i got roughed up by mic q. i certainly did not play well, but the luck gods weren't exactly smiling on me either. i was a bit more surly than usual so props to mic q for putting up with me.
Game 1: i think both SP and possession are weak here, but he makes it work. unfortunately, i have little competitive experience with possession. (i vetoed it for a while, and these days lots of people turn it down too) i see his open and decide to jump to a lead and bloat. a little lazy, but i figure that he would have to drain pearl divers, and i could aim to end on piles while ahead. i open cutpurse/silver, as it hurts him early and it hurts him while possessed. grumble #1 for me is when cutpurse falls to turn 5 and i can't hit $5 until turn 5. slows down my early buying power, i can't build enough of a cushion, and that's that. i could have won it with a lucky jester hit late in the game, but no dice there and he did well in cursing me pretty heavily with SP/jester.
Game 2: engine potential here, but also some counters to make a mess of an engine mirror. i underestimate the engine and opt for a messy p-stone deck with cache. he likely takes it in the end anyway, but getting sab from the black market and killing my BM and a p-stone by turn 10 of rubs it in.
Game 3: tournament/woodcutter mirror open. i draw $4/$4/$4 and he has a province the same turn i finally hit $5. gg.
Game 4: lady luck favors me and lets me salvage a little of my pride. i hit $5 turns 3-5 and cruise from there.
Game 5: mic q covered it well enough. i would have loved some scrying pools too, i just didn't have the coin in my potion hands. i think what hurt me most was turn 3. i opt for a courtyard, while he goes silver. early cycling is nice, but it hurt my economy, and he hit $6, $7, and $8 price points before i did.