Innovation really isn't very strategic, except in some 2-player games. While I enjoy 4-player, it's certainly a lot more chaotic and possibly less interesting to "serious" gamers; I think 3 players is the "soft spot" where you really need your wits about you to maintain the right amount of control on the board. I would also recommend avoiding the expansion (Echoes of the Past) if you find the base game too chaotic, because it only makes it more so (and adds support for 5 players, which I haven't tried but which I can only assume works as well as it does in Dominion).