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Dominion Articles / SaunaVanto --Draft--
« on: February 19, 2019, 03:11:32 pm »
Looking for feedback and also to make this shorter:
SaunaVanto
It’s uncommon to completely ignore the SaunaVanto pile, as it performs three deck control functions that you need most games (Thinning, Draw and Village). It’s reasonably likely to be the best or only source of one of these effects, but that doesn’t necessarily focus the board around it or make the split(s) important. SaunaVanto’s dirty little secret is that it’s actually pretty mediocre at each of its functions, and its main advantage is that it does them all. Often, when these effects are either optional or available somewhere else, it’s best to ignore the pile, going for those other sources of Draw, Thinning and Village or building a deck that doesn’t need them. Another consideration to that end is that an opponent going for Saunas sees the Avantos faster if you follow suit, likening contesting them to the classic “City Trap.”
That said, playing around the pile looks a little different depending on which effect you’re relying on. So when SaunaVanto is your:
Trashing: You normally grab an early Sauna along with a Silver or two. Optionally, you could take a single Silver and two Saunas, but these two options trash at a similar speed and the Silvers usually do more for you than the Saunas do (until the Avantos are revealed). Sauna’s trashing is slow and unreliable at first, but significantly faster once you’re drawing more cards, so the plan tends to be to make up for the slow initial Thinning with one or two big trashing turns later on.
Draw: This is what the pile is best at, but it takes a while to start doing it, (which is the main factor behind that “City Trap” comparison from earlier). When drawing cards is the main thing you need that pile for, the Saunas are not a priority and they’re often outright skippable. Instead, build a deck that hits $5 consistently and see what the opponent is doing. If they buy the Saunas, you’re probably positioned to get more Avantos than them. If they don’t, then you can either focus on some other source of draw, or commit harder to a moneyish strategy that doesn’t really need it.
Village: Understand that the pile is an unreliable and inefficient Village (you need to line up three cards from the pile in the right order to get plus one action). If the terminal payload is so strong that the Village is mandatory and SaunaVanto is your only option, then make sure you get one or two Saunas, but do consider if there’s some other strategy available that doesn’t need a Village. Leaving the pile uncontested for your opponent means they will have that Village effect if they pursue it, but it will be slow to set up, so perhaps you can take enough of a lead that it doesn’t matter by that point.
SaunaVanto
It’s uncommon to completely ignore the SaunaVanto pile, as it performs three deck control functions that you need most games (Thinning, Draw and Village). It’s reasonably likely to be the best or only source of one of these effects, but that doesn’t necessarily focus the board around it or make the split(s) important. SaunaVanto’s dirty little secret is that it’s actually pretty mediocre at each of its functions, and its main advantage is that it does them all. Often, when these effects are either optional or available somewhere else, it’s best to ignore the pile, going for those other sources of Draw, Thinning and Village or building a deck that doesn’t need them. Another consideration to that end is that an opponent going for Saunas sees the Avantos faster if you follow suit, likening contesting them to the classic “City Trap.”
That said, playing around the pile looks a little different depending on which effect you’re relying on. So when SaunaVanto is your:
Trashing: You normally grab an early Sauna along with a Silver or two. Optionally, you could take a single Silver and two Saunas, but these two options trash at a similar speed and the Silvers usually do more for you than the Saunas do (until the Avantos are revealed). Sauna’s trashing is slow and unreliable at first, but significantly faster once you’re drawing more cards, so the plan tends to be to make up for the slow initial Thinning with one or two big trashing turns later on.
Draw: This is what the pile is best at, but it takes a while to start doing it, (which is the main factor behind that “City Trap” comparison from earlier). When drawing cards is the main thing you need that pile for, the Saunas are not a priority and they’re often outright skippable. Instead, build a deck that hits $5 consistently and see what the opponent is doing. If they buy the Saunas, you’re probably positioned to get more Avantos than them. If they don’t, then you can either focus on some other source of draw, or commit harder to a moneyish strategy that doesn’t really need it.
Village: Understand that the pile is an unreliable and inefficient Village (you need to line up three cards from the pile in the right order to get plus one action). If the terminal payload is so strong that the Village is mandatory and SaunaVanto is your only option, then make sure you get one or two Saunas, but do consider if there’s some other strategy available that doesn’t need a Village. Leaving the pile uncontested for your opponent means they will have that Village effect if they pursue it, but it will be slow to set up, so perhaps you can take enough of a lead that it doesn’t matter by that point.