Chapel is the worst card in Dominion. While trashing cards is undeniably a powerful effect, and Chapel can trash more cards than most other options, the opportunity cost of purchasing the card is simply too great. Here are five reasons why Chapel is clearly the worst card in the game.
5. Opening Chapel stifles your early-game economy
It's best to get trashers early in the game in order to remove Coppers and Estates and get a tempo boost; as such, the only practical time to purchase Chapel is typically in the opening. However, when opening Chapel, players are forced to spend several turns producing little to no $. The disadvantage of doing so is potentially huge, as Chapel openers are forced to pass on purchasing key cards or even cards like Silver that are useful in the early game.
4. Chapel is a completely dead card in the mid to late game
In a typical game of Dominion, players will only have ten cards worth trashing from their decks. Once they have been trashed, Chapel remains in the deck, now a dead card that can even interfere with starting a powerful action chain if the stars misalign. Even worse, if Chapel should fail to trash all of the starting deck early in the game, the player is often better off playing cards that are better in the mid-late game to score $8 or perhaps attack the opponent, leaving those piddly Coppers and Estates in the mix regardless. The card's lack of use outside of the early game hurts it tremendously.
3. Unlike other trashers, you get no benefit from trashing cards with Chapel
Besides the obvious removal of bad cards from the deck, Chapel does nothing for you. Other cards such as Junk Dealer, Altar, and Trade Route provide a benefit for doing the dirty work, meaning you do not have to sacrifice as much to play them. Cards like Steward and Loan even have serious flexibility, fitting in to all kinds of deck types. Chapel is just all or nothing.
2. Chapel is weak against handsize attacks
Particularly if the player does not have any nonterminal draw, Chapel does not accomplish its potential early in the game while under attack. A Militia or Catapult (which also gets to trash!) neuters the potential early game advantage of opening Chapel, forcing the player to either meekly trash less than Chapel is capable of or pass up trashing to purchase better cards. While these kinds of attacks are not in every game, they nonetheless further discourage opting for Chapel when present.
1. Chapel turns the game into a gambleHere is the most critical weakness of Chapel. When opening Chapel, you are banking on drawing it Turn 3 or 4 in order to trash four starting cards. If Chapel misses both of these turns, there is a high chance the game has been lost because you have invested in a lost cause. Your deck will still have twelve cards, and eleven of them are still junk. Only slightly less problematic is the case of drawing Chapel with your other opening card, rendering that card ineffective in the early game. This is especially significant if the other card is a powerful one (like Mountebank or Goons in a Baker game) or a particularly critical one to play early like Peasant. Yet another potentially deadly case is the hand of Chapel/4 Copper. While trashing 4 Copper is usually a good move in the long run, crippling your economy and ending up with a deck that still has 4 dead cards (Chapel and 3 Estates) can be devastating. Do you want to risk all of these scenarios occurring? If so, Chapel is a compelling option. Otherwise, it is best avoided in favor of more practical, tried-and-true cards like Silver.
