Dominion (2-4 players, 30-minutes) is a card game where players start with small identical decks. They then transform their deck into victory-point producing machines as efficiently as possible by buying more cards. Each game, 10 kingdom cards (most commonly actions, but sometimes extra treasure and ...
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How can I beat “Big Money” in Dominion?
Our group has determined that buying (almost exclusively) money and points is the way to go.
Most kingdom cards are ignored, or are bought very sparingly. This has lead to games feeling 'samey' and ...
41
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10answers
2k views
Should I trash Copper or Silver with Mine?
Assuming I've got both Copper and Silver in my hand, which is better to trash in general and why?
26
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5answers
2k views
What are mistakes beginners should avoid in Dominion?
I am going to play my first round of Dominion (+ Intrigue Expansion) this weekend with 4 other players who have played Dominion before. I have read the rules and now I want to avoid the typical traps ...
25
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2answers
353 views
If I buy a Mint, do I still get to use the coins from the treasures I played that turn to buy a Grand Market?
In the Prosperity rules it says "if you have 11 coppers in play and 2 Buys, you could buy a Mint, trash all of your played Treasures, and then buy a Grand Market." My question is: What are you going ...
23
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2answers
695 views
Can I use a reaction card in response to Minion being used for +2 coins?
Can a player reveal a Reaction card, such as "Secret Chamber", in response to the Minion action, even if the player who played the Minion chooses the +2$ option?
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4answers
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What is a safe and accurate technique for shuffling cards?
Especially for games which involve frequent card shuffling by multiple players of decks of uneven sizes is there is a technique for shuffling which is quick and easy for everyone to learn yet also ...
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4answers
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When you King's Court a King's Court, when must you pick the three target cards?
Bear with me here. In Dominion: Prosperity you can play King's Court and choose another King's Court as the target:
The rules are clear on the basics of what happens here: you pick three cards and ...
21
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13answers
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What are good standard tactics for Dominion?
Googling reveals several sites listing standard tactics for Dominion. Let's collect ideas here, and discuss and judge them using the voting system.
One tactic per post please.
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5answers
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How does Intrigue change your general Dominion strategy?
I've seen a lot of discussions about the basic strategies newcomers to Dominion develop:
First you buy as many action cards as you can get you hands on.
After several games, someone discovers Big ...
19
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6answers
1k views
When should Curses be used?
Should Curses always be laid out as a supply pile even when no kingdom cards give curses? Or should the only be available when a curse kingdom card is chose?
An extension of this question could be ...
18
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7answers
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What is the Best Random Card Setup Tool? [closed]
In this question I received two different recommendations for iPhone specific apps to assist with Dominion setups. My group uses a third (non iPhone specific).
Which is the best, and why?
Please, ...
18
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6answers
902 views
When is the Bureaucrat worth buying?
When I first started playing Dominion, I saw the Bureaucrat and thought, cool, free silver and an attack! I bought one almost every time it was available. The more I played, though, I began to ...
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5answers
1k views
What is the best way to keep everything organized and spend less time setting up?
When playing Dominion, how do you go about organizing all of the various cards and sets while maintaining a priority to getting games started quickly?
17
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14answers
567 views
Any good way to add a handicap in Dominion?
I play Dominion pretty regularly with one group of friends, but only occasionally with another group. This creates a pretty big experience gap between me and the second group, and I'm afraid they ...
17
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8answers
1k views
Playing with less or more than 10 Kingdom card types in Dominion
In Dominion you choose 10 of the 25 Kingdom cards to play with in a given game, generally at random. Is it possible/advisable to play with less or more sets? I've considered playing with less to make ...
17
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8answers
947 views
How can I effectively use the Coppersmith?
I've been playing Dominion with the base + Intrigue sets for a while now, and one of the cards that I have trouble wrapping my mind around is the Coppersmith.
In theory, it seems like a great card - ...
17
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5answers
1k views
When is Loan worth buying?
