused?) and trashed his second Forager with his first one in turn 11. On turn 12 I reached $12 (or $14 if I counterfeit a Silver). I then had to made a decision where to go from here. With his only one Forager I decided to use Forager now as my main payload. That's why I trashed the first Silver with Counterfeit and bought Province/IGG (to trash IGG later and maybe slow him down with one Forager gone). On SCSN's turn 12 he forged Scavenger and Quarry into Province (the Scavenger was then only Forge fodder?) which raised Forager's value even more, and then buys a Province and his Forager back. On my turn 13 I continue what I was aiming for, I counterfeited an IGG (Forager now worth $4) and bought Province/IGG again. SCSN didn't stall, trashed an Counterfeit (Forager worth $5) and a Curse and bought Province/Duchy. I then get a pretty bad turn with a small hand and no +Buy I get the third last Province, but I forgot about Forge, so he could easily end the game, but didn't even need to forge Province into Province, he could trash Counterfeit/Forager into Province and buy the last Province for a solid 34-18 win. I'm still not sure how to best play here. I guess I underestimated Forge here as it gave end game control I didn't have. I wonder how any other strategy would have performed.

Code: [Select]

Moat, Pearl Diver, Great Hall, Lookout, Shanty Town, Wishing Well, Scout, Bazaar, Venture, Wharf
Game 3: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131214/log.505d732a51c359e6597efeb8.1387054932014.txt

This game was the game-changer in the match-up. This is clearly an engine with Shanty Town/Bazaar as village and Wharf as draw and Lookout for a bit of trashing. The building went pretty much straight forward. I don't think any of us had particular bad or good luck. The Wharves were gone in turn 10 and we split them equally 5/5. But I think my deck was a little bit better at that moment. He had one Shanty Town more, but I had one Estate less and 2 Silvers more. After one Bazaar for me and Bazaar/Silver for SCSN I reached $14 and decided to take initiative in greening and bought Gold/Province. He built more and with $11 goes for Gold/Silver/Pearl Diver. I continue to draw my deck and am now able to get to double Province. SCSN now overdraws his deck and gets Province/Gold and 2 Coppers. And then came turn 14. There where 6 cards left in my deck and all 3 remaining Wharves where in there. Wow. This means I have no Wharf in play for the next turn. With $14 I buy Province/Duchy for a 19VP lead. SCSN can now savely buy double Province without fear that I'm able to get the last Province as my 3 Wharves collided. I only get to $3 and he can savely end it with Province/Duchy and 2 Estates. I mean you make your own shuffle luck, but I'm not sure what I could have done to prevent that happening. Maybe 2 Duchies instead of Province/Duchy would have been an option. But I don't think that would have prevented that. But that unlucky loss kinda influenced my moral. Let's see what happens now.

Code: [Select]

Native Village, Warehouse, Bureaucrat, Navigator, Rats, Scavenger, Duke, Journeyman, Pillage, Bank
Game 4: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131214/log.505d732a51c359e6597efeb8.1387056216781.txt

With no +Buy and nothing really strong here, we both go for Duke with Bureacrat and Scavenger. Basically totally a mirror game. One difference is that I added some Warehouses for smoothing while gets mainly Silver. We split the Duchies 4/4 after turn 9. SCSN now gets a lucky Province while keep getting Dukes. So far we're still head to head. But in turn 14 SCSN gets another Province and then I'm in trouble. Probably because I have not enough Silvers in my deck I keep getting $4 now and SCSN can even get a third Province in his clogged up deck, wow. No chance to catch up now. We discussed this later and his choice to get more Silver of Warehouse was probably correct as he was able to get to Province. But 3 Provinces in his clogged up deck is still pretty lucky in my opinion. I'd like to hear some thought on this game too.

Code: [Select]

Pawn, Doctor, Steward, Tunnel, Feast, Ironworks, Band of Misfits, Margrave, Market, Vault
Game 5: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131214/log.505d732a51c359e6597efeb8.1387056899918.txt

Being 1-3 behind I needed now 2 wins to tie. On this Colony board we both go for Vault/Tunnel here. SCSN decides to open with Steward to trash out some stop cards. So he opens Feast/Steward to my Feast/Tunnel. Not much to say beside I didn't quite expect this to be that important. I thought going straight for Proinves could outrace trashing and going for Colonies. I had some bad luck here too with triple colliding Vaults and stuff, but still he played this much better and deserved the clear 88-58 win.

