this is not a good move. i need to outrun him and score more. i didn't want to empty the bag so he wouldn't plan his outgame, but i may not have a choice here. N1 TAN scores 18 and will help outrun him. i don't think i have many ways to win after TOWEL. -3 #preendgame #strategymedium
ahhh CONVENTED! #visionlarge I also kinda regretted playing FUN, it lets him overlap sometimes when he has MNX tiles. The sim is kinda weird cause it has him opening a lot after FUN, but realistically I think I should play (E)NUF to be more defensive. CO(N)N is super defensive but also blows up my rack. #tacticssmall for ENUF.
This was a very lazy sequence for me. The first thing that crossed my mind after FUG was, hmm, I bet he has QU more than usual after a move like that; but I really should've stopped, taken a second, and realized that he practically always has QU after FUG - he also made setups on me in each of our first two games! Therefore, I should have at the very least considered 12I LITHO, which obviously is gonna do very well against the QU range. This isn't as bad as the next turn, but still probably at least a #strategysmall
Big mistake. I was low on time and did not see that 2B BRAINI(A)C was available in the pool. The best play is L10 (GO)AT by about 30 equity points (I have no idea why Championship Player says it's that much better). 11K (HOO)N is second best making a strong S setup. Other winning plays are stuff like N11 POTT. #strategysaddest
i spent a very long time on this move before finally deciding to give up and try to cut spread. 14I OY is the obvious equity play here, and much of the time it's just met with another big comeback. i was up around 1000 spread and 3 games on the rest of the field, so the only way to lose the tournament is to lose 3 games by a combined 500 spread points. now that it looks like i'm going to get blown out here, i wanted to try to stem the bleeding and keep scoring tiles. #strategysmall
I saw O10 FAKEER as I entered this rack into Quackle. Surprisingly OMA is only about 7 points worse, but that is likely because it keeps FAKEER for next turn. #findingmedium
missed Q(A)NAT in the same spot, which is technically better, but I thought it was unlikely he would be able to overlap on row 11 all the way #findingsmall
worst mistake of my life. i thought SOY closed that part of the board permanently and forgot about the H hook on RAKIS. additionally the leave is so much worse than playing YOU 14F. of course YOU has its own defensive issues, but then maybe YOUSE is an in-between play. SOY is so so so bad and lost me the game. but would YOU be comfortable playing YOU here? -12 #strategylarge
i'm pretty sure i saw EE, and thought keeping STEEN was fine. i don't like Os that much. it's kinda shocking to me that EE sims so much better at 7H, but i guess it also doesn't give back some big pts. yeah, i shoulda done that. -11 #strategylarge
pretty bad miss of AC(T)OR. (FE)M M1 hits bingos with a D, S, U and V and also Quackle wants me to play SCORIA 15A next turn a lot which I will never do, so M1 (FE)M has the best valuation. #findingmedium
I have like 0% chance of winning. With L11 SIEGE at least I can prioritize reaching 300 sometime this century. But, like, it's the case S. I'm feeling greedy. Also I forgot to look on that side of the board. #strategysaddest ? #visionsaddest ALSO #knowledgesad for challenging a 3. May or may not have been a "stop closing down the board for the love of god" challenge, but my lips are sealed
I didn't see any wins here and went for tricks. My opponent has about 2 minutes left and I thought if I created some distraction she might miss A1 METALIZ(E) or A1 MELANIZ(E) or have mistracked and block the N column. That hits 2/8 and I need my opponent to make a mistake, but J10 ZO wins 1/8 when I draw the G, threatening A2 MILEAG(E) and L6 MILEAGE, so that seems like a better way to go. #endgamesaddest
i saw ELVEN and i was positive it wasn't good, or at least just Collins. did they add it in 2014 or 2018? i should have played it anyway since it's my only win right? i was 2-5 and had to leave for dinner and was not thinking straight. #endgamelarge
