On Friday I played my match with andwilk, but I was out of town over the weekend and didn't get a chance to upload the videos or write about the match until now. So here it is. This is one of the most interesting tournament matches I've ever played, and some of these kingdoms are among the most interesting I've ever played. I'm glad I got to play them against a competent opponent like andwilk. Thanks for the match.
Video Playlist Link:
Game 1: andwilk 27,
AdamH 47Kingdom: Vagrant, Trade Route, Death Cart, Island, Worker's Village, Laboratory, Mystic, Outpost, Altar, Hoard
Game log:
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130920/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1379686570588.txtVideo link:
Look at the top-deck interaction here! Clearly the key component is Lab, since it's the only draw on the board. We both open double Silver and race the Labs, but he hits $6 early enough to justify getting an Altar while I just need to buy Lab every turn by the time I hit $6, but I've gotten a Trade Route for thinning anyways. I'd say he has a slight edge here, but once the Labs are gone and we've each gotten an Outpost it's time to decide on a direction for the rest of the game. With Hoard and Island there are multiple directions you can go; he goes for a Hoard and a larger deck while I thin more aggressively and aim for turns that look like "Island Province, buy Province/Island, hopefully repeat on Outpost turn." I take a bit longer to build because I'd rather be using Mystics for cash to stay as thin as possible, but it pays off as I'm able to power through Provinces. Funny thing is, I didn't even realize the HUGE synergy between Vagrant and Mystic until I had several opportunities to use it that I just ignored!
Game 2: AdamH 31,
andwilk 34Kingdom: Duchess, Haven, Pawn, Smugglers, Baron, Caravan, Fortress, Horse Traders, Remake, Possession
Game log:
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130920/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1379687243256.txtVideo link:
Well they can't all be fun engine games, can they? Maybe they can, since he built a little more with Remake and Caravan and that's why he won. Perhaps I need to work on my Big Money play...
Game 3: AdamH 38, andwilk 20
Kingdom: University, Militia, Monument, Pirate Ship, Apprentice, Baker, Festival, Junk Dealer, Hunting Grounds, Bank, with Colony/Platinum
Game log:
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130920/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1379688326766.txtVideo link:
Big engine here, it poses an interesting question, since you want to open Potion for University, but you also want to open Junk Dealer for thinning because of the Baker opening. We both opt for a delayed University. He gets his Potion a shuffle before I do and is constantly ahead on Universities, so feeling like I'm behind, I just buy a million Hunting Grounds and hope things line up. He piles the Bakers, though, which I don't know how I feel about. I get some good turns early for this, and I think the fact that I have more draw leads me to victory. Really interesting endgame here as well, since we're both getting Apprentices for reliability but neither of us can seem to line them up with a target so we both have "dud" hands.
Game 4: andwilk 32, AdamH 31
Kingdom: Oasis, Smugglers, Wishing Well, Philosopher's Stone, Baron, Caravan, Spy, Bazaar, Harvest, Rabble
Game log:
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130920/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1379688906277.txtVideo link:
All the components of an engine with no trashing. Eww. With Baron as a BM enabler I decide to go for something more money-based, while he goes a little more engine-y. I'm not positive what happened here, because I don't think I should have done as poorly as I did. In any case, I think the game was over when the one Rabble in his deck skipped over all three of the Golds in my deck, it was like Goko didn't want me to see it and flashed the animation so quickly that it hoped I missed that. You make your own shuffle luck. This was a really frustrating loss for me.
Game 5: andwilk 47, AdamH 19
Kingdom: Embargo, Forager, Great Hall, Smugglers, Island, Taxman, Ghost Ship, Hunting Party, Rogue, Wharf, with Shelters
Game log:
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130920/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1379689790252.txtVideo link:
I learned a valuable lesson in this game by getting thoroughly pwnt by Taxman. Turns out that's a really good card sometimes. That plus I had like no focus this game. He played really well and I didn't and the final score reflects that.
Also, I hate Smugglers. Not as a card, but I think I'm not very good with it.
Game 6: AdamH 15, andwilk 3
Kingdom: Vineyard, Poor House, Chapel, Alchemist, Caravan, Ironworks, Plaza, Baker, Cultist, Pillage
Game log:
http://dom.retrobox.eu/?/20130920/log.5085f5130cf270038ff92212.1379690337882.txtVideo link:
HOLY CRAP this game was over in 10 TURNS! My starting Baker token sat there unspent the whole game, along with a bunch of Plaza tokens I got over the course of the game too. And I'm pretty sure that both of those were the right play.
Really interesting board -- Cultist, but Vineyard and the only +Buy was Ruined Market (which was not on top of the deck, or else it would have been
really interesting!). He opens double Ironworks and I open Ironworks/Chapel, I also focus quite a bit more on draw with an early Potion so I'm still able to even out the Ironworks split 5/5. I green a touch earlier as well, which gives me commanding endgame position.