Code: [Select]

Scheme, Armory, Quarry, Bandit Camp, Cache, Margrave, Royal Seal, Hoard, Hunting Grounds, Nobles
Game 6: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131214/log.505d732a51c359e6597efeb8.1387057780768.txt

I have a 5/2 on this board. I decide to go for money/engine hybrid with Margrave/Nobles and Hoard and open Margrave to slow him down from the start. He opens Quarry/Silver and gets Margrave in turn 3 and a second Quarry in turn 4, obviously going more for an pure engine. Turn 5 was the key for me. I had $6 with a Quarry in hand and 2 buys. I still could go for the engine now. But I get the Hoard and decided to go with the original plan. In both turn 6 and 7 I already can buy Nobles and gain Gold, so I felt pretty confident. In the end I win the Nobles split 7/1 while SCSN keeps buying Hunting Grounds instead. I then buy Province/Bandit Camp in turn 14. With tons of Spoils and very good turn, SCSN gets double Province. I then have a horrible $7 hand and was not sure to get here. I go for Bandit Camp to be able to use Nobles for draw. SCSN gets a Province and we're equal in points now. I can get a Province, he only a Duchy and I get another Province in the turn after that. SCSN has to get double Duchy though. In turn 18 I get $7 again. A Province for me would have maybe sealed it. Instead I have to buy Duchy/Estate with a Hoard in play. He gets only a Duchy. Then I have $9 and only one buy. I have to make a decision here. Being 4VP ahead I had the choice between Province, Duchy or Bandit Camp (because I was right before a shuffle and we need double Province to win anyway). Duchy doesn't make much sense as he will win with double Province anyway, with or without Duchy. I decided to go for Bandit Camp. SCSN can then double Province and win. As it turned out he had only 2 buys and if would have gone for Province this would have been the win.

Well..., bad luck and bad decisions led to this destroying defeat. SCSN played better and deserved the win anyway. This basically means Netherlands won this tournament, unless terminalCopper pulls off a wonder. Thanks SCSN for these interesting games and to all for this great experience in this tournament. Hey, I went to the finals without winning a single match

[Awaclus]

Hey, it's a bit late, but is there still interest for the Stef - Awaclus match from the group phase? I forgot to record game 1 and another game that we played later, but I could still add commentaries for the rest.

[florrat]

Heya the Videos from my Match with Stef are uploaded. This time i commented in English so it should be understandable for everyone.

<video>

Thanks for uploading this in English. Your first game was amazing! I totally agreed with you when Stef bought the Potion. But after seeing the game it completely makes sense that Stef's strategy dominates here. Very instructive game to see!

[2.71828.....]

Heya the Videos from my Match with Stef are uploaded. This time i commented in English so it should be understandable for everyone.

<video>

Thanks for uploading this in English. Your first game was amazing! I totally agreed with you when Stef bought the Potion. But after seeing the game it completely makes sense that Stef's strategy dominates here. Very instructive game to see!

yeah, the English videos are more instructive, the German ones (with Google translating) are more humorous.

[florrat]

@Qvist: Thanks for the video and the write-up, it was interesting to read and watch (maybe I'll do a write-up for my matches as well). In game 3 you indeed had some serious bad luck.

I disagree about your bad luck in game 6 though. You had a great opening (as you already noted yourself). Later in turn 15 you was very lucky again to draw a Nobles from SCSN's Margrave, so that you could play both Margraves with still an action left afterwards. And the bandit camp on your final turn was definitely a mistake. If you bought a Province, SCSN needed to get Province-Duchy-Duchy, and otherwise you would be in pretty good shape, especially when you could get one more Duchy.

Hey, I went to the finals without winning a single match

I won the championship without winning a single match, try to beat that!

[terminalCopper]

After two draws (RTT&Psyduck) I knew that, regardless the outcome of the game Qvist-SCSN, this final match will probably decide the world championship ... what a suspense!
Unfortunately, SCSN won 5-1, so I needed a kind of miracle against an opponent who has roughly the same iso-rating I have. It didn't show up - he only needed two games to ensure the title.

Onto  the games:

Game 1: 0-1
 http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131215/log.510876c7e4b0ac7a7a0bb212.1387137294683.txt (florrat wins)
We both go SpiceMerchant-Minions. I decided to open hamlet instead of silver, as hamlets synergize way better with minions, but that was probably too farsighted, as silver helps better to get them.

Game2: 0-2
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131215/log.510876c7e4b0ac7a7a0bb212.1387138598151.txt (florrat wins)
Interesting board. I opened Salvager-Silver to get Witch-Urchin, my oppenent started with Salvager-Swindler and DameAnna/Silver on T3/4. His trashing concept proved to be more reliable; switching to vineyards didn't help me out.

Game3: 1-2
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131215/log.510876c7e4b0ac7a7a0bb212.1387139511639.txt (terminalCopper wins)
florrat started with smithy/silver, I opened JunkDealer with an interesting engine on my mind: Golem->Scheme can provide +actions, there is +buy via baron, and later on, if my opponent goes smithy-bm, I can stop him with one pillage per turn.
Funnily, it went the other way round: My opponent started to build the engine, and as I began to see some speed problems the engine might have, I felt like BM would be faster. It was.

