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Robz888

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Governor
« on: June 10, 2012, 09:11:23 pm »
+18

It’s probably hubris to choose Governor as the subject of my second forum article--because the Governor is quite a tricky customer--but I feel pretty confident with the card, and I see a lot of players make basic mistakes with it that can be avoided. So, here is an article about Governor. (Disclaimer: I am not saying that I am the definitive authority on Governor. I intend this article to be a jumping-off point for further Governor discussion.)



Governor should be called Jack-of-All-Trades, because it does so many different things for you. (And Jack should be called Governor, because it exerts dictatorial control over your deck.) As the most interactive card in Dominion, Governor presents a fundamental challenge: How do I make this card benefit me more than my opponent? Note that the dilemma doesn’t make Governor bad; in fact, it’s a powerful and versatile card that rarely gets ignored. But if you’re not careful about your choices, you will undoubtedly help your opponent more than you help yourself.

Governor is one of those self-synergy cards--indeed, it does basically everything you could want from a card, except attack your opponents--so you typically want as many of them as possible. Governor is seldom passed up entirely, but there are a couple of $5 cards that you would want before your first Governor. These include the $5 cursers, and maybe something like Haggler, so you can buy Gold and gain Governors.

But once you’ve gotten mandatory purchases like Witch out of the way, you usually want lots and lots of Governors. More Governors mean more Gold, more draw, more remodeling, and ultimately, more Provinces.

There are 2 important things to keep in mind as you build your Governor deck: 1) Governor loves money but hates Copper, and 2) Governor is non-terminal in all its functions, so you can afford at least 1 strong terminal.

Clearing out Coppers is very important. Later on, Coppers will stand between your Governors and the Golds they want to Remodel, and all the extra Silvers from your opponent’s Governors means you will never lack cash, anyway. So Moneylender and Spice Merchant are great, because they rid you of Coppers without crippling your purchasing power--and you need to buy Governors fast. (Moneylender yields more net cash, but Spice Merchant moves through your deck faster and can serve as an important source of +buy later, so they are both great.) And mass Copper trashers like Chapel are great (a 5/2 start with Governor and Chapel is basically as fast a game of Dominion as you could ever have), but a well-timed Mint is also excellent.

As for your terminal, it should obviously be a discarding Attack if one is available. You will also desperately want an extra +buy to mitigate the risk of drawing a huge hand without any Governors.

It’s also worth keeping in mind that Governor works quite well with other cards that accomplish the same functions. Hoard can gain you Gold, and Laboratory and Stables can give you draw. Of course, these things compete at the same price level as Governor, and you don’t really want them unless the Governors are out, and if the Governors are out, it’s almost certainly about time to Green, so the window of opportunity there is slim. However, Governor goes very well with other cards that accomplish its remodel function, namely Remodel and Expand. (And later, if your opponent uses the trashing ability, these 2 cards are conveniently priced to convert into victory points for you).

So when do you do what? Let’s look at Governor’s 3 different functions.

You Get a Gold; Your Opponent Gets a Silver

When you first begin acquiring Governors, this is the first thing you should do with them. Governor decks want to be brimming with Gold so that later you can remodel a bunch of them into Provinces all at once. The Silvers will boost your opponent’s purchasing power, but they also get in his way if he is trying to build a low-treasure engine. Of course, given the availability of Governor, trying to construct a low-treasure engine is probably a losing move anyway. In all likelihood, your opponent is also pursuing Governors (and giving you a fair amount of Silver, too), in which case the free Silvers are mostly a welcome addition to the deck, but will get in the way of connecting Governors and Gold.

How much Gold do you want? It depends, but remember--ideal play would be turning each and every one of them into a Province, and using any leftovers to buy the last Province or a Duchy. This means you are going to be using Governor to gain a Gold at least 4 times, but probably (hopefully) more. This is one of many reasons why you will want as many Governors as you can get your hands on.

