greylag's Star Realms BGG League reports

1. Board Game: Seasons [Average Rating:7.39 Overall Rank:240]

(greylag)

I started my League career in Season 10, at the bottom, in the Iron Tier. Having never competed in a league before I wasn't really sure what to expect, but knew it was in good hands as Remy's communication was always very clear...

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2. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

First game, and we both got off to almost identical starts with a little bit of blue, a little bit of scrap, and a few minor ships. early on I had the tricky decision between buying the first major firepower, blob carrier, or the first major station, either port of call or central office.

i've received some devastating defeats, mostly from my partner, when she gets port of call early, so it was a leap of faith to buy neither port of call, or the card that could easily kill it, and take central office instead. as I did, I remembered, that it is one of the designers' favourite cards. turns out theres a reason for that.

it paid off as I spent an entire deck cycle topdecking and drawing ships. first i got to topdeck + draw blob carrier. then dreadnaught. then I topdecked a freighter. even when deiga destroyed my central office, the freghter gave me a nice topdeck and combo with minor yellow ships. blob carrier, battle pod and dreadnaught came together at the end of the deck for a solid final blow!

better luck in the rest of the tourney, deiga, I know what it feels like to see one of those big blue stations sit out in front of the other person and cash trade turn after turn...

greylag defeats deiga!

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3. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

This was one of those games where the trade ladder worked out for me perfectly (buy small, to buy medium, to buy big). An early freighter let me get to an early port of call, and I've commented before about how dangerous that can be.

The one danger for me was katadare's small scrap advantage - one trade bot to my lack of scrap. Fortunately for me, who came around the corner but brain world, and with port of call still active, I was able to pick it up. And then draw it next turn as my deck cycled, ahem...

From that point it was the brain world death march. My deck came around quickly, had a couple of biggies in it, and there's not a lot you can do about that.

A bit of overkill at the end, hope you don't mind katadare! I always think SR ends so soon, it's nice to see just what a deck's capable of at the very end of it. I get a morbid kind of glee at seeing how heavily an opponent can overkill me and hope my opponents feel the same.

greylag defeats katadare!

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4. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

Patrol Mech, Trade Bot, Supply Bot - not the first three buys you want to see your opponent make.

I got an early Trade Pod, so was able to get a lot of purchasing power, but agonized over taking Dreadnaught over Recycling Station. The Dread is a lovely ship, but an opponent with triple scrap and recycle can get a terrifying deck very quickly. As he did, lining up Blob World with a bunch of other small-medium ships.

Meanwhile I was able to use the high early trade to build up my blues bit by bit, eventually grabbing a Central Office and patching together scrap here and there with the higher-value reds. With a bit of blue regen mixed with some high defense bases, I figured I was able to take a couple of Blob World turns to the face.

Turn twenty-eight, and Matthew's scrapped every starter ship, while I've still got five left. I've got the bigger cards, but he's cycling through his deck at lightspeed. I'm walled up behind 20+ defense points of base with authority 45 to his 21, and here comes the draw.

Every one of my bases goes down, but I'm at 50 now to 15. I'm starting to equalise in scrap, and my deck is just plain heavier when it comes to dealing out damage, and a lot more able to take it. His scrap advantage is dissipating and I'm ready to see what happens when...

"You have been defeated"

50 points of damage in a single turn, drawing out the entire deck. Beautiful to watch, if a little distressing!

Well played.

Matthew defeats greylag!

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5. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

A pretty slow start to the game. Nizlamb got a couple of small outposts and a Blob Destroyer, and started plugging away, whereas I was able to invest in a trade bot, cutter and explorers, for more of an economic build.

Early on I had to make the tricky call between Missile Mech and Blob Carrier (also Battlecruiser and Redoubt, but the other two worked much better with my existing colours). I took Missle Mech, since nizlamb had two outposts.

Looking back, Blob Carrier might have been the play. The board was locked with big stuff, and Blob Carrier would have let me pick it up without having to invest any more in economy, letting my scrap work more effectively as the deck cycled quicker.

At this point Nizlamb made the bold choice to ignore my blob bases and go for the kill. When an opponent does this, it stops your heart and makes you question your game sense. You ask if you've been too greedy, and just let them gun you down. This happened to me a lot when I first picked up the game - let's just say my partner's favourite card is Ram and leave it at that.

But the 4 damage and 1 draw every turn from Blob Hive/Wheel does a lot, especially if you're scrapping as you go. I started to get big outposts: Redoubt, Mech World. All the while, that 1 draw from Hive was tipping me over the trade line into that magic territory of 6 or 7 trade.

After snagging Dreadnaught, I felt good about the game, but then Blob Carrier and Blob Destroyer came down in one turn, wiped out my defensive outposts and took me down to 12 authority. This is exactly what you're scared of when your opponent's going for the throat. Those temporary windows where you're left open and don't have the chance to put it back together yet.

But there's no situation a couple of free draws won't get you out of. Hive/Wheel gave me a Mech World, and Trade Bot / Missle Mech gave me a Dreadnaught, which scrapped for the win. Whew!

In the end, Blob Wheel and Hive stayed up the entire game, from when I first put them up. The total damage and draw from them was like playing a Flagship every turn. I often felt tempted to scrap Wheel for trade, but the combo was too sweet.

Thanks for the game Nizlamb - and good luck in the rest of the league!

greylag defeats nizlamb!

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6. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

All my games have had some tricky choices. This one came on turn 2. Jirmack went first, and out of a trade row of cutter/cutter/freighter, snagged a cutter and a trade bot. Perfect opening!

I had 4 trade. Do I take the freighter and let them get double cutter? No, that must be wrong. I took the cutter, hoping for a missile bot or similar underneath, no luck, took an Explorer.

And then, Star Realms Gods be blesssed, jirmack drew 3 trade and missed the freighter. My 4 trade took it, and then it was a turn 6 Port of Call and, well, we know how that usually goes, 'specially after I picked up a trade bot of my own. I was even able to topdeck a Stealth Needle to stack with the trade bot in order to catch up on scrap.

We fought it out for a while - jirmack had a Mothership along with mid-low blobs, so that helped a lot. At one point it was jirmack's 49 authority to mine at 10 with no outposts up! But I had the bigger economy, plenty of authority regen and defence, a scrap lead and Stealth Needle. I was sure I'd be able to squeak through into the midgame.

Never underestimate Mothership. It's one of those deceptive cards that does more damage than its face value because of the speed at which it cycles the deck, and hence itself, meaning that it comes around more often than you expect. I'm sure jirmack wasn't really playing it every other turn, but that's how it felt.

With a perfect 19 damage hit against my unprotected authority, jirmack pulled out the win before I was able to get my game together, despite a great deck on paper. Maybe I should have taken that Battle Pod away and then used it myself to clear strong Blob cards, but hindsight eh?

Nice timing jirmack, and nice win!

jirmack defeats greylag!

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7. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

what's your favourite thing to see when you start a new game, and your opponent's just taken the first turn? mine is seeing them on 50 authority, and me on 48, before I've even clicked in. actually, I'm lying, that's not my favourite, it just feels wrong. 1 trade turns on a row filled with 2's should be illegal.

poor nethershadow couldn't do anything with the first buy, and I took double cutter. then recycling station. then supply bot.

versus that, you have to do something drastic. nethershadow looked like they were trying for a blob combo first, with trade bot / ram, but this is flexible which is a good thing as few other blobs came up (I took the blob destroyer, to make sure it couldn't get off the ground).

then they switched to scrap + yellow, but just weren't able to secure the 1-2 big ships that strategy needs (missile mech, battlecruiser, dreadnaught, battle blob at a pinch).

meanwhile my deck cycled smoothly into endless authority and trade, and battlecruiser scrapped at the end to cut through a base and draw a viper(!) for the final point of damage, while i finished on 49 (cutter OP

)

good try nethershadow! vs. that start I'm not sure what you could do, but you tried the best possible options given what you had to choose from.

greylag defeats nethershadow!

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8. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

I initially picked up yacht/stealth needle thinking I might be able to go into a high draw base game. But after networktoast got most of the promising early bases (except for Barter World, I snagged that) I wasn't so sure, so I hedged my bets by going into a damage strategy with blob destroyer.

It's my experience that if there's no scrap, the person with the biggest red numbers on her ships tends to win. Each time they come around, it's bang, and the game actually ends faster than you'd think.

I was eventually able to get the game's first scrap, after a fashion, with patrol mech (remember I had needle) and battle station, then followed that up with a more secure scrapper in junkyard. By this point I had a handful of bases so there was also a good chance I'd be able to get a yacht off or two.

At this point I was confident that with scrap, damage and the amazing endgame card of stealth needle (already combo'd nicely with blob destroyer), I had the game, even though networktoast had central office, freighter, trade pod - all kinds of scary trade options, with topdeck.

Then came the topdecked dreadnaught smashing all my bases. Right as I'd have gotten a double yacht (w/needle) too! So dangerous, so avoidable. I did it to myself - I scrapped fleet HQ out of the trade row, then missile bot, back when I had double blob destroyer, and exposed the dreadnaught just waiting for networktoast (who was absolutely ahead in trade) to take it.

Even so, I had all the scrappers. Four, and a half if you count patrol mech, and maybe another half if you count stealth needle. All I had to do was stay alive. I stealth needled the yacht anyway on one base (muttering as I did) and fought to not die until my huge scrap could kick in and yacht me to victory.

Scary moment as I passed up a recycling station (took the choice to not scrap my space station to buy it, as I thought I needed it up to stay alive), giving networktoast BOTH recyclers. That's never good, especially if your one advantage is that you got scrap and they don't.

With careful play around the last hand of the draw, I was able to get in four scraps and a mothership buy before the deck turned over. There's been a lot of writing about how to handle the turnover on the Star Realms facebook fanpage and it really helped me here. I put three of networktoast's big bases in the graveyard as their own deck turned over (even scrapping my Barter World to do it) and set out for what I knew would be my last time through their deck. 30-ish me, 50-ish networktoast. Let's go.

Mothership and yacht went badly - I still didn't get the triggers on either. But the blob destroyers proc'd each other just when toast's bases came up, so that helped.

End of my deck cycle, bottom decked 3 scrappers as the deck turned (ouch), and it was networktoast's 33 to my 18 without outposts. I played out my hand and got it to even scores, 16/15, with 10 points of outpost up. At this point I finally knew I'd pull through - no way for networktoast to kill more than one of my bases, and my yacht was about to happen (at last!)

Played out the next hand, and decided to scrap the last two of my starter cards, even though they were vipers, because the win was in the bag now. Next hand was guaranteed double blob destroyer and stealth needle, and it was a dead turn for networktoast (beautiful trade with shuttle/freighter but it didn't even matter).

Finally my mothership was ready to proc! I'd waited half the game for this. Not that it was relevant at this point. But after such a long game waiting to see the really big ally triggers, I let it happen, and drew out the whole deck of 15 cards (+ two bases already in play) for a cool final 66 in damage.

There was almost no point at which I felt secure in this game, and I absolutely had the worst of the trade row for a while at the start. But damage and scrap did eventually carry me through, with careful deck turnover management - thank you networktoast for a nervewracking game and I hope you could appreciate the final turn even if it was against you!

greylag defeats networktoast!

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9. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

The worst feeling for me in Star Realms is when both of you are running similar styles of deck, but you're just a little behind. There's no feeling of, "well, but my style is better in the late game, or maybe I'll get them before they can go to late game" - you're just plain worse, and it plays out in front of you like a slow-motion tragedy.

