(11) dondon151 wins the set against
(38) wesphys, 4-1Set rules: PCE off, official PC on, identical starting hands, wesphys gets first player in game 1 (higher location in bracket).
(I didn't mess up the match settings this time!)
Game 1: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201212/20/game-20121220-192207-9189ff53.htmlBaron, Bishop, Colony, Council Room, Farming Village, Farmland, Great Hall, Mandarin, Market, Platinum, Remake, and Treasury
dondon151 73 - 43 wesphys
I wasn't quite looking forward to my future rounds in the tournament because I start as player 2, and my win rate is 15% lower as player 2 than as player 1. So this kingdom looked really straightforward, and I knew that I would have to win on tactical superiority. We mostly mirrored in the earlygame until I bought Market/CR with with my first two $5+ hands and wesphys got Gold/Market. FV connected with CR the first chance I get and the momentum boost carried me through the rest of the game. I had to tread a little carefully in the endgame to make sure that wesphys didn't sneak out a win from under me.
Game 2: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201212/20/game-20121220-193800-5bd32d76.htmlApothecary, Bridge, Cache, Colony, Fortune Teller, Noble Brigand, Platinum, Potion, Remodel, Throne Room, Transmute, Treasury, and Venture
dondon151 28 -
72 wesphysWell, I just picked a bad strategy here. I was hoping for a Bridge megaturn with TR and a bunch of cantrips (Apothecary, Treasury). Remodel got rid of the Estates and I had hoped that Apothecary would plow through Coppers, but things never came together and I just floundered about doing nothing. If the Bridge engine can work here, I certainly executed it very poorly, although I felt that my draws didn't work out either. I also think that I got confused by Throne Room a couple of times because I would lose my place in the TR tree.
Game 3: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201212/20/game-20121220-194346-0fbba66b.htmlForge, Gardens, Golem, Lookout, Nomad Camp, Potion, Salvager, Throne Room, Torturer, Witch, and Workshop
dondon151 24 - 23 wesphys
A mostly straightforward Gardens rush. I'm not sure if a Nomad Camp opening is preferable to double Workshop. wesphys dipped into Gardens first a little earlier than I would have liked, so I had no choice but to follow and we split Gardens 4-4. The endgame was interesting; the Gardens emptied after turn 7, and with half the stack of Workshops and all of the Estates remaining, I decided to beef up my deck with Silvers for a shuffle while wesphys started hitting the Workshops and Estates. I grabbed 2 Duchies on the next reshuffle, but wesphys unexpectedly grabs 1 as well, and he could have won this had he hammered the Estates harder instead of splitting his gains/buys on Estates and Workshops (though I still think that on average, an opponent wouldn't be able to get a Duchy).
Game 4: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201212/20/game-20121220-200038-c117a381.htmlFarmland, Ghost Ship, Horse Traders, Oasis, Potion, Scrying Pool, Shanty Town, Spy, Torturer, Trade Route, and Treasure Map
dondon151 36 - 17 wesphys
wesphys told me after the game that he wasn't good at playing with SP, so he ignored them in this game. Well, with Trade Route as a passable early trasher and the prospect of a Torturer chain, that proved to not be a good decision. He hit Treasure Maps relatively early and got 2 Provinces off the Golds, but my engine kicked in and I stifled him with repeated Ghost Ships and Torturers every turn, exacerbated by the fact that he couldn't topdeck anything good in response to Ghost Ship because SP would just discard it afterwards. Once the engine kicked in, I consolidated for a little bit and then closed out the game.
Game 5: http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201212/20/game-20121220-200656-437065fd.htmlBlack Market, Chapel, Colony, Festival, Forge, Grand Market, Hunting Party, Platinum, Potion, Royal Seal, Scout, Smugglers, and Transmute
dondon151 8 - 1 wesphys
A lot of powerful cards here made for a good board for player 1. I deliberated between opening Festival or HP and decided that the economy from Festival was preferable to HP's cycling (since cycling a Chapel is kind of lame, especially once everything gets trashed). This was more or less a mirror until wesphys bought a BM on turn 6, which he agreed was a mistake. On turn 7 he played BM instead of Chapel that could have trashed an Estate and 2 Coppers, leaving me with a trimmer deck. My Smugglers gained a lot of good stuff; I picked up a second Smugglers after my Chapel became useless, and I ended up winning both the HP and GM splits. With a lot of money, 9 buys, and 2 Smugglers to gain the last 2 HPs in the supply, I piledrove the Estates for a win.
Good games! wesphys and I had a nice chat afterwards as well.