Thanks to you two for taking the time to review this game! dwarvintime is very good at this, he's critical but always objective, and very elaborate in his conveying his thoughts. I've seen you doing some reviews on your stream, you should do this more often! Also, it was fairly amusing to see the malding about my refusal to build. Gotta admit, I'm a bit of an X-back enjoyer...JD is usually known for this, but he "only" averages 1.66 (JDansp) / 1.72 (Brian Boitano) X-backs per game, meanwhile I am at 1.91 (and I've toned it down a lot, I used to be above 2). Amongst the top players, only Duci averages more, I think. Due to the great cards (28 turns despite 3 X-backs), this wasn't a super complex game, but I still really love it because it's the first and only time so far I've ever had a mirror match where both took the 2 CP worker. Also, two upgrades, no sponsors, just full tempo rush. It's fairly obvious for experienced players that at some point, unis or sponsors only slow you down, but I see many intermediate players fall into this trap, so hopefully this shows that you don't need all that if you have projects to do. I'll add some remarks about some of my decisions in the replies to this.
- 2:10: First of all, very unfortunate that I don't have a playable animal except the Sloth Bear, because I would love to dig away the Coati, it also matches America. Instead, Tony gets 3 valuable icons for free. I thought about digging away the Macaw, but when I dug the Elephant, I was already eyeing the Kangaroo flock which just has great value to me due to its Australia icon. - 3:20: Taking the worker is a no-brainer here, in my opinion. Especially with a Breeding Program in hand and Habitat Diversity on display, getting a partner zoo is just better than an upgrade. I took 5 money (usually the worst income bonus) because, as said, I want to play the expensive Kangaroo next round, therefore I can't take the enclosure (that I don't need yet anyway), which would be my first choice otherwise. - 4:15: I don't like spending money on things I don't need, especially as I will be somewhat poor after the Kangaroo. Therefore I put back Build. A petting zoo is not interesting to me here, because I am all-in to win the race to Habitat 5. - 5:10: I agree that just breaking 5 is better. I spooked myself a bit and was too afraid that Tony snaps away the Kangaroo, but it's very unlikely he ever does this. Just a mistake. - 6:50: Another X-back Build, same train of thought. Plus, I was planning to take the 2-enclosure bonus with my next project. Also, at this point, I already knew that amassing X-tokens to do Association 8 for Habitat 5 is a very real possibility, and I am very likely to take the 3-enclosure at 8 CP, so doing a spec build is even less appealing to me. - 8:20: Association upgrade gives me the most flexibility here, I hope to get the free partner zoo with my Breeding Program, but ideally, I aim for the aforementioned Association 8 for Habitat 5 if the opportunity arises. It's a bit risky because Tony is also at 4 continents already, though. Without the free partner zoo and Habitat 5, I would probably upgrade Sponsors for money, I don't find any of the others upgrades really strong here. - 13:30: Originally, I did want to take the enclosure bonus, but I changed my mind when the Herbivore Breeding Program showed up. I don't want to snap it with my Cards action, because I desperately need to draw from deck to find playable animals. Also, I don't think the enclosure bonus is so important here. I will already play the Zebra by flocking and get a 3-enclosure as a bonus, and my Build will be at 4 when I do Animals with an X in hand, so I can always build an enclosure if I draw a big animal. Unless I find a S-tier sponsor, I want to break anyway and will just get the enclosure bonus next round with my next project. - 14:05: Huge blunder which didn't get punished, this 3-size definitely needs to touch rock. Imagine if I draw a Cougar, this potential tempo loss could have been game-losing. - 16:20: I want to force the break because I want to support another project asap for the enclosure bonus, so boosting down Sponsors was never an option to me. Monkey sponsors seemed giga useless to me, playing them didn't even cross my mind. Sam read this correctly, and is also right in his assessment that I need to boost Sponsors to 5. I wanted to Build an empty 5-size and then break, but overlooked that my opponent can support a project with his worker, so I need to spend an unnecessary X-token to break anyway. Another mistake. - 22:00: Rhino has really low value here, I think it was correct of me to not dig it away and just let my opponent snap it. Species and Habitat is obviously already on the board, and it's not apparent for either of us what project we would even take with Assertion. There's always the risk that Tony actually does get to 4 Europe or something like that, but digging the Rhino just for denial seems bad to me. - 28:00: Not snapping the Platypus is a bit of a gamble. By taking the Asia release, I can guarantee two projects with my double Association even if Tony blocks America 2, and I will cross even if I only play one animal. I just hoped that Tony would let the Platypus untouched, whereas I was sure that he would take away Asia release if I snap the Platypus. - 28:05: As you correctly deduced, I was indeed gambling for an unlikely America animal to show, so I can dig it away. Obviously totally unsound, but also too alluring to not do it, we're all degenerates after all. If even dwarvin says he would've done it, I won't feel too bad about it lol. I could've indeed built a 5-size if needed, but I want to keep my X-tokens in case I get constricted. - 30:45: Now this is just mind-blowingly bad endgame play, I am surprised you didn't go harder on me for that. I guess I thought I am winning for sure (which I am, tbf) and mentally checked out. First, I forgot that I had Large Animals as an end-game, and second, I miscounted and thought I could only do Small Animals for 2 shields, when in fact I can do it for 3 (but both of you also thought I do it for 2, so I guess we were all bit sloppy here.) If I just do America 2 and Small Animals 3, I can donate and will have 2 more shields, so that was just 6 points down the drain for no reason. Awful play. Overall, a somewhat unconventional game, I swear I don't always play like this! But once the Herbivore Breeding Program showed up in the break from round 2 to 3, I already knew for sure that this was going to be a 2-upgrade game (unis are just abysmally slow here), so it was kind of forced in a way. In retrospective, not building in the early game turned out to be totally fine, I managed to play all animals I wanted and didn't leave any empty enclosures in the end (before the releases). I agree with dwarvin that you usually want some enclosures, at least via an early 2-size bonus, but with a free 3-size at 8 CP and two flocking animals in hand, this is the kind of game to delay this.
