Bro, this is your best video to date! Exceptionally useful tips, top tier prospective analysis, and vividly clear editing make this easy to watch and absorb. I'll be cheering you on at worlds one day!!!
Pause 0:32. Yeah super tough spot placing 4th here. My initial thought is to place 4-3-11 first and point your road towards the 10-3-11. Then place the 5-9-10 2nd and point your road towards the 5-4, contesting Orange for that spot and the 3-1 port. It's kind've risky, but the reason I'd do this is because the person most likely to take the 10-3-11 as their 2nd spot is Orange, but if they do that now they'd then be giving up a spot with a free road to cut you off to the 5-4. I also think the 6-9 ore is just better for Orange anyways. If they take a spot with a free road and cut you off to the 5-4 (since they'd have a turn before you) then the 10-3-11 should be open for you and you can use your free road to quickly expand there, and this sets you up with a decent road network to connect through the middle and potentially get longest road this game, as well as having all 5 resources. The 11-ore is the weakest resource spot, but you'll double up settlements on it quickly and get 2 ore every time it rolls, and it should be unblocked by the robber for the most part. I suppose there is the small risk that White takes the 10-3-11 though too as their 2nd settlement just to block you off, and play all ore-wheat-sheep and double up on the 10-sheep. I don't like this setup much for White (especially if someone else starts on the 6-9 ore) because it leaves them pretty boxed in the middle with no road production, and if someone takes away their 3-1 port, they'll have a very tough time winning. If also makes their 10-sheep a robber target by doubling up on it, and if someone shares the 6-ore with them, that will also become a huge target for the robber. But if White does take the 10-3-11 and Orange cuts you off to the 5-4, your game is pretty much done. However in the 4th position in a tough spot, you may wanna take that chance to get a strong winning setup. Another safer option I thought of is to place the first settlement on the 6-9 Ore and point your road left to the 3-1 port, and your 2nd settlement on the 5-9-10 still but point your road left away from Orange, not contesting them for their 3-1 port and instead trying to take away White's 3-1 port with your free road. But this setup gives you no wheat, and doesn't really leave you in a great position to get either road or army this game. Maybe longest road if you can expand left on the bottom of the island to the 6-brick area, and loop around there, but your first expansion settlement would have to be on the 3-1 port as fast as possible, and it might be slow getting to the 6-brick after that, needing 2 roads and a settlement. It may not be worth the effort, instead just trying to upgrade your 2 initial spots and/or buy dev cards with your 3-1 port and good production. Either way it's a safe playable setup, and your game won't be ended instantly by your opponents 2nd initial settlements. I'm super curious to see what you end up doing now.
Great insight and ideas. Yeah I like your idea of expanding to the better spots on this board and ignoring the ports. I also don't think the 10-3-11 is the best pick for Red, just like I didn't think it was the best for Orange or White, but since in a live game you were able to nudge them on to that spot, it worked out really well for you. It's much different placing on boards in live games than in online games with little or no table talk.
@@Catanimal720 I love your comments! I really like your idea of putting pressure on two different spots - i think it would work out where you get one or the other and can make a game out of it. Definitely a really tricky spot in 4th that requires some sort of competitive advantage through expansions rather than initial settles
I heard from a bird that davbav is a grandmaster👀 Either way always remember: PREP OTC Production Resources Expansions Ports Outs Trading Partners Competition
5,9,10 and 4,3,11 with 4 wheat wood port expansion spot and the option of plowing red or orange to the brick or 3:1 port. Or you can do 3,5,10 with the 10,9,2 and expansion spots to the 9,11, the 10,3,11, the 2,8,5, and the 5,8. I think both options are great. The second placement seems better with the expansion spots and all 5 resources, however the 4,3,11 and the 5,9,10 will available to others. Overall, I think the second placement is better.
If you take the 5,9,10 thinking about plowing orange, what are the chances that he takes another wood brick settlement though? I feel like it would compromise his game quite a lot. By the way, amazing video, you went in depth to explain your reasonning!
Definitely something I wondered myself! But I put myself in oranges shoes, and think 8-11-2 is a fine spot for them to take, considering the 5-4 expansion and the 9-11 expansion
Analysing production after the second settlement spot is a good suggestion but you also need to consider production after citying up. White will probably city up before expanding which will increase their production dramatically in the early stages. In fact, I’m surprised white didn’t do better from this position though it’s unclear how well your opponents did at all. You could have spent a bit more time talking about the final position. Congrats on the win though!