When would you ever want to buy this instead of just buying a Silver for the same price?
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6answers
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When should I buy copper in Dominion?
Almost every strategy I have ever read on Dominion, although disparate in many ways, unanimously agree that not only is buying copper a bad thing, but that you should do whatever is in your power to ...
17
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3answers
382 views
Do you need to buy a card when playing treasures in Dominion?
So I ran into a situation where I had a single treasure, the Loan card. I wanted to play the Loan card but I did not want to buy any cards.
So can you play treasure cards and not buy anything?
I ...
16
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2answers
3k views
Setup for more than 4 players in Dominion?
We have the base Dominion set along with the Alchemy and Prosperity expansions. The rules cover 2-4 players, but elsewhere it implies that up to 6 players are allowed with expansions. Nowhere we could ...
15
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5answers
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What is a good way to store multiple expansions of Dominion?
At the moment I just have the base set of Dominion and Dominion-Intrigue, each of which are a full set so currently I'm storing each per the in-the-box organizers in their original boxes.
But when ...
15
votes
6answers
508 views
General advice for maximizing fun playing multiple games of Dominion
My girlfriend and I are a bit late to getting Dominion but so far are really enjoying it - we have the base set and just bought Intrigue. We don't have a lot of time to play (and so far at least have ...
15
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4answers
9k views
How can I play Dominion with 5+ players without expansions?
I am going to get a Dominion expansion (probably intrigue based on its popularity) but in the meantime I'm curious about what I can do with just the basic set. I know it was designed for 2-4, but I ...
15
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3answers
3k views
I have the Dominion base set only, in what order should I buy the expansions?
I've heard a lot about the different Dominion expansions, but I'm still not really sure which direction to go.
In what order would you suggest I buy the expansions?
How does each one change the ...
15
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1answer
3k views
Dominion: When to use Platinum and Colony
I recently acquired Dominion: Prosperity (yay Christmas) and came across the Platinum and Colony Cards which are designed to be new Basic Cards (like Estate, Copper, etc...).
My question is, should I ...
14
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6answers
971 views
What are good strategies involving Remodel?
A basic strategy of using Remodel to upgrade Estates to Remodels, Remodels to Gold, and using Gold to buy or upgrade to Provinces is a powerful but slow strategy, so I haven't been able to win with ...
14
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3answers
328 views
How do Mine and Watchtower Interact?
When playing Mine while having a Watchtower in hand, can you put the upgraded treasure card on top of your deck instead of in your hand?
14
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5answers
572 views
When would you buy the Thief in Dominion?
The Thief card rarely seems to be of much use, even when my opponents have bought a lot of treasure. Rather than stealing treasure, it seems much better to buy treasure to directly get to the high ...
14
votes
1answer
286 views
What happens when all your cards (the whole deck) are in play?
I am particularly fond of going through my entire deck each turn. However while I like to do this, are there any actual rules for handling cases like "You just played a smithy, but there are only two ...
14
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2answers
198 views
Priorities for Memory in Dominion
Considering we all have limited memories (and scratch paper is frowned upon in over-the-board play), what sorts of things are highest priority for keeping track of and committing to memory over the ...
13
votes
7answers
344 views
Maxing out your buys in early Dominion
How important is it to always buy the most expensive thing that you can with your first buys in Dominion? I appreciate that in the later stages of the game you often have more money than you can ...
13
votes
3answers
410 views
When is it optimal to purchase a Mint on a 5/2 split?
Every now and then, what seems like a golden opportunity comes up: you start the game with five coppers, and the Mint is in play. By purchasing this, you can instantly trash five of your starting ...
13
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5answers
5k views
What are some fun setups for Dominion for two players?
At present I only own the Dominion Base set and my girlfriend and I have only played the game a few times. I figure we'll stick to the starter layout for a few more games but after that I'm curious ...
13
votes
2answers
173 views
How do you determine which Dominion sets to play with?
I'm well aware of the randomizers available for Dominion, but how do you determine which sets to include in a randomizer?
