Competitive Azul - Beginner to Master Video Series

[Priptonite]

Hi all,

When I started playing Azul 3-4 years ago there was very little content available on competitive 1v1 Azul strategy. It took me 3000 games and several years to reach Master, all learning the hard way. Fast-forward to now and there is still not much out there. So I decided to write an Azul guide, wrote a few sections, and realized that it would be much easier to convey my ideas in video format instead.

Inspired by a popular Chess format, I'm making a video series in which I play from Beginner (0 ELO) to Master (700 ELO) on a new account and provide commentary for every single game along the way. The goal is to get an idea for what common mistakes our opponents are making at each level and how to punish them, and of course gain insight into how I think about my plays. My goal is to make Azul "easier", and show that you don't need to be deeply calculating options and looking 10 moves ahead to be able to reach Master. We will simply look to improve our position while hurting our opponent's. I will probably make mistakes in these videos, I will lose games I shouldn't. And that might make you say "why am I listening to this guy?" But it should also make you realize you don't need to be perfect to achieve your Azul goals.

I just posted the first video and would love your feedback. This one is quite long because I set up the premise for the series and touch on some initial strategy ideas, but the goal going forward will just be to play 2-3 games per episode. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4KViaIsqIU

[Chutch]

Prip has been my coach for the past several months. My first game against him, I was at 252. He's been working with me on game reviews, unranked matches, and gameplay analysis. I'm currently at 637 (highest Elo 647). I'm on my way to a master ranking, and I owe much of that to Prip, teaching me the fuller strategies of Azul. Now, I get to do the same with players who are ranked lower and desire to play at a more competitive level. Excited to see this series develop.

Thanks, Prip!

[Effgee]

This is fantastic, thanks so much for sharing your wisdom and best practices on this great game!
Will be keeping a very close watch on all future video releases!

[Priptonite]

Watching it back I think my plays at the end of round 4 in game 1 were kind of silly. I don’t think forcing my opponent to take 3 red on row 1 was worth giving up the points of row 3 yellow and row 4 blue. Should’ve been able to lock those in.

[Impeccable Nonsense]

As much as I enjoy listening to your discussion of strategy, something about you masquerading as a novice and curb-stomping unsuspecting players leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Yeah, this can happen when a player from the physical game comes to BGA and plays for the first time--sort of, since people are far more limited in how many "physical" games they can play--but that's not what this is.

[Priptonite]

Yeah I address this point in the video and I’ve been reaching out to my opponents to let them know I’m happy to give back the ELO lost.

[Priptonite]

Episode 3 is live! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dei8QvMN2ck

[daddyotter]

Thank you Prip, this is really great!
Is there any difference in 3 or 4 player strategy?

[Priptonite]

Definitely. I am far from an expert at 3-4 player Azul so take what I say with a grain of salt but some key differences:

- Generally you want to focus more on optimal building of your board, this is because...
- Defensive play is less effective unless it is towards the end of the game and you are only truly competing with 1 opponent. Usually to make a defensive play you sacrifice building, which is fine in 2-player because you are (hopefully) hurting your opponent more than yourself. But in 3-4 player your additional opponents may not be impacted by your defensive play. So maybe you get an edge on one opponent but your other opponents will get an edge on you. So often it's best to try to maximize your own score.
- Be extra careful about how many turns are remaining. In 2-player it's generally easy to calculate how many turns you'll have left in a round. But in 3-4 player you could end up not having any plays left if you aren't careful and accidentally leave a row open.

I'm sure other folks with more 3-4 player experience could add more.

[DoctorFianchetto]

I just finished your first video, great content! Your explanations and examples are exemplary and I'm learning a lot.

One thing I noticed about your play is that your middle row tends to be neglected, which I find interesting because the limited wisdom I have encountered is to fill the top three rows as much as possible. However you focus more on the top two rows and the bottom two rows.