1 v 1 games are over as soon as someone gets AI Central

[FrankJones]

It's not even the best science draw card

oh?

Let's examine the science draw cards:
AI central, 24 MC to buy and play, requires a one time reduction of energy and 3 science tags.
Inventor's Guild: 12 MC to buy and play, then 3 MC to buy the one card you get to look at.
Restricted Area: Variable cost depending on how many oceans you can put the tile next to, but still, once played, you see one card and need to pay 2 MC for it.
Development center: Costs 14 to buy and play, requires one energy production and expenditure, can be ruined by energy tapping or consortium, gives one card per gen.

How exactly is AI central not the best one? Yes, it's more difficult to play, but once played, its effect is miles ahead of the others.

[Corbz]

It's not even the best science draw card

oh?

Let's examine the science draw cards:
AI central, 24 MC to buy and play, requires a one time reduction of energy and 3 science tags.
Inventor's Guild: 12 MC to buy and play, then 3 MC to buy the one card you get to look at.
Restricted Area: Variable cost depending on how many oceans you can put the tile next to, but still, once played, you see one card and need to pay 2 MC for it.
Development center: Costs 14 to buy and play, requires one energy production and expenditure, can be ruined by energy tapping or consortium, gives one card per gen.

How exactly is AI central not the best one? Yes, it's more difficult to play, but once played, its effect is miles ahead of the others.

The answer is Mars U

[FrankJones]

The answer is Mars U

ah! I do love that card.

[Corbz]

The answer is Mars U

ah! I do love that card.

It definitely is a good one!

[rambling_coherently]

Shrug, AI is great, but so are many other cards. A lot of people overextend to play AI and end up with card draw that they can't support, because the rest of their engine blows

If you got unlucky with the cards you got, best you can do is play another game. Luck evens out in the end, it's not like Thoth, Kulikk, Fireblaster or other top players are consistently more lucky than everyone else. They're just really, really good.

[FrankJones]

^^

Exactly; in the long run, luck is likely to come close to evening out (Though the "long run" in this game may take a while, as is the case with any game with random card draws).

From what I've seen in forum threads here, the top players always have a clear plan, they draft well, can adapt situationally, and play efficient cards. Among other things. And sometimes, that won't be enough to win. But, one does not need to win every game to be 700. A poker player doesn't need to win every hand either. But the poker player who gets his or her chips in with the best odds and makes the highest EV plays will win in the long run.

I feel silly for forgetting about Mars University - granted, I was thinking only of the literal "card draws" that I listed, but obviously Mars U is a card draw, and, I used to tell my friend whom I play OTB in real life that Mars U was my second favorite card.

I like to try to get cards from places other than the draft (I'm sure most or all to players do too), so I tend to have spare cards ready to use with Mars University.

[ArchDevious]

I'm 600. Don't know if that counts as a top player, but I feel I can hold my own versus anyone besides ThoththeRaven. I was assuming you still had to dig for the 3 science tags and 1 power; thats 24 +11+ 30something for 3 sci card buys and plays, say 65ish mc? Geng 3 before you found tag #3? If you get to choose your corp plus several specific extra cards, then so do I. I get Ecoline, GIA, IH, NRA, etc. I easily grab gardener and terraformer. Not too much a reach to assume I get all three milestones and landlord fund. Game ends gen 8 so did those 10 extra card really swing hard enough?

[FrankJones]

a1v1 game ending in gen 8?

[brh2113]

I've had quite a few 1v1 games end gen 7, even. And countless in gen 8.

To the OP: as you get better and play higher level games, people terraform more efficiently, which means the game goes faster, which means AI is substantially less strong. If your games are going to gen 12+ then yeah AI is likely the nuts, but if you terraform faster it's not nearly as incredible and you'd probably rather have Mars U since it starts providing benefits so much faster.

[FrankJones]

I've had quite a few 1v1 games end gen 7, even. And countless in gen 8.

To the OP: as you get better and play higher level games, people terraform more efficiently, which means the game goes faster, which means AI is substantially less strong. If your games are going to gen 12+ then yeah AI is likely the nuts, but if you terraform faster it's not nearly as incredible and you'd probably rather have Mars U since it starts providing benefits so much faster.

I don't even think I have ever seen 9. But most of my games were without preludes and colonies.
Without those, the games are not ending in 7-8 generations, are they?