51
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Delayed Throne Room
« on: June 30, 2012, 10:38:36 pm »
There's no denying it'd be confusing, though. Probably too confusing for anything but a niche fan expansion.
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52
Help! / Re: Two Double-Tac games
« on: June 29, 2012, 02:52:08 am »
I think you'd have better luck in that first kingdom with an oasis-menagerie double tactician setup. I tested the strategy in a solo game, and with play that was probably less than optimal (for one, I was consistently hitting $9 per turn) I got 4 provinces in 13 turns, all 8 by turn 19.
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201206/28/game-20120628-233422-217b617a.html
Also, silk roads might be key on that board considering nobles are also in play. The double tac setup I demonstrated should handle the addition of nobles and silk roads reasonably well.
In the second game, well, BM + embassy beats loan/caravan 80-15 according to the simulator.
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201206/28/game-20120628-233422-217b617a.html
Also, silk roads might be key on that board considering nobles are also in play. The double tac setup I demonstrated should handle the addition of nobles and silk roads reasonably well.
In the second game, well, BM + embassy beats loan/caravan 80-15 according to the simulator.
53
Help! / Re: Real life game (Issues with Chapel)
« on: June 28, 2012, 07:00:28 pm »
It could just be that your sense of pacing is off since you have so many vp cards in play. If you green too early, your trimmed deck will be half vp cards and unable to buy much of anything.
Just to check, you are chapeling all your coppers each time you play it, right? When you get a draw like chapel - 4 copper, it can be tempting to chapel one copper and buy a silver, but that's rarely, if ever, the right play. Trash all 4 coppers.
Just to check, you are chapeling all your coppers each time you play it, right? When you get a draw like chapel - 4 copper, it can be tempting to chapel one copper and buy a silver, but that's rarely, if ever, the right play. Trash all 4 coppers.
54
Dominion General Discussion / Re: Midgame discussion
« on: June 28, 2012, 04:22:10 am »
I agree, great idea. I'd guess this would fit well in the articles section.
In addition to the "draws have been bad, do we change our plan?" games, it would be good to show some games where one player changes plans in response to the other player's decisions.
In addition to the "draws have been bad, do we change our plan?" games, it would be good to show some games where one player changes plans in response to the other player's decisions.
55
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: If witch cost $6 would you buy it over gold?
« on: June 28, 2012, 02:34:58 am »
True enough, but whether you buy one or five, tournament dominates most of the games you see it in because the prizes are so good. A $4 market would be good in most games, but not game winning on its own.
56
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: If witch cost $6 would you buy it over gold?
« on: June 28, 2012, 02:00:52 am »
Tournament's prize-gaining ability more than balances the fact they can be blocked later on. A peddler for $4 is a pretty good buy, but it's too weak for $5. Think how often you ignore market and treasury even with their bonuses. Peddler/silver would be a good opening, but you might even prefer silver/silver as an opener if you really needed a strong $5 (peddler's expected $ production is less than silver early on, so your chances of hitting $5 should be less.)
57
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: If witch cost $6 would you buy it over gold?
« on: June 28, 2012, 01:13:05 am »
If it's not mine (my guess, too) it'd have to be market. If you don't need the +buy, it's an overpriced $4 card.
58
Dominion General Discussion / Re: "Taking Pity"
« on: June 27, 2012, 07:55:50 pm »
You certainly don't make it to level 35 by "taking pity" on your opponents, and it's kinda pathetic to ask someone else to do so. As Robz said, "np, gg" resign, or something to that effect, would've been the appropriate response. I'm sure your opponent was just frustrated (understandably) and probably regrets his behavior. You did nothing wrong; in fact, you were nicer than you had to be.
59
Game Reports / Re: Ambassador loves Engines
« on: June 27, 2012, 05:34:56 pm »
Loved this play:
Quote
Asklepios plays an Upgrade.
... drawing 1 card and getting +1 action.
... trashing an Upgrade.
... gaining a Border Village.
... ... gaining a Curse.
60
Game Reports / Can you do better than BM on this board?
