35
votes
Accepted
Should I use all actions before buying anything?
From the rules:
"The player must complete all of his Actions before
he moves on to the Buy phase of his turn."
- 11.1k
33
votes
Accepted
Can I buy a card without any treasure cards on my hand?
Short answer: yes, its possible and it has been officially acknowledged that the German rules are wrong.
Long answer: as you have already quoted from the base game rules (emphasis mine)
The cost of a ...
- 3,722
28
votes
Dominion - bold and regular type: which action comes first?
You do exactly what the card says in order, how bold the type is doesn't matter. The +2 Actions isn't an instruction to play (up to) 2 action cards at that time, it means that later in the Action ...
- 20.2k
27
votes
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Is not buying money the worst strategy in Dominion?
I don't know about the biggest - you could buy curses instead - but yes, this is definitely a big mistake and one of the most common.
Buying only silver and gold (aka "big money") is actually a ...
- 26.9k
20
votes
How important is game theory in Dominion?
One of the clearest examples of game theory in Dominion shows up quite frequently in 2 player endgames, and it's called the Penultimate Province Rule (PPR). Basically, you should avoid buying the ...
- 3,369
20
votes
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How many Dominion sets are there?
As of 2023, there are 16 sets and 11 promo cards1.
In release order:
Dominion (Base game)
Intrigue
Seaside
Alchemy
Prosperity
Cornucopia
Hinterlands
Dark Ages
Guilds
Adventures
Empires
Nocturne
...
- 74k
18
votes
Accepted
How does Hireling work with Throne Room or King's Court?
The wiki has this line on Hireling:
If you use Disciple (or a similar card, like Throne Room) to play
Hireling twice, you will draw two extra cards each turn, and Disciple
will also stay in play for ...
- 1,381
16
votes
Accepted
When Using Throne room on a Throne room do you need two more action cards already in hand?
In Dominion, the general rule is that you have to do everything on a card in order before you can play another card.
This affects Throne Room in an odd way, because it means you have to do everything ...
- 3,936
15
votes
Accepted
Can you trash fortress indefinitely with donate?
No, because you trash all cards simultaneously.
From the Dark Ages rulebook:
When two or more cards are trashed at the same time, such as due to Count, first trash them all, then pick an order to ...
- 74k
14
votes
Accepted
Is the Chancellor + Harbinger combo a viable Dominion strategy?
This doesn't work as you are thinking:
Harbinger has you draw a card before you look through your discard pile. This means that when you play Harbinger, the first thing you do is draw a card, which ...
- 74k
14
votes
Accepted
What Dominion cards have artwork featuring different versions of the same object?
The vast majority of the cards feature unique artwork, which is great. However, there are some cards that indeed include other cards' artwork, like:
Scrying Pool (from Dominion: Alchemy) depicts the ...
- 3,722
13
votes
Optimal Dominion strategy with only the Mine action card
Using the Dominiate Online Simulator I simulated a few Mine and money strategies in two player games against Big Money. The best strategy I could find was to play Big Money, but buy a Mine in ...
- 9,283
13
votes
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What makes King’s Court-King’s Court-Goons-Goons-Masquerade so powerful?
The combo is what is known as a "pin", although the biggest problem with it has been somewhat fixed in the 2nd version of Intrigue, which changed how Masquerade works.
For reference, the three cards ...
- 11.2k
13
votes
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Can I play multiple Idols one at a time and receive the effects each time?
Yes, you play them one at a time, and therefore you get the alternating boon and curse effect.
Note that this mandatory, not merely an option: You always play (and resolve) your treasures one at a ...
- 10.8k
12
votes
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How do I use the Dominion & Dominion Intrigue Update Packs?
The update pack serves two purposes:
Replace 6 old cards with 7 newer ones
Provide a new card strip; base cards are missing from the new strip.
Replacing older cards
The following 12 cards have ...
- 3,722
12
votes
When buying and playing a Villa in Dominion do you in a sense get 3 buys for that turn?
You don't get a new free Buy, sorry. Nice thinking though.
The base game rules do say that when you enter a Buy phase you get one default Buy, but the card-specific notes for the Villa in the Empires ...
- 24.5k
12
votes
Accepted
Donate at end of game
The game designer intends that "after this turn" effects do not happen when the game ends. The game ends at the end of your turn, so any other effects set up after that can't happen: nothing ...
- 352
11
votes
Accepted
Village/Smithy strategy
"If you have 5 or more Smithies" means if you have 5 total Smithies in your deck (your deck being all cards you have; between your draw pile, discard pile, hand, in play, etc).
"If there are 3 or ...
- 74k
11
votes
Dominion Nocturne: Why is Raider not better than Gold
There are 3 main factors at play which make it so that a Gold may the right choice over Raider sometimes.
Duration cards are inherently weaker than non-duration cards for 2 reasons:
First off, ...
- 74k
10
votes
Accepted
What cards use coin tokens?
Although the cards using coin tokens are already listed in the answer by RM Bee (including the comments), Coin tokens appear in currently four expansions (Seaside, Prosperity, Guilds, and Renaissance) ...
- 216
9
votes
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Dominion: ghost plus pixie
The golden rule in Dominion is follow the card instructions as much as possible. You can play Pixie a second time, even if it has been moved, e.g., moved to the trash. However, you may not be able to ...
- 3,722
9
votes
Accepted
How do I play out a Vassal hitting a Throne Room?
Playing an action card via Vassal is exactly the same as if you had played it from your hand: you follow the text of that card, top to bottom, doing as much as possible.
In the case of Throne Room ...
- 3,722
9
votes
Dominion Prosperity play out treasures
You are playing the buy phase incorrectly.
In the buy phase, you always play all of your treasure cards, one at a time, before you buy any card. In fact, you are not allowed to play any more treasure ...
- 74k
9
votes
Accepted
Why does the effect of Enchantress not stack in Dominion?
Enchantress cannot stack; the first action played by an opponent will just give +1 card +1 action.
A quote from the creator/designer of Dominion confirms this:
Throne / Enchantress does not give ...
- 74k
8
votes
Accepted
How to beat Ill-Gotten Gains?
Not sure which Dominion expansions are you running, but there are several cards that can counter this.
If you have prosperity, you can add the Watchtower to the kingdom cards which blocks curses ...
- 571
8
votes
Accepted
What Dominion Cards use victory tokens?
Yes there is, at The Dominion Strategy Wiki.
Cards:
Chariot Race, Farmers' Market, Bishop, Crumbling Castle, Monument, Sacrifice, Temple, Emporium, Groundskeeper, Plunder, Wild Hunt, Goons, Grand ...
- 74k
8
votes
Accepted
Black Market and game setup
It is the first option; all setup things are done at the start of a game. A card being in the Black Market deck acts just like a card in the Supply for this purpose.
Strangely enough, this rule is ...
- 74k
8
votes
Accepted
Can opponent trash a copper on my Governor if there is no one value card in play?
Yes, they can.
You always follow all instructions in order, only skipping things that are impossible. If you choose this option, your opponent has 2 instructions to follow:
They may trash a card ...
- 74k
8
votes
Accepted
What happens when you procession an encampment without having a gold/plunder in your hand?
The Procession plays Encampment for the first time. You don't reveal a Plunder or Gold, so you set Encampment aside. This does not prevent Procession from playing it a second time, but both Encampment'...
- 11.2k
8
votes
Accepted
Can I look at my deck before playing the Zombie Mason
It is indeed a blind play, you cannot look at the top of your deck before choosing what to play with Necromancer (or however else you came to play the Zombie Mason). However, unless a pile has been ...
- 576
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