Thanks for this comment!! I love it! Yes I totally agree, city quality is a huge factor in placing as well - for instance I didn’t have very good city quality on any of my 4 settles, whereas a city for white on the 6-4-10 is killer! I think in fourth position, there’s just generally less high-city-quality spots left, so it’s sometimes better to focus on transforming your economy on the ground rather than building up And Yes I wish this game was recorded so I could recall more of the key moments! Started trying to turn it into content but lack of memory of cards, trades, blocks would’ve left a lot to be desired still imo
Ah, my bad, I assumed you had recorded the game in some way and I was curious about the final standings. It's a pity we don’t have an easy way of notating Settlers a la Chess to keep records of games like this. Sometimes expanding is the right choice alright and obviously was the right choice for you here. Whilst I would answer "no" to the video title question there’s no doubt this is a tough board for fourth place. There is no equalising position to be found. Instead, you will have to place and play your way into an equal position which means you can’t miss a trick as the game develops. Congrats again on the win from the position and the great presentation as always.
@@HakunaMatataCatan I think first glance I take 3,4,11 and 5,9,10 as well but look further it just loses. You are not as strong as white for army and you will be weaker against orange for road once they double the 4 and share the 10.
4,3,11 road down, then 3,5,10 pointing up. With good luck red does not get a road on their first turn so you can plow them to the 6 3. I expect the 2,5,8 to be open so would expand there next. If it works it would be a good brick trading port strategy
Just glancing at the board when you pose the "where to settle 4th and 5th" 10-11-3 point right and 9510 point towards 5-4 3:1 port seem like the most natural. The biggest issue with that, is that both immediate settle spots from the 10-11-3 are likely getting snatched. Orange likes 10-9-2, pointing towards 9-6. Red may also like the 10-3-5 which leaves white with 8-2-11 for a free road or 8-2-5 which I personally like less. Being first and going full OWS often times appreciates the free road. I kinda discounted the 11-4-3 as red likely has their eyes on it, and it not significantly improving the production of orange and white, would they elect to take it as their 2nd settle. Honestly, this is a tough board for 4th. My solution: basically table talk to see where everyone else plans to go, offering them expansion spots in lieu of them leaving you some too. Considering all of the above ofc. Edit: I didn't even consider the possibility of the top right portion of the map to be left solely to your devices. Kudos to you man!
I think this was my exact thought process too!! haha Only difference is the several minutes i took repeating "this stinks for fourth" in my head lol Thanks for the comment!
Very tough for 4th... I would pick the 6 9 road left with the 3 4 5 road right. Snatching that 3:1 from red seems doable and negotiating for the 5 8 to be open might be possible aswell. I think red takes 9 5 10 as 2nd settle and orange the 8 11 2. You'd have to make some sort of deal with white, however without a 3:1 I do not think white would want to pick the 5 8 second settle, as their 6 ore is very blockable essential to their game. 3 4 11 road right towards the 3 10 11 seems better for white. Maybe you could make some deal to make him pick those spots.
This is definitely what I was going to do this game... but i really thought without the 3:1 or better expansion it would just be me going through the motions this game and hoping to get lucky. thats why i took the riskiest set up possible...plus its more fun this way :)
thanks for the comment! I think we definitely had the same thought process of expanding onto high impact spots - however your suggestion actually seems a bit safer and comes with a port. I like it!
I'm very surprised someone didn't take the 8/5 or 6/9.. I would not have made your choice because of that, although given what was picked after you, it was a good start
yes after placing i really thought id only get one of the expansions, i was fortunate to get both but prepared to make whatever deals necessary to try to get both :)
I noticed in the beginning that you have a copy of Settlers of Zarahemla. How did you end up with it? Lol. And why did you bother to pack it with the Catans?
You are measuring production based on two future expansion spots.. But what you are not calculating is the production if someone is upgrading to a city first before going to a settlement (which anyone will do if he has strong ore wheat sheep sertup).. In my opinion getting a city is always more important than getting a settlement hence the importance of starting with a strong ore/wheat production points
Hey Mrad! Totally agree! I shouldve been more clear, that these calculations are sometimes necessary for FOURTH position to do, because they normally dont have the "best" or "strongest" first city spot just due to the other 3 players picking first. This is why I think its sometimes more important for 4th to prioritize expansion spots rather than relying on citying up
is there anyway to make setups to Catan boards online? Like I enjoy making pretend maps and moving the tiles around with my physical copy but how would I that on my computer? any ideas anyone?
oof I really dont like the placements the people did after you. You got really lucky there with red placements and people locking themselves into low expansion areas. You did mind game red into doing what you want so not all luck just like with everything in Catan. People calling it a luck game just don't mind game and talk much.
