The game begins
Andrew Looney vs John Cooper
Looneycon exhibition team game July 22, 2016
Four of the first attendees to volunteer were put up as potential teammates.
Cooper won the coin toss for first team pick,
so Looney got the first move in the match.
Cooper selected Joshua Kronengold and Joshua Denmeade as teammates.
Looney's teammates were Dayle Hodge and Leila Zucker.
Ordinary sudden death time control was used.
Each team began with 25 minutes on the game clock.
Andy chooses the opening he was known for at the time. John's choice to start with a blue ship isn't something most players prefer in my experience.
So far, the game is a pretty normal bank fight. Rather than blocking Andy's b3 build with a trade, John lets him build and then triggers a catastrophe. I think this leaves Andy with a slight advantage because he has more ships of more colors, the yellow advantage, and the initiative.
Rather than joining the blue economy late, I think Andy's team might have been better off pressing their yellow advantage by spreading out their yellow ships and building more.
John forces Andy to get a red ship at an inconvenient time. Andy trades away his only blue in Pepperland, which slightly decreases his ability to build and diversify.
I'm usually in favor of building all the available yellow, but I think including a b3 in this factory build might have been better.
John diversifies his invasion fleet so Andy can't defend with a simple blue catastrophe. Andy's team needs to prepare for the direct assault.
Andy's team seems to have underestimated the invasion threat. John's team wins.
