Combo

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A '''combo''' is a combination of two or more cards that synergize and make for an effective strategy on their own. In some combos, one card will make up for the other's weakness. In others, the two cards will play off each others' strengths. While combos of 3 or more cards are possible, unless one of these is a base card in every game (or at least one of the cards needed is simply a card ''class'', (e.g. [[Village (card category)|village]] or [[+Buy]]/[[gainer]]) rather than a specific card, it's unlikely that you'll be able to find the combo in many games. Such combos really fall into the category of strategies rather than merely simple combos.
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''See also: [[Counter]]''
  
For a list of combos, see [[:Category:Combo]].
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A '''combo''' can refer to two things:
  
For a strategy article about combos, see [http://dominionstrategy.com/2013/01/25/the-five-fundamental-deck-types-the-combo/ WanderingWinder's article]
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# Two or more cards with a particular [[synergy]]
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# A cohesive strategy that relies ''only'' on two (sometimes three) cards
  
See also: [[Counter]].
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The first can act as a supplement or centerpiece to a larger strategy, and is typically the broader category. But when talking about a combo ''deck'', it is the second that is being referred to. 
  
{{Navbox Strategy}}
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In some combos, one card will make up for the other's weakness. In others, the two cards will play off each others' strengths. While combos of 3 or more cards are possible, unless one of these is a base card in every game (or at least one of the cards needed is simply a card ''class'', e.g. [[Village (card category)|village]] or [[+Buy]]/[[gainer]]) rather than a specific card, it's unlikely that you'll be able to find the combo in many games. Such combos really fall into the category of strategies rather than merely simple combos.  As it is, depending on how many expansions you use, the odds can be as low as 1 in 616 that two specific cards will appear in a given kingdom.  However, given that many players play 100's, if not 1000's of games, these odds are not too bad.
  
