I think that was by far your best video. You really did a fantastic job! I was quite amazed by the quality of this video. I wonder if you had to do a ton of cutting? It seemed that you didn't have to :) I really like your criterias. That was very cleverly done. You've once broken down how scoring tiles are best in E(>)>D>C>B>A, which I really loved, because it's definitely true and very simple. I wished you had also done the same on utility tiles though, just the other way around. Like this: A>B>C>D>E Another thing I would have liked to see, was saying utility tiles are extremely good in A and B instead of A, B and C. On the other hand I did agree that you've said these utility tiles are much lower in value in D and especially in E. I personally find Phase C to be more of a melting point between utility tiles and points scoring tiles. Their values seem to be quite close to me at this stage. Except of course for some exceptions. Actually, I always think in general that in Phase C all the tiles of all 6 colors are closest in value. So Phase C should usually be the stage with the lowest amount of workers to be spent, because all tiles are quite similar in value, we have already connected the board and we have loads of placement options as well. The 2nd thing I would have loved you to mention was how not all yellow tiles are imho actually 1-to-1 comparable. I see it this way: We have 2 types of yellow tiles in general. 1. Yellow Tiles 2. Black (Market) Yellow Tiles The issue I see with any black market yellow tile, especially early on in the game, is that they often have a (much) higher tempo cost. Even imho quite heavily for utility black market tiles. That's the main reason, why I would especially value Yellow Tile 12 and 14 lower, because we will often have to give up a black market ship, mine or for example another yellow tile, if we want to get that specific tile 12 or 14. So we often don't gain much of an advantage this way or even a disadvantage, if we pick up the wrong black market tile. I think we can gain bigger margins of advantages by getting the correct (yellow) tiles outside the black market. I often would value a ship or sometimes even a mine (much) higher than most yellow tiles early on, because they are actually tempo tiles (as well) and I think do score (much) higher on average (early on), especially concerning the race for color completions, blocking opportunities and that our gained 1st player advantage will weaken most, if not all the opponent's (black market) yellow tiles. Also if there are 2+ similarly powerful tiles in the black market, which is often the case, I would not priorize the black market much, because our opponent can usually only buy one of the tiles effeciently and the standard ship, mine and castle tiles are in much higher demand overall, because they are usually way cheaper. When you've mentioned in your criterias "Getting that yellow tile on the perfect board at the perfect stage", did you mean Phase A for utility tiles and Phase E for scoring tiles? If yes, then I think you've overvalued scoring tiles a bit and undervalued non black market utility tiles a bit. The interesting thing is, that a strong points tile is in most stages quite valuable. That means it will at least rank quite highly pretty much any time it shows up, while a lot of S-Tier utility tiles have imho a (much) higher, but rarer ceiling (especially A, but also B) than (pretty much) any top S-Tier points tile, but have also a much more frequent and lower floor (C, D and especially E). 1: Agree! 2: Pretty high up the S-tier 3: Top 3 in the S-tier 4: 5th in the S-tier 5: Around the bottom of the S-tier. 6 1st Edition: A little higher in the S-tier 6 2nd Edition: Agree! 7: Imho the by far worst tile in the game in a 2 player set-up. The main issue is the high cost of it being a black market tile. However, I think people undervalue it's value near the end of D or in E, if we have a lot of excess silverlings. It can then often still be worth a decent amount of points and costs us only 1 action minus 2 points to place it. 8: 3rd in A-tier 9: 2nd in A-tier 10: Agree! 11: Agree! 12: Around top of A or max around bottom of S. I just think it is too situational, because of often other more important tiles being in the black market. The dream scenario would obv be if it's the only strong tile in the black market in A or B, then it holds most of the time a near top of S value for me, but not so much for the player who has no silverling engine at all. 13: Top 3 in the S-tier 14: Around top of A or max around bottom of S for the same reasons as 12. I like that it is so flexible. It helps with all the actions in the game and it helps tremendously to both prepare for Phase E (3+ Workers preperation), but also whenever you have to place your tiles into very specific numbers in Phase E. That's when worker costs are really high. I think it is overvalued early on and undervalued late on (D) by the player pool. 15 1st Edition: Top 3 in the S-tier 15 2nd Edition: Between Bottom and Mid S-tier 16-23: Agree! 