When playing engine against engine, thinking about the end conditions of the game is very important. Piles will usually run low, and maybe I can sneak out a victory or need to be very careful my opponent doesn't. At some point I should have a firm idea whether I'm looking for a three-pile or plan to run out the provinces.
However, playing an engine against a BigMoney variant (or a significantly lesser developed engine), there is another possible answer to this question:
I don't want the game to end at all. Off course at some point it's inevitable, but I know the longer it takes the better it is for me.
In general, when you build an engine, you invest some turns to get a more powerful deck. The last couple of turns will be your strongest ones. A BigMoney deck has its strongest turns midgame, and their final stage where the deck will slowly start choking on green cards is much longer. So the first and foremost notion is that the concept of choking was built-in into dominion by the
legendary Donald X. If they start greening, their deck will get worse all by itself. All I have to help this effect grow.
This immediately brings us to the most effective strategy: If I don't have to buy any Provinces myself, and my opponent can't end it on piles. The effect will be exponential: the 3rd, 4th, 5th or even 6th Province is a lot easier to buy then number 7 or 8. Gaining huge amounts of VP chips is the perfect strategy here, but almost as nice are Fairgrounds and Vineyards. Anything that allows you not to buy Provinces and yet score points will do. Dukes, Silk Roads, Gardens or Colonies are not so hot in this context, because they are a very good option for the BigMoney player too. Harems and Great Halls just aren't worth enough to really make a difference. Nobles aren't so clear.
If your plan is to make them choke due to buying Provinces / greening, do
not join them in the Province race. Very carefully calculate the minimum amount of provinces you need yourself, and plan for a big turn where you end the game while buying exactly those (preferably 1 Province).
A completely different plan can be to play a certain attack over and over again. Ghost ship is famous here, but just about anything can work (Militia, Rabble, but even Bureaucrat, Thief & Spy). Saboteur is not in this list, because that usually enables them to end the game on piles. Ghost ship can backfire if they only need one or two more provinces, but if you're a little bit earlier this is the best.
Cards that prevent choking come in different categories.
- Salvager, Remodel and Apprentice allow the BigMoney player to trade provinces for new ones (or just gold for provinces).
- Jack Of All Trades doesn't care much for any attacks you may sling at him. Due to the huge amount of silvers, the deck will never really choke on green either.
- Hoard and Haggler allow the BigMoney player to gain money while buying green.
- Embassy and to some extend Warehouse allow them to keep going on despite a lot of green cards
- Courtyard allows them to pair their golds/silvers to get up to $8
A special star for the engine player is Embargo. I feel this card is quite underplayed in this manner. If you get an early embargo on golds, you'll have a lot more time. After that it can be
a pretty lousy engine and still win. Usually an embargoed pile is not that much a problem for the engine player, because he has other ways of acquiring cards then buying them, or ways to get rid of the curses later on.
Making them choke on green can be especially effective against an apothecary deck. More then any others, those decks are very good at buying the first few provinces, but then it stops rather dramatically.
I never mentioned cursers here, even though they have a very clear impact on the speed of the game. Not really at the end though, more at the start or midgame. Therefore I just declare it out-of-scope for this article.
Some sample games
- This is a very clear cut case. I don't need to buy any provinces to gain points, *and* I get to play the horrifying Ghost Ship over and over again.
- In this game my turn 8 buy took me quite a while. I'm faced $8 for the first time and I don't dare to dip into provinces just yet. With both Fairgrounds and Silk Roads on the board, Rabid can make sure this game doesn't end before I eat the entire provinces pile. A turn later, when he actually helps me start the dinner, I decide to go for it anyway. In the discussion after the game we both agree that both his Provinces should have been Fairgrounds, because Silk Roads were more viable for him then for me (still having the starting Estates) and with two hoards to my one he would benefit from the longer game
- Here I take a bit too long to set up my engine. But by staying out of the provinces (even though I really want points and have something like $15 and one buy) I manage to create just enough time to get there.
- Finally in this tournament game I make some mistakes early in the game, but I can use Fairgrounds to take the game really long. He needs to buy a 7th province to win, and that one comes too late.