So, I just had an exchange with EB about how to handicap players in Dominion. The idea is interesting and we approached it from different lines. (EB's premise was how to handicap an experienced player teaching new players.)
EB's approach was to replace Estates with Curses. This gives the better player a -2 pt deduction for every Estate replaced and a slight reduction in the value of his cards if Remodeling is in play. Note, the experienced player's strategy and power curve remains the same though.
My approach was to replace starting Copper with Estates. This gives the better player more points to start, but handicaps their ability to build their deck effectively. I haven't gone through the math, but I think starting 6 copper and 4 estates is a significant impact to the players power curve. Thoughts?
Of course, you could combine the two approaches and replace a starting copper with a curse. That would be a pretty big blow though.
Comments (2)
I don't think there's any reason to handicap on the first play. The beginner has too many options to plan out anything near an optimal strategy.
Perhaps you can try your handicaps after that, but not on the first play.
Agreed new players won't play near optimal to start, but in the next few games after the first, should you handicap and what would you do?
After playing some more, I can see swapping out 2 or 3 estates for curses being a reasonable handicap.