You Get +3 Cards; Your Opponent Gets +1 Card

Here is where most Governor-related mistakes are made. Remember that Council Room, which also gives your opponent +1 Card, is a decent-ish $5, rather than a great $5. Using multiple Governors for multiple cards is even more worrisome, because though you may make good use of your huge hand, your opponent also has a huge hand to make use of--and he got his for free. Wharf is the best $5 non-Attack precisely because you get to start your next turn with 2 extra cards. With Governor, you can accomplish that for your opponent by default. In fact, the +cards function of Governor is where the relative benefit to your opponent is undoubtedly greatest.

Thankfully, there are ways to mitigate this benefit. If you intend to end the game (or have a good chance at it) by drawing cards, then your opponent will never actually reap the benefit. (And because of this, the final Governor turn is often a go-for-broke, all-or-nothing, end-the-game-or-die scenario.) But an easier way to fix this is to simply play a discard Attack at the end of your turn. Keep in mind that this doesn’t entirely solve the problem: Your opponent still gets to hold onto his best 3 cards out of however many you gave him, and if he’s smart, these will include a Governor and discarder of his own. But at least he doesn’t get to start with an 8-card hand.

Often times, you will find yourself betting on drawing the discarder with your Governor. This is one reason Governor is really a difficult card--it demands expert memory of what’s left in your deck. You might mitigate the risk here by doubling up on your discarder. You would do that anyway if it’s Goons, but in the case of Militia, consider a second or third. Remember that the additional Silvers from your opponents Governors will more speedily dilute your Action density.

Eventually, you want to play Governor for cards in order to draw many more Governors and Golds, and squeeze several Provinces out of your turn. And you do that by utilizing the final function of Governor.

Trash a Card and Gain a Card Costing Exactly $2 More; Your Opponent Trashes a Card and Gains a Card Costing $1 More

In the end, Governor is a fancy Remodel that goes to great lengths to put the cards you want to remodel into your hand. But if you’re using this function of Governor to do anything but gain Provinces, you are probably making a mistake. Trashing Coppers and Estates is a huge misuse of your Governors. You missed the opportunity to gain a Gold, and you gave your opponent a free trash. Early on, an exactly +$1 trash is situationally better than an exactly +$2 trash, because a +$1 trash just kills Coppers outright, and turns Estates into Silver. Governor is an elite $5 card. You insult it by using it to clear out your riffraff.

Using Governor to remodel Silvers into more Governors is a more sensible use of the power, so long as you have enough cash to buy another one without the Silver, or you didn’t have enough to buy one even with the Silver.

So what do you do with Governor’s remodel ability? Trash your Gold into Provinces, that’s what. The great thing here is that whereas you need $16 and another buy to snag 2 Provinces, you only need 2 Governors and 2 Golds--or 1 Governor and $11, including at least 1 Gold--to make 2 Provinces. Border Villages and Hoards, but also Nobles, Harems, and Farmlands, are also good contenders for remodeling, given their availability. And your Silvers can become Duchies.

You need to watch out for your opponent’s $4s and $7s, though. Caravans, Farming Villages and Spies get turned into last minute Duchies. King’s Courts and Expands (both cards that work extremely well in Governor decks) become Provinces. Fortunately, you trash before your opponent gets the option to do so, meaning if you can both get the last Province, you get it first.

Putting It All Together

Much of the difficulty of Governor arises from predicting when you need to go for Provinces. A strong enough Governor deck can grab 3 or even 4 Provinces in one fell swoop, or the last 2 Provinces and enough Duchies to end it. But you only want to give your opponent the benefit of a huge hand if he will never get to play it. The timing is tricky.

Let’s say you’ve bought a bunch of Governors and gained a bunch of Gold; your opponent just snagged his first Province. Your hand is Governor-Gold-Silver-Silver-Copper (a decently likely hand). You could 1). Buy a Province and gain a Gold, 2). Remodel a Gold into a Province and buy a Duchy, 3). Draw for more cards.

