How not to execute a pillage "pin":
http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20141227/log.516fc05ae4b082c74d7e0ceb.1419720513450.txtOkay, not a pin, but I had an engine that would play pillage every turn to ensure he could not buy a province each turn to give me enough time to catch up and win. And it would have worked too, if I had simply stopped him from getting apprentice...
turn 17: I discard his throne room instead of apprentice. He apprentices the province and goes on to double province. If I discard the apprentice, he has to throne oracle and at best gets a single province. This is bad, but I still have complete control over the game.
turn 19: He has a bad hand with only 2 coins and two fortresses. I discard a fortress (the right call) and play 3 oracles, surely I can prevent him from drawing his apprentice, right? The first time I see copper-pawn. If I put it back he can't do anything, but he can get a pawn in his next hand and I'd rather he didn't have that, so I decide to discard it... stupid, right? It gets worse. The next play I see silver-pawn, and use the same reasoning and discard again! Now I'm asking for it, but with the third play of oracle I see copper-throne room. If I just put this back I still have the game in hand easily. No, I discard without thinking, and suddenly his fortress can draw absolutely anything and I have to pray it isn't apprentice. Well, maybe it's still okay, I can just keep building and he won't be able to end it and I can take the long way back to victory with duchies and harems. Nope, I decide to take 3 of the last 3 provinces... and then remember that it's bad if he draws apprentice. Well, that's what happens, and I lose.
This isn't really the right thread for this, but I don't really know where better to put this. We need an "I threw it away!" thread. Okay, there is actually one of those, but that was about a specific game. This wasn't a misclick.