« on: June 27, 2012, 03:59:37 am »
Here's the kingdom: Cache, Develop, Lookout, Market, Smugglers, Trade Route, Upgrade, Village, Wishing Well, and Worker's Village
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201206/27/game-20120627-002015-b423349d.html
I won playing straight BM. It's a weak board, no doubt, but I'm curious to see in anyone can come up with something better. I tested several BM + X strategies in the simulator--BMU + smugglers, BMU + market, BMU + upgrade, BMU + market + upgrade, all tested with a few different buy conditions--but none beat BMU + Cache set to buy duchies a little earlier. Hardly an exhaustive test, but I hit some of the obvious contenders.
Maybe there's an engine here somewhere, but I'm skeptical. Weak trashing and cantrips don't give you a lot to work with. Maybe you can eke something out with wishing wells?
http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201206/27/game-20120627-002015-b423349d.html
I won playing straight BM. It's a weak board, no doubt, but I'm curious to see in anyone can come up with something better. I tested several BM + X strategies in the simulator--BMU + smugglers, BMU + market, BMU + upgrade, BMU + market + upgrade, all tested with a few different buy conditions--but none beat BMU + Cache set to buy duchies a little earlier. Hardly an exhaustive test, but I hit some of the obvious contenders.
Maybe there's an engine here somewhere, but I'm skeptical. Weak trashing and cantrips don't give you a lot to work with. Maybe you can eke something out with wishing wells?
61
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Delayed Throne Room
« on: June 26, 2012, 02:40:56 pm »
This card (prince's chamber) could be a lot of fun with durations. Prince's chamber -> Wharf would be +2 cards +1 buy now, +4 cards +2 buys next turn, and +2 cards +1 buy after that. Not strictly better than throne room -> wharf, but you'd prefer the prince's court in a lot of engine settings since six of those cards are from non-terminal draw, and spreading the draws out reduces the odds of a dud turn. Prince's chamber -> Prince's chamber -> X would be pretty crazy, too. The free prince's court play on the second turn is a virtual +action in addition to its effect on the third turn. Also much easier to set up than throne room->throne room -> X, X
62
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: If witch cost $6 would you buy it over gold?
« on: June 26, 2012, 01:09:40 pm »Mine would be sooo good at 4 though. Open Mine/Silver. Draw them together as MSCCC... Hello 2 golds on turn 3!Thanks Powerman. How likely is that though? Any more likely than getting gold from treasure maps on turn 4?
The odds of two treasure maps colliding on turn 4 are essentially zero, since you can only buy one before the first reshuffle.
63
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: If witch cost $6 would you buy it over gold?
« on: June 26, 2012, 01:05:41 pm »Thanks for your input everyone. I see what you mean, but my favourite cards are witch and torturer - I think multiplayer games are much less fun without at least one of them. As I only have the base set and intrigue, and as the only time I ever play the game is with friends coming over now and then, I'm going to stick with one them (I know that's not how most people view the game but that's fine with me). And I think this will always mess up the other $5 cards because they're not as good (this link says the samehttp://dominionstrategy.com/2011/04/08/the-five-best-5-attacks/) So just if those two cards were $6, would people sometimes still buy them over gold? Would you buy Minion over Gold?Bigger point: buy them over gold when they cost $5, too. You don't have to use all your money.Thanks for your advice, WanderingWinder
Yes, people often buy witch, torturer, and minion with $6.
64
Dominion General Discussion / Re: The Best Designed Card
« on: June 26, 2012, 06:04:39 am »
Both great cards. I'll put in my last +1 for apothecary since it's one of my personal favorites.
65
Game Reports / Re: Won by the skin of my teeth...King's Court is (maybe barely) ignorable.
