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Dominion World Masters / Re: Official Dominion Tournament at U-Con, Nov. 18 2017, Ypsilanti, MI, 1pm - 9pm
« on: November 21, 2017, 09:05:12 pm »
Another great tournament by Elestan! I didn't make the finals this year, I made a mistake in my first game of the semis that cost me big, but I still had a great time. And since I'm married to ben_king I still got to take home the grand prize!
Here are my thoughts on the Kingdoms:
Set 2: [Shelters], [Orchard, Advance], Beggar, Embargo, Peasant, Gear, Menagerie, Miser, Pirate Ship, Hunting Party, Prince, Overlord
I felt a little unsure going into this board exactly what I wanted to do. I knew I was going to go for Hunting Party and Peasant for the open but I had planned on waiting to see what my opponents did before committing to much else. As it turns out my opponents were some of the nicest people at the tournament, but they hadn't really played with many of the cards. So I was able to get 9 Hunting Parties and put my plus coin token on them to negate both of their pirate ship opens. I likely didn't play this even close to perfectly at the end but by that point I had total control over the game and didn't want to be a jerk. So I built to double province and never looked back.
Set 3: [Tower, Pathfinding], Beggar, Squire, Hermit, Patrician/Emporium, Magpie, Messenger, Rats, Remake, Trader, Mountebank
This board was awful. I had grandiose plans of multiplying magpies then putting my pathfinding token on them all the while trashing down with remake. About 5 turns into the game it became obvious that I was loosing. I couldn't have a curse in hand when a Montebank hit to save my life. One of my opponents already had a province and was bringing in the tower points. So I decided to play for second by getting as many tower points as I could and ending the game before they got too far ahead. Somehow I managed to squeak out a win here by emptying the squires and picking up a duchy. It was not pretty but it worked.
Set 4: [Mountain Pass, Bonfire], Encampment/Plunder, Fool's Gold, Gladiator/Fortune, Transmogrify, Crown, Legionary, Treasure Trove, Capital, Hunting Grounds, City
This board played in a rather unexpected way. My opponents both went for treasure trove with encampment while I started out with bonfire and transmogrify. I turned my estates into fool's golds and got rid of all my other pay load. I added a Capital pretty early then added a few hunting parties and cities. I won the mountain pass bid at 16 and paid it all off my next turn. I never got up to triple province but I was content doubling just about every turn. I don't feel like this was the ideal strategy but it was quick and effective.
Set 5: [Lost Arts, Obelisk (Ruins)], Vagrant, Enchantress, Death Cart, Sacrifice, Wandering Minstrel, Band of Misfits, Cultist, Horn of Plenty, Jester, Scrying Pool
I was so nervous this entire game. I decided to play a scrying pool engine, trashing my money and estates with sacrifice, and try to pull off a horn mega-turn. My opponents weren't doing too much, but there were a number of cards that took time to execute and neither of them were very familiar with the cards. With 13 minutes left to play I only had two horns in my deck and I was worried that I was going to lose because of the time limit. Fortunately, things kicked off just in time and I was able to get 5 provinces with 3 minutes left. I wasn't sure I was going to get another turn so I was content to slog out the last 3 minutes. I think this was a great Kingdom but I wish it had been left for the semis because of how many of the cards required more time to play (scrying pool, vagrant, wandering minstrel, jester).
Set A: [Aqueduct, Dominate], Candlestick Maker, Crossroads, Ambassador, Secret Passage, Silk Road, Walled Village, Artificer, Counting House, Patrol, Storyteller
I feel like most of the Kingdom's at this tournament are really balanced. There are always multiple things you can do but neither one is dominant. I do not feel like this is the case with this board. I got owned by the counting house slog. Completely owned. I like a good engine, and I thought it could work. It did not. It failed miserably. I opened double ambassador and regretted it very quickly. It became evident very quickly that counting house was the way to go and that my ambassadors were only fueling that slog. So I started ambassadoring my ambassador. I emptied the ambassador pile but it did little good. The enticement of playing lots of actions got me to make the wrong choice and I paid for it by taking last. I remain unconvinced that ambassador could ever work against the counting house slog (when played well).
Set B: [Museum, Save], Lighthouse, Enchantress, Bishop, Diplomat, Crown, Bridge Troll, Merchant Guild, Swamp Hag, Goons, Overlord
And here we have it, my bane kingdom. I think what is most frustrating is that I played this board really well. I had complete lighthouse coverage, 4 diplomats, 2 goons, a couple crowns, and 4-5 overlords. I was in control of the board and instead of waiting until I had a very clear lead I decided to end the game on piles. Turns out, when I've been playing dominion for 5ish hours straight my counting abilities go down the drain. So I tied with someone else but lost on turns. Had I won I would have made the finals. Sigh. But I did really enjoy the kingdom.
Set C: [Bandit Fort, Conquest], Caravan Guard, Catapult/Rocks, Caravan, Feodum, Jack, Messenger, Taxman, Trader, Embassy, King's Court
This game pitted me up against ben_king (my husband) but it came right after my last place finish so I was pretty sure I wouldn't make the finals. However, I have never beaten Ben in a tournament game (I can beat him all the time at home but come tournament time I choke), so some redemption was still on the line. We all started the game very similarly. But both my opponents soon started procuring silvers and feodoms. I only had two silvers in my deck but was still able to snag 3 provinces (more than the other two had). So I saw my chance and started attacking piles. Messenger made this easy. 3 turns later I ended the game (on a win this time) and delivered Ben_King his first loss of the day. At first I was upset because I thought it would knock him out of the finals, but once it was clear he was still in all regret faded. So while I didn't make it to the finals dealing Ben_King a loss was pretty nice.