Kolok and I were both running a bit of this, a bit of that. Some mid-level blobs for firepower, some bases for defence, low level scrappers, blue for trade with a yacht. But Kolok had two scrappers to my one, a cutter where I didn't, Redoubt instead of Space Station and two Battle Stations I didn't have. The double scrap was probably the big one but any one of those would have slowly tipped them over the edge.

I had to change something. I could have sort-of equalised the scrap (same number of scrappers, but 2 scraps behind) by getting Junkyard, but decided it was time to skew the game rather than keep trailing behind in the same battle plan. I took a Dreadnaught, who by herself can be a game changer. The plan was to become the beatdown, and not let it get into the late game, where scrap begins to amplify its own effectiveness (the process had already started).

Kolok immediately took the junkyard. The roles were set now. The goal when you're the beatdown without much scrap is to keep your deck small, your colours aligned, get all the draw you can and concentrate your good cards wherever possible. How can Space Station ever be better than Royal Redoubt? When you get rid of it. So I scrapped space station and ram and took Command Ship (wish I could have gotten it just by sacrificing one, but on the other hand this achieved all my goals and significantly increasing my deck speed). Also scrapped Blob Wheel for Battle Blob with the same in mind. Battle Blob is a lovely "steal the win" card as you don't buy it for the draw, but for the one-off 12 damage.

Now I was left with a redundant yacht (no stations to draw off) but a fast, lethal deck. I planned to only take cards either huge cards or cards with draw, including scrap-for-draw like Frigate. My deck speed (I think of this as total cards minus total draw, with lower = faster) was 13 to Kolok's 20, and we were both near to 30 authority. That means I should have been able to hit twice as fast with my good stuff.

At only 30 authority without much defence (no outposts, only yacht for authority gain) you can't keep that up for long. But I couldn't afford to anyway, as I was behind on scrap as well. If you're going to have weaknesses in your deck you may as well put them all in the same place.

Unfortunately Kolok seemed to know what was up. Battle Station is such a good card. Rather than leaving it up, they scrapped it and dropped me into the danger zone. I limped through one more turn with low authority as they put up defences with Junkyard and healed with a Cutter, and then even after playing out my Dreadnaught and with Command Ship to play next hand, I knew for sure that I just couldn't do enough to deal with the damage spike. I had 8, they were in the mid twenties!

I kept Dreadnaught rather than scrapping it for 5, as I knew that I didn't need 5 more damage, I needed 15+. A scrapped Dreadnaught didn't give me that - a Hail Mary draw of it as soon as my deck cycled just might, but at this point I was just dotting the i's and crossing the t's (no point taking yourself out of the game - that's your opponent's job!).

Well, sometimes it's worth doing just that. Amazingly Kolok missed the kill with me on about 6!! My hand was Command Ship and nothing else, but I played it and got... Barter World and Dreadnaught! Oh yes. It's happening. I played Dreadnaught... Battle Blob! It was enough. With a final hit of 37, I hammered Kolok into the black to steal the game.

I absolutely wasn't odds-on to win this game. Instead, I set myself up so that it was possible, with some luck, to pull out an unlikely win, rather than lose for sure by playing standard. I was very fortunate to get all my power ships in one draw, but very pleased that I took the decision to compromise my deck in order to have those power ships available with the best chance of drawing them.

Great game Kolok. You were the stronger deck builder in this match and I think 4/5 times if we played through from the same position, you'd take home the win - that's my genuine evaluation of the position. Good luck in your remaining games!

greylag defeats kolok!

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10. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

A Command Ship opening row! That's the stuff. It's clearly going to be a Trade Federation game from the start, as the other buys are Cutter, Federation Shuttle, Trading Post and a rather out of place War World.

I go first with 3 trade and snag Cutter, Shuttle. I maybe should have gone in the other order to take advantage of any potential Trade Pod drops, but what came up instead was a Patrol Mech. Always a shame to give one of these up when there's an 8-cost on the row - I have 4 trade next turn but gamedog has 4 too, and snaps it up.

I take two explorers. Spam trade! Gamedog does the same with their next 4. I'm worried as they're now a favourite to take Command Ship with either Mech/X/X/S/? or Mech/Exp/S/S/S.

I draw 5 on the deck cycle and decide it's worth going for the Trading Post. I wouldn't do it on 4, as there are too many good things I could expose, but this way I figure at least I'll be able to grab any good 2's which come up. Freighter! Disaster. Now gamedog can take the two big trade cards and is almost guaranteed Command Ship. Worse, my next hand has 7 trade so I know I won't be seeing a fluke 8 trade hand any time soon.

Double Disaster! Gamedog takes Command Ship outright. Now their deck is faster (enhancing the value of every card) and they have a card which grants 9 authority swing. I'm definitely the underdog now. I have to get some more swing too, so I use my 7 trade to get Flagship and Trade Bot. Two scraps out of that Trade Bot and with Cutter as well I'll be able to put up a decent show against a Command Ship deck.

Unfortunately this opens up Cutter and Recycling Station. At this point I'm just praying that out of a deck of 1X/5S/2V, gamedog has 3S/2V. I don't see how I can fight against Command Ship and Recyling Station together. Sadly gamedog has the 4 (it was a pretty forelorn prayer) and nabs it. Oh dear.

Under the Recycling Station is Supply Bot, so I decide I'm going to go scrap. Got to match gamedog in deck speed, and actually I've got a lot more authority regen if I can get it going. As long as I can play Flagship as much as they play Command Ship, I'm not dead. And the more I can do to get the combat off my Cutters the better.

So while next with 5 trade I could deny War World (respect the yellow base combo), I go with Supply Bot, Cutter, to concentrate my advantages. Freighter is still sitting there! I really want it, I just want these things more. Cutters are flocking ships, they like to have friends!

At last nothing too good comes up under my buys. So a quick review. On turn 10, Gamedog has Command Ship, Recycling Station and Patrol Mech. I've got Flagship, Trading Post, two Cutters, a Shuttle, and two scrapper bots (Trade, Supply), and we've both got a bit of Explorer going on, but I don't expect them to last through this deck cycle. It's not as bad as I thought, actually.

And then, happy day! Gamedog takes Defence Centre and I can get the Recycling Station. This is gonna kick my scrap into overdrive. I play out Flagship and Friends, snag the Recycler, and hammer gamedog down to 34 vs my 60. Like winter, Command Ship is coming, but I've got my woolies on and I don't even care. I've got scrap, speed, and survivability - gamedog only has two of those things.

What happens next sucks - gamedog's Recycling Station goes up and stays up through the next two turns. With no scrap they have plenty of garbage ships to recycle, and so I'm going to be facing another Command Ship sooner than I'd like. I grit my teeth and bear it, I'm better placed than most decks to weather a few bad turns (I'm still over my starting authority). In the meantime I concentrate on making few, big buys as I want to play my good stuff as often as I can. War World seems like a good take, but damn I wish I hadn't opened up a Stealth Needle underneath it!

Well, whatever, gamedog isn't scrapped so maybe it won't go off much? Hmm.

A couple turns later it's 44 (me) to 50 (gamedog) and it could be going better. I put all my faith in the Machine God (yes, I know I'm blue, let's say it's a Machine Cult infiltration?) and keep playing cards, hoping my scrap advantage will pull things together before Command Ship drives me into the ground.

Gamedog plays Junkyard, Patrol Mech, Stealth Needle (Mech). Triple scrap, before a deck cycle. Ow. Now they're nearly as well scrapped as I am. And the problem is, every time that happens, it increases the odds of it happening again, because the deck gets tighter. Worse, it increases the odds of the dreaded Command Needle and/or Stealth Carrier. One of them and I'm probably done for, the swing is huge.

Well, it was inevitable really. Command Needle's what got me in the end. After it comes, I'm 21 against 46, and the scrap advantage has equalised with us both at 4 starter cards. Now it's an endgame deck with Command Ship / Needle vs. a midgame deck with Cutters, Port of Call and Flagship. I struggle on for a few more turns, but it doesn't work out.

Lovely game, gamedog! Congrats on the victory.

gamedog def. greylag!

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11. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

What a start. Fleet HQ and Machine Base on the row, and not much for trade besides a Federation Shuttle (other cards are War World, Blob Fighter). Here come the explorers!

With 3 Kolok correctly takes the shuttle, probably hoping for a 2-drop behind it (I wouldn't take a Shuttle if I had 2, too much risk of exposing Cutter or Trade Pod), but it's another 7, Central Office. For my money Central Office is the prize (since it helps buy the others) but I'd be perfectly happy with Machine Base, it's no Brain World but it gets the job done.

Two explorers for me with 4, nothing better to do, Kolok gets 3 and takes one, and I take two again. I'm really glad I got a 4-4 here not 5-3, it's so frustrating to miss out on an Explorer in this kind of race (sorry Kolok!). Now I'm 4 trade ships to Kolok's 3 and imo the slight favourite for a big base, but there's not much in it.

Kolok buys War World! I was wondering about this - it's not as if there's much combat around to take it out, so potentially it can sit there doing 3 damage per turn and absorbing Viper pings. I need to be able to destroy it so that it can slow down his trade when he draws it.

Anyway, it opens Embassy Yacht, which with 6 I snatch up, but that uncovers an Imperial Fighter. Darnit! If Kolok gets that, his Fighter becomes a 12-damage ship when it pairs with War World. So I decide to turn it into an opportunity and nab it. With an Explorer it kills War World, it hurts our trade almost equally and I might get a nice buy behind it. Trade Pod (exposes Dreadnaught)! Delicious. I'm really happy with how that turn went.

Sadly I've got 6 sitting in my hand again, so I already know that when my deck turns over for my turn after that, I'll have at most 6 again (unless Trade Pod comes up in the last card). Getting 7 trade with at most 2-trade ships is tough, you've got to get a really clean draw. The row's now 8/7/1/7/7 (that 1 is the Blob Fighter) so at least there shouldn't be a huge disadvantage for whoever hits 7 first, there's plenty of big stuff around.

For whatever reason, Kolok doesn't seem happy with Explorer racing. Maybe he feels behind now I have the Trade Pod (he should do), but he churns the Trade Row by taking Blob Fighter. Under it is Recycling Station, a great buy in this game imo actually for its 1 trade, more than the recycle cards. But under that is Space Station and I snap it up, revealing Dreadnaught. Now that is a delicious card in a game like this! Plus I defeated Kolok with it last time around.

I pray I get it.

For now I figure I'm good, I've got great trade, all I want is to let the game stay slow, and rack up the big buys. What I'm afraid of is 1) War World / Recycling Station going up together and me missing the window to kill them, and 2) Kolok getting Dreadnaught and rushing me down. At this point I'll take any 4-combat ships that come up, but would be especially happy to get something like Patrol Mech which gives me options.

Kolok takes a Battle Station, exposing Recycling Station, which I grab. Great, now we've got one each. I also scrap my explorer - this time through I expect I'll hit 7/8 once or twice and after that I'm going to want to draw the good cards I bought as soon as possible, so I plan to scrap most or all of them as I play them.

Battle Mech comes up, that'll be a shame to give away when it so nicely targets the yellow outposts, but I'll trade Recycling Station for Battle Mech any day, so no complaints here. I have 8 in hand and plan to buy Dreadnaught next turn (Central Office is bad because it gives me no way to kill Machine Base and dies to Dreadnaught, Machine Base is nice but I most want to be able to kill Kolok's stuff and deny him yellow ally abilities).

So I'm very sad when he takes Dreadnaught instead! I buy Battle Mech, then Missle Bot, with a grumble, and this time expose a Stealth Needle. Sigh.