« on: June 26, 2012, 05:19:48 am »
Imagine the isotropic game logs...
pokeman7452 plays an imposter king's court
...iangoth reveals 3 coppers, an imposter king's court, and a smithy
...pokeman7452 plays iangoth's imposter kings court
... ...and plays iangoth's imposter king's court
... ... ...and plays iangoth's imposter king's court
... ... ... ...and plays iangoth's imposter king's court
...
pokeman7452 plays an imposter king's court
...iangoth reveals 3 coppers, an imposter king's court, and a smithy
...pokeman7452 plays iangoth's imposter kings court
... ...and plays iangoth's imposter king's court
... ... ...and plays iangoth's imposter king's court
... ... ... ...and plays iangoth's imposter king's court
...
66
Mini-Set Design Contest / Re: Mini-Set Design Contest, Part 1!
« on: June 25, 2012, 10:59:02 pm »
Sent in my submissions, but the message isn't showing up in my "sent items" folder. I'm always a little paranoid about this sort of thing. Any idea what's up?
Edit: Ah, I didn't check the box to save a copy. Disregard this post.
Edit: Ah, I didn't check the box to save a copy. Disregard this post.
67
Dominion General Discussion / Re: The Best Designed Card
« on: June 25, 2012, 04:41:52 pm »
+1 chapel
I'll nominate Haggler. Given the criteria:
Mechanics: It's a cool mechanic. Strong enough but not overpowered. It can be one of the harder cards to evaluate in a given kingdom, IMO, which is a good thing.
Art: I like it.
Thematic fit: Next to thief, about as good as it gets. When you buy a card, you haggle to get a bonus card thrown into the deal.
Expansion fit: Hinterlands is all about on-gain/on-buy effects. Haggler gives you an on-buy effect.
Simplicity: It's a simple card. The hardest part is recognizing the difference between gaining a card and buying it, but haggler is a good introduction to those nuances.
I'll nominate Haggler. Given the criteria:
Mechanics: It's a cool mechanic. Strong enough but not overpowered. It can be one of the harder cards to evaluate in a given kingdom, IMO, which is a good thing.
Art: I like it.
Thematic fit: Next to thief, about as good as it gets. When you buy a card, you haggle to get a bonus card thrown into the deal.
Expansion fit: Hinterlands is all about on-gain/on-buy effects. Haggler gives you an on-buy effect.
Simplicity: It's a simple card. The hardest part is recognizing the difference between gaining a card and buying it, but haggler is a good introduction to those nuances.
69
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: What kingdom do you use to playtest cards?
« on: June 25, 2012, 12:48:50 am »
You'd probably want to make sure to test it with and without cursers and/or trashers, on boards with strong engine options and weak BM-ish boards. If it's an attack, try it with a variety of reaction cards, and vice versa. No card needs to be a good buy in all of those situations, but you should probably want it in at least one of them.
70
Game Reports / Re: The Gambler - "The Risky Decisions Thread"
« on: June 25, 2012, 12:37:25 am »
Possession and ambassador. Most of the time you can't afford to pass on the ambassador, but if you get possessed with it in your hand, there goes your gold, or your own possession, or your province...
I've only played a few games like this, but it has always worked out well for me. Here are the ones I remember playing:
This one I played just a day or two ago. I open double ambassador to my opponent's cache/courtyard. If my opponent gets an early possession, I'm dead, and his opening is probably a pretty good try at it. He picks up a potion early, but as I hoped, he can't make it to 6P due to all the junk I sent his way. He picks up a few late ambassadors to try to fight back, but it's too little, too late. Meanwhile, I expand my ambassadors so they can't be used against me and pick up two possessions. My opponent resigns before I can do any real damage with possessed ambassadors, but I get some nice cards by expanding his stuff.
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120623-192939-4d956e61.html
I posted this one in the "I'm sorry" thread. This game was cruel, and probably needlessly so. Possession, ambassador, king's court, scrying pool. I open double ambassador vs. his ambassador/potion. My play should (and does) produce the better engine but it's more vunerable to possession, particularly an early one. The strong engine pays off and lets me possess my opponent an obscene number of times--13 times on turn 22. In those 13 possessions, I steal a scrying pool, city, festival, gold, and king's court.
