Enchantress
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Enchantress | |
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Info | |
Cost | |
Type(s) | Action - Attack - Duration |
Kingdom card? | Yes |
Set | Empires |
Illustrator(s) | Claus Stephan |
Card text | |
Until your next turn, the first time each other player plays an Action card on their turn, they get +1 Card and +1 Action instead of following its instructions. At the start of your next turn, +2 Cards |
Enchantress is an Action-Attack-Duration card from Empires. It is a turn-worsening attack that turns the first Action each other player plays on their turns into a simple cantrip, although it does not change effects below dividing lines. It is also provides extra +cards on your next turn. It is the first card to change effects on other players' cards.
Contents |
FAQ
Official FAQ
- Players revealing a card like Moat when this is played have to do it right then, not later, even though the attack will not hurt them until their turn.
- The first Action each other player plays, just on their next turn, will give them +1 Card +1 Action instead of what it would have normally done.
- This does not affect abilities below a dividing line; they still function. For example a player playing Sacrifice would get +1 Card +1 Action and not do anything Sacrifice normally does; a player playing Groundskeeper would get +1 Card +1 Action and would still get for gaining Victory cards.
- It can be helpful to turn the affected card sideways, to remember that it did not do what it normally does.
- Enchantress does not affect card abilities from cards played on previous turns; for example if an opponent plays Enchantress and you have an Archive out from a previous turn, on your turn you will first get a card from your Archive as normal, and then the first Action card actually played on that turn will be affected by Enchantress.
- If Enchantress affects a Crown played in a Buy phase, its player gets +1 Card +1 Action, but has no way to use the +1 Action, since it is their Buy phase (but it might matter e.g. if the player buys Villa).
- If your opponents play multiple Enchantresses in a round, they still only affect the first card you play on each turn, and not any further cards.
Other Rules clarifications
- If a player under the effect of an Enchantress takes one or more extra turns, the first Action played on each of those turns is also turned into a cantrip.
- If a Duration card gets affected by Enchantress, it will get discarded from play this turn. This doesn't stop any below-the-line effects (such as Bridge Troll's cost-reduction).
- Enchantress does not change anything about the card, just prevents on-play instructions on the card from being carried out properly. So cards that are Enchanted can still activate Reactions (such as another player's Diplomat), still carry out all Adventures tokens effects (such as the + token from Training), and can be still be replayed by Royal Carriage, Citadel, or Scepter to perform their normal effects.
- Cards that only have +1 Card, +1 Action above their dividing line, like Highway, are essentially unaffected by Enchantress.
- Using a Way on a card overrides Enchantress; you get the effect of the Way, rather than the +1 Card / +1 Action effect Enchantress would give you. This applies even for Way of the Chameleon.
- The Lantern has no effect on Enchantress; if the first card you play on an Enchanted turn is Border Guard, you just get +1 Card / +1 Action regardless of whether or not you have the Lantern. [1]
- If you play a card, but then somehow play a second card before you begin executing the first card's instructions, the first card is still the one affected by Enchantress.
- If the first Action card you play in a turn is a Werewolf during the Night phase, or a Crown during the Buy phase, the Werewolf or Crown still be affected by Enchantress and give you +1 Card / +1 Action (neither of them very useful in the Night phase) rather than its usual effect.
- This applies if the first Action card played in a turn is played after the Action phase for any other reason, as well—e.g., as a result of Capitalism or Gamble.
Strategy
Preview Analysis
Original article by Elestan
Enchantress is an Action-Attack-Duration card introduced in Empires, which pairs a unique attack effect with deferred non-terminal draw in the style of Haunted Woods. Channeling the legacy of the Odyssey's Circe, or Arthurian Niviane, the Enchantress negates each other player's first Action card each turn by reducing it to a simple cantrip. Fortunately, multiple Enchantress attacks do not stack. Duration cards subject to Enchantress' effect will be cleaned up at the end of the turn, as they have no pending effect to keep them in play. Token effects, while-in-play effects, on-buy, on-gain, and on-trash effects are all unaffected.
