A brand new kingdom is in front of you. What do you do? Before you make that opening buy, you have to read the kingdom. The following checklist is not a decision tree to tell you which strategy is best in a given kingdom or with what to open; this checklist is about organizing the information that’s there to make the decision easier.
The Pre-Game Checklist- Acknowledge my opponent; affirm that I am playing a friendly game of Dominion (type “good luck”, shake hands, or similar).
Ok, now look at the kingdom! What’s there? Look for both categories AND specific cards. Dominion is a game of 205 kingdom cards, and it is not so useful to completely divorce combinations of abilities from published cards when reading a kingdom. Categories and the cards within them are not mutually exclusive, they overlap somewhat. This is good because important things get repeated in the reading of the kingdom. When I think of cards within categories, I have a loose ranking of them in my head. This helps me better organize the kingdom in my head and speed along analysis. In my pre-game checklist, you will see categories and cards I keep at the top of the loose ranking for that category.
- Attacks?
- Junking (Mountebank, Cultist, Ambassador, Witch,…)
- Discard (Ghost ship*, Goons, Militia, …)
- Possession** (ugh) or Knights (double ugh!)
- Treasure Trashers (Noble Brigand, Pirate Ship, Thief, …)
- Are there hard defenses/counters? (Lighthouse, Watchtower, Trader, …)
- Are there soft defenses/counters? (sifting, trashing, draw to X, virtual coin, …)
The first thing I usually look for are attacks and defenses for them. This isn’t an exhaustive list of attack types; however, the others (like spying attacks) are usually too weak to bother with making a special note up front.
(* and **) Yes, I know. Ghost Ship doesn’t technically make you discard cards and Possession is not an attack card. I put them in those lists, anyway.
Next, I am on the lookout for strong, single-card strategies. I want to make a mental note that these cards are in the kingdom AND remind myself they are very powerful alone.
- Single Card Strategies? (Rebuild, Jack of All Trades, Hunting Party + X, Governor, Minion, Ill-Gotten Gains, …)
Next up are the power cards. These cards are not necessarily amazing all by themselves (although they can be). What is true is that they are usually hard to ignore; they are focal to most games in which they appear.
- Focal/Power cards? (Goons, King’s Court, Fool’s Gold, Knights, Potion-cost cards, Tournament, Tunnel, Bridge, Highway, Tactician, Menagerie, …)
I usually try to identify the “most powerful/most focal” card(s) in the kingdom. In addition, at this point I start looking for cards that go well with or counter the single card strategies or power cards and begin laying out strategic options. For example, I see Minion. What goes well with Minion? Pawn? Candlestick Maker? Or maybe, there’s Rebuild… and Possession. Tunnel is enabled by Navigator and Cartographer. There’s Witch, but also Chapel. And so on. I try to read the kingdom in a way that organizes the information in useful ways around (potentially good) strategies.
Next, up? Well, next up are a series of things I look for “at the same time.” I have to list them, so they are in an order, but for me, they’re not really in order.
One of the things I do at this point is check off what “engine” components are present in the kingdom: Villages, plus buy, cantrips (+1 Card, +1 Action) and non-terminals (+1 Action), draw, and trashing (not in any particular order). Or A-B-C-D-T (actions, buys, cantrips, draw, and trashing). I am using “engine” loosely, here. It’s more like “action-based deck.” At the same time, I try to figure out how the components fit together.
- “Engine” Components?
- Villages?
- +2 Actions or more? (Village and its variants, Nobles, Squire, etc.)
- Throne Rooms (King’s Court, Procession, Throne Room, Golem, …)
- Plus buy?
- Actual +Buy
- Gain (Ironworks, Workshop, University, Haggler, Border Village, Black Market, Horn of Plenty, …)
- Remodel (Butcher, Upgrade, Remake, Remodel, …)
- Cantrips and non-terminals? (Conspirator, Mystic, Wishing Well, Highway, Peddler,…)
- Draw?
- Big Draw (Scrying Pool, Smithy, Hunting Grounds, Menagerie, Tactician, ….)
- Draw to X (Library, Watchtower, …)
- Little draw (Courtyard, Laboratory, Oracle,…)
- Trashing?
- Strong (Masquerade, Steward, Chapel, …)
- Weak (Spice Merchant, Moneylender, Trade Route, Lookout, Loan,…)
- Cycling/Sifting? (Cartographer, Warehouse, Storeroom, …)
I group cycling cards with weak trashing when identifying what’s possible for action-based decks. They often serve a similar purpose: see and play good cards more often.