24: Lower Mid S-tier (it is quite often awkward for the 1st player if it shows up before phase E, at times a 0 points tile by itself for one player and a high scoring tile for the other player, the player holding this tile pretty much must get animals, which means very low flexibility. Really horrible tile to show up if the 1st player was pushed into a yellow game. But because this tile shows up often, it's best practise to often play animals at some stage, so that it is at the very least not (that) bad news if that tile shows up, but rather (very) good news for us and rather bad news for the other player) 25: Higher Mid S-tier (it's a guaranteed good-to fantastic scorer with immense flexibility, combo-power and should usually score around 12 points on average) 26 1st Edition: 1st in A-tier. 26 2nd Edition: Just ahead of 25 27: Mid S-tier!? Very high ceiling and extremely low floor. It gives the 1st player with this tile the ability to keep 1st player with just even ships. That means they get a ton of extra mines and strong black market yellow tiles while simultaneously keeping 1st player advantage. It also means less timing needed for placing ships. Just place them earlier if you can to get and steal extra goods. Normally the player who has to wait with placing their ship to ensure 1st player gets way weaker goods. That's a lot of massive deals, because it is a 0 sum game with 2 players. The downside of this tile is it's initial rather slowish tempo. 28: Minimum 4th in the S-tier. This is the only tile I disagree heavily on. It's imho extremely powerful. Especially towards the late game when players usually suffer from a ton of excess silverlings. So that utility tile is still really good to grab near the end of the game! Now these excess silverlings can be used extremely effectively by just exchanging them to workers whenever needed. It's not that far from being broken if you ask me :D The combo with Yellow 3 is insane. This means selling goods can mean points + cleared up goods storage + 2 silverlings / + 1 silverling and 2 workers (what an upgrade to Yellow 4 and that with the extreme addition of flexiblity!) / 4 workers! Selling goods and getting 4 workers for it (if you want to), is sick. Also selling goods and getting 2 workers for it is insane if you think about it. With this tile in hand you want to sell goods left and right, you want to get mines left and right. You will very often never need to take workers again :) Why take 2 workers if you can sell goods and 2+ workers? :) Also how strong are banks now? Banks now can give you either 2 silverlings/1 silverling and 2 workers or 4 workers just like a residential building!) Warehouses are also upgraded through this tile, just as 4 points per banks and 4 points per warehouses. Yellow 5 is another great combo with 28, because you are so extremely incentiviced to sell goods and get ships. You won't have any economic issues selling a million of goods while still managing to get all your other projects done and preparing 2 silverlings for the next phase should still be no issue :)
Thank you Johannes! Glad you liked this video. The video recording and editing itself did not take a lot of time. Getting the Yellow tiles images ready for tier list was more time consuming. Yes I agree, the criteria could be more clear: Scoring tiles: E>D>C>B>A (but some of the S-tier Scoring tiles are good in all stages of the game!) Utility tiles: A>B>C>D>E (a few select Utility tiles are really good in even the final stages of the game!) You bring up a really good point with the Black Market Yellow Tiles vs Standard Yellow Tiles. I forgot to include that in my criteria and it's an important point for sure. When I mention, 'Getting that yellow tile on the perfect board at the perfect stage' - it's more relating to phases A>B>C>D>E for Utility tiles and phases E>D>C>B>A for Scoring tiles. However, as you have mentioned, Scoring tiles are strong in all stages of the game. I definitely highly prioritize big scoring tiles like 15, 24, 25, etc. even in Stage A! I see your point with tiles 12 and 14 and that makes sense. If there are other colors (ships/mines) in the BM then I would usually prioritize those over picking up these tiles since I want to maintain strong tempo. Your analysis of tiles 27 and 28 was really insightful. I was not sure how strong tile 27 would be in a 2-player game. However if you are able to pick in the first few stages of the game it will definitely give you a massive advantage by allowing you to work on other colors more easier and also giving you more flexibility with placing your ships. I see it as a mid-S tier tile now. For tile 28, again I don't have a lot of experience with this one. Reading your comments, I see the strength of this tile and why you rank it in high S-tier. The combos you have mentioned with this tile all make perfect sense. Also this tile incentivizes you to push for a water and mines game, which in itself is a really strong strategy. Really amazing analysis as always! Thank you for taking the time to write all this and also for posting your own tier-list thoughts for all the Yellow tiles. I am sure anyone reading it will hugely benefit in their game :)
Fantastic video. I was pretty sure going in I knew which tile would be X tier. When it pops up on BGA, I do whatever I can to acquire it quickly. An idea for future videos would be to break down each duchy’s strategies: where to place your opening castle, what regions and tile types to focus, which yellow tiles to prioritize, etc. I would love to watch that series!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the video! Yes, I want to do a comprehensive board strategy guide for all boards in the game at some point this year. Hopefully soon!