If you choose the third option, you absolutely must draw another Governor, or a source of +buy. If you draw Gold-Gold-Estate, you have actually decreased your options since your starting hand--because you no longer have Governor--while boosting your opponent’s hand. This is why Governor strategies necessitate keeping careful track of what’s left in your deck. If you are unlikely to draw more Governors with more Gold, don’t bother hitting the card option.

It’s also critical to keep track of the score, because in a Governor game, the penultimate Province is certainly not the second-to-last Province. If you leave your opponent 2 Provinces, there is a good chance he can end the game.

When you either suspect it’s the last turn or need to make it so in order to have a good chance of winning, go for broke. Use a Governor or 2 for plus cards. Hopefully, you will draw more Governors, some Gold, and some +buy. Take a minute and think about how to maximize your points: Perhaps you buy 2 Provinces and Governor a Silver into a Duchy.

There’s one more special accomplice to Governor worth mentioning: Watchtower. Since you will be gaining a lot of Silvers and Golds, Watchtower can put them on your deck, and you can buy more Governors sooner. Governors can go on top of your deck, too. Watchtower gives a burst of speed to an already quick deck, and can give you the advantage in a Governor showdown.

It's worth mentioning that Governor is still strong in Colony games. The remodel function is weaker, because you won’t be gaining many Colonies, but the opportunity to grab a Province off a Gold here and there is nice. The Gold-gaining can keep your deck afloat, and the +card effect is arguably stronger for you than normal, because 1 extra card for your opponent is less likely to push him into Colony territory than into Province territory.

Lastly, if you want to build a typical action-draw deck with virtual money, Governor is not for you. But Governor is a strong enough card that it's presence will render the vast majority of engine strategies obsolete. Besides, your opponents Governors will really hurt you if you don't want treasure.

One more thing: Don't draw a 4/3 opening against your opponent's 5/2 opening if Governor is available. This is not the path to greatness.


Works with:
Other Governors
Gold
Farmland
Border Village
Discard Attacks
Watchtower
Copper Trashers
Possession (Give your opponent a giant hand first, then Possess him and remodel all his Gold into Provinces)

Doesn’t work with:
Non-Treasure engines
Your opponent's $4 and $7 cards
Most alternate VP strategies, particularly Silk Road and Gardens (because the prices of these cards make them easier for your opponent to gain off your Governor remodels than vice versa)

Edit 1: Added Farmlands and Possession to "Works with"
Edit 2: Fixed the order of who trashes first in the remodel scenario
« Last Edit: June 11, 2012, 10:58:46 am by Robz888 »
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Morgrim7

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Re: Governor
« Reply #1 on: June 10, 2012, 09:26:41 pm »
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Discarding attacks, Ideally Margrave (especially for the +Buy) correct? +1 Really nice article.
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Robz888

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Re: Governor
« Reply #2 on: June 10, 2012, 09:31:47 pm »
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Discarding attacks, Ideally Margrave (especially for the +Buy) correct? +1 Really nice article.

Thanks! Margrave is more expensive than Militia and not as a good as Goons, and it competes at the same price as Governor, and it draws cards you can't play... so I don't know if it's the ideal discarder, but you are correct about the +buy so that gives it a huge boost, yes. I would say that Governor + Discard attack is so strong that picking up the discarder is pretty much mandatory, no matter which one it is.
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timchen

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Re: Governor
« Reply #3 on: June 10, 2012, 10:57:11 pm »
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Can Governor+Money beat double Jack?
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Re: Governor
« Reply #4 on: June 10, 2012, 11:12:06 pm »
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Can Governor+Money beat double Jack?

yes, easily the odds are with governor + money for first player and probably even for second against double jack. (we're assuming the double jack player buys no governors?)
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Jfrisch

