Dominion Strategy

The 2011 DominionStrategy.com Championships

olneyce 45 Game 1 manzi 50

olneyce 33 Game 2 manzi 28

olneyce 9 Game 3 manzi 71

olneyce 18 Game 4 manzi 3

olneyce 16 Game 5 manzi 8

olneyce 89 Game 6 manzi 57

olneyce 29 Game 7 manzi 50

olneyce 0 Game 8 manzi -100

In a tightly-fought and thrilling Final, olneyce defeats manzi 5-3 to claim the 2011 DominionStrategy.com Championship.

In the Bronze Match, RisingJaguar defeats WanderingWinder 4-2 to claim third and a seed in next year’s tournament.

Videos for both matches have been uploaded by the players and can be found on the DominionStrategy YouTube channel.

The bracket for the final 8:

Click for game scores

We caught up with olneyce after the match and asked him a few questions:

Congratulations on your win! Did you do anything to prepare for this match?

I made a concentrated effort to play games against high-quality opponents this week. And I also tried experimenting with some particularly wacky engines or alternative-VP strategies. I anticipated that curated Kingdoms were not going to be very amenable to straightforward Big Money approaches so wanted to get a feel for some complex engines that might not normally be available.

Walk us through the match and give us a recap. How did you feel through each game?

I posted a lengthy game-by-game run-down on the forum.  Mentally, I felt good about the first game until 2/3 of the way through, when it started slipping through my fingers. I had anticipated seeing something along the lines of game 2 (extremely heavy with alternative Victory cards), so I felt pretty confident about that one. The lowest moment was certainly in game 3 when I thought I had executed the pin and then realized just how badly I had miscalculated, putting me down 2-1. But then I reeled off three wins in a row on boards that seemed very well-suited to my strengths (engines with multiple moving parts). At that point, up 4-2, I was feeling very good. Game 7 was a bit of a kick in the teeth, considering just how thoroughly I got beat, but I still felt confident I could get one of the last two games.

What did you think of the sets as a whole? Did any particular set stand out to you?

I really enjoyed playing with curated sets. The lack of wasted or redundant cards was awesome. You clearly can’t buy everything, but it’s fascinating to be forced to think very closely about why something might be included and what you will sacrifice by not going after it. Clearly the KC/Goons/Masquerade set threw me for a loop. The sixth set, with Governor and Goons, was a lot of fun to play and very difficult to conceptualize in mid-game. Apart from the pin-catastrophe, it’s probably the one I would play the most differently with the benefit of hindsight. And finally, the fourth set seems like a fantastic example to give someone who is trying to learn how to construct engines. There is so much potential, but you really have to be quite delicate putting it together to ensure you can chain the massive hands that you’ll need.

Which was your favorite game of the final?

Game 8, for the moment when a lightbulb when off in my head and I realized that I could Ambassador away all my copper. I always love games where much-maligned cards play a crucial role, so using Secret Chamber to win the tournament was a lot of fun. The other strong competitor for my favorite game would be #4, for the reasons explained above.

Having actually played all of the sets, which one are you going to vote for in the Kingdom Design Challenge?

Set 6. For the most part, none of the sets had a clear dominant strategy, but there was usually a general approach that was best. I think #6 was the one with the best balance. Clearly Goons were essential, but there was tons of creative space about how to supplement them. I think this would be the board with the best replay potential.

Game 3 featured the infamous KC/Goons/Masquerade pin. How did you plan to approach this board, during your pre-game analysis?

Very poorly. In most of the games I did a pretty good job of restraining my immediate impulses and considering the intentions of the designer. What traps did they lay for the obvious strategies? In this game, I did none of that and just rushed straight into the trap. Even with the benefit of hindsight I’m still not sure how to play this one.

Did you think there were any particularly lucky breaks that swung your way or manzi’s way during the final?

In game 4, Manzi drew his Masquerade and Silver as the 11th and 12th cards of the shuffle. Absent me making a mistake, I’m not sure if he had much chance after that opening. Similarly, in game 7, my Remake was drawn with 4 coppers. And by the time I had played my first Fishing Village, he already had Platinum, Grand Markets, and a well-oiled engine. Apart from those, I think the luck stayed fairly even.

We didn’t get a chance to play Game 9, which would have been Chapel, Fishing Village, Watchtower, Ironworks, Gardens, Bridge, Highway, Mountebank, Ill-gotten Gains, Goons, with Colonies. How would you have approached this set?

Looking at it now, I think I would just go for Ironworks/Gardens. However, in the heat of the moment I feel like there’s a strong chance I would have been scared off of the straightforward path and found myself in the weeds. There is a lot of awesome potential there to construct mega-turns, but I have a feeling it would ultimately be too slow to catch up to the simple approach.