Here are my thoughts on the Kingdoms:
Set 2: [Shelters], [Orchard, Advance], Beggar, Embargo, Peasant, Gear, Menagerie, Miser, Pirate Ship, Hunting Party, Prince, Overlord
I felt a little unsure going into this board exactly what I wanted to do. I knew I was going to go for Hunting Party and Peasant for the open but I had planned on waiting to see what my opponents did before committing to much else. As it turns out my opponents were some of the nicest people at the tournament, but they hadn't really played with many of the cards. So I was able to get 9 Hunting Parties and put my plus coin token on them to negate both of their pirate ship opens. I likely didn't play this even close to perfectly at the end but by that point I had total control over the game and didn't want to be a jerk. So I built to double province and never looked back.
Set 3: [Tower, Pathfinding], Beggar, Squire, Hermit, Patrician/Emporium, Magpie, Messenger, Rats, Remake, Trader, Mountebank
This board was awful. I had grandiose plans of multiplying magpies then putting my pathfinding token on them all the while trashing down with remake. About 5 turns into the game it became obvious that I was loosing. I couldn't have a curse in hand when a Montebank hit to save my life. One of my opponents already had a province and was bringing in the tower points. So I decided to play for second by getting as many tower points as I could and ending the game before they got too far ahead. Somehow I managed to squeak out a win here by emptying the squires and picking up a duchy. It was not pretty but it worked.
Set 4: [Mountain Pass, Bonfire], Encampment/Plunder, Fool's Gold, Gladiator/Fortune, Transmogrify, Crown, Legionary, Treasure Trove, Capital, Hunting Grounds, City
This board played in a rather unexpected way. My opponents both went for treasure trove with encampment while I started out with bonfire and transmogrify. I turned my estates into fool's golds and got rid of all my other pay load. I added a Capital pretty early then added a few hunting parties and cities. I won the mountain pass bid at 16 and paid it all off my next turn. I never got up to triple province but I was content doubling just about every turn. I don't feel like this was the ideal strategy but it was quick and effective.
Set 5: [Lost Arts, Obelisk (Ruins)], Vagrant, Enchantress, Death Cart, Sacrifice, Wandering Minstrel, Band of Misfits, Cultist, Horn of Plenty, Jester, Scrying Pool
I was so nervous this entire game. I decided to play a scrying pool engine, trashing my money and estates with sacrifice, and try to pull off a horn mega-turn. My opponents weren't doing too much, but there were a number of cards that took time to execute and neither of them were very familiar with the cards. With 13 minutes left to play I only had two horns in my deck and I was worried that I was going to lose because of the time limit. Fortunately, things kicked off just in time and I was able to get 5 provinces with 3 minutes left. I wasn't sure I was going to get another turn so I was content to slog out the last 3 minutes. I think this was a great Kingdom but I wish it had been left for the semis because of how many of the cards required more time to play (scrying pool, vagrant, wandering minstrel, jester).
Set A: [Aqueduct, Dominate], Candlestick Maker, Crossroads, Ambassador, Secret Passage, Silk Road, Walled Village, Artificer, Counting House, Patrol, Storyteller
I feel like most of the Kingdom's at this tournament are really balanced. There are always multiple things you can do but neither one is dominant. I do not feel like this is the case with this board. I got owned by the counting house slog. Completely owned. I like a good engine, and I thought it could work. It did not. It failed miserably. I opened double ambassador and regretted it very quickly. It became evident very quickly that counting house was the way to go and that my ambassadors were only fueling that slog. So I started ambassadoring my ambassador. I emptied the ambassador pile but it did little good. The enticement of playing lots of actions got me to make the wrong choice and I paid for it by taking last. I remain unconvinced that ambassador could ever work against the counting house slog (when played well).
Set B: [Museum, Save], Lighthouse, Enchantress, Bishop, Diplomat, Crown, Bridge Troll, Merchant Guild, Swamp Hag, Goons, Overlord
And here we have it, my bane kingdom. I think what is most frustrating is that I played this board really well. I had complete lighthouse coverage, 4 diplomats, 2 goons, a couple crowns, and 4-5 overlords. I was in control of the board and instead of waiting until I had a very clear lead I decided to end the game on piles. Turns out, when I've been playing dominion for 5ish hours straight my counting abilities go down the drain. So I tied with someone else but lost on turns. Had I won I would have made the finals. Sigh. But I did really enjoy the kingdom.
Set C: [Bandit Fort, Conquest], Caravan Guard, Catapult/Rocks, Caravan, Feodum, Jack, Messenger, Taxman, Trader, Embassy, King's Court
This game pitted me up against ben_king (my husband) but it came right after my last place finish so I was pretty sure I wouldn't make the finals. However, I have never beaten Ben in a tournament game (I can beat him all the time at home but come tournament time I choke), so some redemption was still on the line. We all started the game very similarly. But both my opponents soon started procuring silvers and feodoms. I only had two silvers in my deck but was still able to snag 3 provinces (more than the other two had). So I saw my chance and started attacking piles. Messenger made this easy. 3 turns later I ended the game (on a win this time) and delivered Ben_King his first loss of the day. At first I was upset because I thought it would knock him out of the finals, but once it was clear he was still in all regret faded. So while I didn't make it to the finals dealing Ben_King a loss was pretty nice.
But I think I've played with enough of the cards (~90%) that I feel confident in saying that after accounting for novelty, it's between Empires and Adventures for best Dominion expansion so far. If you're a serious Dominion player, you won't be disappointed. 