I like in person over online play myself as I have issues tracking cards in online play for some reason and mind gaming is a lot harder when online. discord helps but its still harder to explain things or do little tricks you can do just in person.
Bro, this is your best video to date!
Exceptionally useful tips, top tier prospective analysis, and vividly clear editing make this easy to watch and absorb.
I'll be cheering you on at worlds one day!!!
Thank you hero! It’s all thanks to your content that I got hooked 🙂
Amazing analysis and very difficult position! Well done man.
Thanks Dylan! :)
Pause 0:32. Yeah super tough spot placing 4th here. My initial thought is to place 4-3-11 first and point your road towards the 10-3-11. Then place the 5-9-10 2nd and point your road towards the 5-4, contesting Orange for that spot and the 3-1 port. It's kind've risky, but the reason I'd do this is because the person most likely to take the 10-3-11 as their 2nd spot is Orange, but if they do that now they'd then be giving up a spot with a free road to cut you off to the 5-4. I also think the 6-9 ore is just better for Orange anyways. If they take a spot with a free road and cut you off to the 5-4 (since they'd have a turn before you) then the 10-3-11 should be open for you and you can use your free road to quickly expand there, and this sets you up with a decent road network to connect through the middle and potentially get longest road this game, as well as having all 5 resources. The 11-ore is the weakest resource spot, but you'll double up settlements on it quickly and get 2 ore every time it rolls, and it should be unblocked by the robber for the most part. I suppose there is the small risk that White takes the 10-3-11 though too as their 2nd settlement just to block you off, and play all ore-wheat-sheep and double up on the 10-sheep. I don't like this setup much for White (especially if someone else starts on the 6-9 ore) because it leaves them pretty boxed in the middle with no road production, and if someone takes away their 3-1 port, they'll have a very tough time winning. If also makes their 10-sheep a robber target by doubling up on it, and if someone shares the 6-ore with them, that will also become a huge target for the robber. But if White does take the 10-3-11 and Orange cuts you off to the 5-4, your game is pretty much done. However in the 4th position in a tough spot, you may wanna take that chance to get a strong winning setup. Another safer option I thought of is to place the first settlement on the 6-9 Ore and point your road left to the 3-1 port, and your 2nd settlement on the 5-9-10 still but point your road left away from Orange, not contesting them for their 3-1 port and instead trying to take away White's 3-1 port with your free road. But this setup gives you no wheat, and doesn't really leave you in a great position to get either road or army this game. Maybe longest road if you can expand left on the bottom of the island to the 6-brick area, and loop around there, but your first expansion settlement would have to be on the 3-1 port as fast as possible, and it might be slow getting to the 6-brick after that, needing 2 roads and a settlement. It may not be worth the effort, instead just trying to upgrade your 2 initial spots and/or buy dev cards with your 3-1 port and good production. Either way it's a safe playable setup, and your game won't be ended instantly by your opponents 2nd initial settlements. I'm super curious to see what you end up doing now.
Great insight and ideas. Yeah I like your idea of expanding to the better spots on this board and ignoring the ports. I also don't think the 10-3-11 is the best pick for Red, just like I didn't think it was the best for Orange or White, but since in a live game you were able to nudge them on to that spot, it worked out really well for you. It's much different placing on boards in live games than in online games with little or no table talk.
@@Catanimal720 I love your comments! I really like your idea of putting pressure on two different spots - i think it would work out where you get one or the other and can make a game out of it. Definitely a really tricky spot in 4th that requires some sort of competitive advantage through expansions rather than initial settles
My favourite Catan RUclipsr is back! I am a newcomer to Catan and want to know where my first settlement should go! What would be your top 10-15 tips?
I heard from a bird that davbav is a grandmaster👀
Either way always remember: PREP OTC
Production
Resources
Expansions
Ports
Outs
Trading Partners
Competition
5,9,10 and 4,3,11 with 4 wheat wood port expansion spot and the option of plowing red or orange to the brick or 3:1 port. Or you can do 3,5,10 with the 10,9,2 and expansion spots to the 9,11, the 10,3,11, the 2,8,5, and the 5,8. I think both options are great. The second placement seems better with the expansion spots and all 5 resources, however the 4,3,11 and the 5,9,10 will available to others. Overall, I think the second placement is better.
