Competitive Azul - Beginner to Master Video Series

[Barberserk]

Yeah no... I wanted to like Azul, it looks pretty visually, but, too much math, and calculations... Also, like Carcassone, it seems to win you have to memorize what tiles are still in the bag. I don't find much fun in that, to start counting the tiles of each color played. In general, it was nice at first but the moment I entered Arena mode, I hit a wall. And yeah, I appreciate the work you guys put in tutorial videos, and 10 pages of instructions etc. here, it is not a small project, well done. I don't have the time for that though. So, Azul is going out of my favorite games list, no more tournaments etc. Loss after loss after loss, it wears me down. Have fun whoever decides to invest the time in this game.

[Priptonite]

I don’t think I’m gonna convince you, but part of what I try to teach is that you can be very successful in this game without much calculation/math. And there is a browser extension for tracking tiles, so you don’t have to memorize those

[Barberserk]

I saw the Extension, yeah, good job on that too. I am already using the BGA extension for dark mode etc, I don't think I want more, just for one game. It's just one of those games, you know, with a very steep learning curve, and luck playing a much smaller role in the end result, so, it's lions vs deer, there is no contest. With hundreds of games on the site, I can just skip this one, yeah.

[Ceaseless]

Yeah no... I wanted to like Azul, it looks pretty visually, but, too much math, and calculations... Also, like Carcassone, it seems to win you have to memorize what tiles are still in the bag. I don't find much fun in that, to start counting the tiles of each color played. In general, it was nice at first but the moment I entered Arena mode, I hit a wall. And yeah, I appreciate the work you guys put in tutorial videos, and 10 pages of instructions etc. here, it is not a small project, well done. I don't have the time for that though. So, Azul is going out of my favorite games list, no more tournaments etc. Loss after loss after loss, it wears me down. Have fun whoever decides to invest the time in this game.

I think you're overstating the depth to which memorization plays a role in this. Unlike Carcassonne, Azul doesn't have special tiles. Obviously everyone should know what the original tiles were, a quick glance at the Rulebook would tell you that much. What's left is tracking what were used, much of which is labelled on the board for everyone to see, leaving a narrow set of tiles that left public view to keep track of. That's if you even want to bother trying to memorize it. Frankly, basic tactics will probably win the day vs most players, just like they do in other games. Memorization is just a tool, as you improve it becomes more important to utilize every tool you can, but when starting out you can get away with just about anything semi-reasonable and do ok.

While I think your view on memory is wildly overstated, I do think Azul is a game that uses calculations, the ability to look ahead on the board and see what each player might do and then to make your move with that in mind is one set of calculations. If that's not something you want to do, then I suspect Azul isn't the game for you.

[Barberserk]

Yeah it's like that, I agree. I just try to avoid games that rely even a little bit on memorization of what's been played, card, tile etc. There are so many games, enough to satisfy everyone, so all good.

[euklid314]

I wanted to say thanks for the video series, Priptonite.

I did watch only 5 or 6 of the first videos when they first came out (a year ago?) and I improved a lot. Since then I kept playing mostly Arena and now I have a crazy winning streak (42 wins with only 2 losses) which brought me to Master level. And that without tile counting (too lazy and I prefer the pure RL-based approach) and still not paying enough attention to avoiding big negatives.

At the moment I am motivated again and watching further videos (part 11 at the moment).

[Priptonite]

You’re very welcome and congrats on Master

[Priptonite]

Azul but I'm not allowed to build a column: https://youtu.be/nbaWcRrCx0k

[Priptonite]

A video where I randomize a restriction for myself before each game

Game 1: Must build column 3
Game 2: Must build column 1
Game 3: Must take from factory if possible
Game 4: Must go for Black color bonus

https://youtu.be/jyxxxGSloGU

[Priptonite]

Couple new videos out, one on why you have to experiment to get better at Azul. One with three games of “guess the elo”.