ftl defeats PitrPicko 3-2
Game 1: PitrPicko 26 -
ftl 34http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130416/log.50612a9b51c36e573294bfd0.1366127059969.txtDuchess, Moat, Apothecary, Urchin, Warehouse, Conspirator, Ironworks, Mountebank, Witch.
We both open 5/2 Mountebank/Moat, get lots of Mountebanks and the occasional warehouse to cycle for them. He gets ahead in the cursing with more mountebanks and warehouses, but I pick up two Urchins which are pretty easy to convert to mercenaries, and the trashing and discard attack of that let me pull ahead and win the provinces 5-3.
Game 2:
PitrPicko 51 - ftl 36
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130416/log.50612a9b51c36e573294bfd0.1366128097811.txtChapel, Wishing Well, Moneylender, Navigator, Band of Misfits, City, Counting House, Cultist, Expand, Forge, Platinum/Colony.
We trash down our decks and get some cultists, splitting the ruins I believe 5-5, and then get cities, which we also split 5-5, and start investing in platinums; with only 5 cities, neither of us has the buys to buy out the estates to three-pile. He gets a few expands while I decide to start on colonies. However, my deck sputters a little after picking up some treasure and some green, whereas his does better with his extra expands and with his 3-1 cultist advantage, so he finishes off with a triple-colony turn (expanding plats into colonies) for the win.
Game 3:
ftl - PitrPicko (resigned)
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130416/log.50612a9b51c36e573294bfd0.1366128638812.txtHaven, Warehouse, Navigator, Nomad Camp, Procession, Sea Hag, Ill-Gotten Gains, Library, Trading Post, Upgrade
I get another 5/2 start, and this time I think it really helps me. I open with Trading Post/Haven, whereas PitrPicko open Sea Hag/warehouse and gets a second hag later to try to really bring down the cursing hammer. But with the economy from trading post, I pick up a few upgrades, which together let me trash the curses basically as they come in. I get a late sea hag on turn 6, and buy 4 ill-gotten gains to keep the cursing split even, and then use upgrades to convert those into golds. It's pretty much game over at that point, as I start picking up provinces having both more money and fewer curses, so PitrPicko resigns after I get my 4th province.
Game 4:
PitrPicko 32 - ftl 22
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130416/log.50612a9b51c36e573294bfd0.1366128992346.txtForager, Smugglers, Wishing Well, Workshop, Silk Road, Cache, City, Haggler, Ill-Gotten Gains, Mystic
I got seriously outplayed this game. I saw Workshop/Silk Road, and thought that would be dominant despite the IGGs, and I was way way wrong. PitrPicko picks up a smugglers, buys some Silk Roads to keep the split even, and wins with some IGGs and duchies which I can't afford because of my workshops.
Game 5:
ftl 32 - PitrPicko 31
http://dominionlogs.goko.com//20130416/log.50612a9b51c36e573294bfd0.1366129681528.txtFishing Village, Menagerie, Smugglers, Bridge, Thief, Graverobber, Knights, Rogue, Trading Post, Vault
PitrPicko opened 5/2 and decided to go for the straightforward province rush with Vault-BM. I opened 4-3, opened Bridge-Fishing Village, and went for a Fishing Village-Menagerie-Vault engine, with Knights for the attack and bridge and smugglers as payload. As it turns out, that's a very tough engine to play - I'm convinced it's super-powerful if done right, but I really don't know what "done right" is, with so many components and with the draw being the vault-menagerie combo and with the potential for knights and rogue and graverobber to be so interactive. It has to depend a lot on what your opponent does. As it is, the top knight was Dame Natalie (gain cards costing up to $3), which was great for me, since she picked up lots of fishing villages and menageries. The second knight was Sir Vander, who I never got because with PitrPicko not getting knights himself, Vander wouldn't ever get trashed for the Gold. Dame Natalie only ever trashed one silver from PitrPicko, but a weaker workshop was good enough for my deck anyway. I floundered around with lots of fishing villages, menageries, and vaults, and the menageries eventually made my deck pretty consistent, playing a fishing village or two per turn, vaults to discard duplicates and then menagerie to draw back up. In retrospect I needed more Bridges (and I made a big mistake in getting a late Trading Post), but my deck worked out; I observed PPR and after PitrPicko broke it I used Dame Natalie to pick up a spare estate to win by 1 point.
Very tight match, with only the first game going to the second player. Thanks to PitrPicko for the nice games!
TD Note: Posted