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== Strategy ==
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[[Image:Counting House.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Counting House]] is a card most often used in combos and slogs.]]
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''[http://dominionstrategy.com/2013/01/25/the-five-fundamental-deck-types-the-combo/ Original article] by WanderingWinder.''
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=== What characterizes the Combo? ===
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A combo deck is a one that revolves entirely around a particular specific combo of 2+ different cards, generally getting 5-20 copies of the required cards in total. Once the combo is in place, if this has happened quickly enough, the deck should basically just win. This archetype does not deal with cards that work well together – i.e. it’s not just decks that have combos in them, a la [[Combo: Horse Traders and Duke|Horse Traders-Duke]], which is a [[Slog]], or {{Card|Warehouse}}-{{Card|Treasure Map}}, which works together well but isn’t an entire deck, but rather deals with combos that are self-contained, the-entire-deck-and-gameplan-is-this strategies. Typically, these combos are fairly resistant to adding other cards in with them.
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Usually, with more than two distinct cards, you are really talking about an engine, which is a bunch of good cards that work well together and draw a lot, but this is not a hard-and-fast rule. Even things like {{Card|Hunting Party}} stacks and {{Card|Minion}} decks aren’t combos – they’re [[engine|engines]] – that’s just (strong) cards being used to cycle you through, which can sometimes be extremely powerful with few cards, but isn’t a combo – there needs to also be some particular synergy, a sum-is-greater-than-the-parts, but particularly in such a way that goes beyond the normal functionality of a card.
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For instance, something like {{Card|Worker's Village}} and {{Card|Rabble}} pair really nice together, as they give you Actions, [[Attack]], Buys, and draw – everything you need for an engine except money – but this is clearly not a combo, it is an engine, and part of how you can tell is that the parts are really modular – you might lose a little bit of efficiency by switching to another kind of Village or Smithy variant, but generally those roles can be filled by a number of other cards.
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Something like [[Combo: Native Village and Bridge|Native Village/Bridge]], on the other hand is very much a combo – it plays quite differently than other decks featuring these cards, and more important, you can’t get the same kind of functionality out of any other cards.
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Some examples of Combo Decks include (not an exhaustive list!):
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==== The Native Village/Bridge deck ====
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Buy nothing but {{Card|Native Village|Native Villages}} and {{Card|Bridge|Bridges}}.  Use Native Village at every opportunity to put every card on the Native Village mat.  When the time is right, empty your giant Native Village mat and mega-turn out with all your Bridges.
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==== [[Combo: Chancellor and Stash|The Chancellor(or Scavenger)/Stash deck]] ====
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Buy 4 {{Card|Stash|Stashes}} and multiple {{Card|Chancellor|Chancellors}}.  Every turn, play your Chancellor, put 4 Stashes on top of your deck, and get a Province.  Repeat as soon as you draw another Chancellor.  {{Card|Scavenger}} makes this even more powerful, since it allows you to guarantee putting a Scavenger in your hand every turn.  Plus you only need 3 Stashes.
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==== The [[Golden deck]] ====
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{{Card|Bishop}}/{{Card|Chapel}} into a 5 card deck of {{Card|Gold}}/Gold/{{Card|Silver}}/Bishop/{{Card|Province}} (or Gold/Silver/Silver/Bishop/Province).  Bishop the Province, buy a Province.  Earn 5{{VP}} every turn while rushing the game end.
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==== [[Combo: Counting House and Golem|The Counting House/Golem deck]] ====
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Your deck is nothing but {{Card|Copper}}, {{Card|Golem|Golems}}, any amount of victory cards and other treasures, and exactly one {{Card|Counting House}}.  Every Golem puts your whole deck in the discard and plays the Counting House, which draws all your Copper.
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==== The Apothecary/Native Village deck ====
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Have 8 Copper, 1 Native Village, and tons of {{Card|Apothecary|Apothecaries}}.  Never use Native Village blindly; only use it to filter out green cards that your Apothecaries leave on top of the deck.  Once you start humming and your Apothecaries draw {{Cost|8}} or {{Cost|11}}, your sole Native Village sucks up the new green card every turn, while your Apothecary leaves an Apothecary on top of the deck, essentially guaranteeing that it can keep going indefinitely.
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==== {{Card|King's Court}}/King's Court/{{Card|Scheme}}/Scheme ====
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Adding just about anything else guarantees {{Cost|8}} or {{Cost|11}} every turn thereafter.
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==== [[Combo: Philosopher's Stone and Herbalist|Philosopher's Stone/Herbalist]] ====
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With every buy you bloat your deck as much as possible.  You buy nothing but Coppers, {{Card|Philosopher's Stone|Philosopher's Stones}}, and {{Card|Herbalist|Herbalists}}.  You use the Herbalist to repeatedly buy, then play, the PStone.
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==== {{Card|Tactician}}/{{Card|Vault}} ====
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{{Card|Tactician}} gives you 10 cards.  {{Card|Vault}} draws you 2, to a total of 11, and you can discard up to 9 of them for {{Cost|9}}.  The remaining two cards are a {{Card|Tactician}} and something you discard to the {{Card|Tactician}} to repeat this process.
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==== [[Combo: Black Market and Tactician|Black Market/Tactician]] ====
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{{Card|Tactician}} gives you 10 cards.  {{Card|Black Market}} plays all your Treasures.  Another {{Card|Tactician}} discards your last card and gets you back to 10 cards next turn.  {{Card|Black Market}} saves all your Treasures from being discarded, so it’s basically like playing Dominion with 10 cards every turn.
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==== [[Combo: King's Court, Forge, and Fortress|King's Court/Forge/Fortress]] ====
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Play {{Card|King's Court}}. With the {{Card|King's Court}}, King's Court the Forge. "Trash" the two Fortresses all three times, gaining a Province each time. If you can get seven cards in hand, you can King's Court a King's Court and then use three Forges to forge the two Fortresses every time and gain all the Provinces.
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=== What’s Good For Combos? ===
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Combo pieces.
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=== Matchups ===
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Again, this is all dependent on what combo you’re playing, but there are some general tips. Usually, there is some weakness of the combo.
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This is most commonly an attack – e.g. the Golden Deck is vulnerable to [[Junking attack|junkers]] and [[Handsize attack|discarders]].  Chancellor/Stash or Scavenger/Stash is very vulnerable to discard.  Scheme combos are vulnerable to Minion, and if it’s a large enough Scheme chain, {{Card|Fortune Teller}}.
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There are also other kinds of holes – for instance, combos which eventually attack the opponent into submission can be vulnerable to reactions. Native Village-based combos are extremely vulnerable to {{Card|Possession}}. So watch out for these things, know when they counter you, if they can be fast enough, etc. And know how to use them to counter combo decks if you are on the other side.
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Combo decks are also in general vulnerable to not getting up and running in enough time. What ‘enough time’ is depends on the combo.  Others need enough expensive {{VP}} on the board, or at least 50% in many cases, to be available.
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The biggest threat to making this happen is generally a strong, fast engine, as they can certainly outrace Combos, most normally if they have strong trashing to kick-start them. Rush decks also pose a serious threat in being able to finish things off too quickly for the combo to get in place.
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[[Mirror|Mirrors]] become strange things. Either it is a race to get the combo up first, which is a combination of 1st turn and luck, generally, with some skill on the order of the build, or very often it will end up in a 3-pile ending, where you want to build as long as you can so that you can cash out, but if you DO cash out too early, then this gives them a lot of time to build up for a bigger turn, and if you build too long, you run the risk of them three pile ending you. So the timing of when you pull the trigger, particularly if your combo is one that can go off as a matter of scale, is a huge skill in this kind of matchup. If the three pile ending is very likely, you need to watch out for defensive [[greening]]. Sometimes, a seemingly random {{Card|Duchy}} can be VERY good – it gives you the lead, will be good in the long run, and most importantly, it can stop your opponent from being able to buy more engine components, by utilizing the threat of that three pile ending.
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{{Navbox Strategy}}
 