Ez predicts, also I predict white to go on 5,9,10 orange to go on the 6,9, and red to go on 10,11,3.
Glad this worked out for you! Very intuitive and straight forward understanding. Thanks for the tips!
Thanks for the commment! I'm glad you enjoyed it :)
Your video editing and content is top-notch. Commenting for Al.
Thanks Peter!! I really appreciate it 🙂
hell yeah dude here because of the producer of TAFS.
If you take the 5,9,10 thinking about plowing orange, what are the chances that he takes another wood brick settlement though? I feel like it would compromise his game quite a lot. By the way, amazing video, you went in depth to explain your reasonning!
Definitely something I wondered myself! But I put myself in oranges shoes, and think 8-11-2 is a fine spot for them to take, considering the 5-4 expansion and the 9-11 expansion
Amazing analysis man, thanks for sharing! I never would've picked those but I'm a big fan of the 'my setup is so scuffed I'll never get robbed' idea
haha its definitely a fun strat to play :) Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for the comment!
Excellent video, so much info. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for commenting! Im glad you enjoyed it!
Great stuff!
Thank you Jana!
OMG I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN. AMAZING VIDEO AS ALWAYS. NEED MORE. - KellyC
You’re the man Kelly C!
Analysing production after the second settlement spot is a good suggestion but you also need to consider production after citying up. White will probably city up before expanding which will increase their production dramatically in the early stages. In fact, I’m surprised white didn’t do better from this position though it’s unclear how well your opponents did at all. You could have spent a bit more time talking about the final position. Congrats on the win though!
Thanks for this comment!! I love it! Yes I totally agree, city quality is a huge factor in placing as well - for instance I didn’t have very good city quality on any of my 4 settles, whereas a city for white on the 6-4-10 is killer!
I think in fourth position, there’s just generally less high-city-quality spots left, so it’s sometimes better to focus on transforming your economy on the ground rather than building up
And Yes I wish this game was recorded so I could recall more of the key moments! Started trying to turn it into content but lack of memory of cards, trades, blocks would’ve left a lot to be desired still imo
Ah, my bad, I assumed you had recorded the game in some way and I was curious about the final standings. It's a pity we don’t have an easy way of notating Settlers a la Chess to keep records of games like this. Sometimes expanding is the right choice alright and obviously was the right choice for you here.
Whilst I would answer "no" to the video title question there’s no doubt this is a tough board for fourth place. There is no equalising position to be found. Instead, you will have to place and play your way into an equal position which means you can’t miss a trick as the game develops. Congrats again on the win from the position and the great presentation as always.
I think I do the 3,4,11 and 5,9,10.. pretty gross though
That's exactly what i was going to do until I decided to YOLO it haha
@@HakunaMatataCatan hey, pretty goated expansion spots were left open for you in the end
I think I am in the same boat. I hope I would have seen the expansion spots of the other set up though
@@HakunaMatataCatan I think first glance I take 3,4,11 and 5,9,10 as well but look further it just loses. You are not as strong as white for army and you will be weaker against orange for road once they double the 4 and share the 10.
@@robertwooley87 this was my fear as well!
4,3,11 road down, then 3,5,10 pointing up. With good luck red does not get a road on their first turn so you can plow them to the 6 3. I expect the 2,5,8 to be open so would expand there next. If it works it would be a good brick trading port strategy
I like this idea!! Thanks for the comment!
Great video!
Thanks Ioana!! Im glad you enjoyed it!
Just glancing at the board when you pose the "where to settle 4th and 5th" 10-11-3 point right and 9510 point towards 5-4 3:1 port seem like the most natural.
The biggest issue with that, is that both immediate settle spots from the 10-11-3 are likely getting snatched.
Orange likes 10-9-2, pointing towards 9-6. Red may also like the 10-3-5 which leaves white with 8-2-11 for a free road or 8-2-5 which I personally like less. Being first and going full OWS often times appreciates the free road.
I kinda discounted the 11-4-3 as red likely has their eyes on it, and it not significantly improving the production of orange and white, would they elect to take it as their 2nd settle. Honestly, this is a tough board for 4th.
My solution: basically table talk to see where everyone else plans to go, offering them expansion spots in lieu of them leaving you some too. Considering all of the above ofc.
