Today, we're going to look at actions
cards that increase your deck efficiency by trashing cards. But
before I talk about specific cards, let's discuss what I mean by
“deck efficiency”. Why would you want to trash cards? What
exactly is deck efficiency and how does it help you win?
Deck efficiency is the ratio of your
good cards vs. your bad cards. High-efficiency decks are usually
quite small. Because you recycle
your deck when you run out of cards, small decks allow you
to play your best cards more often.
They also force you to draw your worst cards more often, so it's
essential to keep a small deck as clean as possible. The key to
building an efficient deck is to get rid of your bad cards, and
that's exactly what the following four action cards1 do.
Chapel
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| Copyright 2013 M. Stith |
Chapel
is the king of deck efficiency. Be careful to buy a few silvers
before you get rid of all your Coppers. There is a detailed
section on Chapel
on Game Knight, if you're prepared for some reading2.
Mine
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| Copyright 2013 M. Stith |
The
Mine doesn't make your deck smaller, but it makes your treasure cards
better, one card at a time. This is a slow rate of improvement, but
at least you get to use your new treasure card right away. Mine
depends on you having a Silver or Copper in your hand, which is a
safe bet, but not a guaranteed one.
Moneylender
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| Copyright 2013 M. Stith |
Moneylender
is a picky eater – you will probably get hands where you have a
Moneylender but no Copper. Moneylender is similar to Mine in that it
cleans your deck at a much slower rate than Chapel, but gives you an
immediate benefit.
Remodel
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| Copyright 2013 M. Stith |
Remodel
is often used to upgrade an Estate to a Silver, or a Gold to a
Province. Trashing a Gold is not good, unless the game is going to
end soon, so I'd stick with buying Provinces the traditional way
until the game is half over. That being said, I recommend looking at
this Remodel/Throne
Room/Chapel strategy3. You'll find it about half-way down the linked page.
So
I should always make my deck smaller?
High-efficiency
decks have a lot of potential, but they aren't necessarily better
than big decks that can buy Duchies without care. Since small decks
are so fragile, it's important to try decks of all sizes so you can
decide which style you prefer. I personally like big decks, but if I
see a Chapel, I find it hard to resist the appeal of a lean n' mean
deck. Everything in Dominion depends on the specific set of action
cards on the table.
References...
1 Dominion Game Manual
(2008). Dominion.
Rio Grande Games, Rio Rancho, New Mexico.
2 Hannes, J. (2012).
Dominion:
Strategy Guide.
Retrieved from http://gameknight.com/?page_id=848
3 Kirkwb. (2011, Oct
19). Beginners’
Guide: Dominion. Retrieved
from http://www.gamehead.com/article/1271/dominion
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