For example, I own Base, Intrigue, Seaside, Prosperity & Dark Ages. ...
12
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2answers
785 views
Does a Curse card count as a Victory card when playing the Bureaucrat?
If I play a Bureaucrat and my opponent reveals a hand with a Curse card, does that Curse card go back on top of his/her deck? Or does it not count as a "Victory card"?
12
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1answer
245 views
Can you use Throne Room to Mine a Copper to a Gold?
One of the most frequent barely-civil discussions in my group is what is possible when you use Throne Room (repeat an action card), in conjunction with Mine (trash a treasure to gain a treasure with ...
12
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2answers
287 views
Can you gain a Silver with Trader if the original supply pile was empty?
We had a game with the following relevant cards: Trader and Witch. We're several turns into the game and the Curse pile has emptied. I have a Trader in my hand, and it's Barry's turn. Barry plays ...
12
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7answers
716 views
What kingdom set would lead to the highest scoring games of Dominion?
Obviously anything that puts curses into circulation would be anathema. I'm not necessarily looking for one player to have the highest score possible, so much as to have games where everyone's scores ...
12
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4answers
597 views
Dominion - Defeating the Alchemist
I have a friend who loves this card. I know that every time it's on the table, he will load up on them, and chain long turns that take ages. It's even more powerful when Scout and/or Apothecary ...
12
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1answer
846 views
In Dominion, how do Duration cards interact with King's Court / Throne Room?
For example, suppose I play a King's Court on a Lighthouse. Do I get +$3 now and +$3 next turn? +$3 now and +$1 next turn?
12
votes
1answer
551 views
What's a good use for Chancellor?
I'm having a hard time figuring out when Chancellor is useful. Forcing a reshuffle of the deck just seems of little use to me, at least relative to the other actions I could buy with 3 coins.
I've ...
11
votes
3answers
1k views
Dominion: what happens when I play Throne Room on a Feast since Feast gets trashed when played?
Throne Room: "Choose any action in your hand and play it twice"
Feast: "Trash this card and gain a card costing up to 5$"
So I use the Throne Room and play Feast twice. The first time it gets played ...
11
votes
6answers
419 views
Dominion - Using Stash
How do you use this card strategically? Since you don't know where any other cards are in your deck, how do you choose where to put this one? Are there other cards this combines well with?
11
votes
5answers
535 views
If I have 8+ coins and no Gold, should I buy a Gold or a Province?
When playing Dominion, I have developed the habit of buying a Gold the first time I can afford one, even if I could afford a Province instead. Is this a good rule of thumb?
My reasoning is that if I ...
11
votes
3answers
766 views
Good set of cards for teaching beginners
We have 1 or 2 new people who are interested in joining our lunch Dominion games where I work.
We'd like to teach them about the various rules unique to each of these sets: Base, Intrigue, Seaside, ...
11
votes
3answers
615 views
What is a quick way to test or simulate card strategies for deck building games?
Dominion is the specific example I would like to play with but this certainly applies to any game that involves decks of cards being shuffled and drawn.
I often see references to various simulations ...
11
votes
2answers
256 views
Do you need spare actions available to play Throne Room?
The rule book explains Throne Room's effect as follows:
You pick another Action card in your hand, play it, and play it again. The second use of the Action card doesn't use up any extra Actions ...
11
votes
3answers
826 views
Dominion and card protectors
I am considering getting card protectors for my dominion game. I am wondering if anyone has tried this. Do the cards still fit back into their slots in the box?
The ones i was thinking about were ...
11
votes
4answers
424 views
Trashing Estates in Dominion
How vital is it to trash Estates in the early rounds of a Dominion game, given that there is an action card available to trash Estates?
11
votes
2answers
590 views
What's a good counter-strategy to Workshop/Garden?
If we play a board that has Workshop and Garden kingdom cards, I almost exclusively play them as my strategy. In the early game, I focus on buying Workshop and by the third round I typically get two ...