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Re: Governor
« Reply #5 on: June 11, 2012, 12:33:35 am »
+1

governor very rarely helps your opponent more than it helps you. This is a far overstated worry. If you use governor for cards you are getting a double lab, while your opponent is getting a single. If you're opponent finds a single lab more valuable than you find a double lab you must have made a fairly massive error. (i.e. don't draw if you have no +buy/golds in hand you need to remodel).
you mention discard attacks but one, in my mind, bear's particular mention. Governor with ghostship is absurdly strong. Absolutely tremendously absurdly strong. Rather than getting a very strong 3 card hand and discarding a bunch of junk, (the equivalent of 2 warehouses) ghostship forces your opponents to top deck all there junk, or kill there current hand. Essentially giving you a double lab and your opponent a secret chamber reaction! militia/goons/margrave are fine, but nowhere near as dominating as ghost ship.
You mention but don't focus one of the strongest issues with governor's remodel ability. That is, 4 cost (7 cost too, but those are much harder to get into hand and occur less frequently). In particular on your final blowout turn, ordinarily your opponent can't take advantage of the remodel ability, making it absurdly powerful. However if there are strong 4 costs or even decent 4 cost they will likely be able to turn a few of them into duchies. A few late game duchies is a tremendous benefit.
I'm also unconvinced that governor is a poor addition to non-treasure engine. The draw ability and late game endgame ability are still very strong. And if you are playing a non-treasure engine, your opponent likely is as well, so gold vs silver is still pretty nice.

Thank you for creating an article on this card though, governor is a really interesting card that people frequently underestimate in their speech. (if not, perhaps, there play)
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Re: Governor
« Reply #6 on: June 11, 2012, 01:18:51 am »
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Very well written article, perfect for those of us who are beginners to the language and vocabulary that is used around the forums. I often find myself choosing between the Gold and drawing the cards, never knowing exactly which is the right play, so this will really help a lot.
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Re: Governor
« Reply #7 on: June 11, 2012, 01:33:07 am »
+1

Perhaps Governor-Ghost Ship is the most cruel of the discard attacks, though maybe not the "best".


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Re: Governor
« Reply #8 on: June 11, 2012, 04:10:39 am »
0

Well written article! But now I still don't know if I should always buy Governors over Gold, sometimes buy Governor over Gold or never Governor over Gold. And don't say "it depends" ;)

Can Governor+Money beat double Jack?

yes, easily the odds are with governor + money for first player and probably even for second against double jack. (we're assuming the double jack player buys no governors?)
How did you get those odds? I'm pretty sure that if there's a choice to buy only Jacks or only Governors, then I'd pick Jack in a heartbeat. The question doesn't really address a problem in a real game. You're going to want Jacks AND Governors because they work together quite nicely, but I guess it's more a question about tempo!? This is hard to compare because Governor helps the opponent's tempo as well.
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Re: Governor
« Reply #9 on: June 11, 2012, 05:00:48 am »
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Great overview!
Well written article! But now I still don't know if I should always buy Governors over Gold, sometimes buy Governor over Gold or never Governor over Gold. And don't say "it depends" ;)
This is the main question I was hoping for an answer to as well.
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Re: Governor
« Reply #10 on: June 11, 2012, 06:08:58 am »
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Nice article.

It sums up about everything I understand about governors, which isn't too much.
I usually just buy a lot of them, then some more, and then even more. It's like with the minions.

I pick governor over gold, unless I am very certain gold is better, which is basicly never.
Does that count as "no it depends"? ;)
your possible endgame move gets exponentially stronger if you have more governors.

Farmland is really nice with governor. You mention it, but I think it deserves to be on top of the 'works with'.
remodel a silver you got from your opponent into another governor, and in the endgame get a province for it.

Well, not on top. Right after 'more governors'. Governor is good, more governors is better, 7+ of them = you win. I have a hard time imagening a board where I'd ignore this card.
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Re: Governor
« Reply #11 on: June 11, 2012, 06:20:11 am »
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Remember: Your opponent gets the effect before you do.

...I'm pretty sure this isn't true?

