Scramble with Friends (SWF) - Containment /Strat Thread

[imjosh]

Played my first game today in a few months and made a noob mistake, had lead but spelled a word leaving an "O" next to a triple letter score with like 15 letters left and the X still not in play. Obv he ships the > 48pts word on my next turn.

GG GSizz

[cobrakai111]

I get so tilted by my friends that waste S's in this game.

[Aceium]

But it's awesome when someone plays something like "moniker" and leaves the R right in front of a triple word - just praying that you don't have an s.

[JL514]

Originally Posted by IcyHotMonkey

When I first started playing I'd use these sites to get better, not to cheat. If you play your word and then look at what you COULD have played then you get better by learning the important words. (lux, xi, qi, qat, qua, jut, jota, oxter, za, taj, haji, no two letter words w/ C or V, only two letter word beginning w/ R is re, cmw, pongo, etc...)

would add raj and raja. Didn't know Qat, that will help

Originally Posted by cobrakai111

I get so tilted by my friends that waste S's in this game.

omg this. I specifically told one of my friends about how to use S's in person when they were complaining about me beating them every game. The next game we played, they started with SUSHI

[keepitreal]

lol sushi. yea, i try to teach my donk friends thru chat (or irl) and their retention is awful.

what tilts me is when somebody beats me because they get JQXZSSSS over the course of the game while i'm slumming it with all vowels (i'm very stubborn and rarely swap). i'm sitting there thinking i'm probably <10% to win even if i play perfect here =(

[imjosh]

My favorite letter is "x", anyone leaves a vowel next to a TLS it's almost an automatic 48 points everytime, as it pairs with every vowel.

AX, EX, OX, XI, XU

[Aceium]

I only get 25 points when I put X on a triple letter next to a vowel.

[Xkf]

bingos are worth 35 points not 50, so plan accordingly

also coincidentally yesterday was the day i uninstalled WWF from my phone. after several months of playing the same people over and over it became a huge chore for me, to the point where i would see the badge saying i had 4 moves to make and i would get disgusted. after not making any moves for like a week i deleted it and messaged my friends-with-words that i'm finished for good.

[daryn]

Haha I did the same thing but I'm back now, and getting sick of it again.

[Yeti]

i got like 8 games open right now, and it's def a bit of a chore. my standard is also dropping dramatically.

[JL514]

I only get annoyed when I play people who are at my skill level and we continually block each other and keep the board tight. And you end up playing 3 letter words all the time which are not even very easy to spot.

Otherwise I'm still having a good time

[offTopic]

I just started, and wasn't paying particularly close attention when I finally threw my hands up and swapped. Did the swap exactly backwards.

Spoiler:

Look at that...I pre-excused myself twice in an effort to look less dumb.

[keepitreal]

do we need a retirement containment thread?

i play the maxish 20 games and am not bored yet (been playing for a year or so). i think having a range of competition can actually help keep my interest. i really enjoy trying to double up my weaker opponents as much as i enjoy losing to yeti on the reg.

it's also interesting how some of my "smart" friends are terribad and my "non genius" friends are ballers. anybody else find this?

[AlligatorBloodFTW]

Originally Posted by keepitreal

do you prefer checkers to chess as well?

well considering there is a chess with friends too I could say the same to you...

[Xkf]

Originally Posted by keepitreal

it's also interesting how some of my "smart" friends are terribad and my "non genius" friends are ballers. anybody else find this?

i found this to some extent as well and my explanation for it is that WWF and scrabble are misleading in terms of the type of intelligence it requires. that is, typically people equate having a large vocabulary/being well-spoken with being good at scrabble, whereas in reality i believe it is basically gamers who are good at it. gamers (and poker players) are better both at optimizing their score rather than just playing a big word and at minimizing their opponent's opportunities for high point value plays. for the longest time i was playing games against people who would just set me up for 3WS and 3LS all game long and it was too easy.

edit: also for the math nerds, http://blog.revolutionanalytics.com/...and-skill.html