5/3/19 - Root Postgame Report

After a pretty long hiatus and lots of wedding planning, Danielle and I had a moment to sit down and play Root with some friends last night. Thankfully, we had not forgotten all the rule interactions in the interim.

The Players

Megan - The Riverfolk Company
Dave - The Eeyrie
Daniel - The Marquise de Cat
Hubert - The Vagabond (Arbiter)
Danielle - The Lizard Cult

I pulled the position left of Megan, which was super advantageous to my early game as I got first pick of the cards she drew. Danielle, meanwhile, struggled without any bird cards and no way to acquire acolytes.

This was probably the best early game the Eeyrie has ever had, getting out to 5 Roosts by Turn 4. The Lizards starting in the lower right hand corner. While in practice this doesn't lead to any less interaction between the Eeyrie and the Cult, it felt more advantageous to the Birds than them starting in the top left. Megan also had an explosive start on the Otters, and had most of her trade posts out by this point.

My life flashed before my eyes as Favor of the Foxes appeared in her hand, which could have honestly wiped me off the board. Thankfully, Megan did not make a play with it, and I was able to buy it and wipe out some of her Otters with it and bring her more under control. Whereas last game I was able to run away with Otters partially because people never stopped buying my services and funded my late game, I felt like Daniel and I (Megan's primary customers) had a pretty good grasp on when to stop purchasing from her, and Megan hit a wall hard as far as point gains in the late game.

With Favor of the Foxes under my belt, three fox clearings under my control, and a Fox domination card in my hand, I made my play on turn 5 to try for the early win. Despite having two ambush cards good to go, Daniel was able to muster enough forces to push me off the northwest clearing and essentially end my bid for victory. I made a critical decision to recruit into my home clearing instead of adding two to that clearing, meaning I was only defending with 3 and came up short in the battle that followed. You make a mistake, you pay the price.

Domination cards just seem to be a trap, almost always. I was probably as well positioned as I could have been to do this (maybe one more turn of build up would have been worthwhile), and still came up short. If I'd waited another turn though, I would have been at 19 points, which doesn't feel super worth it when you can just coast into the win. As it stands I flipped it at 15 points. Domination cards often feel like if you are in a strong enough position to get the win, you are better off just coasting to the win instead off your normal point gain. The Fox domination card definitely feels like the one you go for with the birds though, for future Eeyrie players who might try the same thing. At any rate, Daniel's invasion more or less put an end to my aspirations, (although playing birds when you don't constantly need to get roosts out is actually kinda liberating I must say). On top of this, Danielle began sanctifying all my shit, which was annoying to say the least.

Hubert played a very farmy game to great effect, I don't think I've seen anyone get as many quests as he did this game. His status as the Arbiter alongside picking up an additional sword early meant that nobody wanted to mess with him, or fight in a clearing with him in it. This allowed Hubert to coast to a relatively easy win off of aiding and the quests. He also managed to screw over Daniel by not exploring the ruins in his clearing and seriously gating the Cats's ability to get the last 10 points they needed to win. On the second to last turn, Danielle made a valiant effort to attack Hubert, more perfunctory than anything else. It was a bloodbath. At the end of the day, Hubert's Arbiter had 6 broken items in his sack, but was surrounded by the bodies of 6 dead lizards. Hubert won the next turn.

The Cats still seem to struggle. This felt like an easier game than most for them because of the absence of the WA, and Daniel still ran out of building slots fast. I love the play pattern of the Cats, but it unfortunately often feels like you are playing to limit other players rather than seek your victory condition. You are supposed to be an obstacle for them to overcome. The biggest problem for cats continues to be retaining control of clearings to build in them, with mercenary use basically mandatory at certain points just to be able to construct things.

The Lizard cult continues to struggle mightily, although granted Dani had a rough hand this game. I do think you need to take advantage of the "recruit" anywhere functionality though and pop into clearings all over the board, provoking people to attack you and give you acolytes because you will control the clearing otherwise. Also, the more I think about it, the more I think Domination Cards are basically tailor made for the Lizard Cult. Your ability to pop across the map with ease and control clearings with Gardens makes achieving them so much easier.

We'll have to wait and see if anyone manages to pull that off next game!