(http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/2/21/Bag_of_GoldDigital.jpg) | #5 =0 Bag of Gold
Bag of Gold saw a slight increase in its average, but still finds itself in last place. It has the lowest standard deviation of the Prizes and 16 votes for last place, with the rest voting it second last place. While the Gold it topdecks can come in handy to buy Provinces to end the game, the Gold can still get in the way of you finding the cards that allow more fancy things to happen. It also happens to compete with Duchy when the game is reaching its conclusion. Perhaps there is more appreciated for Gold gainers these days to explain its slight increase in average. Even then, there is still the issue that Bag of Gold comes into effect later in the game than you'd normally hope. | ||||||||
(http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/a/af/DiademDigital.jpg) | #4 =0 Diadem
Paired with the rise in Bag of Gold's average, the drop in Diadem's average made for a close contest for the #4 spot. It has the remaining 12 votes for last place, with the rest voting it second last place just like we have with Bag of Gold. There are some conceivable cases where the absurd amount of +actions that can be accumulated makes Diadem a top pick, but it's incredibly rare for these scenarios to arise in practice. In the common scenario, Diadem is something you get when you need the coin it produces to buy one of the remaining few Provinces. Diadem nets you fewer stop cards when you want to use it for cash compared to Bag of Gold, but it doesn't work well with trash for benefit the way Gold tends to. | ||||||||
(http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/3/38/PrincessDigital.jpg) | #3 =0 Princess
After an enormous jump of over 50% in average, we find Princess sitting at the #3 spot. It received only a modest increase in its average from last year. It has the largest standard deviation in this list by a very small margin and has four votes for first place. As far as payload goes, few cards compare with Princess. Princess helps immensely in creating double Province turns even with no other available sources of +buy, and it enables massive gains when other +buy or similar effects are available. And yet, it's only ranked third place among the five prizes. In English, we have a saying that goes, “Don't put the carriage before the horse.” As great as Princess can be, it doesn't save a dud hand. A deck that can use Princess to the fullest might be too far away if you had to spend a bunch of time rushing for Tournaments and Provinces just to get Princess in the first place. | ||||||||
(http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/6/60/Trusty_SteedDigital.jpg) | #2 =0 Trusty Steed
Despite the slight drop in average, Trusty Steed still has a comfortable lead over Princess for second place. It has the second highest standard deviation in this list and has seven votes for first place. Introducing the horse. Those who can't shake the habit of picking +1 Card +1 Action from Pawn will be happy to know that the +2 Card +2 Action option for Trusty Steed is generally a solid play, and even helps you connect more Tournaments with Provinces. Sometimes you don't need the draw or the actions, or the coins guarantee something important, so you take the coins option. The Silver gaining option is a bit messy, but it has its uses and some special synergies. All in all, Trusty Steed is the all-around good card of the Prize bunch. | ||||||||
(http://wiki.dominionstrategy.com/images/d/d7/FollowersDigital.jpg) | #1 =0 Followers
Solidly maintaining its place at the top of the Prize list is Followers. This card has the biggest disagreement between the unweighted average and the weighted average. It has 17 votes for first place. Some games don't feature good ways of dealing with small hand sizes. In such games, getting the only discard attack in the form of Followers gives you a major advantage. At the same time, you distribute stop cards to both decks and draw some cards yourself. The distribution of Curses and Estates drives the game closer to being a slog, which is convenient for you if you are the one playing Followers considering the 2VP net increase you gain over your opponents every time it's played. Remember that wins you games of Dominion is not making your deck better, but making your deck better than the one your opponents have. |
The problem with Followers is that, though a strong card in its own right (it would surely cost $7+ in the supply), it has a huge antisynergy with Tournament.
The problem with Followers is that, though a strong card in its own right (it would surely cost $7+ in the supply), it has a huge antisynergy with Tournament.
But it forces that antisynergy onto the opponent as well with its junking and handsize attack. I do find myself in situations where I really don't want it sometimes, but you can't be too hipster and always insist on skipping Followers.
The problem with Followers is that, though a strong card in its own right (it would surely cost $7+ in the supply), it has a huge antisynergy with Tournament.