Next turn Kolok's yellow bases go up for big damage. He takes Steath Needle too - who wouldn't? I immediately kill War World by saccing my last Explorer, a shame that leaves Recycling Station in play but what can you do. I've got 4 trade just sitting there so take a 2nd Imperial Fighter (I've got scrap, so maybe I can scrap down into a yellow ally ability frenzy?) and look underneath, find a survey ship and snag that too.

Kolok decides my Space Station is enough of a threat that it's worth killing a Battle Station to take down. He's right too, this stops me killing his Recycling Station for a 2nd turn running. Argh, this is like gamedog all over again. Trade Pod and friends get me Royal Redoubt.

Kolok has 6 cards left in the deck, one of which is Dreadnaught, so wisely chooses not to recycle, meaning that Dreadnaught goes into the newly shuffled deck rather than getting stuck in the discard pile after it shuffles. Cleanly hitting the shuffle like this with the best cards is important and has been discussed on the FB group.

I still don't have any good shooty ships, and now Kolok gets Battlecruiser as well (which also gets shuffled in). Two good Stealth Needle targets is painful, and both of them are amazing finishers with powerful scrap abilities. For example, a Stealth Needled Dreadnaught double scraps for a total of 24 damage. At least his deck isn't thinned yet, I guess...

I finally kill Recycling Station! Darn I hate it when a little 4-health base just stays up and up and up. With nothing better to buy I get an Imperial Frigate.

Now I'm 28 to Kolok 38, that's a big gap. My scrap hasn't really happened yet (that's for the next time through) and I'm hoping I can stabilise and keep a base up for a turn or two to give me some respite.

War World + Dreadnaught(scrap) + Battlecruiser. Darnit! The way to deal with War World is to kill it before it allies with other cards, and you can't do that if they all come down at once. I'm left at 3 authority and I know it's over.

In a prolonged death worthy of (space) opera, I put up a 4-health outpost, lose it (missing my yacht), go to 4 authority, put up another one, lose it, stay at 4, don't manage to pull another outpost by saccing Frigate, survive another turn at 4 (in a dead turn, Kolok has to Stealth Needle a Federation Shuttle, hehe), put up Royal Redoubt, survive AGAIN at 4 as this time Kolok sacrifices Barter World to destoy my Redoubt, and then finally die to Battlecruiser + War World. (Kolok by this point is all the way down to 11!)

It all ended up closer than it had any right to be after that devastating triple yellow turn, but the win's rightfully Kolok's. gg Kolok, I wouldn't have taken War World in that position at the start but it really worked out for you. Maybe it's a better early buy in that kind of trade row than I thought. Maybe a little premature to sacrifice Dreadnaught when you did but I'd have done the same in your position, and it was a funny coda to the game when I lived all those turns but the end was never in doubt.

kolok defeats greylag!

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12. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

I really want to win this one to have a chance of staying in the playoff [Edit: though since I first wrote this, it looks like Kolok's gone 2-0 - congrats Kolok!]. Plus I lost to katadare before so I want to make a good showing this time.

Katadare goes first and takes a missile bot. Out of the scrappers this is my least favourite turn 1 buy, but it's a scrapper! I'd have taken it over Explorer too.

I get 4 and take Patrol Mech. I love this ship so much as an early buy, it does a lot for you, and I can't let Katadare have it with missile bot. I'll be looking for more reds to pair it with so I can get my own scrap.

Katadare takes Trade Pod, Explorer - really nice, now we've both got 3 trade ships.

I could get either Blob Wheel or Trading Post but go with Blob Wheel - it's much harder for his Missile Bot to kill, it brings your blob cards to life (so I can pick up Fighters without feeling bad), and most importantly you can get rid of it from your deck for something better, whereas Trading Post just sits there and wastes a slot in your deck later on.

Katadare gets Trading Post - I'll let you have that one Katadare! I bring trade with Patrol Mech and get the first big buy (and the only one on the row apart from Blob World), Flagship. Who was it that said "Star Realms is won by the player who buys the most cost 6 ships"? And anyway, Katadare has more scrap than me so I want a shorter game than they do right now. That means damage!

The next turn I've got a tough choice. My Wheel's up, and I could sacrifice it for a Missile Mech or keep it up and buy Missile Bot. I can't take both. Katadare already has a missile bot, one base and a yacht. If I take missile bot, maybe I'll be able to get mech next turn by saccing the wheel then instead of now? But Katadare's deck's cycled and I don't remember when I last saw Trade Pod, but I think it might be in the cards drawn before the cycle (hazards of leaving a game overnight).

What would you do?

It's gonna be won by the most 6 cost ships, right? And Katadare doesn't have any serious offensive firepower yet. I sac the wheel and take the mech. Katadare will get double scrap, which I hate, but the only good thing they have so far to scrap into is a small deck yacht strategy and I have a lovely counter card.

My buy reveals the third missile bot. Gah. If Katadare can take both of these, that's 3 missile bots. That's scary. I'm going to have to end this very quickly. Fortunately, Katadare is feeling generous and instead takes Missile Bot, Battle Station! I feel like this was an error - 3 missile bots compound each other very quickly. But I can understand the need for defence, along with another target for Yacht. Perhaps it was right, perhaps not, but it was a feelgood moment for me.

I instantly seize the last Missile Bot - it makes every card in my deck better. This does mean giving double Yacht (there was a Yacht under the Battle Station) to Katadare but I'm ok with that. Finally I don't have any trade cards apart from Patrol Mech, and I don't want to completely give up the trade row to a player with Trade Pod and Battle Pod, so I also pick up an explorer with my spare trade.

Next turn I'm really happy. Near the end of my deck, I get Patrol Mech and Missile Mech together for an extra draw and draw my Flagship, meaning all 3 big cards will shuffle into my next deck (otherwise Flagship would have been buried). This was a 1/3 chance, so could easily have gone the other way.

Patrol Mech gets to scrap, and with 6 trade, I pick up my 3rd cost-6 card, Battle Blob. I'm perfectly set to attack Katadare's double Yacht deck. I hit end turn and all 3 six cost ships appear in my new hand. Oops, sorry Katadare... (Probably none of the allies will go off but who cares - it's 19 damage!!)

Katadare is buying bases, which is the right tactic, but the problem is that the tactic is already countered, Missile Mech and Battle Blob tear through bases like paper, and even my other cards are no slouch.

Now Katadare makes a crucial mistake by playing, in order, Trading Post, Embassy Yacht, Blob Wheel. Because ships' primary abilities only trigger as the ship is played, this means the yacht misses its draw. Katadare I bet you were cursing here [Edit: looks like!] - in some ways it's legitimately unintuitive since all the other conditional draws are ally powers and activate at any time. Hard luck, that must have hurt - especially since it turns out to be the only time this game that either Yacht would have had a chance to go off.

They get Dreadnaught by scrapping Blob Wheel but it's too late imo, and anyway, less bases just means the primary synergy in Katadare's deck becomes less effective.

I get my Patrol Mech together with another cult buddy (Missile Bot) and double scrap. I take trade (even though Katadare's at 24) because I can use it to buy Battle Mech, which goes perfectly with my build. That's 5 damage I don't get now, but 4 damage with draws and extra ally ability triggers I'm sure to get later, and I still get the base clear with 4 off Missile Bot.

Deck turnover time. This is cleanup now. I stop buying and play through my cards, scrapping down everything nonessential (Explorer was a mistake and a wasted buy, Frigate is played and immediately scrapped for draw, I'm glad to see that card once but I just want to pull my big cards closer so dump it).

With Katadare on 16 I drop the triple mech combo: Patrol, Battle, Missile. Double draw gets me Battle Blob, and that's the game. Turns out whoever coined that adage was right: whoever gets the most 6 cost ships, does win the game!

GG Katadare.

greylag defeats katadare!

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13. Board Game: A Castle for All Seasons [Average Rating:6.73 Overall Rank:1591]

(greylag)

That's the end of Season 10. I made it into the Iron Tier championship but was knocked out first round by the eventual champion (and Gencon high ranker), Lirela. I also managed to get a promotion (I'm not exactly clear how, the playoffs somewhat lost me, but I'm not complaining!), meaning that in Season 11 I'd compete in Bronze.

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14. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

In the crucial early maneuvering, ErnieB went first and snagged one of two Cutters. Of course I took the 2nd, because double cutter is a nightmare. Then I had to choose between the Trade Twins - Bot or Pod? I was planning to get Pod, but my cutter buy opened up a Supply Bot, so I switched to take Trade Bot. I don't love the card, but I like giving my opponent double scrap even less. And I'm odds on that next turn Ernie will only be able to get one of Supply Bot / Trade Pod. That opened Recycling Station - I'll happily take whichever of that and Supply Bot is available!

Underneath it was another Supply Bot, which Ernie snags. Normally I'd feel bad about this but in this case, I'm fine because Recycling Station + 1 scrap is practically as fast as 2 scrap without it, and anyway, if Ernie makes too many more buys that don't come with firepower attached, they won't be able to get down my Recycling Station when it comes up, and that means lots more deck speed for me. In that spirit I also take an Imperial Frigate and Space Station. Now I have two outposts, and Ernie still has no way to kill them without hitting an ally ability.

Now Ernie gets a Missile Bot. 3rd scrapper is the charm, even without Recycling Station they'll be scrapping super fast now. I wish a couple of my buys hadn't opened up scrappers like this but all you can do is play the best game you can and avoid giving opportunities except when you have to - I'm happy with my play so far. That's the end of the opening for me - both our deck types are set, I'm trying to go through the deck fast, Ernie is trying to scrap down.

Later on that Space Station really pays off, and I'm able to sac it for Command Ship. This plays right into my gameplan. At the same time, Ernie has 3 scrappers by now, and later gets a 4th (did you ever get a 5th? it looked like it at one point...). But because of my deck speed, my more limited scrap (think I was up to 3 around this point) is actually managing to keep up, even though I bottom-decked double scrap once, and a couple more times had to forego scrapping due to having them right after the shuffle without anything to eat.

Ernie is going major Blob now - great choice if you're well scrapped. It's Battle Blob / Mothership / Dreadnaught (argh!) vs. my Command Ship with heavy station/yacht support and a fleet of small ships (2 x Corvette, 2 x Survey Ship, to trigger my new War World). My deck speed is still through the roof but I'm very conscious that if Ernie ever draws Battle Blob and Dreadnaught together, I die if I'm within 24 points of lethal. And they're VERY well scrapped now - 1 starter card to my 3.

I finally close out the game with the key combo of Frigate / Survey (scrap) / Survey (scrap). Discard x 3 is almost always the prelude to lethal, and while Ernie puts up a good show with Battle Blob / Blob Fighter / Barter World (auth, scrap), I get my yacht and bring it together with a War World ally activation for final damage.

Amazing game! Like I said above I kept opening the app expecting to see that it was over. It was only in the last two turns I thought I probably had it, and even then I couldn't quite believe it. If all the games in this division are going to be this tough I'm gonna have a tricky (and fun!) time here. Thanks Ernie!

greylag def. ErnieB!

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15. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

Brain World race! Brain World race! I hate trade races, did I ever mention this? I don't know how to play them. But on this one, with an opening row of Yacht, Ram, Trading Post, Fleet HQ and Brain World, the definite prize was Ram (scrap for trade). punkin opened with 2 = Explorer, so I yummed up the Ram w/3 trade and to be honest already felt like I'd won. Every time my partner gets Ram off a starting row like this she destroys me with its damage, its trade or usually both. It just does everything.

It's replaced with Trade Bot which I think is underrated in these kinda games. My usual nemesis has started taking Trade Bot in trade rushes and using it to scrap vipers, to kinda smooth out the trade curve. Effective gain to trade is a bit like getting an Explorer, except that the trade is less "spiky" - you'll never get 2 a turn from it but you'll often avoid getting a -1. Anyway, punkin buys the Bot & a fresh Cutter (Cutter is replaced with Battle Blob, out of reach for now).