Thanks for the correction, Johannes. You are correct, it allows you to take extra goods from 1 adjacent depot, not both. Still an S-tier tile for me and I wouldn't move it's place on the tier list :)
I don't like your names for the tiers 😂 A lot of tiles are good if you get them in the first one or two phases, and then become less of an impact later on. I personally like the beige tiles and getting bonus monasteries - they can give you 40+ points at the end if you play it right. So they are better than some of the tiles you put at the end of your 'S tier' in my opinion.
It is true, you can win games with all the utility yellow tiles if you pick them up early and use them efficiently. However, not all utility tiles are equal. Tiles #3, #12, #13 and #14 are much better compared to other utility tiles like #8 and #9. The Yellow tiles for beige building bonuses are great in 3 and 4 players games since you have a high probability of picking up 3~4 buildings to match your yellow bonus tiles. In a 2 player games this is not always possible. A strong opponent will deliberately go out of their way to pickup the buildings that match your yellow bonus tile. Also since only a limited number of building show up, it is more a matter of luck than skill. Castles is a very situational game and you can win with different strategies and combos. My tier list just highlights the tiers on an average scale. Every game is different and some tiles will perform stronger than others.
I think that was by far your best video. You really did a fantastic job! I was quite amazed by the quality of this video. I wonder if you had to do a ton of cutting? It seemed that you didn't have to :)
I really like your criterias. That was very cleverly done. You've once broken down how scoring tiles are best in E(>)>D>C>B>A, which I really loved, because it's definitely true and very simple.
I wished you had also done the same on utility tiles though, just the other way around. Like this: A>B>C>D>E
Another thing I would have liked to see, was saying utility tiles are extremely good in A and B instead of A, B and C.
On the other hand I did agree that you've said these utility tiles are much lower in value in D and especially in E.
I personally find Phase C to be more of a melting point between utility tiles and points scoring tiles. Their values seem to be quite close to me at this stage. Except of course for some exceptions.
Actually, I always think in general that in Phase C all the tiles of all 6 colors are closest in value. So Phase C should usually be the stage with the lowest amount of workers to be spent, because all tiles are quite similar in value, we have already connected the board and we have loads of placement options as well.
The 2nd thing I would have loved you to mention was how not all yellow tiles are imho actually 1-to-1 comparable.
I see it this way: We have 2 types of yellow tiles in general.
1. Yellow Tiles
2. Black (Market) Yellow Tiles
The issue I see with any black market yellow tile, especially early on in the game, is that they often have a (much) higher tempo cost. Even imho quite heavily for utility black market tiles.
That's the main reason, why I would especially value Yellow Tile 12 and 14 lower, because we will often have to give up a black market ship, mine or for example another yellow tile, if we want to get that specific tile 12 or 14. So we often don't gain much of an advantage this way or even a disadvantage, if we pick up the wrong black market tile.
I think we can gain bigger margins of advantages by getting the correct (yellow) tiles outside the black market.
I often would value a ship or sometimes even a mine (much) higher than most yellow tiles early on, because they are actually tempo tiles (as well) and I think do score (much) higher on average (early on), especially concerning the race for color completions, blocking opportunities and that our gained 1st player advantage will weaken most, if not all the opponent's (black market) yellow tiles.
Also if there are 2+ similarly powerful tiles in the black market, which is often the case, I would not priorize the black market much, because our opponent can usually only buy one of the tiles effeciently and the standard ship, mine and castle tiles are in much higher demand overall, because they are usually way cheaper.
