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#player1 Jackson_Smylie Jackson Smylie
#player2 Joshua_Sokol Joshua Sokol
>Jackson_Smylie: AEIKNTY H4 KYANITE +88 88
#note Sparks fly in this final game for second place!
>Joshua_Sokol: ?ACEISW 4E WAC.IESt +82 82
#note I noticed WISEACRE first, oddly enough. I'm an underdog here despite an 82-point comeback, so it would seem wiser to play this over the other option, WIC(K)ApES. This puts an S in a very dangerous position on the board, which gives me more options to get ahead in the future. However, it's not so important to do this here. One shouldn't sacrifice points to put the S there, for example. The WIC(K)ApES line is strong in its own way, since the board is already going to be wide open for many turns to come. But the excitement is there!
>Jackson_Smylie: ADEEINS 11E ANISEED +97 185
#note Josh is down 100 and now needs to keep the board alive. vertical plays or mid-board horizontal plays will really close the board for bingoes, Josh has to watch for exhaustion
>Joshua_Sokol: EGOOTUX 5D GOX +41 123
#note And here Josh thought that he could not respond! OXTONGUE plays through either open N! It's clearly correct to play it vertically however, so as not to create such a huge spot on row 8 that is accessible with a wide range of racks, and also to keep more space and lines open for a comeback. Being down 30+ on a board like this can be extremely difficult to surmount.
>Jackson_Smylie: AEOQRTT 3C QAT +30 215
#note Had OXTO(N)GUE been played at F7, I would come back with TORQ(U)ATE for 88!
>Joshua_Sokol: BENOOTU 10J BOO +24 147
#note I laid BUTEO 10J down, realized UD* was not a good thing, and switched to BOO. BOUTON for 29 was an option that was not fully considered, however it does lend itself to very high scores on average for Jackson, and therefore might not be all that wise. BOUT was also an option in the same spot. I didn't like this, since I don't hold an S, and the S-hook BOUT creates will not be a game-changer. If Jackson can use the S hook to his advantage, it's just about game over.
>Jackson_Smylie: DEEORRT 12I REDO +22 237
#note This was a very challenging decision of how much to play defense. I6 RODE leaves the M column and 12 rows as immediate bingo threats (the latter being harder to hit) but also doesn't close the board long term: Josh can make a play at 12a or on the top of the board to open further, and then I'll wish I didn't sacrifice points to play RODE.
>Joshua_Sokol: CELNTUU 12A UNCUTE +22 169
#note This position was very tough. Candidate options are as follows. M11 UNCUT for 20 points, which leaves all of the right side of the board pretty well open for a while. It creates a big scoring spot for Jackson, but my options next turn are so much better whereas it's not that much better for Jackson. He can make a slightly defensive play to the T or U in UNCUT, or completely ignore the spot and score elsewhere. He seems to have tiles conducive to utilizing the T pretty well.
>Jackson_Smylie: EGMRRST A8 TERG.M +27 264
#note J3 G(E)RM is an option to consider, but there is no need to risk whiffing on a bingo draw and having to deal with the board after Josh hits his own bingo with only a small lead.
>Joshua_Sokol: FHJLMOO K2 JO.H +28 197
#note This was not a friendly rack to be down 80 points with, but at least there are OK options that unload the J. 13L MOJO does a good job of forking the board in my favour, however it gives far too much back. He will easily score 30+ and maintain his lead, leaving me with the lane he created on row 14, which opens another triple word score for Jackson to suck the points out of. Given this, MOJO is probably not the right play. JO(S)H and (S)HOJO play through the S in WACKIEST, and while SHOJO leaves better, it creates the same problem as MOJO does, which is to create a big spot to score with. Not only that, but it also clogs the board inwards, blocking much of the ANIT in KYANITE, and leaves me prone to consonant-heavy draws. However, SHOJO creates an opportunity to reopen the right part of the board. If a play occurs on row 8, I will have access to columns N and O and will also be able to open the other corners of the board that are currently unavailable. A more subtle way to open some corners is by playing JO(S)H, as a play through the J can then occur later on, forking row 1 and column O. JOSH also preserves the NIT in KYANITES and prevents vertical plays from occurring on the J,K,L that do exactly what SHOJO does to the board.