{{Navbox Card combos}}
 
{{Navbox Card combos}}
  
[[Category:Combo|Combo]]
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[[Category:Combos and counters]]
[[Category:Strategies]]
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[[Category:Deck archetypes]]

Revision as of 16:01, 22 August 2019

See also: Counter

A combo can refer to two things:

  1. Two or more cards with a particular synergy
  2. A cohesive strategy that relies only on two (sometimes three) cards

The first can act as a supplement or centerpiece to a larger strategy, and is typically the broader category. But when talking about a combo deck, it is the second that is being referred to.

In some combos, one card will make up for the other's weakness. In others, the two cards will play off each others' strengths. While combos of 3 or more cards are possible, unless one of these is a base card in every game (or at least one of the cards needed is simply a card class, e.g. village or +Buy/gainer) rather than a specific card, it's unlikely that you'll be able to find the combo in many games. Such combos really fall into the category of strategies rather than merely simple combos. As it is, depending on how many expansions you use, the odds can be as low as 1 in 616 that two specific cards will appear in a given kingdom. However, given that many players play 100's, if not 1000's of games, these odds are not too bad.

Contents

Strategy

Counting House is a card most often used in combos and slogs.

Original article by WanderingWinder.

What characterizes the Combo?

A combo deck is a one that revolves entirely around a particular specific combo of 2+ different cards, generally getting 5-20 copies of the required cards in total. Once the combo is in place, if this has happened quickly enough, the deck should basically just win. This archetype does not deal with cards that work well together – i.e. it’s not just decks that have combos in them, a la Horse Traders-Duke, which is a Slog, or WarehouseWarehouse.jpg-Treasure MapTreasure Map.jpg, which works together well but isn’t an entire deck, but rather deals with combos that are self-contained, the-entire-deck-and-gameplan-is-this strategies. Typically, these combos are fairly resistant to adding other cards in with them.

Usually, with more than two distinct cards, you are really talking about an engine, which is a bunch of good cards that work well together and draw a lot, but this is not a hard-and-fast rule. Even things like Hunting PartyHunting Party.jpg stacks and MinionMinion.jpg decks aren’t combos – they’re engines – that’s just (strong) cards being used to cycle you through, which can sometimes be extremely powerful with few cards, but isn’t a combo – there needs to also be some particular synergy, a sum-is-greater-than-the-parts, but particularly in such a way that goes beyond the normal functionality of a card.

For instance, something like Worker's VillageWorker's Village.jpg and RabbleRabble.jpg pair really nice together, as they give you Actions, Attack, Buys, and draw – everything you need for an engine except money – but this is clearly not a combo, it is an engine, and part of how you can tell is that the parts are really modular – you might lose a little bit of efficiency by switching to another kind of Village or Smithy variant, but generally those roles can be filled by a number of other cards.

Something like Native Village/Bridge, on the other hand is very much a combo – it plays quite differently than other decks featuring these cards, and more important, you can’t get the same kind of functionality out of any other cards.

Some examples of Combo Decks include (not an exhaustive list!):

The Native Village/Bridge deck

Buy nothing but Native VillagesNative Village.jpg and BridgesBridge.jpg. Use Native Village at every opportunity to put every card on the Native Village mat. When the time is right, empty your giant Native Village mat and mega-turn out with all your Bridges.

The Chancellor(or Scavenger)/Stash deck

Buy 4 StashesStash.jpg and multiple ChancellorsChancellor.jpg. Every turn, play your Chancellor, put 4 Stashes on top of your deck, and get a Province. Repeat as soon as you draw another Chancellor. ScavengerScavenger.jpg makes this even more powerful, since it allows you to guarantee putting a Scavenger in your hand every turn. Plus you only need 3 Stashes.

The Golden deck

BishopBishop.jpg/ChapelChapel.jpg into a 5 card deck of GoldGold.jpg/Gold/SilverSilver.jpg/Bishop/ProvinceProvince.jpg (or Gold/Silver/Silver/Bishop/Province). Bishop the Province, buy a Province. Earn 5VP every turn while rushing the game end.

The Counting House/Golem deck

Your deck is nothing but CopperCopper.jpg, GolemsGolem.jpg, any amount of victory cards and other treasures, and exactly one Counting HouseCounting House.jpg. Every Golem puts your whole deck in the discard and plays the Counting House, which draws all your Copper.

