Gainer
A gainer is any card which allows you to gain cards without buying them. The simplest example is Workshop. They often work well with Gardens strategies, as they allow you to gain more cards than you have buys. They can also be useful for picking up engine components, especially cheap ones.
Cards that allow you to trash one card and gain another, like Remodel, are usually considered to be in a separate category from gainers, since they don't increase your deck size. However, they can sometimes have similar functions for gaining engine components or accelerating a three-pile ending.
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Types of gainers
Cards in italics have been removed.
Workshop variants
These cards let you gain cards up to a particular maximum cost. Most of them work well in combinations with cards like Highway, which will let you gain more expensive cards than you usually can.
- Dominion: Workshop, Artisan
- Intrigue: Ironworks
- Seaside: Smugglers
- Alchemy: University
- Cornucopia: Horn of Plenty
- Dark Ages: Hermit, Armory, Dame Natalie
- Adventures: Artificer
- Empires: Engineer
- Nocturne: Devil's Workshop (if you've gained 1 other card that turn), The Earth's Gift, Vampire
Feast and Wish gain a card, but as one-shots act more as temporary replacements than gainers.
Trash gainers
These cards can gain cards out of the Trash instead of the supply:
- Intrigue: Lurker
- Dark Ages: Graverobber and Rogue
Thief and Noble Brigand technically gain cards from the trash as well, but only the cards trashed as part of resolving their Attack abilities.
On-buy/gain gainers
These cards resemble the above in gaining cards up to or at a particular cost, but do so when you buy or gain another card, rather than when you play the gainer itself.
Silver gainers
Since Silver is present in every game, and is almost always a useful card but rarely super-powerful, there are several cards that use gaining Silver as a decent but not overpowered bonus.
- Dominion: Bureaucrat
- Intrigue: Trading Post
- Seaside: Explorer
- Cornucopia: Trusty Steed
- Hinterlands: Jack of all Trades, Trader
- Dark Ages: Squire
- Dark Ages: Feodum has an on-trash Silver-gaining effect
- Guilds: Masterpiece has an on-buy Silver-gaining effect
- Adventures: Treasure Hunter, Amulet, Trade, Raid
- Empires: Rocks has an on-gain and on-trash Silver-gaining effect
- Empires: Delve, Conquest
- Nocturne: The Mountain's Gift
Embassy, from Hinterlands, distributes Silver to your opponents when you gain it.
Other treasure gainers
These cards can be used to gain other Treasures—some specifically Copper, Gold, or Spoils; others whatever Treasure happens to be available.
- Dominion: Thief, Bandit
- Seaside: Treasure Map, Explorer
- Prosperity: Mint, Hoard
- Cornucopia: Bag of Gold
- Hinterlands: Tunnel, Noble Brigand, Ill-Gotten Gains
- Promo: Governor
- Dark Ages: Beggar, Market Square, Marauder, Bandit Camp, Count, Pillage
- Guilds: Soothsayer
- Adventures: Hero, Treasure Trove, Quest
- Empires: Banquet, Wedding, Windfall
- Nocturne: Devil's Workshop (if you've gained no other cards that turn), Leprechaun, The Sky's Gift
- Promo: Dismantle
Sir Vander, from Dark Ages, gains a Gold when trashed. Fortune, from Empires, and Skulk, from Nocturne, can gain Gold when gained.
Other specific-card gainers
- Intrigue: Baron—can gain an Estate
- Cornucopia: Followers—gains an Estate
- Cornucopia: Tournament—can gain a Duchy or a Prize
- Cornucopia: Jester—can gain whatever card is on top of the opponent's deck
- Dark Ages: Count—can gain a Duchy and/or a Copper
- Dark Ages: Rats—gains additional copies of Rats
- Adventures: Magpie—can gain additional copies of Magpie
- Adventures: Disciple—gains a copy of whatever Action card you play with it
- Empires: Small Castle—gains another Castle, if you trashed one
- Empires: Wild Hunt—can gain an Estate
- Empires: Triumph—gains an Estate
- Empires: Annex—gains a Duchy
- Empires: Ritual—gains a Curse
- Empires: Dominate—gains a Province
- Nocturne: Devil's Workshop—gains an Imp (if you've gained 2+ other cards that turn)
- Nocturne: Leprechaun—gains a Wish if you have exactly 7 cards in play
- Nocturne: The Swamp's Gift—gains a Will-o'-Wisp
When gain/buy/trash gainers
- Hinterlands: Border Village - gains a cheaper card when gained
- Hinterlands: Duchess - allows you to gain itself when you gain a Duchy
- Hinterlands: Cache - comes with two Coppers when gained
- Dark Ages: Squire - gains an Attack card when trashed
- Dark Ages: Death Cart - gains two Ruins when gained
- Dark Ages: Catacombs - gains a cheaper card when trashed
- Dark Ages: Hunting Grounds - gains a Duchy or three Estates when trashed
- Guilds: Stonemason - can gain two Action cards when bought
- Adventures: Messenger - gains all players a copy of the same cheap card
- Adventures: Port - gains an additional copy of itself when bought
- Adventures: Alms - gain a cheap card if you have no Treasures in play
- Adventures: Quest - gains a Gold if you discard the right things
- Adventures: Pilgrimage - gain copies of up to 3 cards in play
- Adventures: Ball - gain 2 cheap cards
- Adventures: Raid - gain a Silver per Silver in play
- Adventures: Seaway - gain a cheap card, put your +1 Buy token on its pile
- Adventures: Trade - gains up to 2 Silvers, if you trash cards
- Empires: Crumbling Castle - gains a Silver when gained or trashed
- Empires: Haunted Castle - gains a Gold when gained during your turn
- Empires: Sprawling Castle - gains a Duchy or three Estates when gained
- Empires: Triumph - gains an Estate
- Empires: Annex - gains a Duchy
- Empires: Advance - gains an Action costing up to if you trash an Action
- Empires: Delve - gains a Silver
- Empires: Banquet - gains 2 Coppers and a non-Victory card costing up to
- Empires: Ritual - gains a Curse
- Empires: Wedding - gains a Gold
- Empires: Windfall - gains 3 Golds if your deck and discard pile are empty
- Empires: Conquest - gains 2 Silvers
- Empires: Dominate - gains a Province
- Nocturne: Skulk - gains a Gold when gained
- Promo: Summon - gains and sets aside a cheap card, and plays it at the start of your next turn
Though it does not gain a card, Inheritance does set aside a card from the Supply that is included in your deck at the end of the game.