Titandrake vs dudeabides.
Entire recording is at
http://www.twitch.tv/titandrake/b/549911872Game 1:
http://gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140721/log.506b5cfc0cf21d2313f966fe.1405995945383.txtGreat Hall, Hermit, Familiar, Trader, Walled Village, Cache, Inn, Torturer, Adventurer, Forge
Combination of no +Buy, Inn/Madmen as only +Actions, Trader as defense, and Forge means that Torturer engine is actually not too amazing here. I do Madman into early Forge to trash out starting cards, then plan to Forge $5 cost + Silver into Province, using Trader to get more Silvers to trash. dudeabides does something similar. I make a misclick, turning a Cache into a Silver instead of the two coppers into silvers, and I want to say that costs me the game, but I'm not sure it does. It's very tough either way, and it turns out it's a lot easier to hit $8 every turn with a mostly copper-free deck instead of trying for Forge shenanigans.
Game 2:
http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140721/log.506b5cfc0cf21d2313f966fe.1405997004114.txtHermit, Steward, Philosopher's Stone, Trader, Treasure Map, Festival, Governor, Junk Dealer, Mine, Torturer
Now, with +Buy and early trashing, the Torturer engine is much better. I get a lead and snowball it hard. I miss an Estate pile out on my 2nd last turn for the win, but it doesn't matter. Post game, we decided that Torturer > Festival as your first $5, and you never want to buy Junk Dealer because you'd rather get Torturer and Festivals instead. I think you also want fewer silvers, since there were a couple of Silvers I passed up when I had $3/$4 left over that dudeabides didn't.
Game 3:
http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140721/log.506b5cfc0cf21d2313f966fe.1405998537307.txtScheme, Shanty Town, Smugglers, Storeroom, Monument, Salvager, Cartographer, Harvest, Market, Rogue
On 5/2 I decide on 1 Rogue + Monument BM. dudeabides does a semi-engine, using Cartographer to cycle the deck quickly to play Rogue and Monument more often. It actually works, and would have won, if he hadn't made a misclick on turn 18 that didn't draw him cards off Shanty Town. If we replayed it I would probably have done 1 Market + Monument BM, since my Rogue stole some terminals that I didn't want, but I'm not sure if no Rogue defense at all is the right call.
Game 4:
http://dominionlogs.goko.com/20140721/log.506b5cfc0cf21d2313f966fe.1405999634532.txtCourtyard, University, Great Hall, Hermit, Swindler, Herald, Highway, Horn of Plenty, Wharf, Grand Market
On 5/2 I decide on Courtyard/Potion here. I was planning for Courtyard/Wharf, but decided I didn't want the risk against the Swindler/Potion opening. I think it's the right call - University may normally be slow, but here it's completely ridiculous to gain Highways/Wharves/GMs. dudeabides uses some early gains on GM that we both decide should be Wharf afterwards - I go for more Wharves, get 2 set up for duration effect, and go for the 3 pile while I have a +Buy and Highway lead.
Game 5:
http://dominionlogs.goko.com/20140721/log.506b5cfc0cf21d2313f966fe.1406000998483.txtPoor House, Lighthouse, Steward, Worker's Village, Young Witch, Contraband, Market, Mine, Mountebank, Outpost, Stash
My 4/3 is double Steward, his 5/2 is Mountebank/Lighthouse. Luckily I'm planning for the Poor House engine, so I can concentrate on trashing as much as I can and can use Lighthouses to make Mountebank a non-factor. I overbuy Lighthouse, didn't realize I had 7 until the end of the game. I underbuy WV and Poor House - there isn't much hand size increasing so I should be concentraing on 2 Poor houses per turn. Still in it until I don't spend enough time counting and buy the 2nd last Province when I'm behind. Post game, dudeabides says he would have bought the Duchy if I had, and from there who knows, still a toss-up on who gets $8 first. Oh well, not every game you can deal with 5/2 Mountebank this nicely.
Game 6:
http://www.gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?/20140721/log.506b5cfc0cf21d2313f966fe.1406002362160.txtEmbargo, Chancellor, Fishing Village, Masquerade, Alchemist, Baker, Count, Explorer, Ill-Gotten Gains, Rogue
I decide on Count/Masq BM, since there's no +Buy and it should be pretty fast. dudeabides goes for Alchemist. Turns out Alchemist is a lot rougher against Masquerade, you can't topdeck as many out of Masq fear. He passes me his Count over his Masq when I hit him with a bad hand. Post game he thinks he should have passed Masq, which I think is right - his plan was to use Alchemist to get a Count to gain Duchy every turn, but giving me his Count basically lets me hit the VP far too hard for him to catch up.
Overall I feel it was a nice series - none of the games here feel straightforward, there are still lots of tactical choices to make. It's also nice that opening luck didn't play a big part here, there's usually another candidate opening that's reasonable. Good luck going forward.