i'm too chicken to leave that lane open too much longer. i don't know, i always struggle to call these big mistakes because i purposely chose to block a lane given his last play. i suppose i should look at the pool, he may be consonant heavy after his last play VOE so maybe i should just play FONTAL for 14 more and take consonants. if he bingoes after AFOOT, i didn't score enough to outrun it. AFOOT only cuts his avg score by 1.5. -7.5 #strategymedium
The last time I had an S, the only way I can get out of the bad rack was to score decently with it. I would have only scored so many more with it now that I didn't feel that it was worth it. 2J GLUMS I suppose would have been OK, I think I allowed emotions to influence this move too much. #strategymedium
Would've been funny if I played my other choice of 2B URP because then I could say "Your play: URP" - I somehow missed 2D PRURIENT. Pretty lazy. #findinglarge
7F GOEL# is the clear best play, as it preserves the closed position and keeps the best possible leave, including an S to hook onto AUA# or LUV. #strategymedium
The only win is fishing the U or OU with OE in the bag to draw the unblockable G2 TENAIL(L)O(N) which is notable but difficult to spot. #endgamesaddest
A8 WEiGElI(A)/A8 WEIGEli(A) ties after B2 HIPLINE and loses to 4C ELENCHI. I undercounted my score by 1 point so I thought B2 HIPLINE would lose. There are 4 winning plays here. This is one of them, which is better than the also winning B2 WEIGhEd but worse than B2 pIGWEEd. The best play is the savage K9 (OR)G, which I'm guessing always bingos next turn because Championship Player is giving it 40 more points of valuation than B2 pIGWEEd. #ENDGAMESADDEST
time ticking down, tough endgame, but it's lost. The best I have is K10 EX(P)IRE or just AH O8. I was trying to force an error and also running out of time, but it could come at a cost. -30 #endgamelarge
why does she have to have another P? PAS there was great. this move is not so good. i was nervous as i usually am in a game like this where my opponent keeps bingoing and i have to play perfectly to win, so somehow i thought i had the last two Ss. but since there is an unseen S, that makes taking the QUODS hook important, and doing so with O1 ANSA looks pretty good here. i still don't like how closed the board is though; my bingo % after ANSA is abysmal, and i kill a good scoring lane for only 30.. idk. -5.5 #strategymedium #focus
Well, I like to think that if I had had to see it, I would've spotted F1 PEACE, which Dave saw but correctly forced me to see by blocking the much easier L1 EALE; but EA and EE at 11J both get the job done. I must have been tired. #endgamelarge
Even after an exchange 6, I think 10E LIE would have been a little better because even though I set up EWER and the EDIT hooks, L10E LIE sets up both my D and my R and Brandon averages about 3 less next turn. #strategysmall
I didn't consider I5 TUG, which looks really solid. Although I am favoured on a board with more options cause of my powerful leave, TUG I5 totallly obliterates the board, to the point where I just get too much out of it immediately to forgo. #findingsmall
G5 G(U)ANO ugh #endgamelarge
and he shorted me 4 points from his rack even though I knew it. I was rattled after this game. Matt was very much a destabilizing force.
I didn't see DICTY in this spot, and it's probably better to ditch my T here despite that seeming counterintuitive at first because keeping a V usually won't get along nicely with a hugh consonant:vowel imbalance. #findingmedium
Yea, the V is bad enough that 4 points isn't quite worth it to do this over L1 DRAV(E). ADM is that much more flexible than AV is on this board. #strategysmall
I have no idea what to do here and none of Quackle's suggestions stand out. I figured I had to try to block D(JIN) as much as possible. Maybe I need to just not even try to block and give myself a line with 4D TE. Marking as #strategylarge for now. I await your hatemail.
J2 ROT is actually a little better because it takes more hooks, as annoying as it is to keep the U. i actually have a decent shot at winning with it (well, if he doesn't have the F, which he likely does after TELIA because he's Will) i could also consider K3 O(U)R. -5 #tacticsmedium