I could take Trading Post or Yacht, followed by a good 2 if there's one underneath. I figure as punkin can't easily hit 4 this shuffle, Trading Post isn't a bad bet, as it will sit around and while it's unlikely to give me the trade for Brain World (I'd need TP up, new hand, Ram + 4 more) it might well turn up 6 for the Battle Blob. No 2-drop under (it's a Machine Base) so I nab an Explorer.

My new hand after the shuffle is Scout x 2, Explorer, Ram. Turn 6 (my 3rd turn) Brain World - sorry punkin! punkin responds by getting the Battle Blob. Well, can't have everything. I buy some basics in the form of Battle Pod, Cutter. I'll eventually need some proper firepower but for now as long as I have authority regen to get me into the middle game and enough to take down a station or two (like Recyler if punkin finds one), I'm happy. I also take Space Station - protects me, helps avoid getting tangled up in facing War World / Space Station type messes, and will scrap out of my deck for a big ship if one comes by. Besides, punkin has Yacht now so I want to keep the good stations away from her.

Sadly I bottom deck Brain World - there again, to bottom deck a station you only have to draw it in your last 9 cards (assuming no draw), and to bottom deck Brain World with its built-in draw 2, it just needs to be in the last 11. With only 15 cards in my deck this time through it was always more likely than not that the turn after I play Brain World, my deck will have cycled so the destroyed station will go into a fresh discard (and not get shuffled right back in). This is one of the sad things about stations (and why the Ark is such a monster I suppose, not that I have that expansion).

Brain World goes up, goes down to Battle Blob right away, but fair enough, that's all I expect out of it vs. a strong player, more is just a bonus. I'm also able to scrap Space Station into Dreadnaught and now I've got the big ship I was wanting. As a bonus, my attack just comes together to take down punkin's double Battle Stations, and I also pick up a Junkyard along the way - more for its defence than its ability to scrap cards, but if it stays up I'll be happy as Brain World alone can't scrap me down for a while. I decide to remove Royal Redoubt from the row with my Battle Pod and am rewarded with a dead row for punkin's turn - double survey ship, Fleet HQ and Supply Bot.

By turn 21, I had 14 cards in my deck and 5 draw (counting 2 from Brain World), which makes a deck speed of 14 - 5 = 9 (that's how I count it anyway). That's ridiculous. punkin had 19 and either 0 or 2 draw (if yacht), so let's say deck speed of 18 to be generous. punkin had 4-5 scrappers in that, but I had 3, and one of them Brain World, so I was happy that I could keep pace. Now I just had to play Dreadnaught more often than punkin played Battle Blob, which should be a sure thing based on those deck speeds, and I'd win. Plan!

Next turn punkin missed a Brain World kill with my Junkyard up as well. That's 3 extra scrap I got - it must have hurt! My deck plummets down to 9 cards, about 50/50 draw and nondraw, so I expect to start drawing out the lot, and pick up an Explorer in case I get a shot at a second good ship or outpost. I'm going to be playing Cutter and Dreadnaught most turns now, behind solid red outposts. You really just have to be able to kill Brain World the second it comes up, if you can't, it's almost instantly over (I still remember that campaign mission, ugh!).

It ends when I pick up Mech World, just for extra defence and consistency, and replay Brain World immediately after it's destroyed because my deck's just that small now. I even get to do the cute thing where you pick up tiny ships off the row just to feed them into Brain World, om nom nom. It feels very thematic, I can imagine Machine Cultists effectively going out and picking up ships at galactic garage sales to feed their God-Planet.

In the end I think there just weren't enough power cards available for punkin to reliably bring down my utility bases. I give some credit to me there, I managed the trade row carefully, and Battle Pod is just lovely for making buys safely without giving away key cards underneath them. But it was also unfortunate, I did make several uncovered buys as you have to in this game, but nothing major came up after Battle Blob so I was free to run away with the match. And of course opening Ram did its work.

Good game punkin! Your deck was fun to look at at the end, sooooooo much red... if I hadn't had Brain World, I'd have been toast!

greylag defeats punkin!

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16. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

In the initial turns, Punisher takes Cutter with 2 (passing up Missle Bot). With 4 I take the revealed Supply Bot, my favourite starter (the alternative was Missle Bot / Explorer but I'm happy with this), and then with 4, Punisher takes the Missile Bot and 2 mixed Fighters (Imperial, Blob).

I don't like to take those 1s this early. Y'see a while back I never used to take Imperial Fighters, whatever phase I was in. Then I felt like I was undervaluing them, but instead of recognising the situations they were good in, I just upped my overall valuation, and started to take them indiscriminately. This was also the time I tumbled from rank 9 to 6 on the app. Coincidence? I don't think so. It took me a while to recover from that tailspin.

Buying non-trade 1s early on (without a situational reason) kills your trade and slows your deck. I haven't done the maths on the trade but I'd guess that adding 2 non-combat 1s to a deck approximately halves your chances of hitting any given 6+ trade value. And the hidden cost of buying a 1 is that speed-wise it effectively "unscraps" a card, in that it does the opposite of what scrapping a card does for your deck speed.

With 4 trade myself for my 2nd turn the choices are double Explorer, Freighter, Frigate and trading Post. I go freighter, figuring both that it puts me in the running for any 8s which show up, and may save me from having to buy much more trade. At the same time it's a worry as Punisher has both authority regen and small damage and I have neither, but I figure I can focus on damage the next time through my deck without being in much danger.

Freighter's replaced by Brain World which feels great when you're the one with the 4 trade card! Sadly Freighter immediately comes up with 2 vipers, but that's fine, I pick up a newly revealed Recycling Station and an Explorer - wanna stack that deck to get Brain World (though I'm going to keep a close eye on how many hitty ships Punisher takes, because it's no use being fully scrapped if I'm also dead).

Punisher gets a Battle Mech, always a lovely buy and their first big(ger) ship, and a warning light goes on for me. With 6 trade I could either take Redoubt or Supply Bot / Frigate (or another good 3 drop under it). I decide to take Redoubt, as it helps deal with Punisher's aggression and is a card which I have no way to deal with should Punisher get it, plus where all else is equal I like to concentrate my purchases into fewer, larger buys, to keep my deck speed up.

So I kick myself when my deck immediately shuffles and what do I get but Freighter, 3 scouts and the damn Redoubt. It's one of only two cards in my deck with no trade (the other's a Viper, I scrapped one already) and is one of the only ways my Freighter could fail to pick up Brain World. Now I want to get through my deck as quickly as I can for a 3rd attempt at Brain World next time Freighter comes around, and I have to keep on avoiding the nice combat cards (unless they have draw) to stop this happening again! Bah.

Luckily for me Punisher only gets 2 trade and misses the Supply Bot. I pick the Frigate / Supply Bot I should probably have gotten last time around, and after they're replaced, the Trade Row reads Supply Bot (yes, the 3rd one appeared) / War World / Survey Ship / Battle Station / Brain World. That's nice for me, the only firepower is War World and Punisher's light on yellows - just the one Imperial Fighter. I want to keep the row not too shooty as I'm playing a slow game.

On my next turn there's a Battle Blob to buy. Gotta have it! I could take exactly 6 trade if I didn't recycle. Or I could pitch 2 scouts (losing 3 potential trade, inc. 1 off the recycling station) and bet on a 1/3* chance of drawing back up to 6. Punisher can't get it next turn, but I've tried this kind of thing before, getting clever with knowing the opponent will miss a buy, and I always end up kicking myself if I miss my next buy slot too (or even if I get 8 and could instead take Brain World!). I play solidly and skip the recycle to take Battle Blob.

This is a case of making the "proper move", described by Toshiro Kageyama in "Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go" as "solid and firm [with] no way it could turn sour later". Kageyama goes on to note that, "Middle and higher-level amateurs, who as they become stronger try to get more out of their moves... find it increasingly difficult to make the proper move. They should recall the proper moves they made in their earlier days, look at them afresh, and appreciate their true value." And go figure, what do I draw next turn but 4 trade. Whew! Thank you Kageyama.

(edit: see this Megahaulin' episode for more about fundamentals)

On Turn 14, I have Recycling Station / Redoubt / Frigate in yellow, Battle Blob, Freighter, and 2 Supply Bots, having scrapped twice. Punisher has Trading Post / Cutter / Shuttle in blue, Battle Mech, Missile & Supply bots, Blob Fighter, Imperial Fighter and Survey Ship, having scrapped twice as well. Authority's now close at 40ish each. Imo I'm clearly better, just need to maintain it. And poor Punisher has had a dreadful couple of turns, unable to buy anything significant or even kill my Recycling Station, let alone my Redoubt.

I play out my hand, take another Recycling Station (heh) and draw my new hand. I didn't get Freighter yet - it's bottom decked with one of the Supply Bots - but when I do get it, that's going to be 6 trade out of 2 cards, it'll be very difficult for me to miss out on Brain World. I might even forego BW at this stage to take the Dreadnaught which has just come up, but I'll see how I feel when I get there. I take War World - my yellow bases are now terrifying.

Ok, key turn. I've got 8 now, with Freighter / Supply Bot / 2 Scouts / Battle Blob. But I'm discarding 1 from an Imperial Fighter. I could drop the Battle Blob and take Brain World. But you know what, we're nearly equal on scrap, and I have two recycling stations and the yellow bases from hell. I'm gonna do it. I drop a scout and take Dreadnaught - this also means I get to scrap, or I'd otherwise have no starters in my discard. I'm down one scrapper but equal in scrapped cards so far, and my combat and draw is far, far better.

I actually end up snagging Brain World the next turn anyway, because there's nothing better to buy - I know this sounds silly but I only have 4 starters left, so it's not as vital as it was. But I really wanna scrap out the Supply Bots too, so it's going to still get some value, and it's the only outpost on the row anyway.

Punisher gives me a scare next turn by playing Battle + Missile Mech and hammering me down from the 30s to 19. But I look at their deck and see the most damage they can do next turn is 9, and their highest effective authority (inc. outposts) will be 18. My minimum damage next turn is 15, so I scrap my Battle Blob this turn to ensure I have lethal next time around, even if I don't draw anything else. Big relief! I knew my deck was together enough to win this, but it came down closer to the wire than I expected.

greylag defeats Punisher!

(* Probability footnote: It's good to be able to calculate this stuff off the cuff in SR. If things have to happen in combination, multiply the chances, if you could get a result in several ways, add the chance of each way. In this case I had a pool of 4 cards to pull from, 2 scouts, explorer and 1 viper. I can't get 3 trade if one of my 2 cards is the viper, so first calculate chance of not getting viper. First draw not viper is 3 cards out of 4, or 3/4. Next draw not viper is 2/3. Multiply those to get 6/12 or 1/2, so same chance of getting it or not. Then, out of the non-viper cards I could have there are 3 arrangements: Explorer with Scout A, Explorer with Scout B, or both Scouts. I like 2/3 of those. Combine those two probabilities and you get 1/2 * 2/3 = 1/3.

[+] Dice rolls

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17. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

CatPhish and I go into our game and the opening row is Cutter / Port of Call / Frigate / War World / Blob World. I'm first with 3. Immediately two kinds of decks jump out at me. There's Cutter, giving a leg up to Port of Call, and then buying big cards as they hit the row. And then there's the yellow War World combo for a quick aggro victory.