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120525-224133-076ae953.html
I've only played a few games like this, but it has always worked out well for me. Here are the ones I remember playing:
This one I played just a day or two ago. I open double ambassador to my opponent's cache/courtyard. If my opponent gets an early possession, I'm dead, and his opening is probably a pretty good try at it. He picks up a potion early, but as I hoped, he can't make it to 6P due to all the junk I sent his way. He picks up a few late ambassadors to try to fight back, but it's too little, too late. Meanwhile, I expand my ambassadors so they can't be used against me and pick up two possessions. My opponent resigns before I can do any real damage with possessed ambassadors, but I get some nice cards by expanding his stuff.
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120623-192939-4d956e61.html
I posted this one in the "I'm sorry" thread. This game was cruel, and probably needlessly so. Possession, ambassador, king's court, scrying pool. I open double ambassador vs. his ambassador/potion. My play should (and does) produce the better engine but it's more vunerable to possession, particularly an early one. The strong engine pays off and lets me possess my opponent an obscene number of times--13 times on turn 22. In those 13 possessions, I steal a scrying pool, city, festival, gold, and king's court.
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120525-224133-076ae953.html
72
Dominion General Discussion / Re: Which card is best for you?
« on: June 23, 2012, 06:17:05 pm »
Most people here prefer winrate given available as the measure of success with a card. It measures how well you do when the card is in the kingdom, whether you buy it or not, which is important since knowing when not to buy a card is half of playing the card well. Using winrate with also has the unfortunate side effect of making tournament prizes look like your best cards, because they're unique and very powerful. When you gain a strong prize (followers, mostly) you often gain a decisive advantage, and when you gain a weak/situational one, it's usually because you're very far ahead.
73
Dominion General Discussion / Re: Which card is best for you?
« on: June 23, 2012, 03:15:15 pm »The stats merely look at if you won the game or lost the game and whether or not you gained the card. They can't see if the card in question was the key card that caused you to win said game.
Yeah, but the number of games i win where pearl diver is in the game is significantly higher than when he isnt. So there seems to be a correlation
Since you do so much better when you don't buy pearl diver than when you do, maybe your opponents tend to overbuy it. It's often a mistake, albeit not a huge one, to take two pearl divers over a silver, for example. Or maybe they buy pearl divers when relying on terminal draw, where the dead draws probably outweigh the pearl diver effect.
74
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Card Ideas: $2 Attack Cards
« on: June 23, 2012, 04:11:17 am »
I think it would be a very strong $2 but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The fact estates run out faster than curses would hopefully mitigate the slog effect of a double storm opening. I'm not immediately sure how it would play with cursers. That's twice as much junk that could end up in your deck, but also two piles that could run out very quickly. A few possibilities come to mind: 1) you'd ignore storm because you'd be afraid to give your opponent more points and an easy 3-pile. 2) It would feel like the worst sea hag game of your life. 3) A player might reasonably try to out-junk the opponent with storm or pass it up and ride the extra points to a 3-pile ending. 1 would be ok, 2 would be bad, and three would be best.
75
Variants and Fan Cards / Re: Card Ideas: $2 Attack Cards
« on: June 23, 2012, 03:39:29 am »
Well, weaker than ambassador isn't saying much 
. but a major difference here is that ambassador can only give you two or three estates early on and then it's mostly coppers. I'd gladly pay $4 for your attack in many games. Granted, costing it at $2 probably wouldn't be a huge problem since they shouldn't be easy to spam and you'd want one or two before you get your +buys going anyway. (Edit: Well, You could open attack2/attack2 and it'd be like opening with two cursers. Up to you whether that's a problem) But I guess you could make that argument for sea hag and ambassador, too.
. but a major difference here is that ambassador can only give you two or three estates early on and then it's mostly coppers. I'd gladly pay $4 for your attack in many games. Granted, costing it at $2 probably wouldn't be a huge problem since they shouldn't be easy to spam and you'd want one or two before you get your +buys going anyway. (Edit: Well, You could open attack2/attack2 and it'd be like opening with two cursers. Up to you whether that's a problem) But I guess you could make that argument for sea hag and ambassador, too.