But it forces that antisynergy onto the opponent as well with its junking and handsize attack. I do find myself in situations where I really don't want it sometimes, but you can't be too hipster and always insist on skipping Followers.
Handsize attacks don't make it harder to fire Tournament though. Junking does, but you junk yourself too. The VP swing isn't too helpful unless you're on a very sloggy board where tournament isn't as powerful and terminal draw sucks.
I still think Princess is strongest, cost reduction is just that amazing.
The problem with Followers is that, though a strong card in its own right (it would surely cost $7+ in the supply), it has a huge antisynergy with Tournament.
But it forces that antisynergy onto the opponent as well with its junking and handsize attack. I do find myself in situations where I really don't want it sometimes, but you can't be too hipster and always insist on skipping Followers.
Handsize attacks don't make it harder to fire Tournament though. Junking does, but you junk yourself too. The VP swing isn't too helpful unless you're on a very sloggy board where tournament isn't as powerful and terminal draw sucks.
It can if the person being attacked has either Province of Tournament in hand but not the other. Keeping Province increases the risk of stall, and keeping Tournament risks having them get blocked and having a completely dead turn.
In the presence of trashing, the player with Followers has a slightly easier time trashing the Followers junk thanks to having the +2 cards off Followers and not starting with a 3-card hand.
The VP swing might not always matter, but sometime you might end up slacking on proper engine building to actually get the prize you want first. Getting a bunch of Tournaments is not equivalent to having an engine, especially if the Tournaments start getting blocked. At that point, you have something of a slog.
The problem with Followers is that, though a strong card in its own right (it would surely cost $7+ in the supply), it has a huge antisynergy with Tournament.
But it forces that antisynergy onto the opponent as well with its junking and handsize attack. I do find myself in situations where I really don't want it sometimes, but you can't be too hipster and always insist on skipping Followers.
Handsize attacks don't make it harder to fire Tournament though. Junking does, but you junk yourself too. The VP swing isn't too helpful unless you're on a very sloggy board where tournament isn't as powerful and terminal draw sucks.
It can if the person being attacked has either Province of Tournament in hand but not the other. Keeping Province increases the risk of stall, and keeping Tournament risks having them get blocked and having a completely dead turn.
In the presence of trashing, the player with Followers has a slightly easier time trashing the Followers junk thanks to having the +2 cards off Followers and not starting with a 3-card hand.
The VP swing might not always matter, but sometime you might end up slacking on proper engine building to actually get the prize you want first. Getting a bunch of Tournaments is not equivalent to having an engine, especially if the Tournaments start getting blocked. At that point, you have something of a slog.
...
At the point you get the first prize, you are either already in a super-trim state and lined up your T and P because of that, in which case you probably want Princess, or you lined up by volume of Ts in what will then be a slightly messy cantrippy deck that you haven't transitioned into an engine yet, in which case terminal draw is nails for you, the self-junking kills your transition to engine, and you really would prefer Trusty Steed to help you transition to engine. The latter situation is probably better for Followers, as the long, junky game you will then get makes the VP advantage it gives more potent, but your opponent will then probably get Trusty Steed and may well be able to cycle faster and deal with his curses better than you can deal with your estates. That is the other big drawback of Followers compared with Princess. When Princess is good, the consolation prize your opponent gets is a Trusty Steed they don't really need or a Followers you can deal with. When Followers is good, the consolation prize is a Trusty Steed that will be nearly as good as Followers.
Compared to other Gold gainers like Explorer, Dismantle and Bandit, Bag of Gold is a poor choice. Sure, Bag of Gold is nonterminal, but Governor provides an additional junking effect which can ruin some combos like Vassal, Baron or Scrying Pool. The topdecking á la Artisan is more a disadvantage than an advantage, because it can actually slow your next turn down as you may miss an engine part. Like Bureaucrat, its a good card for Gardens slogs with large decks, though if Trusty Steed is already taken. Explorer is so much better, because it gives you the Gold into your hand, making +$3 instead of +1 Action. Coincidentally it has a similar Province requirement like Tournament, but if you already have a few Provinces, the +$3 is much more valuable than the Gold. To conclude, I would always skip BoG for a Duchy.