When you've mentioned in your criterias "Getting that yellow tile on the perfect board at the perfect stage", did you mean Phase A for utility tiles and Phase E for scoring tiles?
If yes, then I think you've overvalued scoring tiles a bit and undervalued non black market utility tiles a bit.
The interesting thing is, that a strong points tile is in most stages quite valuable. That means it will at least rank quite highly pretty much any time it shows up, while a lot of S-Tier utility tiles have imho a (much) higher, but rarer ceiling (especially A, but also B) than (pretty much) any top S-Tier points tile, but have also a much more frequent and lower floor (C, D and especially E).
1: Agree!
2: Pretty high up the S-tier
3: Top 3 in the S-tier
4: 5th in the S-tier
5: Around the bottom of the S-tier.
6 1st Edition: A little higher in the S-tier
6 2nd Edition: Agree!
7: Imho the by far worst tile in the game in a 2 player set-up. The main issue is the high cost of it being a black market tile. However, I think people undervalue it's value near the end of D or in E, if we have a lot of excess silverlings. It can then often still be worth a decent amount of points and costs us only 1 action minus 2 points to place it.
8: 3rd in A-tier
9: 2nd in A-tier
10: Agree!
11: Agree!
12: Around top of A or max around bottom of S. I just think it is too situational, because of often other more important tiles being in the black market. The dream scenario would obv be if it's the only strong tile in the black market in A or B, then it holds most of the time a near top of S value for me, but not so much for the player who has no silverling engine at all.
13: Top 3 in the S-tier
14: Around top of A or max around bottom of S for the same reasons as 12. I like that it is so flexible. It helps with all the actions in the game and it helps tremendously to both prepare for Phase E (3+ Workers preperation), but also whenever you have to place your tiles into very specific numbers in Phase E. That's when worker costs are really high. I think it is overvalued early on and undervalued late on (D) by the player pool.
15 1st Edition: Top 3 in the S-tier
15 2nd Edition: Between Bottom and Mid S-tier
16-23: Agree!
24: Lower Mid S-tier (it is quite often awkward for the 1st player if it shows up before phase E, at times a 0 points tile by itself for one player and a high scoring tile for the other player, the player holding this tile pretty much must get animals, which means very low flexibility. Really horrible tile to show up if the 1st player was pushed into a yellow game. But because this tile shows up often, it's best practise to often play animals at some stage, so that it is at the very least not (that) bad news if that tile shows up, but rather (very) good news for us and rather bad news for the other player)
25: Higher Mid S-tier (it's a guaranteed good-to fantastic scorer with immense flexibility, combo-power and should usually score around 12 points on average)
26 1st Edition: 1st in A-tier.
26 2nd Edition: Just ahead of 25
27: Mid S-tier!? Very high ceiling and extremely low floor. It gives the 1st player with this tile the ability to keep 1st player with just even ships. That means they get a ton of extra mines and strong black market yellow tiles while simultaneously keeping 1st player advantage. It also means less timing needed for placing ships. Just place them earlier if you can to get and steal extra goods. Normally the player who has to wait with placing their ship to ensure 1st player gets way weaker goods. That's a lot of massive deals, because it is a 0 sum game with 2 players. The downside of this tile is it's initial rather slowish tempo.
28: Minimum 4th in the S-tier. This is the only tile I disagree heavily on. It's imho extremely powerful.
Especially towards the late game when players usually suffer from a ton of excess silverlings. So that utility tile is still really good to grab near the end of the game!
