Hi all. It's been forever. But I played a game two days ago with my GF that was sufficiently memorable that I just had to come back and share. Forgive me if I'm not completely up to speed on the lingo and code here.
Cards:
$P: Transmute
$2: Herbalist, Pearl Diver, Lighthouse
$3: Village
$4: Scavenger, Silk Road
$5: Cultist, Pillage, Outpost
So, I don't know if the online community has moved beyond thinking this, but Cultist is supposed to be pretty damn good, right? Especially with the only "trashing" here being the notoriously awful Transmute? And, of course, Transmute being the only potion card making it even more awful?
Opening silver/potion, instead of just going for the Cultist-BM obvious play would be madness, right? Well, that's exactly what I did. Silver/potion, then a Scavenger at the next opportunity, followed by Villages and an
Herbalist instead of a Lighthouse. Meanwhile, the Ruins start rolling in.
Of course, by the second reshuffle, $4 hands (which is about as high as this deck ever gets) are going straight to Silk Roads, the Transmute is either turning Copper into more Transmutes, or Ruins into Duchies, and the idea of ever getting a Province is laughable. Buying Estates becomes my idea of a good turn. My opponent, to her credit, is paying attention and making sure I don't run roughshod over the Silk Roads: the pile runs out first with a 4-4 split. She is of course also buying Cultists, and money, and Provinces, as seems like the obvious thing to do.
What she does not get, though, is much in the way of Duchies. Eventually the game ends with a three-pile of Silk Roads, Duchies, and Ruins. The game ends with me Transmuting a Transmute into a Duchy, and buying an Estate. And, then, the final tally:
Me: 7 Duchies, 4 Silk Roads, 7 Estates, for 44 points
Opponent: 3 Provinces, 4 Silk Roads, 1 Duchy, 6 Estates, for 39 points
The power of
Transmute strikes again!