the reason building was better is that you get your x token anyway, through the placement bonus at the end of the game, you ended up missing x token placement bonuses anyway, so building towards them would’ve generally been beneficial
you ended up getting what you needed to build out anyway, but i feel that your hand wasn’t particularly money hungry that it needed a complete absence of natural build actions
I think we also missed that the Europe partner zoo wasn't available, hence breaking instead of doing Predator Breeding made sense. Beautiful game overall PP. Glad to see you got to do it again today 😉
I thought the flocking mechanic required to be within the same turn. Imagine my surprise when I find out that it's even possible to flock onto rescued herbivores.
It's a special map that's not seen in the base game. When you cover a "digging" icon on your map you can place an animal under your board and it acts like you've played it (you get the tags for conservation projects).
Alphaboo was the first high-elo player to discover the power of taking a worker at 2 CP, frequently passing on the Build upgrade and prioritizng the 2-size income. I would say dwarvintime has been perfecting this, and everyone else who does this (like me) is just a copycat who tries to learn from better players!
Thanks to you two for taking the time to review this game! dwarvintime is very good at this, he's critical but always objective, and very elaborate in his conveying his thoughts. I've seen you doing some reviews on your stream, you should do this more often! Also, it was fairly amusing to see the malding about my refusal to build. Gotta admit, I'm a bit of an X-back enjoyer...JD is usually known for this, but he "only" averages 1.66 (JDansp) / 1.72 (Brian Boitano) X-backs per game, meanwhile I am at 1.91 (and I've toned it down a lot, I used to be above 2). Amongst the top players, only Duci averages more, I think.
Due to the great cards (28 turns despite 3 X-backs), this wasn't a super complex game, but I still really love it because it's the first and only time so far I've ever had a mirror match where both took the 2 CP worker. Also, two upgrades, no sponsors, just full tempo rush. It's fairly obvious for experienced players that at some point, unis or sponsors only slow you down, but I see many intermediate players fall into this trap, so hopefully this shows that you don't need all that if you have projects to do.
I'll add some remarks about some of my decisions in the replies to this.
- 2:10: First of all, very unfortunate that I don't have a playable animal except the Sloth Bear, because I would love to dig away the Coati, it also matches America. Instead, Tony gets 3 valuable icons for free. I thought about digging away the Macaw, but when I dug the Elephant, I was already eyeing the Kangaroo flock which just has great value to me due to its Australia icon.
- 3:20: Taking the worker is a no-brainer here, in my opinion. Especially with a Breeding Program in hand and Habitat Diversity on display, getting a partner zoo is just better than an upgrade. I took 5 money (usually the worst income bonus) because, as said, I want to play the expensive Kangaroo next round, therefore I can't take the enclosure (that I don't need yet anyway), which would be my first choice otherwise.
- 4:15: I don't like spending money on things I don't need, especially as I will be somewhat poor after the Kangaroo. Therefore I put back Build. A petting zoo is not interesting to me here, because I am all-in to win the race to Habitat 5.
- 5:10: I agree that just breaking 5 is better. I spooked myself a bit and was too afraid that Tony snaps away the Kangaroo, but it's very unlikely he ever does this. Just a mistake.
- 6:50: Another X-back Build, same train of thought. Plus, I was planning to take the 2-enclosure bonus with my next project. Also, at this point, I already knew that amassing X-tokens to do Association 8 for Habitat 5 is a very real possibility, and I am very likely to take the 3-enclosure at 8 CP, so doing a spec build is even less appealing to me.
- 8:20: Association upgrade gives me the most flexibility here, I hope to get the free partner zoo with my Breeding Program, but ideally, I aim for the aforementioned Association 8 for Habitat 5 if the opportunity arises. It's a bit risky because Tony is also at 4 continents already, though. Without the free partner zoo and Habitat 5, I would probably upgrade Sponsors for money, I don't find any of the others upgrades really strong here.