Enchantress' attack cuts deepest in the early game, when players often only have one Action card to play; countering that action can reduce early turns to or less, or block critical early plays of trashers such as Chapel or Steward. Princes and Summons are quite vulnerable to the Enchantress, since they will usually be your first action play, and Village-based engines have difficulty getting started under her influence.
As interesting as its attack may be, Enchantress' true power arguably rests in its deferred draw, which allows the player to spend an action on the current turn to start their next turn with extra cards, in a manner similar to Gear. As with other deferred draw cards, alternating plays of two Enchantresses allows a sustained handsize increase, and keeps the enchantment running continuously. The presence of discard attacks makes Enchantress particularly compelling, as such attacks both complement and are countered by her abilities.
Players who see their opponent open with Enchantress may want to plan their opening buys to ensure that they don't suffer an early setback. Silver, while a bit on the boring side, is immune to her charms. Alternatively, opening double-terminal (potentially double-Enchantress) becomes a bit less risky, since an Enchantress in play makes action collision desirable instead of dire. One of the best counters to Enchantress is to simply increase your deck's Action density with sacrificial low-cost Actions, if you have the buys to pick them up; Pawn or Pearl Diver aren't greatly diminished by the enchantment, and Great Hall counters it completely. If you have some deck manipulation available, tracking your opponents' Enchantresses so that you can avoid getting your best actions countered may be worth the effort. Later in the game, as action densities increase, the effectiveness of Enchantress' attack usually starts to wane, becoming more of an annoyance than a serious hindrance.
In summary, Enchantress is a potent card for its low price, working as an effective early-game delaying tactic, while simultaneously providing semi-nonterminal draw to boost your deck's economy and velocity.
Antisynergies
- Ruins
- Highway
- Lighthouse will protect against Enchantress if played on the previous turn — however an Enchanted Lighthouse will be discarded during this turn's clean-up since its Duration behavior is contingent upon having anything to do on some future turn
- Herbalist
- Merchant Guild
- Most Travellers, especially the cheap-and-weak Peasant and Page; an Enchanted Traveller can still be exchanged during clean-up, and a Enchanted terminal Traveller will no longer collide with other terminals in that hand (the fully-Travelled Teacher and Champion become useless when Enchanted, but there will presumably be other sacrificial Actions to play first)
Counter
- Cards that only have +1 Card, +1 Action above their dividing line, like Highway, Groundskeeper, Page, Great Hall, but also Urchin
- Duration cards, for example Bridge Troll or your own Enchantress
- Pearl Diver
- Pawn
Versions
English versions
Other language versions
† The line separating start-of-turn abilities is unwarranted and was removed in the "2. Edition" printing. This matters e.g. when you are Enchanted or you use a Way.
Trivia
Preview Story
"Most magnificent of titans", the woman purred, stroking a slender hand over one of his massive calves. "I beg you not to harm me...I merely came to offer you a meal; you must be famished after your long watch."
The giant leaned down, nostrils flaring as he sniffed, and his stomach growled. Suddenly he felt as though he hadn't fed in days. "Eat you?" he grunted. His meals weren't usually so cooperative, but he wasn't going to complain. She did smell good.
A lilting peal of laughter filled his ears. "Oh no, sir giant!" The woman gestured toward the side of the road, where a massive cauldron bubbled merrily. A couple of pigs snuffled through the undergrowth nearby, and he thought he caught the scent of roasting pork. "Please, won't you try my stew?" Seeing him eying the pigs, she smiled. "And after you finish the stew, you can enjoy my pigs to your heart's content."
Why hadn't he noticed those before? The question vanished almost as quickly as it appeared, wafting away as the rich aroma of the stew sent his mouth watering. Grunting, he leaned his club against the hillside and lumbered off to enjoy the meal. He could always squash her after dinner.Secret History
Relevant outtakes
Retrospective
Playing on ShuffleIT dominion
The online implementation, when you're affected by Enchantress, will replace the image of whatever first Action you play with a close up of the pig from the original art.