>Jackson_Smylie: DELRSVW 8G W.LDER +11 275
#note I3 V(I)EW is definitely worth considering - its main two drawbacks are that it doesn't block the M column or 8 row and that it holds 4 consonants, which could be disastrous if I draw three more. The upside to VIEW is that it scores 24 points, extending my lead to over a bingo.
>Joshua_Sokol: AFILMOO 9L OF +12 209
#note I need to be proactive here now that the board has almost no bingo lanes - gotta open a new lane and leave the C column since he needs to have 2 lanes open at a time. If I leave just one lane open, Jackson will block that lane and I'll be left playing cat and mouse, hoping he can't block a potential new lane. OF is a fish for AI, A?, or I? for MAIOLI(C)A at C6. OF is a great distraction since Jackson will be more likely to address the OFT hook than the C column since the C column is usually harder to hit.
>Jackson_Smylie: INRSTUV N9 TURN +12 287
#note N6 VIRTU is the play. It completely blocks O column bingoes, scores very well, and retains the S. Totally missed it.
>Joshua_Sokol: AAIILMO C6 MAIOLI.A +78 287
#note It worked!
>Jackson_Smylie: AILOSSV O12 OVAL +27 314
#note With the two case Ss, I'm still in a commanding position. AVO is well worth considering - if Josh doesn't have a blank, I'm in good shape because Josh often can't block the setup well, and he will likely sacrifice many points trying to lessen the damage.
>Joshua_Sokol: DFNPPUZ 3J P.UF +23 310
#note ZUPP(A) looks like the play. I have the ability to win without a huge play here, since there are only two remaining A's to go under the Z and hit the triple word. P(O)UF is also a play that begs for an A draw for ZA for 46 at N14. I can likely continue to fish for that A for a few turns. However, it's more important to dump this rack, play one more tile and tie the game up. Therefore ZUPP(A) is the play. F(O)UND in the same spot as P(O)UF also plays off 4 tiles, but loses almost immediately if Jackson has an S, even if I draw an A for ZA. No need to risk that, as the game is now close enough.
>Jackson_Smylie: ABILSST 10E BAL. +20 334
#note This is a huge mistake - I spent a lot of time deliberating between BAL(E) and BLAST 13F - BLAST takes away a lot of great options Josh can have while retaining an S for POUFS - BAL(E) is a play that maximizes my S's value since I leave mailocas and poufs open. I figured with a blank and Z unseen, my chances weren't good enough to play BLAST, and so I needed to extract as much value from my Ss as possible.
>Joshua_Sokol: ?DIINPZ 14J ZInNI. +68 378
#note II? was a draw from the heavens. I'm now possibly a bit better than Jackson in this game, however the last A is becoming a very important tile.
>Jackson_Smylie: AEIRSST 3C ...S +23 357
#note Now my S fish is super strong
>Joshua_Sokol: DEEGPRY F10 ...RGY +14 392
#note Jackson: (H)EDGY wins 20% if I have SATIRE. I cannot have EINRST or AEINST or AINRST or EEINST or EEIRST because I would have a bingo.
>Jackson_Smylie: AEEIRST 15H IRATE +33 390
#note IRATE wins with an H or P draw and seems to be best. E(M) blocks PEH and fishes for an N column bingo, but it only wins with the H draw and ties with the D draw - the other bingo draws (N, P, V) can get outrun with Josh's row 2 blocks.
>Joshua_Sokol: DEEHNPV B4 PEH +31 423
>Jackson_Smylie: EIS 14B SEI +19 409
>Jackson_Smylie: EIS -- -19 390
>Joshua_Sokol: DENV 6G V.NE +9 432
#note 15C ENV(Y), however Josh was out of time
>Jackson_Smylie: EIS N3 SEI +13 403
>Jackson_Smylie: (D) +4 407
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