Of course I take Cutter, and when Trade Bot comes up behind it, I snag that too. Trade Bot's replaced with Battle Pod and that's the end of my turn, leaving CatPhish with a tradeless row (ok, Port of Call, but that's out of reach). Nice! I just have to respect the aggro if CatPhish picks it. Which they do, drawing 5 and taking War World (reveals Trade Pod).

They'll have 3 next turn, I've got 3 this turn, Imperial Frigate is sitting on the row and needs taking away, and anyway, I need something that kills War World, so I buy it, revealing Survey Ship. I could have ignored it and taken Trade Pod, making me a sure bet for Port of Call. But those two yellows together do 13 damage - that's more than 1/4 my authority. I feel like, I've got a gentle advantage already, there's no need to try and skew the game - that's the job of the disadvantaged player.

My Frigate comes down too soon, so I know I'll face one or two turns staring down a (fortunately unallied) War World. I decide I'd like that extra 4 combat and take Battle Pod, hoping for another good 2 behind it, but I'm happy enough taking an Explorer instead. I like Battle Pod when the other person has yellows, it easily kills most of the bases and lets you deny the yellow drops which they want and you don't.

Couple of turns along the way and I've got 7 trade. I could take any of Redoubt / Port of Call / Central Office / Missile Mech. It's definitely tempting to be the first one to get a big ship, I've commented before in reviews how that wins games. But I'm worried about getting priced out of an increasingly expensive row, everything is cost 6+. Port of Call's a beaut but I get Central Office, because unlike Port of Call, Central Office can deliver not only trade but immediate firepower turn after turn by hauling new ships. I decide to keep my Explorers for now.

Later I get Missile Mech anyway, yum! I had to pass up Battle Mech to get it, so I know that somewhere Mazer Rackham is crying, but I figure I want something in my pocket that will kill Port of Call or Redoubt and I'm also taking away something that will kill my Central Office. With bases in play Missile Mech basically reads "10-12 damage, allied draw", like a bigger Battle Blob, and I always take Battle Blob. Plus Battle Mech has betrayed me often lately, I don't know why, but I always seem to lose when I get it. Maybe I expect it to win on its own, which is too much to ask of a cost-5 card.

Next turn I draw the last 5 cards in my deck, Frigate, Battle Pod and 3 scouts, and decide to pull the shuffle trick. That's when you scrap Frigate just to turn over your deck, ensuring you'll bury 3-4 starters for the next time through. I scrap Redoubt off the row and take Space Station, I'd like this game to go on a little longer if I can and I want to stack my deck even further to make sure I get first shot at any huge turnaround cards.

The shuffle trick gives me a wonderfully concentrated next hand. Playing CO, I haul and draw a Missile Bot for instant scrap (there's pretty much never a reason not to do this if there's no better ships around), and still have enough draw, which becomes trade, to pick up Port of Call. Now I'm beautifully set up for the long game, and I don't think CatPhish's deck has what it takes to hammer me down.

I continue taking the 6 combat ships where I can, even if there are slightly better buys for me - for example with 7 I buy Yacht/Blob Destroyer rather than Yacht/Barter World, just because I want to keep it difficult for CatPhish to deal with my bases, and in general, to deny the combat which would help them end the game quickly.

From now on I just grind CatPhish down. I've got good outposts, ships, scrap and authority gain. There's a shaky moment when Brain World hits the row but, not drawing the trade to take it right away, I remove it with Battle Pod. No need to risk CatPhish getting it with Blob trade cards, it's not vital to me whereas it might get them back into the game.

Near the end CatPhish goes heavily in for small scrappers and discard. Probably the right move - I didn't see any other potentially winning strategies. It might have had a chance, too, with a War World around. Fortunately for me I'm able to end the game the very same turn, because all the churn on the trade row from those small purchases has turned up a high cost ship, Battle Blob, which my Central Office hauls to immediately play and ally with Blob Destroyer to finish the game.

I credit this win to respecting War World and never letting it get off the ground (I don't think it ever even allied), not bottom decking too many of my scrappers, good trade row and shuffle control and a favourable opening row, which I took full advantage of. The problem with aggro rush that starts with War World is it doesn't really leave anywhere to go if it fails - there again, after your opponent starts with Cutter / Trade Bot and there's no trade ships available on the row, is there anywhere to go anyway? But after what Kolok did to me with this base last season it felt good to overcome it.

greylag def. Catphish!

[+] Dice rolls

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18. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

The top 3 rated players in the BGG league are FlyingArrow, three times Platinum champion of the league, InvAsian and JivetimeJ. Of those, the latter two are in the same group as me, Bronze/Cutter, for season 11. The rating system used does create a little bit of inaccuracy while a strong player who joined at the bottom works their way up, but I still expect a tough fight. This one's vs. JivetimeJ, and here's a spoiler: I'm not disappointed.

JivetimeJ goes first and with 3 trade, passes up a Cutter to take Blob Fighter / Trade Pod in that order. With 4 to spend, I'm immediately set on the back foot. Those buys revealed a Battle Pod and Ram, and allied, that means trouble. Not necessarily from those particular cards, but from how a deck rich in green utility cards easily allies with the bigger Blobs. I don't think I'd have made JivetimeJ's first buy (Fighter), but with these new blobs around, it's looking like a good pick.

I can take one of them away, but not both. Now my regular playing partner has a particular strategy around Ram. That strategy is as follows: always buy Ram. But I feel like I have to take the Cutter to at least have some recurring trade and authority gain, so I go Cutter / Battle Pod. I hate to pass up the Ram but better to have 2 good ships than 1, and at least 3 Blobs isn't quite critical mass.

Behind Cutter is a Mothership, and behind Battle Pod, a Blob Destroyer. Oh great. I'm so going to get Blob rushed. JivetimeJ comes up with 3 and buys the Ram. It would probably have been the right buy with 4, as well, since now they have 2 good chances at Mothership and I have none.

I come up with 4 and take the Blob Destroyer, figuring that the best way to fight a Blob rush is to counterrush it. I can't come up with as much damage because I don't have a Trade Pod, but I can at least blunt it a little. Behind the Blob Destroyer is... Blob Carrier. Of course it is. We have sailed deep into the quadrant of space controlled by Blobs, and JivetimeJ is the one with the map.

JivetimeJ immediately comes around with 7 trade and takes Mothership. At this point I've written off the game. Early Mothership in a hand with 5 Blobs cycles the deck terrifyingly fast - see a match report from last season where Mothership caught me out. With 4, I can't do any better than an Embassy Yacht - I know I'm going to buy outposts to try to survive, and a Yacht gives me a chance to make a deck archetype out of that. Shortly afterwards I take Battle Station to start building toward it.

It's early but I take stock of the decks, because rushes are pretty volatile. JivetimeJ's deck can do around 14-16 face damage per cycle depending on allies. I can do 10, with 7 authority regeneration, and 5 outpost health. Ok, I'm not overrun yet. JivetimeJ's deck is faster than mine, though (with 3 potential draw), so those numbers are a bit misleading.

JivetimeJ buys a Federation Shuttle and a Trade Bot (first scrapper), then, exposing a Supply Bot, scraps their Ram to take the Supply Bot as well. They were obviously hoping to monopolise scrap, but behind the Supply Bot was another Supply Bot, which I snap up. It's a good exchange for me, as 1 scrapper vs. 2 isn't the end of the world and the Ram was a huge threat which is now off the table.

Behind the Supply Bot I buy is... which big blobs haven't we seen yet? Hello there Battle Blob, glad you could make it. JivetimeJ pulls 7 and immediately takes it, revealing a Recycling Station. But I only have 3 trade and can only take a Corvette, so JivetimeJ gets the Recycler too.

I do get a Mech World, which is lovely in my somewhat rainbow (blue, green, splash of yellow) deck, and especially when I'm trying to survive aggro. But I wish I hadn't bought it when behind it is another Recycling Station, which JivetimeJ also takes! Honestly this game I have been so cursed with the cards I reveal.

Somehow, though, I seem to be pulling ahead in authority. It's probably the effect of my Cutter and Battle Station. I scrap Dreadnaught and Battlecruiser from the trade row, trying to mitigate my big trade disadvantage, and take a Trading Post. It's not a great station but JivetimeJ has a few small blues by now and I don't want to see them getting ally abilities.

I'm on 33 authority, JivetimeJ is on 15, but I fully expect to see them rocket away from me any time. They have huge ships, the scrap advantage and two Recycling Stations. And this turn they take a Port of Call too. Amazing card to pull out ahead, and amazing finisher too. I've lost and won two paper games today from that card alone.

I do manage to snag another Cutter, and a Space Station, though. I have two Cutters now, and enough other blues that I am getting off their ally abilities. Amazingly, I pull even further ahead in authority. I'm on 30, with JivetimeJ on 9. My next hand is going to be all starter cards. Is this the closest I'll come to victory?

Somehow, JivetimeJ has an empty turn too! Their deck has just turned around, and mine is about to. Wisely - this is the mark of a smart player - JivetimeJ doesn't buy anything, even though they could do. This time through their deck, it's going to all come together, whereas mine is nothing-y. The worst thing they could do is expose a key card which I could buy now, turn over, and immediately draw.

I buy a Survey Ship - may as well, Survey Ship is never bad if you're not afraid of what's under it (and I'm not any more, this game will be over before JivetimeJ can use what's beneath), and go figure, it's a Blob Destroyer. If JivetimeJ had revealed this for me they'd have given me a big potential route for victory.

I'm still on 30, sheltering behind my Mech World. JivetimeJ, after weathering a devastating blow from my single Viper, is on 8! I close Star Realms and go away to do some housework, fully expecting to see the authority scores reversed next time I look.

Some time later, I come back to the screen. The game's red, and the scores are me on 10, JivetimeJ on 12. They've scrapped their Port of Call to kill Mech World and pull a card for lethal, but it didn't quite come through. With two Recycling Stations up, though, it looks like they should be able to weather it.

My hand is Cutter, Trading Post, Blob Destroyer, Corvette and Viper. Corvette draws Battle Station - that's 5 damage. Cutter for 4, Trading Post scrap for 3, Blob Destroyer for 6, Corvette for 1, Viper for 1 and Battle Station for 5 makes... I can't quite believe it, but it makes exactly 12. I scrap everything down for exact lethal damage, without that Viper, I wouldn't have had it.

I'm not sure this report quite conveys how much I expected to lose this game. I know I had a chance from the start, but I did think I was the underdog. Throughout the game I had a systematic disadvantage in every aspect except for authority regeneration and maybe outpost defence, but that's never made up for it against Battle Blobs and Motherships before. Yet somehow I whittled them down while staying alive for one of the tightest wins I've ever gotten.

greylag def. JivetimeJ!

[+] Dice rolls

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19. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

My last game started with my opponent going Trade Pod, Blob Fighter on a row which quickly filled with Blobs, allowing them to hoover up the dangerous 6/7-drops despite my best efforts. I was only saved by buying outposts and Cutters and them bottom-decking a key ship a couple of times.

If you'd asked me after that game, "How'd you like to try the same thing again but we'll give the Cutters to your opponent this time?" I would of course have said no. But the Trade Row doesn't ask, it takes...

Futurewolf opens up with Trade Pod, Blob Fighter, leaving me to pick from a row consisting of Fleet HQ / Patrol Mech / Trading Post / Space Station / Trade Bot.

With 3, I'll take the Trade Bot every time in that kind of position. Sadly only an Imperial Fighter underneath so I grabbed an Explorer. At least it's not Blob-infested this time like my last game.

Futurewolf draws 3 and gets the Trading Post, and opens up a Blob Destroyer, which I feel like have to take with my own 4, as much as I'd like to get more trade. Behind it is a Battle Blob. Uh-oh, that's not going to me with the trade I've got right now.

