Dominion > Dominion General Discussion

Young Witch on a strong trashing board (and other questions)

(1/4) > >>

Duchess Ninja:
The kingdom: Pearl Diver, Moat, Native Village, Develop, Lookout, Jack of All Trades, Remodel, Young Witch, Bureaucrat, Forge, Secret Chamber (Bane card).

I've played this kingdom on Adrominion a few times now, and I've yet to find a good strategy. It's not that I don't win (against the AI it's trivial), it's that I can't find a solid strategy that would be strong against human opponents. I picked this particular kingdom because it is interesting and this kind of kingdom has come up fairly often: it has a curser (Young Witch) but also ridiculous trashing (5 cards!). The only +2 action is Native Village and the only cards to help that is Pearl Diver and Lookout, which are weak combos, imo. Other than that, I can see no obvious strong plays (maybe Forging Silvers into Gold/Provs, but nothing explosive). I'm interested in the answers to the following questions. These are assuming a 3-4 player game (I rarely play heads-up, on isotropic or live), although insight into 2-player is welcome.

1. Given the strong trashing, is it worth it to grab an opening Witch and join that battle?
2. If not, Jack is an obvious first $4 buy (to me). Is my $3 then a Lookout or Silver?
3. Is it worth it to grab a Secret Chamber early given that it has some use discarding (especially with curses), and it negates YW? (I'm leaning towards yes if I don't buy a YW, and I can always Forge it later.)
4. Is it ever worth it to Native Village a Curse just to thin your deck? In this case, I think not with all of the trashing, but what if Jack or Develop were the only trasher?
5. I generally ignore Bureaucrat (buying one or the attack against me). Is this wise in 3+ player?
6. Is it worth it to buy a single Develop late to change a Forge into Gold/Prov?

Thanks in advance!

Robz888:
Unfortunately, the answer here is Double Jack. I have a hunch that there's nothing fast enough to beat it.

Step 1: Open Jack/Silver. Step 2: Buy another Jack. Step 3: Use it to trash Curses and Estates. Step 4: Win on about Turn 15 or so.

Don't bother buying anything else but Silvers and Gold. Most other cards just slow down Jack's effectiveness buy colliding with it. I suppose you could pick up a Young Witch of your own if enough of your opponents don't buy Jacks, but it probably isn't worthwhile.

Robz888:

--- Quote from: Duchess Ninja on March 02, 2012, 11:50:13 am ---The kingdom: Pearl Diver, Moat, Native Village, Develop, Lookout, Jack of All Trades, Remodel, Young Witch, Bureaucrat, Forge, Secret Chamber (Bane card).

1. Given the strong trashing, is it worth it to grab an opening Witch and join that battle?
--- End quote ---

Nope. Double Jack crushes cursers.


--- Quote from: Duchess Ninja on March 02, 2012, 11:50:13 am ---2. If not, Jack is an obvious first $4 buy (to me). Is my $3 then a Lookout or Silver?
--- End quote ---

Probably a Silver. Actually, Jack/Lookout is probably good, too. Lookout can get some Coppers, and later you can feed it to the Jack.


--- Quote from: Duchess Ninja on March 02, 2012, 11:50:13 am ---3. Is it worth it to grab a Secret Chamber early given that it has some use discarding (especially with curses), and it negates YW? (I'm leaning towards yes if I don't buy a YW, and I can always Forge it later.)
--- End quote ---

Nope. Secret Chamber is only useful if you have massive draw so you can discard lots of cards, and there's no draw here. As a Reaction it's totally useless, and Jack kills curses.


--- Quote from: Duchess Ninja on March 02, 2012, 11:50:13 am ---4. Is it ever worth it to Native Village a Curse just to thin your deck? In this case, I think not with all of the trashing, but what if Jack or Develop were the only trasher?
--- End quote ---

Jack is in a class by itself. Without Jack, the rest of these cards would very much struggle to handle all the curses and I would recommend a Young Witch/Lookout opening. Generally, the only cards that beat cursing are Jack, Masquerade, Ambassador... and Lighthouse is your best defense.


--- Quote from: Duchess Ninja on March 02, 2012, 11:50:13 am ---5. I generally ignore Bureaucrat (buying one or the attack against me). Is this wise in 3+ player?
--- End quote ---

Bureaucrat is probably better than its reputation suggests. In a slow kingdom, it's not a bad pickup. But here, I don't think you need it.


--- Quote from: Duchess Ninja on March 02, 2012, 11:50:13 am ---6. Is it worth it to buy a single Develop late to change a Forge into Gold/Prov?
--- End quote ---

That's an interesting idea, but probably not. I don't think there's any reason to go for Forge here. Besides which, it will be hard to get it early.

petrie911:
I would say Trader does a decent job of beating Cursing.  You can replace Curses with Silvers, trash Curses that you draw with Trader, and flood your deck with Silver to dilute the Curses.

Robz888:
Trader is an odd case, but I don't think it beats cursers on the level of Jack, Masq, and Ambassador. It's probably strongest against Mountebank... you can only give your opponent two Silvers so many times before you lose your mind. And the curses don't get destroyed, like they do with Watchtower, so you will get them eventually. But yeah, it's definitely worth picking up to mitigate cursing Attacks, I think, in the absence of these more powerful defenders.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page