Dominion Strategy Forum

Dominion => Dominion General Discussion => Topic started by: DrHades on February 21, 2012, 06:41:16 am

Title: The best 2-card combo
Post by: DrHades on February 21, 2012, 06:41:16 am
I think it is time to make the list of best combos in the game :) Rules:
1. Only 2card combo counts, but you can assume using other cards (e.g. Vineyard/University would be really bad if there were no other action cards on the board, but there almost always will be).
2. If the combo is stronger with some other kind of support (a village, a trasher etc.) it's a plus for the combo, but you should also count how strong it is without it (let your brain guide you and your heart decide the unclear situations).
3. Please decide on the pure strenght of the combo (e.g. Chancellor+Counting House is a nice synergy of two bad cards, but not a very strong combo).
4. Everybody can sent me his top20 of combos. Every place has to be 2 different cards and no duo shall be repeated (e.g. you can have KC+20 different cards somehow ranked).
5. The deadline for the voting phase will be annaunced after the end of the nomination phase. You can send me your top20 now if you want to (but it is better to wait at the end of the nomination phase).
6. The nomination phase starts now and ends 1st March, 0:00:00 (the last timezone). In this phase, you can post your nominations of combos to this thread, explain why it is good and lobby for that. After this phase ends, I will make a list of nominated combos with names of their "godfathers". Everyone can then choose to vote for any of these OR even for any other. The nomaniton phase serves only for explaining why are certain combos good. Please make your nominations like this: "I nominate card A+card B." and then your explenation not in bold so I can easily find the nominations at the end of the phase.
7. Lobby for any combo you want, but DO NOT tell what will/did you vote for (I want to avoid situtions like "Oh, so *insert your favourite top player* ranks it this, so I will too, cause he is better then me so he knows better...")
8. If you have any questions or suggestions about the rules, feel free to ask!
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: Smartie on February 21, 2012, 09:12:54 am
My Top 20 nominations
1.   I nominate Mint + Fools gold – Every turn with 2 Fools gold at hand really makes fast provinces
2.   I nominate Remodel + Fools gold – Losing out in the Fools gold rush in such a combination is usually so difficult to win (Unless maybe in presence of Mountebank)
3.   I nominate Wharfs + Crossroads – Getting greens and getting + draws and + buys really makes it a strong combo!
4.   I nominate University + Apprentice – Great for trashing and plus cards from University makes it a bonus!
5.   I nominate Haggler + Apprentice – Usually lots of stuff to trash in the presence of hagglers!
6.   I nominate Hunting party + Monuments – Great combination for +$2, VP and eventually provinces!
7.   I nominate Hunting party + Baron – Superb combo with the +buy from baron when discarding estates. Reaches provinces in good time!
8.   I nominate Governor + Goons – Just superb with plus buy and huge draws. Almost undefeatable when in the presence of villages!
9.   I nominate Governor + Margrave – Allows plus buys and huge draws, with governor getting golds
10.   I nominate Bridge + Native village – In the right combinations, allow you to get a megaturn!
11.   I nominate Apothecaries + Native village – Draw coppers/potions with apothecaries and store greens with native village!
12.   I nominate Tactician + Vault – Allows getting greens without affecting the quality of deck!
13.   I nominate Tactician + Secret chamber – Allows getting greens without affecting the quality of deck!
14.   I nominate Ironworks + Gardens – One of the cool cheese for a gardens rush!
15.   I nominate Workshop + Gardens – Same as 14
16.   I nominate Warehouse + Tunnels – Allows fast cycle and use of gold, without even the need to get silvers!
17.   I nominate Golem + Counting house – Difficult to set up, but can be potentially powerful
18.   I nominate University + Vineyards – Same as you! 
19.   I nominate Fishing Village + Jack of all Trades – Gets provinces pretty fast
20.   I nominate Hunting party + Tournaments – Prizes for the win!

Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: DrHades on February 21, 2012, 09:18:36 am
I nominate Tactician+Vault.
Tactician stands on an old Dominion true that 1 great turn is better than 2 mediacore, because you sacrifice your 1 turn to make the other turn epic, right? Right? (Barney, we've been there) WRONG! With Vault you are able to make a DoubleTactician which plays Tactician every turn and can buy Province every turn you have Vault in your hand. This is of course better with Warehouse, Cellar or something like that, but is usually the strongest thing on the board even without anything else (you just need few Silvers to buy the first Tactician).
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: Jack Rudd on February 21, 2012, 09:20:43 am
I nominate Black Market + Tactician. Because that's the combo that once allowed me to play a Tactician and then buy two Provinces.
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: brokoli on February 21, 2012, 09:59:35 am
I nominate Highway + Ironworks : Easy to pull off, and fun way to get provinces !
I nominate Vault + Library : I love all engines with library, and this one is very powerful.
I nominate Hamlet + Menagerie : Great cornucopia combo.
I nominate Fortune teller + Saboteur : to make the saboteur less swingy.
I nominate Border village + Bishop : BV is one of the best fuel for bishop
I nominate Stables + Baron : Stables cycle your deck faster, but sometimes you end with a bunch of victory cards. Baron is the right choice !
I nominate Ironworks + Island : Ironworks/Great hall is nice, but Island is better !
I nominate Tactician + Coppersmith : coppersmith gets with a large handsize...
I nominate Spy + Swindler : to make the swindler less swingy.
I nominate City + Tournament (Diadem) : because when your diadem wort more than $12, it's impressive...
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: petrie911 on February 21, 2012, 10:44:17 am
I nominate King's Court+Bridge.  There's nearly always an enabler, and even when there isn't, just 2 KCs and 2 Bridges in the hand is quite often decisive.  Of course, when there is an enabler, it's by far the easiest way to pile drive the Provinces/Colonies.

I nominate Hunting Party+Horn of Plenty  I suppose it is somewhat Kingdom-dependent, but you just need 2 non-terminals/special treasures and you're good to go.

I nominate Chapel+Mountebank Witch would probably work here, too, but I think Mountebank's extra buying power is what makes this combo work better.  Yes, Curser+trashing is good in general, but this one is by far the most devastating.

I nominate Young Witch+Tunnel Give Curses, get Gold.  What's not to like?
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: jsh357 on February 21, 2012, 10:45:40 am
I nominate Bishop + Chapel.  Cruise control to the Golden Deck
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: ycz6 on February 21, 2012, 12:40:33 pm
I nominate Village + Smithy – It's outclassed so often nowadays, but I'll never forget my first game of Dominion, and the impossible-seeming turns my friend managed to pull off with such innocent-looking cards. Village/Smithy holds a special place in my heart, and I suspect in many others.

I nominate Fishing Village + Wharf – Okay, okay.

I nominate Workshop + Silk Road - And...
I nominate Ironworks + Silk Road – Might as well get those two out of the way.
I nominate Horse Traders + Duke – Although, to be honest, WW should probably get "godfather" credit for this.
I nominate Hoard + Harem – The best of the Hoard combos, I'd like to think.
I nominate Tactician + Forge – Godlike on a 5/2 opening, and pretty dang solid besides.
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: Copernicus on February 21, 2012, 01:41:30 pm
I nominate Council Room + Fool's Gold -- Fool's Gold decks love buys and card draw, and this does both.
I nominate King's Court + Scheme -- Replay the same action three times each turn.
I nominate Scheme + Scrying Pool -- Solves the Scrying Pool problem of making sure the engine fires each turn.
I nominate Tournament + Province -- What?  It is a combo.
I nominate Chapel + Governor -- Best set up for the insane Governor turn of drawing the deck and turning Gold into Provinces.
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: toaster on February 21, 2012, 06:56:46 pm
ycz6 beat me to it, but I still nominate Wharf + Fishing Village...draws your whole deck quite quickly with buys...quickly buys out Provinces, or has great options with alternate VP cards.
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: Robz888 on February 21, 2012, 08:58:52 pm
I nominate Vault + Grand Market. Grand Market is so powerful, and Vault successfully navigates its inconvenient cost. Every time you start your turn with Vault in hand (unless you were attacked), you can buy a Grand Market.

I nominate Nobles + Crossroads. Allows for ridiculous draws and lets you play Nobles for cards more often.
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: Jimmmmm on February 22, 2012, 12:22:24 am
I nominate Harem + Crossroads. Better than Nobles, I think, because it gives you the draw and the coin. Throw in a +buy and it can get pretty crazy.
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: Zaphod on February 22, 2012, 02:16:14 am
Hmm, most of my favorites are already posted, but I'll throw a few more out there...

