1
Dominion General Discussion / Cards I would ban / errata
« on: September 28, 2017, 11:13:35 am »
Other collectable card games, both online and physical, regularly issue official bans and erratas. I've never understood why Dominion doesn't do the same, though I'm sure there is an explanation somewhere. If casual players are unaware, disagree with a ban or errata, then no harm done, they can ignore it. For more serious players and tournaments, and online where such changes are easy, I think the game would be much better for some minor changes.
(For context, I play exclusively two-player online. I'm level 58 on Shuffle.it, and generally play random matches.)
Here are some cards I would ban or change:
(1) Possession
Everyone's least favorite card. It makes games take forever, it gives a huge advantage to players with detailed rules knowledge (debt, tokens, etc.), it leads to degenerate game states, and it forces weird rules contortions for other cards. If there was ever a card that should simply exit the game, this is it.
(2) Tournament
This card is a combination of (1) overpowered and (2) very swingy. On a large portion of boards, being the first person to connect Tournament and Province is devastating, as one of the big 3 prizes (Trusty Steed, Princess, Followers) does something that otherwise isn't available. Plus, at +1 action/+1 card/+1 coin, Tournament on its own does just about what normally costs 5 (eg. Treasury). At the very least, this card should be costed at 5.
(3) Ill-Gotten Gains
Because IGG empties two piles at once, on many boards a player who rushes it can end the game before the other player could possibly implement alternative strategies. There are just way too many games where IGG dominates any other possible strategy, and those games are totally uninteresting. Of course there are games where IGG isn't good (when there is strong trashing), and occasionally games where IGG is viable alongside other strategies or where IGG has interesting synergies, but those are overshadowed by the more common, boring, one.
(4) Cultist
Like Tournament, Cultist is overpowered and very swingy. It is an attack, draw, and a village, costed the same as cards that do much less. If just one player goes Cultist, the game is usually unwinnable for the other. If both players go Cultist, very often one player will have a turn that chains many together, either emptying the Ruins or junking the other so much they can no longer effectively chain in retaliation.
(5) Sauna / Avanto
In a continuing theme, these cards do too much and are very swingy. They are early game trashing, and late game both village and draw. On many boards, if one player manages to collide Sauna + Silver early and the other doesn't, they can easily win the Sauna / Avanto split, trash much faster, and have a much stronger engine in the endgame. Sometimes there is better early trashing available and you can combat Sauna by not buying it yourself, so that it takes a long time to get to Avanto, but much of the time Sauna is the best or only trashing going, and both players are forced to contest it. The player who loses the split very often has no way to come back, since, as I said, this combination basically does everything.
Of course these are just my opinions, and I'm nothing special at Dominion, but based on my experience these cards really do make the game worse. And I don't just mean I have less fun---they make the games more frustrating, confusing, and especially high variance. I feel pretty strongly they should change or go.
Given the number of cards in Dominion now, I think it's pretty good to have only 5 cards that need changing. But why not make the game better if you can?
(For context, I play exclusively two-player online. I'm level 58 on Shuffle.it, and generally play random matches.)
Here are some cards I would ban or change:
(1) Possession
Everyone's least favorite card. It makes games take forever, it gives a huge advantage to players with detailed rules knowledge (debt, tokens, etc.), it leads to degenerate game states, and it forces weird rules contortions for other cards. If there was ever a card that should simply exit the game, this is it.
(2) Tournament
This card is a combination of (1) overpowered and (2) very swingy. On a large portion of boards, being the first person to connect Tournament and Province is devastating, as one of the big 3 prizes (Trusty Steed, Princess, Followers) does something that otherwise isn't available. Plus, at +1 action/+1 card/+1 coin, Tournament on its own does just about what normally costs 5 (eg. Treasury). At the very least, this card should be costed at 5.
(3) Ill-Gotten Gains
Because IGG empties two piles at once, on many boards a player who rushes it can end the game before the other player could possibly implement alternative strategies. There are just way too many games where IGG dominates any other possible strategy, and those games are totally uninteresting. Of course there are games where IGG isn't good (when there is strong trashing), and occasionally games where IGG is viable alongside other strategies or where IGG has interesting synergies, but those are overshadowed by the more common, boring, one.
(4) Cultist
Like Tournament, Cultist is overpowered and very swingy. It is an attack, draw, and a village, costed the same as cards that do much less. If just one player goes Cultist, the game is usually unwinnable for the other. If both players go Cultist, very often one player will have a turn that chains many together, either emptying the Ruins or junking the other so much they can no longer effectively chain in retaliation.
(5) Sauna / Avanto
In a continuing theme, these cards do too much and are very swingy. They are early game trashing, and late game both village and draw. On many boards, if one player manages to collide Sauna + Silver early and the other doesn't, they can easily win the Sauna / Avanto split, trash much faster, and have a much stronger engine in the endgame. Sometimes there is better early trashing available and you can combat Sauna by not buying it yourself, so that it takes a long time to get to Avanto, but much of the time Sauna is the best or only trashing going, and both players are forced to contest it. The player who loses the split very often has no way to come back, since, as I said, this combination basically does everything.
Of course these are just my opinions, and I'm nothing special at Dominion, but based on my experience these cards really do make the game worse. And I don't just mean I have less fun---they make the games more frustrating, confusing, and especially high variance. I feel pretty strongly they should change or go.
Given the number of cards in Dominion now, I think it's pretty good to have only 5 cards that need changing. But why not make the game better if you can?