Game4: 2-2
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131215/log.510876c7e4b0ac7a7a0bb212.1387140616144.txt (terminalCopper wins)
I don't like cultists, especially if my opponent gets 5-2. I tried to go for a silk road slog instead, and somehow ... it worked.

Game5: 2-3
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131215/log.510876c7e4b0ac7a7a0bb212.1387141263363.txt (florrat wins)
One should never blame shuffle luck, but if on a potion heavy board both potions collide twice without money, basically that's all she wrote.

Game6: 3-3
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131215/log.510876c7e4b0ac7a7a0bb212.1387142322632.txt (terminalCopper wins)
An obvious engine board with scrying pools/Apprentice/Market/WanderingMinistrel, supported by a nice finish option (get peddlers and graverob them). Probably, I was just luckier to set it up.


All in all: Congratulations, Netherlands!

You did way better than 1974, 1978 and 2010

[SCSN]

You did way better than 1974, 1978 and 2010

If we're going to play that game...

[SCSN]

My commentary on the games against SCSN. Video:

Thanks for recording the videos. Some comments on the games:

Game 1: You played this better than me. Opening Chapel/Baker with 2/5 on a board with Market Square still looks so awfully strong to me, but then I pretty much resign myself to not getting the Potion for a while, and University is also really strong here, so I'm still not sure what I should have done differently. Right now I'm leaning towards a Chapel/Potion open even with 2/5...

Game 2: This is an interesting board. Going for IGG/PS/Silk Roads is really really awful though. If you go that route I can just make Forager worth $8 without you being able to benefit from it due to your giant deck. 

The early game is straightforward, but where to go from there is the big question. I had really no idea what to do--upping Forager benefits you as well, and Forge has a bit of a fuel problem--but felt like getting a Forge, and when I'm confused I just go for what gives me the most options in the future and let the draws/my opponent's play decide which of them to exercise, so Quarry and Forge seemed like natural fits.

The idea behind the 2nd Quarry was to buy Forge fodder for "free", but unfortunately I was forced to trash one of them when they collided too early. I decided that hoping for duplicates to not collide just wasn't going to work, so that double-Quarry plan went out of the window. With Forager worth $3 now and $4 in the near future because I still had a duplicate Counterfeit, and seeing how you had just bought a Province, I figured the best play would be to just double Province and win the race for Provinces, especially with Forge giving me a big advantage and your Militia assisting me in not stalling.

Not Foraging the Militia sometime before the end-game was a definite mistake. Yes, the first Menagerie only cancels the Militia attack, but with me having 6 Menageries that's pretty irrelevant, and the important thing is that the Militia enables me to discard not only duplicates, but also cards that are likely to be duplicated after 1 or 2 activations (i.e. Provinces). Your T14 Militia play was completely unnecessary, as you could have gotten the Province without it, and it allowed me to send two of my 3 Provinces to the discard, thus ensuring me that I'd be drawing my deck.

And I think you either shouldn't have bought the 2nd Gold in the first place or Foraged it on T12 where the two Golds prevented you from activating a Menagerie (and would continue to bug you on subsequent turns). Besides Menagerie, the only card you don't mind having multiple copies of in your deck is Forager, as you can use one to trash the other when they collide.

Game 3: Yeah this was just terrible luck. Definitely discard the Gold over the Pearl Diver though, it doubles your changes of getting to the Wharfs.

Game 4: We already discussed this one a bit (more Silvers, less Warehouses), but having watched the video I saw you sometimes not even play a Warehouse in a hand where you had already reached $5. Sometimes that's the right play b.c. of deck management issues, but that was not the case here. Barring misclicks, it's impossible to end up with less than $5 after the Warehouse play, and you just deprive yourself of a free shot at $8.

Game 5: Trashing matters. The only thing I'm not sure about is whether to get a T1 Doctor for $4 or go for Feast/Steward. I decided the 2nd option would be healthier because this particular Doctor often makes me sick.

Game 6: As mentioned by others you would probably have won this one by buying the penultimate Province. I do think the engine is quite a bit better than getting a million Golds (they clog your deck and thus limit you to mostly single Province turns), and that had you gone for double Bandit Camp over the Hoard you'd have decided that game right there. Due to your early Margrave and unfortunate draws I had a really slow start, and didn't have or felt like I didn't have the time to get my deck to the point where I'd be able to draw it with reasonable consistency (triple Scheme: HG, HG, BC).

It was a fun series for sure, and I'm obviously happy to have won

[florrat]

Let me also comment on the games between me and terminalCopper.

