Curser

Revision as of 18:14, 3 November 2012

A curser is any card which has the potential to distribute Curse cards to other players. Cursers are generally considered among the strongest cards at their price points, since the effect of putting Curses into an opponent's deck is very powerful: it simultaneously reduces their score, slows down their future deck cycling, and puts useless cards in their future hands. The presence of one or more cursers in a kingdom therefore has a major influence on gameplay; most winning strategies will involve either gaining cursers or finding a way to defend against them. Since there are a finite number of Curses in the supply, cursers often become dead cards late in the game, after all the curses have been distributed. Most cursers are Action–Attack cards.

List of cursers

Primary cursers

These are Kingdom cards that specifically instruct other players to gain Curses in ways that they do not always have the option to avoid:

• Dominion: Witch
• Seaside: Sea Hag
• Alchemy: Familiar
• Prosperity: Mountebank
• Cornucopia: Young Witch
• Hinterlands: Ill-Gotten Gains

Secondary cursers

These cards can cause opponents to gain Curses, but in more restricted circumstances:

• Intrigue: Swindler—whether it can distribute a Curse depends on a random card from the opponent's deck
• Intrigue: Torturer—the opponent is always free to not take the Curse; in games without villages it's relatively likely that few Curses will be distributed by Torturer
• Seaside: Ambassador—it can only distribute a Curse if the player playing Ambassador has a Curse in hand
• Cornucopia: Followers—as this is a Prize, it is difficult to gain, especially early in the game when cursing is most valuable
• Cornucopia: Jester—whether it distributes a Curse depends on a random card from the opponent's deck

Other cards that can distribute Curses but are not usually considered cursers

Embargo (from Seaside) causes anyone who buys a certain card in the supply to gain a Curse; this affects the player who plays Embargo as well as all opponents.

Masquerade (from Intrigue) cannot cause Curses to be gained, but it can pass a curse from one player's custody to another's.

Trivia

Dark Ages is the only expansion to date that does not contain a curser; however, it does contain two cards that cause opponents to gain Ruins, serving a similar function.

Other than Dark Ages, it has been argued that each expansion contains a curser that closely represents the expansion's theme:

• Witch has only a minor "vanilla" effect other than cursing; the base game's theme is cards with simple effects.
• Torturer gives the opponent a choice about whether to be cursed; Intrigue's theme is cards with a choice of effects.
• Seaside puts a curse on top of the opponent's deck; Seaside's theme is cards that affect the next turn.
• Familiar is non-terminal and has Potion in its cost; Alchemy's theme is Potions and action chains.
• Mountebank distributes Copper in addition to Curses; one of Prosperity's themes is Treasure cards.
• Young Witch increases the number of differently-named cards in the Kingdom; Cornucopia's theme is variety.
• Ill-Gotten Gains distributes Curses when it is gained, not when it is played; Hinterlands' theme is cards with on-gain effects.