Also, you might want to add Possession to the "works with" list.
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Robz888

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Re: Governor
« Reply #12 on: June 11, 2012, 09:58:02 am »
0

Well written article! But now I still don't know if I should always buy Governors over Gold, sometimes buy Governor over Gold or never Governor over Gold. And don't say "it depends" ;)

Can Governor+Money beat double Jack?

yes, easily the odds are with governor + money for first player and probably even for second against double jack. (we're assuming the double jack player buys no governors?)
How did you get those odds? I'm pretty sure that if there's a choice to buy only Jacks or only Governors, then I'd pick Jack in a heartbeat. The question doesn't really address a problem in a real game. You're going to want Jacks AND Governors because they work together quite nicely, but I guess it's more a question about tempo!? This is hard to compare because Governor helps the opponent's tempo as well.

I suspect you are going to always want Governor over Gold. I'm trying to imagine a situation otherwise. If for some reason you have a bunch of Governors (4-5) of them, but very few Gold, and you are about to reshuffle, then maybe. But it's hard to get in that situation--what were you doing with your Governors?

As for Jack and Governor... you would probably want to open Jack, grab maybe 1 Governor, and roll. The extra Silvers from your Jack and from your opponent's Governors are going to make the typical Gold-into-Province Gold-into-Province by-something triple turn of Governor, uh, probably not work.
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Robz888

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Re: Governor
« Reply #13 on: June 11, 2012, 10:01:51 am »
0

Nice article.

It sums up about everything I understand about governors, which isn't too much.
I usually just buy a lot of them, then some more, and then even more. It's like with the minions.

I pick governor over gold, unless I am very certain gold is better, which is basicly never.
Does that count as "no it depends"? ;)
your possible endgame move gets exponentially stronger if you have more governors.

Farmland is really nice with governor. You mention it, but I think it deserves to be on top of the 'works with'.
remodel a silver you got from your opponent into another governor, and in the endgame get a province for it.

Well, not on top. Right after 'more governors'. Governor is good, more governors is better, 7+ of them = you win. I have a hard time imagening a board where I'd ignore this card.

Agreed! That's the thing. Governor is very, very, very strong--the strongest thing on the board, really, in most situations. When it's not the strongest thing, you probably still want it eventually. I'm trying to come up with a board where I would ignore Governor completely. They are few and far between, I think. That's why I mentioned non-treasure engines. I was thinking Peddlers, or some Highway + buy engine, or maybe Double Tactician. But even then, Governor could help you if you lay off the Gold function and use it sparingly (though your opponent's Governors will flood your deck with Silver). And basically if you don't contest Governors, you're probably dead.
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Robz888

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Re: Governor
« Reply #14 on: June 11, 2012, 10:03:20 am »
0

Remember: Your opponent gets the effect before you do.

...I'm pretty sure this isn't true?

Also, you might want to add Possession to the "works with" list.

For the second thing, will do. For the first thing: I guess I should have double checked this, but that's how I remember it working. Also, the text of the card supports your opponent getting it first. You get the version in parentheses, and the parentheses come after.
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Re: Governor
« Reply #15 on: June 11, 2012, 10:21:43 am »
0

Remember: Your opponent gets the effect before you do.

...I'm pretty sure this isn't true?

Also, you might want to add Possession to the "works with" list.

For the second thing, will do. For the first thing: I guess I should have double checked this, but that's how I remember it working. Also, the text of the card supports your opponent getting it first. You get the version in parentheses, and the parentheses come after.
Well, maybe your oppenent gets it earlier technically, but in practice he can profit from it later of course.

The key thing is, however, that it's not just 2 Labs for you, 1 Lab for your opponent. The point is that you play your Double-Lab during YOUR turn. You spend YOUR turn playing it. Your opponent can then spend his turn to play his own hand, but he's already got YOUR played action for free without doing anything. And that's just huge. 
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Re: Governor
« Reply #16 on: June 11, 2012, 10:31:35 am »
+3