I like to think of “big draw” and “little draw.” This is not so much a function of the number of cards drawn as it is a function of whether the card is good for decks with lots of actions. Courtyard and Embassy are usually “little draws” when it comes to fitting them in an engine, but “big draws” when it comes to big money strategies (we’re be looking for those components later). More so than other categories, big and little draw depend heavily on the actual cards and whether they are fitting with a money- or action-based strategy, not parsing out the ability.
Whether and what type of draw is present is going to determine what your action-deck options are going to look like. No cards in the kingdom draw you more than one card? Then be on the lookout for gaining lots of cantrips and utilizing good trashing. Good draw to X? You don’t need to pay a premium for cantrips or villages that also draw a card. Lots of big draw? You want to benefit from those large hand sizes. Little draw? You are probably going to need a plan that doesn’t require gigantic hand sizes or a very action-dense deck.
You do not need to check off all 5 categories to put together a reasonable action-based deck. How many you need and in what strength depends on what else you have identified in the kingdom. We’re still trying to figure out what’s possible; however, at this point, some very rudimentary analysis is worthwhile. What is the payload of an action-based deck going to be, and what is the eventual goal? How will you win?
- Combos or Rushes? (Hermit-Market Square, Ironworks-Silk Road, Native Village-Bridge, KC-Bridge, Beggar-Gardens, …)
It’s important to be on the lookout for powerful known combos, and this is about the time I do it. Even if they are not stronger than the engine based strategies, single card strategies, or power card strategies identified earlier, you have to be aware of them. Sometimes, combos will be the strongest and most obvious thing to do in the kingdom.
- Big Money + X Enablers? (Courtyard, Jack of All Trades, Embassy, Vault, Smithy, …)
Lookout for Big Money + X enablers. I like to figure out what my best money-based strategy is after I have determined the action-based strategies. Often, you can just breeze right though this step because you already have such powerful options on the table, but every once in a while there will be a couple of viable options to seriously ponder, often because there is nothing much happening in the kingdom. I also like to remind myself that weak trashing like Loan and Lookout are probably not going to help a Big Money + X strategy, and the presence of strong trashing or attacks (especially discard attacks) makes Big Money + X weaker.
- Treasures? (Platinum, Ill-Gotten Gains, Masterpiece, Counterfeit, Horn of Plenty, …)
While I am looking for big money strategies, I also ponder the Treasure options. Many Treasures give Big Money + X a real boost, but I also take this opportunity to double-check for Treasures that might help out other action-based strategies. And I look for IGG again. Just in case.
- Colonies? Alt VP? (Vineyards, Fairgrounds, Duke, Silk Road, Gardens, VP tokens, ...)
We’ve looked for Action-based strategies and Treasure-based strategies, so also be sure to check for alternative victory point strategies. Check for Colonies. Check for VP tokens. Check for green kingdom cards. We’ve already done a lot of this; maybe you’ve already integrated alt VP into an action-based deck as your ultimate goal. But here I ask, “Is there another strategy built around alternate VP I haven’t considered, yet?”
- Are there any special setup differences to note? (Bane? Colonies? Shelters? Ruins? Spoils? Is there a second page to Goko? Do I start with a Baker token?, … )
Lastly, be sure you’ve scanned the whole set up. This is already done if you are the one setting up the cards for your friends at the kitchen table, but just in case, make sure you understand if there are any special set-up differences to this kingdom such as Colonies or Shelters, whether you start with a Baker token, and so on.
Now, you’ve read the kingdom! You have in hand some strategies to think about and compare. Often, you’ll just have one you think is best. If so, play that one***! If not, then you’ve hit upon an interesting kingdom; do some thinking, do some comparisons, make a decision and dive in – it’ll be a fun game!
(***) A quick note on play: Even if you are convinced there is one best strategy, watch out for whether your opponent mirrors you. HOW you play will change. What strategy you play should NOT change. This is why engine mirrors in two player games can take more turns to play out then big money games. If the engine is best and one player goes big money, the engine player will crush the big money player. If both players go engine, then the players are competing for the same pieces. That can slow the decks down a lot; however, it’s not better to deviate and play big money because the player that gets uncontested access to the engine pieces will win outright.
An AbbreviationGASP! ABCD-T times two! (“Good luck” or similar, Attacks? Single card strategies? Power cards? For an action-based deck, are there actions, plus buy, cantrips, draw, and/or trashing? Alt VP? Big Money enablers? Combos? Differences in the setup? Treasures?). Ok, that was stupid.
But it’s really not as much to remember as it seems.