Dominion

[Sailboat]

@HookerChemical

Sailboat, I think you’re not giving Big Money enough credit by saying that “most “engine” strategies beat it most of the time.” It depends on the kingdom. It depends on whether you consider terminal draw (Big Money plus one or two +cards actions) or other simple strategies an engine. What you describe (+action, +cards, trashing) is an ideal engine, but random kingdom’s don’t always have that. It’s certainly more viable than a dysfunctional engine, which I’ve created more than once.

I’m a self-described rookie; I was relying on the analysis in the link I posted. In that specific case, the simulator was able to win with an engine strategy 75%-90% of the time, depending on some issues discussed in the text, and a human is expected to be able to do better…but that analysis was based on a fixed draw (the suggested “first game.”) So I’m sure you’re closer to the essence of it than I was.

The strategy wiki has a good description of Big Money’s place in the strategic pantheon:

a good way to tell whether your strategy is a viable one or not is to see whether it can clear the Big Money hurdle. For reference, Big Money averages 4 Provinces by around 17 turns (assuming no attacks). Because you can always go Big Money in every set, every strategy you devise has to be able to do better than Big Money, or else it’s not really a strategy at all.

[Taber]

@ekweizn

Base game question: is there any reason for a player not to play a Chapel strategy when the card is available? If not, shouldn’t this card cost a lot more?

Chapel’s cost isn’t balanced to make it fair compared to the other cards, it is balanced so that all players get equal access to the super powerful card

If chapel had a cost of 5, people who draw a 3-4 split couldn’t get one. If it cost 3 or 4, someone with a 3-4 split could buy chapel silver, while 5-2s would likely go chapel nothing. At 2, 5-2 splits have an advantage, but not as much as other potential costs. Whether it is worthwhile or fair at 6 is an interesting question.