Promo

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Promotional cards are official Dominion kingdom cards and Events which do not belong to any particular set. They are a result of Donald X trying to meet the requests of his publishers, and typically either released to help promote Dominion at conventions (such as Origins or GenCon), or to commemorate the anniversary of another game, to help promote both.

Contents

[edit] Card List

There are currently 12 promotional releases, including one split pile and one Event:

[edit] Cards gallery

[edit] Kingdom cards

Black Market.jpgCaptain.jpgChurch.jpgDismantle.jpgEnvoy.jpgGovernor.jpgMarchland.jpgPrince.jpgSauna Avanto.jpgStash.jpgWalled Village.jpg

[edit] Events

Summon.jpg

[edit] Sauna/Avanto

Sauna.jpgAvanto.jpg

[edit] Impact of Promo Cards

The promotional cards range from simple, but balanced cards that there simply wasn't room for in a main set (Envoy and Walled Village), to being almost patently ridiculous in their mechanics. As such, Promo cards frequently feature in complicated engines or combos that hinge on their peculiar mechanic.

[edit] Engines

  • EnvoyEnvoy.jpg - has a draw that rivals SmithySmithy.jpg at the same cost
  • Black MarketBlack Market.jpg - can give access to a key card that makes an engine or combo work that no other player will be able to get
  • Walled VillageWalled Village.jpg - Villages are always useful, but this one ensures that it will be in a hand with other engine parts
  • GovernorGovernor.jpg - an engine unto itself at times
  • PrincePrince.jpg - ensures that a cheap component is played every turn, smoothing out your engine
  • SaunaSauna.jpg/AvantoAvanto.jpg - together act as both a trasher and a self-sufficient engine
  • SummonSummon.jpg - ensures that a cheap component is played immediately, without costing an Action

[edit] Big Money

  • Envoy - better than Smithy+BM
  • StashStash.jpg - four of these guarantees a ProvinceProvince.jpg every shuffle
  • Governor - gains GoldGold.jpg, for a price

[edit] Tricks

  • Black Market - aside from the power of having the sole copy of a card, it can play Treasures during your Action phase, allowing for, e.g., playing Treasures before TacticianTactician.jpg or draw-to-X.

[edit] Trivia

Until the release of SummonSummon.jpg, each Promo had its own unique expansion symbol, either referring to the convention it was distributed at, or the other game it was helping to promote. When SummonSummon.jpg was released, Donald X felt there was a need for a generic Promo symbol, which ended up being a flag. All other Promos released since then have had that symbol, and all previous Promos were given that symbol as part of the second edition update.

[edit] History

Sometimes, the publishers want promos. A magazine wants one, or a convention does, or something, and so the word comes down to me, could we have one please. And I like to be friendly. They have been given away various ways, depending on the language, but the BGG store has had them all (in English) in the long run.

Several Promo cards are "outtakes", or borrowed from a yet-to-be-released set. Governor was designed on the spot, borrowing a name and mechanic from the game Puerto Rico, and Summon was designed by a playtester after the release of Adventures. Further details on the design and history of the cards can be found on the individual card pages.

[edit] Retrospective

Promos are bad; you either deprive the game of something in order to have it as a promo, or you do something wacky in the situation where people have the least access to the rules for it, or you do something not worth doing in the game and then why is it worth doing as a promo? But people love promos so what can you do.

[edit] Online-only promos

After this post, TGG has stated that they would be interested in implementing an online-only promo.

I've considered doing an online-only promo; no-one's taken me up on that so far. The original idea ended up sparking PeasantPeasant.jpg. An online-only set, well why am I not working on a set that can also be physical? It doesn't make a lot of sense as a product. I mean I said, Making Fun, we could have an online-only promo, and I said, Stef, we could have an online-only promo, and I said, TGG, we could have an online-only promo. So far, no online-only promo.


[edit] Obtaining The Promo Cards

  • The cards can typically be purchased on the BGG store.
  • Occasionally, game stores or conventions will offer the Promotional cards in conjunction with a purchase.
  • Various iterations of the Big Box have included one or more Promotional cards, Black MarketBlack Market.jpg was included in Special Edition, and SummonSummon.jpg was bundled with pre-release orders of Adventures German version.
  • Tournaments may offer Promo cards as prizes.


Promo
Cards $3 Black MarketBlack Market.jpgChurchChurch.jpg $4 DismantleDismantle.jpgEnvoyEnvoy.jpgSaunaSauna.jpg/AvantoAvanto.jpgWalled VillageWalled Village.jpg $5 GovernorGovernor.jpgMarchlandMarchland.jpgStashStash.jpg $6 CaptainCaptain.jpg $8 PrincePrince.jpg
Events $5 SummonSummon.jpg
Combos and Counters Black Market/TacticianChancellor/Stash
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Sets DominionIntrigueSeasideAlchemyProsperityCornucopia & GuildsHinterlandsDark AgesAdventures • EmpiresNocturneRenaissanceMenagerieAlliesPlunderRising SunPromo
Collections Big BoxSpecial Edition (German) • Alchemy & Cornucopia (Japanese, German, Dutch)
Accessories Base CardsUpdate PacksPlay Mat • Base Cards MatCollectors CaseDominion Chest
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