Any concluding thoughts?

This has been an incredibly fun experience. I went into it with no real expectations, hoping to at least win a couple matches and get to face off against some of the very best players. I know there is a lot of chance in this game, and I could very easily have gone out long ago. So, I’m glad my luck held and also proud that I was able to capitalize on it.

Finally … which expansion are you going to claim?

Intrigue. I currently only have the base game. So as much as I’m excited about the upcoming expansions, I think I need to start building up the old ones first.

WanderingWinder
2011 DominionStrategy.com Championships Thief Division champion

Initial seed: 4
Round 1: def. (253) jag149 4-1
Round 2: def. (132) Orange 4-2
Round 3: def. (61) lespeutere 4-2
Round 4: def. (29) allfail 4-3
Division semifinals: def. (84) toaster 4-0
Division finals: def. (5) Fabian 4-1

WanderingWinder will be facing off against (32) olneyce in the first semifinal.  We caught up with WanderingWinder and asked him a few questions.

Congratulations on winning your division! What do you think was your toughest match?

My toughest match was probably against allfail (timchen), based on the combination of skill of my opponent and luck, both with the kingdoms as they fell out and in the shuffle.

Tell us a little about yourself. How old are you, where are you from, what do you do?

I’m young enough to have been familiar with computers most of my life (though I suppose that wasn’t really common for people my age – the first computer I remember my dad built from scratch; also I remember that one of his co-workers once said that nobody anywhere should ever need a hard drive bigger than 20 MB), but old enough to remember quite a good bit of the ‘pre-internet’ era. And enough of both to be extremely paranoid of identity theft, and not wanting to give out personal information (probably this too I get from my dad). I’m from the central United States, and I’ve lived in suburbia basically all my life. I’m a physicist; my primary income is from teaching.

How did you get into Dominion?

A group of my sister’s friends from college play D&D every week and board games fairly often. Dominion was the first one I remember playing with them. This was a little bit after Seaside came out. I liked it pretty darn well right away. My sister’s boyfriend tipped me off to Isotropic, which was like a day or two before images first came about, to tell you how long I’ve been there.

What are your favorite board games other than Dominion?

First and foremost, chess. I know about half a dozen Grandmasters, maybe twice as many IMs, and many more ‘regular’ masters. I’ve beaten a master once over the board (I beat someone on a GM’s account online once, but based on the level of play, he was either asleep or letting someone else use his account…), and I’ve drawn other masters two or three times. If I played more, I’d probably make candidate master in a year or two. Master if I really cared. But I haven’t gotten the chance to go over the board in several months…

Other games… I like Thunderstone and Small World okay. I’m hoping to try out Agricola and Twilight Struggle soon. I love almost like all card games. Gin Rummy and Cribbage I remember very fondly – I played them with my mom before I was school age even – and spades, hearts, casino, canasta, and most of all, a little variant of Euchre called 500. Well, maybe not so little, it used to be the most popular game in America. Bridge I like in principle, but the conventions I could do without. Still decently enjoyable. And of course there are some card games *cough* WAR *cough* (also BS, I’m very un-fun to play with) which I cannot stand.

I want to make a shout-out to a very little-known game called Arimaa. It’s interesting. I recommend it. You can play it with a chess set, or free online here.

What are your favorite and least-favorite Dominion cards, and why?

Favourite is easy: Silk Road, closely followed by Gardens. I also like Duke and Fairgrounds, what can I say. Maybe it’s because I like gaining cards, maybe it’s because I feel really nice with compiling what I call a Victory engine (though hey, we should come up with a better word for it, to not get confused with the normal use of engine… pyramid comes to mind, but given what it’s made up of… well, someone who’s reading this think of one). What I mean by that is figuring out which victory cards you need in the end to win, and what order to get them in. I also like Monument and Merchant Ship and Island quite a good little bit.

Least favourite is probably Ambassador, though it’s not nearly so bad now. King’s Court is up there (ironically I quite like Throne Room). Expand, Horn of Plenty, Tournament, Young Witch, Jack (wanna bet everybody put Jack?), Torturer. Outpost, Contraband, and Royal Seal I like way less than they deserve. Though I guess maybe I’m coming around on Contraband.

Most feared opponent on Isotropic?

You expect me to give one answer? Obi Wan Bonogi. I never feel right against him. theory is up there. Somehow I think chwhite deserves to be, but I always feel comfortable facing him. But there are lots of really strong players.

Finally, some one-sentence strategy advice you’d give to someone new to the game?

