3 Simple Tips

Nothing groundbreaking here for regular players, but I find myself repeating the following often to newer folks:

1. Green Later

Dominion punishes the player with a points lead. Many players seem to think being the first to take Province is crucial. Basically the opposite is true. Build until piles are low, and then if you're forced to Green first it's usually because you need a points buffer to prevent the opponent from 3-piling.

2. Deck Control First

If you're not seeing your entire deck every turn, then your main priority should be working toward that. Trash cards early. Add draw cards early. Add payload only to the extent necessary to help you do that (e.g. opening with a Silver so you can afford Sentry). Taking a Bandit on turn 1 instead of Sentry, for instance, is a good way to make sure your deck never does anything of significance. Get thin first, and then drop a Bandit into your deck once it's running smoothly.

3. Trigger Shuffles Carefully

In many kingdoms, it tends to be the case that your good cards all end up in play and your bad cards all end up in the discard. Maybe you were discarding them with Dungeon or Forum. If you have reached the end of your deck and you decide to play one more Market for $1, you might end up causing yourself to re-shuffle a discard pile full of 6 junk cards. Now you draw one of them and leave yourself with a guaranteed dud hand next turn. Better to leave the Market unplayed than lose a whole turn. This effect can work in reverse sometimes as well: maybe your discard pile is disproportionately full of strong cards (e.g. because of Advisor) and you might want to go out of your way to trigger a new shuffle if you can.

Happy holidays all.