I nominate Chancellor+Stash. Two cards that by themselves can be rather underwhelming, but combine them in a game without discarding attacks and they become a Province factory.

I nominate Torturer+Fishing Village. Fishing Village makes chaining the Torturers together much easier, while Torturer draws additional Fishing Villages to continue the chain, and provides a powerful attack.

I nominate Golem+Goons. The key to Goons is playing more than one in a turn.  Both cards take a little time to acquire, but when you get this engine going, it can be a lot of fun.

I nominate Venture+Bank. Perhaps the ultimate Treasure combo.  This is even better with a + Buy action card.

I nominate Loan+Minion. Trashing your Coppers with Loan makes it more likely Minions will show up in the same hand.  You typically don't want a lot of Gold or Silver in a Minion deck, so Loan should be hitting mostly Coppers.
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: Jimmmmm on February 22, 2012, 03:27:05 am
I nominate Golem + Horn of Plenty. I've only seen this once, but it got pretty crazy. One play of Golem often gets you 3 different cards counting towards the HoP, as well as the draw and actions to play more.
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: chwhite on February 22, 2012, 03:42:24 am
Most of the best ones have been nominated already, but there are still a few standby ideas that need recognition:

I nominate Festival+Watchtower.  Better known as Festival/Library, but with Watchtower at $3 and holding on to extras for top-decking you can build your engine much quicker, which is worth the one fewer card drawn.  Hamlet can also be substituted for Festival, but the virtual cash is hard to ignore.  Festival/Watchtower is my favorite iteration of this general idea, so that's what I'm nominating.

I nominate Tactician+Outpost. Yes, I think I will follow up this 10-card hand with an eight-card hand, thank you very much.  It'll be your turn eventually.  Admittedly needs some support.

I nominate Ambassador+Apothecary. Apothecary gives you a massive boost to cycling and buy power, and lets you focus your Ambassador energies on Estates, since you can handle the incoming coppers (to a point).  Then, once you have things under control (and you will, unless you got shuffle-screwed with a $1P hand early) you can build to whatever you want.

I'm sure there are many more worthy candidates.
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: DrHades on February 22, 2012, 07:53:12 am
I nominate Embassy + Tunnel.
Embassy-BM is one of the fastes BMs out there and doesn't care about greening early. With Tunnel, you can green from the very beggining and get Golds as a reward! Good luck with your engine, opponent!
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: Anon79 on February 22, 2012, 08:50:29 am
I nominate Trader + Ironworks.
Because we all love pink elephants & blue dogs.
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: Ozle on February 22, 2012, 11:55:34 am
I nominate Moat + Village
Everybody loves drawing cards right? Its brilliant, and at 2 cards for $2, thats 1 card per $1, thats a better rate than the much heralded Smithy (which is 1 card for $1.33). PLUS if that wasn't good enough, we'll also throw in free protection from attacks! Bonus! Whats the catch I hear you say? Well, unfortunately its a terminal action, so drawing more than one in your hand is a problem....BUT NOT ANYMORE! Combine your shiny moats with villages and your days of drawing dead cards are over, with these 2 cards together you are practically guarenteed* to draw your entire deck each hand. Why would you need anything else?
If you need any further convincing, I win at least 95% of all my solataire games just by using this combo!



* Guarentee does not apply in any Kingdom that also includes Gold
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: DStu on February 22, 2012, 11:58:43 am
I nominate Moat + Village
I prefer Shanty Town over Village here...
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: andwilk on February 22, 2012, 01:36:07 pm
I nominate *any $3/$4* Village + Wharf
Quite possibly the best way to set up mega turns and draw your deck in the game.  I excluded Native Village for the lack of +draw and $5 village types compete with Wharf for your buy.

I nominate Scrying Pool + University
Scrying Pool loves actions and University gains you more of them.  What more could you ask for?

I nominate King's Court + Scheme
Like to know what your next hand will look like for the rest of the game? KC+Scheme can get you there.

