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« on: May 12, 2019, 01:41:52 pm »
Caution - This is written for two player Dominion only -- the castle ordering is different in multiplayer, and in general "dancing" tactics are very different in multiplayer.
Should I "go for Castles"?
Probably? A lot of intermediate players lose because they go for Castles, but this isn't a reflection on the strength of the Castles pile so much as a consequence of tactical mistakes.
Much like Fairgrounds, the main benefit of Castles is that it's a second province pile, which gives you more time to develop an engine, which means you'll probably win if your opponent's engine is less good than yours.
Still, any strategy that beats Provinces will beat Castles. Castles won't beat Colonies, Goons, Vineyards, etc. And sometimes the opportunity to open the Castles pile never arises -- particularly in situations that are bad for engines, like no +Buy. You can beat many opponents by ignoring the Castles pile unless the opponent opens them, in which case you can take advantage of their tactical mistakes.
What tactical mistakes are those?
The Castles pile is ordered, and the order is all-important; exposing a good Castle for your opponent can lose you the game. Also, Castles are victory cards and are typically bought too early.
So what's the right way to buy castles?
Follow these three principles!
1) Small Castle and Opulent Castle are great. The other Castles are mostly just points.
Small Castle is one of the best trash-for-gainers in Dominion -- it's the only one that can remodel a 3-cost to a 10-cost, and the ability to remodel itself is a consolation prize when you are unlucky enough to draw it alone.
Opulent Castle is a beautiful card in a green slog, especially if you have some source of draw. (It's also the only Castle that is definitively a good card for you if you are otherwise ignoring the Castle pile and plan to win on Provinces.)
2) Be very cautious about buying Crumbling Castle.
It follows from point 1 that Crumbling Castle and Haunted Castle are dangerous buys.
Haunted Castle makes up for this by attacking the opponent on-buy, putting the odds are against your opponent hitting seven. Crumbling Castle has no such risk-mitigation (and should you over-green, the Gold from Haunted Castle is much better than the Silver from Crumbling Castle -- more than just 3>2, because in general spikes are better in Dominion than smoothness).
It follows that you should probably avoid buying Crumbling Castle unless you can gain Crumbling Castle and Small Castle in the same turn.
3) Buying Humble Castle is generally safe. But that doesn't mean you should do it.
Humble Castle exposes Crumbling Castle, and we'd usually prefer the opponent be the one to gain the Crumbling Castle.
Still, a Humble Castle buy is ultimately a copper buy, plus an investment in the idea that you'll gain a bunch of castles in the late game.
It's better for your deck than a Duchy -- but not by much. (You'll often sacrifice your Humble Castle to a Small Castle anyway.)
Generally, you'll want to build out your engine to a point where you can acquire Humble Castle on one turn and then both Crumbling Castle and Small Castle on the next. With a gainer like Ironworks available, this might be the early mid-game, but usually it will be a little later, when you can expect to have 9 and two buys.
An exception is that Humble Castle is a nice buy on turns 1-2 to trash a Hovel.