I started a simulation contest a while ago to determine the best way to play Governor in absence of other actions. I received only one entry (from WW) which proved only a tiny improvement and the Governor was still getting crushed by a lot of other mediocre single card strategies like Merchant Ship making me doubt the Governor is really a power card. It probably is, but not on its own (eg Governor/Chapel is sick, but Governor/nothing seems weak).
The simulation challenge is still open and I invite anyone who thinks he can play Governor well to come up with a good set of play rules that I can implement.
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Re: Governor
« Reply #17 on: June 11, 2012, 10:36:07 am »
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Agreed! That's the thing. Governor is very, very, very strong--the strongest thing on the board, really, in most situations. When it's not the strongest thing, you probably still want it eventually. I'm trying to come up with a board where I would ignore Governor completely. They are few and far between, I think. That's why I mentioned non-treasure engines. I was thinking Peddlers, or some Highway + buy engine, or maybe Double Tactician. But even then, Governor could help you if you lay off the Gold function and use it sparingly (though your opponent's Governors will flood your deck with Silver). And basically if you don't contest Governors, you're probably dead.

I suspect you are going to always want Governor over Gold.

I know it's neither here nor there in terms of this article, but this to me is the hallmark of poor card design. It's a card you always want and usually want as many of as possible. You even usually buy it over more expensive cards.

Most overpowered cards can't just be fixed by bumping the cost, but in this case I think Governor should cost $6. That way you've got meaningful choices to make when you have $5 and even if you usually take Governor over Gold at $6, at least you sometimes have to think about it.

As for this article (very well-written, by the way!), I'd be really interested if you do come up with some good scenarios where ignoring Governor is the best call.
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Re: Governor
« Reply #18 on: June 11, 2012, 10:38:19 am »
0

Remember: Your opponent gets the effect before you do.

...I'm pretty sure this isn't true?

Also, you might want to add Possession to the "works with" list.

For the second thing, will do. For the first thing: I guess I should have double checked this, but that's how I remember it working.

Here's the CouncilRoom log I checked:
http://councilroom.com/game?game_id=game-20120304-153217-c10dbd94.html

E.g.,

Quote
AJD plays a Governor.
... getting +1 action.
... AJD trashes a Gold.
... AJD gains a Province.
... Bac0n trashes a Copper.
... There's nothing for Bac0n to gain.

Quote from: Robz888
Also, the text of the card supports your opponent getting it first. You get the version in parentheses, and the parentheses come after.

I don't think that's obvious. Consider "Each player gains a silver (gold)" as an instruction which all players follow simultaneously; that means it starts with the current player, who reads it as 'gold', and then everyone else in turn order, reading it as 'silver'.
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Re: Governor
« Reply #19 on: June 11, 2012, 10:41:42 am »
0

from faq:
Quote
Description: You always get +1 Action. Then you
either draw three cards and each other player
draws a card; or you gain a Gold and each other
player gains a Silver; or you may trash a card from
your hand and gain a card costing exactly $2 more
and each other player may trash a card from his
hand and gain a card costing exactly $1 more. Go
in turn order, starting with yourself; this may matter
if piles are low.
The gained cards come from the
Supply and are put into discard piles; if there are
none left, those cards are not gained. For example
if you choose the second option and there is only
one Silver in the Supply, the player to your left gets
it and no-one else gets one. For the third option,
you only gain a card if you trashed a card, and only
if there is a card available in the Supply with the
exact cost required. If you do trash a card, you
must gain a card if you can. You cannot trash a
Governor you played to itself, as it is no longer in
your hand when you play it (though you can trash
another copy of Governor from your hand)
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DG

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Re: Governor
« Reply #20 on: June 11, 2012, 10:44:46 am »
0

I was just typing something very similar to Geronimoo, wondering where the results of his challenge were, and he's posted while I was looking for them. Good timing. Governors + treasure seems fine on 5/2 but slowish on 4/3, certainly not dominant. Surely you're looking to match the governor actions to the other cards in the kingdom (and the respective decks) rather than force the governors through alone on a predictable one track strategy where opponents can maximise the advantage of the gifts?
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mnavratil

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Re: Governor
« Reply #21 on: June 11, 2012, 10:53:03 am »
+4

Most overpowered cards can't just be fixed by bumping the cost, but in this case I think Governor should cost $6. That way you've got meaningful choices to make when you have $5 and even if you usually take Governor over Gold at $6, at least you sometimes have to think about it.

