Disliked it after both my learning game and the subsequent actual game. I see no reason to try it again.

When I read about the game after its release, I was hyped. Deck building in a non-collectible game sounded like exactly the thing I was looking for. I waited a bit anyway, and got both the first base game and Intrigue nearly together.

When I got the game, I was quite excited. Played 10-20 times, and loved it. But my enthusiasm slowly went down, because I started to realize that it's not the deck building I was used to, for one simple reason: Every game only has you build a deck from 10 types of cards (plus money and victory point ones). There's no searching awesome comboes within the card pool, no looking for great cards to supplement a deck's strategy, no tweaking a deck until you're happy with it - just those 10 cards, different ones every game, that may or may not synergize.

Thus after 20 or 30 games, that was that. I haven't played the game since, and eventually traded it away. I did not regret that decision.

Mrs Jester and I were looking for a new game and we were checking out bgg and especially the video reviews.
Watched loads and none of them really appealed. Then we saw a review of Dominion and straight away we 'got' it. Enjoyed our first game but really couldn't see the point in chapel, why would we want to throw away points or money or those nice cards we'd been buying?
Now we really, really like it. Bought Prosperity which kicked the whole game into gear for us, added that thing the base box lacked.

Fantastic came and every game offers something different. Not just different Kingdom cards but some times you can play the same set two or three ways. Really good game.

The only expansion I dislike would be Alchemy. Perhaps fans of Alchemy can help me determine what I'm missing regarding THAT aspect of this title?

As a Magic player, the idea of in-game deckbuilding was mind-blowing.

Saying that there were nearly no decisions, especially from an MTG player is absolutely mind-blowing. With drawing just 1 card each turn, there are often zero decisions in MTG.

So your problem is with the level of the opponents and not the game itself. Credit where it's due, bro.

The primary decisions regarding MTG are made when you construct the deck. While the game does not "play itself", high level players go into each match already having a clear idea of how they will try to win and what they would do in most situations.

Since Dominion is largely a solitaire affair, especially with the base game, a good MTG player should be able to mentally construct a deck within a couple minutes of studying the 10 available cards. The rest is auto-pilot, with tweaks made depending on the luck of the draw and the estimated time until game end.

So I should only play this game with people who are 15 year veterans of a CCG. Got it.

I hate how MtG gives people this elitist attitude towards any and all games. If you ask me, MtG is "broken" because it can be won or lost before your 2nd turn. What fun is that? Plus the ability to create infinite loops is beyond dulling. How much thought goes through your head while your opponent explains an infinite loop to you on his 2nd turn? Talk about rolling dice to determine a winner.

Don't compare the two games.

So I should only play this game with people who are 15 year veterans of a CCG. Got it.

Well, I do find I enjoy the level of competition much more in online play. I guarantee you that even for experienced players, there are a lot of interesting interactions and subtleties of the game. Walk in assuming that the correct strategy is trivial to read and you'll get your rear handed to you by experienced players...even if you pick the same strategy, there's a lot to be learned about purchaser order and dynamic construction that you don't get from a CCG background.

I played Dominion for the first time a little over a year ago. Played it twice and was pretty disappointed. Maybe it was not knowing the cards or how to go about winning, but the game just did not excite me. Not knowing my thoughts, my wife bought it for me a month later for Christmas, and it sat unopened in the closet for 10 months, and after playing a couple of times with a friend, loved it and currently can not play enough of it. 3,4,5, or 6 player, I have loved each game. And each one has been different. I just got Intrigue and the Saboteur made for a very interesting game.

Just curious if this is at all common...that it takes a few plays for it to sink its teeth into you?

For your background, I'd seriously recommend giving isotropic a try.

.... And apparently I dislike any and all games that aren't MtG, which is news to me.