Copied from my geeklist on BGG at
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/145506/my-wbc-2012-with-a-final-day-surpriseFIRST ROUNDDominion is my favorite game. I play a fair amount on Isotropic, almost exclusively 2-player. I've had mixed results in this event in the last two years. In 2010 I made the semis but ran into a strong table that included Rob Renaud of councilroom.com and did okay (a 2nd and a 3rd) but not good enough to advance to the final. In 2011 I had the bad fortune of drawing theory of dominionstrategy.com in the first round! I lost badly but learned an important lesson about the bigger picture of the WBC Dominion tournament. In this tournament, each round consists of 4 players playing two games with two different setups. Advancement points are earned in each game for order of finish. Had I played the table with theory with second place finishes in mind, especially after his engine started humming early, I may have advanced.
In this year's first round, I had some bad luck early but recognized the time for some late Duchies and finished 2nd. Then I cruised to a win in the second game, ensuring advancement to the quarterfinals. This lesson would come in handy later on as well.
QUARTERFINALSThe quarterfinals of Dominion included 44 players I think. There was one other strong player at my table. I don't remember the setups but I believe we used quite a few Intrigue cards. I finished 2nd in the first game, so I almost certainly needed a win in the second game. It was brutal with Swindler, Saboteur, and, just for fun, Masquerade. I don't think anyone got a Province in our game. I went heavy Ironworks early and controlled the tempo, speeding the game up while buying Duchies and gaining Ironworks and Estates. I won and the good player finished last which eliminated him.
SEMIFINALSUp next for me was the Dominion semifinal. We had 16 qualifiers, organized into four tables of four players each. The same advancement points system applied (1st=8, 2nd=5, 3rd=2, 4th=0) so each semi table wasn't guaranteed to advance someone to the 4-player final. I drew a table with three female opponents. Two of them were average players, but one was very strong. It turned out to be the 2011 2nd place finisher named Laura. Here is the first game setup:
Forge
City
Bishop
Monument
Hoard
Trade Route
Watchtower
Rabble
Royal Seal
Contraband
also Platinum & Colony
I opened Bishop/Silver and added a couple Trade Routes when it was evident my opponents were going Hoard. I mixed in a couple Cities but no one went with me on that so they were nearly useless. I had a lead in VP chips but my opponents had a couple Colonies and Provinces. I added a Forge in the mid-game which proved crucial. I was tracking the points and saw an opportunity to end the game in second place, Forging two Bishops into a Province while buying a Duchy. The winner was one of the average players, which was another positive for me.
Here's the Game 2 lineup:
Bank
Expand
King's Court
Grand Market
Venture
Mint
Mountebank
Talisman
Quarry
Loan
with Colony & Platinum
We all opened 4/3 and my strong opponent and I both went Quarry/Silver while the other two went Talisman/Silver, which looks like a big mistake to me. I went Mountebank/Mountebank on Turns 3/4 and added a King's Court shortly thereafter. My strong opponent went with a couple Banks and before long I hit KC/Mountebank, which led to me buying more KCs, which led to two more KC/Mountebanks. I hit that combo 3x, the last of which emptied Copper after Estate was already empty, and left just one Curse, which I bought for the big win. Final scores were something like 17-10-4-(-3).
With 13 advancement points I was in a good position for the final but certainly not clinched. The tiebreaker was total VP and with my low-scoring win I was in no position to advance on that. But two other tables finished with nobody earning more than 10 advancement points so I was in! That meant my first WBC plaque and our team's first-ever team points!
FINALSFor the final, the Seaside and Alchemy sets were featured. This is a good spot to shout out the GM, Thomas Browne. He did an excellent job running the event and putting together sets with multiple potential strategies, and sets that worked with both 4/3 and 5/2 splits. I was joined by Nick, who won both his semifinal games, and Derek and Cal. Here is the setup for Game 1:
Laboratory
Explorer
Island
Moneylender
Bureaucrat
Workshop
Lookout
Ambassador
Cellar
Embargo
Quite a few ways to play this one. I opened Moneylender/Silver intending to get cash for Laboratories. But on Turn 3 I had $7 with the Moneylender! So I went Gold instead. The next time I had more than $4 I had $7 again so I went Gold again. I mixed in an Island or two and with two early Golds, I got the first two Provinces. Just when I started to think I was in control, Derek's deck, neatly trimmed by Ambassadors, started humming. He wisely picked up a Curse along the way, and started spamming those out to us ("I reveal a Curse, and return zero copies to the supply," over and over!) it looked like he was going to cruise to the win and I was picking up Duchies and Islands trying to hang on to 2nd. Then Derek's deck stalled on him with one Province left! I lost track of the score and I thought 2nd was slipping away. I had a crucial last turn where I Ambassadored a Curse and bought a Duchy, IIRC, and then Cal ended the game on the last Province. Final tally was Nick 20, Cal 27, Derek 30, and I had 32! I did not expect that. Those early Provinces, an extra Island, and 7 Estates were key (I never Ambassadored any of them away).
Now I started to think about actually winning the event. I did have the disadvantage of going last in Game 2. Here's the setup:
Possession
Wharf
Golem
Alchemist
Caravan
Fishing Village
Haven
Lighthouse
Herbalist
Vineyard
That's easily the most interesting set I've ever seen. The risk of buying durations is that you will just be setting up your neighbor for a big hand when he possesses you, or that he just wont play your durations for you. Derek, Cal, and I all got the 4/3 split; they went Potion/Fishing Village and I went Potion/Silver. Nick got the 5/2 and went Wharf/Haven I think. He did come back with Potion on Turn 3 or 4. My plan was to get a couple Golems, so that if I got Possessed the Golem could hit my Possessions or duration cards. Three of us bought Possessions fairly early but I got to play mine first and I think the first one hit Derek's deck for 6P earning me a second Possession. Cal, sitting opposite me, Possessed Nick a couple times passing by Nick's Possession, slowing him down. I kept hitting Derek's strong hands, once for $14 (Province+Gold), at least one for $8P (Province+Vineyard), and one for $5P (FV+Herbalist+Vineyard). When it was all over I had 4 or 5 Provinces plus 4 four-point Vineyards plus some other VP for 50+ points and a big win! I re-counted my score several times to be sure that I had just won my first tournament! Derek finished 2nd again for 2nd overall and I think Cal was 3rd.
I'd love to hear thoughts on how these setups could have (or should have) been played differently. And thanks for reading!