Figure out how many of each terminal you want to prefer over straight-up big money, weighing its benefit over the treasure equivalent of its cost against the risk of collisions. Man, one sentence is tough.

manzi
2011 DominionStrategy.com Championships Gardens Division champion

Initial seed: 14
Round 1: def. (243) Oberown 4-0
Round 2: def. (115) glasser 4-1
Round 3: def. (78) Thaddeas 4-2
Round 4: def. (19) nomnomnom 4-2
Division semifinals: def. (30) Exclams 4-0
Division finals: def. (6) Turambar 4-1

manzi will be facing off against (47) RisingJaguar in the second semifinal.  We caught up with manzi and asked him a few questions.

Congratulations on winning your division! What do you think was your toughest match?

vs nomnomnom.  I lost the first game even though I was first player, and then the first player won the next 3 games.  2-2 without initiative was a very bad position, so I felt pressured.

I won next 2 games and won the match, but clearly I felt like I was up against the wall.  Except for that match, I have always won the first 2 games and never lost when I had the initiative.  Therefore I had some room to breathe.

Tell us a little about yourself. How old are you, where are you from, what do you do?

I am 33 years old.  I live in Tokyo, Japan.  My occupation is company employee.

How did you get into Dominion?

I had played Dominion with my friends several times.  And one year ago I participated in “Moku Domi-Kai” (meaning Thursday Night Dominion Party). The party was held every Thursday night and 10 to 20 players enjoyed playing Dominion.  There were a lot of skilled player and I learned a lot from them.  In particular, an organizer of “Moku Domi” and Ryo Shigekiyo, current world champion of Dominion, were very superior players (members, including me, expected one of them would qualify for the world championship and in fact, they finished first and second place at the qualifier tornament!).

Since I wanted to play Dominion more frequently, I looked for a tool to play Dominion
on the Internet and found Isotropic in May.  Now, I am still playing Dominion in “Moku Domi” and Isotropic with enjoyment.

What are your favorite board games other than Dominion?

AGRICOLA

What are your favorite and least-favorite Dominion cards, and why?

Favorite: Colony and Platinum.  They make the game more technical and reduce the advantage of the initiative player.
Least-favorite: Black Market and Tournament (i.e. Followers).  They make the game unfair.

Most feared opponent on Isotropic?

No one.

Because playing against a tough player is very exciting for me and I believe I have enough of a chance to win against anyone!

Finally, some one-sentence strategy advice you’d give to someone new to the game?

(1) Memorize what and how many cards are in your deck.  It tells how you should play.
(2) In most cases, trashing cards like Chapel are very important to win.
(3) Usually 2 Golds is a good time to start buying Province.  You should not buy a 5th or 6th Golds in a game.

RisingJaguar
2011 DominionStrategy.com Championships Witch Division champion

Initial seed: 47
Round 1: def. (210) prospero III 4-0
Round 2: def. (82) LexiphanicLemur 4-3
Round 3: def. (18) Rabid 4-0
Round 4: def. (15) Elyv 4-2
Division semifinals: def. (2) painted_cow 4-3
Division finals: def. (7) quasi 4-3

RisingJaguar will be facing off against (14) manzi in the second semifinal.  We caught up with RisingJaguar and asked him a few questions.

Congratulations on winning your division! What do you think was your toughest match?

This is a toss up between painted_cow and quasi who I feel are among the top players on Isotropic. In both matches I was down 0-2 in matches where I clearly lost the games and against quasi I was down 1-3. The added adversity on top of facing strong opponents is what made these matches tough. I’m probably splitting hairs here, but the match against painted_cow had some very difficult boards that required to really adjust during games which made the matches incredibly tough. The beating I took in game 1 was really impressive, adjusting to Scrying Pools midway was so demoralizing. Then the intricacies in game 5 where we spent minutes deciding each move was tough. And of course the final game 7 was back-and-forth, it was just so close all the way through, every turn was nail-biting.

Tell us a little about yourself. How old are you, where are you from, what do you do?

I am 21 year old dude in the wonderful city of Toronto, Canada. I am a student currently studying business (accounting) and in my fourth year. I am an avid fan of most sports like basketball, hockey, and mainly baseball. The game of baseball has some surprisingly analytical/statistical work that is wonderful perspective to look at sports. It allows the fan to be more of an expert. Like many of you, I am fascinated by games with layers of strategy and this is partly why I love my sports. I love the new strategies created. I love the metagame behind the strategy. Of course, I love the competition too. It seems obvious why I love Dominion then.

How did you get into Dominion?

