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Setting up the "golden deck" (Chapel/Bishop)

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Quadell:
I recently watched a video (though I can't seem to find it now) of a very good player winning with what he called a "golden deck". Bishop and Chapel were in the supply, with no attacks available besides Pirate Ship. He bought a Chapel and Bishop on turns 1 and 2, and then chapeled down to 5 cards as quickly as possible. He then bishoped his least useful card each turn, buying money, until he had enough to bishop away a Province each turn for 5 VP, and still buy a new Province each turn. (Actually, he was buying/trashing a Colony each turn, but the principle is the same.) The strategy was extremely fast, and although it's susceptible to most attacks, Pirate Ship did nothing to it.

I was impressed, and looked for discussion on how to set this up. I couldn't find posts on it... is there one I missed?

Sure enough, yesterday I found myself in a game containing Bishop, Chapel, and no likely attacks to slow it down. I set it up the same way, and it worked beautifully. (Game log.) Bureaucrat could have slowed it down, but I don't think it would have prevented me from winning. I know I messed up on turn 4, chapeling only 2 instead of 4 cards, a slip of the finger. But other than that, did I play this optimally?

My shuffle luck was decent in that game, but I'd like some advice on setting this up when the shuffles don't work out, and I assume the same skills would be applicable when setting up any extremely-small-deck combo strategies. With good shuffle luck I can buy my first Province on turn 8, and then on each turn afterwards. But I'm not sure how to handle bad shuffle luck. For instance, bad luck might lead to a Chapel-Bishop collision on turn 3 where I chapel 2 Estates and a Copper, then 4 Copper on turn 4 where I buy a Silver, then $6 (4 Copper and a Silver) on turn 5. It seems like I should pass in that case, buying nothing, hoping to shrink my deck as quickly as possible. But it seems ridiculous not to buy a Gold, since I'll need a Gold soon anyway. Which is the better move?

In general, I trying to figure out what the best way is to set this up when the shuffles aren't cooperating. Thanks for any advice.

jonts26:
Video here.

Voltgloss:
Not sure on the shuffle luck question, but I do have a different bit of advice to offer:  when you're planning to run the Golden Deck, veto Embargo instead of Possession.  If your opponent Embargoes Provinces once you've committed to your strategy, the perfect balance of the Golden Deck gets thrown off-kilter by those extra Curses.  This is especially an issue when the opponent can then catch up via alternate VP (and there was a LOT of alternate VP on this board). 

Kirian:
I'm uncertain about WW's analysis of playing second with the Golden Deck... assuming both players finish their deck on the same turn, both should get 21 points from that stage of the game (3 trashed Provinces plus one in hand).  That means the final score will come down to who trashed for the most points in the building phase--and if both got the same, P2 can force a draw.  Am I missing something in my math here WW?

mnavratil:
Probably the best analysis of setting a golden deck up is done here:
http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=506.0

It goes a little bit in depth into setting this up and average number of turns.

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