Mean Mr Mustard wins 4-1 over Jesse James
It has been about a month since I have played Dominion with any gusto, so I made sure to get some practice reps in. Fortunately the fresh eyes helped and I played just about my best form yesterday, going 18-9. My matches against Jesse James were marked by a lack of stupid errors or gross oversights. Jesse had a clean go of it as well, but as he admitted to me he is a relatively new player of three months who in hindsight should probably have countered or mirrored my key attacks that, in my opinion, decided this match.
<a href=http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20111201-192301-8ecd16ff.html>#1 Jesse James: 40 points (6 Provinces, 2 Duchies, 2 Estates, and 4 Curses); 29 turns
opening: Silver / Potion
[34 cards] 2 Familiars, 2 Grand Markets, 2 Markets, 1 Apprentice, 5 Coppers, 2 Silvers, 1 Potion, 5 Golds, 2 Estates, 2 Duchies, 6 Provinces, 4 Curses
#2 Mean Mr Mustard: resigned (1st); 29 turns
opening: Potion / Silver
[32 cards] 4 Apprentices, 1 Familiar, 1 Grand Market, 5 Coppers, 8 Silvers, 2 Golds, 2 Estates, 5 Duchies, 1 Province, 3 Curses</a>
It may have been bad form to resign our first game, but I knew I had zero chance of winning it. I drew 2P three times, and I think that was enough in itself to lose this match.
<a href=http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20111201-192942-f6ed1c0c.html>#1 Mean Mr Mustard: 28 points (4 Provinces, 3 Estates, 2 ▼, and a Curse); 21 turns
opening: Silver / Silver
[33 cards] 3 Bazaars, 2 Goons, 2 Mountebanks, 8 Coppers, 4 Silvers, 6 Golds, 3 Estates, 4 Provinces, 1 Curse
#2 Jesse James: resigned (1st); 21 turns
opening: Potion / Silver
[38 cards] 3 Goons, 2 Royal Seals, 2 Transmutes, 1 Bazaar, 1 Vault, 1 Woodcutter, 11 Coppers, 5 Silvers, 1 Potion, 2 Golds, 2 Estates, 2 Duchies, 5 Curses</a>
Jesse made a fatal error going after Transmute on a Mountebank board.
<a href=http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20111201-193458-aa98b27b.html>#1 Mean Mr Mustard: 30 points (5 Provinces); 17 turns
opening: Ambassador / Ambassador
[16 cards] 2 Hunting Parties, 1 Ambassador, 1 Hoard, 3 Silvers, 4 Golds, 5 Provinces
#2 Jesse James: 26 points (3 Provinces, 5 Estates, and a Duchy); 17 turns
opening: Duchess / Minion
[34 cards] 3 Banks, 3 Minions, 2 Ambassadors, 1 Duchess, 1 Hoard, 11 Coppers, 2 Silvers, 2 Golds, 5 Estates, 1 Duchy, 3 Provinces</a>
5/2 opening crippled Jesse.
<a href=http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20111201-194716-7f81f5a6.html>#1 Mean Mr Mustard: 83 points (8 Colonies and 3 Estates); 18 turns
opening: Silver / Moneylender
[30 cards] 5 Laboratories, 5 Peddlers, 3 Grand Markets, 1 Caravan, 1 Festival, 1 Militia, 1 Moneylender, 1 Silver, 1 Platinum, 3 Estates, 8 Colonies
#2 Jesse James: 26 points (2 Provinces, 2 Duchies, 2 Tunnels, and 4 Estates); 18 turns
opening: nothing / Treasury
[33 cards] 5 Peddlers, 4 Grand Markets, 3 Festivals, 2 Laboratories, 2 Tunnels, 1 Moneylender, 1 Treasury, 4 Coppers, 3 Golds, 4 Estates, 2 Duchies, 2 Provinces</a>
If any of you could build a better engine than this with these cards, I expect I'll lose to you. The Militia was a huge factor.
<a href=http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20111201-195806-5da5f52a.html>#1 Mean Mr Mustard: 37 points (6 Provinces and an Estate); 15 turns
opening: Silver / Masquerade
[20 cards] 3 Ventures, 1 Masquerade, 4 Coppers, 1 Silver, 4 Golds, 1 Estate, 6 Provinces
#2 Jesse James: 21 points (2 Provinces, 2 Duchies, and 3 Estates); 15 turns
opening: Crossroads / Silver
[26 cards] 3 Crossroads, 2 Margraves, 1 Masquerade, 6 Coppers, 3 Silvers, 4 Golds, 3 Estates, 2 Duchies, 2 Provinces
</a>
By this point in our match, I had recognized that my opponent wasn't a studied Dominion player, so I saw no reason to not keep this one simple. I liked the Venture at $5 as a component of a Masq/bm deck and it indeed worked.
To my opponent: It was lucky for me that I discovered this game a couple of years before you did. You have your feet firmly on a learning path that the best players in this tournament all have had to walk.