I was first introduced to Dominion at a family reunion, but was not thoroughly impressed to be honest. I was never introduced properly to the strategies and had a very hard time grasping it. I was buying Duchies and Gardens turns 6/7 and avoiding Gold because I had actions like Thief that would theoretically grab them for me. It was bad.

A few months later, my closest friend told me to check out the site and we played many games. At first, I just played with him for fun. He introduced me to the very basics, like how to build economies and the power of trashing. The little taste of the strategy got my curiosity hooked. Every game had a new strategies and combos that could be made. It helped that Isotropic made finding opponents really easy.

Here’s a shoutout to my friend with a thousand alias on Isotropic, recently known as Irrationally Sad Man, for teaching me this game.

I also should say that I was one of the last entrants to the tournament. I am grateful that theory had the last few slots for those above lvl 35 or I would not be here. I remember his reasoning was “but I wouldn’t want to exclude a potential champion” and here I am!

What are your favorite board games other than Dominion?

Unfortunately I have not been exposed to the many games such as Settlers of Catan (which I hear is awful….. ly similar to Dominion). I think Bang! and Monopoly Deal are great fun because they are so simple which is quite the opposite from Dominion. The simplicity allows for all players to join together and have a great time which are the point of board games in the end. I know they are very reliant on its luck but I do enjoy them a lot.

For board games and their pure strategy, I love chess. For someone that plays it without knowing many openings, my games require a great amount of adaptability which I love. Its balance is so great for such a simple set up. I also have a soft spot for clue. There’s something interesting about clue and being able to deduce information constantly to solve the ultimate puzzle.

With that said, I love most board games.

What are your favorite and least-favorite Dominion cards, and why?

Before I explain my cards, I should explain my playstyle. As you can probably guess, I love building combos and engines. I think there’s a place for BM combos of course, but being able to get synergy from cards is what I like to see. The list for least favourite is a simple list as they usually kill creativity within games. Favourite cards are the opposite, but there are so many cards that make creativity, it is harder to narrow it down. So here is a list of 5 of my favourite and least favourite cards in no particular order.

Favourite Cards:
1. King’s Court – who doesn’t like the engine built off 7 King’s Courts? Probably only the person having to wait 2 minutes for a turn but man they are fun.
2. Gardens/Duke/Crossroads – In a game that usually rewards those with slimmer decks and avoiding green cards, these are a breath of fresh air for strategies.
3. Tactician – The card highlights that 1 big thing is usually better than two is a great way to sum up dominion. Also its sneaky ways to make it a constant drop through Black Market, Vault or using only actions makes it fascinating.
4. Peddlers – Every game, its valued slightly differently depending on +buys, trash for benefit, repeatable actions. One of the cards that really change in value depending what is available
5. Vineyard – Nothing better than buying cards that add to your engine AND get you points, Vineyards allows you to do this.

Least Favourite Cards
1. Treasure Map – It provides either a huge reward or a huge bust, I guess that’s the nature of Treasure Map but I never enjoyed this card.
2. Black Market – I admit I do delve into this card a lot, but for the same reason as TM, the swings are frustrating. For example, in a game with no curse attacks, getting the only witch or sea hag is too big a swing that is solely based on luck almost.
3. Possession – Nothing makes me sadder than watching someone use the engine you just built to buy themselves a Province.
4. Ill-Gotten Gains – The race for IGG then to Duchies just takes over so many games. Occasionally trash for benefit make these games fascinating but moreless it is not enjoyable to play these games.
5. Jack of all Trades – I admit I had no idea how powerful DoubleJack would be when it first came out but wow, mindless plugging is not something I enjoy to see. Also that a simple strategy dominates so many games and forces players to switch is frustrating to an engine builder like me. Although I will applaud those found this out on their own because it is something I completely overlooked

Most feared opponent on Isotropic?

Myself of course!

All kidding aside, I have not faced all of the top opponents yet. I’m quite certain that among the top… 50 or so, anybody can beat anybody. Thus my answer isn’t all that useful. If I had to narrow it down, I think WanderingWinder, who is still in this tournament, has the results and knowledge to strike fear into anyone. I have played a few games against him and they were not pretty.

Finally, some one-sentence strategy advice you’d give to someone new to the game?

To someone who is extremely new to this game, do not be afraid to face strong opponents as they will be the ones to learn new tactics. Take that embarrassing loss to LEARN new stuff like their openings, new engines, how they adapt and of course, why.

