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[WanderingWinder]

But guys, the point of this is to define terms that people actually use all the time for new players who are trying to figure out what's going on here. Your new definitions may be cute, but they don't fall under this umbrella... at least yet. If you can get people to start using them all the time, more power to ya.

[Young Nick]

If it hasn't been said yet, I would suggest adding Top-Decking. It is very intuitive, but sometime that matters when referring to Herbalist, Alchemist, Ghost Ship, Bureaucrat and others.

[Eagle]

But guys, the point of this is to define terms that people actually use all the time for new players who are trying to figure out what's going on here. Your new definitions may be cute, but they don't fall under this umbrella... at least yet. If you can get people to start using them all the time, more power to ya.

I forgot that "no humor allowed on the internet" rule.

[Lekkit]

Deck bloating. To fill one's (or preferably opponent's) deck with unwanted cards.

[chwhite]

I actually tried to use the term "City Slicker" way back when:

http://dominionstrategy.com/2011/04/11/the-five-best-5-non-attacks/#comment-2107

[chwhite]

Actually, "City trap" would probably be a good and legit addition to the dictionary:

City Trap: The pattern of buying lots of Cities in a game where piles are unlikely to run out (much) before the Province stack is deleted, making the Cities little better than overpriced Villages.

There's probably a better wording for that.

[tko]

Actually, "City trap" would probably be a good and legit addition to the dictionary:

City Trap: The pattern of buying lots of Cities in a game where piles are unlikely to run out (much) before the Province stack is deleted, making the Cities little better than overpriced Villages.

There's probably a better wording for that.

I second that "City trap" is a great addition.

Maybe also Prisoner's dilemna (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner%27s_dilemna) which explains how one may fall into the "City trap".

[WanderingWinder]

But guys, the point of this is to define terms that people actually use all the time for new players who are trying to figure out what's going on here. Your new definitions may be cute, but they don't fall under this umbrella... at least yet. If you can get people to start using them all the time, more power to ya.

I forgot that "no humor allowed on the internet" rule.

There's plenty of humor on the internet, and I actually quite like you guys's suggestions. I just wanted to say that I don't think they should actually be put on the list.

[Eagle]

But guys, the point of this is to define terms that people actually use all the time for new players who are trying to figure out what's going on here. Your new definitions may be cute, but they don't fall under this umbrella... at least yet. If you can get people to start using them all the time, more power to ya.

I forgot that "no humor allowed on the internet" rule.

There's plenty of humor on the internet, and I actually quite like you guys's suggestions. I just wanted to say that I don't think they should actually be put on the list.

Neither do I, I (thought) I was being funny..  but that was before I remembered the rule.

[Atto]

Big Money: The strategy of buying nothing but Treasure and Victory cards.  Beats most beginners; loses to more advanced play.
Envoy-Big-Money/Smithy-Big-Money: Same as Big Money, except with a single Envoy or Smithy added.

I think standard strategies probably warrant their own thread, with more information about each.  What do you think?

I think, you should add them. This are often used terms and i wouldn't expect new players to understand them. Expecially because it is not clear for beginners that strategies like this are even possible.

As you are mentioning "Province Game" and "Colony Game" in your explanation of "Midgame", you should probably explain these terms, too. For a new player, who don't know Prosperity yet, they may be unclear. For example like this:

• Province Game: A normal game in which the provinces are the most expensive victory cards. No Colonies (from the Prosperity expansion) are in the Supply.
• Colony Game: A game in which the colonies (from the Prosperity expansion) are in the Supply. Provinces are only the second most expensive victory cards.

(May a native speaker correct this, if necessary. )

[Taco Lobster]

Yeah, I remember being confused by what Big Money meant when I started, particularly because it is used to mean a few different things.  The generic definition is a strategy where you only purchase treasures and victories, but the more common usage seems to be a strategy based around purchasing treasures with a few actions sprinkled in (which is contrasted with an action chain strategy).

[Kirian]

(May a native speaker correct this, if necessary. )

I so often find myself reminding foreigners (especially Europeans) that their grasp of the English language is, 95% of the time, better than the average American's.

Then again, I've worked as a high school teacher.  The ways American high school students find to mangle the English language is indescribable to anyone who hasn't been there.

----

First post will be updated tonight!  Don't have much time right now, so expect somewhere in the midnight EST range.

[Axe Knight]

But guys, the point of this is to define terms that people actually use all the time for new players who are trying to figure out what's going on here. Your new definitions may be cute, but they don't fall under this umbrella... at least yet. If you can get people to start using them all the time, more power to ya.

