In this game it looks like moat greened early because he wanted to do something with Scout and Crossroads. That's not a great plan, and probably has more to do with you winning than Mandarin does.
There are lots of individually interesting cards here, but, in the absence of reliable draw, no good way to combine them. I'd probably have gone Haggler/BM, which keeps your economy afloat early, and lets you grab extra Duchies via Border Villages late on.
This game does have one cute Mandarin play:
— moat's turn 17 —
moat plays a Border Village.
... drawing 1 card and getting +2 actions.
moat plays a Haggler.
... getting +$2.
moat plays a Gold and 3 Silvers.
moat buys a Province.
... gaining a Mandarin.
... ... putting a Gold and 3 Silvers back on the deck (in some order).
Ensuring a Province the next turn.
