So some friends were over to try out Dominion Alchemy. We tried the suggested deck – Pools, Tools, and Fools.

The Supply consisted of:
Apothecary, Apprentice, Golem, Scrying Pool, Baron, Coppersmith, Ironworks, Nobles, Trading Post, and Wishing Well

After giving everyone the run-down on Potions and looking over the details of the Alchemy cards in the supply, we dove right in. I liked the thought of an Apothecary/Coppersmith combo and started working toward that. Unfortunately this combo didn’t click as well as I hoped it took me a while to get a Potion and then the Apothecary. I got to 7 treasure three turns in a row and it hit a couple times for 8 treasure but not quite enough. Kim won using the Baron along with the Apothecary/Coppersmith combo. Brian bought almost all treasure and came in a close second.

Scores:
Me – 22
Kim – 31
Meredith – 27
Jeff – 27
Brian – 29

Seeing the error in my ways I decided to try a Baron/Apprentice combo. The basic strategy was to use the Baron to get more buying power or Estates and then the Apprentice can remove Copper or Estates. I started with a 2/5 split and got an extra Estate and an Apprentice. Then I bought a Baron and things started rolling. It was m turn with one Province left and I had a Province and the Apprentice. Maybe I should have used the Apprentice to trash my Province and tried to get to 8 treasure to buy the last Province and end the game. I didn’t take that risk and it cost me the game. Meredith won (by 1 VP) using the Apothecary/Coppersmith combo.

Scores:
Me – 30
Meredith – 31
Jeff – 27
Brian – 29

This time I tried the same thing since I came so close to the W. But this was a different game with drastically different results. I did not get the same amount of treasure consistently in my hand and ended up with a lot of junk in my hand. This time I think I only managed one or two Gold and just did not have the buying power to do anything. I knew I was going to lose early on…and I did. Brian won on the tie-breaker of having one less turn than Meredith.

Scores:
Me – 18
Meredith – 35
Jeff – 32
Brian – 35

So at this point I still felt good about the Baron/Apprentice combo but thought I would try something a bit different. Again I started with a 2/5 split and though I had never tried it, I bought a Trading Post. I also got an extra Estate. Soon I was trashing two Copper for a Silver and then getting the Baron/Apprentice I wanted. I trashed two Estates and continued to thin my deck and increase my buying power. In the mid game I trashed my Trading Post for five cards with Apprentice and the deck was really working. I was buying a Province most turns and finished with five and finally I won.

Scores:
Me – 38
Meredith – 24
Jeff – 32