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Dominion Articles / Island
« on: January 06, 2015, 12:19:01 pm »
Island is the combination of two largely unrelated effects in one package: it provides two VP and it thins your deck by one card. The problem with this specific combination is that both effects excel on very different types of boards. A static VP boost is better the weaker the board is, while thinning is mostly valuable in engines, which tend to be strong boards. Because of this, you will almost never see a board where both effects are equally valuable, and likewise, both individual effects are usually too weak to warrant a buy on their own.
So, how do you decide if Island is worth it? If you just want VP and Island is the best option in your current turn, go for it. If you have a nice engine in a slim deck that's afraid of green cards, you can consider it to exile your Provinces, but make sure that the late thinning is really necessary. Mostly you want it for specific combinations. And if the board has none of that, just ignore it.
If you do want Island, when exactly should you pick it up? In a lot of situations this decision is trivial, but if it's not, there is no general answer. It basically works like other trashers, so you'll just have to rely on intuition. Opening Island is only advisable on really weak boards.
This is really all I have to say about the card in general, so the rest of the article will be a list of enablers.
1. Workshop and Variants
While the presence of a workshop type card doesn't really make each copy of Island any more useful, it decreases the cost to gain them significantly. Ironworks is the best as it is a cantrip when gaining Island, and can be considered even on weak boards, just for the VP. Armory and a plain Workshop usually want to be integrated into an engine, preferably playing the gained Island on the same turn.
2. Hoard
Hoard is really straight forward. Buying Duchies or Estates to trigger early Hoards is often a mistake, but buying Island is pretty good. Ask yourself whether you'd take an Island for free; if yes you should buy it over gold itself, if not you might still want to buy it for 4$ or 5$.
3. Copper Trashers
If you can just trash your Coppers but not your Estates or Shelters, using Island to clean the remaining junk out of your deck can be good, if the additional thinning is worth it. Loan and Counterfeit aren't as good for this as Spice Merchant, and Moneylender is most likely a trap.
4. Menagerie
Here we have a case where the fact that Island exiles cards rather than trashing them is the deciding factor. If you use Menagerie as your primary draw, you often run into problems once you pick up your second province, especially if there is no way to discard them mid turn. Island allows you to put that province aside, effectively removing the problem while leaving the points intact. Do this only if other cards allow you to trash down first.
5. Wishing Well/Apothecary
If no better trashing is present and Copper isn't that bad of a card, you can consider using Island to get rid of your Estates or Shelters, and later your Provinces. You'll need a decent payload for this to be worth it.
6. Hovel
Like Great Hall, you can buy Island to trash a Hovel if you draw it with 4$. Unlike Great Hall, however, an Island/Silver opening does not guarantee 5$ on the second shuffle, so think twice about this.
7. Procession
Island can be interesting for Procession, partly because it is a good target (you'll exile two cards, gain a card costing 5$, and leave the 2 VP intact), and partly because its dual type aspect can make it a possible payload. Do this with caution.
Conclusion
Island is a weak card. The most important thing is not to buy it without a good reason, and the most common misplay is to do just that. Still, it has its uses, the key is just knowing when to get it. There is no easy answer about what to do if you draw it without good targets; sometimes it's better to hold it off, but more often you probably just want to use it on a Copper.
Example Games:
Hovel and Spice Merchant: I buy just one Island to get rid of my only two dead cards (Hovel and OE)
Menagerie: Stef brilliantly plays a Menagerie Engine with Contraband, buying Duchies and Islands as VP.
Spice Merchant and Ironworks: Stef is utilizing Ironworks in a Hunting Party engine to exile all of his green cards.
Procession: I play a crazy procession/fortress engine where I use Island as a payload.
Apothecary, Wishing Well, and Armory: Stef plays a beautiful Apothecary engine, using Armory -> Island to set aside his points.
Wishing Well: A case of less support but a high payload, a Wishing Well/Monument engine, also played by Stef.