Futurewolf's deck flubs, pulling 3, and they can't get anything useful except an Explorer. I snap up the Space Station - maybe I should have gone Patrol Mech on reflection, as I wasn't actually in as much danger as I imagined myself.

Behind it's a Cutter and Futurewolf immediately snags it. I can't remember if they had 4 or 5 trade, but they didn't have 6 - that means Trade Pod had bottom-decked itself, which is a shame when there are so many juicy buys. Behind it is Recycling Station - ok, I'll trade missing a Cutter for that, and take it.

Behind it is Blob Destroyer. I know I have 3 trade next turn, so sadly I expect that Futurewolf is going to get Battle Blob this time (with the bottom-decked Trade Pod) and will still be able to take Destroyer next. It plays out exactly that way. With my 3, I perhaps unwisely take Imperial Fighter. My reasoning is I have two yellow bases and want to get the Mech World that's sitting out on the row, but this ship really slows me down later on.

With Recycling Station, Trade Bot, 2 Scouts and an Explorer in hand I decide not to Recycle. There's Mech World and Blob Fighter on the row and I don't want to give either of them up. Sadly the Mech World buy exposes a 2nd Cutter which goes to Futurewolf - should I have bought in reverse order here? I don't think so - I can't imagine much I wanted more than the MW at the time.

On turn 13 we're at equal authority (36/35). Futurewolf has 4 blobs: fighter, trade pod, destroyer, battle, along with 2 x cutter, shuttle and trading post, no scrap. I have recycler (up and survives this turn), space station, mech world, blob destroyer + fighter, imperial fighter, mech world, trade bot, and I've scrapped twice.

The Trade Row continues to compensate me for Futurewolf's Cutter buys by letting out a second Recycling Station behind this Cutter as well. Yoink. I expose a Yacht - I'm really happy to see this, as it's good for me, not so amazing for Futurewolf. I like it when the row contains cards like that, which I can pick at my leisure without feeling like I have to snatch up - though I actually end up taking it next turn because there's nothing better.

Futurewolf gets their 1st Scrapper with Supply Bot, but scrap never plays much of a function in their deck this game. The Blob Fighter behind it is more important and they take that too. Fighters are the grease that makes Blob decks tick and I wince every time a Blob-heavy player gets another one - all 3 are gone now, 2 to my opponent and 1 to me.

I invest in a Patrol Mech and Battle Station to harden my defences and let me scrap further, while Futurewolf takes a couple of Imperial Frigates for later cantrip purposes (scrap to draw), because there's nothing better out. I also upgrade my Space Station to War World by scrapping it with 1 trade in hand - this will be lovely with my 2 Recyclers and the Mech World.

In a key turn for Futurewolf, both their Cutters come down together with a Federation Shuttle, rocketing them up in authority. I hit back by double-x2-recycling and playing Yacht, going through 11 cards, but even at the end of this, Futurewolf is only 19 to my 25, and I won't have another good turn for a while.

At the end of my turn I make a crucial mistake. I have Mech World and Battle Station up. If I'd stopped to do the maths, I could have seen that Futurewolf has no way to kill me in a single hand and has a chance of missing the kill by 5 points or more even after playing out 2 hands. Whereas I had several possible next hands that killed. I had scrapped much better (down to only 5 starters) but Futurewolf's deck had punch.

I should have scrapped Battle Station before ending my turn, to do 5 more damage and bring Futurewolf into likely lethal range for my next turn. As it happens, Futurewolf was able to put up a little Trading Post and survive my next hand by... you guessed it, exactly 5 points of authority, while taking down both my bases.

My next draw was appalling - out of 10 cards with 2 Recycling Stations, a Yacht, Blob Destroyer, Blob Fighter and War World, I got only 6 damage (Fighter + WW) and no draw. Odds of about 3/20, so not unimaginable, but a shame. As it happens, though, it didn't matter. Futurewolf found lethal with a couple of solid turns despite a fully unscrapped deck, due to their tight focus on Green and Blue.

It couldn't have been closer, though. If Futurewolf had 2 less points of damage, I'd have survived, and even my measly 6 damage would have been enough to finish the game my way. Great game, tight to the finish, and a satisfying end to my winning streak in this group. gg Futurewolf!

Futurewolf def. greylag

[+] Dice rolls

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20. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

Starting row:

Fleet HQ
Trading Post
Blob Carrier
Freighter
Battle Blob

There's one clear plan for a row like this: if nothing else good shows up, buy freighter, then Battle Blob, then Blob Carrier - with Battle Blob the main prize. Without Cutters, it's hard to survive against an opponent who takes Battle Blob after their 1st shuffle and then plays it every time through. 4 plays of Battle Blob, plus starting vipers, plus a final scrap, does 50 damage clear, and that's with nothing else.

I have 3 trade. Could take Trading Post, but this doesn't get me closer to hitting 6-cost ships (well, it does, but it's a turn slower than a Explorer). It might also open up a better 3-cost buy for InvAsian, in case they can't get Freighter. They get 4, though, and take Freighter. Funnily enough the chance of hitting 6 after 1st shuffle is about the same whether you have 4 Explorers or 2 Explorers and a Freighter.

Sucks that my next hand is 3 too. Odd-valued hands don't help you in a trade race unless you can get Supply Bot, Ram, Blob Wheel or Federation Shuttle. I just take a second Explorer with a grimace. Could have had three of them by now instead of 2! But I still prefer it over Trading Post, even more if you take into account the risk of opening up something like Trade Pod or Cutter underneath it.

But InvAsian takes the Trading Post next with 4, revealing Barter World. It makes sense to want an ally bonus for Freighter, especially since I don't have any combat to kill Trading Post, but I think it's a mistake not to stack the deck to get 6 on a row like this, now there are three good cards with that cost.

My patience is rewarded when my 1st hand after shuffling is 4 x Scout, Explorer. Whoop! Even though there's now a Junkyard on the row (underneath InvAsian's Freighter), there's nothing I'd take over Battle Blob for sheer killing power. Yoink. Under it is Patrol Mech. I'll happily take either that or Barter World next turn unless I luck out with 6 again (I end turn and see I'll have 4 - fair enough.)

My goal this game, then, is going to be to stay efficient, not clog my deck with small cards and play Battle Blob a lot. I don't need to do anything fancy to stay on top - InvAsian's the one who's going to need hauling and other Trade Federation shenanigans to equalise.

InvAsian gets Patrol Mech (revealing Imperial Frigate). My next hand is fortunate. InvAsian's just put out the Trading Post, which means they should get the blue ally ability on their yet-to-be-played Freighter. However I've got the one hand which gives both 4 trade and 4 combat: 2 x Viper, Explorer, 2 x Scout. I was wondering whether to take Frigate when it appeared, but when I see I can kill Trading Post by scrapping an Explorer, I realise I need Barter World as otherwise I'll be struggling for Trade.

Opens up Dreadnaught, oh dear. InvAsian's almost guaranteed this. Explorers might match Freighter for efficiency in picking up 6's, but Freighter is much better at hitting the higher values because unlike Explorers, Freighter decks generate more "spiky" trade - hitting above 6 to compensate for the turns on which they don't get to play Freighter at all. Still, my Battle Blob would be a deck ahead of the Dreadnaught (two decks, if I'm lucky, and Freighter bottom-decks, 2/7 chance). If I keep ramping up the damage, I should be able to stay ahead.

It doesn't bottom-deck, but InvAsian really surprises me by instead buying Blob Carrier - and then following up with the revealed Battle Pod, as they had 8. It makes absolute sense - my deck can easily hit 6 but not 7+, so store the Dreadnaught on the row for a later buy, and take now what I might be able to get instead. It also removes one of my key potential routes to big ship acquisitions later on, via allied turns. Smart move - though they were lucky to find the Battle Pod, as unallied Blob Carrier is solid but not the best.

Now I could take Space Station (newly uncovered) or Friga0te. I find this kind of decision confusing. I'm trying to burn them down before they can get good. So I don't want to buy defence. But if I don't buy it, they will, and then they get defence. Does buying defence count as "anti-defence" if it takes it away from the opponent? My head hurts.

I decide to take Space Station anyway because it puts what I call "trade pressure" on InvAsian - the threat that I could buy a big card. My lack of trade pressure is what let them pass up the better ship with Freighter last turn. Once you have trade pressure, you never actually have to use it (though of course you should if you get the chance) in order for it to be effective and influence your opponent's play.

It opens up Recycling Station which InvAsian buys (always buy Recycling Station...) and this time with 4, I do get the Frigate, just for steady pressure (and a threat alongside Space Station). Then InvAsian's Blob Carrier eats and hauls the Dreadnaught. Damnit. Now they have two damaging ships, and that'll both catch them up in damage and pull them ahead for the rest of the game. So much for Plan A!

Worse, Freighter hasn't been yet, so there'll be another big buy before their deck cycles, and it's going to come out paired with that Trading Post for a second ship haul if there's a good one on the row. I buy my own Recycling Station with hesitation, but thankfully only open up another station underneath. No good ships to haul, whew, but Junkyard is still out there and is probably InvAsian's best buy. They take it, along with the game's first Cutter, and a Trade Pod.

A couple of turns later, we've both made some small buys, and I'm careful to recycle to try and give my two combat cards (Battle Blob / Imperial Frigate) a chance to come up before the deck cycles. It's really frustrating when the two cards which miss the shuffle are, exactly, Battle Blob and Imperial Frigate. I'm behind already and this is the kind of thing I need to happen to my opponent to even it up, not to me. This is the moment where I go from fairly sure I've lost to certain - I needed to play those cards early and often, and everything else I've done was with a mind to redrawing them as quickly as I can.

In the end it doesn't matter, as InvAsian gets some big ships down and wins in the next turn. The Space Whale has been eating well each time it hit the table and hauling 6+'s, and Freighter managed much the same, so what initially looked like a damage race I could win became an impossible climb as soon as InvAsian hauled Dreadnaught. It just got worse after that. I'm not sure if it was a bad game plan, if I was unlucky, or both - but either way, a resounding defeat, wp InvAsian!

InvAsian def. greylag

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21. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

The first few buys are a Cutter and a Freighter for me, and a Barter World for billpaterno. After this, the row looks like: Battle Pod / Frigate / Battle Blob / Trading Post / Command Ship, on billpaterno's turn.

I think in this position, I'd have taken Battle Pod now (and hoped for another good 2-drop), to have a chance of removing Command Ship from the row before my Freighter hits. Instead they take 2 x Explorer, which gives a better chance of Battle Blob, but is it worth it if I'm practically guaranteed the Command Ship at some point in the early game?

I get the Battle Pod - I needed something to clear Barter World anyway, and also get Trading Post for good ally activations on Cutter, Freighter and the Command Ship I hope to grab. My next hand turns out to be 8 with Freighter ally, so I'll get to topdeck (and immediately bury, but whatever, just means I got it earlier rather than sooner) Command Ship.

billpaterno hits 6 and takes the Battle Blob. I'm almost glad, because I was wondering if I should take Battle Blob even though I can afford Command Ship, because my Freighter makes me more likely to get Command Ship in the future. But I think Barter World and the Explorers gives billpaterno enough trade pressure that I can't get away with that kind of thing. It's nice to have the decision simplified!

Billpaterno goes shopping for small change and takes Trade Bot / Shuttle / Imperial Fighter, with a Frigate. I get the idea - they all make sense individually - but together I worry they're going to slow down a deck more than they help. The small buys also churn the trade row, turning up good cards for me like Cutter. Finally it means passing up Hive which is a strong card and plays into billpaterno's win condition.