I think Governor might actually get marginally MORE powerful at $6, since then it becomes possible to trash a governor to gain a province.
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Robz888

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Re: Governor
« Reply #22 on: June 11, 2012, 10:56:58 am »
+1

from faq:
Quote
Description: You always get +1 Action. Then you
either draw three cards and each other player
draws a card; or you gain a Gold and each other
player gains a Silver; or you may trash a card from
your hand and gain a card costing exactly $2 more
and each other player may trash a card from his
hand and gain a card costing exactly $1 more. Go
in turn order, starting with yourself; this may matter
if piles are low.
The gained cards come from the
Supply and are put into discard piles; if there are
none left, those cards are not gained. For example
if you choose the second option and there is only
one Silver in the Supply, the player to your left gets
it and no-one else gets one. For the third option,
you only gain a card if you trashed a card, and only
if there is a card available in the Supply with the
exact cost required. If you do trash a card, you
must gain a card if you can. You cannot trash a
Governor you played to itself, as it is no longer in
your hand when you play it (though you can trash
another copy of Governor from your hand)

Oops! Okay, I am definitely wrong. Will fix that.
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ehunt

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Re: Governor
« Reply #23 on: June 11, 2012, 11:02:25 am »
0

I started a simulation contest a while ago to determine the best way to play Governor in absence of other actions. I received only one entry (from WW) which proved only a tiny improvement and the Governor was still getting crushed by a lot of other mediocre single card strategies like Merchant Ship making me doubt the Governor is really a power card. It probably is, but not on its own (eg Governor/Chapel is sick, but Governor/nothing seems weak).
The simulation challenge is still open and I invite anyone who thinks he can play Governor well to come up with a good set of play rules that I can implement.

I wanted to enter the contest, but lack the patience and computational skill.

Basically: if I have fewer than six governors, I want to gain governors unless there are fewer than six provinces. We have a function called "expected number of governors gained this turn," which I will abbreviate as E. It eats Dominion hands and returns the number of governors. To compute E, since there's no + buy and I can't get anything but silver and governors, I say: does the hand have five money, does the hand have a governor + silver pair, does the hand have seven money and a governor + silver pair, etc.

If I have fewer than six governors and at least six provinces remain, when I see a hand, I compute the probability that E(my hand - governor + three cards from the remainder of my deck) > E(my hand). If this probability is greater than 3/4, I use a governor to draw three cards. If not, I use a governor to gain a gold.

For example: with governor governor silver copper copper, I will draw three cards if I suspect I will draw 3 money in them or a governor and a silver in them with high probability, and I will gain a gold and remodel silver to governor otherwise.

After six governors to achieve, the aim is to draw the whole deck and remodel gold to province; I compute a function P for governor draws, replacing the role of silver-remodel-to-governor with gold-remodel-to-province and repeat the same process.

The tricky business is computing P and E. The problem is: if I expect the governor to draw me more governors, how do I compute these functions? I need to do something recursive but am not a CS expert.
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Robz888

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Re: Governor
« Reply #24 on: June 11, 2012, 11:03:18 am »
0

I started a simulation contest a while ago to determine the best way to play Governor in absence of other actions. I received only one entry (from WW) which proved only a tiny improvement and the Governor was still getting crushed by a lot of other mediocre single card strategies like Merchant Ship making me doubt the Governor is really a power card. It probably is, but not on its own (eg Governor/Chapel is sick, but Governor/nothing seems weak).
The simulation challenge is still open and I invite anyone who thinks he can play Governor well to come up with a good set of play rules that I can implement.

Well, I think that Governor needs some support to be truly awesome. The thing is, there are so many cards that work with Governor, and few or none that make it bad. The presence of a discard attack automatically makes Governor the best thing on the board. Moneylender, Spice Merchant, Chapel, Mint, Expand, Remodel, Watchtower, Border Village, and Farmland are all tremendous boosters.

So while I can imagine Governor by itself as being something sort of not great, there is a wide variety of things that make Governor even better. (Which is why Governor is the true Jack!)
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