I forgot that "no humor allowed on the internet" rule.

There's plenty of humor on the internet, and I actually quite like you guys's suggestions. I just wanted to say that I don't think they should actually be put on the list.

Actually, the two I wrote were ones other people used in game chats, but I've have never seen them outside their original use, although they could be useful.  I wouldn't expect them to be added to the official list, though.

[Kirian]

Latest updates are up.  A few things:

• I've shied away from defining anything that's defined in the official rules, except where the term is also used a different way (e.g., trash).
• I've also shied away from defining terms that are obvious from the rules and/or cards themselves.  For instance, "Terminal" is not obvious; "Curse-Giver" or "Curser" is based on the rules.
• If I've left something out that you feel really ought to be in, please make your case!  I want to be inclusive without ending up with a crazy-long list.

Thanks to all who are participating here!

[guided]

Since people are complaining about "the board" saying they prefer "Kingdom", I'll reveal my own pet peeve is that I hate the term "curse-giver". It's so undignified! I use "cursing attack" myself.

[philosophyguy]

What about "soft counter"? A possible definition would be: a card whose function allows a player to recover or minimize the impact from a type of attack, although the card is not technically a reaction card. Examples include Library against handsize reduction attacks or Masquerade against a Sea Hag.

[WanderingWinder]

Soft counter is good, but I'd define it as something which compensates somewhat for a disadvantage without fully or directly meeting it, or deals with an attack/strategy without actually directly stopping it. You can have hard counters without reaction cards, and not all reaction cards are hard counters.

[randomdragoon]

What about "soft counter"? A possible definition would be: a card whose function allows a player to recover or minimize the impact from a type of attack, although the card is not technically a reaction card. Examples include Library against handsize reduction attacks or Masquerade against a Sea Hag.

Library vs. Militia I would consider a hard counter, since their Militia actually helps you (most of the time, having a library is better than having a Moat vs Militia). A soft counter would be more like Wishing Well vs. Ghost ship. You are still somewhat hurt by Ghost Ship because you will have only 4 cards in hand after using your Wishing Well to get the two cards you put on top back into your hand, but having a Wishing Well takes a lot of the bite out of the Ghost Ship attack.

[theory]

I started writing this post and then realized I don't have an internally consistent definition of "hard" and "soft" counter.  I think I interpret (and I use) "soft counter" to mean a counter that is not always 100% effective against the attack.  By this definition, even Library is a soft counter to Militia, since you are still sometimes hurt even when you have a Library in hand, and Secret Chamber is a soft (though very close to hard) counter to Pirate Ship because it doesn't always work.

"Hard counter" therefore, to me, means a counter that is 100% effective.  Moat, Horse Traders against Minion, Venture against Bureaucrat.

I think.

[WanderingWinder]

Certainly Lighthouse is certainly among the list of hard counters. It's actually rather an interesting discussion to have, but I think it's pretty safe to say that soft to hard counter is more of a spectrum than a binary distinction.

[Kirian]

To me, it's not so much a question of "hard counter" vs "soft counter."  There are simply counters, each of which do different things, some of which are more effective than others.  Some of those counters are also reactions; some aren't.

[philosophyguy]

Ok: here's a revised definition of a soft counter: a card that can respond to an attack or opponent's strategy with less than 100% effectiveness. Soft counters exist along a spectrum of effectiveness: for instance, a Wishing Well almost completely negates the attack of a Ghost Ship, but a Counting House is far from ideal against a Mountebank attack. The closer the counter gets to 100% effectiveness, the more "hard" it becomes (i.e., Moat is a hard counter to any attack).

[philosophyguy]

In the fun category, I'd like to submit a definition for "empty court":

An empty court is a hand that contains some combination of Throne Rooms and/or King's Courts, but no other action cards to play with them. What's the point of having a ruler hold court if no one shows up?

[Kirian]

Ok: here's a revised definition of a soft counter: a card that can respond to an attack or opponent's strategy with less than 100% effectiveness. Soft counters exist along a spectrum of effectiveness: for instance, a Wishing Well almost completely negates the attack of a Ghost Ship, but a Counting House is far from ideal against a Mountebank attack. The closer the counter gets to 100% effectiveness, the more "hard" it becomes (i.e., Moat is a hard counter to any attack).

What about a counter that is more than 100% effective?  Horse Traders vs. Minion gets you a 6-card hand.

[WanderingWinder]

But arguably Library/watchtower (less often menagerie) is usually more than 100% effective against militia, but sometimes less effective.