Moat, Woodcutter, Bureaucrat, Feast, Smithy, Spy, Throne Room, Festival, Witch, Adventurer
http://gokosalvager.com/static/logprettifier.html?20150114/log.516d74a7e4b082c74d7c0ada.1421261251136.txtAfter this game, I'm not sure I deserve to be on these forums anymore.
Three-player game, all base cards; one of my opponents was using a guest account. I was the only one who got a 5-2 start, and I opened Moat/Witch. At that point, I was thinking: "If I can't beat these newbs after getting the lucky 5-2 start, that means I REALLY stink." I later got a second Witch, but my opponents apparently didn't mind getting Curses. Neither opponent ever bought a Witch.
Super easy win for me, right? Not quite...
I went with what I think is the traditional strategy here: I stocked up on Festivals and Throne Rooms for extra actions, and I used Witches, Moats, and a Smithy for card draw. Normal engine. My non-guest opponent grabbed a lot of Spies, and my guest opponent grabbed a bunch of Bureaucrats. After a while, my guest opponent started grabbing Duchies. I ignored him and continued to build up my engine. Surely my guest opponent would completely stall, right?
Well... apparently not. He had gotten so many Silvers from those Bureaucrats, that he could absorb a ton of Duchies without much trouble. And this despite the fact that I had handed him a ton of Curses. So he actually had a pretty solid lead on me.
Check out my turn 25. Duchies and Festivals were gone, and there was only one Spy left. I had enough cash to buy the Spy, but I wasn't sure whether I was ahead or not. (I wasn't.) So I bought an Estate instead. My guest opponent did the same on his turn; he was 1 coin short of buying the last Spy. Then, on my turn 26, I was able to double-Curse both my opponents (draining the Curse pile), and I bought three Estates. And thus, I won the game...
...by one measly point.
Ladies and gentlemen, I handed my Bureaucrat-loving opponent 11 Curses (while getting none myself), and still, I only won by one point! Did I spend too much time building my engine? Regardless, I clearly stink.