Edit: I didn't even consider the possibility of the top right portion of the map to be left solely to your devices. Kudos to you man!
I think this was my exact thought process too!! haha Only difference is the several minutes i took repeating "this stinks for fourth" in my head lol
Thanks for the comment!
this is extremely tricky. I would go 3-5-10+5-9-10 go to 3:1 port + 5-8 expansion and start with road+wheat and pray xd
I like this too! :)
Very tough for 4th... I would pick the 6 9 road left with the 3 4 5 road right. Snatching that 3:1 from red seems doable and negotiating for the 5 8 to be open might be possible aswell.
I think red takes 9 5 10 as 2nd settle and orange the 8 11 2. You'd have to make some sort of deal with white, however without a 3:1 I do not think white would want to pick the 5 8 second settle, as their 6 ore is very blockable essential to their game. 3 4 11 road right towards the 3 10 11 seems better for white. Maybe you could make some deal to make him pick those spots.
Love the analysis! All good points and ideas!
I would probably go to the 3,4,11 and 5,9,10. It has every resource covered... but dont know if you can really play that to win...
This is definitely what I was going to do this game... but i really thought without the 3:1 or better expansion it would just be me going through the motions this game and hoping to get lucky.
thats why i took the riskiest set up possible...plus its more fun this way :)
Very nice. In online mode, nearly impossible to come up with these ideas if there is a tight time limit, but that was clever. Gg!
I have timed out online much more than id like to admit! LOL
Great stuff man!
Thanks Treeck!!
11 8 2 point towards the ore and second 3 5 10 going towards the 8 wheat . looks weak to start but once u get the 8 wheat and 9 ore its gg
thanks for the comment! I think we definitely had the same thought process of expanding onto high impact spots - however your suggestion actually seems a bit safer and comes with a port. I like it!
I'm very surprised someone didn't take the 8/5 or 6/9.. I would not have made your choice because of that, although given what was picked after you, it was a good start
yes after placing i really thought id only get one of the expansions, i was fortunate to get both but prepared to make whatever deals necessary to try to get both :)
HAKUNA HAS A RUclips CHANNEL?! where have i been?? (camdaddyog from dyl's chat💁♀️)
Hey camdaddyog! Glad you found me :D thanks for the comment!
like before watching!
K0j!!!! Thanks for the love and support! :)
I noticed in the beginning that you have a copy of Settlers of Zarahemla. How did you end up with it? Lol. And why did you bother to pack it with the Catans?
Hey Jordan! good eye!
I bought an unopened copy on ebay. Snuck it in as a sneak peak for a video to come :)
You are measuring production based on two future expansion spots.. But what you are not calculating is the production if someone is upgrading to a city first before going to a settlement (which anyone will do if he has strong ore wheat sheep sertup).. In my opinion getting a city is always more important than getting a settlement hence the importance of starting with a strong ore/wheat production points
Hey Mrad! Totally agree! I shouldve been more clear, that these calculations are sometimes necessary for FOURTH position to do, because they normally dont have the "best" or "strongest" first city spot just due to the other 3 players picking first. This is why I think its sometimes more important for 4th to prioritize expansion spots rather than relying on citying up
Good editing
Thanks Mohammad!!
Is the summary of this tournament: "I won because my opponnent played like shenko!"?
But congrats MATATA
hahahahahaha
is there anyway to make setups to Catan boards online? Like I enjoy making pretend maps and moving the tiles around with my physical copy but how would I that on my computer? any ideas anyone?
Check out twosheep.io/ board generator!
You say being on 9, 5, 10, 8, and 12 makes your setup only on four numbers. It's on 17 of the possible 30.
New Sub!
Thank you for subbing! More to come!! :)
wtf....just a question - damn, how much IQ do you have, man?) i bet this is must be ez over 140)
hahahahaha i like to look at it as the placements are so dumb that it comes across as genius XD
Audio sounds super weird
Oh no! Will have to look into it and fix for future videos. Thanks for letting me know!
oof I really dont like the placements the people did after you. You got really lucky there with red placements and people locking themselves into low expansion areas. You did mind game red into doing what you want so not all luck just like with everything in Catan. People calling it a luck game just don't mind game and talk much.
I like in person over online play myself as I have issues tracking cards in online play for some reason and mind gaming is a lot harder when online. discord helps but its still harder to explain things or do little tricks you can do just in person.