For those wanting to make that next jump, take full advantage of Council Room. You can revisit past matches and more importantly, popular buys. Comparing your % of use and the effects with/without can tell you if you really understand how to use that card. For example, my council room effects with indicates that I know how to use the card properly but for warehouse, I should really learn to revisit how to use that card with the negative effects with. It will not give you all the answers, but it will identify areas that need change.

olneyce
2011 DominionStrategy.com Championships Chapel Division champion

Initial seed: 32
Round 1: def. (225) Redwoods 4-1
Round 2: def. (160) Arvidsson 4-3
Round 3: def. (33) 16hp 4-1
Round 4: def. (64) lolrob 4-3
Division semifinals: def. (16) first 4-3
Division finals: def. (25) shark_bait 4-1

olneyce will be facing off against (4) WanderingWinder in the first semifinal.  We caught up with olneyce and asked him a few questions.

Congratulations on winning your division! What do you think was your toughest match?

My round of 16 match against First was certainly the toughest. It ended 4-3, and I got pretty well trounced in the games I lost. In addition, I won one game only because he (unnecessarily) trashed a Mining Village on his final turn, to reduce the value of his seven  Fairgrounds, stealing 14 points from himself.

Tell us a little about yourself. How old are you, where are you from, what do you do?

30. I’m originally from Washington state, and live in the Bay Area now, spending half my time in San Francisco and the other half in Santa Cruz. I’m a graduate student in Politics at UC-Santa Cruz, in the dissertation-writing phase of things.

How did you get into Dominion?

I was introduced to the game last winter – it was a four person game with Pirate Ship, which radically warped my perception of the strength of that card. Then I played another couple tabletop games in the spring, but didn’t really get into it until I found out about Isotropic in May. Then in the fall I had some more free time, and I discovered Dominion Strategy, and my understanding of the game started to grow by leaps and bounds.

What are your favorite board games other than Dominion?

Some of the basic ones: Settlers, Carcassone, Puerto Rico. I really enjoy Twilight Struggle, though I haven’t played it in years. And I’m a big fan of some of the 2-person war games like Paths of Glory or For the People. I also really love Diplomacy, though it’s hard to keep a game alive these day. And for the sheer craziness of it, there are few things more fun than a full day spent playing Twilight Imperium.

What are your favorite and least-favorite Dominion cards, and why?

I participated in Qvist’s card-ranking exercise, so I can give a pretty specific answer here. My five favorite cards are: Fishing Village, Chapel, Wharf, Venture, and Apothecary. I don’t think those  need a ton of explanation: I like playing actions, and I like strategies that stack (hence the Venture). I only really came around on Apothecary in the last few months, but it’s such a fun card partly because of the way it capitalizes on the lowly Copper.

My five least favorite cards: Familiar, Saboteur, Sea Hag, King’s Court, Fool’s Gold. But I’m not really THAT strongly against any of them except Familiar, which I absolutely loathe. I think it’s the only card in the game that is ‘broken.’ In general, I don’t enjoy cards that warp the game and overwhelm other strategic decisions, and I don’t like cards that depend enormously on early-game luck of the draw. Familiar has both of those in spades. If you hit 2P on turn 5, while your opponent buys a Familiar on turn 3, in 90% of cases that’s gg.

Most feared opponent on Isotropic?

I feel lost at sea and very stupid every time I play Rabid. It seems like we always pursue the same general strategy, but he has some tweaks that I never would have come up with. And I end up losing badly.

Finally, some one-sentence strategy advice you’d give to someone new to the game?

When planning your strategy: cursers > money > good trashing > +card > +buy > bad trashing > +action. Obviously, things get more complex than this, and it often depends, but when you’re starting out you should plan things with this equation in mind.

The 2011 DominionStrategy.com Championships

256 entered
4 remain

Chapel Division: olneyce
The champion of the top-seeded division, olneyce’s impressive tournament performance includes victories over both the IsoDom1 champion as well as #1 on the Isotropic leaderboard 

Witch Division: RisingJaguar
The lowest seed left in the Final Four, the underdog RisingJaguar has shot out of nowhere to upset multiple favorites for the title, defeating more high seeds than anyone else in the tournament

Gardens Division: manzi
The sole non-North American player remaining, representing the Japanese Dominion scene, manzi has swept through the tournament virtually unscathed and has yet to be pushed to a seventh game

Thief Division: WanderingWinder
The most prolific and recognizable member of the Final Four, WanderingWinder is the only top seed remaining, and has played more games on Isotropic than the rest of the Final Four combined

Over the next several days, we’ll publish interviews with each of the Final Four, to get their thoughts on the tournament, Dominion strategy advice, and their most feared opponents.  In the meantime, why not head over to the forum, and vote for who you think will win the tournament?

Matches will be recorded and uploaded on the DominionStrategy YouTube channel.