Now these excess silverlings can be used extremely effectively by just exchanging them to workers whenever needed. It's not that far from being broken if you ask me :D
The combo with Yellow 3 is insane. This means selling goods can mean points + cleared up goods storage + 2 silverlings / + 1 silverling and 2 workers (what an upgrade to Yellow 4 and that with the extreme addition of flexiblity!) / 4 workers! Selling goods and getting 4 workers for it (if you want to), is sick. Also selling goods and getting 2 workers for it is insane if you think about it. With this tile in hand you want to sell goods left and right, you want to get mines left and right. You will very often never need to take workers again :)
Why take 2 workers if you can sell goods and 2+ workers? :) Also how strong are banks now? Banks now can give you either 2 silverlings/1 silverling and 2 workers or 4 workers just like a residential building!) Warehouses are also upgraded through this tile, just as 4 points per banks and 4 points per warehouses. Yellow 5 is another great combo with 28, because you are so extremely incentiviced to sell goods and get ships. You won't have any economic issues selling a million of goods while still managing to get all your other projects done and preparing 2 silverlings for the next phase should still be no issue :)
Thank you Johannes! Glad you liked this video. The video recording and editing itself did not take a lot of time. Getting the Yellow tiles images ready for tier list was more time consuming.
Yes I agree, the criteria could be more clear:
Scoring tiles: E>D>C>B>A (but some of the S-tier Scoring tiles are good in all stages of the game!)
Utility tiles: A>B>C>D>E (a few select Utility tiles are really good in even the final stages of the game!)
You bring up a really good point with the Black Market Yellow Tiles vs Standard Yellow Tiles. I forgot to include that in my criteria and it's an important point for sure.
When I mention, 'Getting that yellow tile on the perfect board at the perfect stage' - it's more relating to phases A>B>C>D>E for Utility tiles and phases E>D>C>B>A for Scoring tiles. However, as you have mentioned, Scoring tiles are strong in all stages of the game. I definitely highly prioritize big scoring tiles like 15, 24, 25, etc. even in Stage A!
I see your point with tiles 12 and 14 and that makes sense. If there are other colors (ships/mines) in the BM then I would usually prioritize those over picking up these tiles since I want to maintain strong tempo.
Your analysis of tiles 27 and 28 was really insightful. I was not sure how strong tile 27 would be in a 2-player game. However if you are able to pick in the first few stages of the game it will definitely give you a massive advantage by allowing you to work on other colors more easier and also giving you more flexibility with placing your ships. I see it as a mid-S tier tile now.
For tile 28, again I don't have a lot of experience with this one. Reading your comments, I see the strength of this tile and why you rank it in high S-tier. The combos you have mentioned with this tile all make perfect sense. Also this tile incentivizes you to push for a water and mines game, which in itself is a really strong strategy.
Really amazing analysis as always! Thank you for taking the time to write all this and also for posting your own tier-list thoughts for all the Yellow tiles. I am sure anyone reading it will hugely benefit in their game :)
Fantastic video. I was pretty sure going in I knew which tile would be X tier. When it pops up on BGA, I do whatever I can to acquire it quickly.
An idea for future videos would be to break down each duchy’s strategies: where to place your opening castle, what regions and tile types to focus, which yellow tiles to prioritize, etc. I would love to watch that series!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the video!
Yes, I want to do a comprehensive board strategy guide for all boards in the game at some point this year. Hopefully soon!
tile #1 is very important when your opponent needs to complete big region. So you can also take it with purpose of preventing him to complete it
19:19 You only get the goods from 1 adjacent depot, not from both adjacent depots.
Thanks for the correction, Johannes. You are correct, it allows you to take extra goods from 1 adjacent depot, not both. Still an S-tier tile for me and I wouldn't move it's place on the tier list :)
I don't like your names for the tiers 😂
A lot of tiles are good if you get them in the first one or two phases, and then become less of an impact later on.
I personally like the beige tiles and getting bonus monasteries - they can give you 40+ points at the end if you play it right. So they are better than some of the tiles you put at the end of your 'S tier' in my opinion.
It is true, you can win games with all the utility yellow tiles if you pick them up early and use them efficiently. However, not all utility tiles are equal. Tiles #3, #12, #13 and #14 are much better compared to other utility tiles like #8 and #9.
The Yellow tiles for beige building bonuses are great in 3 and 4 players games since you have a high probability of picking up 3~4 buildings to match your yellow bonus tiles. In a 2 player games this is not always possible. A strong opponent will deliberately go out of their way to pickup the buildings that match your yellow bonus tile. Also since only a limited number of building show up, it is more a matter of luck than skill.
Castles is a very situational game and you can win with different strategies and combos. My tier list just highlights the tiers on an average scale. Every game is different and some tiles will perform stronger than others.