- 13:30: Originally, I did want to take the enclosure bonus, but I changed my mind when the Herbivore Breeding Program showed up. I don't want to snap it with my Cards action, because I desperately need to draw from deck to find playable animals. Also, I don't think the enclosure bonus is so important here. I will already play the Zebra by flocking and get a 3-enclosure as a bonus, and my Build will be at 4 when I do Animals with an X in hand, so I can always build an enclosure if I draw a big animal. Unless I find a S-tier sponsor, I want to break anyway and will just get the enclosure bonus next round with my next project.
- 14:05: Huge blunder which didn't get punished, this 3-size definitely needs to touch rock. Imagine if I draw a Cougar, this potential tempo loss could have been game-losing.
- 16:20: I want to force the break because I want to support another project asap for the enclosure bonus, so boosting down Sponsors was never an option to me. Monkey sponsors seemed giga useless to me, playing them didn't even cross my mind. Sam read this correctly, and is also right in his assessment that I need to boost Sponsors to 5. I wanted to Build an empty 5-size and then break, but overlooked that my opponent can support a project with his worker, so I need to spend an unnecessary X-token to break anyway. Another mistake.
- 22:00: Rhino has really low value here, I think it was correct of me to not dig it away and just let my opponent snap it. Species and Habitat is obviously already on the board, and it's not apparent for either of us what project we would even take with Assertion. There's always the risk that Tony actually does get to 4 Europe or something like that, but digging the Rhino just for denial seems bad to me.
- 28:00: Not snapping the Platypus is a bit of a gamble. By taking the Asia release, I can guarantee two projects with my double Association even if Tony blocks America 2, and I will cross even if I only play one animal. I just hoped that Tony would let the Platypus untouched, whereas I was sure that he would take away Asia release if I snap the Platypus.
- 28:05: As you correctly deduced, I was indeed gambling for an unlikely America animal to show, so I can dig it away. Obviously totally unsound, but also too alluring to not do it, we're all degenerates after all. If even dwarvin says he would've done it, I won't feel too bad about it lol. I could've indeed built a 5-size if needed, but I want to keep my X-tokens in case I get constricted.
- 30:45: Now this is just mind-blowingly bad endgame play, I am surprised you didn't go harder on me for that. I guess I thought I am winning for sure (which I am, tbf) and mentally checked out. First, I forgot that I had Large Animals as an end-game, and second, I miscounted and thought I could only do Small Animals for 2 shields, when in fact I can do it for 3 (but both of you also thought I do it for 2, so I guess we were all bit sloppy here.) If I just do America 2 and Small Animals 3, I can donate and will have 2 more shields, so that was just 6 points down the drain for no reason. Awful play.
Overall, a somewhat unconventional game, I swear I don't always play like this! But once the Herbivore Breeding Program showed up in the break from round 2 to 3, I already knew for sure that this was going to be a 2-upgrade game (unis are just abysmally slow here), so it was kind of forced in a way. In retrospective, not building in the early game turned out to be totally fine, I managed to play all animals I wanted and didn't leave any empty enclosures in the end (before the releases). I agree with dwarvin that you usually want some enclosures, at least via an early 2-size bonus, but with a free 3-size at 8 CP and two flocking animals in hand, this is the kind of game to delay this.
the reason building was better is that you get your x token anyway, through the placement bonus
at the end of the game, you ended up missing x token placement bonuses anyway, so building towards them would’ve generally been beneficial
you ended up getting what you needed to build out anyway, but i feel that your hand wasn’t particularly money hungry that it needed a complete absence of natural build actions
I think we also missed that the Europe partner zoo wasn't available, hence breaking instead of doing Predator Breeding made sense. Beautiful game overall PP. Glad to see you got to do it again today 😉
Awesome game. Gettin' me hype for the Snark Nova tournament.
soon
Unhinged players, unhinged map!
🤪
Im hovering around 500 elo but every time i watch these videos I feel like a complete beginner. Excellent content 🫡
I thought the flocking mechanic required to be within the same turn. Imagine my surprise when I find out that it's even possible to flock onto rescued herbivores.
Same turn would be a cool little twist on flocking. Stops the Rescue Station cheese for one!
how do u play elephant round one?
It's a special map that's not seen in the base game. When you cover a "digging" icon on your map you can place an animal under your board and it acts like you've played it (you get the tags for conservation projects).
Wasn't he Pandaboo who took worker over flip card n CP2? Is this the new meta for top players? ;-)
Alphaboo was the first high-elo player to discover the power of taking a worker at 2 CP, frequently passing on the Build upgrade and prioritizng the 2-size income. I would say dwarvintime has been perfecting this, and everyone else who does this (like me) is just a copycat who tries to learn from better players!
Wouldn't say meta but we're seeing it more often for sure
It's Friday 🎉🎉
It's gotta be Friday somewhere in the world!