| Player 1 |
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#player1 Michael_Fagen Michael Fagen
#player2 Joshua_Sokol Joshua Sokol
>Michael_Fagen: ??ADIOT 8D DIATOms +66 66
>Joshua_Sokol: AEGGOTT D3 TOGGE. +18 18
>Michael_Fagen: EEGIPQU 5D .LYCENIA +106 172
>Michael_Fagen: EEGIPQU -- -106 66
>Joshua_Sokol: AADISTT C2 DITA +19 37
#note Do I block (s)ALIENCY here? I didn't think it was good, but it is. This isn't great because it gives him easy 24 points with nice CEILN leave, so maybe I play this at 7F.
>Michael_Fagen: ACEILNY E4 YA +24 90
#note oh he also has (m)YCELIAN. If I played DITA atop DIATOMS he could just play CAY C2 for 25 and he has 9G ANY for 24 anyway. I think I had to play DITA unless I wanted to play 6B TA(G) or something crazy desperate like that. It's better to play YE. ACILN is a better leave. Interesting.
>Joshua_Sokol: AABIOST 7G ABO +16 53
#note Figured it made sense to block here as those floaters are way more useful to him than they are for me, and he seemed to have something ready to go.
>Michael_Fagen: CEILNV B1 VIN +21 111
#note Turns out that unless he had VI(O)LENCE I was blocking nothing. He couldn't have had an A because of his next moves.
>Joshua_Sokol: AIIIQST F2 QIS +39 92
#note this was bad for me, hoping I can catch up here without a bingo.
>Michael_Fagen: CMNOR E7 M.CRON +24 135
>Joshua_Sokol: AIIJSTT D10 AJI +35 127
#note quite a fortuitous draw! Stormy sky looks like it might be clearing up.
>Michael_Fagen: EHLMS F10 MESH +39 174
#note or not.
>Joshua_Sokol: CEISTTW C12 WET +19 146
#note alright time to take a risk. Fishing off the W at 12C wasn't likely enough to work out, and although this takes an A, I need to go with the likelihood that he doesn't have one here. Sims best, right in front of 6I TWICE, a 5 that I constantly fail to see, but saw this time and considered playing it at length. TEW for 3 fewer is not as risky but also not as good for my chances next turn.
>Michael_Fagen: IKLL A3 KILL +17 191
#note Michael said "do you think that play won you the game?"
I relish when Michael is having tile trouble. Especially when my previous play makes that assumption and it turns out to be true.
>Joshua_Sokol: CEFIIST 15A FISC +43 189
#note At this point I am comfortable not going for a bingo with G2 IF and risking failure, and instead trying to take the lead through pure scoring. My biggest worry is that he will counter this with (KILL)ER for an easy 30 and I won't be able to score. I know I'm still not in great shape, so I really did put a whole lot of thought into the very aggressive and strong option of G2 IF, but saving (KILL)IE next turn was the decision-maker for me. The momentum was there.
>Michael_Fagen: OP 14A OP. +23 214
#note yes!
>Joshua_Sokol: BEIORTZ A3 ....ER +30 219
#note ZIT saving KILLIE or KILLER was more points immediately, but now I definitely benefit from taking away the easy 30-point option from Michael and saving the less accessible 40-point option for next turn. Worse comes to worst I still have the Z. Another good draw puts me in the drivers seat. Well, at least, at the edge of the drivers seat.
>Michael_Fagen: AERW 6F WEAR +25 239
#note I make seemingly the right decision again!
>Joshua_Sokol: BFINOTZ 5I FIZ +36 255
#note I was playing a near-perfect game before this point, but regret befell me quite instantly after this play. The three reasons I chose this over my previously locked-in choice of B10 ZIT were pretty simple. 1) My leave was more manageable. FB combo isn't great and I don't want to...
2) create any hooks or overlaps for Michael to utilize. FIZ prevents any overlaps and minimizes underlaps, doesn't take a hook -- playing FOB next turn would do all of those things even if it cleaned up my FB combo excellently...
3) If Michael draws the Y at any point, he can hook WEAR-Y for easy big points and it's a close game so I don't want that. (MESH)Y is the other spot where he can score easily with a Y but I am doubtful that he is confident that MESHY is a valid word, so I almost completely nullified that factor out of the equation.
3.5) getting rid of the P(ROM) hook is something I am (overly) concerned with based on past experience losing in that sort of fashion against Michael. Unlikely bingo with a P would completely break me.
All of that being said, I think I made a good case for my play, but what happens next is clearly Karma reminding me not to play God.
>Michael_Fagen: UUY K3 YU.U +16 255
#note He is able to unload that awful UUY combination and open up another bingo lane that is very difficult to manage. He may have been able to score more and get rid of UUY in 2 or 3 turns, but this is instant karma and it is definitely tilt-inducing. ZIT simulated a few points ahead of FIZ because of my increased scoring potential for the next few turns.
>Joshua_Sokol: BNNOTTU B10 BUT +19 274
#note not only that, out of a 3-tile draw, I duplicated two of my letters and drew a U. Not my best performance. And even though I really wanted to undouble, I tunnelled on playing BUNT in the same spot for only 3 fewer points, putting me back another couple of points. I need to play better than this.
>Michael_Fagen: OX J8 .OX +25 280
>Joshua_Sokol: AENNOTU L6 TONNEAU +68 342
>Michael_Fagen: GR 7L .RG +5 285
>Joshua_Sokol: AEHNOPR L1 HEAP +39 381
#note I finally got my break despite asking for trouble with my duplicated N's. Michael's play doesn't really worry me because the pool is filled with E's. This puts me ahead 96 points and the H is almost never going to complement his 7 letters in a way that brings him closer to victory (if he has RELIS(H)ED he already has RESILED, for example).
Michael needs a big bingo now. He can't wait until next turn because I will block very thoroughly or outrun anything. Not only that, but he needs me to draw like EEEI or EEEL while he draws outs in two spots. His chances here are probably at most 10-15%. Quackle says 5% but he is more likely to have a bingo now than Quackle imagines.
>Michael_Fagen: DEENRSV O1 VENDERS +94 379
#note Step one: hit one of the best possible bingos available
>Joshua_Sokol: ADLLNOR 3I RO..L +18 399
#note Step two: draw outs in two spots. Step 2 failed, game over.
I somehow managed to avoid drawing a single E there. Not sure that's a good thing or a bad thing.
-6 to LAND first. Didn't see that I had LOR to go out as well as RO(Y)AL. Jason was waiting. Pressure no good for Joshie.
>Michael_Fagen: EEEI 11L .E +2 381
#note play (R)EE M7 to block and threaten an out in two. -12
>Joshua_Sokol: ADLN 2H LAD +17 416
#note -1 to 4 different options, (FISC)AL being on of them. Nice. I saw N(O)D(I) J2 but I just played quickly.
>Michael_Fagen: EEI M7 .EE +9 390
>Joshua_Sokol: N 11K N.. +6 422
#note I always come up with the best wrong endgame. +5 in the end.
>Joshua_Sokol: (I) +2 424
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