Round 1 - Piemaster (35) beat Kirian (30) 4-2This match was dubbed a battle for the right to lose to Marin in Round 2. It was a bugger to schedule the match because of timezone differences and in the end we both had to play at a silly time, 00:30 at night for Kirian and 5:30 in the morning for me. Still, we managed to finish the six-gamer in one session so we don't have the headache of trying to arrange another time to resume.
Game 1:Explorer, Golem, Harvest, Margrave, Minion, Mountebank, Pawn, Potion, Secret Chamber, Swindler, and Worker's Village
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201212/06/game-20121206-214812-82d56902.htmlIn this game I got extremely lucky, but through bad, bordering on awful play by me and tight play by Kirian I managed to grab defeat from the jaws of victory. We both opened Silver/Swindler and took a Mountebank by the second shuffle. At least I thought we did. I can only blame the fact that it was 5:30 in the morning that I apparently actually took a Margrave. Not awful, but still, not a great start. I lucksacked in a big way hitting his MB with my Swindler while he whiffed into an Estate with his. This should have been game over. We both steadily built up pseudo-engines around Workers Village, Mountebank, Margrave, Minion and Pawn, but Kirian did it faster and better, fueled by an early Gold and protected by a Secret Chamber, which he always seemed to have just at the right time. I got an early jump on Provinces but two were hit by Swindlers meaning Kirian suddenly just needed the last one to split them and win on Duchies. I got a bad hand, he didn't and suddenly Kirian was 1-0 up in the most unlikely of circumstances.
Kirian - 28 (1),
Piemaster - 21 (0)Game 2:Golem, Hoard, Horse Traders, Hunting Party, Market, Outpost, Pearl Diver, Potion, Trading Post, Treasury, and Workshop
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201212/06/game-20121206-215833-13693a7b.htmlThis was a Hunting Party mirror and we both opened HP/PD off a 5/2 split. We then diverged on strategy, I took a TP to get rid of the Estates and Coppers to make my HPs more efficient, while Kirian decided that would be too slow and concentrated solely on HPs and treasure. The speed of the HPs allowed both of us to start greening on turn 8/9, but I got there first, aided by first turn advantage and arguably my thinner deck through Trading Post (thoughts?), bringing the match back to 1-1.
Kirian - 24 (1)
Piemaster - 33 (1)Game 3Chapel, Coppersmith, Crossroads, Duke, Forge, Great Hall, Remodel, Talisman, Upgrade, and Witch
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201212/06/game-20121206-221605-003333f9.htmlWe both opened Silver/Chapel and were then frustrated by the shuffler in different ways. My Chapel missed the second reshuffle, while Kirian had good luck with his Chapel but was unable to buy a Witch until turn 6. We both double-Witched and burned through the Curses, but between Chapel, Upgrade (me) and Remodel (Kirian) most of them didn't stick around long. Kirian built up a nice Great Hall/Crossroads engine while I concentrated more on money and picked up an early Province. But when Kirian started dipping into Duchies, I realised I couldn't outrace him on Provinces, so I had to join him in the Dukeathon. On Turn 19, with the Duchies split 3-3, I critically managed to Forge a Duchy and a curse into another Duchy and then buy the last one, giving me a crucial 4-3 split. We then started to burn through the Dukes, but critically Kirian didn't have a Forge. Although he got ahead on Dukes, eventually his deck ran out of steam and he was forced to buy Estates and Great Halls on several turns. With the Dukes sitting at 3-3, and Curses and Duchies already out, I bought the last Great Hall to end the game on 3 piles.
Kirian - 22 (1)
Piemaster - 29 (2)Game 4Alchemist, Coppersmith, Cutpurse, Embargo, Hamlet, Loan, Market, Mining Village, Potion, Spice Merchant, and Vault
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201212/06/game-20121206-223408-fa055970.htmlWe both opened with Silver/Potion, and then picked up a Mining Village and a Spice Merchant. Crucially Kirian's Potion gravitated to the bottom of his deck on his first reshuffle, meaning I was able to get ahead in Alchemists and win the split 6-4. Ultimately this made the difference between being able to draw our deck every turn versus not and Kirian was never able to catch up once I started buying up the Provinces.
Kirian - 28 (1)
Piemaster - 33 (3)Game 5Baron, City, Courtyard, Farming Village, Feast, Library, Potion, Scheme, Silk Road, Trade Route, and Transmute
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201212/06/game-20121206-224249-7e760df0.htmlStaring into the abyss at 3-1 down it was do or die for the higher ranked player. This was the first game in which we actually went for different openings and strategies. Kirian opened Scheme/Baron, going for a Silk Road rush, while I went for a more Vanilla Silver/Silver into Library BM. Ultimately Kirian's strategy proved to be more sound and he ran out a comfortable winner. I am not the best Silk Road player in the world and was playing second, so I decided to take the low variance strategy and hoped his Barons and Estates wouldn't find love too often. This was probably a mistake as by now Kirian was clearly getting frustrated by a combination of bad shuffle luck, a late night and a crying baby so I should have matched his strategy and hoped he made a mistake. Alas though, it was 3-2 and he was right back in the match.
Kirian - 65 (2)
Piemaster - 54 (3)Game 6Black Market, Courtyard, Forge, Island, Menagerie, Merchant Ship, Moneylender, Possession, Potion, Treasury, and Witch
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201212/06/game-20121206-225341-b9cee662.htmlI opened Moneylender/Silver, while Kirian opted for Moneylender/Black Market, hoping to hit one of the strong power cards in there early. Unfortunately for Kirian I managed two Witches on the first reshuffle while he couldn't manage any. As so often happens in Dominion, things snowballed from there. Off the back of a Witch, I managed an early Gold, which I parlayed into an early Forge. Kirian kept on fishing with Black Market, but the power cards had all drifted to the bottom of the side deck and he was unable to find the ammunition to match my Forge-fueled trashing and greening. By the time he finally pulled out Ambassador and Kings Court, the game was effectively over. My deck had stalled, but with the help of 3 Forges I was able to burn through the Province pile and ultimately seal a comfortable win.
Kirian - 4 (2)
Piemaster - 31 (4)I was delighted to win the right to lose gloriously in round 2. Well played Kirian, thanks for six hard-fought games.