Game 1: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131215/log.510876c7e4b0ac7a7a0bb212.1387137294683.txt (florrat wins)
I don't really see how Hamlet synergizes so well with Minion. Sure, the discarding doesn't hurt, but you're not really looking for +Actions and +Buys but for +Coins. I could understand opening Spice Merchant + Pawn (but even then it's not easy to reach $5), because I think Pawn synergizes much better with Minion than Hamlet. I think your second Spice Merchant was a mistake.

Game 2: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131215/log.510876c7e4b0ac7a7a0bb212.1387138598151.txt (florrat wins)
I couldn't see how Vineyard could work here. Vineyard doesn't need very much support, but this was just too little. Only Salvager gives +Buy, but it is almost impossible to set up a deck where you can play one each turn. On the other hand, Knights + Swindler can easily lower the number of actions in a deck.


After game 2 terminalCopper made the remark "Congratulations with the championship" (or something like that). This completely confused me, because I hadn't looked at game points yet, so I was preparing for the fact that I needed to win 3 games. Oh well, it was a happy surprise (for me)


Game 3: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131215/log.510876c7e4b0ac7a7a0bb212.1387139511639.txt (terminalCopper wins)
This was an interesting board. I knew the engine wouldn't be too strong, but I've been punished too often before for going BM while my opponent went engine. So this time I went for a Scheme-Golem-Smithy-Baron-Pillage engine. I probably shouldn't have trashed my Necropolis, because that was the only reliable way to get 2 actions. If I kept it, I could probably play most of my Golems pretty reliably, by topdecking Necropolis-Golem-Golem each turn. I also made some tactical errors at some points (when Golem revealed Junk Dealer + Smithy I played JD first, without a target to trash), and terminalCopper was way ahead before I could start greening.


Game 4: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131215/log.510876c7e4b0ac7a7a0bb212.1387140616144.txt (terminalCopper wins)
I was lucky here to open 5/2 on a Cultist board. We both rushed for Cultist, but I won the Ruins split 6-4. After that I try to build up to Provinces, while terminalCopper goes for Silk Road. That worked out well for him, and he could finish with a very narrow win. I think his strategy was better.

Game 5: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131215/log.510876c7e4b0ac7a7a0bb212.1387141263363.txt (florrat wins)
With 3 Potion-cost-cards it's hard to not open Potion, so I open Potion/Cellar with 5/2. I was VERY lucky that I could buy a familiar on turn 3 and turn 5, and after that my Cellar cycling guaranteed that I could play familiar more often than my opponent. I won the Curse split 7-3. During the game I thought this was mainly caused by his Familiars missing the reshuffle more often, but upon inspection of the log the main cause was the increased cycling given by my cellar (before the curses ran out, a familiar missed the refshuffle once for both of us). After that it was practically game over, because I was also able to get more universities than him. He had some unlucky hands like 2*Potion+Copper (I wouldn't have gotten a second potion in his position, but maybe it was a good idea with so many potion cost cards). This game was definitely decided by shuffle luck.

Game 6: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131215/log.510876c7e4b0ac7a7a0bb212.1387142322632.txt (terminalCopper wins)
A very strong board with nonterminal virtual coins (Peddler, Market, Grand Market, Mystic). We both tried to get as much of possible of these while drawing with Scrying Pool. I think this game was again mostly decided by luck (if you don't agree, I'm very much interested in hearing what I could've done better).The first three cards I revealed from my deck to his Scrying Pool were Apprentice, Apprentice, Market. That does hurt quite a lot, and the Apprentice which I bought on turn 5 never collided with one of my Estates. And then terminalCopper could get his engine working earlier, which resulted in a positive feedback loop, which gave me no chance to catch up. (By the way, I think that your second Potion was a mistake, terminalCopper, and you would have benefited from buying an Apprentice. A few Scrying Pools can draw a complete deck when you've trashed half of your starting cards)

Thanks for the games!

[SCSN]

Game 6: http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20131215/log.510876c7e4b0ac7a7a0bb212.1387142322632.txt (terminalCopper wins)
A very strong board with nonterminal virtual coins (Peddler, Market, Grand Market, Mystic). We both tried to get as much of possible of these while drawing with Scrying Pool. I think this game was again mostly decided by luck (if you don't agree, I'm very much interested in hearing what I could've done better).

I wouldn't have gotten any Silvers here, they only clog your deck and you're not desperate to get a high coin cost card as soon as possible. On T2 I'd get a Moat and on T3 a Wandering Minstrel. Keep buying Moats for 2-3 and Minstrels for 4 unless you can buy a Peddler, get a Market for your first 5. With all the sifting (WM) and Draw (Moat/SP) you don't really care for an early Apprentice, so keep buying Markets for 5 at least until you can no longer expect that Market to get you a free Peddler.

[florrat]

That actually makes sense. Thanks!