The Apothecary/Native Village deck

Have 8 Copper, 1 Native Village, and tons of ApothecariesApothecary.jpg. Never use Native Village blindly; only use it to filter out green cards that your Apothecaries leave on top of the deck. Once you start humming and your Apothecaries draw $8 or $11, your sole Native Village sucks up the new green card every turn, while your Apothecary leaves an Apothecary on top of the deck, essentially guaranteeing that it can keep going indefinitely.

King's CourtKing's Court.jpg/King's Court/SchemeScheme.jpg/Scheme

Adding just about anything else guarantees $8 or $11 every turn thereafter.

Philosopher's Stone/Herbalist

With every buy you bloat your deck as much as possible. You buy nothing but Coppers, Philosopher's StonesPhilosopher's Stone.jpg, and HerbalistsHerbalist.jpg. You use the Herbalist to repeatedly buy, then play, the PStone.

TacticianTactician.jpg/VaultVault.jpg

TacticianTactician.jpg gives you 10 cards. VaultVault.jpg draws you 2, to a total of 11, and you can discard up to 9 of them for $9. The remaining two cards are a TacticianTactician.jpg and something you discard to the TacticianTactician.jpg to repeat this process.

Black Market/Tactician

TacticianTactician.jpg gives you 10 cards. Black MarketBlack Market.jpg plays all your Treasures. Another TacticianTactician.jpg discards your last card and gets you back to 10 cards next turn. Black MarketBlack Market.jpg saves all your Treasures from being discarded, so it’s basically like playing Dominion with 10 cards every turn.

King's Court/Forge/Fortress

Play King's CourtKing's Court.jpg. With the King's CourtKing's Court.jpg, King's Court the Forge. "Trash" the two Fortresses all three times, gaining a Province each time. If you can get seven cards in hand, you can King's Court a King's Court and then use three Forges to forge the two Fortresses every time and gain all the Provinces.

What’s Good For Combos?

Combo pieces.

Matchups

Again, this is all dependent on what combo you’re playing, but there are some general tips. Usually, there is some weakness of the combo.

This is most commonly an attack – e.g. the Golden Deck is vulnerable to junkers and discarders. Chancellor/Stash or Scavenger/Stash is very vulnerable to discard. Scheme combos are vulnerable to Minion, and if it’s a large enough Scheme chain, Fortune TellerFortune Teller.jpg.

There are also other kinds of holes – for instance, combos which eventually attack the opponent into submission can be vulnerable to reactions. Native Village-based combos are extremely vulnerable to PossessionPossession.jpg. So watch out for these things, know when they counter you, if they can be fast enough, etc. And know how to use them to counter combo decks if you are on the other side.

Combo decks are also in general vulnerable to not getting up and running in enough time. What ‘enough time’ is depends on the combo. Others need enough expensive VP on the board, or at least 50% in many cases, to be available.

The biggest threat to making this happen is generally a strong, fast engine, as they can certainly outrace Combos, most normally if they have strong trashing to kick-start them. Rush decks also pose a serious threat in being able to finish things off too quickly for the combo to get in place.

Mirrors become strange things. Either it is a race to get the combo up first, which is a combination of 1st turn and luck, generally, with some skill on the order of the build, or very often it will end up in a 3-pile ending, where you want to build as long as you can so that you can cash out, but if you DO cash out too early, then this gives them a lot of time to build up for a bigger turn, and if you build too long, you run the risk of them three pile ending you. So the timing of when you pull the trigger, particularly if your combo is one that can go off as a matter of scale, is a huge skill in this kind of matchup. If the three pile ending is very likely, you need to watch out for defensive greening. Sometimes, a seemingly random DuchyDuchy.jpg can be VERY good – it gives you the lead, will be good in the long run, and most importantly, it can stop your opponent from being able to buy more engine components, by utilizing the threat of that three pile ending.


Deck archetypes Big MoneyComboEngineRushSlog
Strategic concepts CollisionCounterCyclingDeadDuchy dancingEndgameGreeningMegaturnMirrorOpeningOpportunity costPenultimate Province RulePayloadPinPiledrivingReshuffleSilver testStop cardSplit advantageStrictly betterSynergyTerminalityTerminal spaceThree-pile endingTurn advantageVictory pointVillage idiot
Rules Blue dog ruleCostDeckGameplayMaterialsNo Visiting ruleStop-Moving rule (previously Lose Track rule) • Supply (Kingdom) • Triggered effectsTurn
Dominion Card Combos
Apprentice/Market SquareBeggar/GardensBlack Market/TacticianBishop/FortressCapital/HerbalistCapital/MandarinCounting House/Travelling FairDonate/Market SquareGolden deckHermit/Market SquareLurker/Hunting GroundsMasquerade pinMasterpiece/FeodumNative Village/BridgeProcession/FortressRoyal Carriage/BridgeTrader/FeodumWorkshop/Gardens
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