Procession
"Procession, without a doubt."
-Brokoli, when asked what the highest skill card in Dominion was
Why is Procession widely considered one of the highest skill cards in Dominion? After reading through opinions and thinking myself, I have come to three reasons:
I think most people who have ever played Dominion have underrated Procession when they first saw it, because it trashes the card you 'Throned' afterwards. The Develop/Remake/Upgrade effect is a lot stronger than people give it credit for, and it is the lack of understanding with this mechanic that weakens Procession for a lot of beginners. I mean, why trash a card you don't want trashed? I've gotten over trashing Coppers and Estates but man, it's just so much harder to let go of your nice Smithy.
Procession is also a strong card because it handily helps quicken 3-piles while accelerating your engine as a Throne variant normally does. This makes Procession an incredibly viable engine piece, and reading Titandrake's shiny new article about Beatdowns vs. Control only increases this perception for me.
It is often difficult to dissect when the best time to go for Procession is, or even to get it at all, which is my absolute biggest reason. It's not always intuitive to go out and buy tons of Spies to Process into Upgrades to then Process further into something else to get quick points and end it all on a 3-pile. Procession is likely the number one card that separates a good player from a great one, and the sooner you can master it, the better.
Long story short, Procession is fantastic but also tricky.
- What are good Procession targets?
- Did you have a moment where someone went for Procession and you didn't? What happened?
- Do you like this card overall?
Oh, and you can Process Feast for 3 $5 cards.
for more reading on Procession: DG's Article [2012]