I'm sad I was beaten to the Chancellor+Stash combo nomination, it's a classic example of 1+1=3 in a Dominion context.  I'd nominate that as well.
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: jonts26 on February 22, 2012, 02:21:02 pm
I nominate *any $3/$4* Village + Wharf
Quite possibly the best way to set up mega turns and draw your deck in the game.  I excluded Native Village for the lack of +draw and $5 village types compete with Wharf for your buy.

1. You also neglect hamlet and crossroads, both of which do an admirable job.
2. Native village is actually still pretty good here. It DOES draw cards. Use your first 2 or 3 to draw to the mat and then the next to take cards off. No it's not stellar draw but you already get that from the wharf so it's not so big a deal.
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: tlloyd on February 22, 2012, 05:47:35 pm
I nominate Possession + Governor

Draw your whole deck using Governors (giving your opponent a huge hand), play your Possession, buy/gain lots of VPs. Then possess your opponent's huge hand, play all their governors to give yourself a huge hand, buy/gain lots of VPs, repeat. For obvious reasons it's best if your opponent doesn't have a Possession of his own.  :P
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: Jimmmmm on February 23, 2012, 07:09:54 am
I nominate Scheme + Ghost Ship. Best way to make sure you're Ghost Shipping every turn.
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: Lekkit on February 23, 2012, 08:07:31 am
I nominate Jack of All Trades + Jack of All Trades. (Just kidding)

I nominate Herbalist + Philosopher's Stone. +buys and topdecking possibilities. Everything you might need for the Philosopher's Stone.
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: WanderingWinder on February 23, 2012, 10:06:48 am
I nominate *any $3/$4* Village + Wharf
Quite possibly the best way to set up mega turns and draw your deck in the game.  I excluded Native Village for the lack of +draw and $5 village types compete with Wharf for your buy.

I nominate Scrying Pool + University
Scrying Pool loves actions and University gains you more of them.  What more could you ask for?

I nominate King's Court + Scheme
Like to know what your next hand will look like for the rest of the game? KC+Scheme can get you there.

I'm sad I was beaten to the Chancellor+Stash combo nomination, it's a classic example of 1+1=3 11 in a Dominion context.  I'd nominate that as well.
FYP
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: DStu on February 23, 2012, 10:09:39 am
..., it's a classic example of 1+1=3 11 in a Dominion context.
FYP

... those people who understand binary, and those who don't...
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: Davio on February 23, 2012, 03:25:23 pm
..., it's a classic example of 1+1=3 11 in a Dominion context.
FYP

... those people who understand binary, and those who don't...
As they say: There are 10 kinds of people.
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: Ozle on February 23, 2012, 07:22:58 pm
I nominate Copper and Estate
I did a bit of research in Council Room, and poured over masses of logs, and we all know how important the early turns are to get momentum!
And the one thing all these top players have in thier decks around 4 and 5 are Coppers and estates! I didnt bother looking at the earlier turns,because they had so many of each of these they must have picked them up right near the beggining. Im surprised not to see it at the top of the Level 7 openings to be honest
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: Robz888 on February 23, 2012, 07:31:51 pm
I nominate Copper and Estate
I did a bit of research in Council Room, and poured over masses of logs, and we all know how important the early turns are to get momentum!
And the one thing all these top players have in thier decks around 4 and 5 are Coppers and estates! I didnt bother looking at the earlier turns,because they had so many of each of these they must have picked them up right near the beggining. Im surprised not to see it at the top of the Level 7 openings to be honest

You know, I think this combo loses nearly as often as it wins.
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: dondon151 on February 23, 2012, 07:39:34 pm
It tends to lose more often than it wins when there's more than 2 players.
Title: Re: The best 2-card combo
Post by: Axxle on February 25, 2012, 05:33:16 am
..., it's a classic example of 1+1=3 11 in a Dominion context.
FYP

... those people who understand binary, and those who don't...
He was using Unary, you probably never heard of it.
I nominate Copper and Estate
I did a bit of research in Council Room, and poured over masses of logs, and we all know how important the early turns are to get momentum!
And the one thing all these top players have in thier decks around 4 and 5 are Coppers and estates! I didnt bother looking at the earlier turns,because they had so many of each of these they must have picked them up right near the beggining. Im surprised not to see it at the top of the Level 7 openings to be honest
I nominate Province/Colony