Next I open up a Mothership by taking another Cutter. I'm not worried about Mothership as the only way billpaterno could get it would be to play Barter World, Shuttle and 4 small trade ships (or 5 small ships with Barter World already up), and I should be able to either take it or Battle Pod it before that can happen. And I get Battle Station, because I feel good about the long game, I want to reduce any spike damage I can take, and it's a great finisher.

A little later, I'm torn between Hive and Patrol Mech. Both cards are good for both of us. But I think Patrol Mech is most likely to give billpaterno a comeback if Dreadnaught or Brain World hit the row, so I take that. I actually take a 2nd one next turn, anyway. The more combat and/or base killing abilities I get, the more relaxed I am about not taking Hive, and having more flexible cards.

billpaterno gets the Hive next turn and behind it there's that Brain World I've been wary of. Thanks to my Freighter I immediately snag it. Authority 52:21, a Command Ship / Mothership / 2x Cutter / Brain World deck, so I think this is going to be the last deck cycle. I scrap Battle Station to kill Barter World just to keep billpaterno's Authority low (they do have Flagship) and in my lethal range, as I'm not worried now about card scrap or defence on my side.

Despite an impressive fightback over billpaterno's last couple of turns, my authority couldn't dip much below 40, thanks to the Cutters, Command Ship and a recently acquired Stealth Needle. Final score was 50:-2.

greylag def. billpaterno

[+] Dice rolls

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22. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

Opening row: Trade Pod / Cutter / Cutter / Blob Carrier / War World

I had 3 - in this position, much as I dream of Trade Pod into Blob Carrier, I have to break up the pair of Cutters, so I took one. Replaced with Supply Bot, which is ok, as I can take one out of whatever's left.

wonko had 4, which is fair enough, and took Cutter / Trade Pod, leaving me with Supply Bot. I'm pretty happy with that - sometimes it's nice to have 3 on a turn where you can't efficiently use more than that.

My only slight worry is that Wonko's going to take the Barter World next, and will then have ally power on tap for the Cutter. But Supply Bot is so much better than taking the Frigate which showed up, that I'll take that damage in order to get trade & scrap of my own.

As it happens Battle Pod comes up next turn, and I have 4. I want a Barter World killer, I could take Frigate with an eye to getting War World, or Battle Pod for Blob Carrier. I like the Blob plan better, as it'll give me a chance at another 2-drop if one shows up behind. Sadly it's a 3, Ram, so I take an Explorer. Wonko gets the Ram, I get the Blob Carrier. First big buy!

Wonko gets another Ram (uh-oh, Rams are scary, they shoot you now, and turn into Brain Worlds, Dreadnaughts and Command Ships later). I take Blob Destroyer, and decide to Battle Pod a Blob Fighter which appeared behind it (and I can't afford) to stop Wonko getting Blob synergy. It's replaced with Stealth Needle (which of course I also can't afford). Good job greylag, that helped.

Wonko passes it up for Central Office! Central Office is amazing but I tried this recently in the paper game, and got lots of good trade to later get me lots of good ships, instead of taking the ships in front of me - I got destroyed. I'm happy just to buy the ships now if I can: I get Stealth Needle, I also get Blob Destroyer. I think my combat's critical now and this should be the last time through the deck.

Crucial point coming up though: my Blob Carrier is on the way and it's likely going to be allied. Usually if I think an opponent's going to get an allied Whale I try to stay out of the Trade Row for a turn to avoid turning up Command Ship, Dreadnaught or similar. But in this case wonko doesn't really have that choice, as Whale's coming down with a Battle Blob and a Blob Destroyer, meaning that I'll get plenty of chances to pick through the row myself before using the power.

So wonko don't feel bad that there was a Dreadnaught under that Frigate you bought - I think I'd have dug it out anyway even if you hadn't made a buy. The Dreadnaught goes into my last hand of the deck - which contains a Stealth Needle. Ouch. Wonko's under the critical 24 authority needed to survive Dreadneedle so that's that.

Final deck listings:

greylag: Blob Carrier, Blob Destroyer x2, Battle Pod, Cutter, Dreadnaught, Survey Ship, Stealth Needle, Supply Bot, scrapped twice

wonko: Central Office, Barter World, Cutter, Frigate x2, Ram, Trade Pod, Trade Bot, Explorer x2, scrapped once

I don't think the scrap played much of a role in final damage but it definitely boosted my trade (I scrapped out my vipers). Apart from that it was just in imbalance in combat values, and that my bigger combat came earlier. Plus Stealth Needle is huge! gg wonko

greylag def. wonko

[+] Dice rolls

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23. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

Opening row: Flagship / Trade Bot / Imperial Frigate / Cutter / Trading Post

Arc with 3 takes Cutter (flips Recycling Station), Trade Bot (flips Blob Fighter).

Argh! One of the perfect openings, and nothing great for me. This is going to be tough from the get-go. I've got 3 myself, so the choice is between Frigate / Trading Post / Explorer. I wonder about getting the Frigate, but in my experience rushdown vs. Cutters doesn't work so well. You've really got to overpower them and there's nothing overpowering there yet.

So I take Trading Post to deny blue ally for the Cutter and try and build up to something later. It flips Barter World, which sucks, but at least there was already a good 4-drop on the row, so I haven't added a new level of buy. Would have been much worse if it had flipped Supply Bot or Cutter.

With 5, Arc gets the Blob Fighter (flips Blob Wheel) and Recycling Station (flips Mothership). Now I'm wondering about getting the Frigate myself. I'd love Barter World of course, and then Flagship, but do I want to go into the flip without any combat ships when my opponent has Recycling Station? I decide that yes, I do - their chances of taking down my own stations are low, as only the Blob Fighter with Vipers has a chance. I'll hope to get Flagship and/or Mothership. It flips Redoubt.

Arc gets the Frigate finally (flips Corvette) and without anything better to do with my 3, I take a Corvette, it plays nicely for Arc (Recycing Station / Frigate) and doesn't hurt me. I'm glad to get my 2 vipers this turn, it means the rest of my deck is all trade, and in particular, I'm almost guaranteed Flagship if Arc doesn't get there first. It flips Ram, which is a shame, Arc is slowly acquiring combat.

Instead Arc gets Flagship, dangit! (Flips Trade Bot.) But I suppose they have already scrapped a Viper, so they had better odds than you'd think, even with only one 2-trade ship. With both my stations up, I take a Trade Bot of my own (flips Corvette), so I have a chance in the long game, get the Ram (flips Space Station), and I mean to also take the Corvette, but accidentally take 2 authority instead of 2 trade, grrr. I hate the app for this. If there's no information revealed after what I did, let me take it back!

Perhaps it's just as well though, because after Arc kills my Trading Post and takes the Corvette, there's a Missile Bot under it. Nom nom nom. Flips Dreadnaught, so with my remaining 4 (this time correctly taking trade from Barter World) I get Space Station, denies the ally to Arc and gives me a scrap-for-trade to perhaps get Dreadnaught. I have to get one of these big ships or this is over!

Arc hits with Flagship and Cutter together, shooting up to 59 to my 40. That's why I wanted that ship...

I'm backing off details of buys now unless it's significant. I take one more scrapper, perhaps questionably since it's a Supply Bot, but I figure I'm not going to win in the midgame, so I have to go for the endgame. I pick up an Embassy Yacht to help with that strategy. 3 scrappers also meets that criterion - from now on I only want to buy defence and enough offence to kill stations and keep on top of Arc's rapidly increasing authority. It'll have to be the late late game, though - I haven't even equalised in scrap yet, because Arc's 1 scrapper was first time around.

Arc gets Dreadnaught as well. I'm missing out on all the big buys, sadly. Their deck moves faster than mine with that Recycling Station and so they're getting to their trade options more quickly than me. I can get Mothership this next turn by scrapping my Space Station, but looking at the Dreadnaught / Flagship coming, I decide I can't afford to - if I have no defences, those two together will leave me on practically zero. Instead I scrap Ram for Royal Redoubt, holding to the defence plan.

Not that it matters! I get Redoubt up, but immediately, it's Flagship, Dreadnaught, Blob Destroyer, and Dreadnaught scraps for the kill. gg Arc - I knew I was up against it right from the start, but it was when you bought Flagship I despaired.

Arc def. greylag

[+] Dice rolls

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24. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

I can't remember the opening row for this one, but I know that VacaBCK's first turn with 2 was to take Shuttle and Blob Fighter. After that, the row was made up of:

Corvette / Blob Wheel / War World / Embassy Yacht / Fleet HQ

Hmm, what does that say to me? No big prizes at the moment (Fleet HQ doesn't really count, sorry Fleet HQ). Anyone going pure trade will be destroyed by the person who gets War World / Corvette. No scrap either. That probably means hoping to find cheap scrap in this deck, or going mono-colour (to get ally bonuses even though unscrapped) + a small number of explorers.

I've got 4, and it's a tough call. Wheel has the best trade, in case a great ship comes up, and it's also a good card to take away from VacaBCK, to make their Blob Fighter a dead card in the opening. Yacht is the best trade ship on there, but Corvette is a 2-drop so would let me take another good 2-drop underneath it (trade pod, cutter, mayyyyyybe missle bot, probably too early). I get the Yacht - I just want to play solid - and it flips an Imperial Fighter, which I leave there.

VacaBCK gets 5, and does what I read as a nice little bit of predictive buying. They know I have 4 next since I'm on a 4-4 split, so take cheap yellows - Imperial Fighter (flips Battle Station), Corvette (flips Survey Ship), and then an Explorer. The idea is to buy the combo pieces for War World before the station, because if they did it the other way around, I could take the combo pieces and leave VacaBCK's War World unallied.

It does rely on hitting 5 before I do, though. And because VacaBCK went 2-5, I know their next hand contains at least Viper + Scout. To get 5, they'd have to draw Shuttle or Explorer, or Corvette followed by one of those two. Quickly running the numbers, that's about a 4/10 chance. If I buy Survey Ship, my own next hand has 7/10 of being 5+, or if I get two Explorers, about 8/10. Those Survey Ship odds look ok to me, so I take it (flips Stealth Needle) to deny more yellow ally bonuses to VacaBCK. End turn and fingers crossed... my next hand gets the 5, but what will VacaBCK get?

3 trade, and Blob Wheel (flips Blob Fighter). I won't deny it, I'm feeling good. War World for me. Whoever gets 4 next should take Stealth Needle, and VacaBCK may also get the Blob Fighter, which is starting to look intimidating, but at least I can then get Battle Station and build up my outposts. Before my 2nd shuffle I'd also like to have something that kills Blob Wheel in one hit, or at least does 4 damage to get it in Viper range, so my eyes are also open for that.

Shows me for reading ahead. VacaBCK gets 3 and misses the Needle! Buys Blob Fighter, flips Dreadnaught. I snap Stealth Needle up (flips Junkyard). I also scrap my Survey Ship to force a discard, because VacaBCK has 6 trade coming with a Corvette, and I want to hold them off that ship. It hurts as now my War World's unallied, but it's worth it to stop Dreadnaught.

A couple of quiet turns, during which I pick up a Mech World for both my War World and my Yacht, and VacaBCK builds up a bit more Blob. On turn 14, the trade row is all 6+ (Junkyard / Dreadnaught / Blob World / Machine Base / Fleet HQ), and this is how our decks look:

VacaBCK (45 authority): 3 x Blob Fighter, Blob Wheel, 2 x Imperial Fighter, Corvette, 1 x Federation Shuttle, Battle Station, Missle Bot, 2 x Explorer, unscrapped (deck size 21)

greylag (29 authority): Mech World, Stealth Needle, Trade Bot, War World, Embassy Yacht, Explorer, scrapped twice (deck size 14)

I'm down 16 authority, but I've got a Yacht and some outposts, and a faster deck, so I'm not too worried. I'm more worried about that Dreadnaught sitting out on the row. At the moment, neither of us have much of a chance to get it, and I've just put VacaBCK's Blob Wheel in a fresh discard pile, but next time it comes around, VacaBCK's the favourite. I pick up a couple more Explorers - I'd at least like to hit 6 and get that Junkyard, even if I can't easily reach the 7's.

VacaBCK actually scraps out the Battle Station to take down my War World. I'm glad I have Mech World now. I didn't even have it ready to play next turn, but the threat is enough. A whole deck cycle later, though, and I still haven't got any more stuff. I didn't think the trade row would be this dead! All of VacaBCK's little ships are doing a number on me - they wouldn't matter if I was regularly playing one or two bigger ships, but at this rate the little pew-pew-pew is going to knock me down outright, I'm at 19 to 38 now.

Now we Explorer Race for a little bit, though VacaBCK races harder than me. I feel like I can't be caught without my good cards, whereas VacaBCK has the authority buffer to play a bit looser.

I'm the first to hit 6+, I actually get 8, but at 9 authority (yes, it's bad) I feel I can't take Dreadnaught. I need defence and fast! I get Machine Base, then a Trading Post that flips from it. VacaBCK gets Dreadnaught. I finally get my Yacht trigger, and now I'm at 4 authority, with 12 points of outposts, opposite VacaBCK's 35. VacaBCK gets a Blob World! I smell a megaturn coming.

However, in all this time, they haven't scrapped once. My Machine Base and Trade Bot / Stealth Needle draws (I only ever get it with Trade Bot... probably because I have hardly any ships... but I did just get a Battlecruiser) have taken me down to 3 starters. If I can last another turn or two I might actually make it. It's 4 to 29 authority, and I'm 10 points up in outposts. VacaBCK's turn is coming...

... but it's no good. Dreadnaught comes down, and cuts through my stations, and I finish at -3.

In the end, I was just starved of good options for too long, and what looked like a bad deck (tonnes of 1 cost ships) turned out to be better than no deck at all. I had the potential for a much more powerful endgame deck, but I wasn't able to reach that endgame because the process of buying into it was slowed down so much. By the time I put it together, my authority score was so low that spike damage finished me off.

good - and extremely weird - game, VacaBCK. I haven't seen it play out like that before - it's going into my memory as one more way the game can turn out, and one more thing to take into account.

VacaBCK defeats greylag

[+] Dice rolls

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25. Board Game: Star Realms [Average Rating:7.58 Overall Rank:129] [Average Rating:7.58 Unranked]

(greylag)

I thought I was out of it for this year's league, but the 6-way 7/4 draw across multiple groups left me in the running for a wildcard spot for promotion. My first game was against AtheistPanda.

I missed the initial starting row for this writeup, but it begins by AtheistPanda taking Cutter with 2. And by the time of my turn, the row looks like this:

Shuttle / Needle / Corvette / Cutter / Carrier

I'm on a 3-5 split and obviously take Cutter (flips Battle Station) and after some thought, I get the Federation Shuttle too (flips Patrol Mech). After a series of hammering games with Arc, I'm starting to up my valuation of trade, and right now I feel I can't possibly get enough in the opening. I also want as many ship targets available as possible in case I'm the one who ends up with Stealth Needle, and I want a good chance of taking away Blob Carrier if I'm not.

I'm really glad to see a second good drop in the 4-5 range, with Patrol Mech. Whichever of the two Panda takes with their 4-5, I'll take the other, and be more than happy with it. You never want Patrol Mech + Stealth Needle to go to the same person. If I get Needle, I've got some good targets, and if I get the Mech, my trade will be more than enough payoff to compensate. AtheistPanda chooses Patrol Mech (flips Mech World)! Ok, I'll have Stealth Needle, fine by me! (flips Space Station)

AtheistPanda gets Corvette (flips Patrol Mech), Battle Station (flips Trading Post). Whoo! Now I can be the one with Needle / Patrol Mech. I love that combo.

I take Patrol Mech, and it flips Blob Destroyer. And as if me getting Patrol Mech wasn't good enough, AtheistPanda bottomdecks both their good ships and has a near-wasted turn, picking up Trading Post with just 3 trade (flips Blob Fighter). That's got to hurt, because they were guaranteed Blob Carrier if they just drew the Mech.

I on the other hand got Cutter/Shuttle together, and with 7, can take anything. I think it's going to be Blob Fighter/Carrier! But let's get the Fighter first, to see what comes up. Another Blob Destroyer's under it! Oh, this is too good. Now, if I'm lucky, the Blob Destroyers will split between us, one each. I take Blob Carrier with my 6, and it flips Battle Station.

So now the row looks like this:

Mech World / Space Station / Blob Destroyer x 2 / Battle Station

Panda's deck is Cutter, Trading Post, Battle Station, Patrol Mech, Corvette, and mine is Shuttle, Cutter, Blob Fighter, Blob Carrier, Patrol Mech, Stealth Needle.

And it's 54:43 to me. This is looking good!

AtheistPanda knows what's coming, though. Having bottomdecked Cutter/Mech, at least they now come together, and Trading Post as well makes for 8 trade, taking both Blob Destroyers. That's what they needed to stay in the game, I think. I'd have been out of control with 3 blobs, including a destroyer and a whale, and a Stealth Needle on hand. They flip Cutter / Defence Centre.

With 4 it's a 2nd Cutter for me then (and the last one in the deck)! Behind it is Ram, and while ordinarily that would bother me as I want to see those Blobs on my turn, in this case I'm fine - both Ram and Mech World on the row at once means I should be able to pick up one of them. AtheistPanda takes the Ram (flips Shuttle, who cares...) so I snag Mech World (flips Imperial Fighter), sadly without quite enough combat to drop both of AtheistPanda's stations, wasting 4. I decide to take out Trading Post, because next hand I can see I'll either have 3 (in which case it didn't matter which I killed), or 6+ (in which case I can still kill Battle Station).

Actually AtheistPanda takes the Federation Shuttle (flips Barter World) and a 2nd Battle Station (flips Blob World). Ok then... well, I've got 8, with all these blues and my Stealth Needle, so... let's, er, have Blob World then! Nom nom. I hope AtheistPanda knows about the implementation detail which counts Mech World as a Blob card for the purposes of Blob World draw. If it comes up, I'm not sure yet what I'll do - try to avoid it since it's a bug? Or use it as a feature? In retrospect, I should have decided now.

I can't be too confident as AtheistPanda easily has the power to make sure Blob World doesn't stick. In a way, I'm building more of an endgame deck with Cutters, Stealth Needle and Mech World as well, but I don't have the endgame scrap. I'm going to leap on scrap first chance I get, and also prioritise other Machine Cult cards to try and ally my Patrol Mech. I'd say outposts too, but Blob Destroyers make those irrelevent for defence.

AtheistPanda plays double Blob Destroyer. Yeah, that's what I was talking about. In a frenzy of row scrapping, they tear down a Yacht and a Barter World, and replace them with Dreadnaught and... Yacht. It's worthwhile digging, because I've only got 5 trade next turn (not that AtheistPanda knows that), whereas they have guaranteed 7 with scrapping Ram. Upgrading it to Dreadnaught would be a good move. But their scrapping a Blob would also make my bases a bit better, so I preemptively go for Defence Centre.

Can there be a more bitter hand than the next one I draw? Perfect example of why my deck is endgame not midgame. Scout x 3, Mech World, Stealth Needle. :'( I take the chance to snag a Missile Bot, but that's all I can do. AtheistPanda, on the other hand, is rackin' up the yellows, and doesn't take Dreadnaught, opting instead for Frigate / Survey Ship, flipping a Mothership and I don't remember what. I think I'd always go for Dreadnaught here - especially with the threat of my whale taking big ships for free.

With my Blob World and Blob Carrier finding themselves in separate hands, and with 5 trade in hand vs. a row containing Dreadnaught and Mothership, I decide to draw with Blob World (1 card) even though it reduces a 5-card final hand of the deck to 4 cards. If I miss a good card, I'll bottomdeck both my Blob Carrier, Patrol Mech and Cutter. But if I hit (2/3 chance) I get to buy at least one huge drop, and possibly scrap, at the cost of bottom-decking the remaining 2. They only make up 6 trade between them so no point saving them as a set to try for those 7-drops.

Draw and... Patrol Mech! Ok, that'll do.

I snag Mothership and also get in the first scrap of the game with Mech. Perhaps if Mech World protects my Blob World, I'll still be able to use Blob Carrier next turn to get the Dreadnaught? Oh, it does... that's glorious. I've even got 4 trade to take Recycling Station as well. It's 50+ to AtheistPanda's 30-something, but they hit back hard with double Shuttle (regenerating to 41) and yellows to force double discard, knocking me down to... 41! Very neat.

I've scrapped twice, and I'm about to scrap twice more (Patrol Needle), whereas AtheistPanda's still on 10 starters. I decide it's time to take Space Station and War World off the row, to undercut AtheistPanda's yellow strategy, and I expect they'll do fine for me with Recycling Station, Dreadnaught, Mech World around.

In a thoughtless moment, I play my cards out as: Mothership (draws Carrier), Blob Fighter, Carrier, leaving me out of draws. I should have held back the Fighter, eaten Missile Mech with the whale, and then drawn it, and then drawn again off Missile Bot. This would also have saved me combat as I spent a lot destroying stations this turn. Ah well! I still get MMech but it was a misplay (which I could have avoided by properly segmenting my play, I've no excuse

).

Next turn I'm forced to discard War World. Ouch! I'm left with Mech World, Blob World, Missile Mech. Oh, dear - here's that situation I was worried about. I'm writing this now, after having played my turn, but at the time, when my mouse hovered over "Draw" on Blob World, I wasn't at first thinking about the Mech World = Blob bug. I just thought that, hmm, it would be awesome to draw an outpost, or Stealth Needle, right now, and that's probably worth more than 5 damage.

But I will own up that, a split second before I clicked it, the thought came into my head that this was going to draw 2, and I still clicked. I'm not sure if I could have interrupted my clicky-finger in time, but I don't feel 100% at ease about what I did. I should have decided ahead of time how to handle it!

Out comes lethal damage. This is now a proper dilemma, so I decide to ask Remy. Remy says it's fine, but leaves the final decision up to me. Because the bug is unclear and because I don't feel completely at ease with my good faith in this game, I hold back on doing lethal, by not scrapping my Dreadnaught, and leaving AtheistPanda on 5 and me on 39. (Would I have done differently if I'd been sitting on 5 as well? I'll never know.)

Next hand is a dud, so if AtheistPanda manages to put up any kind of defence or regenerate authority, they'll survive it - as long as they also kill my stations. There's 13 points of station health there so it's not a sure thing, and one of the Blob Destroyers has been and gone. The turn after that, though, I'll have my bottomdecked Stealth Needle / Recycling Station, and the two together should be able to pull lethal out of 'most any hand.

As it happens, all the ethical agonising didn't change anything! While AtheistPanda takes down my bases, they're unfortunate not to get either of their potential defensive cards next turn, either of which would have saved them. I have to discard two, but all I need to close it out is my Battle Pod and Viper.

Patrol Mech / Stealth Needle was just as good as I hoped, and really did a number on my scrapping. I've observed before that it's hard to get the two cards to align, but once they have done once, they will again. I finished with only 4 starters left and AtheistPanda still on 10. That, and the other endgame potential of the deck, let it all come together for a sudden win as soon as scrap kicked in.

greylag def. AtheistPanda!

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